After the "boom" was over, a dense barrage of shells rained down on the British warships.

Similar to the British firing in the direction of the Germans, the shells exploded a series of soaring water columns around the British warship group, the difference is that the British warship group was shot by three destroyers and one cruiser at the first time, among which the cruiser "Gloucester" was also the flagship of the A fleet, and the commander, Rear Admiral Webb, was seriously injured on the spot.

A shell exploded near the bridge of the cruiser "Gloucester", and the shrapnel from the explosion knocked down Rear Admiral Webb, who was fighting at the bridge command, and it was later revealed that it was actually the shock of the shell that fatally wounded Rear Admiral Webb's internal organs.

A captain and a restaurant waiter found Rear Admiral Webb in the ruins of the bridge, but because he did not have a stretcher, he did not dare to turn him over easily, so they hurriedly called in a pharmacist to treat Rear Admiral Webb's wounds, relieve him of pain, and answer Rear Admiral Webb's questions about the battle, and within a few minutes, Rear Admiral Webb was no longer able to speak.

The British fleet immediately fired shells at the German ships again, but it is conceivable that the artillery of the aerial reconnaissance planes was lost, and many German fighters in the air strafed and bombed them, and the number of shells they fired was small and scattered, and not a single shot could hit the German warship that was maneuvering rapidly.

Then the German warships again rained a barrage of shells.

THIS TIME THE BATTLESHIP "MARIA" WAS HIT, AND THE SHELL WAS A 130MM SHELL, WHICH WAS NOT SERIOUS IN ITSELF, BUT DETONATED THE SHELLS THAT THE BRITISH TROOPS HAD PILED UP IN THE TURRETS OF ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS.

Smoke from the explosion of the shells was sucked into the engine room, as a result of which 4 of the 8 boilers stopped working, and the speed of the battleship "Maria" decreased from 21 to 21 knots in 10 minutes. At the same time, the ship's power supply was also suspended for 30 seconds...... This is a common problem of battleships left over from World War I, and the aging of their equipment can lead to many unexpected failures, which are often fatal on the battlefield, such as the "Maria" speed drop, power failure, which almost means that the battleship stands in front of the enemy like a target.

Fortunately, the battleship "Maria" was rushed by the C fleet to reinforce the battle, and its position was a few kilometers behind the main fleet, and everyone focused their attention on the British warships in front of them instead of taking advantage of the victory to pursue and concentrate fire on the "Maria", otherwise, "Maria" would have been removed from the list in this battle.

Then, a bomb accurately hit the bow of the battleship "Sovereign", blowing a large hole in its deck and causing its first turret to malfunction and prevent it from being targeted. A fighter plane swooped down and fired the bullet into the bridge accurately, but fortunately, the commanders survived by lying down in time, but the communication was damaged and could not be effectively commanded.

Lieutenant General Tovey's "War Wey" was also full of dangers, as German fighters and bombers flew around, and shells hit a position 200 meters away and set off a column of water that soared into the sky...... In a naval battle, if the explosion point of the shell falls so close, it means that the enemy has accurately grasped the distance of the warship, which is very dangerous for the warship.

Lieutenant Admiral Tovey realized that the battle could not be fought, and immediately ordered all warships to release smoke and leave the battle.

Raeder ordered the fleet to chase after him...... At this time, the German navy realized the advantage of the French warships to put all their main guns in the bow of the ship, and when pursuing the enemy warships, they could use all their main guns to bombard the enemy.

I'm afraid that this is also the positioning of the French warships on themselves, they have almost no opponents in the Mediterranean, so it is basically impossible to escape if they lose, and most of them are pursuing the enemy, so they boldly put the ship's guns in the bow of the ship.

However, the French were still too conceited, and the French fleet in history did not have an opponent, but not because they were too strong, but because they lost too quickly, and as a result, the whole fleet sank before it could play its role.

Due to the guidance of reconnaissance planes in the air, the French warships hit several more warships in the course of pursuit, but they could not see clearly what warships were hit in the smoke, and only saw a burst of fire exploding in the haze...... In naval battles, only when a warship hits will it burst into flames, otherwise it will be a column of water.

After a little more chase, Raeder took the team.

This was partly due to the fact that the smoke released by the British fleet had severely affected the line of sight, and Raeder feared that continuing the pursuit would cause accidental damage to his own warships.

On the other hand, the Air Force has almost run out of ammunition, and it will not have much success if it continues to pursue, but it is possible to be ambushed.

More importantly, the flagship "Dunkirk" was hit by a torpedo and entered the water, and the speed could only barely reach 20 knots.

Thus, the fleet left the battlefield to the cheers of the sailors.

"Lieutenant, colonel!" Although Raeder was a little disheveled, and even had injuries on his head, he still walked up to Qin Chuan and Colonel Slane in high spirits and said, "I'm sorry, I originally came to let you participate in the exercise!" Didn't expect ......"

"It's a lot more fun than drills!" Colonel Slein said: "You have fought brilliantly, Marshal, so it is the right choice to hand over the warship to you!" ”

Raeder couldn't help but smile ashamedly, and replied: "Colonel, if it weren't for the fact that the lieutenant is here, I'm afraid that the 'Dunkirk' has sunk to the bottom of the sea now!" ”

"No, Marshal!" Qin Chuan said: "If I talk about these tactics to the Italian fleet, I believe it will not work!" ”

Reddell nodded proudly when he heard this.

At this time, a staff officer took a telegram and reported to Marshal Raeder: "Marshal, Garibal's general's telegram, the Italian fleet has left the port to reinforce us!" ”

"Oh, thank them so much!" Raeder said sarcastically, "I suppose they dared to go out to reinforce us knowing that we had won the battle!" ”

Raeder guessed correctly, where would the Italians give up this opportunity, you must know that this is the empire that defeated the British fleet and claimed to be the world's largest navy...... How could the great Roman Empire not play a role in this great war?

As a result, the Italian fleet rushed out of port to the battlefield, and even the air force appeared in the relevant sea areas in old aircraft.

It is conceivable that when they returned, they could make a big deal about how many warplanes they had destroyed and how many warships they had sunk in this battle. Then, the news will cause a stir and a carnival in Italy.