At dawn, in the waters west of Sardinia, after carefully surveying the surrounding waters with a periscope, a submarine covered in darkness surfaced. In view of the shape characteristics of the submarine's thin upper line and full lower contour, it is inferred from the exposed part of the submarine that its surface displacement is at least equivalent to that of a light destroyer, and its most important feature in appearance is the smooth front and rear decks and the tall and stocky command platform, and the upper part of the command platform is also equipped with two protrusions similar to the bomber's self-defense turret.

With a slight sound of metal rubbing, the hatch on the top of the submarine command station opened from the inside out, and a thick-eyed officer quickly got out of the hatch, breathing in the fresh air of the sea while standing firm, picking up the telescope hanging on his chest and looking in all directions.

This handsome and upright Italian soldier is Captain Mattia Sirigu, the captain of the Italian Navy's new submarine "Publius Cornelius Scipio".

The Sura-class submarine to which the "Scipio" belongs is the first underwater high-speed submarine of the Italian Navy, and it is the golden key for the Italian Navy to truly enter the threshold of modern submarines. Its design is somewhat modeled after the German Navy's U-3001 class diesel-electric submarines, and its novel hull design gives it a top underwater speed of 16.5 knots – even slightly higher than its top surface speed. The large-capacity battery can ensure that it can dive more than 300 nautical miles at a speed of 5 knots, and there are other living facilities such as food refrigerators and shower equipment that other Italian submarines do not have, as well as advanced sonar and radar equipment.

Another officer, who came out of the hatch immediately after, spoke with a thick Sicilian accent: "The radar is starting, it will work normally in a minute, but ...... I think...... I'm afraid the enemy ships have long since fled. ”

Captain Sirigo, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, said in a pure Florentine accent: "What a pity! We fired six torpedoes, but only one hit, and it ran away! If you can hit two, you'll sink it! ”

In the battle that took place not long ago, the "Scipio" actually fired six torpedoes at enemy ships, four from the bow and two from the stern of the boat, and two ordinary trigger torpedoes from the stern -- the reason for this was that the cost of the Italian-made acoustic torpedoes was five times that of ordinary torpedoes, and the technical department of the Italian Navy only issued a limited number of sound-guided torpedoes to the submarine forces for cost and tactical reasons. The first batch of Sula-class underwater high-speed submarines were equipped with up to 22 torpedoes, and each was issued with four sound-guided torpedoes for non-wartime cruising missions, and Italian submarine commanders were accustomed to equipping all of these valuable and rare new torpedoes in the bow ammunition compartment.

At the time when the new United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary joined forces to wage war against Italy, the Scipio was docking at the Italian Libyan port of Benghazi, and then received a combat order from the Italian naval command to sail for combat patrols in the waters around Sicily without refueling ammunition. Shortly thereafter, when the Mediterranean Task Force Combat Fleet of the New United Kingdom Navy attacked military installations in Malta and Sardinia, the "Scipio" not only did not seize the opportunity to attack the enemy fleet, but was also attacked by enemy carrier-based aircraft.

"Are you sure?" The officer, speaking with a Sicilian accent, asked rhetorically, "I don't think two torpedoes are enough to sentence an Irish cruiser to death, because they are so ingenious in design and superior in manufacturing that they are not at all comparable to ordinary warships." Think about it, how many warships did the Irish lose on the battlefield since 1933? The key is...... What country has a genius naval designer and military commander as king? ”

Captain Sirigu put down his binoculars and frowned and reminded, "Hey, Fabrizio, you and I understand the truth, but if this word reaches the ears of the Discipline Inspector, the future of you and me in the army may come to an end." ”

But the Sicilians were indifferent and said, "I am alone in my crazy words, and I will never get involved with you." Besides, you are an honors graduate of the Livorno Naval Academy, and you are the star of hope that the naval command focuses on, and as long as you seize the opportunity to build up meritorious deeds in this battle, the future is limitless, and those discipline supervisors will not come to you. ”

Captain Sirigu shook his head and said, "All right, Fabrizio, this kind of talk is left to those who boast of patting horses, and we don't have to do it between us. ”

The Sicilian grinned.

Captain Sirigu opened the waterproof communication box and pulled out the wired microphone from it: "Radioman, how is the equipment working?" ”

The person on the other side of the microphone responded: "The radar is on, radio communication is restored." ”

"Send out the report I just wrote with a cipher machine."

"Yes, sir!"

When Captain Sirigu put down the microphone, the Sicilian quipped: "How happy should the generals and politicians of Rome be to hear that we have inflicted heavy damage on enemy cruisers?" Or is it a pity? It was they who ordered us to equip us with only 4 S-I sound-guided torpedoes, if not 4, but 8 or 12, and the outcome of this battle must have been completely different. ”

"Whatever!" Captain Sirigu replied, "We do our best and do our best, and as for other things, they are not within our control. ”

"That's the essential difference between us and the enemy." Sicilian people muttered reluctantly.

Thinking of all the shortcomings in the Italian military and even political circles, Captain Sirigu, who had a bright future, had to sigh helplessly.

The radio watchman of the Italian Navy Command immediately noticed this important telegram and reported it to the officer on duty as the radio waves flew rapidly to Rome, hundreds of kilometers away. The officer on duty hesitated, but at the risk of criticism, woke up the adjutant of the commander of the Navy, Marshal Dazara, who, after much thought, carefully knocked on the door of Marshal Dazara's room after a quarter of an hour, and then reported the exciting but regrettable news to the marshal.

About half an hour later, the Émanuele II, the flagship of the Biankelly fleet, which was still hidden between the islands of St. Peter and Sant'Antioco, received a telegram from the naval command asking about its movements—after much hesitation, Biankelly reported the situation truthfully: his fleet had gone out to the southwest of Sardinia, and had sent four light cruisers to carry out the task of luring the enemy into depth, but the enemy ships had quickly withdrawn after the bombardment, so he was ready to recall the four light cruisers and wait on the spot for the "Aquila" to come to rendezvous.

Having finally figured out the movements of his elite fleet, Marshal Dazara hurriedly telephoned the Chief of the General Staff of the Italian Army, Field Marshal Graziani, and reported to him that "an Irish cruiser damaged by our submarine was hastily fleeing to the waters of the Balearic Islands under the protection of its wingman, and the battle formation of 'Emanuele II' and 'Umberto I' was only a few hours away", and asked his navy to pursue it at any cost.

Marshal Graziani, who had just woken up from his sleep, hesitated for a moment and replied that "in view of the fact that the Spaniards are still on the fence about entering the war, the activities of the Italian navy in the western Mediterranean should avoid a diplomatic dispute with Spain - on this premise, it is necessary to seize the opportunity and strive for a morale-boosting victory".

Although Marshal Graziani's reply was somewhat ambiguous, Marshal Dazara, whose motto was "determination to overcome difficulties" and "courage to act decisively", interpreted the reply of the Chief of the General Staff in a positive and optimistic manner, and immediately sent an order to the fleet of Biankelly to "pursue the fugitive enemy ships".

Receiving the combat order from the naval command, Vice Admiral Billang Kelly was worried. The target was two enemy cruisers, even if their speed slowed down, with the speed and position of the two Italian capital battleships, it would take at least 16 hours to catch up, and by that time the target had basically left the coverage of the Italian Navy and Air Force and was under the effective protection of its own carrier-based aircraft, so the only way to pursue it was to send four light cruisers under the command of Colonel Macina - if they were to rush at the same time, they would be able to catch up with the target in 6-8 hours, and in the meantime, The Italian naval and air force fighters deployed in Sardinia could also make the two enemy ships more wounded and slow down the retreat through air strikes, so that their four light cruisers could drag the opponent into combat range early.

As a result, "Emanuele II" quickly sent the command to "pursue the enemy ship at full speed" to the "Duke of Abruch". Colonel Macina replied that he would carry out the order without hesitation, and at the same time reminded Bionkelly that as soon as dawn the four light cruisers under his command would be exposed to the sight of enemy carrier-based aircraft, and would be subjected to a fierce air attack that would be difficult for the main fleet to parry. If the Italian fighters stationed in Sardinia and Sicily could not provide timely and effective cover, their pursuit mission would probably be doomed.

Upon receipt of a telegram from Colonel Macina, Billcairi did not hesitate to order the correspondent to send a message to the naval command, emphasizing that his fleet would be under great threat from enemy naval aviation after dawn, and solemnly stating that "if our fighters are unable to provide adequate cover for the fleet, the 'Emmanuele II' and 'Umberto I' may never have the opportunity to return to the Taranto base."

On the very morning of this day, the commander of the Italian Navy, Marshal Dazzara, drove to the residence of Marshal Graziani, Chief of the General Staff of the Italian Army, where the two senior military officials discussed and negotiated over breakfast, and finally, Marshal Graziani promised to send combat instructions in the name of the General Staff to the Italian Air Force units stationed in Sardinia and Sicily, asking them to overcome the difficulties they are facing and to protect at all costs the naval ships that are carrying out combat operations in the waters west of Sardinia. Land-based aircraft, seaplanes and aircraft based on the aircraft carrier Aquila will be unconditionally at the disposal of Vice Admiral Billankelly until the end of the battle.