The fleet of the Germans, just around the corner!

Although a seaplane that ejected from the Red Caucasus did not fly back, it did not frighten the heroic Soviet Navy, and the seaplane that ejected from a destroyer flew again towards the sea in the southeast direction, and this time, it flew only a few dozen nautical miles, and almost just flew out of the fleet's field of vision, when a fleet was spotted riding the wind and waves!

"Attention, the main German fleet is found, ready for battle!" On the Red Caucasus, having received this news, Gorshkov immediately gave the battle order: "Column of letters!" ”

If there were still battleships, with all kinds of heavy cruisers, maybe Gorshkov would put up a horizontal formation and press directly on it to engage in battle, as if it were the kind of exciting naval battle during the First World War.

However, he has nothing left, his own 10,000-ton battleship is already the largest, and the opponent's fleet, with aircraft carriers and battleships, has a displacement of up to 70,000 tons.

Therefore, he could only put up the formation of this column to minimize the frontal projection area, and he could only hope that the opponent's shells would be empty, so that his battleships could rush over and fight bayonets.

In naval warfare, this is not impossible, although the power of naval guns is great, but it is not easy to hit accurately, especially for warships traveling at high speed.

Black smoke came out of the chimneys of the battleships, and the smoke from the warships in front just shrouded the warships behind, and they were sailing in the wind.

"Report the Red Caucasus, we didn't encounter German warships."

Because the other side did not have air defense fighters, the Soviet seaplanes could fly closer, and when the pilot saw it clearly, he couldn't help but be surprised, the other side was flying the flag of the Italian Navy!

On board the Count Cavour, Rear Admiral Cataño of the Italian Navy was standing on the bridge when he also received a report from his own lookout.

The Black Sea Fleet is right in front of you, and the largest warship of the other side is just a 10,000-ton heavy cruise!

"Attention, Straight Side, let's pour out our maximum firepower and send the Black Sea Fleet to hell!" Cataño gave the order.

If it was a French battleship, with eight guns in front, it could exert the most furious firepower, but the Italian battleship was not, although there were ten naval guns, but half of the front and half of the front and rear.

It's just that they have nothing to be afraid of, the biggest Soviet thing on the opposite side is just a cruiser, even if it is just this battleship, it is enough to send the other party into the sea, and you can kill them with only the artillery in front!

Following his order, the Italian fleet quickly changed its orientation, formed a horizontal formation on the sea, and continued to approach the front.

The 320-mm naval guns were loaded with armor-piercing shells, and the gunners suppressed their excitement and waited for the exciting battle that was about to come.

On the sea, each other's masts appeared, followed by the bridge, and then, the two fleets could finally see each other clearly.

On the Count Cavour, the gun commander was now engrossed in his sights, and a mechanical ballistic calculator rumbled, calculating the firing elements.

"Fifteen nautical miles away, the first test launch." The cannon commander shouted, "Fire!" ”

"Boom!" The 320-mm naval gun, a huge fire came out of the muzzle, black smoke rose, and a 525-kilogram armor-piercing projectile flew out at a speed of 830 meters per second.

When the Duke of Cavour was first built, it was only a 305 mm naval gun, and after a period of use, the naval gun was close to the limit of shooting, so the 305 mm naval gun was expanded into a 320 mm naval gun through the expansion operation, but the accuracy did not improve.

The smoke of gunfire filled the air, and the gun commander suddenly found himself in big trouble.

Wind direction problem!

His own side is downwind, if it was the previous sailing era, this is almost the best battle position, but now, every time his naval guns shoot, a huge black smoke will be produced, and under the blowing of the wind, it just covers his field of vision, and it is not even convenient to observe the impact point of the bullet!

Sure enough, when the smoke cleared, the shell had already flown over, and I didn't see where the splash had been!

"Take off the carrier-based aircraft!" Cataño shouted. Only then did he realize that he had made a mistake, thinking that his own fleet was enough, so he did not release carrier-based aircraft, and now it seems that carrier-based aircraft are also quite important.

Proofreading the ballistics can only rely on carrier-based aircraft!

The two-wing RO44 seaplane was loaded into the ejection position, and the pilot Okri felt the backlog feeling coming from his back, and the plane flew away from the battleship quickly.

In the air, it is easy to observe the landing point of their own naval guns, and it is their task to provide calibration for naval guns.

Just as the ascent began, in the light of the sun, a bright spot came.

"Da-da-da

He lunged forward, pressed the lever, and the seaplane suddenly turned into a dive and plunged into the water.

It was so careless that they didn't even notice that the Soviets' seaplane was nearby, and when their own seaplane had just ejected out, the pilot was hit before he could recover from it!

The seaplanes of the Soviets swept over the sea at an ultra-low altitude, turned and flew away, and the anti-aircraft guns of the warships on this side were not ready, and the other side disappeared out of range, leaving all the anti-aircraft gunners speechless for a while.

The school firing plane is gone, and at this time, the distance between the two sides is still approaching, and it is already close to ten nautical miles!

The gun commander's face was all green, and there was no proof-shooting plane, so he had to continue to shoot blindly? If this is the case, then all the guns can only be fired together, which will also improve the accuracy of some hits.

According to his experience, after binding various shooting elements, the second salvo began.

"Boom, boom!" The 320-mm naval guns let out a roar, and the black smoke from the muzzles of the guns instantly formed a huge barrier in front of the Italian fleet, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

The shooting of the naval guns was quite terrifying, and the spectacle would make those who saw it for the first time shudder, but the soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet here had nothing to fear.

There was no evasion at all, and all the shells there flew away, splashing down and falling into the sea a few hundred meters from their side.

The projection area of the column was small, it was difficult to hit, and Gorshkov did not give the order to return fire until now.

The Red Caucasus is already one of the most powerful warships, and its main guns are only four 180 mm guns, although theoretically this kind of naval guns have a terrible range of more than 37 kilometers, but they are not accurate.

In practice, shooting from 10 nautical miles away cannot guarantee a hit, and it is best to ensure a hit from 5 nautical miles.

Therefore, he now only ordered the fleet to speed up, and did not pay attention to the other party at all.