On January 31, 1916, not long after the end of the world war, the clouds of war once again gathered in the Mediterranean. The main fleet of the Mediterranean Fleet of the German Navy was assembled in Gibraltar. Also arriving at the same time was the 2nd Marine Division.

Originally, in the plan of the German Navy, only one regiment of marines was needed to take Gibraltar. Now, the Spanish have come in, and in order to ensure that they can take Gibraltar and withstand the counterattack of the Spaniards, they have directly pulled the entire 2nd Marine Division over. So, it took a little time.

After all, Spain, no matter how weak, is a country of 20 million people. Not to mention anything else, there are still two or three hundred thousand troops. If mobilization, arming an army of millions will not be a problem. If there were too few troops in battle, they would not be able to withstand the Spanish counterattack.

Fortunately, Gibraltar was narrow, and it was enough to hold the narrow strip of less than a kilometre north of Mount Takri to withstand the Spanish attack. In such a narrow strip, there is no need to deploy many troops in the first place. Coupled with the naval artillery fire support of the German Navy, no matter how many troops Spain sent to counterattack, in the end, only those who were bombarded to the slag were killed.

On January 31, the German Foreign Office issued a statement that the Kingdom of Spain, in collusion with Great Britain and threatening the interests of the Central Powers, demanded that the Kingdom of Spain withdraw from Gibraltar.

However, the Kingdom of Spain denied it, claiming that it had not colluded with Britain and refused to leave Gibraltar. However, even fools do not believe in this. If there really was no secret agreement between Spain and the British, how could the British give Gibraltar back to them? Of course, everyone thought that this was a conspiracy of the British to trap the Spaniards. But the Spaniards didn't seem to know, and they jumped into it stupidly.

Spain's refusal allowed Germany to find an excuse. In the afternoon of the same day, the Mediterranean Fleet of the German Navy launched an attack on Gibraltar.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the seven capital ships of the Mediterranean Fleet, on the sea less than 10 kilometers from Gibraltar, fired their hulls and aimed their main guns at the fortress of Gibraltar.

Although, the fortress of Gibraltar also has quite a few large-caliber fortress guns, and even has a caliber of 305 mm. However, for these cutting-edge battleships equipped by the German Navy, the power of these fortress guns was too weak, and even if they were hit, they would not necessarily be able to penetrate the armor of these battleships. These capital ships of the German Navy's Mediterranean Fleet were new capital ships designed by the British after they were defeated. The defense was greatly strengthened, and although a certain speed was sacrificed, the resistance to blows was greatly strengthened.

After the defeat, the British Navy finally realized its mistake. It's just that it's too late. The capital ships they redesigned and built did not help Britain to rise again, but fell into the hands of Germany, which further strengthened the German navy.

"Start attacking!" On the flagship battleship 'Helgoran', Vice Admiral Maugf gave the order to open fire.

This was the first battle of the Imperial Navy after the end of the World War, the first battle of the Mediterranean Fleet, and the first battle after Vice Admiral Maofu as commander of the fleet. In this way, he will be able to establish his prestige in the Imperial Navy.

With Vice Admiral Maugf's order, the three 50-caliber 380-mm guns of the battleship 'Helgoland' began to roar. One by one, armor-piercing shells weighing more than a ton, whizzed towards the Gibraltar fortress.

After the battleship 'Helgolan' opened fire, three other battleships of the same class and three battlecruisers of the 'Moltke class' also opened fire.

For a time, seven capital ships, with a total of 72 380-mm guns, began to shoot frantically.

Originally, the British equipped these capital ships with 45 times the caliber of 381 mm guns. However, in order to be able to use the shells of other capital ships of the German Navy, the German Navy changed the main turret and adopted a 380 mm gun of 50 times the caliber. Although, this somewhat had an impact on the performance of the battleship. However, thanks to the efforts of the designers, this impact has been minimized.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

Heavy shells, under the action of huge kinetic energy, smashed into the fortress of Gibraltar.

The fortress was built on Mount Takri, although it has been many years old. However, it is still very strong. Many of the fortresses are built on the rocks of the mountains and are very well defended.

"Boom!"

A 380-mm shell hit a fortress, sending a puff of earth and rock. However, the armor-piercing shells did not penetrate the fortress, but only blew up a layer of the fortress's defenses.

However, the impact of the shell explosion shocked all the Spaniards inside the fortress to death.

"Fight back! Fight back! ”

Major General Donald stayed in the underground headquarters of the fortress, listening to the thunderous roar overhead, his face was very ugly.

After leading his troops to take over Gibraltar, he originally wanted to leave here and return to his division. However, an order from Madrid led him to set up the division headquarters in Gibraltar. This makes him bitter and can't say it! The Germans were so strong, how could it be that his troops could withstand them? Although his unit is also a strong combat force in the Spanish Army, compared with the elite German* army, the gap is not half a star! Not to mention, the Germans still had so many powerful capital ships to help in the war. In this way, they have no chance of winning at all.

When the Spanish Army took over Gibraltar, it also included the Gibraltar Fortress. The British did not destroy the fortress, the entire fortress, including those fortress guns, remained intact. In the ammunition depot, a large number of fortress artillery shells are neatly stacked. It can be said that the British deliberately left these ammunition in order to allow the Spaniards and Germans to fight.

It's just that Major General Donald did not have enough artillery in his hands to bring out the power of these fortress guns. Moreover, his artillery is all artillery of the army, and there is still a big difference between the artillery of the coastal defense fortress.

"Boom! Rumble! ”

The fortified guns of the fortress of Gibraltar opened fire, albeit only a small number of large-caliber fortified guns. Moreover, the impact point was several hundred meters away from the capital ship of the German army. Such artillery skills, wanting to hit the capital ships of the German army, unless God appeared.