"As a child, my favorite thing to hear was the story of Finn McCool and the Fenian Warriors, whose motto is still alive in my ears, strong in body, and true to my word."

"Oh, I idolized them when I was a child, and I can still recite the vow they made when they joined the Warriors: not to plunder people and livestock, not to seek personal gain, not to cower from the strong, not to seek revenge."

In the bridge verandah of the heavy cruiser "Farr", Captain Kevin Molloy chatted with Lieutenant General Staff Officer Gareth Doherty from the General Staff of the Navy. These two officers, both of whom were born with good facial features and tall figures, had advanced to the ranks of colonels before they could be confused, and they were both natives of Ireland, so they had common topics in many aspects.

"Today, we have also become the strongest war group known in Europe, fighting in the east and west, invincible, that extreme exhilaration, probably the same as the Fenian warrior group back then!" Moroy was not without heroic words, and he was appointed as a wartime colonel on this expedition, not only responsible for the "Farr" and more than 1,000 crew members of the ship, but also the temporary commander when the "Farr" and "Melton" formed a task force to carry out combat missions.

For Molloy, this is both a burden, a test, and a trust. You must know that the heavy cruiser was classified as a first-class capital ship in the New United Kingdom Navy, and during World War II, the captain of the heavy cruiser was either a naval colonel or a commodore general, and there was an "over-specification configuration" of a rear admiral, and Molloy actually crossed the rank of lieutenant commander to act as captain, this situation does not mean that Molloy's ability is limited or that the new United Kingdom Navy is unavailable, but because in peacetime, the promotion speed and advancement opportunities of officers are not as powerful as in wartime, Many people worked diligently for ten years to move from lieutenant to colonel. On the other hand, there was no shortage of officers in the new British Navy, a total of 62 officers transferred from the German Navy entered the ranks of officers at the end of World War II, and until the late 30s and early 40s, some of them were still serving in the front line of the Navy, but by 1949, seven or eight out of ten of these high-quality officers had retired, and the rest had also retired from combat posts due to age and physical limitations. In this war with Italy, the new United Kingdom Navy did not re-use those experienced veterans, but boldly let the new generation of officers take on combat command tasks. The fact that Gavin Bynier, who had become the world's most visible fleet commander overnight, was a vivid example of what the officers in the frontline combat positions were filled with reverence and drive for the future......

"That's true, but Your Majesty has repeatedly told us not to take it lightly at any time, because history has proven countless times that any small negligence on the battlefield can cause a catastrophic disaster, remember to remember!" Major Doherty reminded. In order to collect all kinds of first-hand data, he brought a technical team composed of 2 lieutenants, 3 non-commissioned officers, and 2 photographers, and these additional crew members will not add combat effectiveness to the "Farr", but they will not add chaos at critical moments.

Speaking of the great king who gave Ireland a new life, Molloy was in awe: "Your Majesty's teachings will be remembered in this life." ”

The two stood side by side, and for a moment neither spoke, before Major Doherty turned the conversation to the newly painted air defense identification mark, a huge, bright green, white and yellow logo that took up almost half of the foredeck.

"Looking down from the sky now, we're a very striking target." Major Doherty said.

"What if...... I mean, if we change the identification mark to the German one, the Italians will not dare to attack us! Then we can drive all the way to Sardinia and blow up the Italian airport! Molloy said.

"It's theoretically possible." "However, this is a mockery of Italy and a provocation to Germany, and it is likely to put our country in a passive position diplomatly." In the case that we are able to defeat Italy by military means, I do not think it is necessary to resort to such special means. ”

Molloy expressed his sincerity: "If you want to talk about combat strategy, it is really a professional staff officer who is thoughtful!" ”

"But your assumption reminds me." Major Doherty said, "The German Navy has reported that they have sent two warships into the Mediterranean, and the Italian side has probably also received this notice, and they will never anger the Germans at this time, even a little anger will make them tremble, so ......"

Molloy's eyes lit up suddenly, and he turned around and called, "Aaron! Take our Battleship Almanac! ”

In a few moments, the adjutant came with a large, delicately bound album.

Major Doherty reminded: "The two battleships sent by the German Navy, one is the 'Wissenburg', which belongs to the Brandenburg-class battle cruisers...... Yes, this is the one, with three triple 406 mm guns, and the main turret is arranged in the front two and one in the rear; The first secondary gun is a twin 127 mm gun, with a total of 8 auxiliary turrets, which are divided into the left and right sides; The secondary guns of the second stage were quadruple 37-mm guns, with a total of 16 guns; There are a total of 16 sets of quadruple anti-aircraft rocket launchers, which are arranged in the left and right front of the main bridge and the left and right rear of the auxiliary bridge......"

"Aha, it's eighty percent similar to our silhouette!" Molloy was as excited as if he had picked up money on the side of the road. The modernized heavy cruiser "Farr" is equipped with three triple 60 times diameter 203 mm naval guns, six sets of quadruple tube-mounted air-to-air guided rocket launchers, and four sets of quadruple tube-mounted ship-to-ship guided rocket launchers. Relying on the 40-mm anti-aircraft gun produced by the Swedish Forbos technology and the 20-mm anti-aircraft gun produced by the German Rheinmetall technology, the medium and short-range air defense system of this class of heavy cruisers is also quite complete.

Of course, such a heavy cruiser with various advanced technologies is equivalent to the Winner-class aircraft carrier without carrier-based aircraft, and such a high cost is simply unbearable for the average major power countries.

"The other is' The Dame-Spreval' was a heavy cruiser of the Lune class, equipped with three triple 254 mm guns, with the main turret arranged in the front two and one in the rear; the first secondary gun was a twin 127 mm gun, and the secondary gun was only four in the secondary turrets, concentrated on both sides of the main bridge; the second secondary gun was a quadruple 37 mm gun, with a total of 8 guns; there were 16 sets of quadruple anti-aircraft rocket launchers, arranged in the same way as the Brandenburg class; and two sets of triple rail-mounted 800 mm ship-to-ship guided rockets, arranged behind the chimney and behind the auxiliary bridge......"

Molloy pored over the photographs and line drawings in the atlas and said regretfully, "Well, this guy is only about fifty percent similar to our 'Melton,' and it's easy for an experienced pilot to recognize them." ”

The Lune-class heavy cruiser is the first generation of heavy cruisers equipped with a large number of anti-air and anti-ship guided rockets in the German Navy, and the Lista-class to which the "Melton" belongs is the third generation designed and built by the Irish, and it is also the first generation of light cruisers in the new United Kingdom that are equipped with guided rockets in the design stage, with a standard displacement of 9980 tons, with four triple 60 times diameter 127 mm guns, four sets of quadruple anti-air guided rocket launchers, Two sets of quadruple ship-mounted guided rocket launchers and two sets of quadruple 533-mm torpedo tubes are the main weapons, and a considerable number of 40-mm and 20-mm anti-aircraft guns are equipped. In fact, the two were so different in size and silhouette that the Italian pilot, who could confuse them, would probably have to go to the hospital to have his eyes checked.

"There should still be some time before we encounter the Italian bomber group, how about we properly camouflage these two ships and test the sight and wisdom of the Italians?" Molloy suggested.

"You're the commander, it's up to you." Major Doherty bared his teeth, "Think it's a little joke with the Italians!" ”

So, at the behest of Moloy, the officers and men of the two warships sprang into action, covering the bow and stern air defense identification markings with brownish-yellow canvas and the "redundant" secondary turrets or anti-aircraft guns with white sunshade cloths, which did not take them much time and energy. Just after they had completed their improvised camouflage, the high-frequency warning radar of the "Farr" spotted dozens of planes in the direction of Sardinia, and Molloy did not hesitate to order a telegram to the aircraft carrier formation in the rear, and then sent a set of long, chaotic, and meaningless radio waves on the communication frequencies commonly used by the German Navy to confuse the Italian command.

Molloy soon received a coded telegram from the "Fenian" reply, the aircraft carrier group was heading for the waters of the Balearic Islands, and the carrier-based fighter group would rush to intercept the Italian aviation unit "Farr" and "Melton" Although equipped with relatively advanced air defense weapons, it was still somewhat difficult for them to cope with dozens of Italian fighters by their own strength, and it was very necessary to send fighter planes to cover them if they wanted to control their losses to the smallest extent possible.

In order to disturb the Italians' field of vision, in addition to normal radio communication, the "Fenian" also emitted a bunch of garbled codes on the communication frequencies commonly used by the German Navy, and it is not known whether the Italian radio listening department was confused, but the German ships that entered the Mediterranean Sea then sent a telegram: I am the German Navy battleship "Wissenburg", who are you? What are you talking about?