Port of Toulon, France.

Commander Jean of the French High Seas Fleet. Morality. Admiral Laport's commanding flag was now hanging weakly on the battleship "Brittany". Thanks to the powerful "Richelieu" and "Jean. The "Bar" is now not finally finished, so the flagship of the French fleet is still the old-fashioned "Brittany".

This battleship, built before the First World War, and one of its sister ships, the Provence (the second ship of the "Brittany" class, the "Lorraine", had been detained by the Royal Navy because it was repaired in Alexandria), three "Lone" class battleships, two "Dunkirk" class battleships completed in 1937 and 1938, and an old former dreadnought, "Condorcet", and the battleship "Richelieu", which was 95% complete, Now they were all in the harbor of Toulon, and the deepest battleship berths were moored one after the other, waiting for the final verdict.

"Are we just going to wait?" Toulon Maritime Commander (equivalent to the Commander of the Base) Andrei. Vice Admiral Matthews seemed to be reluctant to stand on the bridge of the "Brittany" and look at the neatly lined up battleships, cruisers and destroyers in the port of Toulon.

"This is the fourth most powerful fleet in the world and the second most powerful fleet in Europe!" Vice Admiral Matthews said, "They had the power to destroy the German navy, but they had never even been on the battlefield......"

The Commander-in-Chief of the French Navy, Admiral Darlan, was now also on board the "Brittany", and by order of Marshal Petain, he, together with Admiral Laporte and Vice Admiral Matthews, controlled the Grand Fleet in the port of Toulon.

Defending against attacks from the enemy was not the point, and now the French government was most worried about things like the fleet slipping out of its hands or a sailor uprising.

Admiral Darlang turned his head to look at his subordinate Matthews, and also smiled bitterly unwillingly: "What else can I do?" There was no strait between France and Germany, and now that the army was defeated, Paris was occupied by the Germans...... What can the Navy do? ”

"The fleet is now a bargaining chip, the only thing we can use to bargain with the Germans." Admiral Laporte was a follower of Marshal Pétain, and he was somewhat anti-British - such a man was not uncommon among French naval officers, after all, most of the combat operations in the history of the French Navy were fought by the British Royal Navy.

He glanced at Vice Admiral Matthews, "If the fleet falls into the hands of the 'Gaullists', not only will the French motherland have nothing to exchange interests with Germany, but this fleet, built with the hard-earned money of the French people, will also be used to blockade France!" Isn't this what the British are best at? ”

Matthews sighed, and Admiral Laball's words weren't bad either. In short-term interests, it was clear that helping Germany defeat Britain was the best option - as long as Britain failed, the European Community would succeed and become the dominant force in the world. Grain from India, oil from the Middle East, spices from Southeast Asia, silk from China and Japan, beef from South America, and gold and diamonds from Africa are constantly being shipped to Europe. And the various industrial products produced in France are not worried about the lack of markets.

There is no doubt that the French will have a prosperous and happy era because of the emergence and victory of the European Community.

But it also means that France will live forever in the shadow of Germany!

The three French admirals knew all these truths, and were relatively silent for a while, and I don't know how long it took for Dar Lang to speak: "Let's go, go to my headquarters and sit down, and I will invite you to a great feast...... All we can do now is hold a knife and fork in our hands and wait for death! ”

……

"Here we are, Major General!"

While the leaders of the French Navy were waiting to die, the British Royal Navy was doing their duty to save their empire. At 7:30 p.m. on May 12, the aircraft carriers "Ark Royal" and "Brilliant", escorted by the battleship "Barham", four cruisers, and four destroyers, finally arrived at the X position about 170 nautical miles south of the port of Toulon.

"Okay, sound the battle alarm!" Rear Admiral Listter, with the "Brilliant" as the flagship, gave the order, "The carrier-based aircraft are ready to depart, and the aircraft carrier is headwinding at a speed of 28 knots!" ”

A barrage of orders was issued, and the two aircraft carriers immediately began to turn, and soon accelerated to 28 knots, and a strong wind blew on the flight deck.

Rear Admiral Williamson, the captain of the carrier-based aircraft group on the "Brilliant", was the commander of the air attack group. His L4A Swordfish had been lifted onto the deck, and the howling sea breeze was blowing in his face, which immediately lifted his spirits.

The moonlight tonight was very bright, the visibility was not too bad, and it seemed like a good day for a sortie.

However, even with good weather, it will be very difficult to complete the task of attacking Toulon. Because in addition to the two difficulties of taking off and landing in the dark and sailing, the shallow water depth of the port of Toulon is the third and biggest problem.

The water depth in the port of Toulon is only about 10 meters, which makes it easy for an aerial torpedo falling from the sky to plunge headlong into the bottom of the sea. In addition to slightly improving the torpedoes, the most crucial solution is actually to reduce the altitude of the bombs -- the "Swordfish" torpedo planes participating in the attack must complete ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming flights and bomb drops at night!

In addition, the crew of the "Swordfish" aircraft usually has three members, namely the pilot, the navigator/bombardier, and the transmitter/rear machine gunner, while the "Swordfish" aircraft that attacked this time had only two crew members, and the seat belonging to the navigator/bombardier in the middle was equipped with a 270-liter fuel tank. This means that the pilot must be both a navigator and a bombardier.

Just an ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming flight is already a high degree of difficulty, plus a night, and there are fewer people on the plane, except for the British Royal Navy's carrier-based aircraft pilots, it is estimated that no one else in the world can complete such a task.

Thinking of this, Major Williamson's heart suddenly rose with pride, and he said loudly to Sergeant Larsen, the dispatcher/rear machine gunner sitting behind him, "Sergeant, we are making history!" We're doing something no one has ever done before! ”

"Yes, Major." Sergeant Larsen replied, "It would be better if we weren't going to attack the French!" ”

"Then the Germans are not to blame," said Major Williamson, "and they have no ships of their own, and they are a gang of robbers who want to rob the French!" ”

……

At 7:45, the carrier-based aircraft on the two aircraft carriers of the L fleet were all ready to go.

2 aircraft carriers, speeding towards the wind at a speed of 28 knots, the fierce deck wind made many sailors sway, and the deck flight officer at the front held the red flag, waiting for the command of the flight console.

"Ballista, fire!"

Suddenly, the code name of the beginning of the operation sounded in the flight officer's headset, and the flight officer waved his arm violently, and the moment the red flag fell under the searchlight, the "Swordfish" torpedo bomber piloted by Major Williamson was the first to rush out of the deck.

One after another, one batch after another!

All 36 Swordfish planes on the 2 aircraft carriers will be lifted into the air in a blink of an eye, and they will form the first strike wave. Of the 36 aircraft, 26 had one 545-kilogram aerial torpedo, eight had six 112-kilogram bombs each, and two had three bombs and 12 flares each.

The 36 Swordfish planes of Strike Wave 2 will take off at 8:45 p.m. and arrive in the French port of Toulon after midnight on May 13.

……

"Admiral, the submarines of the Italians have spotted a British fleet, located east of the Balearic Islands, which are heading north."

At the headquarters of the German army on the southern front in Rome, General Halder, who had attended a boring but very sumptuous dinner, had just returned with a piece of news that surprised him a little.

"What time did you find out? What is the scale? He asked the Chief of Staff Aviation Admiral Val T. Weaver.

"At 4 p.m.," said Hans. Vice Admiral Jeshunek replied, "There are at least 2 aircraft carriers and 1 battleship, as well as several cruisers and destroyers." ”

"2 aircraft carriers and 1 battleship? Are they going to bomb Toulon? ”

"I think so," Val T. Weaver nodded, "the target could only be the French fleet in Toulon." General, I think it's possible that the British will launch a night attack tonight. It's difficult, but their slow biplane (Swordfish) might be able to do it. We have a few squadrons of night fighters equipped with BF-110s stationed in Rnaya so that they can go to reinforce Toulon. ”

Admiral Val T. Weaver, who was chief of staff of the Luftwaffe, was not a flying expert himself, but because he was involved in the formation of the Luftwaffe, he knew very well the performance of various aircraft. It is known that the British "Swordfish" aircraft (not only the United Kingdom, but also the Netherlands is equipped with this aircraft) has very good low-altitude and low-speed performance.

"News of the discovery of the British fleet has been reported?" Halder did not make an immediate decision, but inquired further.

"Yes," said Weaver, "Field Marshal Hersman should have been heard. ”

Although there was now a channel of communication between the headquarters of the German Army on the Southern Front and the Italian Navy in Toulon, Val T. Weaver could not contact the French without Halder's order, so he simply reported the news to the General Staff.

"All right," Halder paused, "then we'll keep waiting...... The Italians had destroyer activity outside the port of Toulon, did they? ”

"Yes, it was used to spy on the French fleet."

Halder thought for a moment, "Send another Fw-200 to reconnoitre, and if we find that the French have been bombed, we will send another BF-110...... It would also be good for the French to set fire to British-made bombs. (To be continued.) )