"Admiral, the Admiral Headquarters has ordered us to join the 2nd Combat Fleet near 60 nautical miles southeast of the Calabrian Peninsula and then seek an opportunity for a decisive battle with the British fleet."

In the early morning of July 8, the Italian fleet, which had just escorted five fast cruise ships loaded with soldiers and supplies to the port of Benghazi, was cruising outside the port of Benghazi, when the radio of the flagship battleship "Count Cavour" received the latest order from the naval headquarters.

"In addition, the Navy Headquarters has informed that the British fleet from Gibraltar is currently loitering in the waters north of Algiers."

"North of Algiers?" Admiral Campioni, commander-in-chief of the Italian fleet, smiled bitterly, "The British were afraid of the German planes of Rnaya and did not dare to enter the range of 500 nautical miles from Rnaya during the day. If only we had such an aviation in the Italian Navy. ”

As a result of the "Bombing of Scapa Bay" on September 3, 1939, the British Royal Navy was now replaced by "German aircraft phobia". Their lead ship simply did not dare to enter the area where German shore-based aircraft were active during the day. The H flotilla, which came out of Gibraltar, was no exception, lingering in waters 500 nautical miles from Ronaya. Although the Fokker Zero, Ju88 and He-115 all have a combat radius of more than 500 nautical miles, the moving fleet is not an immobile base, and the aircraft going to attack also need to reserve the fuel needed to hunt the enemy, so it is somewhat difficult to bomb the enemy fleet at a distance of 500 nautical miles.

And the British fleet has begun to equip 279 pairs of air-to-sea search radars in large numbers. It can search for enemy aircraft from a distance of 100 kilometers, so it can command the Sea Spitfire and F2A Buffalo aircraft (due to its activities in the Mediterranean, the Ark Royal has also adopted a deck-tethered approach to increase the number of carrier-based aircraft to a maximum of 90, including 12 Sea Spitfire and 36 F2A) to seize a position in advance. So a distance of 500 nautical miles was relatively safe for the British fleet.

"Commander, in fact, we in Italy also have very good planes." The Chief of Staff of the Italian fleet, Rear Admiral Baroni, reminded that "our S.M.79 Sparrowhawk medium bomber is a great one, with a range no smaller than the Ju88, a large bomb load, and very good low-altitude and low-speed performance, which can be used to mount torpedoes for attacks." ”

The S.M.79 Sparrowhawk is a rare three-engine medium bomber, as it has one more engine than the usual medium bomber, so it can achieve greater range and speed with a smaller engine (as a bomber, the engine mounted on the front of the fuselage makes it impossible to use the transparent cabin cover, which makes it difficult to target bombing, but as a torpedo machine it is not a problem). Moreover, the production of this kind of aircraft is very large, when Italy entered the war, the Italian Air Force had 612 S.M.79 aircraft, and if all these 612 aircraft were used for ship-to-ship operations, the British Mediterranean Fleet would have been bombed and overturned. It is a pity that the Italian Air Force did not have the heart to hit sea targets at all, and in the more than two months since the start of the war, these more than 600 S.M.79s have basically been playing soy sauce, and have not attacked the British fleet at all.

Admiral Compioni sighed: "S.M.79 is very good, but what does it have to do with the Navy?" The fascists of the Air Force are not going to blow up ships at all. ”

The Italian Air Force was the preserve of the fascist party, and was founded by Marshal Balbo, the leader of the fascist party, who had been killed by his own anti-aircraft guns not long ago. The Italian navy, on the other hand, was the domain of traditional career officers, and adopted a boycott attitude towards the fascist party. Therefore, it was also regarded as "unreliable" by the fascists, and the relationship between the air force, which was firmly controlled by the fascist party, and the Italian navy was particularly bad, and they once wanted to confiscate all the planes of the Italian navy under the banner of "independent air force", and also wanted to dismantle two aircraft carriers.

Although under the resistance of the Navy, seaplanes and aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft on aircraft carriers were preserved. But due to the obstruction of the Air Force, the Italian naval aviation has not had any good aircraft. Not only are the seaplanes all old-fashioned, and even the carrier-based aircraft are modified from outdated G.50s, and there are no professional carrier-based torpedo bombers and dive bombers, just let the G.50 hang a 250-kilogram bomb as a two-seat fighter-bomber. However, due to the fact that the modified G.50bisA/N is somewhat overweight (two seats plus one bomb and the fuselage is also strengthened to mount the ship's hook), the speed and range are significantly reduced on the basis of the shore-based G.50, and its role in actual combat is very limited.

While Admiral Campioni was lamenting the fate of the Italian Navy, the communications staff of the fleet handed the telegram he had just received to the chief of staff, Rear Admiral Baroni. Rear Admiral Baroni glanced down and said in a very surprised tone: "Admiral, the reconnaissance plane has discovered the British fleet!" On the ocean 30 nautical miles east of Malta there were 3 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers, 5 light cruisers, 16 destroyers,......"

Admiral Campioni let out a "huh" and looked at his chief of staff with some strange eyes, "How can it be so detailed?" ”

This is the most detailed aerial reconnaissance report received by the Italian fleet in the two months since the start of the war!

"Admiral," Colonel Baroni shrugged, "maybe the Air Force guys have gotten their hands on their planes?" ”

Admiral Kompioni nodded, and that could only be the case. The navy's single-engine seaplanes did not dare to approach the enemy fleet protected by direct cover planes, and although the air force's reconnaissance planes were able to get close to the British fleet, the air force personnel were not trained in sea search, and the information sent back was vague.

"Well," Admiral Compionny took a breath, "now that we can determine the enemy's position, let's change the meeting point with the 2nd Battle Fleet...... It was 180 nautical miles due east of the Calabrian Peninsula and the meeting time was set for 7 p.m. today. ”

"A confluence at night? Admiral, are you going to fight a night battle with the British? Major General Baroni reminded, "The British have radar." ”

"That's right!" Admiral Compioni nodded, "It's because they have radar that they will face the Italian fleet that is stronger than them tonight!" ”

……

"Admiral, it's the German Fw-200, and 4 Fokker Zero escort ......"

Charles. Rear Admiral Krachley put down the receiver and said to Admiral Cunningham with an ugly face, "Do you want to let the Sea Spitfire rise into the air to deal with them?" ”

"No!" Cunningham shook his head, "Tell the aircraft carrier to put all 18 SeaSpitfires on deck and be ready to take off!" ”

He was now afraid that his fleet would be attacked by German planes, which were not Italian planes! So Cunningham had to keep all the Sea Spitfires in a state of readiness, and not let them go around in circles with the Fokker Zero, because the Sea Spitfires had too short a range to stay in the air for long. If 6 aircraft were sent to entangle with the Germans, it was very likely that they would not be able to take off when the German fleet arrived because of the need to refuel.

"In addition, an order was given to Vice Admiral Tovey of the A Fleet, ordering him to escort 12 transport ships to Malta. Flotillas B and C immediately sailed at full speed to the southeast. ”

Flotilla A, consisting of five light cruisers, was the weakest of the three sub-fleets, and they were responsible for the direct escort of 12 transports. Due to the unexpected encounter with 1 Fw-200C and 4 Fokker Zeros, Admiral Cunningham did not dare to risk the entire fleet, so he let the A fleet and 12 transport ships take the risk (in the history of Mediterranean operations, the British often resorted to this method, regardless of the losses to send troops and supplies to Malta).

"Southeast? That's the direction of Benghazi. Major General Krachley was stunned, "The Italians deployed a number of S.M.79 aircraft in Benghazi. In addition, most of the Italian fleet was also near Benghazi. ”

"I know," Cunningham nodded, "I'm going to fight the Italian fleet...... Now that the Germans have reached into the Eastern Mediterranean, we must inflict heavy losses on the Italian Navy as soon as possible. ”

……

"Ensign, ensign, look below, the British fleet is turning!"

Rudolf was awarded an Iron Cross of the 2nd class after the Battle of France. Feng. Ensign Heinsberg-Hersmann's on-board radio was accompanied by the news of Egmont. The voice of Prince Lip Wissenfield.

Now Hesman Jr. was leading a four-plane formation escorting an Fw-200C, and on the sea below his left, a large British fleet was turning.

"Ensign, the British may have to flee, and if the Italian bombers don't come again, they will flee." Prince Lip Wissenfield's voice was a little anxious.

For he and his comrades had been hovering over the head of the British fleet for almost an hour and a half, and there were no Italian planes to bomb them. It is less than 500 kilometers from Taranto, the home port of the Italian fleet, and even closer to the Calabrian Peninsula and Sicily. If it had been German aircraft deployed there, they would have arrived long ago.

"I don't think the Italians will come," Hesman Jr. smiled, "if they were as serious as we are, the world war would be over!" ”

"So what do we do? Do you watch them slip out from under your nose? ”

"Now we'll have to follow them," said Hersman Jr., "and we'll be back in half an hour, when another four Fokker Zeros and one Fw-200 will take our place." He thought for a moment and then said, "I think there will be a sea battle tonight and tomorrow day, and then we will show our skills." The G.50 of the Italians was completely useless, and their fleet was only escorted by our 12 Fokker Zeros. (To be continued.) )