January 16, 1941, 1:30 a.m., Mediterranean.

Italian combat fleet, flagship, battleship "Veneto".

The sky full of stars reflected in the sea, and the bright moonlight sprinkled on the giant battleship of more than 40,000 tons, but the battleship itself did not have any lights to shine through, and it vaguely looked like an island breaking the waves in the night.

Inside the bridge, Admiral Kompioni was holding the battle report he had just received, his eyes glazed out.

The battle report is only two short lines:

The aircraft carrier "Eagle", the aircraft carrier "Sparrowhawk", and the heavy cruiser "Zara" sank!

The headquarters of the "aircraft carrier fleet" has been transferred to the heavy cruiser "Bora", and the whole fleet is currently retreating to the port of Taranto.

Now there are no aircraft carriers in Italy! The corners of Admiral Campioni's mouth twitched, and it seemed that a victory was about to turn into a draw - the British lost one aircraft carrier and two battleships, and the Italians lost all two!

If Italy had an aircraft carrier, it would have been a big victory in today's battle, after all, a Nelson-class and another British battleship had been heavily damaged and would have to be repaired for at least a few months, and the landing in Malta was going very well.

In the next 3 months, the British Mediterranean Fleet had at its disposal a maximum of four battleships, none of which could be compared with the "Veneto" class, and Malta, a stronghold that could spy on the Italian fleet, was also lost. As long as Italy had one aircraft carrier, the fleet would be able to advance along the coast of North Africa, seeking another decisive battle near British-occupied Tubruk (Tubruk, now a British supply port for the attack on Benghazi).

With 2 "Veneto" class and 4 old battleships that have undergone extensive modifications, the Italian Navy is sure to win the decisive battle of the fleet. As long as the sea control is won...... Then with or without the help of the Germans, Italy would have been able to seize North Africa and then march into the Middle East!

This is the real revival of the Roman Empire! The world of the Roman Empire had to be fought by the Romans themselves, and it was the Holy Roman Empire with the help of the Germanic people......

But now both aircraft carriers have sunk, and the air power, with German aircraft as the main force, has shown its might, knocking out 2 enemy battleships and 1 aircraft carrier, and shooting down at least 300 aircraft!

Under these circumstances, if the Italians still wanted to continue the war, there was only one way - to hug the Germans tightly on their thighs and beg them to send more Fokker Zeros, Ju88s, and Panzer Divisions to the Mediterranean theater. Shore-based aircraft were used instead of carrier-based aircraft to protect the Italian-Benghazi and Italian-Tubruk transport lines, while armored forces were used to run them all the way along the North African coastline to Alexandria and the Suez Canal.

In this process, the Italian army, including the navy, could only give the Germans a hand, and the attack could not defeat a Roman Empire in any way......

Just when Admiral Campioni felt that the prospect of a great revival of the Roman Empire was slim, hurried footsteps came from behind.

"Admiral, the radar has found the target, which is less than 20 kilometers away from us and is moving slowly!"

This news suddenly made the air in the bridge tense, and Admiral Kompioni hurriedly asked: "How many ships are there?" Is the shelling formation ruled out? ”

"At the moment, only 4-5 ships have been found, and from the analysis of radar signals, they did not put out an artillery formation, but moved eastward at a speed of about 5 knots."

"4-5 ships? Only about 5 knots? ”

Admiral Cumpioni was stunned, "The main force of the British fleet left the heavily damaged warships and ran away first?" ”

"Probably right?" Major General Baroni frowned and said, "They should have disbanded the formation." ”

"But what about the Nelson-class?" Admiral Campioni said, "Could it be that the British have repaired it?" ”

It is possible that other ships will be abandoned, but it is impossible for this "Nelson" class battleship to be abandoned. Because this battleship was the only one in the Mediterranean that Britain could fight against two battleships of the "Veneto" class. Even if the boat is beaten halfway, as long as it can float on the water, it is a huge threat.

If this ship is lost, unless another Nelson-class or a King George V class is obtained from the mainland, the "Queen Elizabeth" and "Revenge" classes of the British Mediterranean Fleet will have to go around the Italian fleet forever.

"Perhaps a trap," said Rear Admiral Baronny, "the search distance of the seabeat radar is only twenty or thirty kilometers, and the British fleet may be lurking even farther away." ”

"Humph!" Admiral Compioni snorted coldly, "This couldn't be better, just in time to take out a few British battleships tonight!"

Order all teams to prepare, charge after 10 minutes, and fire within 10,000 meters of the target! ”

……

On the battleship "War Weathiness", Admiral Cunningham was also in a daze with a copy of the war report. This battle report lists the losses of various squadrons of the British Air Force and Naval Aviation that participated in the battle.

The losses are terrible!

298 fighters were shot down or missing (more than 400 were mentioned earlier, and there were not so many British sorties)! This is not the most terrible thing, there is no plane to build, it can be "leased" from American friends. What was really terrible was the loss of the crew, since the air battles took place mainly at sea, and some of the fierce battles were fought over the Italian fleet. Therefore, it was very difficult for the downed pilot to be rescued...... According to statistics, 948 crew members (including pilots, navigators, machine gunners, bombardiers, etc.) are now missing or confirmed dead!

Among them were at least 84 pilots of carrier-based aircraft - the carrier-based aircraft groups that took off from the aircraft carriers Radiance and Ark Royal were all wiped out! Although it succeeded in sinking two Italian aircraft carriers, the cost was too high.

These are carrier-based pilots! It is not so easy to replenish elite pilots who have been selected from the entire RAF and RAF and RAF and have undergone rigorous training.

In the previous Battle of the Azores (Scharnhorst) and the Battle of Calabria, British carrier-based pilots had already suffered heavy losses. And this time it lost more than 100 people (the pilots of the carrier-based aircraft of the Eagle also lost 16 people). Although the Mediterranean Fleet now has two aircraft carriers, there are only 30 pilots left for carrier-based aircraft, and they are all Spitfire fighter pilots......

"Admiral, the radar has spotted the enemy fleet!" Rear Admiral Krachley suddenly shouted, breaking the breathless inhibition in the "War Weathiness" Commander Tower.

Cunningham also perked up. In the current naval battle, the Mediterranean Fleet has so far lost, the "Sovereign", "Lorraine" and "Eagle" have been sunk, the "Rodney" and "Resolve" have been severely damaged, and so many planes and pilots have been lost.

The superiority in the Mediterranean had actually gone to Germany and Italy, and if it was not possible to repel the pursuing Italian fleet while it was dark now, then the "Rodney" and "Determination" would also be lost.

In this way, the Mediterranean Fleet exchanged four battleships and one aircraft carrier plus more than four hundred aircraft for two aircraft carriers of the Italians.

That's a loss of money!

"Prepare for battle!" Cunningham took a breath, a cold glint in his eyes, "Be sure to teach the Italians a lesson you'll never forget!" Beat them up! ”

……

"Boom ......"

With two dull roars, two flares slowly fell from the sky, emitting dazzling light like two small suns, illuminating a huge battleship on the sea, and in the white light, you can clearly see the two formidable turrets belonging to the battleship's tall mast, and the muzzles of the four black holes are pointing at the sea to the west.

"It's a battleship!" The sound of surprise sounded in the command tower of the battleship "Veneto".

"It's revenge!" It was not long before someone recognized the ship type, which was a battleship of the "Revenge" class, although it was at the bottom of the battleship force of the British Royal Navy. But eight 15-inch guns and a displacement of 30,000 tons make them formidable and formidable weapons.

"Fire!"

With the order of Admiral Campioni, the six 381mm guns in the bow of the battleship "Veneto" let out an angry roar. Almost at the same time, the main guns of the bow of the other five Italian battleships that were advancing in parallel with the "Veneto" were also fired. Shells rained down on the "Revenge" class battleship just 10,000 meters away, and only two salves from the bow fired a straddle fire, and a huge column of water rose around the battleship.

"Boom, boom......"

Suddenly, in the darkness, there was a string of cannon flames, which were fired by the "Revenge"-class battleship. Then there were several dazzling balls of light, which lit up from the rear of the two "Veneto"-class battleships advancing side by side, enveloping the two huge Italian battleships in a dazzling light.

"It's two 'Veneto' class! They're the goal! Ready to fire......"

About 5000 meters east of the battleship "Resolve" of the "Revenge" class, the British Vice Admiral Somerville shouted loudly in the command tower of his battleship "Rodney".

His non-turn-signal battleship was now facing west on the port side, and its nine 16-inch guns were all aimed at it.

And less than 8,000 meters behind the "Rodney", there were 4 battleships of the "Queen Elizabeth" class that formed a column and sailed quickly to the west!

This was the trap carefully set by Cunningham, using the battleship "Resolve" and a few wounded cruiser destroyers to lure the Italian battleships closer to open fire, and then finding two "Veneto" class ships according to the muzzle flame, and then concentrating fire on sinking two or one of them!

By sinking only one "Veneto" class, the Mediterranean Fleet will be able to reverse the current unfavorable situation. (To be continued.) )