The battle lasted only 20 minutes in the dark of night, and the destroyer formation was apparently confronted by a convoy from Italy to support the Afrika Korps. On the one hand, the pen & fun &www.biquge.info gt; pavilion had to escort and cover the slow duck-like transport fleet, which was restricted everywhere; On the other hand, although they can be regarded as strong soldiers, they have not completely carried forward the Nelsonian brave spirit of "fighting when they see the enemy", and they took the initiative to break away after the meaning of "ping pong".

No way, it's not that Major Tony McNulty and the captain of the "Foresight" and their men are not brave enough, but the safety of the ship's guests comes first. If it were not for the task of transporting the Soviet delegation, the two F-class destroyers would definitely have fought the German fleet in the Mediterranean Sea for three hundred rounds!

Two well-armed high-speed fleet destroyers encountered a flotilla escorted by a maximum of two enemy small destroyers and a few armed tugboats, which was formally superior, and the sailors still feel a little pity to this day.

The British officers had already walked out of the cafeteria, and Leonov also put down the spoon in his hand and said to the members of the group who remained in the cafeteria: "The Spaniards may trouble us, but they will never get along with the British, that Franco is very smart." ”

The major was not nervous at all.

"From neutral to non-belligerent, Franco wanted to leave a way out for himself, and now he declares himself a neutral country, just like acting in a play." Shidorenko scoffed at him, "The Blue Division has been completely wiped out by us, and now it wants to turn back into a neutral country, clown!" ”

Except for Lyudmila, everyone else here participated in the Battle of Minsk, although they did not directly fight the Spanish volunteers, but they directly despised the Spanish army!

Franco sent the "Volunteer Army" to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union last year, not only to meet Hitler's demands and the influence of domestic fascist forces, but also to avenge the support of the Comintern and the Soviet Union for the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War. In order to become famous, Franco declared Spain a "non-belligerent" after the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, abandoning the original position of a "neutral country", but he still left a way back for himself in terms of speech.

"Neutral" and "non-belligerent" are different concepts, and are clearly closer to a "state of war", although Spain has not been truly neutral at all since the outbreak of the war.

Franco's decision was clearly disastrous for Spain, with the troops being wiped out on the Minsk front and the top commanders being captured, putting them at a sudden international disadvantage.

Britain, France, and the United States did not want Spain to join the fascist bloc, and they have even used all kinds of disgraceful compromises and bribes to prevent Spain from completely steering to fascist Germany. But since everyone knows it, they won't find fault with it. After discovering that the Eastern Front was not good, Franco declared Spain a "neutral country" in an attempt to get rid of the negative impact of sending "volunteers" to fight.

"The deputy commander said: Franco is a politician, a fairly successful politician."

Successful politicians live well in the midst of vicissitudes, but Leonov thinks the same thing as his deputy commander-in-chief: "It's just a change of scenery, not lightning and thunder and a torrential downpour"! In the face of absolute strength, all speculative politicians are just clowns, and Spain has long been on the list of "bills" in Lin Jun's heart.

Come out and mix, you always have to pay it back!

The marshal often talked about his time in Spain, and was always proud that he had been a member of the international column, and the sword of the guard hung in the most conspicuous position in the marshal's study. The guards all know that the marshal used his sword to remind himself at all times that the cause of the international column must be inherited, and the blood of his comrades must not be shed in vain!

"Lieutenant, go inform the others and go back to their respective cabins first." Leonov said with Lyudmila.

"Yes, Major."

With that, the lieutenant got up and left.

There is a situation on the sea, and according to the experience of the last night battle, it will only add to the chaos if you are people scurrying around on the ship. Although the British did not say this, Leonov thought it was appropriate to be conscious.

However, others should be aware that Leonov did not include himself: when they left the restaurant, they saw in the aisle that the British sailors were going to their positions. After the major left the cabin, he was about to go to the bridge, and as soon as he looked up, he saw that the port side of the bridge was brightly lit, and the "Fire Dragon" was using the light signal to communicate with the sister ships behind the flanks.

Entering the bridge, McNulty had already taken over the command, "Order the signal corps, inform the Spaniards of our identity." ”

Leonov walked up to the co-captain, and Smith handed him a lookout glasses, "It's in the direction of 11 o'clock, 2 nautical miles."

"Can you see the lights from this distance?"

"Yes, they must be watching us, too."

It stands to reason that destroyers at such a distance should have spotted Spanish patrol ships a long time ago, but there were sometimes Spanish fishing boats in this area, and those fishermen did not seem to care that it was war time - the fishing boats were too small to be "bombarded" by German submarines or British and American aircraft and warships. There are a few small black spots in the far sea, near the coast, which are the small fishing boats of the Spaniards, and there are schools of fish in the bays of this area.

"It's just a patrol ship of about 500 tons, and there is no threat. But the course crosses us, and we want it to give way. ”

Smith said that it was normal.

A moment later, McNulty put down his binoculars, turned to Leonov and said: "They turned, probably a patrol ship from A Coruña to Vigo." ”

Through the telescope, Leonov saw that the opposing patrol ship was turning and gave way - it was customary for the small ship to give way to the big ship, at least the small boat was easy to turn (of course, the destroyer's maneuverability was also first-class. ）。

The nerves of everyone on the bridge relaxed, but after a moment the silence was broken by a shout from the lookout post on the intercom on the bulkhead: "Torpedo! 10 o'clock on the port side, 15 chains away! ”

The sound of the lookout post was sound, but there was no sense of panic - 15 chains, and it was far enough.

"Left full rudder, turbine acceleration to full speed! Sound the battle alarm! McNulty shouted, and the man ran to the port side in a few steps, picked up the binoculars and observed.

The helmsman slammed the wheel, and Smith rang the battle alarm. In the terrible sound of the siren, Leonov felt that the battleship was turning sharply and speeding up!

Four torpedo tracks on the sea were rushing towards their side at high speed, and everyone was nervous. However, Leonov was not worried, he could already see that the two destroyers were able to avoid torpedoes.

The "Foresight" in the rear was also turning, and the battle alarm was also sounded.

The left rudder is full, so that it is easy to launch a counterattack after evasion, and if the right rudder is full, it may enter Spanish territorial waters.

"Attacking two destroyers during the day, this German captain is either a rookie or a madman!"

"Captain, 300 feet deep." The navigator reported aloud.

"Not a rookie, he's a madman!" McNulty said. (To be continued.) )