"The 'Battle of France' of which General Weygand spoke is now over. I expected the 'Battle of Britain' to begin. …… So let us be brave enough to assume our responsibilities, and let us be so brave that after 1,000 years of the British Empire and its Commonwealth, people may also say: 'This is their most glorious moment.'" ’”

British Prime Minister Winston. Churchill sat in the haunted (legendary, but Churchill never seen) pillar hall at 10 Downing Street, speaking to an American-made Shure microphone. It was another inspirational speech, just like the previous ones. But Churchill himself was now in a very heavy mood, because the French delegation had signed an armistice (just an armistice) in Geneva.

This means that the Battle of France has come to an end...... However, this was not the reason for his heavy heart, and he was not very worried about the Battle of Britain right now. Because there was no indication that the Germans were preparing to invade Britain, they did not even send a large number of planes to drop bombs on British soil, and there were only a small number of night harassment air raids, which were carried out in retaliation for the night harassment of British planes.

In addition, the German government, through the League of Nations, invited Britain to send peace negotiators to Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss armistices and peace treaties...... According to the leaflets that the Germans threw in London every day (most of the night air raids were throwing paper bullets), Germany only wanted a rough restoration of the European pattern of 1914, so as long as Britain agreed to abolish the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Treaty of Trianon, the Treaty of Sèvres and the Treaty of Lausanne, the war would be over, and Germany would also welcome Britain to join the European Community.

Although Qiu Fatzi did not believe in "Britain and Germany, coexistence and common prosperity", he also believed that as long as Britain was willing to abolish those treaties, Germany would happily cease the war...... And there are many people in Britain who advocate an armistice with Germany, including a former king, the Duke of Windsor! This is what makes Qiu Fatzi's heart heavy.

In addition, there was another thing that also weighed Qiu Fatzi's heart, and that was that the French agreed to leave their fleet in Toulon. This meant that Germany might be able to negotiate them - Churchill did not believe that the French would scuttle their own fleet for the benefit of Britain!

As the speech ended, Churchill stood up on his desk as the microphone was turned off by the secretary at 10 Downing Street, and then hobbled to the cabinet room. In the cabinet room, Minister of the Navy Alexander and First Sea Secretary Admiral Pound both greeted their prime ministers with solemn faces.

"How is Sir Cunningham going to fight?" Churchill asked.

Sir Cunningham was the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, and dealing with the French fleet in the port of Toulon was what he was going to do now.

"An air attack," replied Admiral Pound, "it will be a surprise attack!" ”

"Surprise attack?" Churchill asked rhetorically, "The port of Toulon seems to have been heavily guarded for a long time, right?" ”

"Yes," said Pound, "not only did the French have D.520 fighters, but the Germans also deployed a large number of Fokker Zeros in Ronaya, ready to support the port of Toulon." ”

After the signing of armistice treaties between France and Germany and Italy, such support was entirely possible. If necessary, it is also possible that the Italian Air Force will send aircraft to support Toulon.

"Then our air strikes will still be successful?" Churchill furrowed his brow. Now the Royal Navy does not have a "Sea Spitfire", and their best fighter is the F2A. Although it is also very advanced, the battle with the Fokker Zero on the European continent turned out very badly, and it is not an opponent at all. And this kind of aircraft can't beat the BF-109, and it certainly can't beat the D.520 that can compete with the BF-109.

"Prime Minister, Sir Cunningham will not send F2A." "He's going to fly 48 Swordfish planes from the Ark Royal and 24 from the Emerald," Pound said...... They're going to launch a night attack! ”

"What?" Churchill was taken aback, "Night raid? Take-off from an aircraft carrier? How is this possible? ”

It's incredible! In this day and age, tactical bombing is carried out almost always during the day. Not to mention that this attack will also be launched from an aircraft carrier - it is already difficult to take off from an aircraft carrier at night, and to go back and play the night landing of an aircraft carrier is simply an acrobatic game.

"Prime Minister," Sir Pound said to Churchill with great pride at this time, "except for the Royal Naval Aviation, there is no other country in the world where the pilots of the naval aviation are capable of taking off and landing at night, seeking the enemy at night, and attacking at night!" So it's an unexpected surprise and we're sure to succeed! ”

Churchill breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said, "Well, I am now going to make one of the most painful and cruel decisions of my life...... Let's hope our French friends won't hate us for too long. ”

……

When Churchill was determined to deal brutally with his former ally France, three Sean "Sunderland" seaplanes (a four-engine large seaplane) that took off from the island of Malta burst into the heavily guarded port of Taranto from an altitude of 5,000 meters under the cover of clouds. Since neither the port of Taranto nor the Italian ships in the harbor were equipped with radars, the sirens in the harbor did not sound until a formation of 3 large seaplanes suddenly appeared over the Italian fleet.

The air strikes by three British seaplanes were inconclusive, as the Italians had deployed at least 100 anti-aircraft guns in the port of Taranto, as well as Cr.42 and G.50 fighters in the air for direct cover, and anti-aircraft blocking balloons around the port. So the British Sean "Sunderland" seaplane just dropped a few tons of bombs at an altitude of 3,000 meters, and then pulled to an altitude of 5,000 meters and quickly fled with the help of cloud cover.

However, the air raid launched by three seaplanes was not pure harassment, but a fire reconnaissance that attracted the attention of the Italians. On the way back from the three Sean "Sunderland" seaplanes, a telegram about the situation in the port of Taranto was sent to the battleship "War Weyware", the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, anchored in Alexandria, Egypt.

"Sir, the main force of the Italians is in Taranto." The chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet looked at the telegram copy and said to Cunningham, "Two 'Count Cavour' class and two aircraft carriers are there. ”

At this time, two "Duirio" class ships were still being modernized. None of the "Veneto" class entered service, so the "powerful" Italian Navy had only two battleships at its disposal. However, these two battleships of the "Count Cavour" class, which underwent extensive modernization in 1933-1937, were very difficult to deal with. They reached speeds of up to 28 knots, faster than any battleship currently in service with the Mediterranean Fleet. Their two triple and two twin 320mm turrets were also formidable enough to defeat British battleships armed with 14-inch and 15-inch guns, but if the Ark Royal and the Radiance had not been careful to encounter them in the evening, they might have been sunk.

Although the two aircraft carriers were of course protected by battleships, it was always reassuring for the Italian battleships to lie still in the port of Taranto.

And the two aircraft carriers of the Italians, "Aquila" and "Sparrowhawk", were also very troublesome. According to intelligence, the Italians armed their aircraft carriers with two-seater G.50bis A/N fighter-bombers. Although this kind of aircraft cannot deal with the F2A Buffalo, it will still make Rear Admiral Lister, the commander of the aircraft carrier formation of the Mediterranean Fleet, fearful.

"Great," Cunningham sighed softly, "the Italian fleet is not dispatched, and the French fleet cannot be dispatched, and now there is only the fleet of our Royal Navy in the whole Mediterranean. ”

However, Cunningham's face was still full of worry, because France had two Richelieu-class ships about to enter service, while Italy had two Vittorio. The "Veneto" class is to be put into service. If these 4 super-battleships had become accomplices of the Germans, then the British Mediterranean Fleet would probably have a hard time.

Therefore, the only chance for the British Mediterranean Fleet is to deal a fatal blow to the French and Italian fleets in the Mediterranean before these 4 giant ships are put into active service!

But why hasn't London given the order to start the operation? Do they still have illusions about the French?

"Sir, a telegram from the Admiralty!"

While Sir Cunningham was anxiously waiting, the fleet's communications staff officer shouted, "Ballista operations begin!" ”

……

"Major General, Ballista Operation Begins!"

In the command tower of the aircraft carrier "Brilliant", located in the western Mediterranean, in the waters near the Balearic Islands, the commander of the L fleet, Rear Admiral Lister, finally waited for the order to start Operation Ballista.

"Okay," Rear Admiral Lister looked up at the clock hanging from the bulkhead, it was 4:40 p.m. "We're going to the X position now, we have to be in place by 7:30 p.m., the first attack wave will be dispatched at 7:45 p.m., and the attack will be launched at 11 p.m.!"

After speaking, his eyes swept around the command tower, and everyone knew that it was the French fleet that was going to bomb this time, so the morale did not look very high. "This is a difficult mission, not only dangerous, but also against our former allies," said Major General Lister. But for the sake of the Empire, I still hope that everyone will do their duty! (To be continued.) )