"Boom ......"

A huge flame rose from the bow of the light cruiser "Sydney", and one of the main gun turrets was suddenly reduced to smithereens, and if it were not for the fire door of the ammunition depot tightly closed, the cruiser belonging to the Australian Navy (in fact, part of the British Royal Navy) would have sunk to the bottom of the sea.

"Admiral, the Sydney has been hit by another bomb......"

"Neptune reported that the stern was punctured by a bomb that exploded in the engine room and that Neptune was completely de-powered......"

"It's the Orion Light Patrol deck that caught fire......"

"Admiral, they are attacking our light cruisers, they are trying to ......" Looking at the periphery of the anti-aircraft formation, light cruisers were hit by bombs one after another, and the chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, Rear Admiral Krachley, had already guessed a little about the opponent's intentions.

"Looks like we're going to have a tough fight tonight."

Cunningham shook his head, he was well aware that the Italian fleet was catching up with him, and if nothing else there would be an artillery battle tonight. He had only 4 intact battleships in his hands, while the opponent had 6 intact battleships, including 2 powerful "Veneto" class! This class of battleships is a cutting-edge in 39 or 40 years, and it is definitely a "default ship" with excessive protection and tonnage!

And according to reliable intelligence, the battleships of the Italians were also equipped with German-supplied radars, although the quality of the German radars may be inferior to the 279 radars, but they are not far behind. Therefore, in tonight's night battle, it is impossible for the Mediterranean Fleet to win, so it can only ask for a safe retreat.

And to retreat, then the role of light cruisers and destroyers cannot be ignored. In particular, the light cruisers of the Mediterranean Fleet followed radar, and the cruisers of the Italians were mostly without radar.

But now the Germans dive bombers are constantly dropping bombs on the light cruisers, which will make the Mediterranean fleet lose its last trump card tonight......

"Admiral, disband the fleet after dark......" Rear Admiral Krachley suggested in a low voice.

Disbanding the fleet would at least ensure that some of the "legging" ships would be able to escape, but the "Rodney" and "Determination", which had already suffered heavy losses, would probably be a big deal.

Cunningham glanced at Rear Admiral Krachley, "Do you think the Rodney and Resolve are going to be saved?" ”

Cratchley nodded a little sadly, "The rudder of the Rodney was damaged, and its speed dropped to 15 knots, so it couldn't run away at all. ”

The rudder is gone, and it doesn't have to be able to escape, as long as there are other ships to help change course. But such a ship could not fight, especially since the Rodney had no main guns in the stern and all the secondary guns were blown up. In this case, it only takes a destroyer to release a torpedo from behind the butt of the Rodney to sink it!

Cunningham smiled bitterly, "That's the Rodney!" He sighed, "Let's make one last effort!" ”

"How hard do you try?"

"It may," Cunningham said, "that we can set up an ambush for the enemy......

……

"Air raids! Torpedo machine! ”

A non-commissioned officer at the lookout post of the "Eagle" aircraft carrier, who was twisting left and right to make an S-shaped maneuver to avoid the bombs falling from a high altitude, suddenly let out a scream of horror.

Because he saw an unbelievable scene, I don't know when dozens of planes suddenly appeared on the sea! Through the telescope, he noticed that at the forefront were some very clumsy-looking biplanes. The experienced lookout sergeant knew that these low-flying biplanes must have torpedoes, they must have been British torpedo bombers like the "Swordfish" planes!

"Biplane torpedo plane!?" Anzu. When Admiral Aquino heard this, his mouth opened and he could put his fist in it.

"Aircraft carriers! The aircraft carriers of the British are nearby! "Anzu. Admiral Aquino had already reacted, "But where are they hiding?" ”

"Admiral, hurry up and recall the Fokker Zero!" Already the staff officer reacted, "The torpedo machine must be blocked, otherwise the aircraft carrier will be finished!" ”

The "Eagle" and "Sparrowhawk" are not the "Zeppelin" class that the Germans are building, and they have a solid mine-resistant compartment and an anti-sinking design (a waterproof compartment at the bottom), and it will not be a big problem to take a few aviation torpedoes. These two Italian aircraft carriers were converted from cruise ships, which are the foundation of cruise ships, and there are no mine protection compartments at all, and a single torpedo can cause fatal damage......

"Quickly give the order to the Fokker planes and let them ...... at all costs" Anzu. Admiral Aquino suddenly gritted his teeth, "Keep the USS Eagle at all costs!" Let all the Fokker planes protect the Eagle! ”

"Admiral, what about the Sparrowhawk?"

Anzu. Admiral Aquino said with a straight face: "In order to revive the Roman Empire, Italy must have an aircraft carrier...... And the sacrifice of the Sparrowhawk and its crew will forever be remembered by the descendants of the New Roman Empire! ”

When the Italian naval officers in the command tower of the "Eagle" heard this, they all looked at Admiral Aquino with admiration - the admiral is an admiral in the end, that is, he has a level.

The admiral's order was quickly transmitted by radio to the German pilots who were killing in the air, Hersmann Jr.

Although Germany's 9th Carrier-based Aircraft Group was a newly formed unit, the pilots were all "old birds" who had flown carrier-based aircraft, and each of them had more than two shot down. Their technology was not at all comparable to that of the British Air Force pilots flying the P-39 on Crete, and their Fokker Zero was far superior to the P-39. So the P-39 fighters and Blenheim bombers that flew from Crete were slaughtered one-sidedly, and more than 30 were shot down in less than 20 minutes! If it weren't for the small number of Fokker Zeros, they would have been wiped out long ago.

After receiving the order to defend the aircraft carrier Eagle, Hersman Jr. and his comrades did not have the slightest affection for the battle, and all of them left behind the P-39 and Blenheim light bombers, which had been killed and disarmed, and gathered around the "Eagle" aircraft carrier.

Lieutenant Colonel Williamson, who served as the commander-in-chief of the carrier-based aircraft attack formations of the "Ark Royal" and the "Brilliant", also discovered at this time that all the Fokker Zeros were concentrated on protecting an aircraft carrier.

Although he did not understand the intention of a certain Italian admiral to make the right decision at a critical moment, he immediately ordered all 60 torpedo planes to deal with the Sparrowhawk, which was not protected by the Fokker Zero.

The first wave of the attack was launched by six "big mackerel" planes led by Lieutenant Commander Williamson, who dropped torpedoes less than 1,500 meters from the "Sparrowhawk" and the two destroyers guarding it, braving the modest anti-aircraft fire fired by the Sparrowhawk and the two destroyers guarding it. The Sparrowhawk desperately writhed on the surface of the sea to evade and dodged five torpedoes, but one still hit its amidships, tearing a crack several meters wide. Hundreds of tons of seawater poured in, but for an aircraft carrier converted from a cruise ship of more than 20,000 tons, this is not an immediate fatal damage.

The second and third waves of torpedo attacks were launched a few minutes later, and three more torpedoes hit the starboard side of the Sparrowhawk, one of which also broke the engine room. At this time, the Sparrowhawk began to tilt at a speed that could be detected by the naked eye, and in less than five minutes, it tilted more than 15 degrees to the right, and even part of the bottom of the ship was exposed.

"Admiral, the captain of the Sparrowhawk has requested to abandon the ship......"

Hearing the staff officer's report, Anzu. Admiral Aquino gritted his teeth, he knew that the "Sparrowhawk" was finished!

Originally, he thought that the Sparrowhawk could support it for a little longer, at least for an hour, so that the BF-110 and Fw-190 that took off from Sicily would arrive......

"Permission to abandon the ship!" Anzu. Aquino gritted his teeth and said, "Cheer everyone up, now it's up to us to support ourselves!" ”

……

"God, I'm not mistaken, am I? The Sparrowhawk is sinking! ”

I don't know whose voice suddenly sounded in Little Hersman's headphones, and he hurriedly looked in the direction of the "Sparrowhawk", and his heart suddenly tightened. The aircraft carrier, which is more than 20,000 tons, has almost flipped to 90 degrees and will soon sink!

"Don't feed the Sparrowhawk, our mission is to keep the Eagle!" Hersman Jr. turned on the radio and ordered loudly. "Don't pay attention to those Blenheim either, blocking the torpedo machine is the most important thing!"

No sooner had his order been given than a fierce air battle unfolded outside the circle of anti-aircraft fire of the Eagle and several cruisers and destroyers guarding it. The British torpedo planes, of course, did not rush hard, they were too slow and had no hope of breaking through the blockade formed by the Fokker Zero. But the British also have the P-39 and the "Tube-nosed Swallow", although the performance of these two aircraft is not as good as the Fokker Zero, but they are twice as numerous as the Fokker Zero, and now they are rushing up and suddenly fighting with the Fokker Zero. From time to time, planes were shot and fell into the water, and since the exchange of fire took place at a low altitude, the pilots on these downed planes did not even have a chance to parachute out!

"Now, now!" Lieutenant Colonel Williamson again issued an order to the torpedo machine, "Torpedo machine charge!" For the sake of the British Empire, charge! ”

On Williamson's orders, 6 torpedo planes rushed to the anti-aircraft fire net of the Italian aircraft carrier fleet, one was shot down on the spot, and the other 5 successfully dropped torpedoes.

"Torpedo!"

"Shock-proof, ready!"

"Boom ......"

A black shadow like a barracuda slammed into the burly body of the Italian aircraft carrier "Eagle" from under the blue waves, and the huge waves rushed onto the deck, and the hull of nearly 30,000 tons trembled violently, as if it was about to disintegrate in this huge explosion...... (To be continued.) )