The mournful sirens sounded throughout the Malemai airport, and the pilots on duty in the pilot's quarters, which had been snoring, quickly woke up. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe pilots, who had not taken off their flight suits, hurriedly picked up their fur hats and rushed out of the dormitory, running towards their respective fighter planes parked at the airport.

The Germans' massive bombing of Crete had been going on for several days, and the warplanes of the Daming Army and Navy, stationed at the airfields on the island, were responding around the clock, and the entire Cretan sky was covered with countless warplanes. The number of aircraft lost by both sides in battle every day is in hundreds.

The air force of the Germans was not comparable to that of the Japanese. Not only in terms of the number and quality of fighters, but more importantly, the technical level of the German pilots was very high, basically on the same level as the well-trained elites of the Ming Dynasty. This is what makes the Ming pilots feel uncomfortable. In a few days of fierce battles, many aces were born on both sides, but there were more pilots who were bloodied.

"Victory!" The ground crew who stood on the wings and fastened the seat belts for Sha Jin made a triumphant gesture to Sha Jin, and then closed the cockpit. Looking at the ground staff who jumped off the plane, Sha Jin took a deep breath. Holding down his intercom, he shouted, "Tiger 001, ready to take off." ”

As the chief ace of Daming Army Airlines, Sha Jin had the right to choose the icon for his flight team after becoming an ace pilot, and he chose Tiger. As the captain of the flight team, Sha Jin is always the first to take off when fighting, and he is always the one who flies first. This is a clear thing in the flight manual of the Army Airlines compiled by Zhang Cheng.

The propellers began to spin at high speed, and the ground crews on the runway evacuated. After receiving the take-off instructions from the tower, Sha Jin released the brakes, stepped on the accelerator, and drove his fighter straight into the blue sky.

After circling in the sky and completing the formation, Sha Jin took his flying team and flew towards the sea in the northwest direction.

On the way, the flight group led by Sha Jin and the flight groups that took off from other airports formed a larger group of fighters, and under the command of the flight commanders, the huge group bathed in the golden glow of the rising sun and greeted the German group flying from Greece.

Another brutal and fierce air battle is about to begin.

The whole world believed that the Germans were about to launch a large-scale attack on Crete. Even the German pilots who parachuted out and were captured said that their troops had been ordered to carry out a preliminary bombing for the attack on Crete. However, only Zhang Cheng, the commander of the North African Theater of the Ming Dynasty, did not believe it.

The staff officers of the Ming Supreme Command and the North African Theater Command have been suggesting to Zhang Cheng all day long that the garrison on Crete should be strengthened as much as possible. Zhang Cheng also pushed the boat, pretending to be constantly sending reinforcements to Crete, but in fact most of the reinforcements were sent to Malta.

In the face of the blockade of Malta by the European coalition forces, Zhang Cheng provided support to Malta at all costs. A large number of warplanes filled up with fuel and flew directly to Malta for a one-way trip, and then entered the battle in Malta. The Daming Mediterranean Fleet also organized the Malta Express Fleet under Zhang Cheng's strict orders, using a large number of light warships to provide supplies and personnel for Malta from Benghazi.

Because both sides were afraid of dealing with the air threat, fierce night battles broke out between the navies of both sides almost every night near the island of Malta. However, at the beginning of December, when the plane battle over Crete was at its peak, large warships of the European coalition suddenly appeared in the waters near Malta to interrupt at night.

......

"Which ships?" In Alexandria's office, Zhang Cheng, as the commander of the theater of operations, was listening to the report of the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet.

"According to the telegram from the front, the other side is suspected of being a large battle cruiser of the Scharnhorst-class and two Admiral-Hipper-class heavy cruisers." Vice Admiral Zhang Pengjie, commander of the Daming Mediterranean Fleet, sighed and said in response.

Yesterday evening a fleet of four destroyers of the Malta Express went to Malta to supply the defenders. Unexpectedly, they encountered a powerful German naval fleet off Valletta, and the four Ming destroyers bravely launched a torpedo charge under heavy artillery fire, but they were all sunk in the end. Hundreds of naval officers and men and a large amount of supplies sank to the bottom of the sea.

Previously, it was because of the fear of attacks from submarines and torpedo boats, as well as the fear of the blow of air power after dawn. It is rare for the European Combined Fleet to send large warships around the vicinity of Malta. However, this incident made Zhang Cheng see something different. He could clearly feel that the attack on Malta was about to begin. The Germans were cutting off the supply routes of the Maltese garrison.

"What are the Navy's plans?" After Zhang Cheng pondered for a moment, he looked up at Zhang Pengjie.

Being able to become the commander of the powerful Ming Mediterranean Fleet, Zhang Pengjie is naturally not an ordinary person. He is the contemporary Duke of the Ming Dynasty and one of the leading figures of the Xungui Group. It's just that because the navy doesn't interfere too much in government affairs, it's relatively low-key.

The British ancestor of the Ming Dynasty was Zhang Fu, a famous general of the Four Expeditions. After Zheng He went to the West to discover the spice islands and large gold mountains, Zhang Fu transferred to the team of large-scale colonization and exploration overseas, and then the Zhang family became a naval family from generation to generation. In Zhang Pengjie's generation, he became the commander of the vice admiral of the Mediterranean Fleet.

"We want revenge!" Zhang Pengjie gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice.

It has always been the Ming Navy that beats others, but at this moment, it has been attacked and ambushed one after another, as the world's No. 1 navy, how can it endure this breath? A battle for revenge is essential.

"I don't know much about naval affairs." Zhang Cheng leaned back on the back of the sofa, crossed his legs, took out a cigarette and lit it, "You can arrange how to do it yourself." ”

"Yes, sir." Although everyone is at the same level, Zhang Cheng's official position is the commander of the North African Theater of Operations, and he belongs to Zhang Pengjie's direct boss. Even if Zhang Pengjie's age and qualifications are higher than Zhang Cheng's, it is useless. Superiors and subordinates are superiors and subordinates.

"Sit." Zhang Cheng motioned for Zhang Pengjie to sit down on the sofa opposite, raised his hand to pick up the cigarette and lighter on the desk and threw it over.

If the Mediterranean Fleet wants to take revenge, it must first obtain the consent of the theater commander. Attacking without a military order is almost impossible in a regular army. The kind in TV series and movies, hehe.

"You are professional, do it yourself. But I have orders for you. After Zhang Cheng took a deep puff of his cigarette, he looked at Zhang Pengjie, "In this operation, you have to cover a fast transport fleet into the port of Valletta." The fleet was loaded with reinforcements and troops for Malta. I don't care what your navy will end up looking like, I want you to assure me that this fast fleet will enter Malta unharmed. The battle loss rate must not exceed 20 percent, otherwise I will replace all the command structures of your Mediterranean Fleet. Do you understand? ”

"Yes! Sir! Zhang Pengjie immediately stood up and gave a standard military salute to Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng didn't want to get too involved in the affairs of the navy, and what he wanted to do now was to provide Malta with as much support as possible to resist the imminent large-scale attack. The significance of holding Malta was much more important than the loss of a few warships by the navy.

"Alright, you go back and prepare. I won't leave you to eat. Zhang Cheng snuffed out his cigarette and got up to see Zhang Pengjie leave.

"It's important to take care of the transport ships and make sure they arrive safely in Malta." Zhang Cheng's meaning was simple, to attract the attention of the European Combined Fleet with the navy, and this transport fleet with unprecedented carrying force quietly entered Malta, which had been blockaded for a long time, for large-scale resupply.

"Yes, sir." Zhang Pengjie nodded heavily.

"......" Zhang Cheng was about to ask something more, when a petite girl wearing a women's military uniform suddenly ran out of the office and looked at Zhang Cheng with a bright smile. Seeing Zhang Cheng talking about things, his cheeks turned red and stuck out his tongue.

"Ahem." Zhang Pengjie also saw it, hurriedly looked away, raised his hand and coughed, nodded and turned to leave. Many people know about Zhang Cheng taking his female dependents to the battlefield, but no one will take the initiative to say anything about this kind of thing.

After seeing Zhang Pengjie leave, the girl approached Zhang Cheng a little cautiously, put her hands in front of her with white fingers interlocked, hung her head slightly, and whispered, "It's time to eat." ”

"Hmm." Zhang Cheng smiled, raised his hand around the girl's shoulder and walked in the direction of the restaurant.

......

On the night of December 7, off the coast of Port Valletta. A fleet of two battle cruisers, four heavy cruisers and a squadron of destroyers, belonging to the Ming Mediterranean Fleet, was heading in the direction of the port of Valletta.

In total, the Ming Navy had only four battlecruisers that had undergone several modernizations, two of which were in the Mediterranean Fleet. With the continuous progress of science and technology, the speed of modern new battleships is getting faster and faster, and the battle cruisers that simply increase the speed and reduce the armor protection force have gradually lost their role, which is also the main reason why the Ming Dynasty no longer builds new battle cruisers. However, the four existing battlecruisers were modernized and refitted, and the Navy eventually saved them.

Like the Super Dreadnought, the battle cruisers of the Ming Navy were also named after the mountains. The two battle cruisers belonging to the First Reconnaissance Fleet of the Mediterranean Fleet were the flagship Qingchengshan and the second ship, Yandangshan. The two sister ships are of the same class and have been in service together for nearly two decades.

Tonight they are here for revenge. If the other party only has one Scharnhorst, then it is dead. Even if the other side came with two, the two sister ships were confident of victory. If the other side comes more, then there is no problem in retreating and leaving at their super high speed.

However, with the tactical thinking of the European Combined Fleet, which advocates the preservation of ships first, it is almost impossible for them to put many large warships into danger. It's just that there are never absolutes in this world. (To be continued.) )