Zhang Jun also understood the desperate situation that Rommel was in, and hurriedly abandoned the trivial matter of the position of the German Equipment Department, and rushed to Sicily, Italy, at this time Sicily had two or three SS division-level troops, but Zhang Jun did not plan to play the Tunisian direction to add troops, Zhang Jun had this self-confidence, although Rommel had 100,000 SS troops in his hands, and at the same time had to defend Tunisia City and Tunisian ports, other Zhang Jun did not dare to say that the 100,000 SS troops commanded by Rommel could hold these two places for a month, In the current Rommel, there was no shortage of supplies, thanks to the Italian troops who went to the British and American prisoner of war camps to enjoy their blessings.

Rommel was a small burden, but the burden of Britain and the United States was heavy, and there was more than 200,000 yuan of idle food in vain, according to General Patton's words:

"These Italians, they're just stupid pigs, raising them is just a waste of food, and I really want to drive them all to the Mediterranean to feed the sharks."

……

It is only 2,000 kilometers for the German SS troops to be transferred to Sicily in Italy from all over the place, and the US ** team is going to land in North Africa, it is not far away, and Britain will be slightly faster than the German SS troops, but if all the SS troops land in North Africa, even if all the British troops are transferred to North Africa, it will not be Zhang Jun's opponent.

The head of the British Commonwealth, Windsor, urgently convened a royal meeting, and the head of Windsor put forward an unbelievable battle plan, that is, to raid the Italian naval base - Taranto, waiting for Zhang Jun to sleep for almost a year, Windsor, who knew deeply the strong combat effectiveness of the German SS army, and their commander-in-chief was a strategist, and Zhang Jun's subordinates, such as Rommel, were tacticians, and in order to try their best to prevent the SS from landing on a large scale in North Africa, it was necessary to destroy the Italian navy. Let them have no fleet and transport ships to provide Zhang Jun with a fleet to cross the sea and escort the sea.

Windsor's strategy once again directly pinched Zhang Jun's testicles, what can you Zhang Jun's army do in the Caspian Sea, you can only see the scenery in Sicily, there is no ship and fleet to send your troops to North Africa, is it really "the most poisonous woman's heart", wrong, Windsor weaving is for the British Empire, as the head of the British Commonwealth, Windsor must restrain his personal emotions, in fact, every night Windsor dreams of Zhang Jun, and then is awakened by shouting.

Churchill, as the prime minister and concurrently the British naval secretary, Churchill, who had a bit of strategic vision, was also impressed by Windsor's strategic concept, and hurriedly ordered the navy to formulate a specific battle plan.

The background of the battle was the defeat and surrender of France, the British navy, which had lost its allies, and the SS SS was about to arrive in Sicily, Italy, on a large scale, preparing to land in North Africa, and the British navy had to face the Italian navy in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the same time. The main force of the Italian navy is based in the port of Taranto in the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula, and it has sea control in the central Mediterranean. Taranto faces the vast Eastern Mediterranean, and shares the throat of the Mediterranean with Sicily. With its superior geographical advantages, the Italian navy could advance and retreat freely, and it also attacked the British convoy in the Mediterranean at any time, making the logistical supply of the British army fighting in Egypt difficult.

Based on the above two reasons, Windsor, the head of the British Commonwealth, formulated a campaign plan for sea supremacy in the Mediterranean, and the British Admiralty Sir Alexander implemented it. Commander of the Italian Navy, Inigo? Campuoni, on the other hand, adopted a strategy of sticking to the defense and waiting for an opportunity to attack, and stationed the main force of the fleet in the port of Taranto in peacetime, and once a fighter plane was found, he immediately attacked, and left after the fight, never entangled. Commander of the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, Andrew? Admiral Cunningham had planned to adopt the tactics of luring the snake out of the hole, and sent several destroyers and merchant ships out to sea in an attempt to lure out the main ships of the Italian Navy and then catch them all. But the scheming Campuoni always kept the door closed and hung up the "no battle card". For several days, Cunningham could not find any warplanes, but a large force of the SS SS was about to reach Sicily.

At one point, the Führer of Windsor gave a specific strategy, and Windsor ordered the British Navy to take the initiative and attack Taranto. Cunningham finally decided to surprise the main force of the Italian Navy stationed in the port of Taranto with carrier-based aviation. He made this decision on the basis that: in the Mediterranean, the British Navy was inferior to the Italian Navy in terms of the number and tonnage of ships, but the UK had 2 aircraft carriers; Although the Italian Navy had fast warships and long gun range, it was known as the "cardboard fleet" due to its weak armor protection; Although the air force provides air cover and support, after all, it is inconvenient for the two branches of the military to coordinate, and in fact air supremacy is in the hands of the British army.

On the eve of the air raid, the British reconnaissance aircraft took back pictures of the port of Taranto. In addition to Taranto's tight defenses and the sheer number of warships, a series of small, evenly spaced white dots in the photographs caught the attention of intelligence officers: Could it be a problem with the printing? Or is there a stain on the camera lens? No, the stain won't be so regular! They eventually decided that it was to block the balloon. These balloons are tethered with steel cables, and when the aircraft enters at low altitude, it is likely to hit the steel cables, cut the wings, and cause the plane to be destroyed and killed. This method was used by the British in response to the Luftwaffe's bombing of London. Now, the Italians have also learned. Taranto Base Commander Arturo? General Ricardi was very pleased with the defensive measure of setting up the blocking balloon. He patted his chest many times and assured the superior officials who came to inspect: "My Taranto is solid!" Firepower, lighting, and blocking are all networked, and no plane will want to get in!" Cunningham's decision to surprise Taranto with carrier-based air forces required a certain amount of courage. The British carrier-based aircraft were mainly "Sailfish" torpedo aircraft, which were old aircraft with a speed of only 138 knots. The distance between the barrage balloons set up by the Italian army was about 270 meters, and during the day the planes could still fly between the tethered steel cables, but at night, the steel cables could not be seen by the moonlight alone. In this regard, the British army quickly modified 30 torpedo planes to make the endurance fully meet the operational needs, and several of them were hung with flares and bombs, so that they could drop flares on the east coast of the port to illuminate the target, and then bomb the port facilities, and let the torpedo "Sailfish" planes directly attack from the southwest and northwest. In addition, a group of experienced pilots were carefully selected by Lieutenants Williamson and Hale of the British Navy to conduct intensive night ultra-low-altitude attack training. They also activated the magnetic torpedo, which had just been developed, and rendered the anti-mine nets carefully set up by the Italian army useless.

At noon on January 9, 1940, General Cunningham led an aircraft carrier group from Alexandria and marched westward. In order to conceal the combat attempt, the British escort fleet, in addition to maintaining normal strength and cruising routes, also made frequent movements in the Strait of Gibraltar, far from the theater of operations, to distract the attention of the Italian troops. At this time, General Riccardy knew nothing about the actions of the British army. It's not that he doesn't want to know, but there is no way, because he doesn't have a single plane in his hands that can be used. According to the regulations of his superiors, he was only responsible for the defense of the bases, and the air force was responsible for reconnaissance of the far seas. And Mussolini, the supreme commander of the Italian army, once asserted that the Italian Navy does not need its own aircraft, and it is enough to coordinate the sea and air when it starts a war. But he forgot a very important point, that is, no matter how good coordination on the battlefield is, it cannot replace unified command.

On the 10th, the Italian naval command received reconnaissance reports from the air force: the British aircraft carrier fleet had left Alexandria and was heading west. General Campuoni immediately informed the fleet stationed at the port of Taranto to prepare for battle, but aerial reconnaissance in the early morning of the next day denied the report. For several days, the war room was filled with a jumble of contradictory information, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake. At 20:30 on the 11th, the British aircraft carrier group quietly appeared in waters about 170 nautical miles southeast of the Italian coast. At the sound of an order, Major Williamson led 12 fighters off the ship and launched the first wave of attacks. Uninvited guests from afar soon shattered the tranquility of Taranto. A sound listening station reports: Hears the sound of an airplane. Ricardi immediately ordered the alarm. The port of Taranto suddenly became dark, people hurried into the bomb shelter, and the ships in the harbor hurriedly prepared to lift anchor and evacuate.

The anti-aircraft guns on the eastern hill of the harbor may have lost control due to the gunner's nervousness, and a string of tracer projectiles was fired into the night sky. But soon, everything calmed down. After 10 minutes, the alarm is lifted. Soon the sirens sounded again, and later calm returned. At about 10 p.m., residents and soldiers who had just fallen asleep were woken up by the third alarm. While the people were still cursing the prank after prank, the sound of the plane's engines had grown louder and louder, and the group soon flew over Taranto. Italian anti-aircraft guns hurriedly fired. Two British planes dropped flares outside the barrier to stop the balloons. The flares are suspended high in the air by small parachutes, reflecting the entire military port as bright as day. It was also the signal to order the Sailfish aircraft to carry out a dive attack. Under the light of strong flares, British planes shuttled flexibly between the tethered steel cables that blocked the balloons, and the bombs were accurately dropped on the targets.

Braving the dense anti-aircraft fire of the Italian army, British Captain Williamson flew swiftly between two blocking balloons, swept over the breakwater at low altitude, and dropped torpedoes on the Italian battleship "Cavour". A large hole was blown open on the side of the ship, and sea water poured in. Williamson was hit by anti-aircraft fire as he withdrew from the attack and plunged headlong into the sea. But the two planes that followed arrived in time and finally blew up and sank the "Cavour". At this time, the port of Taranto was full of skyrocketing fires and violent explosions, like a hornet's nest that had been stabbed.

Italy did not expect that a storm last week destroyed more than 60 of the 90 balloons, let alone that British pilots would be able to shuttle freely between steel cables. Although all 21 anti-aircraft artillery batteries of the Italian army opened fire, most of the soldiers were not trained in night combat and could not even catch their targets. What made Ricardi even more angry was that after the first wave of British planes left, the anti-aircraft guns were still firing aimlessly, as if to bid farewell to the triumphant enemy. Thinking that the attack had passed, Ricardi picked up the phone and prepared to report the situation to the naval command. He didn't expect the alarm to sound for the fourth time.

…… (To be continued.) )