On October 20, 1940, the entire campaign began.

In the Bay of Biscay, the German Navy, including four York-class aircraft carriers and five Mackensen-class battleships, had gathered half of the German Navy's surface ship strength, and in addition, more than half of the German submarine force was also using French ports as a base to disrupt British maritime communications.

Britain is also working to strengthen its maritime forces, and with the commissioning of three Tejal-class aircraft carriers and five George V-class battleships, the Royal Navy's surface combat capabilities have been further strengthened.

However, with the entry of the Austro-Hungarian task force into the South Atlantic, most of Britain's maritime links with South America and Africa were cut off, and 90 percent of supplies were now dependent on the North American route.

This makes the British feel very uncomfortable.

United Kingdom, London, Joint Operational Command.

"Now Port Stanley is facing a serious threat, and if we do not send reinforcements at once, it is likely to fall into the hands of the Austrians. According to the information we have just obtained, the Austro-Hungarian fleet, which is currently operating off the coast of West Africa, is likely to turn its attention to South America! "Vice Admiral Mandelrock, Chief of Staff of the Navy, at an operational meeting attended by members of the wartime Cabinet, sharply pointed out the great danger now facing Britain, and the Austrians were systematically severing the ties between the British Empire and the colonies. The strategic intent of the Austro-Hungarian Navy was obvious, specifically looking for weaknesses in the British supply chain for attacks.

This was not a problem when the British Empire was tough, it was enough to find and destroy the enemy's warships. But now, with such a large fleet of two battleships, six aircraft carriers, four heavy cruisers, and a dozen light cruisers, the Royal Navy may need to use all its forces to defeat them.

But is it possible? The German Navy was on the lookout. Two iron pincers were formed in Norway and France, and at the slightest weakening of the British Home Fleet, they would pounce on them, completely cutting off the sea lines that the British Empire regarded as life.

In order to attract the Austro-Hungarian fleet to the Far East to fight the Japanese, the British even transferred the Far East Fleet stationed in Singapore to Australia, and encouraged the Japanese to take advantage of the German occupation of the Netherlands to occupy the entire Dutch East Indies in the name of "protection". Their aim was to keep the Japanese in check on the strength of the Austro-Hungarian navy.

But. While the Japanese stopped moving westward after occupying the Dutch East Indies, the Austro-Hungarian fleet kept circling the coast of Africa, almost the entire coast of Africa.

"There can be no weakening of the defense of the homeland, and what we have lost will be regained sooner or later. The question now is how to get the Americans to go to war as much as they can? Churchill said, "President Roosevelt told us to have a face-to-face meeting, and we needed American help." ”

"The question is how long can we hold out? Perhaps before the United States entered the war, we were already unable to support it. "This continues. We won't last long. ”

"Even if the government retreats to Canada, we must persevere, otherwise, we will lose a qiē!" Churchill said categorically, "Now is the time to organize the withdrawal of members of the royal family and some government agencies to Canada." ”

On October 18, 1940, in the middle of the Mediterranean, in the Gulf of Melia in Malta, almost all the current maritime forces of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, with the exception of the expeditionary fleet, were assembled, including the commander-in-chief of the navy, Hans Fried. Admiral Frankl's flagship "Combined Forces" and six other battleships. Four aircraft carriers, four heavy cruisers, and more than 50 ships of various types.

Lucca, the Second Fleet of the Navy? Admiral Wagner set off with the Second Fleet first, and then Hans? Admiral Frankl and Matt? Admiral Kovacic commanded the main forces of the First Fleet and quietly set sail. Sail to the Western Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, in the port of Taranto, by Angelo? The main force of the Italian Navy's surface fleet led by Admiral Ziano also began to be dispatched, and this fleet included two battleships, including Admiral Ciano's flagship battleship "Vinato", two aircraft carriers "Aquila" and "Saker", converted from merchant ships, four heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and 14 destroyers, a total of 26 ships, which was almost the entire existing surface force of the Italian Navy.

As the first part of the entire Gibraltar campaign. After arriving in the waters near Iberia, the combined Austrian-Italian fleet first sent air power to bomb the Gibraltar airport, first destroying British air power.

At the same time, the Austro-Italian ground forces will first land in Spanish Morocco. After controlling the situation there and occupying the airport, the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Force and the Italian Air Force would be stationed at the Moroccan airfield to carry out a total blockade and bombardment of Gibraltar. Subsequently, the Austrian and Italian armies would land in Malaga, Spain, and launch an attack on Gibraltar.

The ubiquitous British spies soon reported the departure of the Austrian-Italian fleet to the British headquarters at home and in Gibraltar. The British governor in Gibraltar, Gort, judged that the two fleets were most likely coming towards Gibraltar, and he sent a distress telegram to London and ordered all the guards to enter the fortifications and prepare to hold on.

Since the British occupation of Gibraltar in 1704, Mount Gibraltar, which guards the Strait of Gibraltar, has been built into a large, well-fortified fortress. Since Gibraltar was only 13 kilometres at its narrowest point, it was completely within the effective range of the fortified artillery, and any ship passing from Gibraltar would be sunk by the dense fire from the fortified batteries without the permission of the British defenders.

Before the war, the British invested more than 5 million pounds in the new renovation and expansion of the Gibraltar Fortress, of which the tunnels dug in the mountains alone were more than 16 kilometers long, and the entire interior of the three main mountains of Gibraltar was hollowed out to build strong fortifications.

The British garrison in Gibraltar was small in number, just over 12,000 men, but with a strong fortified defense, they were confident that they could hold it completely.

Attacking Gibraltar from the sea was almost impossible, and with the construction of permanent shore defense turrets in the fortifications, armed with 20 15-inch fortified guns and more than 200 heavy guns with a caliber of more than 100 mm, it was impossible for any fleet to withstand such a dense fire strike.

But times are different, and strikes from the air have made any so-called defensive fortresses of humanity a thing of the past.

At Saint-Nazaire, the German fleet began to sortie, cruising along the Spanish coast in the Bay of Biscay, ready to strike and intercept the reinforcements sent by the British. And on the West African coast, Molwitz? Admiral Yankel commanded the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Fleet to move north with all its might, flanking the Strait of Gibraltar on both sides.

Whether to send their home fleet to the rescue, or to preserve their strength, how exactly should the British, who have lost their superiority at sea, choose? (To be continued......) R1292