October 20, 1942, three days after the surrender of the British Eighth Army in Benghazi.

Rommel's German-Italian Afrika Korps and the 3rd and 4th armies of the Han Guards Corps were advancing westward along the Gulf of Sirte.

The Dahan Northern Fleet commanded by Guan Canghai was repaired at the Valletta Naval Base on the island of Malta.

Admiral Cunningham, commander of the C Fleet on the battleship Elizabeth, asked the adjutant beside him from time to time, and for more than two hours he kept asking the same question: "Where have we been?" ”

The retreat plan was successful, well, at least so far.

It is impossible for the huge fleet not to be discovered by the Allied reconnaissance planes, and what Cunningham has to do is to compete with the Allied forces for time. Before they find out, before they can act, lead the whole fleet through the Tunis Channel, return to the western Mediterranean, to Gibraltar, the last fortress on which the sun never sets.

In Tripoli, they did not rest. In the Strait of Gellgan, they crossed the port of Sfax without entering. It was not until in the port of Sousse that a replenishment was carried out. After several days and nights of sailing, the fatigue of the sailors was palpable.

Even the soldiers of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, which was founded on the navy, needed to sleep and set foot on land.

However, this is nothing compared to the safety of the fleet.

Tonight, too, was the most dangerous night, for the C-flotilla, which had left the Gulf of Hamat by night, was to round Cape Tib, less than a hundred nautical miles from Sardinia, the narrowest point in the entire Strait of Tunis, and only fifty nautical miles from the Allied-controlled island of Bantellella.

As long as you bypass Cape Tib and cross the Strait of Jalit, you can sail directly to Algiers, which is absolutely under the control of the multinational force, and even the submarines of the allies dare not enter easily.

However, Cunningham did not dare to bet on whether the radar station on the island of Bantarella had been rebuilt by the Allies. So, instead of risking his way around Cape Tib during the day, he chose to leave the Gulf of Hamat at night, so that he could pass through the most dangerous part of the sea in the early hours of the morning.

Although a large formation bypassing Cape Tibb at night would also cause a lot of trouble for the fleet, ...... "is better than being defeated like the American fleet, right?" ”

Cunningham had an ominous premonition in his heart, with the reconnaissance ability of the Han army, it was impossible that he had not discovered the movements of the C fleet for so many days. But the Allied fleet has been anchored in Valletta without moving, and it seems that they will be satisfied with the harvest of a Maltese island!

But is that possible?

The British admirals had always believed that the Han army would definitely move, and Cape Tib was the best place for them to attack. But unexpectedly, the return of several night reconnaissance aircraft of the British army has been unlikely. "Could it be that the Han Navy is not prepared to launch a continuous attack?"

Cunningham smiled, not even believing the reason himself. However, as long as he bypassed Cape Tib, Cape C would be considered home, so he was very cautious for several hours when the fleet circled Cape Tib, and even did not hesitate to reduce the speed of the fleet, just hoping that the fleet would not be disjointed.

Until the adjutant finally replied to him: "Your Excellency, Commander, our fleet has sailed into the waters of Zombra Island, and the commander of the detachment, Major General Pietersen, has asked the commander whether to go straight around Zombra Island or enter the Gulf of Tunis?" ”

"Coming here? Did we drive past Cape Tib? "Hearing the adjutant's affirmative answer, a hanging heart finally fell halfway." Send electricity to Major General Peterson, go straight! We will return to the harbour of Halgwadi, but not now! His Excellency the Prime Minister's order to us is to lead the soldiers home, back to Gibraltar! ”

Knowing that the fleet had passed Cape Tib, Cunningham suddenly found himself stiff even in his voice. Since the defeat of the US Atlantic Fleet task force, Zhang Yu, who had been in fear, went home.

Unbeknownst to Cunningham, however, one of the pieces of information he had received had been overlooked! That is, the Northern Fleet of the Han Kingdom in Valletta, not the six aircraft carrier battle groups at full strength, Guan Canghai used several large oil tankers to disguise themselves as aircraft carriers, and as for those destroyers, the British reconnaissance planes that did not dare to get too close could not be counted at all.

The huge Northern Fleet, with thirty less escort ships, was still huge.

Cunningham thought that as long as he kept an eye on the northern fleet of the Han State, there would be no other opponent for the C ship in the Mediterranean. As for the Italian Navy, that has already been automatically ignored by him, and in the minds of the British admirals, Italy? Does that waste country still have a navy?

The Bay of Cagliari in the south of Sardinia, Italy, is one of the most natural ports in the Mediterranean. Rear Admiral Zeng Baojian on the Gongjin stood in the command room of the aircraft carrier, looking at the busy sailors on the deck through the string window, and there was also a trace of uneasiness in his heart.

The four Marshal-class aircraft carriers of the aircraft carrier group and the two brand-new Skyhawk-class aircraft carriers of the Italian Navy were sailing out of the port of Cagliari one after another with the help of tugboats, and the gray calm waters of the bay were pushed by the bow of the giant ship, and the pale water splashed in the lights.

Outside the bay, it's still a vast expanse. At 1 a.m., the sea, like a sleeping monster, put away its hideous face, quiet but still terrifying.

Several night-sailing Little Hunter Dragon reconnaissance planes on the Gongjin and Zijing have already ejected and taken off, and the latest information sent by the Beidou command and communication system is that the British fleet has arrived at Cape Tib two hours ago.

Zeng Baojian turned around, looked at the nautical charts on the bulkhead behind him, and his eyes stopped on Jalit Island, a tiny island in the northern waters of Tunisia. He hadn't been to that place, and the chart was only represented by a small black dot, "Will it be bigger than the Gongjin?" ”

The rear admiral laughed, amused by this dry humor of his own, "Send electricity to the eagle, the eaglet has left the nest, and it is expected to arrive at the intended place in two hours." ”

……

If Malta is the heart of the Mediterranean, then Valletta is the heart of the heart.

Historically, the Romans established a naval base here to cross the sea to conquer Egypt, and then the Knights of St. John officially established a city here. After the 19th century, the British Navy built the Royal Navy's most important naval base in the central Mediterranean between two small peninsulas on the east side of the ancient city of Valletta.

It's just that the current owner of this base has become the Royal Navy of the Han Dynasty. Guan Canghai's choice of the Valletta base as a temporary anchorage for the Northern Fleet is nothing more than a posture to attack Tunisia at any time. This posture made Cunningham more reassured, because the Valletta base was still within the reconnaissance range of the multinational force's land-based reconnaissance aircraft, and the C fleet could get the movements of the Han fleet at any time.

Coincidentally, when Zeng Baojian's telegram was received, the command ship of the Northern Fleet, Zhongmou, was also leaving the port. Guan Canghai stood on the second deck of the Zhongmou, did not take the telegram, but continued to stare at the pitch-black sea in the distance, and let the telecommunications staff read the contents of the telegram.

"Call back, and the eagle will leave the nest!"

A few simple words, the telecommunications staff officer memorized quickly, and immediately saluted and left after Commander Guan signed it. Under the light, you can clearly see that the face of this telecommunications staff officer is a little different from that of the Han Chinese, and he is the famous South China wind whisperer, the indigenous telegraph operator.

The supreme commander of the South China Wind Whisperers, the indigenous girl in the Weiqing Pavilion, was also holding a telegram at this moment, and ran to His Majesty's office with a small high heel "click".

The time in the central Mediterranean is ten time zones different from that in central South China, and in the early morning of Malta Island, it is still afternoon in Chang'an.

Of course, Jiang Yunzhi's telegram is timeless. His Majesty has been living in Weiqing Pavilion for several months, and he moved to Weiqing Pavilion in a fit of anger, but as a result, Director Leng Yun of the National Security Bureau helped his girlfriend to get angry, and the propaganda of newspapers and newspapers of all sizes made His Majesty unable to come to Taiwan, as long as he insisted on "sharing joys and sorrows with the front-line soldiers", he lived in Weiqing Pavilion for a long time, and "before victory, he vowed not to return to the palace".

It's just not a gimmick, where does the emperor live, can he still suffer?

Jiang Yunzhi's telegram was forwarded, and the original text was Guan Canghai's operational plan to encircle and annihilate the C Fleet off the coast of Tunisia.

His Majesty looked very seriously, ignoring the big watery eyes of the indigenous girl.

It's just that His Majesty didn't know that when he saw this telegram, the battle had already begun.

At about 2:30 a.m., Cunningham received a telegram from a night water reconnaissance plane that the Allied fleet had been spotted sixty nautical miles north of Jalit Island.

As fate would have it, almost at the same time, Zeng Baojian on the Gongjin received a call back from the Little Hunter Dragon night reconnaissance plane: Fleet C was sailing through Cape Gillan.

It was still night, and the only thing that both sides could dispatch was all-weather fighters.

Fortunately, the airborne radars of the J-15 "Eagle" on the Allied aircraft carrier formation, the G-41 "Brute Dragon" and the He-181 "Viking" and G-4 "Strike Eagle" on the Italian aircraft carrier can meet the needs of night operations.

However, in comparison, a single-seat light fighter will add a lot of workload to the pilot when flying at night, so that the pilot can focus on flying and fighting.

Therefore, a twin-engine, two-seater heavy fighter is the best choice for performing night battles.

Although the J-15 "Eagle" of the Royal Road Company was designed to be an absolute air superiority fighter, it is claimed that it does not weigh a kilogram for ground attack. However, after the Battle of Malta, Guan Canghai still constructively proposed: Mount the Hong's Penguin anti-ship missile on the "Eagle" and successfully hit the target ship during training.

Cunningham thought of passing through the Tunis Strait at night, and the Royal Han Navy had been preparing for a night battle.

The "Eagle" type, which carried four Hong's Penguin-3 anti-ship missiles and two Sparrow-3 air-to-air combat missiles, took off one after another on four Marshal-class aircraft carriers.

This is a brand-new attempt, and it is the first actual combat of the air superiority "Hawk" with anti-ship missiles on board.

Zeng Baojian, the commander of the formation, continued to feel uneasy in his heart, he had seen the training "Eagle" launch Hong, but he did not know what the effect of the "Eagle" style of actual combat attack would be.

However, after releasing the "Eagle" type, he no longer had the energy to think about the epoch-making concept of "multi-functional fighter", which was born in his hands. The communications unit cracked the radio channel of the British army, and the excited roar of the pilots of the British reconnaissance planes already indicated that their aircraft carrier formation was discovered by the other side at the same time.

Continuing to fly the "Eagle" guard squadron carrying Sparrow-7 medium-range air-to-air missiles and quickly directing the formation to change course at high speed is what the rear admiral should do immediately.