Just when Casaldi was quite entangled, 4 Mistral-class destroyers had already rushed into the opponent's merchant fleet at a speed of more than 30 knots! THIS CLASS OF DESTROYERS IS ALSO VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE HISTORICAL MISTRAL-CLASS DESTROYERS, IN A WAY MORE LIKE THE JAPANESE ASAHIO-CLASS DESTROYERS OF WAR II, EQUIPPED WITH THREE TWIN 127MM GUNS, AND TWO FOUR FOUR-MOUNTED 533MM TORPEDO TUBES. And there is also a set of refilling equipment. The base displacement is 2,000 tons, the output horsepower is 50,000 tons, and the maximum speed is 35 knots.

Since there are no opposing warships and no strong enough firepower on the shore, it is natural to fight with open fire. As for the telegram sent by the seaplane, the four destroyers who led the group did not decipher it, and in order to ensure the rigor of the operation, the two cruisers used a new type of cipher machine, while the destroyers still used the old ones. In addition, the speed of the destroyers rushing towards the opponent's transport fleet was too fast, and Casaldi didn't have time to inform the destroyer formation at all, and the fire was already handed over there!

4 DESTROYERS QUICKLY APPROACHED A DISTANCE OF LESS THAN 2000 METERS FROM THE TARGET, AND THEN 24 127MM NAVAL GUNS ON THE 4 BATTLESHIPS FIRED AT THE DISTANT TARGET AT THE HIGHEST RATE OF FIRE, A SERIES OF SHELLS FLEW OUT OF THE MUZZLE, AT LEAST 150 SHELLS FELL TO THE TARGET AREA EVERY MINUTE, A TRANSPORT SHIP WAS HIT BY SEVERAL 127MM SHELLS WITHOUT ANY ACTION AT ALL, SEVERAL LARGE HOLES WERE TORN IN THE SIDE OF THE HULL, AND THE RAGING FIRE QUICKLY SPREAD FROM THE BREACH TO THE CABIN, IN JUST A FEW MINUTES, The fire on the transport ship got out of control, and the Austrians tried to extinguish the group at first, but waited until the people who had just rushed out of the cabin were smashed into pieces by the flying shrapnel. Sane people quickly decided to evacuate.

This battle can be described as a slaughter, like a wolf entering a flock of sheep, and the four slender destroyers cut and tore at the Allied merchant ships as lightly as a narrow Tang knife. After several rounds of shelling, some destroyers have approached to a distance of about 800 meters! "Release the torpedo! Maybe we can also join the colonel in destroying the ships in the berths with artillery. "The Italian major, who commanded the destroyer formation, ordered.

At a distance of 800 meters, the two destroyers fired a total of 14 torpedoes! In the face of a merchant ship sailing at a low speed, a fan-shaped lightning strike at such a distance is simply impossible to defend against! One by one, the white-headed torpedoes pulled their slender wake and rushed to the battleship not far away under the cover of darkness, and in less than 1 minute, several transport ships were hit, and a violent explosion came from the fleet. The violent explosion even threw a light tank up from the hull, and countless fragments and flames were carried into the air hundreds of meters by the huge impact force, and then began to fall into the sea with fluttering waves!

"Damn. This is an arms ship! I knew I wouldn't get so close. An Italian soldier hunched over behind the cannon, listening to the sound of debris hitting the cannon, a lightning strike that should have destroyed a munitions ship. The explosion of ammunition inside the ship directly disintegrated the transport, and the violent explosion also affected the poor destroyer. Driven by a shock wave. Countless fragments pounded on the hull of the destroyer a few hundred meters away. The waves from the explosion and the whirlpool caused by the sinking of the ship made the destroyer shake even a little.

"Enemy attack!" The violent explosion woke Lieutenant General Moody from his sleep! The Austrians, who were sleeping in a daze, quickly rushed to the battle position at the urging and cursing of the officers. I have to say that the training speed of the Austro-Hungarian Navy is still very fast, in a short period of time, the battleships of the United Forces and the aviation cruiser of the Aegean Sea aimed their guns at the merchant ships and destroyer formations in the distance, and the steam stored in advance was quickly introduced into the engine room, the two battleships began to move, and several destroyers also cut the anchor chains, and rushed to the battlefield one step ahead of the capital ships!

"Don't rush, slow down. Slow down, let's go beat their stuffy sticks. "Casaldi did not find the destroyers that struck sortie. Instead, it continues to be closer, and the timing of the night battle is more important, and the side that fires first at such a close distance will inevitably have the advantage, and it is not impossible to be small and large. And coincidentally, the opposing destroyers did not detect the Italian cruiser formation in the distance.

"How do you fight this?" Looking at the battlefield that has become a pot of porridge in the distance, the tone of the captain of the United Forces is full of impatience, attacking a target 10KM away at night, or a high-speed mobile target 10KM away, which is almost beyond the current technical level, and there are a bunch of transport ships in the war zone, this shell flew over, maybe it hit its own people, which really made the Austro-Hungarian Navy feel very tricky!

"Let's let the destroyers go up and entangle first, let's not rush yet, maybe there are other warships hidden in the night," Moody said after a moment's thought. "We sail north, don't be fast, now that we have our backs to the harbor, it is possible for the other side to spot us with the help of the harbor lights, all we have to do now is to hide ourselves in the darkness of the night and tell the destroyer forces that they are ready to turn on the searchlights at any time." Guided by another group of destroyers, the two main battleships began to sail slowly.

After the Italian destroyer fleet knocked out the transports waiting to enter the port, they finally exchanged fire with the opposing destroyer's destroyer, these Italian destroyers did not know that there were two Austro-Hungarian capital ships in the distance, they only knew that there were two cruisers behind them, so they did not have any worries. The two destroyers turned on their searchlights directly, and the thick columns of light swept across the sea, soon enveloping the Austro-Hungarian destroyers that were approaching at a rapid pace.

Direct close combat with unprotected warships can be completely bloody. The Italians also did not have time to replace semi-armor-piercing shells against these uninvited guests, and could only use high-explosive shells. For a time, the rapid-fire guns of both sides continued to spit deadly tongues of fire, and countless shells flew wantonly in the air, not a few shells hit the battleship that was moving at high speed, and a huge hole was made in the deck or the side of the hull, causing a lot of fire on the ship.

"Shoot all the torpedoes." As the distance approached, the battleship that had been reloaded fired a wave of torpedoes again, this time the four destroyers fired almost all the torpedoes, and more than 20 torpedoes formed a web of death on the sea surface to envelop the Austrian battleship less than 3KM away. And the other side was not ambiguous, and also shot torpedoes one after another. The light warships of both sides staged a dance of death as if walking on a tightrope. With two loud bangs, one destroyer on each side was hit, and the bright yellow flames flew directly up dozens of meters in the air, countless fragments and parts were scattered on the sea, and the navies of both sides finally left the first drop of blood!

Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976 and hukaikakak for their tips~~~, as well as the book friends fatchi1979 and book friends 120907221657690 for their monthly pass support~~~. There is a more ~~~ this afternoon, ask for support and subscribe~~~. (To be continued......)