Chapter 638: A stab in the back
The bomber group that covered the sky and the sun appeared again in the sky over the British fleet, but the difference was that the bombers at this time carried enough bombs on board, and there was no need to use heavy bombs against these destroyers, and the ocean-going destroyers of the British Navy either sank into the Atlantic Ocean or hid in the military port of Toulon, France, and those left in the country were small destroyers of several hundred tons, and such small ships could cause fatal damage with a 50-kilogram bomb.
And the standard payload capacity of one Hawk for such a bomb is four.
Facing the British destroyers in the sea below, 200 Eagle fighter-bombers swooped down like boobies preying on schools of sardines, and in the artillery fire of the counterattack, they heroically dived to a height of several hundred meters, and then dropped one deadly bomb after another, flying with their heads held high amid the whistle of the bombs falling.
And the sailors on the British destroyers were frantically shooting at the sky with all the weapons they could find, and the tracer bullets of anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns were intertwined in the sky into a terrifying net of fire, and at the same time that the bombers fell with thick smoke, a destroyer on the sea surface that was searching for bombs also began to slowly sink with flames, and the battle between the sky and the sea quickly turned into a brutal bloody battle.
However, the two sides of this bloody battle were not equal, because at the same time as the carrier-based aircraft began to attack, the battleships that were sailing out of the minefield also joined the battle, and under the intensive fire of these battleships, battlecruisers, heavy cruisers, and light cruisers equipped with radar fire control systems, those small destroyers of several hundred tons were as helpless as lambs.
Major Cunningham commanded his Belona to rush madly towards a battle cruiser in the distance, this ocean-going destroyer of more than 1,000 tons can be regarded as the capital ship in the current British Navy, the Belona with six torpedo tubes is like a dexterous cat, and at the same time has to be careful of the carrier-based aircraft that dive down overhead, but even so, excellent navigation skills still allow him to command his beloved ship to approach the enemy little by little.
In the distance, on the battlecruiser Kaihuang of the Royal Chinese Navy, Captain Li Guotang looked at the heroic destroyer with interest. By now the destroyer had dodged six bombs and five salvos of 280 main guns, and in addition to being surprisingly lucky, the captain's skills were definitely worthy of admiration.
Of course, Major Cunningham's bravery and technical level can at most provide some entertainment for the officers on the Kaihuang, and then it should enter the range of the 152 auxiliary guns, and the Kaihuang has two triple 152 turrets on each side, which can fire more than 100 shells per minute at targets within 20 kilometers, and it is a fantasy to say that this destroyer can avoid such an interception.
What's more, there are four 105-mm single-barreled guns that can be intercepted within 15 kilometers, and 10 double-37 guns within 10 kilometers. It can be said that any battleship that enters this distance has only one dead end, and a torpedo boat like hitting the Huaxia is a complete miracle, and if there is a second time for such a miracle, the luck of the British can simply be described as going against the sky.
"Oh my God, the seventh round of shelling, if this destroyer is alive, I must ask its captain to drink." An officer next to him exclaimed.
"Seven rounds of shelling didn't hit a single destroyer, and you still have the face to be happy here?" Li Guotang shouted with a cold face.
The officers hurriedly ran to the side, unaware that the destroyer on the other side had a captain who was supposed to become a marshal.
Cunningham and his Belona were not able to get within torpedo range after all, and he was not sunk by the Kaihuang's naval guns. Because just as he was about to enter the attack range of the Kaihuang's 105 auxiliary guns, a Swordfish torpedo attack plane quietly flew over from one side against the sea, and the Swordfish in blue paint was difficult to spot without paying attention, and was engrossed in dealing with the naval guns and bombers on the Belona. No one at all found out that the deadliest enemy had reached a distance of only one and a half kilometers from him.
"What's that?" Cunningham, who was directing the battle, inadvertently flicked it, and a small swordfish loomed between the water columns of the cannonball's explosion, and then he understood.
"Torpedo attack aircraft, left-turn rudder!" The guy screamed in horror. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the Swordfish dropped a torpedo on the Belona less than a kilometer, and the torpedo at a high speed of forty-five knots hit the boat in the blink of an eye. One hundred and seventy kilograms of antimony and antimony instantly blew it to pieces.
This naval battle, which pinned the last hope on Britain, lasted for two hours, more than one hundred and fifty British battleships were sunk, the Chinese side lost only three destroyers and two cruisers, another heavy cruiser was damaged, and then fifty carrier-based aircraft were lost.
Just after learning that the Chinese fleet had safely entered the minefield, all the French warships, which were supposed to operate together with the British army, withdrew to the mouth of the Seine under the orders of the French government.
This battle also completely stripped the last layer of protection of the British, and the British Empire, a noblewoman who had lost its glory, stood naked in front of the Chinese, fortunately, they still had a thunder curtain, the Dover Strait thunder curtain used to deal with German submarines, because Emperor Yang did not give Lin Yongsheng the mine map of this thunder curtain, so the British capital was temporarily safe. But the English cities south of the Strait of Dover were unlucky, starting at Plymouth with the Huaxia and Yanhuang ships bombarding one after another, and the maximum effective range of the main guns of the two super battleships was 36 kilometers, enough for them to shell any British port without facing their shore guns. And the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier took off from the English Channel, which can also bomb most British cities, plus the Liberators who took off from Prague and Budapest, for a time the entire sky over Britain was full of raging bombers.
By this time the war had reached the point where even the British were in complete despair, and although they could still hold on for a short time, the extravagant hope of fighting for profit was completely out of the question, and then another heavy blow fell on the head of the Entente bloc.
In Beijing, the Italians finally completed the negotiations that humiliated the country for them, and Italy obtained a loan of 2 billion Chinese yuan from the People's Bank of China at the cost of customs duties and the People's Bank of China's right to issue notes in Italy, with an interest rate of 5% per annum, with a repayment period of 20 years, and 5 percent per year, with no early repayment. Then, immediately after the signing of this loan agreement, the Italian government and the Allied Council signed a peace treaty in Beijing, whereby Italy ceded Lombardy and Venesia and the Italian colony of Eritrea to Austria-Hungary, Sardinia to the Grand Duchy of Montenegro, Sicily and the Italian colony of Somaliland to the Kingdom of Greece, and leased the military port of Taranto to the Chinese Empire for a period of ninety-nine years, with an annual rent of 1,000 Chinese dollars. In addition, the war reparations of 12.5 billion lires were to be paid to the Allied bloc in 66-year instalments, with the first 125 million lire to be paid within six months of the signing of the peace treaty, during which time the Allied powers had the right to station troops anywhere in Italy.
In addition, Italy had to make a formal public statement of its withdrawal from the Entente group and declare war on the Entente countries from the moment the peace treaty was signed.
This article is just a meaning, everyone knows the combat effectiveness of Italy, and the remaining armies of them absolutely do not have the courage to attack the American-British coalition forces in Serbia, but the Italians can still make great contributions to the Central Powers, because with their defection, the logistics supply of the 300,000 American-British coalition troops will be completely cut off. This elite army, which is trying its best to fight Budapest, is completely dependent on the supply of the railway through Guò Italy, and the railway is cut off, not to mention ammunition, even if there is no food, and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers in Salonican and the more than two million Sino-Austrian troops across the Bosphorus will definitely not miss the opportunity to recapture Istanbul, once this opening is opened, the Entente will have no point in continuing the war.
The news of Italy's defection was broadcast to the whole world by the radio of the People's Radio, and the countries of Britain, Russia and France, which were struggling to support it, were directly stunned, no one expected the Italians to be so shameless, although they could not fight a war, but they were still able to contain some of the Allied forces, so although they repeatedly dragged their feet, out of the feeling of being in the same boat, the common people of the Entente countries still did not have too strong antipathy towards them, but now they are actually stabbed in the back, especially in this most difficult moment, it is difficult not to pull hatred.
For a time, the curses, humiliations, and even attacks of the entire Entente against Italy spread in various countries, and it seemed that there was a sense of hysteria, not only were the Italian merchants in these three countries beaten and looted without exception, but even the Italian embassy in London was set on fire by the angry Londoners, and even the Italian ambassador was burned to death inside, and since then Italy has completely become the most despicable country in the whole of Europe.
Of course, this is not a big deal for the Savoy family and the Italian government, they have already thought of this result before doing so, and the benefits they get from their faces, compared with the shame of others, hugging Emperor Yang's thigh is the most important thing, with such a big tree, the future of the Savoy family will be preserved, what happened to being scolded a few times, the throne is kept, and the loan of two billion Chinese dollars is the most important thing, with this money not only the first indemnity is available, but even the initial reconstruction funds are also available. (To be continued......)