"No one could have imagined that General Majifen would sneak around the back of the Italians like an assassin after 20 years of attack, and then pull out his dagger and strike hard! This blow was accurate and ruthless, so that the Allied Mediterranean Fleet experienced the pain of defeat, although there are many regrets in this battle, but it has to be said that the battle off the coast of Gibraltar can be called a classic battle, although the scale of the direct combat forces of the two sides is not large, but from the entire strategic level, Majifin successfully contained the Allied Navy in the first half of 1918 to break diplomatic relations, and made the balance of power on the Atlantic Sea more inclined to the Allies! Excerpt from "Directory of Famous Generals of the United States Navy" by Benson.

"You're a day early!" Tycho looked at the smoke rising from the sea behind him, and then at the telegram that had just been forwarded to him, and Tycho's heart seemed to have ten thousand alpacas galloping! What's the saddest thing in the world? The charcoal in the snow was not delivered in time, and the person froze to death before it was delivered! And this is the right time. Majifen's fleet had successfully circled behind him and was ready to engage him, and Count Spee sent such a telegram, isn't this a cheat? What did you do earlier?

In fact, Tycho, who had been wandering around this sea area for three days, also felt that something was wrong. The Entente planes had repeatedly spotted their own fleet, and in order to avoid these annoying guys, the seaplanes in the Tycho fleet had repeatedly taken off to drive away their opponents. According to the efficiency of the Entente, Tycho concluded that the other side could already lock his position, and the Yankees tried to find him many times without success. How could they give up such a good opportunity? Even Tycho used to discuss with other officers where they would come from. But what I didn't expect was that Majifen would cautiously sneak to his rear along the Portuguese coastline! That's too insidious! So, now the situation has become. If you want to go home, you can only fight each other, what? Around the Horn of Africa? Even if you can successfully go around Africa, aren't you afraid that the Americans will take advantage of the fact that the Allied fleet is all out and enter the Mediterranean Sea and sweep all the ports? The Germans are not afraid, the Italians are still afraid!

There was no way to retreat, only a battle, and Tycho, who had reached a certain distance, could only lead the fleet to turn around and face the battle, but what Tycho didn't expect was that. There is no saddest urging in this world, only more tragic urging! Tycho, who had been struck by reality, suddenly discovered that the number of the opponent's fleet was wrong! How could it be 10 ships? Didn't you say 9 ships? 5 for the Americans, 2 each for the French and the Netherlands! And what's even more unreliable. One of the three battleships at the beginning was a little familiar, and after carefully identifying it for a long time, it suddenly became clear that this British was a revenge-class battleship or a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, considering the actual situation. 100% the latter! Aren't all queens in Thomas's fleet? How can there be an extra one here? The British built a new one? Or is one of Thomas's Queen-class fast battleships a fake? Moment. Tycho is a complete mess!

The only good news in the Italian fleet was that the position of the two sides was close to the Spanish colony of Western Sahara, and there happened to be a bomber group stationed at a nearby airfield, and Tycho had just coordinated with the air force two days ago to obtain the right to use this bomber group, which means that in this engagement, Tycho had air strike power and the Americans did not have air strike force because they were a little far away from Portugal. But it's hard to say what level these pilots who haven't trained much in naval assault can do in actual combat, but for Tycho. It's better than nothing!

But clearly, now is not the time for crankiness. The distance between the two sides is getting closer, and the American fleet is divided into two parts, the first part is a fast detachment of the Malaya with two Dutch fast battleships, and the second part is seven American and French super dreadnoughts. The direct separation between the two fleets was not large, and the other fleet could provide fire support when the Allies attacked one of the fleets. Majifen's idea is clear, that is, to use the fast fleet to entangle himself, and then 7 super dreadnoughts knock out the Allied warships one by one. As the distance between the two sides approached, the Majiffen fleet sailed at high speed from the northeast and cut cross-cutting towards the Allied fleet. Both sides control their speed so that they can gain an advantageous position when the opponent enters their range.

"Is it going north or south?" Looking at the Allied fleet that was becoming clearer and clearer on the sea, Tycho fell into thinking, if he went south, he would definitely be blocked by the three fast battleships at the head of the opponent's line, and he would not have an advantage in speed and route, the only advantage was that he was far away from the opponent's main force, and it was impossible for the opponent to concentrate all his firepower to attack him at the beginning, and if he changed his formation quickly, he could temporarily gain a firepower advantage. "If the British and the Americans were more directly apart, it would be a solution." Tycho still hesitated, because the difference in speed between the two fleets of the opposing side was not very large, and soon the American fleet would follow, and then the two sides would become a standard battle line.

If to the north. The entire Allied fleet was about to slow down and turn to block its own retreat. If you have a speed advantage, you can try to include the opponent in your firepower range when the opponent is turning, but unfortunately, the speed advantage is on the opposite side. It is unlikely that this advantage will be obtained. The two sides will soon revert to standard battle line battles, but with the added benefit that if Majifen's main fleet chooses to turn first, he will definitely do so before the fast fleet, which can only pick up the tail of the main fleet after turning. In this way, the slow warships of the Entente will suppress the fast warships of the other side, and the advantage of the fast warships will not be able to be brought into play. Considering that the opponent has a large number of escort ships, the opponent's formation change speed will be slower, and this method seems to be feasible.

Eventually, Tycho decided to turn northeast and stagger with the American fleet, but before that he planned to make some feints, first to the southeast, and then quickly to the northeast under the cover of a smoke screen, close to the historic Japanese naval turn at the Battle of Tsushima. It's definitely dancing on the tip of a knife, and if you play too big, it will definitely be a very sad thing to turn under the fire of the other party. To this end, in order to prevent accidents, Tycho at the same time ordered the destroyer fleet to launch a lightning strike at the right time. At the same time, the bomber brigade stationed in Spanish Western Sahara will also take part in the battle, although it is not clear when it will come and what weapons it will bring.

"Italians are crazy, aren't they?" Seeing the Italian fleet heading southeast, Majifen was a little surprised. There can only be two options for the other party, and Magiffen has also analyzed it. He even came out with the conclusion that the other side would turn in a northeasterly direction, so he deliberately controlled the speed of the fast fleet so that he could turn forward if necessary. But what they didn't expect was that the Italians were actually sailing southeast at a speed of 18 knots, and if they wanted to block their opponents, the fast fleet had to accelerate. As soon as the two sides enter the battle line and shoot at each other, the Entente will be in a situation of great superiority, and the opponent is looking for death by doing so?

I don't understand it, but Majifen still ordered the fleet to speed up and block the other party's eastward escape route. The two fleets accelerated closer, and a big battle was about to break out, and the fast fleets in front began to constantly adjust their speed and course so that they could bring each other into the range of their guns at the first opportunity. The distance between the two sides is getting closer, and when the fast fleet and the Italian fleet are 20KM apart, the rangefinders of the British and Dutch have firmly locked on the opponent, and at this time, the closest distance between the Italian fleet and Majifen's own team is about 24KM! And at this moment, a group of light cruisers with several destroyers suddenly rushed up, and then pulled out a long smoke screen!

"Has the situation changed?" The smoke screen rising on the sea quickly spread, and Ma Jifen discovered the opponent's actions at the first time, but he didn't know what the other party would do next, whether to continue to advance under the cover of the smoke screen and rush the opponent, or turn to the northeast? The answer seemed to come out quickly, and the smoke screen quickly rushed in the direction of the fast fleet at the head, it seemed that the other party was planning to rush hard? Before Majifen's order was given, three fast battleships and attached escort battleships had already begun firing. The sound of artillery on the sea could be heard from a distance, but the Allied Rapid Fleet did not seem to show its face, and they were still nowhere to be seen under the smoke screen. At this time, the Majifen fleet was still sailing according to the established route, shortening the distance between it and the fast fleet.

If it weren't for the fact that the two sides were still a little far away, Majifen would even want to send auxiliary warships to take a look. After all, now Majifen has 8 armored cruisers in his fleet, as well as a large number of destroyers. Hold the opponent to the death on the side of the auxiliary warship. As the minutes passed, the smoke screen gradually dissipated under the blowing of the sea breeze. And at this very moment, a group of destroyers quickly rushed towards the American fleet that was coming in a northeast direction. The US escort warships were not slow to react, and dispatched more than 10 destroyers to intercept the target as soon as it discovered it. And in order to prevent the enemy from immediately launching a second wave of lightning strikes, and if necessary, a lightning strike, Magifin ordered the first armored cruiser formation with a formation of 4 destroyers to prepare for the attack.

A huge formation of 4 armored cruisers and 16 destroyers began to sail directly in front of the fleet, and according to the plan, they would stand by in front of the right side of the fleet, like a switchblade, at the right time, to intercept the enemy ships or take the initiative to attack. These 10,000-ton warships can only be described as fragile when facing the capital ship alone, but if the capital ship presses the formation and covers the destroyer attack, then the threat is also very great. Majifen expects to use the advantage of auxiliary warships to consume the opponent's combat power first.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 and the book friend hukaikaka for the tip~~~~. (To be continued......)