"Colonel, it's all ready, all the ships are ready to strike at any time." An officer said to Colonel Iyakino, who was looking at the charts. And on the charts, the Allied Indian Ocean shipping lines are prominently marked. Next to it is a schedule that has just been obtained.

"It's time to give the Germans some color." Iyakino looked at it for a moment, then threw the half of the pencil in his hand onto the table and said. "The air cruiser Sicily and the heavy cruiser Bora acted together, and the remaining light cruisers and destroyers fanned out 90 nautical miles in front of the main fleet according to the plan, and in the case of a single ship or a small flotilla they could decide for themselves whether to attack or not, and in the case of a flotilla with frigates, they would only telegraph to the main fleet, and not act rashly."

Long before the operation, Colonel Iyakino, who received the news, began to prepare for the upcoming battle. He himself calculated the strength at hand, a Sicilian-class aviation cruiser and a Laza-class heavy cruiser, the same ship Bora. There are also 1 obsolete light cruiser and 3 large destroyers, and in addition to this there are 4 ocean-going submarines. Iyakino was born in a surface ship and was not familiar with submarine operations, so he directly asked the submarine detachment to make its own plans, while he himself gathered the few warships in his hand and began to think about how to make some articles on the other side's lines of communication.

According to the original plan given by the Italian Admiralty, it was originally planned that the East African Fleet would be divided into two large warships with two small ships. However, Iyakino, who was well acquainted with the naval forces of the Indian Ocean allies, did not think it was appropriate. "The Germans are constantly strengthening their forces in the direction of the Indian Ocean, and they have set up a number of temporary airfields along the coast for the take-off and landing of reconnaissance aircraft. At the same time, in order to reduce the difficulty of escorting, they will also sail as close to the coastline as possible, the main offshore routes. In particular, oil transport voyages are almost all within the escort range of reconnaissance aircraft. Even if the other side cannot discover it at the first time, as long as an attacked ship sends a telegram, then with the help of the radio lateral station and reconnaissance plane along the coast, the other side can easily lock our side. And the strength of our aviation is limited, if it is divided into two fleets. There must be a problem of insufficient sea-based aviation. It is impossible to effectively curb the tracking of the opposing reconnaissance aircraft. ”

In addition, there was a factor that Iyakino was not confident in the artillery combat capabilities and damage resistance of aviation cruisers. When he took over the battleship in Huaxia, the Huaxia officer in charge of the handover repeatedly emphasized that the battleship's sidestring armor and horizontal armor could only ensure the defense of 7-inch guns. In the face of the heavy cruiser's 10-inch guns, you still have to ask for more blessings. And the horizontal armor of this battleship is also arranged in a low position, not even on the hangar deck like ordinary aircraft carriers, but above the engine room and ammunition magazine. That is to say, the entire side and bottom of the hangar are unprotected, if you point to the back. One or two 10-inch high-explosive shells could render it incapacitated.

As for the artillery capabilities of the Sicilian class? If you don't take into account the factor of the more shot aircraft. This ship did not have a large optical rangefinder like other large ships. After all, the superstructure is on the outer deck, and if you attach a large rangefinder and an attached fire control system to it, it will be a bit too heavy, and considering that it may be installed with an electromagnetic detection device in the future, there is no place to install this thing! In addition, this thing is mainly refuted by aircraft, so the Italians did not insist on loading it. Therefore, the sad observation equipment plus only 6 main guns. The artillery capabilities of the Sicily-class aviation cruiser really could not match his tonnage. If you fight a light patrol, you may return home, let alone fight against a serious heavy patrol.

Of course, if the air cruiser had successfully taken off the carrier-based aircraft under the condition that the sky was clear and the sea was windless, then the two heavy cruisers of the other side might have been killed without even having a chance to get within the range of the artillery. But there is no radar in this era. The sea is completely visual, and it is not possible to know when it will rain, wind, or fog on the sea. If you are caught by the other party, there is only a dead end. The horsepower of the Sicily was not great, and the speed could only be described as average. Moreover, if you want to go to the Indian Ocean this time, there is a high probability of encountering the opposing fleet, don't forget, the Persian Gulf is the base of the Turkish fleet!

The Sicily was afraid of close combat, and the Bora, the best heavy cruiser of the Italian Navy, struggled in these waters. The Sicily only has a shortcoming in close combat, but if you pick up the frontal and reconnaissance capabilities, the two heavy cruisers are also in vain. And with the protection of carrier-based aircraft, it is difficult for the other party to track even if it is discovered. Even if they were tracked and a small number of aircraft groups were sent to attack, up to a dozen fighters on the Sicily could cope with it. But what about the Bola?

Of course, the Bora's artillery combat ability is still good, theoretically immune to all known 10-inch guns at medium and long distances, both horizontal and vertical protection is very good. 9 guns of the 10-inch L50 class are not bad. And it also carries 5 seaplanes of its own, which can take on certain reconnaissance missions. Therefore, after careful analysis, Iyakino decided that it would be better to turn the two warships into a formation, and the advantages could complement each other, with the Bora making up for the shortcomings of the Sicily's weak artillery capabilities, while the latter provided reconnaissance and aviation. As for the problem of the search surface being too small due to the concentration of the fleet, Iyakino decided to divide the remaining small warships as a search fleet, and distribute them evenly within 45 degrees of the front of the main fleet. If you lose it, you can't help it!

As for the timing of the sortie, Iyakino also made some considerations, when he learned that the Turkish fleet left the Persian Gulf and was ready to enter the Red Sea, he set off with the fleet, and after departure, the course was not to the Arabian Peninsula to the north, but to the south first, making a sword to point to the route of the German African colonies, where he was delayed for a while, and after the Turkish fleet went north, he would cooperate with the refueling ships from Madagascar to refuel in the predetermined sea area, and then go north.

"If the schedule is correct, we should be able to stop a fleet of tankers heading to the Mediterranean." Germany's crude oil fleet from the Middle East has a fixed sailing period, usually once every six months. Of course, this is in peacetime, and in wartime the entire voyage will be adjusted, but it doesn't matter, relying on good aerial reconnaissance capabilities and high speed, Iyakino is confident that he can catch this slow fleet of only about 8 knots. And even if there is a mistake in the schedule, or if the other party suddenly uses a high-speed cruise ship, Italy also has a camouflage attack fleet in this sea, and during the main fleet feints south, these camouflage attack ships will be responsible for monitoring the area from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, and they will not take the initiative to blow up the attack without permission, just to catch a big fish!

"It's going to miss a lot of opportunities." Some commanders did not understand Iyakinno's order to prohibit camouflaged raiders from free-roaming. And some people cite the brilliant record of attacking ships in the North Atlantic in those years to refute him. In response to this question, Iyakino only smiled and continued to carry out his previous plan, because he knew that the situation was different from that time!

The most glorious time of the Allied water surface break in World War 1 was when the British and French fleets were defeated and withdrew from the Mediterranean, and the Spanish Navy joined. But now it is different, although there are only a few temporary airfields in the south of the Arabian Peninsula for reconnaissance aircraft to take off and land, but the Turkish Navy has an advantage in the near sea. If the Italian navy were to fight in the waters of the opposing side, it would not be possible to stay as long as it did in the hunting grounds of the North Atlantic. As the saying goes, if you don't die, you won't die, and if you wantonly kill within the range that the opponent's aerial reconnaissance can cover for a long time, then this is an act of death. Sooner or later, the other party will be able to bite you.

It turns out that in the case of not having much advantage in speed, once it is bitten by the superior fleet, it is almost a life and death. For example, the historical Earl Spee's armored ship and the battleship Scharnhorst, which was destroyed by the Duke of York and his younger brother in the North Sea, were quite vulnerable, and even if they could survive temporarily after World War I, they would be routed by the reinforcements that followed. Therefore, the Italians wisely chose to get the most out of a quick attack, rather than attacking multiple times piecemeal to improve the results.

"The Italian East African fleet has been out of port for several days and has not found its traces off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. However, our fleet in the southern Indian Ocean has been attacked by submarines, and neutral merchant ships have spotted small warships of unknown sights. A staff officer sent a document to Admiral Ali, commander of the Turkish fleet, and it appeared that the Italians intended to make a fuss in the southern Indian Ocean and then march east to India or China. There are no plans to stay forever again.

The Allies were not stupid, they knew that since the Italians had a preemptive strike, the fleet in East Africa would definitely launch a breach of diplomatic relations. But at the same time, the Turkish fleet received an order from the Germans to send the main force north, and it was an extremely tangled question whether to stay on the ground to block the Italian fleet or go north into the Mediterranean to help the German-Austrian fleet stand up. So the Turks made a posture of the fleet going north, and at the same time used guò spies and aerial reconnaissance to determine the position of the Italian fleet, if the other side cruised near the Arabian Peninsula, then the Turkish fleet would naturally deal with this annoying guy first and then go north, if this fleet escaped to the depths of the ocean, the Turkish fleet could only go north first.

Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976 and hukaikaka for their tipping ~~~~~, as well as the book friends eva-xy and jhb315 for their monthly pass support ~~~~~. (To be continued......)