In this way, the Austro-Hungarian Admiralty worked out a temporary strategy overnight. The strategic goal is clear, it is better to take Tripoli and double the size of Tunisia, of course, this is just a dream, but what if it is realized?

Even if it doesn't work, there's also Zuwara to the west of Tripoli, which is also a good port. Of course, after all, the two sides are evenly matched, and if Zuwara can't take it, then the Ghelgana Islands and Djerba Islands must be taken.

Although the southern part of Djerba Island is a little connected to the mainland, it is a salt marsh, and the army will definitely not be able to handle it, so both places can only rely on the navy.

As a result, with the end of Xu Zhonglin's holiday in the past few days, the defense pressure on the two places has suddenly increased.

When a certain admiral and his little sister were about to have dinner, Costa sent someone to find him.

It's still the same office, Costa is no longer as calm as he was a month ago, unkempt and scumbag, and it seems that he has been worried a lot in recent days: "Lieutenant Colonel Xu, in the past two days, a sudden and large number of troops have been sent out in the direction of Tunisia, and our fleet is under great pressure on defense, so I have to regret to inform you that your vacation is over, and you need to be responsible for patrolling and guarding the nearby waters at night, and the military department has clearly told me that there will be no reinforcements, and I must do my best to not let go of an Austro-Hungarian battleship to the east." ”

Hehe, sample, now I think of Lao Tzu here, why did you go when you asked you for supplies half a month ago? In recent days, every day Tunisia has sent a large number of warships to harass various towns and garrisons in Italy, and Haomatsuk has to send many ships every day to intercept and drive away, and the troops are somewhat stretched.

"Report sir! The Second Fleet can't carry out orders, my wounds aren't healed yet, we don't have supplies. ”

Costa was furious: "Lieutenant Colonel Xu, you are dereliction of duty!" We are under threat from the Austro-Hungarians, and your Second Fleet is an important defensive force, but you are so cowardly! I will complain to the military department about you. ”

"Sir, the military department has decreed that the new admiral who has just joined the company can not go into battle without recovering his mind to avoid more casualties caused by his lack of clarity of thought, and the port has not sent supplies to the Second Fleet, which is all evidenced by official documents, and I think the military department is also understandable."

Someone looked at Costa's distorted face and was very happy, wow, this shape, taking a picture is a Picasso painting, very abstract. In fact, his head has long been gone, mainly because of the supply problem.

It's really not to blame Costa for the supplies, someone's share is seriously exceeded, and it is almost half of the daily consumption of the entire Hammetsuk. From Costa's point of view, you have more than 30 destroyers with the least consumption, and you actually need so many supplies, this is using me as a retard!

But someone is also wronged, he really didn't embezzle a dime, he would write a report carefully after training every day, and every expenditure was listed in detail in the report, and some equipment losses even had photos.

Then the pot is of course Anne and Sissi, who used to be reluctant to practice with their own resources, and each flew carefully, but now it is good that someone reimburses them, each of them is a test pilot who does not want to die, and the plane will not stop if it does not fly out of the limit and does not fly out of a flower. If it weren't for the slow pace of aircraft production by the hull, the rate of resource consumption would have to increase.

And the group of small expulsors led by Barcelisa are not fuel-efficient lamps, when they used to follow other admirals, the admirals would change the law to save resources, patrol with the most economical routes, routine training can simulate never using live ammunition, and the saved resources naturally went into the admiral's personal pockets, and finally they were used by the secretary ships. But now, I finally met a commander who didn't limit them, and they could use the live ammunition as fast as they wanted, so they naturally played happily.

It is said that shipbuilding is expensive, and it is even more expensive to maintain ships. For most of the month, Xu Zhonglin paid money out of his private pocket and paid for the resources equivalent to half of the Des Moines-class hull. If he continues to play like this, he will go bankrupt sooner or later, so he also wants to take this opportunity to get supplies back.

"Colonel, I didn't ask for any more resources, the reports have already been submitted to you, each one is detailed and can stand up to inspection."

Costa almost gritted his teeth: "Okay, I'll approve it now, but you must leave the port immediately, tonight you have to patrol this line from Haummetsuk to the Gellgannay Islands, and if you encounter an Austro-Hungarian warship, you must report it and send your wife to follow you." You can't attack each other without being attacked! ”

Hearing that the resources were finally allocated, someone didn't have a sore waist or legs, didn't even eat dinner, and went out to dance a square dance...... Bah! The patrol went.

But when it was really time to patrol, Xu Zhonglin discovered the difficulty.

"Report to the Admiral that a submarine has been found on the surface of the sea, the other party has not dived, and is heading in the direction of Sicily, at a speed of 10 knots."

"Keep up! Feel free to report the situation. ”

"Report to the Admiral, an Austro-Hungarian destroyer, is heading in the direction of Tripoli at a speed of 20 knots."

"Keep up! When they arrived in the waters of Tripoli, they called the patrol fleet there to follow and then returned on their own. ”

"Report to the Admiral, a fleet is coming from the direction of Gabes, the number is eighteen, and there are eight warships of more than 20,000 tons."

"! I'll follow up with you, and you will continue your patrol, calling the other admirals in the harbor of Howmet Suk to come and take my place. "The activities of the Austro-Hungarian Navy are too frequent, Xu Zhonglin has just patrolled for an hour, and before he has time to feel the mood of the first military mission, the second fleet around him has been reduced by more than half, and all of them have gone to carry out tracking tasks.

Xu Zhonglin took his six secretary ships and followed closely the eighteen warships that Gabez came out. Anne didn't come, and the night was extremely dangerous for her.

Rena has always been conscientious: "Admiral, there are eight heavy cruisers on the opposite side, all of them should be Admiral-Hipper-class hulls, and ten light cruisers, which are relatively poor, all of them are Königsberg-class hulls, with a current speed of 15 knots, the course has been changing, and the destination is unknown." ”

"! Are all the people in the military department idiots? Austria-Hungary has moved the navy so frequently, there must be a big move, as long as we are cowering in the harbor and don't come out, what can the other side do? Do you feel like you're playing like you're not being walked with a dog? After following for two hours, Xu Zhonglin was already a little irritable, the fleet in front of him had been going around in circles, and the routes on the chart were chaotic and irregular, and he couldn't see the other party's purpose at all.

"Admiral, the military department may be afraid of an attack in the direction of mainland Libya."

"! With Djerba and the Gellganai Islands, how can the other side attack? Speaking of this, Xu Zhonglin was suddenly stunned, he felt as if he had grabbed something.

"However, a few days ago, the military department discovered more than a dozen Austro-Hungarian submarines outside the port of Tripoli. When we found out, the other side was simulating mine-laying, and the military department may have been afraid of going to war, and we were all blocked in the harbor by the other side. ”

The mine closed the port, which was a very dangerous thing, and Rena was very worried.