785 Crying Apennines (2)

The twilight is deep, and the Apennine Peninsula is exceptionally quiet before dawn. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

In front of the grand but elegant Italian palace, the guards wore retro military uniforms, yawned, wanted to be lazy and worried about the war situation in the south, so they could only hold their eyelids, and when they saw that the day would be dawn in a few hours, and they had to spend a night without incident, a car with a screeching brake sound, stopped at the gate of the palace in a hurry.

After a few moments, the crisp sound of leather boots against the marble floor seemed to activate the entire palace, and the light began to shine in front of the windows, and the faithful hound jumped back and forth at the light source that appeared earlier.

"What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, it's not good, it's not good! Half an hour ago, Taranto ...... Bombed by Chinese planes! ”

"What!" Vittorio Emanuele III, who came down from the stairs in his pajamas, almost fell headlong on the spiral staircase, but fortunately he grabbed the handrail and didn't make a joke, but he didn't care about any manners, and hurriedly rushed a few steps to the loyal Minister of the Interior and shouted: "How is that possible? ”

This...... How can it be!!

Vittorio Emanuele III hurriedly snatched the telegram, looked at the incoherent words on it, seemed to be in a hurry, and after a long pause, suddenly roared: "What's the matter! What about Camacho? What about his fleet! And that Du Hei, didn't he assure me that the Chinese would never use the plane at night ?! ”

"Your Majesty, Vice Admiral Camacho is leading a fleet to intercept the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the straits, and Colonel Duhei has gone to Sicily, but I have already had the news forwarded to him...... do you want to call him back?"

"What's the use of him coming back!" Vittorio Emanuele III trembled, an abnormal flush rose on his cheeks, and he angrily rebuked: "Let Camacho come back!" Immediately, we can't afford to lose Taranto! ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Khan Minister of the Interior hurried away, looking at his back as he left, and Vittorio Emanuele III, who had decided to gamble before the war, suddenly seemed to lose all his strength and sat down on the steps of the stairs. Pale and breathing heavily, as if a man had just been rescued from the sea and almost suffocated, no one knew Italy better than him. For this war, Italy had exhausted the last copper plate of the treasury, even the remaining warships in the shipyard could not be built, and the naval supplies piled up in Taranto took a full year to raise!

Without Taranto, the Strait of Otranto would be open! Communication between Italy and Albania was completely cut off, and the Austro-Hungarian Army was able to move smoothly to Albania, Greece and even the southern Apennine Peninsula.

Without Taranto, the navy that has cost countless dollars to drain the country's economy is a rootless duckweed, an iron coffin floating on the sea.

Without Taranto, what is left of Italy?

Without Taranto, where would I go......?

Vittorio Emanuele III looked at the night sky outside the skylight in distraction, and suddenly felt that the wind was so cold tonight, at this moment, who else could save him and Italy?

Sicily.

In the wide earthen airfield, the screeching sirens sounded in the night sky, and countless ragged Italian pilots in hoods and goggles rushed out of the barracks, bombs and 450-millimeter torpedoes were hung under the belly of the Caproni 36 bomber.

"Colonel, it's too far for our fighters to get past ....... (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)"

In a ** barracks at the end of the airport, the staff officer stood in front of the map, looking at Du Hei, who was standing in front of him, with two small beards and a straight military uniform, with a worried face: "It is 300 kilometers from here to Taranto Bay, not to mention that we still need to find them, so the bomber's range will be seriously insufficient." ”

Du Hei didn't speak, but turned his head to look at the airport.

"Hua, Li Mo!"

Looking out the window at the bomber unit that was being prepared, Du Hei muttered these words, because he found that his life had been completely shrouded in the shadow of that person. From the Italian-Turkish War and the North African Eagle, which made him see the role of aircraft a few years ago, to the later report to the royal family on strengthening the aviation force and strengthening the technology investment but the funds were lost, and then to the beginning of the war, because of China's unparalleled aviation power, Europe began to pay attention to aircraft, and he also regained the importance of reuse.

Now he didn't expect that the other party had found a way to take off and land on the aircraft carrier at night, you must know that this is not one or two experimental landings, but hundreds of fighters, if you are not sure enough, who would dare to do this! It turned out that that person and that country had always been ahead of him and the whole world!

In fact, he didn't know that the problem of the lack of range of the Caproni 36 was not solved at all, but even so, he had to fight tonight!

In his opinion, long-range bombing is an extremely important tactical and even strategic action, so it is extremely important to fight for air supremacy in the warring area and even the enemy country, but he does not have a suitable aircraft, and compared with the advanced technology that the opponent has at this time, Europe is too weak in this regard!

In the past few years, Hua has also lost many planes around the world, but the lost planes were either mysteriously blown up or sunk into the sea, and even if they were lucky enough to find them, they became scrap metal because of damage and could not be imitated. However, even if there is no advantage, it must be dispatched immediately, because if the Chinese aircraft carrier is not forced away from Taranto Bay, then the naval fleet will suffer heavy losses, or even ...... Annihilated!

Thinking of this, he put away all his thoughts and slowly walked back to the map: "Let all the planes stationed near Taranto take off, bring more fuel, and spread 300 kilometers with Taranto as the central point to search!"

The fighters took off an hour later to escort the bombers.

Also, don't come back here after all the planes involved in the bombing are over, we have another alternate airport in Catanzaro, and I will get there ready to receive them at once. ”

"That's right! Departing from Sicily and returning to Catanzaro after the attack can save a lot of flight. ”

When several staff officers heard Du Hei's arrangement, their eyes immediately lit up, and their confidence increased greatly, but only Du Hei understood in his heart that in fact, he had learned these things from the enemy, so he still said with a gloomy face: "Get ready for the plane, let's go to Catanzaro, I hope ...... You can see them...... Come back! ”

As the night breeze blew and Duhei's muffled words drifted through the room, the first Caproni 36 had already left the dirt runway.

The second, the third .......

Du Hei clenched his fists, and his heart was indescribably gloomy. He wondered if Italy, which had acquired falcon technology after the Italo-Turkish War, had not been abandoned in North Africa for glory, and had not been embroiled in the European maritime arms race and had gone all out to study the aircraft, ...... today Will it change?

"Left full rudder! Follow the flagship ....... ”

"Distance 16000, each gun emplacement...... ready, coordinates, Carlo, put the coordinates I need."

Looking at the two giants in the distance, Cesare shouted for the gunners to pass on the shelling elements, although 16,000 yards was a little farther away for the 13 L46/12-inch guns on the Cailliaud-Duilio, but he was already tense, because the two ships opposite were equipped with 16-inch guns!

Although Italy did not go to the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean to directly challenge China like Spain and France, it did not neglect the turbulent naval technology and changes after the war, when the two Guam class guns were still 15 inches, the Atlantic Ocean was turned upside down, and it also set a record of 21,000 yards of long-range hits, and now it has been upgraded to 16 inches, and the range and power have reached a new level!

He is not afraid of war, but he is afraid of fighting a war where this gap is too obvious.

His Cayo Duilio belongs to the Andrea Doria class battleships, a total of 2 were built, each of which is equipped with 3 triple and 2 twin L46/12-inch naval guns, and when launched, it is famous in Europe for its 13 naval guns and strong firepower, but in the past two years, it has been completely outdated, not to mention that the Pacific Ocean is already the world of aircraft carriers, and the 16-inch naval guns alone are not comparable to themselves.

So he knew very well that he would definitely lose in a head-to-head showdown, so all hope had to rely on the flagship lined up in the front, the battleship Francesco Caracciolo with four twin L40/15-inch guns, and the three Queen Elizabeth rows that came to his aid.

"Captain, look, those bitch Brits are here!"

"Great...... Ha ha! ”

Cesare was trembling with excitement when he held the binoculars, only to see the three Queen Elizabeth-class battleships rushing towards him at a speed of 23 knots in the firelight, and the two Guam ships facing his guns did not seem to expect an ambush at all, and the bow of the ship had begun to deflect rapidly, and even the triple main guns behind it began to whirl.

"Enemy attack ......."

Before Cesare could see the three Queen-class ships, the lieutenant behind him suddenly pushed him violently, and before he could understand, he heard a loud noise, and the hull of the fully loaded 25,000-ton ship was swayed.

"They fired! Damn, those yellow-skinned monkeys fired first! ”

"Dante joins the formation."

"Received the signal, received the flagship signal, fired back! Fire ......, hit back! ”

Hurried and nervous shouts rang out from everywhere on the battleship, and Cesare, although he expected the power of the 16-inch guns, did not expect that the mere column of water and the stirred up shock wave would make his battleship roll sideways, which the 12-inch guns could never do.

Very much, 4 battleships, 8 L40/15-inch naval guns, 38 L46/12-inch main guns roared at the same time, and a moment later, countless water columns rose around the Guam-class team in the distance, and the scene was spectacular.

"Sir, flagship command, right rudder 110 degrees, speed up to 20 knots!"

"Keep up with the flagship ......." After Cesare gave the order, he turned his head to look at the chart, and after turning left on the right rudder, he could just jam the movement path of the two Guam-class, so that the butcher would be surrounded by 32 15-inch and 38 406-mm regiments, while Austria-Hungary needed to break through the second squadron consisting of 3 Count Cavour-class battleships and 6 old battleships.

Although Austria-Hungary had 4 strong combined-force class battleships, there were only 6 left, and it was impossible to break through. "Then ......, maybe you have a chance to taste the butcher's meat!" Cesare chuckled suspiciously, although he knew that his main cannon could not kill the opponent, but the sneak attack could still be done, as long as it was .......

"Captain, they're ......, they're rushing towards us!"

"What, how is that possible!"

The words directly made Cesare stagger, raised the telescope and suddenly everyone was stupid, only to see that the two Guam-class battleships that were still thinking about turning left just now did not know when the bow had turned to the right, and the 12 16-inch naval guns in the front of the hull that were slightly staggered were actually aimed straight at themselves, and judging from the waves that crashed into the bow, the speed was at least more than 28 knots!

"I'm grass! Is this a battleship or a cruiser! Speed, how can the rudder be so!! All the officers on the bridge watched blankly as the two Guam-class battleships rushed towards them at the speed of a cruiser, and came to their senses a moment later.

"God, turn the rudder, turn the rudder!"

Just as Cesare shouted in horror, several dazzling orange fireballs suddenly exploded in front of the 2 Guam-class ships in the distance, no sound could be heard, no black dots could be seen, all hearts were hanging in the throat, and now there were still 15,000 yards! They should miss themselves...... bar.

"Boom, boom, boom......."

Just as Cesare and his officers began to pray for good luck again, two columns of water suddenly rose from the bow of the ship, and the burst of water threw the bow of the battleship of more than 20,000 tons to the left. "Shoot back......." While the shouts were still echoing in the gunsman's voice, the fire was already lit up again in the distance.

It's not a war, it's torment, it's bone splitting!

You can see it, you can't beat it, you get beaten in vain! And the night also perfectly protected any traces left by the enemy shells, so that they could only pray again!

"Bang ......."

Even standing behind the thick bulkhead of the command tower on the bridge, this strange noise still made everyone's hearts sink suddenly, and their hearts and pupils all shrank into a little cold star!

This sound ...... and only one time will be made.

Heavy objects hit the armor steel!

"God, hold on to ......." As the voice echoed in the throat of the first mate, everyone felt their feet suddenly leave the deck and hang in the air, and then the hull shook violently, and after a violent bang, the entire battleship was staggered as if they had been hit by a bowling ball.

"Where was the shot? Tell me. ”

After getting up with a lot of pain, Cesare didn't care about the stray bullets outside and rushed out of the command tower, and when he saw the scene behind him, he was stupid, only to see that the chimney behind him had collapsed crookedly, and the flames were rising from below, and above the waterline on the port side was a hole several meters wide that had been torn open by the explosion, and the steel plate was curled outward, as if it had been forcibly torn open by the claws of a giant beast.

"Captain, ahem...... the boiler room is finished! The flues were all broken, toxic gases were spreading below deck, and evacuation had to be made. ”

"Power cabin, tell me about the loss of power cabin."

"There is a steam engine that is stuck and can no longer rotate, and we are rushing to repair it, and now it can only guarantee a speed of 15 knots."

"Captain, we must leave immediately to extinguish the fire, the flames are too big, we will be targeted!"

"Communications Officer, Communications Officer ......, light signal, Cayo Duilio's boiler compartment is badly damaged, toxic gases are spreading, and immediate temporary departure is needed to extinguish the fire."

The interrogator was just about to bring the order to the soldiers to send a signal, but before he could take two steps, the whole person froze, and trembled and pointed to several black shadows that suddenly appeared on the other side of the battleship, and all the hairs exploded at once, and the panic finally turned into a stammering scream.

"Ship ...... Warship...... Captain! Austro-Hungarians! Be...... It's a combined force of 4 ships! ”

"What!"

RO！ ~！