At the time when London announced that the Home Fleet would patrol the North Sea and conduct tactical exercises at sea, some preparations were also being made at Alexandria, the British Mediterranean Fleet's station.

"Hang a little higher."

"Come over here and get a hand."

"This pile of supplies is not our Collingwood's, it's the Avantgarde's, don't make a mistake because our two ships are about the same."

At this time, Alexandria was unusually busy, with a large pile of supplies and ammunition constantly being loaded onto the battleship. At this time, even people who don't understand the navy see it and know that this is the final preparation of the warship before making the sea.

At this time, a large number of battleships were moored in Alexandria, and on the far left pier were four St. Vincent-class ships (St. Vincent, Collingwood, Avant-garde, Neptune), which formed the third battleship squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet, and were the pacesetters in various trainings of the Mediterranean Fleet.

Next to the four St. Vincent-class ships was the Second Battleship Squadron (the Colossus, Hercules, and Montagu) consisting of three Colossus-class battleships

It was the last dreadnought built in the UK and the fastest dreadnought ever built to service. In response to the news of the expansion of the German and Italian navies, the British Navy urgently built three Colossus-class ships.

In the face of the requirements of the Admiralty, the British shipyard was already familiar with the construction of dreadnoughts at this time, coupled with the use of mature design schemes, so this battleship completed the construction to launch in only one year, of course, plus outfitting, sea trials, etc., it took two years to enter service.

It only took more than two years from the start of construction to the entry into service, and the construction of the Colossus class was already very fast. Of course, there is a price to be fast, and after the Colossus class was handed over to the navy, its officers and men did not perform very well, and small problems arose one after another, and then it was normal to enter the shipyard to make small changes.

Next to the Colossus class is the core of the Mediterranean battleship formation, the three ultra-dreadnought battleships of the first squadron of battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet, the Orion, the Conqueror, and the Centennial. Although these three belong to the Orion class and the George V class respectively, as two battleships that began to be built in the same year and do not differ much in firepower, protection, and speed, there is no problem at all in organizing them into a team.

Among them, the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet is the Orion of the squadron. This battleship was urgently developed by Britain after learning that Germany and Italy were going to put 350 mm guns on the ship, and the ship was equipped with 13.5-inch 45 times caliber naval guns (343 mm) developed by Britain.

In terms of power, protection, and firepower, this Orion class is a super-dreadnought against Germany and Italy, except that the speed (22 knots) is slightly lower than that of the Italian Cavour-class, and the difference in other aspects is not large.

Of course, as one of the most important fleets of Britain, in addition to battleships, the Mediterranean Fleet also has a new type of ship that has appeared in recent years, battle cruisers. At present, the battle patrol formation to which the Mediterranean Fleet belongs is docked to the right of the first squadron of battleships. With the invincible, tireless, and indomitable, they formed the vanguard of the Mediterranean Fleet.

Unlike in history, due to the reference and potential target of the Italian Taranto-class, the Invincible-class battlecruiser had to be designed from the outset to be no less than or close to the Taranto class in terms of performance. Therefore, the length and displacement of the invincible-level battle patrol in this time and space are rising slowly.

The standard displacement of the warships of this class reached 22,300 tons, and the full load reached 25,100 tons. In terms of firepower, the ship is equipped with 8 305-mm 45-fold main guns, 16 single-mounted 45-fold diameter 102-mm secondary guns, and 5 457-mm underwater torpedo tubes.

In terms of power, it is equipped with 24 kerosene hybrid boilers, 2 steam turbines, four axles, a maximum output of 52,000 hp, and a maximum speed of 26 knots.

And because of the threat of the Taranto class in terms of armor, the invincible class with thin skin and big stuffing disappeared, and instead there was an existence that could compete with the Taranto class.

In fact, it's normal to think about it, the British are not stupid, you Italy come up with a battleship with excellent performance in all aspects, I want to come up with a poor performance how to come out to meet people, and as a hegemon at sea, then you must not lag behind people on the battleship, at least not let others see it.

Everyone is playing the navy, so everyone can do it with a battleship's performance, and you don't say that a battleship that can only run 21 knots can run 24 knots, because everyone can see it.

As for the Invincible, it is an improved version of the Invincible, and its performance has been improved to a certain extent compared with the Invincible class, but there is not much difference in the three key data of firepower, protection, and speed, and it is far inferior to the latest Milan-level patrol in Italy.

Speaking of which, in fact, the most embarrassing of the formations in the Mediterranean are these "perfect cats", because in terms of quantity and quality, they are suppressed by their opponents, the Italian battle patrol formations.

Faced with this situation, the officers and men of the battle patrol formation of the Mediterranean Fleet jokingly said that they were definitely the most alternative existence in the British Imperial Navy, because their mission was to run away when they saw the enemy.

There is no way not to run, the number is 3 to 5, and the other side also has a Milan-class equipped with a 350 mm main gun, once its own three battle cruisers are entangled, then the end will definitely be very bad.

The Mediterranean Fleet and the Admiralty are as clear as a mirror about the dilemma of the battle patrol formation, but they don't have a brain to supplement the battle patrol of the Mediterranean Fleet, and they are directly rejected at the source.

Because quite simply, like battleships, the British Empire battle cruisers were not rich. Thanks to the addition of Italy as a spoiler, the British Empire had more requirements in terms of the number and quality of warships.

This also required the British Empire to spend more money than it did in history to maintain the throne of the world's largest navy.

Although Britain is the world's hegemon, it is not so easy to increase military spending. The government, parliament and even the people all need a statement.

In a sense, the European countries at that time were not well prepared and understood for this war, and they were all preparing for the previous war, at most strengthening it, except for the Kingdom of Italy, which was led by Carlo.

This also led to the lack of preparation of Britain for the surge in power of Italy, resulting in the insufficient growth of the Mediterranean fleet.

Of course, for its commander, General Kaden, this is already the best result.

Looking at the busy officers and soldiers at the dock, he turned his head to the chief of staff on the side, Lieutenant General Robeck. "This is our best and last chance."

"Yes Admiral, may God bless the British Empire."

Regarding General Carden's words, Lieutenant General Robeck agreed very much.

As high-ranking officers and soldiers in the army, they know more than ordinary officers and soldiers.

At present, although the Italian navy has the advantage, their Mediterranean fleet can still withstand and hold back their opponents.

If the time comes to next year, then the period of strength of the Italians will continue to expand. Because next year, Italy's Roman-class will enter service, and its cutting-edge warships equipped with 380-mm guns will not be able to withstand no warship in the Mediterranean Fleet.

And the Queen Elizabeth class, which the British themselves can compete with, because the construction time is a little later, even if the navy keeps urging, its service time is eight months to a year later than the Italian Roma class. (This is the result of joint research by the three countries, which led to the earlier acquisition of new technology by Germany and Italy, which allowed them to start working on new warships more quickly.) ）

Eight months was enough time for the Italians to establish absolute superiority in the Mediterranean, and by that time, unless Britain transferred all eight Elizabeth-class ships to the Mediterranean, it would be difficult to regain the advantage.

Because the situation was so dangerous, it was necessary to defeat the Italians before their advantage expanded.

Otherwise, by the time the Romans enter service, by that time, it will be a question of whether the Mediterranean Fleet can hold Egypt.

(End of chapter)