The sudden departure of the Combined Fleet to the sea immediately made the British and French spies in Taranto move, but because of the control of the Italian side, they could not go to sea by ship to observe, so they informed London and Bordeaux (the temporary capital of France) of the situation one by one.

Britain and France immediately sent a notice to their own fleets about the combined fleet's move to sea, and the naval formations of the Entente countries in the Mediterranean had already received the news.

"Your Excellency, this is a telegram from London."

On the Thor, off the coast of Tunisia, the communications staff officer handed over the latest telegram from London to the commander of the secret reinforcement formation, Lieutenant General Steddy.

Lieutenant General Sterdy took the telegram and read it at a glance, but the contents of the telegram made him frown.

"What's wrong, Your Excellency, Commander."

The chief of staff on the side saw that the situation was not right, and immediately asked.

"A telegram was sent from London saying that the enemy's combined fleet had left port early this morning and was missing."

It was obvious that this sudden disappearance of the enemy fleet would become a thorn in the heart of Vice Admiral Stedi, who was preparing to lead the team through the enemy's naval blockade.

"It looks like our opponents are very smart."

"It's not easy for us to be an opponent at all, and I don't underestimate him. The French, the Japanese, and the Americans had all suffered at his hands before, and with such a rich and excellent record, if he were British, he would have been able to compete for the commander of the home fleet. ”

It was clear that Vice Admiral Stedi was a little unconvinced by his own home fleet commander.

There is also a reason for this, when considering the commander of the home fleet before, Vice Admiral Stedi was also in the scope of consideration, and it was relatively high. As a result, Marshal Felsher pushed Admiral Jericho, causing everyone else to lose their chance, so it is normal for this person to be a little resentful.

However, as long as this one could say, the other officers did not dare to make up the topic as if they had not heard it.

Although he occasionally complained, Lieutenant General Stedi was still worthy of being a candidate, and he continued to speak. "I'm more interested now than our hidden opponent when the French will arrive. We've been in this damn Tunisian sea for half a day, why haven't we heard from the French yet? ”

That's right, in addition to the unknown whereabouts of the Italian fleet, the slow movement of his allies, the French, made him even more anxious.

Speaking of which, the Admiralty saw that even if there were reinforcements, they could not occupy a sufficient advantage in strength compared with the Combined Fleet, so before they left, London paid attention to the four French dreadnoughts.

And this time the French were happy and agreed to their request.

So not long after departure, the reinforcements received a telegram from London, saying that they were waiting off the coast of Tunisia to join the French formation.

After a covert voyage, when the reinforcements arrived off the coast of Tunisia, they were told that the French formation would have to wait a while, and that there were originally four dreadnoughts, but because of a mechanical failure of the Paris, they became three.

Three is three, it's better than nothing.

As for the number of reinforcement battleships of the French, Vice Admiral Stedi was actually very open.

But what was most unbearable for him was that the French were delayed, they had been waiting here for half a day, and as a result, the French formation had not yet arrived.

True, Lieutenant General Sterdy is now most indignant about the delay of the French. Because this secret reinforcement is very time-requirement, you must know that the absence of these four warships will make the home fleet no longer have an advantage in the face of the German high seas fleet.

Therefore, the reinforcement operation must be kept secret and time-limited.

According to the plan, the time limit for their reinforcement was seven days, after which they would need to consider returning home regardless of whether they fought the Italians or not.

Waiting for half a day off the coast of Tunisia wastes that time and increases the risk of detection.

How can this not make Lieutenant General Stady anxious. If it is discovered by the Italians at this time, then the difficulty of wanting to join the Mediterranean fleet will increase exponentially.

Lieutenant General Sterdy would not have thought that Italy, knowing about his reinforcement formation, would watch him join up with Admiral Carden.

"Urge the French again, let them hurry."

"Okay, I'll send a telegram to Tunisia myself."

Just as the two were anxious about the sluggishness of the French, they saw the communications officer come in with a telegram. "This is a telegram from Malta."

Without waiting for Lieutenant General Sterdy to take over, the chief of staff took over first. However, after glancing at it, the chief of staff did not look very good.

Without waiting for Lieutenant General Stedi to ask, he explained first. "This is a telegram from Major General Behrens of Malta, who wants us to be able to give Malta a little help as we pass by."

"What?"

The words of the chief of staff surprised Lieutenant General Stedi.

Don't blame Lieutenant General Stedi for a sudden startle, because the trip to Malta to fight was not planned.

"What's going on with this Major General Behrens."

It is precisely because of this that Lieutenant General Stedi feels unhappy, what is going on and how things have changed one after another today. At this time, the chief of staff carefully handed over a telegram to him.

Lieutenant General Stedi, who received the telegram, then understood why, it turned out that the defenders of Malta Island could no longer bear it.

Although there were many defenders on the island of Malta, they were only nearly 10,000, while the attacking Italian side had a sea and air advantage, and there was no shortage of troops and materials. If it weren't for the fact that Malta had been the base of the Mediterranean Fleet for many years and had many fortifications, the island would have been taken by the Italians long ago.

Although the British are still holding on, their situation is no longer good, and the defenders of the island are currently holding only two places, one is the former Mediterranean garrison of Port Valletta, and the other is the commanding heights of the island, Tinguely Heights. With the exception of these two places, the others were indeed abandoned by the British.

The reason for the abandonment was simple, the Italians attacked too fiercely, and the British defenders on the island suffered many casualties, so they could only hold the most important positions in order to save troops.

In just a few days, the British army had to retreat to the last two key points, in addition to the landing marines attacking strongly, the navy's full preparation is also inseparable.

You must know that in order to ensure the firepower and ammunition supply of the landing force, the Navy built two movable temporary docks in advance, although it is not possible to allow transport ships of several thousand tons to dock directly, but ships of about 1,000 tons have no problem at all. Therefore, although Italy has not yet captured the port of Valletta, it does not affect its transportation of personnel and materials.

In addition, the landing craft temporarily served as a transport boat as a supplement, coupled with airship attacks in the air and warship support at sea, although it was impossible to achieve it, but it made the defenders feel heavy pressure.

As its commander, Major General Behrens, at this time, remembered the reinforcement formation that was about to arrive and wanted to ask him to help relieve the pressure on the Maltese defenders.

However, the calculation of the major general Behrens was wrong, and he saw Lieutenant General Stedi speak. "Let's shell the landing site in Malta, it's a good idea, but it doesn't match our purpose. Send a telegram to Major General Behrens, and tell him that our military situation is urgent. There is no way to stay in Malta, so it is difficult to obey the anger. ”

"Wait a minute."

Seeing that the communications officer was about to send a report, the chief of staff immediately stopped the other party.

"Lieutenant General, isn't it not good to refuse directly like this, it will make our formation appear too passive."

Lieutenant General Stedey knew what his chief of staff meant, of course, but he immediately asked. "Chief of Staff, did you say that this Rear Admiral Behrens sent a telegram to London and General Carden for help from France, and don't forget that the other side also has a fleet of former dreadnoughts near Malta."

There is no need for a heavy hammer to sound the drum, and it is certainly not an ordinary person to become the chief of staff of the formation. Since the telegrams had been sent to their reinforcements, Rear Admiral Behrens must have also sent telegrams to London and the Mediterranean Fleet. Neither side has ever sent a message to themselves, and many things need to be understood by themselves.

"I think I'd better inform London and General Carden."

The chief of staff cautiously added.

"As long as we win the naval battle, the crisis in Malta will be resolved immediately."

Just as the two of them were processing the request from Malta, they saw another communications officer hurrying in.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the French have sent a telegram that they are still more than 30 nautical miles away from us, and they will be there in two hours."

These words made the big stone in Lieutenant General Stedi's heart fall. "Now, send a telegram to General Carden, and tell them that we are about to cross the Central Mediterranean, and pay attention to the timely direction to facilitate the convergence."

(End of chapter)