The lightning strike formation was getting closer and closer, which made the mood of the officers and men of the British battleship formation immediately fall from heaven to hell.

"The secondary artillery is firing at full strength, and it is not allowed to approach."

Admiral Carden's mood was equally bad, in fact, he had felt bad when the Italian battleships had directed their fire at the interception formation. Sure enough, under the enemy's full attack, the interception formation was not effective, and sixty percent of the enemy ships rushed through the interception formation to attack him, at this time he had no other care, if the lightning strike formation rushed to him, then he would become a sinner of the British Empire.

"Order, so the battleship's secondary guns will make every effort to intercept the enemy's lightning strike formation, and the interception formation will also strike from behind, and the opponent must not be allowed to get close to the battleship."

At this moment, he has already broken the ship, even if he sacrifices all the interception formations, he must stop these lightning strike battleships.

In fact, without his order, when the lightning strike formation rushed past the interception formation, its commander, Major General Edward, had already issued an order to his formation to break through and intercept the pursuit of the enemy's lightning strike formation.

In this order, Major General Edward made a rare distinction not by directing the order, but by telegram in a consultative tone. The full text of the telegram is as follows: Gentlemen of the British Empire, the enemy lightning strike formation has broken through our interception and is heading for the battleship formation. I'm not going to blame anyone here, we've done our best. But as a gentleman of the British Navy, how can we watch such a catastrophe befall the precious battleships of the Navy, which is contrary to the traditions of our Navy and against our conscience, and even if we survive, we will blame ourselves for it, so I hope that all gentlemen will make amends for this mistake, and for this I will not hesitate to sacrifice my life. Warwick Edward, January 7, 1914, 17:21.

Edward's telegram boosted the morale of the officers of the interception formation, and reinvigorated the already wavering military spirit, and then under the leadership of Edward, the interceptor formation turned around, leaving its back to the main force of the combined fleet, desperately wanting to leave the warships of the lightning strike formation.

So there was a rather strange scene on the battlefield, with the battleship formation led by Admiral Carden as the center, and four waves of battleships rushed towards it. They seemed to be grabbing Tang monk meat, scrambling to be the first.

Of course, among them, the officers and soldiers of the lightning strike formation, which was also the first wave that detonated the battle situation, were the most urgent, and they were eager to show the steel giants of the British army a big treasure.

"Charge, maximum speed, let's go to the trembling Brit in front of us and see a little color."

On the destroyer USS Dolphin, Lieutenant Colonel Danielle, the acting commander of the torpedo formation, roared and told his crew to speed up the ship again.

He was so anxious because the British were in a hurry, and their interception formation didn't care about the cruiser formation and battleship formation behind him, and only cared about dealing with their lightning-struck battleships. Straight ahead, of course, the battleships were constantly firing at them, and their undestroyed secondary guns were constantly creating obstacles in their path. From time to time, a battleship is destroyed by its hits, and this adrenaline-pumping scene really needs to boost the morale of the crew.

But fortunately, these of them are stupid and daring, and they may not be as good as other warships in terms of training or elite, but in terms of fighting for their lives, they are definitely the strongest. Because of the danger of lightning strikes, the first thing to choose officers and men is to be bold, otherwise how to calmly hit the target in an environment full of artillery fire.

That being said, but as the commander of the torpedo unit, Lieutenant Colonel Danielle could not just watch like this. Although he unexpectedly became the commander of the formation, Lieutenant Colonel Danielle, who had previously served as the commander of the 3rd Lightning Strike Detachment, also wanted to fully show his ability in this sea battle that was related to the direction of the war. Therefore, using words to motivate his subordinates has become the most useful of his many methods at present.

Under enemy fire, the lightning strike formation quickly approached the British battleship formation.

5 thousand meters.

Four thousand meters.

Three thousand meters.

Seeing that the lightning strike formation was getting closer and closer, the British battleships not only fired at them with their secondary guns, but even the main guns turned their muzzles to fire at them. Under the desperate fire interception of the British, the Thunder Strike formations suffered significant losses. Many torpedo boats and destroyers were hit and exploded on the spot, after all, the torpedoes they were equipped with were lethal to all warships, whether after or before launch.

Lieutenant Colonel Danielle didn't take a second look at the tragedy around him, because lightning strikes were a life-and-death task, and how to better hit the target and cause more damage was what he was most concerned about now.

"Order all ships to carry out torpedo attacks on enemy ships at a distance of 1,005 meters. Set a depth of seven meters and a speed of 38 knots. ”

Seeing that the enemy ship was getting closer and closer, Lieutenant Commander Danielle finally gave the final order to launch. The distance of 1,000 meters is just right for lightning strike tactics. If it is too far away, it is easy to be dodged by the enemy, and if it is too close, it is easier to hit, but the hit rate of the same artillery fire will soar, which will outweigh the losses.

As for why Lieutenant Colonel Danielle even cares about the depth and speed of torpedo launches, in a word, this is the charm of a salvo. The torpedo unit also caught up with this fashion, and the results of the test were very good, so they directly adopted it.

Following the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Danielle, the torpedo formations quickly began their final preparations before the lightning strike. I saw that the battleships, which were still scattered, were slowly approaching. If you pay attention, you will see that more than twenty mine-strike battleships are gradually forming seven groups of four or five.

This is a real skill, and the fact that it can complete this kind of formation in the situation of artillery fire and constant hits of warships fully demonstrates the super high level of the Italian lightning strike formation.

Then the ships began to fire torpedoes, only to see one after another thermodynamic torpedoes constantly firing from the battleships. The torpedo line with obvious trajectory appeared densely in front of the British battleship formation, making the sharp-eyed lookout posts constantly shout lightning strikes, lightning strikes, lightning strikes!

The biggest disadvantage of the thermodynamic torpedo is that the trajectory is obvious, so there is no need to be reminded by the lookout post, and the officers and men on the British battleship can see it through binoculars.

But how to say it, since the Italian torpedo formations dared to use this tactic, there was naturally a reason. Because the nearly 200 torpedoes fired by it rushed towards it in one fan, whether it was turning or accelerating, it was within the range of the torpedoes. And it is also very particular to set it to a depth of seven meters, which basically eliminates the method of blocking knives of other warships.

In fact, this is also because the traces of thermodynamic torpedoes are too obvious, and it is very difficult to hit without hitting a salvo fan.

And now in the face of the dense white line of the sea rushing towards his battleship, anyone who looks at it will have a numb scalp.

"Turn, bow to the enemy."

At this moment, Kaden will see the dense torpedoes on the sea surface and quickly order to turn. It was impossible to dodge at the moment, and the only way to meet the incoming torpedo attack was to use the least threatening bow of the ship. This is the best way to deal with it, and you can't use the hull or the more dangerous stern.

It is not easy to turn no matter what you want, because this just shortens the distance between the battleship and the torpedo, and how slow the steering is, how can it be completely turned in more than a minute, and the fastest time is only a small half of the turn.

Therefore, the battleship of the Colossus, which was rapidly turning, saw the torpedo coming to it, and the officers and men on the battleship could only hopelessly grab the railing and shout as they looked at the torpedoes that were close at hand, "Prepare for impact!" ”

Only three explosions were heard, and then the battleship shook violently, and a screeching sound of metal twisting sounded on the battleship, and the Colossus was hit by three torpedoes.

A series of explosions sounded one after another, and the battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet were hit one after another, of course, more or less. The luckiest one was the Conqueror, which was hit by only one torpedo, and this torpedo had not exploded yet. It can be said that it can be regarded as God's own eyes. Of course, there are good and bad things, and the Collingwood was hit, and all five torpedoes exploded, and the sea water poured into the Collingwood cabin like a burst. Then, in just two minutes, the Collingwood tilted to the right by 7°C, which was no longer something that could be dealt with, and the captain of the ship, Lieutenant Commander Douglas, had no choice but to abandon the ship.

Then the crew of the Collingwood continued to jump into the water like dumplings, and struggled away from the ship, which was about to capsize.

The Collingwood was the worst of the lightning strikes, and in addition to the Collingwood, other British battleships were torpedoed (with the exception of the luckiest of the Conquerors).

For example, as Admiral Kaden's ship Orion was hit with two torpedoes, and only one torpedo exploded, but fortunately, the position of the hit was at the bow of the ship on the right, coupled with the excellent pipe damage, so that the Orion only entered more than 500 tons of water, which did not have a big impact on it except for affecting the speed.

Like the Orion is already considered good, the Captain Centurion is worse, although it was only hit by two torpedoes, but one hit the stern and the other hit the middle of the ship. These two torpedoes directly poured the power compartment of the Captain Centurion into the sea water, and the turbulent sea water flooded the boiler and steam turbine of the Captain Hundred, directly causing it to remain motionless after losing power on the sea surface, and also made the bow of the Captain Hundred, and its outcome can be imagined.

Other battleships, such as the Colossus, Hercules, and the Avantgarde, were torpedoed and suffered heavy losses.

In terms of hit rate, this lightning strike hit rate of more than 13%, which is a remarkable achievement. And in one fell swoop changed the situation of this naval battle.

Leffer saw the outstanding results of the lightning strike formation on the flagship Cavour, and even his extremely steady personality was full of excitement and smiles.

Not to mention the others, there was laughter and laughter in the Commander Tower of the Cavour. As long as everyone can see that the other party has been hit hard, it is time to reap the fruits of victory.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Lightning Strike Formation has created enough advantages for us with great sacrifices, and we will expand the advantages next. Now I order, artillery shelling of enemy battleships, giving priority to enemy ships with serious damage. ”

At this moment, Leffel put down the big stone in his heart and gave the order in a loud voice.

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."

The communications staff officer who received the order immediately replied in a loud voice, and at this time his own commander was the most outstanding naval commander in his mind.

With Leffel's order, the main forces of the Combined Fleet bared their fangs at Admiral Carden's battleship formation. The battleship formation, which had been shelling the enemy's interception formation, aimed its guns at the opponent it should have at this moment, and bursts of artillery fire roared, allowing the British to experience their previous feelings.

At this moment, for the British battleship formation that had been struck by lightning, it was completely like a hellish existence. At this time, because of the closer distance, the artillery fire of the Combined Fleet was more intense. And the half-crippled Mediterranean fleet can be described as stormy and desolate.

Shells continued to explode on the British battleships, making it impossible for the Mediterranean Fleet, which was already wounded, to bear it.

The first to suffer was the Captain of the Centurion, which had lost its power, and in just ten minutes, it was shelled more than 20 times. Frequent blows struck the Captain 100 and caused a raging fire. Finally, a few minutes later, a loud explosion broke the Captain Centurion into two sections and quickly sank into the sea.

In addition to the Captain of the Hundred, the other British battleships were also heavily damaged.

Looking at everything in front of him, Admiral Kaden, who was on the Orion, had red eyes. "Send another telegram to Lieutenant General Stedi, asking where his reinforcements are."

At this moment, Carden was extremely eager to see the figure of the lieutenant general, even more than his expectations for his wife and children. The lieutenant general had reported an hour and a half earlier that he had been struck by an Italian lightning strike 25 nautical miles away, and then there was no news.

Just as General Carden was anxiously waiting for news of the reinforcement formation, he saw a communications staff officer run in, which immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the command tower.

Under the expectant gaze of everyone, the communications staff officer immediately spoke. "Admiral, this is a telegram from Major General Sinken, who says he is coming with the Indefatigable, and that he is now ten nautical miles southwest of us."

The distance was already visible to the naked eye, and sure enough, an officer came to report. "Report, a battleship has been found in our southwest, and the preliminary judgment is that it is a battle cruiser."

Although it is not the reinforcement formation that I want, but now at this critical juncture, it is all vegetables in the basket, and enhancing the strength of my formation is the first priority.

"Order Rear Admiral Sinken to come with the Indefatigable at once, we need his reinforcements."

"Admiral."

Before the communications staff officer could leave, another communications staff officer ran in, and he said in a loud voice with a happy face. "Admiral, Lieutenant General Stedi, telegraphed that he had routed the enemy interception formation and was approaching, only 24 nautical miles away from us."

These words reactivated Cardin's heart, which had sunk into the trough. There was a burst of cheers from inside the command tower. I don't know if they were cheering for the arrival of the long-awaited reinforcements, or if they were cheering for their escape, or maybe both.

And the news of Lieutenant General Steddy's arrival was not only received by Carden, but also by Leffel. Looking at the telegram in front of him, there was silence in the command tower.

Lefeel glanced up a little unwillingly, the dilapidated Mediterranean Fleet in the distance, as long as he was given another hour, he was confident that he would clean up the battleship in Carden's hands. It's a pity he didn't.

"Order the formation in addition to the battleship formation to give the order to let it search and rescue the people who have fallen into the water, and we will retreat in ten minutes."

Speaking of this, Lefell ordered again unwillingly. "Order a formation of battleships, each ship to concentrate on attacking the enemy Hercules and the Avantgarde."

It was clear that Leffel wanted to sink before taking away, and with his order, the Combined Fleet erupted into an even more violent roar, and the two targeted ships trembled in the air under fire.