The efforts of the submarine force in the Indian Ocean can be seen throughout the navy, and the constant sinking of merchant ships shows that the force of this branch is very powerful.

Although submarines have shown full power as a new weapon, for many naval officers and sailors, the romance of men still needs to come from a cannon and a giant ship.

So for the strongest battleship in the world at the moment, the service of the Roma is full of expectations.

Also looking forward to it was King Carlo, who was present at the inauguration ceremony of the Roma.

Located in the military port of Taranto, a mighty battleship is parked on the edge of the dock, and its firepower is represented by eight powerful 380mm guns.

And a grand service ceremony is being held here on the shore, and the red carpet, ribbons, salutes and other items used in the ceremony have long been prepared. Chairs were placed on either side of the red carpet, on which sat naval officers and visiting guests, all of whom had come to watch the commissioning of the Roma.

Directly in front of them, Carlo handed a golden key representing the Roma to the Roma's captain, Lieutenant Commander Pineou.

"Captain Pineou, now I hand over the Roma to you, hoping that Your Excellency will make many achievements in the next battles, let the world know about the ship, and let history leave it and your name."

Captain Pineu excitedly took the key representing the battleship from the king's hand, and he said vigorously. "All the officers and men of the Roma will live up to the expectations of His Majesty the King, and will let the world remember the name of the Roma."

Captain Pineu was so excited, not only because he had become the commander of the Roma, but also because of his hard work over the years.

Captain Pineau is 47 years old, he is not a brilliant genius, he graduated from the Naval Academy of Livorno in the middle and bottom ranks.

And there weren't many other wonderful performances in the service, but there were no mistakes.

Note that this is already very telling, as he did equally well as captain of destroyers, cruisers, and later as first mate of the battleship Dante.

Captain Pineu is the kind of person you can trust when you give him a task, and although he won't be amazing, he won't be able to finish it either. Therefore, when choosing the captain of the Roma, the Admiralty took special fancy to him for this quality.

And after becoming the provisional captain of the Roma, Pineau diligently led the officers and men to familiarize themselves with the warship. After the outbreak of war, Pineau worked day and night to formulate plans to speed up the familiarization of officers and men with warships and various training work. Judging by the white hair on his head and the wrinkles on his head, it is believed that he is in his fifties and close to sixty years old.

But it's worth it all the hard work, which is why Pineau is so excited.

To the excited Captain Pineou, Carlo immediately patted the other man on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement. Carlo then took part in the ribbon-cutting and shook hands with the officers and men of the Roma, and the service ceremony came to an end.

However, although the ceremony was over, Carlo did not leave, and he began to talk with Admiral Yagill, the Minister of the Admiralty, and the commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Lefel (who had been promoted after the Battle of Sirte).

"How's the damaged ship of the Combined Fleet repaired?"

Carlo was very concerned as soon as he came up, and the combined fleet that gathered the best of the Italian and Austrian navies.

"Your Majesty, the repair of the damaged warship is currently being carried out overtime. The Da Vinci, the Julio, and the Petrarch will take another month to return to the fleet, and the Dante, the Dreadnought, will take another three months to repair. It takes two months for the United Forces, and four months for the Istvan, mainly because the production of parts from Austria-Hungary is slower, so the repair work is not as fast as our own ships. It is expected that in another four months, we will regain the initiative at sea. ”

There are only two or three kittens left in this majestic combined fleet, which is not comparable to the current Combined Fleet of the Entente Mediterranean.

What's going on?

Because Britain formed this combined fleet with the warships of Britain (6 battleships (2 seriously damaged) and 1 battlecruiser), France (3 battleships), and Japan (3 battleships, 2 battlecruisers).

The fleet can be said to be no weaker than the Mediterranean fleet before the Battle of Sirte, and even a little stronger. But even so, the combined fleet of the three countries did not have the intention of coming to the central waters of the Mediterranean to show its presence.

There are two reasons, on the one hand, the Three Kingdoms fleet needs to be integrated, after all, everyone was not familiar with it before, and they didn't even know the fighting style of their teammates' personalities, so they hurriedly found a sense of existence, isn't it a taboo for soldiers. ’

In addition, the naval battle of Sirte was very feared by the ubiquitous airships of Italy. Under the meticulous care of the opponent, every move of the fleet was in the eyes of others, and half of the battle was lost before it was fought.

Before solving the reconnaissance of the airships with many enemies, the battleship of the treasure of the Three Kingdoms should not come out with waves first.

Of course, the Italian Navy also knows the growth of the enemy's strength, but they do not think that the other side can compete with them, on the one hand, the four Roman-class ships will be commissioned this year, with four 380 mm large tubes, they can let the other side know what firepower output is.

In addition, the alliance of the navies of the three countries seems to be an increase in strength, but it is not easy to integrate it well. The warships of different standards of the three kingdoms, as well as the training, regulations, passwords, etc., are different, which must be integrated in a short time, and only God himself can do it.

"Very good, I hope that the Navy will continue to work hard to surpass the achievements made in the waters of Sirte."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that our navy will definitely achieve new successes."

As the commander of the Combined Fleet, Leyfer immediately responded.

"By the way, what are those German naval officers here for?"

At this point, Carlo remembered the German naval officers in the row at the ceremony, and asked.

"Your Majesty, this is a German submarine officer, and the German Navy, after seeing the achievements of our submarines in the Indian Ocean, wants to learn about it. Presumably, after winning the Battle of Dogle Sandbank, the German Navy would have more ideas. ”

Admiral Yagill, the Lord of the Navy, answered Carlo's question, and as for what he called the Battle of Dogle Sandbank, it was a naval battle that had taken place a week earlier between Britain and Germany in the Gulf of Helgoland.

Prior to the start of the battle, the Germans first sent patrols to attack cities on the east coast of England, and then deliberately made an appearance on the Dogle Sandbar and attacked British ships (mainly fishing boats) in the area. The British Navy immediately sent a battle patrol formation led by Vice Admiral Betty, intending to sink these armored patrols who dared to attack.

However, Betty didn't know that the battle patrol formation led by Hipper had been waiting for him here for a long time.

When Betty was about to teach the German Patrol, Hipper appeared with the Battle Patrol. As for why this is so, this is to prevent Betty from becoming suspicious. However, if it is found that Hipper is in front of him with a battle patrol, then even if the opponent likes to fight, he will be suspicious, which will most likely lead to the failure of the battle plan.

As for the three cruisers, as long as they can defeat the British home fleet, then all the sacrifices will be worth it.

Sure enough, when she was about to start the patrol, she saw the Germans on the patrol, and Betty was ecstatic in her heart. Because he thought it was Hipper's war patrol that had come to pick up the loadout.

Therefore, at the first time, he sent a report to Jericho, saying that he had caught the German battle patrol formation on the Dogle sandbank, hoping that the main fleet would attack and sink the opponent, and he would entangle the opponent.

Betty's telegram startled Jericho, who, unlike Betty, who was bold and reckless, was quite cautious. As Betty set out, he ordered the ship to light a fire and warm up, ready to leave at any time. So what are you waiting for at this time, hurry over and stand up for your subordinate.

In addition to sending warships, he also ordered the airships on the east coast to immediately reconnoiter the Dogger sandbank, which can be described as extremely cautious.

However, while he was still halfway there, Betty sent him a telegram claiming that he was luring the Germans over and hoping that he would be ready to encircle.

Betty's telegram made Jellico's eyes darken, because he knew this person's character too well, and if he hadn't suffered a loss, how could it be a temptation. Instead, it should be pursued by victory.

However, although he did not deal with Betty, considering the situation of the battle, Jericho agreed to do what the other party said.

So the huge battleship formation was divided into three sides, and as long as the German battle patrol came and Betty entangled the other side, then it would definitely not be able to escape.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the figure of the battle patrol appeared on the sea in front of him, this was the battle patrol led by Betty, and the only thing that could only be seen in the back was the German battle patrol.

Betty's battle patrol formation was indeed not good, it set out with five battle cruisers, and only four of them returned (the New Zealand was sunk), and the royal princess looked badly damaged by thick smoke billowing from it.

This went out for a lap and killed and seriously injured, and at this time Jericho had the urge to beat Betty violently. However, at this time, how to make up for the loss is the key.

So Jericho immediately ordered the formations to speed up immediately and rush to the Betty formation, which was reflexively fighting with the enemy ships.

However, at this time, the airship sent a telegram that a large number of German battleships had been found twenty nautical miles behind the German war patrol, and it was judged that they were the main force of the High Seas Fleet.

Jericho was stunned when he saw the news, at this time he had no way to retreat, if he avoided the battle by himself, he would send all the battle patrols away, and Jericho could only give the order to fight.

He now has 17 battleships in his hands, and the opponent only has 14, so why should he retreat with his advantage, and he will only know who has won and lost.

As for the German side, Admiral Ingnoll managed to catch the British by surprise, how could he miss it, so a hard-fought battle began on the Dogel sandbank.

The naval battle began at five o'clock in the afternoon and lasted until more than eight o'clock in the evening.

In the battle of more than three hours, Germany lost two battleships, two battle cruisers, and one small and medium-sized battleship, with a total tonnage of more than 90,000 tons, more than 5,000 casualties, and almost all other main battleships were wounded.

As for the British side. Lost 5 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, and the same vote of small and medium-sized battleships. The total tonnage lost reached 170,000 tons, and more than 10,000 people were killed or wounded.

The main reason for all this is, on the one hand, the lack of preparation of the British, which turned into a big war, which is not only a problem with people's mentality, but also a lack of preparation.

In addition, the British shells did not penetrate deeply, although it was exposed as early as the Battle of Sirte, but you have to solve this problem in two or three months, it is a fantasy.

On the other hand, the German battleships had excellent performance, and after absorbing the technology of the Italian battleships, the German battleships were even more powerful. Of course, in addition, the previous naval battle of Sirte also taught the Germans a lot, and also found a lot of faults with the British.

In addition, Vice Admiral Scheer, the commander of the battleship formation, boldly adopted the tactics of approaching during the battle, and narrowed the engagement line between the two sides to a distance of 7,000 meters.

In such a desperate fight, the British battleships could not stand it first, if it were not for the cover of small and medium-sized warships, and the high seas fleet was afraid of accidental losses after dark, otherwise the home fleet would lose more warships. (After all, if you punch him, you can seriously injure him, and if he punches you, it can kill you)

And Germany won the Battle of Dogger Sandbank, which pulled out another layer of the Royal Navy's underpants.

I will cry when this naval battle is written

(End of chapter)