The Cretan Civil War has been going on for almost two years now, and as a small country with just over 100,000 people, it is destined to be affected by neighboring countries.

At the time of the outbreak of the civil war, the two sides were evenly matched, with the Republican army having the support of Italy and the rebels having the support of Britain and Greece, and the two sides were inseparable from each other around the island. The Republican army is mainly in the western part of the island, while the rebels are in the eastern part of the island. In general, the Republican Army had a slight advantage.

However, the civil war did not last long and the war broke out, and at this time Britain and Greece invested a lot of support. In the face of the rapidly growing rebel army, the Republican Army had to prepare to go to the mountains to fight guerrillas. Fortunately, the Battle of Sirte broke out, and the Entente Mediterranean Fleet was defeated.

Then the Republican army received a steady stream of support, and its strength also increased dramatically, all the way to the city of Heraklion. At this time, the Republican Army was in full swing and had the potential to sweep the entire island of Crete in one fell swoop.

In fact, they also have this strength, at this time the Republican Army has more than 40,000 people, and the weapons and equipment are on the same level as the Italian army. After continuous attrition, the enemy's rebels now have only more than 20,000 people, and the two sides are not at the same level at all.

In addition, there are now more than 90,000 people in Crete, more than 60,000 fewer than before the Civil War. The number of people who fled is more than 40,000. The Cretan armies of the two sides were as high as more than 70,000 people, and this is not counting the total casualties of the two sides, so you can imagine how many outsiders were mixed in.

It is entirely clear that both sides were nakedly involved in the civil war in Crete, and it should not be surprising if you heard soldiers on both sides speak English and Italian.

At this time, both sides did not pretend, and they began to fight in a Cretan skin.

But now that the IRA has the upper hand, by the time it reaches the outskirts of Heraklion, there are fewer rebels with British accents.

At this time, Lieutenant General Gomes, who was in the support group, was using a high-powered telescope to observe the city in front of him.

"Heraklion really doesn't have any shore defense guns?"

At this time, he looked at the IRA liaison next to him and asked.

"General, don't worry, there weren't many coastal guns in this port at the time of the rebellion, and the two largest 170mm coastal guns were blown up by us. Subsequently, the British and Greek support for the rebels did not give any shore defense artillery, and at present they only have 6 120 mm guns and 2 155 mm guns, which will not pose a threat to the general at all. ”

The liaison was a high-ranking member of the IRA, who was close to the leader of the IRA, Vidad Solari, known as Solari Jr., and knew a lot of information. It was also known that after they obtained this Cretan civil war, the Cretan Republic would apply to join Italy. And they would become the hereditary nobility of Italy, and the younger Solari would become the honorable hereditary count.

These were all negotiated terms, and they were also the conditions on which Italy tried to help them seize Crete. Although they lost their position in Crete, it was also a good replacement to become a powerful noble, not to mention that they did not have the ability to refuse.

"Shelling preparations."

Following the order of Lieutenant General Gomez, the main guns of the five battle cruisers were aimed at the marked positions around Heraklion.

The rumbling cannon sound represents the beginning of the battle in Heraklion.

Under the blow of 305 and 350 mm shells, the positions of the defenders of Heraklion were hit one after another, and the huge destructive force was very stressful on the defenders' psychology.

Covering the shelling was not difficult for Gomes, and now he was more concerned about a Greek gunboat that was sunk yesterday through the Andy Kithira Strait. The point was not to sink the gunboat, but to sink it before a radio wave was emitted from its ship.

This is why Gomes is a little worried, although he is fast, but he is also afraid that Admiral Robeck will bring the combined fleet of the Entente to trouble him.

That's right, the current Admiral Robeck is the former Chief of Staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, Vice Admiral Robeck. After General Carden's defeat and his transfer back to London, in view of the critical situation in the Mediterranean, coupled with the need to understand the regional situation and sufficient coordination skills, Vice Admiral Robbeck, who had previously served in the foreign affairs department of the Navy, became the commander of the combined fleet of the three countries. In consideration of the question of the command of the Combined Fleet, the telegram from which he served as commander was accompanied by a promotion order.

Considering the disparity in strength between the fleet and the enemy, coupled with what happened to the predecessor Carden, I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse?

However, at this time, Admiral Robeck was a little entangled, and he was also entangled with the deputy commander, Lieutenant General Fourel, the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Shigetaro, and others.

"The enemy battle patrol formation has appeared near Crete, what should we do?"

"We should take the initiative, this is a great opportunity, the enemy has only five battle cruisers, and its battleship formation has already arrived in the port of Tobruk. As long as we move quickly, we can inflict heavy damage on the opponent before the enemy's main force supports us. Even the sinking of one or two Battlecruisers could change our current predicament. ”

At this time, Vice Admiral Shigetaro Yoshimatsu, chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, was constantly expressing his opinions. He was a general with extensive experience who participated in two naval battles in the Yellow Sea, the raid on Lushun, and the Battle of Tsushima. In his opinion, at this time, the enemy battle patrol formation went out alone, and such a good opportunity should not be missed, and if it waits any longer, the opportunity will be gone, and I don't know when it will be next time.

As for whether it could be a trap, Yoshimatsu Shigetaro thought that the enemy's main formation was still more than 300 nautical miles away in Tobruk, and it was completely possible to fight first, as long as you were careful, even if there was a risk, there was no problem.

There is no risk in fighting, ten ships are at risk in fighting one, as long as you can have an advantage, you will fight, and if you have no advantage, you will withdraw, and naval warfare is as simple as that.

I have to say that Yoshimatsu Shigetaro, a veteran of naval battles, has his own unique opinions.

Unfortunately, some people disagree with him.

"Your Excellency's suggestion, I don't agree with it, it's true that the enemy's battle patrol formation is far away from the battleship formation, but why aren't you a trap. If the enemy is in battleship formations, then I will definitely support the operation. But the enemy is on patrol outside, how can we chase if he can fight or run? ”

As a member of the fleet commander, Fornell felt that he was stopping Shigetaro Yoshimatsu's adventure.

In the face of Lieutenant General Fornell's opposition, Shigetaro Yoshimatsu looked down on him very much, and saw him speak. "This is very simple, let's have the battle patrol formation drag the enemy and buy time for the battleship formation. Even if we lose three of our Battlecruisers, as long as we can sink the opponent's five Battlecruisers, we will make a lot of money. ”

Obviously, Yoshimatsu Shigetaro is thinking of Toiko, sacrificing his own battle patrol to destroy the enemy battle patrol as well.

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro's words, Lieutenant General Fourel disagreed, only to see him seize the other party's loophole and say. "But how can you guarantee that if we sacrifice three Battlecruisers, we will leave the enemy with five. In the previous Battle of Sirte, the three cruisers were clearly not able to resist for long. Your idea is very good, but if you make a mistake, then our three battle cruisers will be in vain. It's too risky and too risky to do so. ”

"It's very simple, send a large number of torpedo boats, destroyers, cruisers to drag the enemy, the main thing is to drag the enemy, and all the sacrifices are worth it."

"This method will definitely not work, and we soldiers will not accept it."

Shigetaro Yoshimatsu's Japanese style was unacceptable to Lieutenant General Fourel, and he rejected it on the spot.

"How unacceptable, the soldier should carry out the order."

Lieutenant General Shigetaro Yoshimatsu stood up at once, and in his opinion the French general was too hesitant to do things. Scruples about this, scruples about that, how can you do a good naval battle with this kind of worm.

The battle patrol formation has two Japanese Kongo-class, and they are not afraid of anything, what are they afraid of.

"I'm also thinking about the fleet, our strength is already the weak side, if we lose this time, then how can we fight the enemy. And your idea is too risky, the risk is just too great. ”

Seeing that the two were arguing, Admiral Robeck, who was the commander at this time, hurriedly started a round.

"Both of them are angry, it's just a different solution to a problem, and there is no need for either of them to get angry."

As he spoke, Admiral Robeck spoke. "I think there is merit in both of them, but what Lieutenant General Fornell said, I agree with. Our fleet is weak, and sometimes it needs to be carefully considered. ”

Admiral Robeck's words made Lieutenant General Fournell look happy, but Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Shigetaro did not change his face.

"Commander, I respect your decision, and if it's okay, I'll leave first."

Since they don't want to fight as the main force, what's the use of their own opinions.

After seeing Lieutenant General Shigetaro Yoshimatsu leave, Admiral Robeck opened his mouth and said to Lieutenant General Fornell. "Vice Admiral Shigetaro Yoshimatsu is a very capable man, he does not know our strategy and is worried about the situation of our fleet."

"Admiral, please rest assured, I also very much recognize the efforts of Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Shigetaro."

Obviously, the British and French had some things to hide from the Japanese side.

As for Shigetaro Yoshimatsu, after leaving the command tower and returning to his room, he wrote down today's events in his diary.

"The British have lost the Nelson spirit, and they have too many scruples and hesitate to do things. It's a disappointment that they have fallen off the altar and become the same as the navies of other countries. I believe that soon we will withdraw to the Indian Ocean, and there is really no spirit to forge ahead. ”

(End of chapter)