My Italy

On the sea, a bloody fight between more than ten cruisers was going on.

"Boom!"

Shells from the 152mm rapid-fire main gun on the Aosta hit the Takachiho. A 57mm secondary gun was affected by the explosion. Several crew members on the gun position fell in a pool of blood before they could even scream. .

"Paramedic!"

A shout rang out nearby, and several ship ambulance personnel appeared in front of them carrying stretchers. Their white ambulance uniform was stained with various stains, but the bright red blood stains were so conspicuous, and it was clear at a glance that they had saved many people.

One of the ambulance soldiers numbly turned over his blood-stained hands quickly, looking at the fallen soldier's eyelids and chest, and immediately said to his teammates. "It's hopeless. Come back later."

In fact, there were two people among them who were gasping for air, but one had a big hole in their abdomen, and blood could not stop flowing out. The other one was covered in sacks and had entered the stage of convulsions. The two of them saw that they could not be saved.

"Paramedic!"

At this time, a voice calling for ambulance personnel also came from another location, and the ambulance personnel were immediately called over.

Don't blame the rescuers for being cruel. As the battle became more and more intense, the casualties on the ship became more and more serious, and the rescuers simply refused to come. We can only give priority to the lightly wounded, followed by the seriously injured. As for the dead officers and soldiers, we can wait until we are done.

Moreover, the risk of rescue on the ship is also very high, and the artillery shells are not discerning. For example, the Takachiho had a rescue team of twelve people before the attack started, but now only six people can still work. Several others have either become targets of rescue, or they will be discussed later.

The situation aboard the Takachiho is not unique to it, it is basically the same for all warships participating in the war. Naval battles are not just the collision of steel, fresh lives are also being consumed violently.

Of course, there are also reasons why the two sides fought so cruelly, because of the commanders on both sides. As for the combined fleet, after dividing the fleet into two parts, it was already prepared to contain the death of all members of the formation. Especially after facing the power of the Turin class, Ito Yuhiro no longer had the idea of ​​​​defeat, and a draw would be victory. By sacrificing oneself to contain the formation in exchange for heavy damage to the opponent's cruiser formation, the combined fleet still made some money.

The previous idea of ​​​​defeating the enemy's cruiser and then looking for trouble for the opponent's battleship formation has long been forgotten.

In the previous fleet confrontation phase, the impact of the opponent's Turin class was so profound that none of our own warships could withstand the opponent's firepower. It seems that the king of naval battles is the battleship, and there is nothing wrong with this statement.

Thinking of this, Ito Yuheng couldn't help but say something. "If we had known that it would lead to Italian intervention, we should have waited for the Fuji and Yashima to return home before going to war."

What Yuhiro Ito said was that Japan purchased two battleships from the United Kingdom to deal with the two calm ships. This was a modified version that was more suitable for Japan's use using the Majesty class as a template. The standard displacement reaches 12,000 tons, equipped with 4 305mm main guns, 10 152 secondary guns, and its top speed is 18 knots. Although it cannot be compared with the Turin class, it can still compete. However, these two battleships that Ito Yuhiro has always been obsessed with are still under construction in the UK and will take at least a year to be completed and put into service. Therefore, in this war, the Fuji-class cannot keep up.

Of course, since the distant water cannot quench the thirst of the near, Ito Yuhiro can only rely on the two 10,000-ton patrol ships Yoshino and Akitsusu at his feet. Therefore, in order to play the role of the two ships and cause greater losses to the Italian warships, Yuhiro Ito gave up the formation bombardment and instead adopted a melee to try to keep more enemies behind.

"well played!"

A burst of cheers from the ship pulled Vice Admiral Ito out of his thoughts.

"How is this going?"

Ito Yuhiro, who was still inexplicable, immediately heard Captain Kawara Kaname's explanation with joy.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, this is the main gun of the enemy ship Venice after it was hit by our ship. The enemy ship was severely damaged."

"Nani!"

Ito Yuhiro quickly raised the telescope in his hand and looked over. He saw billowing smoke coming from the main gun position on the rear deck of the Venice in the distance. This was obviously the result of being damaged.

"The fight was very good. I will reward the officers and soldiers who destroyed the enemy ship's main gun. I also ordered the Akitsusu to focus fire on the Venice immediately. We want to get a breakthrough from the ship."

In fact, without Ito Yuhiro's order, Captain Uemura Hikonoshima of the Akitsusu had already given the order to fire on the Venice after seeing the situation of the Venice.

Two 10,000-ton warships poured firepower on the Venice, making the Venice even more dangerous.

As the commander of the interception formation, Rear Admiral Levi was more aware of the dangers of the Venetian than anyone else because he was on the ship. The Venice was really unlucky. The enemy ship's 254mm shell hit the weakest top of the turret. The main gun was disabled after the 254mm rear main gun was broken through the top layer. Fortunately, the ammunition room under the turret was safe, otherwise the Venice would have been doomed.

Faced with such a tragic situation, Major General Levi did not consider saving the Venice. "Send an order to the Brescia to attack the enemy Yoshino first, and let them let go. The other two ships should give priority to attacking the Venetian."

Then he said to Lieutenant Colonel Gomes, the captain of the Venezia. "Order the warships to continue attacking the enemy Yoshino. We have no way out."

Gomes, who was affected by the explosion of the main gun just now, nodded. "I won't let the bastard who hurt the Venetian go."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his head and roared at the other officers. "Aim all the artillery at the bastard Yoshino, let them taste our anger, let these Japanese monkeys know how powerful we are. Also, let the fire-fighting team move quickly, I don't want to see this thick smoke coming from our warship. "

Gomez's words inspired the officers and soldiers on the Venezia, and they continued to fight back with artillery at the enemy with high morale.

Major General Levi was very satisfied with Gomes' performance. He was worthy of being an outstanding young officer in the navy. It was indeed great to inspire the fighting spirit of the officers and soldiers.

However, Major General Levi knew in his heart that although he relied on words to keep the Venetian's fighting spirit high, the destroyed main gun actually reduced the firepower output.

Previously, in terms of firepower, the eight 254mm main guns of the Venetian and Brescia were not inferior to the Yoshino and Akitsusu of the other side. And now two of them are damaged, which is six to eight. They are inferior to their opponents in terms of main artillery output. In addition, there is a slight gap in speed. Although the Venetian that has been used for many years has been well maintained by naval officers and soldiers, its top speed has still dropped somewhat. In addition, the duration of its top speed is not as good as before.

Of course, what's more important is that the armor of the two Venice-class cruisers is indeed weaker than the opponent's British 10,000-ton cruiser. After all, the difference of more than two thousand tons, even if the design is reasonable, when the firepower and speed are almost the same, part of the defense can only be sacrificed. It was precisely for this reason that the Venice suffered a big loss in this naval battle.

In fact, the Venice Improved Class is not weak. Even after nearly eight years of service, it is still very intimidating. However, in recent years, there have been endless decoration tours in various countries, and everyone is coming up with new things, so unknowingly, the Venice Improved Level has felt that it cannot keep up with the times.

Regarding the problem that the Venetian Improved Class has almost fallen out of the first echelon of equipment and patrol, there has been a call for building new ships in the Italian Navy, and the two Navy Ministers are also aware of this. Moreover, the design drawings for the new patrol ship in the Navy Ship Design Department are piled high.

However, if they wanted to equip new ships, the two Lords of the Admiralty could only spread their hands and had no money.

Lack of money is the big problem. Even though the Italian Navy's military expenditure is rising every year, it spends more. After excluding the annual maintenance fees of warships, personnel training fees, naval base maintenance and reconstruction fees, new technology research and development fees, etc., there will not be much left for the navy to build new ships.

But don't forget, Italy doesn't just rely on armored patrols. It has not built any other warships. Especially in recent years, Italy has fought several wars, and the navy also needs to spend some military expenses of its own in the wars.

That's why the navy is so active in getting involved in the Sino-Japanese war in the Far East. War can make money, and for the Italian Navy, which has been struggling for several years, there is nothing more tempting than this.

Of course, this is all a later story. For Major General Levi now, winning this naval battle is the most important thing. However, although his side seemed to be at a disadvantage, Major General Levi did not regret engaging in a dogfight-like melee with the enemy.

Because it would be an insult to the Italian Navy if the enemy broke through them and attacked the transport convoys in the rear. And it’s not like he doesn’t have a trump card, it’s still unclear who will win.