My Italy

"Order the lightning strike formation to attack and disrupt the enemy's rhythm."

Facing the crisis in his own battleship formation, Carden decisively played the lightning strike card.

At the same time a telegram was transmitted throughout the fleet from the flagship Orion.

"The British Empire needs everyone to do their job!"

Yes, Carden uttered Nelson's famous quote that every British naval officer knew at this time. Perhaps in his heart, he also hoped that he could be like Nelson and win the Battle of Trafalgar.

And this telegram also kicked off the bloodiest scene in the naval battle!

More than thirty destroyers and torpedo boats of various types launched a charge against the combined fleet not far away!

The movement of more than 30 small warships is not small at all. How could the United Fleet not see it if they are not blind? Not to mention that the United Fleet also has an airship, a weapon for reconnaissance.

In the sea area of ​​​​this battle, the Italian airship force had four airships of various types in the sky paying close attention to every move on the battlefield.

So before the Lightning Strike formation had even rushed out, Leifer had already received the news.

"This is indeed the trick!"

Look at the lightning strike formation rushing towards you like a swimming dragon. It is impossible not to be afraid. Torpedoes are the product of small and big things. A giant ship of 20,000 to 30,000 tons will be damaged by just one torpedo hit. If it is attacked by three or four torpedoes, no matter how powerful the warship is, it will not be able to withstand it.

Of course, torpedoes have such huge power, but they also have many shortcomings. Their short range and obvious trajectory make them unable to be used as conventional tactics.

"The fleet avoids, concentrates all firepower to attack the opponent's destroyers and torpedo boats, pay attention to maintain the formation, all cruisers and destroyers intercept! Target enemy ship!" Leifer issued a series of orders within a few seconds.

Following Leifer's order, the battleship formation that was bombarding the opponent adjusted its target and opened fire on the incoming enemy lightning strike formation.

At this time, the roar of large-caliber artillery sounded again, and countless shells attacked the enemy ships.

"Boom!"

A 305mm large-caliber shell accurately hit an charging torpedo boat. The violent explosion caused the torpedo boat to disappear directly on the sea. As for the personnel, they don’t need to think too much, they can only pray that they rest in peace in heaven.

However, the loss of a torpedo boat could not deter the charging lightning strike formation.

As the formation commander, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett, issued an order on his flagship Custer. "The formation raised its speed to the highest level and launched lightning strikes on the enemy's second half of the battleships."

Lieutenant Colonel Bennett was very experienced in lightning strikes at first glance and knew how to use lightning strike tactics to achieve maximum results. Launching lightning strikes only on the second half of the battleships not only improves the success rate, but also causes the opponent's battle formation to be disconnected from the front and rear, creating the most favorable opportunity for one's own formation. It can be said that an expert will know if it is there as soon as he takes action.

However, it is not easy at all for Colonel Bennett to achieve his goal, because in addition to having to withstand the baptism of battleship artillery, there is also the interception of opponents.

The Lightning Strike formation picked up its speed and saw a group of warships from the opponent appearing in front of them. This was the opponent's formation that came to intercept them.

"Rush over."

Seeing the opponent's interception formation, Colonel Bennett ordered the formation to rush over.

Facing the enemy ships rushing towards them, the warships responsible for intercepting them will not show mercy.

The interception formation headed by four Piedmont-class cruisers, two Verona-class cruisers, and sixteen destroyers showed the enemy what powerful interception firepower is. A large number of 105 and 150 mm naval guns blasted the invading enemy ships.

The first to suffer were the larger warships in the lightning strike formation. Among them, the No. 13 ship Moresby, a tribe-class destroyer, was hit by 150mm shells one after another and stopped on the spot.

"We will avenge the Moresby, maximum power push."

Seeing that the friendly ships were stopped, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett couldn't care anymore and kept asking the ships to increase their speed.

At this time, for the ships performing lightning strike missions, the only thing they can rely on is speed. Any counterattack at this time is in vain, because the deck is bumpy at speeds of up to 30 knots. At this time, it is God's favor that you can hit a target five hundred meters away with a naval gun. And now there is no turning back, we can only speed up and speed up again. Any hesitation is harmful.

The ships performing the lightning strike mission also understood this truth, so they rushed towards their targets regardless of their red eyes.

"Boom boom boom!"

Although the British destroyers charged despite the hail of bullets, the intercepting opponents were unwilling to give them a chance, and the shells continued to hit them as they approached the distance.

"The countercurrent was sunk."

"The Pelican stalled."

"The Petal is on fire."

"..."

Bad news continued to reach the flagship Custer, but Lieutenant Colonel Bennett was completely indifferent to it. He only had his own target, the United Forces, in his eyes.

Even if his warship was hit by multiple artillery shells and there were casualties, it did not make him frown.

The Lightning Strike formation suffered huge casualties and gritted its teeth and rushed towards the enemy target.

"Close."

"Closer."

As the distance approached, the lookout hand exclaimed. "It's already three thousand meters away."

"No, we have to get closer." Of course Lieutenant Colonel Bennett understood what the lookout meant. The torpedo was already within its effective range when it entered a distance of three thousand meters. However, this is only the effective range, and its hit rate will be very low, and Lieutenant Colonel Bennett wants to hit the target hard.

The Custer's move towards the United Forces immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding warships.

"Open fire and kill this enemy ship."

At this moment, the United Forces also discovered this threat. Subsequently, the ship's small and medium-caliber artillery fired at him continuously, and the Dauntless and Tegelhof nearby also noticed him and also provided fire support.

While attacking the Custer under gunfire, he continued to charge with his head covered.

"Two thousand five hundred meters."

"Two thousand meters."

The lookout who was reporting the count was already trembling because there was too much artillery fire around him. If they are not careful, they will die here.

"Launch torpedoes."

The torpedo operator finally heard the lieutenant colonel's order to launch, and then six torpedoes jumped into the sea, and then he fled with his life. In fact, Lieutenant Colonel Bennett wanted to get closer, but there were too many bullets falling around him, and he did not dare to continue the gamble.

"Watch for torpedoes at three o'clock."

At this time, all countries were using thermally powered torpedoes. The traces of these torpedoes were very obvious and easy to observe.

So after the lookout saw the white line coming towards him, he immediately sounded the alarm loudly.

Faced with the torpedo attack, several warships immediately became busy. They either slowed down to avoid it or accelerated away. Only the United Forces was a little difficult to deal with, because these five torpedoes were mainly aimed at it.

"Accelerate, bring the speed to 20 knots."

Captain Constanti, the captain of the United Forces, immediately issued the order.

At this moment, the United Forces was only traveling at a speed of seventeen knots. Looking at the rapidly approaching torpedoes, Colonel Constanti found that it was impossible to completely avoid the torpedoes.

"Turn right quickly, quickly."

At this moment, he could only choose the least harmful method, which was to use the bow of the boat to catch the thunder. At his urging, the United Forces turned sharply to the right.

The torpedo was now very close to the United Forces.

"Impact preparation."

When the navigator saw that the torpedo was about to attack, he immediately shouted a warning.

At this moment, two torpedoes passed by the left side of the ship, and one torpedo passed by the right side of the ship. However, there were still two torpedoes that could not be avoided, and one directly hit the left side of the bow. A loud bang was heard from the left side of the bow, and a two-meter hole was blown directly into the bow. Seawater poured directly into the cabin along the large hole.

"Close the hatch quickly, close the hatch quickly."

Several hatches connected to the bow of the ship were constantly closed to avoid being affected by sea water.

Hey, is there another torpedo?

Sorry, I heard a bang and then it disappeared. Torpedoes are not 100% effective, nor do they have a low failure rate.

After hearing an explosion, the officers and soldiers on the United Forces all cheered. They all think it means good luck.

After some emergency repairs and inspections, the United Forces can continue to fight, but at the cost of carrying five to six hundred tons of seawater and reducing its top speed by two knots.

In the end, only four ships completed the launch of this lightning strike mission, and only one, the Custer, returned alive. The others were sunk into the sea, and their battle damage rate was horribly high.

The battle will continue.