My Italy

The lightning strike formation was getting closer and closer, causing the mood of the officers and soldiers of the British battleship formation to fall from heaven to hell.

"Fire with full force from the secondary battery. Do not let it get closer."

Admiral Cardon also felt bad. In fact, he felt bad when the Italian battleships aimed their fire at the interception formation. Sure enough, under the enemy's full attack, the interception formation was not effective. Sixty percent of the enemy ships rushed past the interception formation and attacked him. At this time, he could no longer care about anything else. If the lightning strike formation rushed forward, then he would become a great hero. Sinners of the Empire.

"Order all the battleship's secondary guns to use all their strength to intercept the enemy's lightning strike formation. The interception formation will also attack from behind. The opponent must not be allowed to get close to the battleship."

At this moment, he was at the end of his rope. Even if all the interception formations were sacrificed, he still had to stop these lightning strike warships.

In fact, there was no need for him to give this order. When the lightning strike formation rushed through the interception formation, its commander, Major General Edward, had already given the formation an order to break through and intercept the enemy lightning strike formation to pursue it.

In this order, Major General Edward rarely used direct instructions, but sent a telegram in a discussion 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 headed towards 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 the navy's precious battleships suffer such a disaster? This goes against the tradition of our navy and goes against our conscience. Even if we survive, we will blame ourselves for it, so I hope you gentlemen will reverse this mistake, and I will sacrifice my life to do so. Warwick Edward, January 7, 1914 at 17:21.

Edward's telegram boosted the morale of the officers of the interception formation and revived the already shaken military morale. Then, under the leadership of Edward, the entire interception formation turned around, leaving the back to the main force of the combined fleet, desperate to The battleships in the lightning strike formation should be left behind.

Then a rather strange scene appeared on the battlefield. With the battleship formation led by Admiral Cardon as the center, four waves of battleships rushed towards it. They seemed to be vying for Tang Monk's meat, scrambling to be the first.

Of course, among them, the officers and soldiers of the Lightning Strike Formation, who set off the battle in the first wave, were the most eager. They eagerly wanted to show the British steel behemoths a big treasure.

"Charge, maximum speed, let's take a look at the trembling British guy in front of us."

On the destroyer USS Dolphin, Lieutenant Commander Daniele, the acting commander of the torpedo formation, shouted at his crew to drive the warship faster.

He was so anxious because the British were impatient. Their interception formation did not care about the cruiser formation and battleship formation behind them, and only focused on dealing with their lightning-struck warships. Of course, right in front, the battleships were also constantly firing at them, and their secondary guns that had not yet been destroyed were constantly creating obstacles in their path forward. From time to time, battleships were destroyed by it. This kind of adrenaline-filled scene really needed to boost the morale of the crew.

Fortunately, those who drive lightning strike ships are stupid and bold. They may not be as good as other warships in terms of training or eliteness, but when it comes to fighting for their lives, they are definitely the strongest. Because of the danger of lightning strikes, the first choice for officers and soldiers is to be bold. Otherwise, how can they calmly hit the target in an environment full of artillery fire?

That's what he said, but as the commander of the torpedo force, Lieutenant Colonel Daniele couldn't just watch. Although he unexpectedly became the formation commander, Lieutenant Colonel Daniele, who had previously served as the commander of the 3rd Lightning Strike Team, also wanted to fully demonstrate his abilities in this sea battle that was related to the direction of the war. Therefore, using language to motivate subordinates has become the most useful one among his many methods.

Withstanding the enemy's artillery fire, the Lightning Strike formation quickly approached the British battleship formation.

Five thousand meters.

Four thousand meters.

Three thousand meters.

Seeing the lightning strike formation getting closer and closer, the British battleship not only fired at it with its secondary guns, but also turned the muzzle of its main guns to fire at it. Under the desperate fire interception of the British, the Lightning Strike formation suffered heavy losses. Many torpedo boats and destroyers were hit and exploded on the spot. After all, the torpedoes they equipped were fatal to all warships, whether after or before launch.

Lieutenant Colonel Daniele did not take a second look at the surrounding tragedies, because lightning strikes were a mission of narrow escape, and how to hit the target better and cause greater damage was what he was most concerned about now.

"Order each ship to arrive at a distance of 1,500 meters and conduct a torpedo attack on the enemy ship. Set the depth to seven meters and the speed to 38 knots."

Seeing that the enemy ship was getting closer and closer, Lieutenant Colonel Daniele finally gave the final launch order. The distance of one thousand and five meters is just right for lightning strike tactics. If it is too far away, the enemy will easily avoid it. If it is too close, it will be easier to hit, but the hit rate of artillery fire will also increase, which is not worth the gain.

As for why Lieutenant Colonel Daniele even cares about the depth and speed of torpedo launches, in a word, this is all the charm brought by salvos. The torpedo force also caught up with this trend, and the test results were very good, so they were adopted directly.

Following Lieutenant Colonel Daniele's order, the torpedo formation quickly launched the final preparations before the lightning strike. I saw the warships that were originally scattered slowly getting closer. If you pay attention, you will find that more than twenty lightning strike warships gradually form seven groups of four to five ships.

This is a real skill. Being able to complete this formation in a situation where the sky is full of artillery fire and warships are constantly being hit fully demonstrates the super high level of the Italian lightning strike formation.

Then each ship began to fire torpedoes, and thermal-powered torpedoes were continuously fired from the battleships. The lines of torpedoes with obvious trajectories appeared densely in front of the British battleship formation, making the sharp-eyed lookout keep shouting lightning strike, lightning strike, lightning strike!

The biggest disadvantage of the thermal torpedo is that the trajectory is obvious, so the officers and soldiers on the British warship can see it through the telescope without being reminded by the lookout post.

But how can I put it, since the Italian torpedo formation dared to use this tactic, there is naturally a reason. Because the nearly two hundred torpedoes it launched rushed towards it in a fan direction, whether it was turning or accelerating, they were all within the attack range of the torpedoes. Moreover, setting the depth to seven meters is also very particular, which basically eliminates other methods of blocking knives on warships.

In fact, this is also because the traces of the thermal torpedo are too obvious, and it is difficult to hit without firing a salvo fan.

But now, facing the dense white lines on the sea that are rushing toward their battleships, anyone who looks at them will feel numb.

"Turn, bow to the enemy."

At this moment, Admiral Kaden saw the dense torpedoes on the sea and quickly ordered a turn. It was impossible to escape at this moment, and we could only use the bow of the ship, which was the least threatening, to meet the incoming torpedo attack. This is the best way to deal with it. You can't use the hull or the more dangerous stern.

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

So the battleship Colossus, which was turning rapidly, saw the torpedo approaching. The officers and soldiers on the battleship looked at the torpedo so close at hand and could only hopelessly grab the railing and shout, "Prepare for impact!"

Then only three explosions were heard, and then the battleship shook violently. There was a harsh sound of metal twisting on the battleship, and the Colossus was hit by three torpedoes.

A series of explosions sounded one after another, and the Mediterranean Fleet battleships were hit one after another. Of course, there were more and less of them. The one with the best luck was the Conqueror, which was hit by only one torpedo, and the torpedo did not explode. It can be said to be God's own. Of course, there are good points and bad points. The Collingwood was hit by five torpedoes, all of which exploded. Water poured into the cabin of the Collingwood like a burst dam. Then in just two minutes, the Collingwood tilted 7 degrees to the right. This was no longer something the damage control could handle. The captain, Lieutenant Colonel Douglas, had no choice but to order the abandonment of the ship.

Then the crew of the Collingwood jumped into the water like dumplings and struggled to stay away from the capsizing warship.

Collingwood can be regarded as the ship with the most severe losses due to lightning strikes. In addition to Collingwood, other British battleships were also attacked by torpedoes (except for the luckiest HMS Conqueror).

For example, the Orion, the ship on which Admiral Cardon was riding, was hit by two torpedoes. Xin Hao only had one torpedo explode. Fortunately, the hit position was at the bow on the right side of the ship. In addition, the tube damage was excellent, so Orion was hit by two torpedoes. The Weng only took in more than 500 tons of water. Apart from affecting the speed of the ship, the impact on it was not significant.

The Orion was already doing very well, but the Centurion was worse. Although it was only hit by two torpedoes, one hit the stern and the other hit the middle of the ship. These two torpedoes directly filled the Centurion's power cabin with seawater. The turbulent seawater completely submerged the Centurion's boiler and steam turbine, directly causing it to lose power on the sea and become motionless. It also caused the Centurion to become motionless. The bow of the ship is raised, and the outcome can be imagined.

Other battleships such as the Colossus, Hercules, and Vanguard were all hit by torpedoes and suffered heavy losses.

In terms of hit rate, the hit rate of this lightning strike reached over 13%, which is an amazing achievement. And it changed the situation of this naval battle in one fell swoop.

Leifer saw the outstanding results of the Lightning Strike Formation on the flagship Cavour, and even his extremely stable character was full of excitement and smiles.

Not to mention other people, there was laughter and laughter in the command tower of the Cavour. Anyone can see that after the opponent has been severely damaged, it is time to reap the fruits of victory.

"Everyone, the Lightning Strike Formation has created enough advantages for us with huge sacrifices. Next, we have to expand our advantages. Now I order to bombard the enemy battleships, giving priority to the enemy's severely damaged battleships."

At this moment, Leifer put down the stone in his heart and gave the order loudly.

"As you command, Your Majesty Commander."

The communications staff officer who received the order immediately responded loudly. At this time, in his heart, his commander was the most outstanding naval commander.

Following Leifer's order, the main force of the combined fleet bared its fangs at Admiral Cardon's battleship formation. The battleship formation, which had been bombarding the enemy's interception formation, now aimed its guns at its supposed opponent. The bursts of artillery fire roared, making the British feel what they had felt before.

At this moment, for the British battleship formation that was struck by lightning, it was like a hellish existence. At this time, because the distance was closer, the combined fleet's artillery fire became more intense. The half-disabled Mediterranean fleet can be described as desolate under the weather.

Shells continued to explode on the British battleships, making the already injured Mediterranean fleet unable to bear it.

The first thing to suffer was the Centurion, which lost power. In just ten minutes, it was bombarded more than twenty times. Frequent blows left the Centurion riddled with holes and burst into flames. Finally, a few minutes later, a huge explosion broke the Centurion into two sections and quickly sank into the sea.

In addition to the Centurion, other British battleships were also seriously damaged.

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

At this moment, Kaden was extremely looking forward to seeing the lieutenant general, even more than he looked forward to his wife and children. The lieutenant general reported an hour and a half ago that he encountered an Italian lightning strike formation 25 nautical miles away, and then there was no news.

Just as General Kaden was anxiously waiting for news of the reinforcement formation, a communications staff officer ran in, and he 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 Rear Admiral Hinken. He said he is coming with the Indefatigable. He is now ten nautical miles away from us to the southwest."

This distance was already visible to the naked eye, and sure enough, an officer came to report it. "Report, a battleship was found southwest of us. Preliminary judgment is that it is a battle cruiser."

Although it is not the reinforcement formation that I wanted, at this critical moment, when everything is in the basket, strengthening the strength of my formation is the first priority.

"Immediately order Major General Xinken to come over with the Indefatigable. We need his reinforcements."

"As you command, General."

Before the communications staff officer could leave, another communications staff officer ran in and said loudly with a look of joy on his face. "Admiral, Lieutenant General Sturdy telegraphed that he has defeated the enemy interception formation and is on his way. He is only 24 nautical miles away from us."

These words revived Kaden's heart that had sunk to the bottom. There was even a burst of cheers in the command tower. I don't know if they are cheering for the imminent arrival of the waiting reinforcements, or cheering for their own escape, maybe both.

Not only did Carden receive the news that Lieutenant General Sturdy was coming, but Leifer also received it. Looking at the telegram in front of me, everything was quiet in the command tower.

Leifer looked up with some reluctance and saw the dilapidated Mediterranean fleet in the distance. As long as he was given another hour, he was confident to clean up the warships in Kaden's hands. Too bad he didn't.

"Order the formations except the battleship formation to search and rescue those who fell into the water. We will retreat in ten minutes."

Having said this, Leifer ordered again unwillingly. "Order the battleship formation to focus on attacking the enemy Hercules and Vanguard."

It was obvious that Leifer wanted to achieve the result of sinking before leading away. Following his order, the combined fleet roared more violently, and the two targeted warships shivered in the cannon fire.