My Italy

The sea under the setting sun is in a mess, with floating debris, oil, corpses, and warships burning with raging fire, making people feel the cruelty of war.

As for the cruelty of naval battles, the British officers and soldiers who had just fought a battle and escaped unhurt were assigned various tasks before they had time to take a breath. They had fought so passionately before, but now they were dealing with such embarrassment, as if the previous naval battle had exhausted their energy.

The officers and soldiers in the reinforcement formation looked at everything in front of them with different expressions, including yearning, pale faces, and indifferent expressions.

As for Lieutenant General Sturdy, who was the commander of the reinforcement formation, he only felt regret. His reinforcements did not play a sufficient role at all. Apart from finally saving Admiral Cardon's half-broken fleet, he did not achieve any ideal results at all.

You must know that he left the Agincourt behind and came all the way at full speed (the Agincourt was hit by a torpedo, which caused the speed to be reduced by three knots and could not keep up with the formation speed).

He was unwilling to give in, especially after learning that the Italian fleet would leave within an hour, he always had an idea.

"Lieutenant General, there is a telegram from General Kaden."

The communications staff officer handed him a telegram, and Lieutenant General Sturdy took it and quickly checked it.

This telegram is the Mediterranean Fleet's damage report of the opponent's combined fleet. Although the Mediterranean Fleet suffered losses before, the battle with it also caused enough losses. And if Lieutenant General Sturdy can get this report, General Cardon's attitude is self-evident.

When had the British Imperial Navy suffered such a big loss? A naval battle that was supposed to have the upper hand ended up with such huge losses when the opportunity was lost. Cardon, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, was so angry that he vomited blood.

Think about how much the Mediterranean fleet suffered in this naval battle. In terms of battlecruisers, Invincible and Indomitable were sunk. In terms of battleships, Montague was sunk, Collingwood was sunk, Centurion was sunk, Vanguard was sunk, St. Vincent was damaged, Neptune was damaged, and Heracles was damaged. The major damage and the medium damage of Colossus, only Orion and Conqueror suffered minor losses.

This is only the main battleship, not to mention small and medium-sized battleships such as cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats. Two lightning strikes (one for the enemy and one for us) caused it to lose more than two-thirds. Basically, the Mediterranean is now in a half-dead state. It will be difficult to restore its combat effectiveness if it is not raised for half a year. How could you let Kaden general accept the result of this battle? If he didn't faint from anger on the spot, it would be considered a strong heart.

Lieutenant General Sturdy, who happened to be commanding the reinforcement formation, was also unwilling to do anything and could not let the Italians leave peacefully.

"The Teghov sank, the Istvan was damaged, the Intrepid was damaged, the Dante was damaged, the Leonardo was damaged, the Giulio was damaged, the Petrarch was damaged, and the United Forces... …”

Lieutenant General Sturdy quickly calculated the losses of the combined fleet. After careful calculation, Lieutenant General Sturdy believed that the existing six battleships in his reinforcement formation were enough to deal with the also half-disabled combined fleet.

As for how to find the escaped joint fleet when there were still airships in the sky monitoring it, it was all thanks to Admiral Cardon.

Because the battle cruiser Tireless is following the opponent. After seeing the Italians trying to run away, General Cardon ordered Major General Hinken, who had just arrived, to follow them and monitor them.

With the Indefatigable following him, Lieutenant General Sturdy was not worried at all about not being able to find the target.

And he also received a telegram from Major General Hincken that the Italians were leaving in the north at a speed of seventeen knots. As long as Major General Xinken did not lose him, he would dare to pursue the opponent even in the dark.

Just as Lieutenant General Sturdy was preparing to pursue the main force of the combined fleet to the north, a lookout post suddenly observed a string of smoke columns appearing in the southwest. Then one warship appeared on the sea level, and the lookout post counted five ships in total. Battleship.

"A fleet of five warships was discovered in the southwest." Just as he was talking, the sharp-eyed lookout immediately saw the opponent's flag and shouted immediately. "It's an Italian battleship. This is an Italian battle cruiser formation."

Soon the news of the Italian war patrol appearing in the southwest was learned by Lieutenant General Sturdy and General Cardon.

Seeing the sudden appearance of the uninvited guest, the two commanders who were still thinking about chasing their opponents immediately calmed down.

Five battle cruisers was not actually a lot, but it gave the two commanders enough problems. On the Orion, Admiral Cardon sighed unwillingly. "Send a telegram to Major General Hinken and ask him to return. Also inform Lieutenant General Sturdy of this decision."

"As you command, Your Excellency."

After issuing the order, General Cardon seemed to have aged a few years in an instant. He looked at his partner, Lieutenant General Roback, and said. "When I return to Alexandria, I will submit my resignation to London."

As a colleague who has worked together for many years, Lieutenant General Robek certainly knew what this man was thinking and why, but he still spoke. "Actually, this is not your fault, we are just cooperating."

Had they not followed London's command and cooperated with its genius plan, they would not have fought this battle with Italy.

"No, I am indeed at fault for losing this naval battle. We underestimated the strength of the Italians. We also underestimated the role of new technology in naval battles. At least this one in the sky really puzzles me."

It was obvious that this Kaden had a deeper understanding of the role of airships, and this naval battle was frustrating. Every move he makes is under the surveillance of the enemy, and he has no idea where the other party is. This means that the enemy can choose the battlefield he wants and the time he wants. How can he fight?

"Order all ships to head southwest and force the enemy battle patrol to leave."

After Lieutenant General Roback put down the telegram in his hand, he issued a new order. At the same time, he sighed and threw the previous battle damage telegram of the combined fleet into the trash can.

He didn't mean to blame Admiral Cardon. There were five enemy battle cruisers on the side. It was difficult for Admiral Cardon's crippled Mediterranean fleet to block the attack of five enemy battle cruisers, so he really had no choice. Leave the Mediterranean fleet with the worst losses and leave.

On the United Fleet side, after seeing the Indefatigable, which had been following closely, leaving, Leifer finally felt relieved.

This ended the naval battle in Sirte.

In this naval battle, the Italian-Austrian combined fleet fought with 89 British and French battleships with 116 battleships. At the cost of losing 57 battleships (including 1 battleship), 59 Mediterranean fleets were sunk (including 4 battleships, 2 battlecruisers) ship) and won the naval battle.

In terms of the number of battleships lost, the gap between the two sides is not large. But the tonnage display is completely different. The combined fleet sunk a total tonnage of 82,300 tons, while the British and French sides sunk a total tonnage of 189,200 tons.

In terms of casualties, the Combined Fleet suffered more than 5,000 casualties, while the British and French suffered more than 10,000 casualties. The reason why the number of casualties on both sides was higher than that of the Battle of Jutland in history was still due to the long-term exchange of fire between the two sides. (In the Battle of Jutland, Scheer ran away as soon as he noticed something was wrong, so the casualties were not huge)

Of course, this naval battle taught both sides a very important lesson. The importance of aerial reconnaissance almost dominated the direction of the naval battle.

In addition, the use of lightning strike tactics has become more standardized. The performance of battleship firepower and protection on the battlefield is also thought-provoking.

Of course, none of this is as dazzling as Leifer, who commanded the combined fleet to win this naval battle. After this battle, the name of this lieutenant general is well known throughout the world. Because he was the first admiral to defeat the British Navy in a decisive naval battle in hundreds of years.

He broke the aura of the British invincible navy and made everyone no longer blindly follow it.

I didn't finish it last night, so I'll make it up in the morning.