Romanian Eagle

As a historic naval port, the port of Toulon has always been the stronghold of the French Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.

After the outbreak of the war, all the main French battleships gathered in the port of Toulon. From the two Dunkirk-class battleships, Dunkirk and Strasbourg, equipped with 350mm guns to deal with the Italian Vittorio-class, to the two Richelieu-class ships equipped with 380mm guns, Li Seleu and Jean Bart, and their modifications, also known as Alsace-class Alsace and Normandy.

As for the three Brittany-class battleships in history, because of the imaginary enemy Italy's move to retire the old battleships of World War I in order to build new ships, France had to follow up and retired the three Brittany-class battleships. .

These 6 battleships are the core strength of the French fleet, of course there are other battleships, such as France's only aircraft carrier Bayern, and 7 heavy cruisers second only to the battleships. Plus light cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, patrol boats, and more. These warships crammed the port of Toulon to the brim.

However, most of the warships are turning on their wheels today, as if they are about to go to sea.

That's right, this time will be the largest naval operation that France has ever entered into. In order to ensure the success of this operation, Darlan, the general staff of the Navy, personally went into battle and directed the battle. Such a battle, no matter what the outcome, will definitely go down in history.

Darlan, who agreed with this very much, stood in the command station of the flagship Alsace, and said to the communications staff around him with great enthusiasm. "Order, let's go."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

With Darlan's order, the huge French fleet began to set sail, and these sea behemoths weighing tens of thousands of tons began to prepare for their own journey.

The huge number of French fleets left the port, such a situation could not be concealed from the eyes of Italy.

Not long after the fleet left the port, the news of the French navy's dispatch reached the ears of Admiral Cavniari, the chief of naval staff. Since Cavniari knew about it, how could Mussolini, the prime minister, not Know.

So a few minutes after he got the news, a call from the Prime Minister's Office hit his desk.

The phone is not difficult to guess, it was Mussolini's call to ask him to go to the Prime Minister's Office for a meeting.

Of course, Cavniari did not dare to neglect, and immediately rushed to the Prime Minister's Office by car.

When he arrived at the Prime Minister's Office, several people had already arrived. Among them, Ciano, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived first and stood beside Mussolini.

Then others arrived in a few minutes, and after seeing everyone coming, Ciano, the son-in-law, spoke for his old husband. "Everyone now knows that the French fleet has left Toulon."

Ciano's words made everyone present nodded.

After skipping the opening remarks, Mussolini asked directly. "What do you think about this from your navy side?"

Cavniari knew that this was asking him again, because Mussolini was also the Minister of the Navy and Army, so he was the first person in the Navy.

I saw Cavniari speak. "Our navy initially estimated that the French fleet attacked this time to relieve the Tunisian defenders, or at least to escort the convoy to Tunis."

After Cavniari gave the Navy's estimate, the scene was noisy.

I didn't expect that the French fleet would dare to come out,

This makes many people feel a little strange.

For the sound of the scene, Mussolini knocked on the table to signal silence. I saw him immediately followed and said. "General Valais, your air force needs to be responsible for reconnaissance of the movements of the French fleet."

A little man stood up and replied. "Good leader."

This is the chief of staff of the Air Force Valais, because the Minister of the Air Force Marshal Balbo is commanding the battle in Tunisia, so this time Valais is the representative of the Air Force.

Although Mussolini only called the name of the air force, Cavniari, who is a navy, knew that the air force alone would not be enough to find the French fleet. After all, the flight range of the aircraft was limited and could not cover the entire sea area.

Sure enough, Mussolini called on him next. "This battle depends on the cooperation of your navy and air forces. I hope you can hit the incoming French fleet hard and open up the situation for the next battle."

Although Mussolini did not say anything, all the senior military and political leaders present knew the next plan. Yes, Italy has also expanded their targets, and after the Tunisia region is about to be captured, they are eyeing Algeria.

And this time to lure the French fleet out, after severely damaging its fleet, it broke the connection between Algeria and the French mainland.

So then, Mussolini ordered several more people to ask for enough support for the operation. In a word, it is necessary to ensure that the success rate of this battle must be guaranteed.

So much has been discussed in other aspects, of course, the fleet still needs to be implemented in the end. So in the end, Mussolini called Cavniari to a halt. "How is the preparation on the fleet side?"

"Prime Minister, the fleet is ready, so the battleship has been inspected before to ensure that there will be no problems in the battle. And the fleet commander Amariti also sent a telegram, and the fleet officers and soldiers are already ready for battle."

"That's good, this time you are about the future of Italy."

While Italy was preparing for the upcoming war, the French fleet, already on the sea, was turning. Don't get me wrong, they were not preparing to return to Toulon, but to adjust their course.

They will sail along French waters all the way to the southeast. This time, their route will pass through the Balearic Islands, which belong to Spain, and then travel all the way to Algiers, the capital of Algeria. This is also the route often taken by French transport ships.

On the flagship Alsace, Darlan was walking back and forth in his luxuriously decorated room. The precious carpets on the ground and the paintings of famous artists on the walls could not attract his attention. Now he is waiting for a news, one about The news of the success or failure of this military operation.

"Report."

The sudden sound from outside the door made him stop.

"Come in."

Immediately, the door was opened, and a communications staff officer walked in. "Commander, this is the telegram we received."

Although the staff officer said nothing, but this made Darlan's spirits refreshed, and at the same time quickly took the telegram and read it.

"good very good."

After reading the telegram, Darlan immediately ordered the staff around him. "Immediately give the order to the fleet to proceed at full speed to Algiers."

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander."

Following Darlan's order, the fleet immediately accelerated and hurried towards the target.

It turned out that this telegram was sent by the British fleet that came to aid, informing Darlan that they had arrived off the coast of Portugal and were about to pass through Gibraltar and enter the Mediterranean Sea.

This news naturally made Darran full of confidence. In this case, the strength in his hands will exceed the strength of the Italian fleet. There will be two more battleships and three more aircraft carriers than the opponent, plus other battleships, whether in terms of tonnage or number, He will have the advantage. And more importantly, the opponent is completely unaware of this, which is the key.

Think about it, when the two sides were preparing to fight, suddenly reinforcements appeared on their side, which would give the enemy a lot of panic.

Darran is full of confidence in the strength of the next battle.