Romanian Eagle

In the blue sea, a huge fleet is sailing. This fleet has more than 60 large and small warships, of which six are particularly conspicuous, and their tall and mighty image is a battleship at first glance.

That's right, this is the French fleet commanded by Darlan. After the fleet left Algiers, he took the fleet slowly along the coast of Algeria at a speed of 14 knots, heading towards Tunisia.

The journey was not peaceful. The Italians showed great enthusiasm for their arrival. If it weren't for the efforts of the French Air Force, the warships he carried on the way would have been damaged.

Seeing the figure of the Italian fighter being driven away, Darlan sighed sincerely. "It seems that without the cover of the aircraft carrier, the air defense of the future fleet will become a big problem."

Yes, Darlan still believes that in battle the battleship will be the main force. In fact, his concept is still the mainstream in the world's navy. Even after Romania's raid on Alexandria, the status of the aircraft carrier still has not reached the status of the core of the battlefield.

The most important is that the aircraft carrier is an indispensable warship for the fleet, which can provide the fleet with air protection and the convenience of reconnaissance.

As for the port of Alexandria, it was only a special case, when the warships were completely stopped and defeated by a surprise attack. If faced with a fully deployed fleet, the planes on the aircraft carrier are still less threatening to the fleet than the battleships.

This view is still firmly in the mainstream in the world's navy. Of course, if there are many naval battles dominated by aircraft carriers, then this will speed up people's cognition, but at present, the use of aircraft carriers by various countries is still in the stage of understanding and not understanding, and Edel is reluctant to let other countries speed up this cognition.

Although Italian aircraft were harassing, the results were limited. On the one hand, France has the cover of the air force, and on the other hand, the Italian air force has limited naval combat capabilities.

Despite these harassment methods, Darlan and Campionne's eyes were fixed on each other, and they both knew that they could only rely on the battleship in their hands to speak.

...

After two days of sailing, Darlan was approaching the waters near Cape Tunis. At this time, the number of Italian fighter planes suddenly increased and even fighter planes were protected, which made the French fighter planes feel very difficult. From time to time, Italian planes broke through the blockade and entered the fleet.

But fortunately, the French fleet is in an air defense formation, and there are fewer planes entering the sky, so the fleet maintains a complete formation.

After driving away this wave of incoming fighters, Darlan frowned. "How far is General Cunningham from us now?"

"The latest report shows that

They were about a hundred nautical miles behind us. "

This is a distance of more than three hours, but according to the experience of the last naval battle in Jutland, more than three hours is too much, which can determine the result of the naval battle.

"Let General Cunningham hurry up. It's best to keep us about 50 nautical miles apart."

"As ordered, Your Excellency."

Solved the distance problem with friendly forces, then the next step is to understand the opponent's position. From this point on, Darlan's French fleet was at an absolute disadvantage, as he had been under the surveillance of the Italian Air Force, and he had not yet been informed of the position of his opponents.

For such an unfavorable situation, Darlan also has his own solutions. That is to use the French fleet's outstanding heavy cruisers to form an exploration formation to explore the sea.

He believed that even if the heavy patrols couldn't find the Italian fleet, they would deliver it themselves. Because the heavy cruiser formation owned by France is the second strongest formation in Europe, second only to the heavy cruisers built by Germany for ocean breaking.

In particular, the last French heavy cruiser Algeria-class, in order to deal with the German Admiral Hipper class, is equipped with 55 times the 203-caliber main gun, and its armored fire protection is also extreme, the only disadvantage is speed, only The speed of 31 knots is almost equal to that of many new battleships.

But now Darlan intends to use his heavy cruiser, which is one line stronger than France, as a bait to lure the arrival of the Italian fleet.

"Give an order to Rear Admiral Laborde to lead the first and second cruiser formations to search for the enemy. But you must remember that you cannot leave the fleet within 40 nautical miles."

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander."

Following Darlan's order, the forward formation consisting of 7 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser and more than ten destroyers began to leave the fleet, and the warships of this formation began to accelerate and search forward.

This is also Darlan's last resort. If there is a way, he will not let the heavy cruiser be the bait. As for its only aircraft carrier, the Beyon, there were only 40 carrier-based aircraft on it, and Darren was reluctant to consume this carrier-based aircraft in vain, so the aircraft carrier was firmly protected at the rear of the fleet. After waiting to rendezvous with the British fleet, strengthen the aircraft carrier in its hands.

The situation of the division of the French fleet was soon known to Italy, which had air superiority.

Located 150 nautical miles north of the Tunisian waters, it is close to the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. It is not only threatening the Tunisian waters, but also under the protection of its own air force. So there is no better place to wait for the arrival of the French fleet, while the various warships of the Italian fleet are waiting quietly here for the arrival of the French.

Of course, waiting blindly, but it is impossible, and flexible adaptation is required.

At this point, Admiral Campionni, the commander of the Italian fleet, thinks he has done a good job. So when the news of the division of the national fleet appeared in his hands, he couldn't help laughing.

That's right, it's the kind of expression that is unexpectedly happy. He thinks that he has also received a surprise. With seven heavy cruisers, plus one light cruiser and more than ten destroyers, there should be a 100,000-ton warship. And such a big gift was sent by the French fleet commander. He felt that if he did not accept it, his conscience would be disturbed.

So he held up the telegram and joked to the other officers. "Are we going to celebrate Christmas?"

There was a burst of laughter from the command cabin.

Someone even spoke up. "Your Excellency, is this Mr. Darlan's date for not remembering Christmas?"

"It should be, do we need to remind him?"

Seeing his subordinates shaking their heads one after another, Campionni felt no need.

This is a free victory, and there is no reason not to eat it. Since Darlan made a faint move, then he has reason to give it a heavy blow.

Thinking of this, Campionni gave an order with a tight expression. "Order immediately, rush to the predetermined sea area, we will eat the French squadron first, and then directly attack its own fleet."

Following Campionni's orders, the Italian fleet was dispatched, and they rushed towards the French heavy cruiser formation that was searching for them.

And this also opened the prelude to the naval battle of Cape Tunisia.

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