The Rise of the Third Reich

"Admiral, the Naval Headquarters ordered us to rendezvous with the 2nd Battle Fleet near 60 nautical miles southeast of the Calabria Peninsula, and then seek an opportunity for a decisive battle with the British fleet."

In the early morning of July 8, the Italian fleet, which had just escorted five fast cruise ships full of soldiers and supplies to the port of Benghazi, was cruising outside the port of Benghazi. The radio of the flagship battleship "Count of Cavour" received the latest order from the naval headquarters. .

"In addition, the Naval Headquarters reported that the British fleet attacking from Gibraltar is currently wandering in the waters north of Algiers."

"North of Algiers?" Admiral Compioni, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Fleet, smiled bitterly. "The British were afraid of the German planes in Rana and did not dare to enter the range of 500 nautical miles from Rana in the daytime. If It would be great if our Italian Navy could also have such an aviation force.”

Due to the "Bombing of Scapa Flow" on September 3, 1939, the British Royal Navy now has a "German aircraft phobia". Their capital ships simply did not dare to enter areas where German shore-based aircraft were active during the day. Fleet H, which launched from Gibraltar, was no exception. It lingered in the waters 500 nautical miles away from R Naia. Although the combat radius of the Fokker Zero, Ju88 and He-115 all exceeds 500 nautical miles, the moving fleet is not a base that will not move. The aircraft going to attack also need to reserve the fuel needed to track the enemy, so the bombing range is 500 nautical miles. The enemy fleet outside is somewhat difficult.

Moreover, the British fleet has begun to equip a large number of 279 air-to-sea search radars. It can search for enemy aircraft 100 kilometers away, so it can command Sea Spitfire and F2A Buffalo aircraft (due to its activities in the Mediterranean, Ark Royal also adopted the method of deck tethering to increase the number of carrier-based aircraft to up to 90, among which Sea Spitfire There are 12 Huo aircraft and 36 F2A aircraft) to seize advantageous positions in advance. Therefore, the distance of 500 nautical miles is relatively safe for the British fleet.

"Commander, in fact, we in Italy also have very good aircraft." Rear Admiral Baroni, the chief of staff of the Italian fleet, reminded, "Our S.M.79 Sparrowhawk medium bomber is great. Its range is not smaller than the Ju88, and its bomb load is also It is very large and has very good low-altitude and low-speed performance. It can be used to mount torpedoes for attack. "

The S.M.79 Sparrowhawk is a rare 3-engine medium bomber. Because it has one more engine than an ordinary medium bomber, it can use a smaller horsepower engine to achieve greater range and speed (as a bomber, it is equipped with The engine at the front of the fuselage made it impossible to use a transparent cabin cover, which caused some difficulties in bombing aiming, but it was not a problem as a torpedo aircraft). Moreover, the production of this kind of aircraft is very large. When Italy participated in the war, the Italian Air Force had 612 S.M.79 aircraft. If all 612 aircraft were used for anti-ship operations, the British Mediterranean Fleet would have been bombed to the point of being thrown to the ground. flipped. It's a pity that the Italian Air Force has no intention of attacking targets on the sea. In the more than two months since the war started, these 79s have basically been doing soy sauce and have not attacked the British fleet at all.

Admiral Compioni sighed: "S.M.79 is very good, but what does it have to do with the Navy? Those fascists in the Air Force don't know how to blow up ships."

The Italian Air Force is a private territory of the Fascist Party. It was founded by Marshal Balbo, the leader of the Fascist Party who was killed by his own anti-aircraft guns not long ago. The Italian Navy is dominated by traditional professional officers and has adopted a boycott attitude towards the fascist party. Therefore, it was regarded as "unreliable" by the Fascist Party, and the relationship between the Air Force and the Italian Navy, which was firmly controlled by the Fascist Party, was particularly bad. Under the banner of the "Independent Air Force", they once wanted to confiscate all the aircraft of the Italian Navy and return them to the Italian Navy. I want to dismantle two aircraft carriers.

Although the navy resisted, the seaplanes and aircraft carriers as well as the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier were saved. However, due to the obstruction of the air force, the Italian naval aviation has never had any good aircraft. Not only are the seaplanes all outdated aircraft, but even the carrier-based aircraft are retrofitted with outdated G.50s to make up for the loss. There are no professional carrier-based torpedo bombers and dive bombers. The G.50 is simply equipped with a 250-kilogram bomb. The bomb acted as a two-seat fighter-bomber. However, since the modified G.50bisA/N is a bit overweight (two seats plus one bomb and the fuselage must be strengthened to install a ship hook), the speed and range are significantly lower than those of the shore-based G.50. In actual combat, The role is very limited.

While Admiral Compioni was lamenting the future and fate of the Italian Navy, the fleet's communications staff handed the telegram just received to the chief of staff, Major General Baroni. Major General Baroni looked down and said in a very surprised tone: "Admiral, the reconnaissance plane has discovered the British fleet! On the ocean 30 nautical miles east of Malta, there are 3 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers, and 5 light cruisers. Ships, 16 destroyers,..."

General Compioni said "Huh" and looked at his chief of staff strangely, "Why is it so detailed?"

This is the most detailed aerial reconnaissance report the Italian fleet has received in the two months since the war began!

"Admiral," Colonel Baroni shrugged, "Maybe those guys in the Air Force have wised up and allowed our observers on their planes?"

Admiral Compioni nodded, that could only be the reason. The navy's single-engine seaplanes did not dare to approach the enemy fleet protected by direct cover aircraft. Although the air force's reconnaissance aircraft could approach the British fleet, the air force personnel had not been trained in sea search, and the intelligence sent back was vague. Clear.

"Okay," Admiral Compioni took a breath, "Now that we can determine the enemy's position, let's change the location where we meet up with the 2nd Battle Fleet... to 180 nautical miles due east of the Calabria Peninsula. The meeting time is set for 7pm tonight.”

"Meet at night? Admiral, are you going to fight the British at night?" Major General Baroni reminded, "The British have radar."

"That's right!" Admiral Compioni nodded, "It is precisely because they have radar that they will face the Italian fleet, which is stronger than them, tonight!"

…

"Admiral, the reconnaissance plane reported that the approaching German Fw-200 was accompanied by 4 Fokker Zero escorts..."

Major General Charles Crutchley put down the phone receiver and said to Admiral Cunningham with an ugly face, "Should we let the Spitfire rise into the sky to deal with them?"

"No!" Cunningham shook his head, "Tell the aircraft carrier to put all 18 Spitfires on the deck and keep them ready to take off at any time!"

He is now worried that his fleet will be attacked by German aircraft, and these German aircraft are not Italian aircraft! Therefore, Cunningham must keep all Sea Spitfires in a ready state and cannot let them go around in circles with the Fokker Zero - because the Sea Spitfire's range is too short and its stay in the air is not long. If 6 aircraft are sent to fight the Germans, it is very likely that they will not be able to take off when the German fleet arrives because they need to refuel.

"In addition, an order was given to Vice Admiral Tovey of Fleet A, ordering him to escort 12 transport ships to Malta. Fleet B and Fleet C immediately sailed to the southeast at full speed."

Fleet A consists of 5 light cruisers and is the weakest of the three squadrons. They are responsible for directly guarding 12 transport ships. Due to the unexpected encounter with 1 Fw-200C and 4 Fokker Zeros, Admiral Cunningham did not dare to risk the entire fleet, so he let Fleet A and 12 transport ships take the risk (in the historical Mediterranean During the battle, the British often adopted this method and sent troops and supplies to Malta regardless of losses).

"Southeast? That's the direction of Benghazi." Major General Crutchley was stunned. "The Italians have deployed many S.M.79 aircraft in Benghazi. In addition, most of the Italian fleets are also near Benghazi."

"I know," Cunningham nodded, "I just want to go to a decisive battle with the Italian fleet... Since the Germans have reached out to the Eastern Mediterranean, we must severely damage the Italian Navy as soon as possible."

…

"Ensign, Ensign, look below, the British fleet is turning!"

Second Lieutenant Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hersmann, who received an Iron Cross Second Class after the Battle of France, heard the voice of Prince Egmund Lipp-Wesenfeld on his airborne radio. .

Now Hersman Jr. is leading a four-plane formation to escort an Fw-200C. On the sea below and to his left, a huge British fleet is turning.

"Second Lieutenant, the British may want to escape. If the Italian bombers don't come, they will flee." Prince Lipp Weisenfeld's voice sounded a little anxious.

Because he and his comrades had been hovering over the British fleet for almost an hour and a half, and no Italian planes were seen bombing. It is less than 500 kilometers away from Taranto, the home port of the Italian fleet, and even closer to the Calabrian Peninsula and Sicily. If German aircraft had been deployed there, they would have arrived by now.

"I don't think the Italian plane will come," little Hersman chuckled. "If they were as serious as us, the world war would be over!"

"Then what should we do? Should we just watch them slip away from us?"

"Now we can only follow them," said Hersman Jr. "We will return in half an hour. By then, four other Fokker Zeros and an Fw-200 will come to take over from us." He thought for a while and then added Said, "I think there will be a big sea battle from tonight to tomorrow day, and then we will show off our skills. The Italians' G.50 is completely useless, and their fleet can only rely on our 12 Fokker Zeros." Guard."