The Rise of the Third Reich

Italian aircraft carrier fleet.

Flagship, the aircraft carrier "Eagle".

The phones in the command tower were ringing one after another, and the staff officer in charge of communications continuously informed the fleet commander, Admiral Anzu Aquino, of the latest orders and intelligence.

The news that came was so good that it was unbelievable, as if the goddess of happiness descended on Italy overnight.

The arrogant British Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet must have been defeated! One aircraft carrier and two battleships were definitely sunk! In addition, a "Nelson"-class battleship was seriously damaged, and a "Revenge"-class battleship was seriously damaged (it was the USS Resolution, which was crippled by the fourth assault wave and hit 3 bombs and 2 torpedoes).

Although the Fw-200C reconnaissance plane has not yet found the remaining two British aircraft carriers, Admiral Anzu Aquino can't help but send his carrier-based aircraft out to get a chance. He has 96 carrier-based aircraft, 48 of which are Fokker 99 dive bombers. Although this kind of aircraft can only carry 250 kilograms of bombs and poses little threat to battleships, cruisers and destroyers cannot withstand their attacks.

Now that the battleships are almost destroyed by the air force, the Italian Navy has still not made any achievements. Isn’t it a bit unjustifiable?

Who knows if tonight’s night battle can happen? It would be better to send out 48 Fokker 99s first and sink a few light cruisers!

It is with this idea in mind that General Anzu Aquino has been requesting an attack since 12 noon. By 4:10 pm, it was getting dark, and General Compioni's order to attack had not yet been sent.

"Have you found the British aircraft carrier?" Admiral Anzu Aquino asked loudly.

"No..." the staff officer shook his head, "The Fw-200C has searched a large area of ​​sea south of Crete and found nothing. It seems that the British aircraft carrier is not there."

"Not there? Then where are they?" General Anzu Aquino frowned. He was not worried about not being able to find the British aircraft carrier, but about being unable to launch an attack in time.

It's almost dark now. If you can't launch an attack in another 60 minutes, then there's no need to fight and you can go to bed. Tonight, even if the battle fleet catches up with the British fleet, the aircraft carrier will not be able to do anything - the ability of carrier-based aircraft to conduct night attacks is still a unique skill of the British!

However, this unique skill can only deal with fleets parked in the port. For fleets that are moving at dozens of kilometers per hour, it is impossible to use torpedo planes to attack at night.

In other words, when it gets dark, there is no possibility of the Italian aircraft carrier fleet being attacked by enemy air attacks.

The staff officer suddenly reported loudly again: "Admiral, the aircraft responsible for direct cover reported the discovery of a British seaplane."

"Just shoot it down!" Admiral Anzu Aquino said impatiently, "Go and ask Admiral Compioni for instructions and ask the carrier-based aircraft to attack!"

…

"Lieutenant, that's not right!"

"Prince, what's wrong? That's a British seaplane!"

“But not Short ‘Sunderland’ style.”

"That's the Walrus, I know it."

"But Walruses are usually carried by battleships and cruisers."

"Whatever, let's fight him down first. Prince, you go first, I'll cover you."

Between the blue sky and white clouds of the Mediterranean Sea, two German carrier-based aircraft pilots, Hessmann's baby son Rudolf and Prince Egmund Lipp-Wiesenfeld, leisurely chased a British "Walrus" that was desperately escaping. The seaplane chatted for a while, and finally it was decided that Prince Lipp Weisenfeld would shoot it down.

Just before Prince Lip Weisenfeld shot down the "Walrus" seaplane, a key piece of information had been sent by the telegraph operator on the "Walrus" aircraft.

"Rear Admiral, York's seaplane discovered two Italian aircraft carriers, protected only by a few cruisers and destroyers. The coordinates are 35.3 degrees north latitude; 19.2 degrees east longitude."

On the aircraft carrier Glorious, Colonel Boyd, the chief of staff of Fleet B, reported the intelligence he had just obtained to the commander, Rear Admiral Lister.

Both of them looked ugly. Although Fleet B was still radio silent, the telegram sent by Fleet A could still be received.

So they already know about the heavy losses of Fleet A! This surprised them very much. Although they had long known that the German shore-based aircraft were difficult to deal with, British intelligence personnel had already figured out the situation of the German shore-based aircraft deployed on Sicily.

Among them, there are 9 Ju88 squadrons and 9 He-115 squadrons that can be used to attack the fleet. The Ju88 is indeed a very powerful aircraft and poses a great threat to surface ships. However, the shore-based model of the He-115, which was improved from a seaplane, is not a very good torpedo bomber. It is slow, has weak firepower and has little armor, and can be easily shot down.

Therefore, in the view of Major General Lister and Colonel Boyd, the real threat to the British Mediterranean Fleet is the nine squadrons of Ju88. However, judging from the battle report they received from Fleet A, the Italian hunchback aircraft seemed to have exerted a very powerful attack power.

Even the Italians know how to fight. Is this God going to destroy the British Empire?

But now there is finally good news. Two Italian aircraft carriers have appeared within the attack range of the carrier-based aircraft of Fleet B that attacked from point X, and there are no battleships with relatively strong anti-aircraft firepower nearby to escort them.

"About 300 kilometers!" Colonel Boyd and the staff of Fleet B have already calculated the distance and time. "It will take one and a half hours... It is now 4:15 in the afternoon, so we should be able to make it in time."

"Carrier-based aircraft depart!"

Major General Lister is waiting for this opportunity!

"Break radio silence," he then ordered, "inform Commander Cunningham and Mediterranean Air Command of the position of the Italian carriers."

The British Mediterranean Air Command has also been waiting for this news.

At several airstrips on the island of Crete, six squadrons of Blenheim light bombers and three squadrons of P-39 "Snake" fighter jets have long been lined up beside the runway. As soon as the order came, sirens sounded throughout the airport, and "Blenheims" and P-39s began to take off. More than a hundred fighters divided into three assault waves and rushed eastward, covering the sky and the sun.

At the same time, on the decks of the Italian aircraft carriers "Eagle" and "Eagle", there are 32 aircraft each ready to go.

The two aircraft carriers galloped into the wind at a speed of 25 knots, creating a huge deck wind. As the takeoff order was issued from the flight control tower, two Fokker 99 aircraft took the lead in rushing out of the deck.

One after another. The two aircraft carriers released aircraft at a rate of one per minute. Fokker Zeros and Fokker 99s filled the sky in an instant, roaring and flying eastward!

"Admiral, 48 Fokker 99s and 16 Fokker Zeros have taken off!"

In the command tower of the battleship "Veneto", Major General Baroni said to Admiral Compioni in a very excited tone: "It is 4:41 now, and they will be able to send troops to the British by 5:30 at the latest. Human cruisers and destroyers launched an attack!"

Using Fokker 99 to attack British cruisers and destroyers is not part of the "Iron Hammer" plan. It was a temporary proposal by Admiral Aquino, commander of the Italian aircraft carrier fleet. Admiral Compioni also had his reasons for agreeing. He wanted the Fokker 99 to damage more British ships, and it would be best to set some of them on fire. This will make it very easy to find the British fleet tonight.

In addition, damaging or sinking some British cruisers and destroyers could also reduce the risk of the Italian fleet being torpedoed by the British in tonight's "chaos".

Admiral Compioni asked Baroni at this time: "Have you made plans for tonight's chaotic battle?"

"Well," Baroni said, "the British probably only have four intact battleships left, and maybe a few heavy cruisers. It is estimated that they will use these battleships to form a bombardment formation to cover the escape of the injured battleships. And I The party should first form three double battleship formations, each consisting of two battleships of the same class, coupled with several light cruisers and destroyers. The three battleship formations will launch a full-speed attack on the enemy's artillery column under the cover of night. In order to break up the enemy battle lines and enter chaos mode in the shortest possible time, two Count of Cavour-class ships and two Doria-class ships will be responsible for entangling three intact British battleships and two Venetian ships. The Tor class was responsible for searching for wounded British battleships, using their speed and firepower advantages to quickly sink them with the cooperation of light cruisers and destroyers. "

Having said this, Major General Baroni suddenly said in a firm tone: "Tonight, even if we lose one or two old-fashioned battleships, we will sink the Nelson-class ship!"

Admiral Compioni nodded heavily and said: "As long as we sink that 'Nelson' class ship, our Italian Navy will be the master of the Mediterranean!"

"Admiral, the fire on the Rodney has been extinguished, and the speed has returned to 15 knots. The nine main guns are also intact, but the rudder has been completely destroyed. Now the cruiser can only be used to tow it to change the course. "

On the "Warspite", Rear Admiral Crutchley reported the good news to Cunningham with a slightly joyful voice. Through the efforts of the damage control team members, the fire on the "Rodney" was finally extinguished. That means tonight it won't turn into a sea torch that attracts shells.

However, the rudder of the "Rodney" is still not repaired (in fact, it is gone). If the main gun turret layout of the "Rodney" is an ordinary two in the front and one in the back or two in the front and two in the back, then The problem is not that big. The power of the three 16-inch cannons is unbearable even for the "Veneto" class. However, the three turrets of the "Rodney" are all on the bow. If the enemy attacks from the stern, the "Rodney" will only be beaten. This is not possible...