The Rise of the Third Reich

January 16, 1941, 1:30, Mediterranean Sea.

Italian battle fleet, flagship, battleship "Veneto".

The stars in the sky reflected into the sea, and the bright moonlight shone on the giant battleship of more than 40,000 tons. However, there was no light shining through the battleship itself, and it vaguely looked like an island plowing through the waves in the night.

In the bridge, Admiral Compioni was holding the battle report he had just received, his eyes wide.

The battle report only contains two short lines:

The aircraft carrier "Eagle", the aircraft carrier "Sparrowhawk", and the heavy cruiser "Zara" were sunk in battle!

The "Aircraft Carrier Fleet" headquarters has moved to the heavy cruiser "Pola", and the entire fleet is currently retreating to the Port of Taranto.

Now Italy has no aircraft carrier! The corner of Admiral Compioni's mouth twitched. What had been a victory seemed to be turning into a draw - the British lost one aircraft carrier and two battleships, while the Italians lost all two aircraft carriers!

If Italy still had an aircraft carrier, today's battle would be considered a great victory. After all, a "Nelson" class ship and another British battleship were severely damaged and would need repairs for at least several months, and the landing in Malta was also very smooth.

In the next three months, the British Mediterranean Fleet can use at most four battleships, and none of them can compare with the "Veneto" class, and it has also lost Malta, a stronghold that can monitor the Italian fleet. As long as Italy still has one aircraft carrier, the fleet can advance along the North African coast and seek another fleet decisive battle near Tubruk, which was occupied by the British (Tubruk is now the British supply port for the attack on Benghazi).

With 2 "Veneto" class ships and 4 heavily modified old battleships, the Italian Navy is guaranteed to win in the fleet battle. As long as the sea control is gained...with or without the help of the Germans, Italy can seize North Africa and then march into the Middle East!

This is the real revival of the Roman Empire! The Roman Empire had to be conquered by the Romans themselves and with the help of the Germans. That was the Holy Roman Empire...

But now both aircraft carriers were sunk, and the air power with German aircraft as the main force showed its prowess again, destroying two enemy battleships and one aircraft carrier, and also shot down at least 300 aircraft!

Under this situation, if the Italians still want to continue the war, there is only one way - then hug the Germans tightly and beg them to send more Fokker Zeros, Ju88s and armored divisions to the Mediterranean battlefield. Use shore-based aircraft instead of carrier-based aircraft to protect the transportation lines from Italy to Benghazi and Italy to Tubruk, and at the same time use armored forces to crush them all the way along the North African coastline to Alexandria and the Suez Canal.

In this process, the Italian army, including the navy, could only attack the Germans, and under any circumstances they would never be able to defeat the Roman Empire...

Just when Admiral Compioni felt bleak about the prospects for the great revival of the Roman Empire, the sound of rapid footsteps came from behind.

"Admiral, the radar has detected the target, which is less than 20 kilometers away from us and is moving slowly!"

This news suddenly made the air in the bridge tense. Admiral Compioni quickly asked: "How many ships are there? Have the artillery formation been ruled out?"

"Only 4-5 ships have been discovered so far. According to radar signal analysis, they have not set up a bombardment formation, but are moving eastward at a speed of about 5 knots."

"4-5 ships? Only about 5 knots?"

Admiral Compioni was stunned, "The main force of the British fleet abandoned the severely damaged warship and ran away first?"

"That's right?" Major General Baroni frowned and said, "They should have disbanded the formation."

"But what about the Nelson-class ship?" Admiral Compioni said, "Have the British repaired it?"

It is possible for other ships to be abandoned, but it is impossible for this "Nelson" class battleship to be abandoned. Because this battleship is the only British battleship in the Mediterranean that can fight against the two "Veneto" class battleships. Even if the boat is paralyzed, it is a huge threat as long as it can float on the water.

If this ship is lost, unless another Nelson-class or a King George V-class is obtained from the mainland, the British Mediterranean Fleet's "Queen Elizabeth" class and "Revenge" class will only be able to circle Italy in the future. The fleet is gone.

"Maybe it's a trap," Major General Baroni said. "The search distance of the maritime beat radar is only twenty or thirty kilometers, and the British fleet may be lurking further away."

"Hmph!" Admiral Compioni snorted coldly, "This couldn't be better, just take advantage of tonight to destroy a few British battleships!

Order each team to prepare, launch a charge in 10 minutes, and then fire within 10,000 meters of the target! "

…

On the battleship "Warspite", Admiral Cunningham was also in a daze holding a battle report. This battle report lists the losses of various squadrons of the British Air Force and Naval Aviation that participated in the war.

The loss is terrible!

298 fighter planes were shot down or missing (the previous article said more than 400, even if the British troops were dispatched, there were not that many)! This is not the scariest thing. If there are no more planes, we can build them or "rent them" to our American friends. What was really terrible was the loss of crew members, because the air battle mainly took place at sea, and some of the fierce fighting also took place over the Italian fleet. Therefore, it is very difficult to rescue the downed pilot... According to statistics, 648 crew members (including pilots, navigators, machine gunners, bombardiers, etc.) are missing or confirmed dead!

This also included at least 84 carrier-based aircraft pilots - the carrier-based aircraft groups that took off from the aircraft carrier Glory and the Royal Ark were all wiped out! Although two Italian aircraft carriers were successfully sunk, the price was too heavy.

These are all carrier-based aircraft pilots! They are elite pilots who have been selected from the entire Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Air Force and have undergone rigorous training. It is not that easy to replenish them.

In the previous Battle of the Azores (against the Scharnhorst) and the Battle of Calabria, British carrier-based aircraft pilots had suffered heavy losses. This time, more than 100 were lost (the Eagle's carrier-based aircraft pilots also lost 16 people). Although the Mediterranean Fleet now has two aircraft carriers, there are only 30 carrier-based aircraft pilots left, and they are all Spitfire fighter pilots...

"Admiral, the enemy fleet has been detected by radar!" Major General Crutchley suddenly shouted, breaking the breathless depression in the command tower of the "Warspite".

Cunningham also cheered up. In the current naval battle, the Mediterranean Fleet has lost the battle so far. The "Sovereign", "Lorraine" and "Eagle" were sunk in the battle, and the "Rodney" and "Resolution" were severely damaged. In addition, they also lost So many planes and pilots.

The advantage in the Mediterranean has actually gone to Germany and Italy. If they cannot repel the pursuing Italian fleet now under darkness, then the "Rodney" and the "Resolution" will also be lost.

In this way, the Mediterranean Fleet exchanged four battleships, one aircraft carrier, and more than 400 aircraft for the two Italian aircraft carriers.

This is a huge loss of money!

"Get ready to fight!" Cunningham took a breath, a cold light flashed in his eyes, "We must teach the Italians a lesson they will never forget! We must scare them!"

…

"Boom boom..."

With two dull roars, two flares slowly fell from the sky, emitting dazzling light like two small suns, illuminating a huge battleship on the sea. Under the vast white light, You can clearly see the two intimidating turrets belonging to the tall mast of the battleship, and the four black muzzles are pointing towards the sea to the west.

"It's a battleship!" A voice of surprise sounded in the command tower of the battleship "Veneto".

"It's the Revenge class!" Someone soon recognized the ship type. This was a "Revenge" class battleship, although it was at the bottom of the British Royal Navy's battleship force. However, eight 15-inch main guns and a displacement of 30,000 tons still make them a formidable and powerful weapon.

"Fire!"

Following Admiral Compioni's order, the main gun on the bow of the battleship "Veneto" roared. Almost at the same time, the main guns on the bows of the other five Italian battleships that were advancing alongside the "Veneto" also fired. The shells rained down around the "Revenge" class battleship that was no more than 10,000 meters away. Just two bow salvos were fired across the bow, and huge water columns rose around the battleship.

"Boom, boom..."

Suddenly another string of muzzle flashes flashed in the darkness. This was the flare fired by the "Revenge" class battleship. Then there were several dazzling balls of light that lit up from behind the two "Veneto" class battleships advancing side by side, shrouding the two huge Italian battleships in a dazzling light.

"It's two 'Veneto' class ships! They are the targets! Get ready to fire..."

About 5,000 meters east of the "Revenge"-class battleship "Resolution", British Lieutenant General Somerville shouted loudly in the command tower of his "Rodney" battleship.

His battleship that couldn't turn on the lights was facing the west on its port side, and all nine 16-inch main guns were pointed at the west.

Less than 8,000 meters behind the "Rodney" were four "Queen Elizabeth" class battleships forming a column and sailing rapidly westward!

This was a trap carefully set by Cunningham. He used the battleship "Resolution" and several wounded cruisers and destroyers to lure the Italian battleships closer to fire, and then found two "Veneto" class ships based on the muzzle flash, and then concentrated Firepower sinks both or one of them!

As long as one "Veneto" class is sunk, the Mediterranean Fleet can reverse the current unfavorable situation.