The Third Reich in Desperation

That's a fatter prey!

You will never achieve great things as a commander without a good appetite.

Only dare to think, can dare to do.

Lefer didn't want to add the sentence "The Italian fleet and the French fleet joined forces to defeat the British army" after the victory report.

Sometimes, one more sentence, in terms of meaning, can add too much.

What Lefer wants is to win independently, relying solely on Italy's own navy to defeat the navy that once claimed to be the number one in the world!

As long as the British navy can be defeated, the Italian navy will be able to ignite the long-lost blood, and it will be able to teach the army that group of waste, as descendants of the Roman Empire, how to fight? !

"Humph! Speaking of which, I am willing to lead the fleet to the expedition today, not to sell face to that fellow Rossi." Lefer snorted coldly.

With his militant spirit, he has long been unable to see the weakness of most military officers in the country.

Even if Rossi doesn't propose to send a fleet to intercept today, Lefer himself will try to fight.

And if someone dares to stop him, Lefer doesn't mind going to Mussolini to file a lawsuit after the leader returns!

"Notice, let the ships reduce their speed by 2 knots." Lefer raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "Wait a little longer, let the French and the British fight each other. What we have to do is just to win It's just a victory."

Indeed, Leifer wanted Italy alone to defeat the British navy.

However, he didn't mind letting the French fight for losses and consume the British navy for the Italian fleet before that.

Anyway, what Lefer wants is just a result of collecting "heads". As for the process, he doesn't care whether it is despicable or shameless.

France and Italy are at odds with each other.In the Mediterranean Sea before, the open and secret struggle between the two countries has never stopped.

Today, Italy is just looking at the face of the Germans bringing France into the family of the Allies, and has come all the way to rescue you.

As for not arriving in time, the French side has no reason to blame the Italian side.

If you want to blame, blame yourselves for being too weak to beat the British.

"Yes!" Paul paid a military salute to Laifer, turned around and issued an order: "Communications, order the ships to reduce the speed by 2 knots and delay entering the battlefield."

In a vague way, Paul also guessed Lefer's abacus, it was nothing more than picking up leaks.

It's just that the credit for picking up the leak belongs to Italy, and it has nothing to do with the doomed French fleet!

Chapter 448 is no better than the Italian Army

As expected, the French fleet in the port was defeated in the end because it was unable to move and its artillery skills were not as good as that of the British army.

The British fleet returned with great results, but Sir Forbes could only choose to take the fleet back to Portsmouth Naval Port due to the surprise attack on Liverpool port.

As a result of a battle that had just ended with a great victory, the British officers and soldiers generally had a sense of pride, which made them somewhat slack.

"A battle has just ended, and we are not safe at all. Now we are like blind men, ignorant of the situation around us." Sensing a hint of crisis, Sir Forbes' chief of staff ordered: "All ships Increase your vigilance to prevent encountering the French reinforcement fleet."

However, Sir Forbes communicated with the Chief of Staff somewhat complacently: "We are now less than 400 nautical miles away from the Strait of Gibraltar, and we will be able to join the rest of the H Fleet in Gibraltar immediately. If Darlan's reinforcement fleet dares to come at this time, we can continue Fight and swallow them along the way."

Unfortunately, as soon as Forbes finished speaking, more than a dozen shells fell on the front of the British fleet. One of the shells happened to hit and explode on the bow of a cruiser, damaging a 40mm rapid-fire naval gun. Sailors were killed on the spot...

In the distance, above the front deck of the Earl of Gafoor, on the unprotected bridge, the commander of the Italian fleet, Lefer, looked at the British fleet with interest through a telescope.

Although the dozen or so shells just missed the captain's cabin, it was not a loss. At least one shell missed the sea, which would be regarded as taking advantage of the British.

You know, Lefer has always been skeptical of the shooting level of Italian naval soldiers. However, at a distance of less than 20 kilometers, facing the British fleet that has been keeping a directional movement on its route, it is a bit unreasonable to miss it.

After all, the distance of a typical naval battle is only 25km. If there is a 5% hit rate in actual combat at this distance, it will already be the best navy in the world.

Lefer of other countries is not clear, but the British Royal Navy, the imaginary enemy of the navies of various countries, is almost such an elite navy with a 5% hit rate.

As for the German navy, which is an ally of Italy, Leifer also has a little understanding.German warships should have a hit rate of about 23% at a distance of 3km.

It has to be said that the strength of the British navy is still superior. Although they rushed to the battle, Sir Forbes immediately ordered the ships to adjust their course to the right and left, lined up the entire fleet and rushed to the rear of the Italian army. , looking for the blind spots of its large-caliber naval guns.

Since the Italian navy launched a sneak attack from the rear, they had a certain advantage when aiming.

Coupled with the large scale of ships dispatched by the Italian Navy this time, including the battleships Veneto and Littorio, the battleships Count Gafoor and the battleship Giulio Caesar, the three ships of the "Zara" class The heavy cruiser, 3 light cruisers of the "Jusanno" class, and 4 destroyers of various types, also far surpassed the British fleet that Forbes had just experienced a naval battle in terms of firepower.

When Forbes's British fleet fought against the French Darlan fleet, although the number of battleships was also 2 to 4, only half of the giant battleships of the French were supported.But this gap, after all, is still very common in naval battles, and it belongs to the range that can be fought.

But now, although Forbes' fleet defeated Darlan's fleet, it won a big victory.But it is inevitable that one battleship and two destroyers were lost, and there were also many minor battle damages on each ship.

Leifer's fleet is not only well-maintained without any battle damage, but also has four times the number of battleships as Forbes' fleet.

Similarly, the Italian fleet generally has about twice as many cruisers and destroyers than the British fleet.

The Italian navy, which can be said to have spent a lot of money, vowed to wipe out the Royal Navy's fleet that attacked Oran in one fell swoop.

? So, the British fleet was clearly facing a bad situation.

Lefer's Italian fleet broke out from the east at a speed of no less than 30 knots, and the defenseless British Royal Navy suddenly suffered a round of surprise attacks.Although the Italian navy's low hit rate moved the British officers and soldiers a little, but it's not an option to keep being beaten like this.

As a result, the British warships immediately relied on their superb driving skills to make a vertical turn at a close distance, turning the position of the main guns, and aiming at the location of the Italian fleet.

In order to seize a favorable position, the warships of the British fleet almost exhausted their maximum speed and power for tactical movement, and the large fleet also changed from a column to a horizontal formation.

In this way, they have an advantage in formation compared to the Italian navy. This is very important for the British fleet that has just experienced the Battle of Oran. Now they do not have an advantage in terms of weapons, personnel and combat effectiveness, so it is particularly important to seize the terrain advantage. important.

The British Empire deserves to be a colonial empire that relied on the navy to eat and make a fortune. Its navy quickly raised its artillery density to a higher level just by relying on a change of formation.

Compared with the aggressiveness of the Italian fleet, the British fleet showed more of a kind of calmness and accumulation.

Facts have proved that although the quality of Italian battlecruisers is not bad, they still have no way to gain a theoretical advantage in front of the British fleet.

Although the Italian battleships have obvious shortcomings compared with the British and German battleships in terms of endurance, other indicators are among the best in the same period.

In addition, this battle is a surprise battle launched by the Italian Navy, which has set its position in advance, and the shortcomings of weak battery life will not be apparent for a while.

If the Italian Navy is positioned as a Mediterranean navy, they are actually quite qualified.

After all, the Italian Peninsula itself is equivalent to an unsinkable aircraft carrier and supply ship.With this giant aircraft carrier supply ship, there is absolutely no need for the Italian Navy to require excessive endurance.

On the contrary, the Italians took the caliber of the main gun of the battleship very seriously!

In order to compete for hegemony in the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian Navy equipped its battleships with 381mm main guns, which are not inferior to the British Navy in terms of firepower.

Unlike the Italian army, their navy accounts for the highest proportion of military expenditures and is also the arm with the most educated soldiers.

Compared with the army, the Italian navy has a much higher combat effectiveness.

This is the same reason that Germany will strengthen its military combat capability in the future and take the lead in popularizing education.