My Italian

Chapter 684 Adventure, trap?

It has been almost two years since the civil war in Crete. As a small country with only over 100,000 people, it is destined to be influenced by neighboring countries.

When the civil war broke out, the two sides were of equal strength, and the Republican army had the support of Italy, and the rebels had the support of Britain and Greece, and the two sides fought over the island. Among them, the Republican Army is mainly in the west of the island, while the rebels are in the east of the island. Overall, the Republicans have a slight advantage.

However, the civil war broke out not long after the war, and Yingxi successively invested a lot of support at this time. In the face of the rapidly growing rebel army, the Republican Army once prepared to go up the mountain to fight guerrillas. Fortunately, the Battle of Sirte broke out, and the Mediterranean Fleet of the Allies was defeated.

Afterwards, the Republican Army received continuous support, and its strength also increased sharply, all the way to the city of Heraklion. At this time, the Republican Army was in full swing, sweeping across the entire island of Crete in one fell swoop.

In fact, they also have this strength. At this time, the Republican Army has more than 40,000 people, and its weapons and equipment are at the same level as the Italian army. However, the enemy rebel army has been continuously consumed, and now there are only more than 20,000 people, and the two sides are not at the same level at all.

In addition, there are currently more than 90,000 people in Crete, which is more than 60,000 fewer than before the civil war. According to statistics, more than 40,000 people fled. The two sides in Crete had more than 70,000 troops. This is not counting the total casualties of the two sides. It is conceivable how many foreigners were mixed in.

It can be said clearly that both sides have been nakedly involved in the civil war in Crete, and you will not be surprised if you hear soldiers from both sides speak English and Italian.

At this time, the two sides stopped pretending, and started fighting in the skin of Crete.

But now the Republican Army has the upper hand, and when it hit outside the city of Heraklion, there were already many fewer rebels with British accents.

At this time, Lieutenant General Gomes, who was serving as a support formation, was observing the city in front of him with a high-powered telescope.

"Iraklion really doesn't have any coastal defense artillery?"

At this moment, he looked at the Republican Army liaison officer beside him and asked.

"General, don't worry about this. At the time of the rebellion, there were not many coastal defense guns in this port, and the two largest 170mm coastal defense guns were blown up by us. Afterwards, Yingxi supported the rebels and did not give any coastal defense guns. At present, they only have six 120mm guns and two 155mm guns, which will not pose a threat to the general at all."

The liaison officer sent here is a high-ranking Republican Army. He has a close relationship with the leader of the Republican Army, Vidard Solari (known as Little Solari) and knows a lot of information. It is even more known that after they win this civil war in Crete, the Republic of Crete will apply to join Italy. And their high-level officials will become Italian hereditary nobles, and Solari will become a noble hereditary count.

These are all negotiated conditions, and it is also the condition for Italy to work hard to help them seize Crete. Although they lost the position of Crete, becoming a noble of a powerful country is also a very good replacement, not to mention that they have no ability to refuse.

"Prepare for shelling."

Following Lieutenant General Gomes' order, the main guns of the five battlecruisers aimed at the marked positions around Heraklion.

The rumbling cannons represented the beginning of the battle for Heraklion.

Under the impact of 305mm and 350mm artillery shells, the positions of the defenders of Heraklion were hit one after another. The huge destructive power put a lot of pressure on the defenders' psychology.

Covering the bombardment was not difficult for Gomes, and now he is more concerned about a Greek gunboat that was sunk yesterday through the Antikythira Strait. The key is not to sink the gunboat, but before sinking, a radio wave is sent from its ship.

This is why Gomes is a little worried. Although his ship is fast, he is also afraid that Admiral Robek will bring the Allied Fleet to trouble him.

That's right, the current Admiral Robeck is the former Chief of Staff of the Mediterranean Fleet, Lieutenant General Robek. After Admiral Carden was defeated and transferred back to London, in view of the critical situation in the Mediterranean Sea, coupled with the need to understand the regional situation and have sufficient coordination ability, Lieutenant General Robek, who had previously served as the naval foreign affairs department, became the Commander of the Tripartite Fleet. Considering the command of the joint fleet, the promotion order was sent along with his telegram as the commander.

Considering the strength gap between the fleet and the enemy, coupled with what happened to the predecessor Kaden, is this a blessing or a curse?

But at this time, Admiral Robeck was a little tangled, and with him were Lieutenant General Fournell, the deputy commander, Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Motaro, chief of staff, and others.

"The enemy patrol formation has appeared near Crete, what should we do?"

"We should take the initiative to attack. This is an excellent opportunity. The enemy only has five battlecruisers, and their battleship formation has already arrived at Tobruk Port. As long as we move quickly, we can completely inflict heavy damage before the enemy's main support. Opponents. Even sinking one or two battlecruisers can change our current predicament."

At this time, Vice Admiral Yoshimatsu Shigetaro, the Chief of Staff of the United Fleet, was constantly expressing his opinions. This is a general with rich experience who has participated in two naval battles in the Yellow Sea, the raid on Lushun, and the naval battle in Tsushima. In his opinion, at this time, the enemy battle cruiser formation is going out alone. Such a good opportunity should not be missed. If you wait any longer, the opportunity will be gone. I don't know when it will be next time.

As for whether it might be a trap, Yoshimatsu Shigetaro believes that the enemy's main formation is still more than 300 nautical miles away from Tobruk, so it is entirely possible to fight a battle first, as long as you are careful, even if there is a risk, it will be fine.

There is no risk in fighting a war. Fighting one out of ten ships is risky. As long as one's own side has an advantage, it will fight, and if it has no advantage, it will withdraw. Naval battles are as simple as that.

It has to be said that Yoshimatsu Shigetaro, a veteran general in naval battles, has his own unique insights.

Unfortunately, some people disagree with him.

"I don't agree with your suggestion. It is true that the enemy's battlecruiser formation is far away from the battleship formation, but why are you not trapped? If the enemy's battleship formation is outside, then I will definitely support the operation. But the enemy's battlecruiser formation is outside, can you How can we chase if we can fight and run?"

Fournell, as a member of the fleet command, felt that he was preventing Yoshimatsu from taking risks.

Faced with Lieutenant General Fournell's opposition, Yoshimatsu Shigetaro looked down upon him very much, and he spoke. "This is very simple. Let our battle cruiser formation hold the enemy and buy time for the battleship formation. Even if our three battle cruisers are sacrificed, as long as we can sink the opponent's five battle cruisers, we will still make a lot of money."

Obviously, Yoshimatsu Shigetaro was thinking of Duiko, sacrificing his own battle cruiser to destroy the enemy battle cruiser.

Lieutenant General Fournell did not agree with Yoshimatsu Motaro's words, and saw him grabbing the opponent's loophole and saying. "But how do you guarantee that we can leave five battle cruisers behind by sacrificing three battle cruisers. In the previous naval battle of Sirte, the three battle cruisers obviously failed to resist for a long time. Your idea is very good, but If there is a mistake, then our three battlecruisers will be sacrificed in vain. This is too risky, too risky."

"It's very simple. Send a large number of torpedo boats, destroyers, and cruisers to hold the enemy, mainly to hold the enemy. All sacrifices are worthwhile."

"This method is absolutely not acceptable, and our soldiers will not accept it."

Lieutenant General Fournell could not accept the Japanese style of Yoshimatsu Motaro, so he rejected it on the spot.

"Why is it unacceptable, soldiers should carry out orders."

Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Motaro stood up immediately. In his opinion, the French general was too hesitant to do things. Be scruples about this, scruples about that, how can you do well in naval battles with this kind of insects.

There are two Japanese King Kong-class ships in the battle patrol formation, and I am not afraid of them, so what are they afraid of.

"I'm also thinking about the fleet. Our strength is inherently weak. If we lose this time, how can we fight against the enemy. And your idea is too risky, the risk is too great."

Seeing that the two were arguing, General Robek, who was the commander, quickly smoothed things over.

"Both calm down, this is just a different solution to a problem, and there is no need for both of them to get angry."

With that said, Admiral Robek spoke. "I think both opinions have their merits. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com, but I agree with Lieutenant General Fornell's words. Our fleet is relatively weak, and sometimes we need to think carefully."

Admiral Robek's words made Lieutenant General Fournell look happy, but Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Motaro's expression remained unchanged.

"Commander, I respect your decision, I will leave first if there is nothing to do."

Since they don't want to fight as the main force, what's the use of their own opinions.

After seeing Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Motaro leave, General Robek spoke to Lieutenant General Fournell. "Lieutenant Admiral Yoshimatsu Motaro is a very capable person. He doesn't know our strategy and is worried about the situation of our fleet."

"General, please rest assured, I also very much recognize the efforts of Lieutenant General Yoshimatsu Motaro."

Obviously, Britain and France are hiding some things from Japan.

As for Yoshimatsu Shigetaro, after leaving the command tower and returning to his room, he recorded today's events in his diary.

"The British have lost their Nelsonian spirit, too much scruples and hesitation. They have fallen from the altar and become like other navies. It is very disappointing. I believe that soon we will withdraw to the Indian Ocean , I really don’t have the spirit of forging ahead.”

(end of this chapter)