"Fortunately, the other side is a bomber, not a torpedo plane, which can be regarded as a blessing in misfortune!" Watching the other party almost enter the diving channel from the starboard side, which had no defensive firepower, and then drop the bomb, Moody couldn't help but wipe a cold sweat. Although the destroyers escorting the escort did their best to resist, the night battle last night also caused the hounds to suffer some damage, and the ammunition consumption was very large. The defensive firepower was not too strong, and even the escorting fighters did not use machine guns to suppress the weak anti-aircraft fire of the Austrians! Because the other side really doesn't have a few anti-aircraft guns that can fire. But fortunately, the Italians did not have many bombers, only 12, after 6 of them threw bombs into the sea, the other 2 bombers used bombs to end up with a wounded destroyer, and the other 4 bombers threw 4 bombs on the battleship United Forces!

Two of the bombs hit the forward hull of the United Forces, a 250kg high-explosive shell fell on the No. 2 turret, and the bomb with a charge of just over 100 kg did little damage to the horizontal armor on the top of the turret as thick as 6 inches, while the other bomb landed on the forward bridge, blowing up more than a dozen Austro-Hungarian naval officers and men who were working inside to mince meat...... The other two bombs hit the chimney of the Combined Forces, destroying part of the flue, and a large amount of smoke poured into the power compartment from the broken flue, causing the ship's speed to drop again, while the other near-miss bomb caused the tail TDS compartment to flood, but the problem was not too big, and even the liquid tank was not penetrated.........

"Let's go, the United Forces can't catch up with the opponent. We can retreat. "The battleship, which had been reduced to about 25 knots, could not close the distance in the end, and even though the Austrians could already see the Italian fleet in the distance through the rangefinder on the turret, they could not bring it into the effective range of the main guns. And Moody's was also very scared at this time. A total of 20 planes came in this wave, and there may be a land-based aviation group around. The bombers that came this time, the 250kg bombs had little effect on themselves, but if they brought torpedoes, wouldn't the United Forces be dead?! For the performance of their own land-based aviation. He also didn't trust it, and the first wave of attacks from the other side was over. The fighters who provide cover for themselves are not yet coming! Isn't this a cheat? Isn't that harmful?! After much deliberation, Moody's decided to retreat.

"Is the battle over? No. And that's just the beginning! The Austro-Hungarian fleet must destroy the perpetrators of the port of Bayda! "The whole fleet made a huge U-shaped track on the sea, and the fleet, full of anger and reluctance, prepared to sail back, and this time they would not return to the port of Bayda, but would go directly to Crete. After a short period of repairs, it will be returned to Greece for a full overhaul. However, it is clear that Moody did not want to let go of the two Italian cruisers, and he was considering how to draft a document to persuade the top brass to destroy these hateful Italian cruisers ..........

There is nothing to write about in the night battle part, although the Aegean air cruiser is now alive and dead, but the United Forces also heavily damaged two Italian cruisers, mentioned in Moody's report. Although the opponent's artillery can still be used, the speed will definitely not exceed 25 knots, and this inference is basically in line with the facts. Judging by the losses. The gap between the two sides is not very large. On the destroyer side, the losses were somewhat greater than those of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. However, considering the sneak attack in the night battle, this loss is still within the "understandable" range. If the ledger is average, Lieutenant General Moody's writes about the night battle. Another document was delivered to him, and when he opened it, the dark clouds on his face almost immediately dissipated. "There's a big fish!"

In the classification of the Allied Navy, the aviation cruiser is a type of ship that is directly between the capital ship and the ordinary heavy cruiser. Although it was built at the capacity of a cruiser, the Allied naval hierarchy considered it to be worth much more than a cruiser, and even more than an old slow-moving battleship in general. Just now. Ground-based aviation, not trusted by Moody's, finally provided a useful message to the southwest of the opposing heavy cruiser formation. Land-based aviation discovered an Italian air cruiser, the only one of the Italians' second air cruisers, and in addition to the Sardinia, which was drifting in the Indian Ocean, this battleship must have been his sibling, Sicily! A large fleet of aircraft and several temporary airfields have also been found in Benghazi. …………。

If it was just two heavy cruisers, then maybe it would not be possible to let the Austro-Hungarian fleet pour out, and the most likely result would be to admit it yourself, but now, with the addition of an aviation cruiser and several field airfields and the planes on it, this amount is enough for the main fleet to take action. As long as all these battleships can be destroyed, then the first battle between Italy and Austria will end in the victory of the Austro-Hungarian navy, which has to be said to be a very tempting plan!

Holdie looked at the telegram in his hand, and then looked at the situation of the fleets on both sides on the sand table in the distance, and couldn't help but sigh. He had already read the battle report sent by Lieutenant General Moody, leaving aside the situation of the night battle, because this matter was only a small matter compared to what was to come. "Nearly 50,000 tons of warships, and at least 80 or more aircraft." Holdie thought in his heart, no need to ask, that air cruiser is definitely over the standard, and like the Allies, the standard displacement of 15,000 tons is just a fool...... Coupled with the two heavy cruisers, this weight is really not light. In terms of aircraft, according to the situation within the Allies, this aviation cruiser has at least about 30 aircraft in the case of mooring. Add to that the airfield planes that have been discovered and those annoying British fast reconnaissance planes, and all the planes together have no problem at all to make up 80, only a little more. This is indeed a piece of fat in the eyes of the Allies!. …。

It's a pity that pies won't fall from the sky, and when a piece of fat is placed in front of you, you still need to put it down, is there a beast trap below! In order to prevent accidents, and in order to be able to swallow this piece of fat, the Austrian fleet must attack all in order to solve the problem as soon as possible, you know, Austria-Hungary only has 3 aircraft carriers. Only one of them is a large armored aircraft carrier, and at full capacity, it is not bad that three aircraft carriers can send out 100 aircraft in the first wave. (About 40 large aircraft carriers were released.) The two 18,000-ton aircraft carriers released about 30 aircraft each. The first wave will be a tie with the opposing shore-based aircraft at most, and the second wave will have the best chance of destroying important targets, and it will take at least 4 hours to release the two groups of aircraft plus the time to return home. What if at this time, the Italians suddenly killed the aircraft carrier formation?!

There are not many capital ships in the Italian Navy, so it is absolutely impossible to let such a fleet be destroyed, they will definitely come back to the rescue, and even Jordi feels that the Italians will use these three battleships as bait to lure themselves into the bait? Although the two sides are also three aircraft carriers, the quality of the other side is obviously higher than their own, and the total number of aircraft released in a wave is no less than 120! It would be terrible if they attacked Benghazi and the other party came up on the back of the head! He knew very well what the virtues of two medium-sized aircraft carriers were, and their defense could not even block the attack ......... of 250kg semi-armor-piercing shells.

After thinking about it for yourself. According to Jordy, the ultimate solution lies in two points. The first point is to act together with the German fleet and put together a huge lineup of 4 aircraft carriers plus an aviation cruiser, so what if the Italians come together with three aircraft carriers? You can release a fleet of more than 150 planes in the first wave of your own aircraft! This wave of attacks may be able to completely inflict heavy damage on all targets in Benghazi, and then 5 battleships will be fully defended, at least about 100 fighters can be drawn for air defense, plus battleships, cruisers and a large number of destroyers, even if the Italians have the opportunity to launch a sneak attack? The attack wave of 120 aircraft could theoretically have had no effect on his Allied combined fleet, and Jordi also knew that the fighter unit of the Italian Naval Air Force had participated in the last air battle in Naples and had suffered certain losses, so there was a question mark over how much actual strength was left. There are not many pilots who can take off and land on aircraft carriers! The only problem with this approach is whether the Germans are willing to send troops and make peace with themselves! …。

The other way is more tragic, that is, to directly admit and leave, ignore it, and wait for the other party to evacuate. It would be a shame to do so. But in fact, if the German fleet did not want to help, then the Austro-Hungarian fleet could only choose to admit it, after all, the Austro-Hungarian fleet was weak. It's not a bad thing to be ......... be steady.

After making up his mind, Holdie sent a telegram to the Austro-Hungarian naval headquarters and the command of the German Mediterranean Fleet at the same time to ask for their opinions, after all, the stakes were high, and how to plan and operate this matter must be carefully considered. After much thought, Haldy also sent a telegram to the German Mediterranean Land-based Aviation Command in Crete, asking for their help. It would be better if they could provide reconnaissance.

After receiving Jordy's telegram, Raeder and Jordi had the same opinion, expressed their support in principle, and he also proposed a more secure plan, that is, to determine the damage to the opponent's warships during this period and strengthen the monitoring of the Italian navy, if it is determined that the opponent's two warships are seriously damaged and cannot sail at high speed, the Allied fleet will move again, otherwise don't rush over by yourself, and as a result, they will run away early, but it will not be good to fall into the trap of the Italians.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~. (To be continued).