"The defense of the combined-forces class battleships is still very good, with heavy sloping main armor covering the defensive area from the lower deck to the middle deck. The height of the main armor of the entire side is up to 5.2 meters. And the frontal armor of the main gun was thick, and the armor of the gun mount was also reached. In the Battle of Bayda, the ship's vertical defense withstood the test, and the 10-inch L50 naval guns of the Italians used armor-piercing shells to hit the armor belt, turret and gun mount at least 8 times, but none of them penetrated, and the best result was only to make a hole about 10 inches deep on the side of the side. However, in areas outside the main armor box, such as the propeller shaft, it was not well protected, and a 10-inch armor-piercing shell hit the 9-inch inclined armor outside the propeller shaft compartment at close range, then caused a penetration and damaged one of the propeller shafts. —Excerpt from the Report on the Night Battle of Beida

"Your Excellency, one of our propeller shafts appears to have been damaged and has been forced to stop working." A few minutes later, a staff officer said with some apprehension. "Damn it! It's so damning! These reptiles actually injured the mighty United Forces! Moody felt a hint of shame and anger in his heart. I found myself so unlucky...... A very well-planned operation was ruined by the night attack of the Italians, and what was even more unfortunate was that the other side actually damaged two of their precious warships, especially the Aegean, and they didn't know if they could save it! . …。

Just as Moody's was cursing at the Italians, the United Power finally hit the first shot! A 16-inch shell hit the tail of the Zara. The powerful 16-inch shells almost directly cut the half-pulled stern off the stern of the Zara, and the violent explosion and vibration also caused some damage to the Laza's power. At the same time, hundreds of tons of water were flooded in the stern of this battleship. The blow was a blow in the face that finally made Casaldi realize the gravity of the situation, even if his tactics were correct. You still can't get an advantage even if you take the lead. If you continue to fight, as long as the opponent is a little luckier, then your cruiser may really not be able to go back!

"Pull the smoke, evacuate! All ships evacuate the battlefield on their own! Looking at the flaming Aegean and the formidable Combined Forces battleship in the distance, Casaldi finally decided to evacuate. As for seaplanes? Let them fly to the southern part of their own territory, and Casaldi will not have the guts to recover the seaplane at sea under the threat of the enemy's naval guns! Although there is smoke to block. But the Austrians, who were moving at the time, hit again, and a 16-inch shell cut off half of the bridge of the cruiser Golicia. Because it was a direct fire at close range, it was not easy for both sides to hit the main armor belt. Although the Austrians also changed armor-piercing shells at this time, they couldn't hit the core cabin and couldn't do it..........

"How's the contact with the land-based aviation?" Look at the Italian cruisers looming in the smoke and night. Lieutenant General Moody asked with a gloomy face. "We didn't lose aviation fuel. As long as daylight comes, our air force can continue to track these two ships, and if the other side flees in a north-west direction, it will also be attacked by our patrol planes and bombers from Crete. The staff officer next to him said. Well, let's go after the two Italian cruisers, tell the fighter units in the port of Benin, put them in charge of our air defense, and additionally inform the submarine forces cruising in the sea, if we can. Deploy a cordon on their route to Sicily and see if you can stop it! Moody ordered.

The other party was obviously planning to end the game, but Moody didn't want the other party to run away like this. The two Italian cruisers dared to hit the door with a few destroyers, sank no less than 7 transports, and sent 3 destroyers to the bottom of the sea, and at the same time seriously damaged the Aegean air cruiser and slightly damaged the United Forces, although the two Italian cruisers were also damaged, but it was obvious that the other side had the advantage. If that's it, what is the face of the Austro-Hungarian fleet?! …………。

And he also fully considered the feasibility of the matter. The two Italian battleships were also damaged, and the speed of the ship was not too fast, even if it was faster than itself, it was definitely within the tolerance range, and even if it was lost, what about it? They only have two directions to run, one direction is to the northwest back to Sicily, but this road will meet the land-based aircraft from Crete, the Italian fleet without a little air defense can never escape the palm of the land-based aircraft, and the other is along the Libyan coastline to the southwest, at this time the Italian fleet is in its own north, they can lead the fleet to intercept the shortcut, and the Italians who are in a hurry to get out will definitely not withdraw directly to the west, in this way, the distance between the two sides will be very close for a while, All it takes is a proper hit to save the Italians. There was never such a thing as 100% certainty in the war, and although he did not know the damage on both sides, Moody's judged that he was 70% sure that he could retain his opponent based on the battle report just now...... Then it's worth a try! The Italians are done performing, and now it's time to watch the Austro-Hungarian fleet.

Casaldico's plans for the Austro-Hungarian fleet were not clear. However, the Italians also had a way back, the Sicily air cruiser was going to cover their retreat with the land-based flying team, at this time both battleships were damaged, especially the Gorisia's injuries, in addition to the shell that hit the battleship's upper building, there were two 16-inch misses to cause serious damage to the cruiser, one of which exploded near the power compartment, and the sharp shrapnel tore the side chord protection of the Golicia under the impetus of the current, directly causing a boiler compartment to flood. Another shell entered the water near the stern wheelhouse, shattering one of the rudders. It also caused water to ingress part of the compartment, which resulted in the Gorisia being reduced to about 25 knots, ......... slower than the injured Combined Forces.

"The telegram ordered the cruiser Sicily to go 80 nautical miles forward to respond. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to get to the scheduled place at the scheduled time, and tell the British! Their intelligence is terrible! I'd love to know why there's a battleship here! Casaldi said indignantly.

"All the planes are ready, and we're probably going to need to fly them at a high intensity." Lieutenant Commander Vito, the captain of the Sicily, thought for a moment after receiving Casaldi's order. "We must guarantee that the first wave of aircraft will have at least 8 fighters and 12 bombers, the latter will have to carry 250kg bombs, well, that's all. If the deck is not enough, try a catapult. A moment later, Lieutenant Colonel Vito added.

"Our mission is to provide air defense cover for the fleet, not to attack enemy ships, and there are no targets in this area worthy of our attack." The officer on the side reminded.

"The colonel mentioned in the telegram that the opposing side had battleships. And the firepower of the heavy cruisers is not enough to destroy such a target, and if we catch up, we are the only ones who can stop them. "Lieutenant Colonel Vito gave the order with a prepared mind, and what he did happened to save Casaldi's life!

When the sun rose again, shining on the calm waters of the Mediterranean, Casaldi felt not the warmth of the sun, but the biting chill! Because just now, a British reconnaissance plane discovered that a fleet was rapidly approaching in the northeast of itself, and the leader of it was naturally the battleship United Forces, according to the British estimates, the speed of the other side was about 27 knots, and according to the current speed and distance of the two sides, the other side would be able to bring itself into the range of naval guns after a maximum of two and a half hours! Although Casaldi could not see the terrible creature in the distance under the influence of the morning mist, fear and worry weighed on him like a mountain. …………。

"Do you want to give up the Golicia?" At this time, the speed of the Zara can still reach about 29 knots, if you give up Zara, then Casaldi will definitely be able to run back, but for the Italian Navy, which is also not thick, it is also a difficult decision to abandon a 15,000-ton heavy cruiser!

"Lieutenant Colonel Vito has called, and he says that he has learned the location of both of us based on British intelligence, and that his bomber unit will fly over the other side in half an hour." Vito was very conscientious as a subordinate...... He just told the commander what he was going to do, and then let the commander judge what to do. And Vito's telegram was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Casaldi!

"Half an hour? If our bombers can stop the Combined Forces, then there is no need to abandon the Gorisia, and even if the stop fails, the Zara still has a chance to evacuate, so it is better to wait. Casaldi said.

Because the Sicily Air Cruiser was about 80 nautical miles ahead of the intended place of contact. So the direct distance between the two sides was greatly shortened, so much so that by the time the fleet released by the Sicily reached the battleship United Forces, the Allied land-based air forces in Beida were still on land, and the battleship United Forces, which had already fought a night battle, was forced to face these deadly air assassins ..........

"Damn it! Our anti-aircraft guns on the right were almost completely destroyed by high-explosive shells! "At this point. Moody discovered a serious problem, that is, although the core compartment of his battleship did not receive any losses, the anti-aircraft guns on the surface of the battleship were almost wiped out by the two Italian heavy cruisers! The 10-inch cannon high-explosive shell hits these anti-aircraft guns with only one bulletproof steel plate or no bulletproof steel plate, and the gun position can be described as handy. Looking at the anti-aircraft artillery that was beaten into piles of ruins, and then looking at the bombers that were about to dive in the air, Moody's face turned white!

Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976, hukaikaka for the tip~~~, and the book friends soaring in the universe of the constellation of the monthly pass support~~~. (To be continued).