"Found it, the Bora and Sicily appeared off the coast of my East African colony. Not only did they plunder several of our merchant ships, but they also sank the Rhine. Lindemann sent a telegram to Raeder. It is written in great detail, not only the ins and outs of the whole matter, but also the evaluation of the German officers and soldiers who participated in the war on this incident. Although the Bora was eventually evacuated before the Rhine could be sunk, the ship never made it back to port, but a large number of German troops were captured, so the information they provided was very detailed.

"In terms of tactical literacy, the technical and tactical level of the Bora was higher than that of Austria-Hungary, and slightly worse than that of the German first-line fleet. The naval aviation performed well, both in terms of tactical coordination and the quality of the pilots themselves, and the seven bombers dropped bombs in close range and missed. The suppression of lightly protected anti-aircraft gun emplacements by fighters is very well placed, and many exercises should have been conducted. While attacking the fleet, the air vigilance was still not relaxed, and there was still spare energy to cover the fleet's withdrawal. It can be seen ...... The commander of this fleet is not leaky, and although he is not enterprising, it is difficult to find any obvious flaws. ”

"In this operation, our fleet also exposed some problems, the seaplanes on the Rhine could not carry bombs like the other side's seaplanes, which was a direct reason for the final defeat of the Rhine. If the Rhine's seaplanes could have attacked the Bora first, the Rhine would have had a chance to escape from the tracking, but alas, our seaplanes only had radios and machine guns. The attack on the sea is weak. At the same time, the anti-aircraft fire was insufficient, the rate of fire of the artillery was too slow, and the 20mm rapid-fire gun was less powerful and the trajectory was curved. At the same time, the gun emplacements were not well protected, and at least direct fire attacks were needed that could be resisted. "After reading the analysis of the battle report later. Raeder put the document away, and now he had a question to consider, what would the Italians do next? What will happen to the East African detachment, and what will happen to the main forces of the Italian fleet? . …。

"It looks like we're on our own. The Turks are afraid that they will not be able to count on it. "Half ringing. After careful deduction, Raeder muttered to himself a little helplessly. Off the coast of German East Africa, there were simply no sea forces that could counterbalance the actions of the Italian detachment. If there is no external force to intervene, the other party can hold on until the self-sustaining power is insufficient. Of course, if you want to consider the supply ships arranged by the Entente or the Italian Navy in advance, then this time is very likely to be as long as half a year, both economically and politically. The German Navy would not allow such a detachment of only 2 cruisers to trap its largest colony overseas! The main fleet was not prepared, and it was too late, not to mention that the Chinese and British fleets blocked in the North Sea would not let the Germans come out so easily. The military power of the Mediterranean is not superior in itself. Then the only thing that can be mobilized is the Turkish fleet.

"An aircraft carrier and an aviation cruiser don't seem to be enough!" Raeder then began to consider the Turks' next move. Will it continue to wander in the Indian Ocean or will it go south to seek the enemy for a decisive battle? Anyway, though. Raeder doesn't feel enough, just this point Dongdong wants to catch a small fleet of only 2 cruisers in the entire Indian Ocean? It's a little bit harder. Moreover, the other side also has a certain air defense capability, and even if it encounters it, it may not be able to bite. And if it goes south, then what about the alert tasks of the oil transportation lines? There is no guarantee that the other party will not kill a single carbine!. …。

At this time, after several consultations between the German Navy and the Turkish Navy, a joint action plan involving the Turkish fleet and land-based aviation was released. The main forces of the Turkish fleet will go south in search of opponents. And the work of covering important maritime supplies was entrusted to the Turkish battleship Salim Sultan and shore-based aviation. In order to enhance the maritime reconnaissance capability, the Germans deliberately sent one of the only four wings in the country equipped with four large bombers to the Mediterranean region. This formation was the Heavy Bomber Wing known as the Vultures. He was accompanied by several twin-engine fighter groups. …。

"If the other party dares to come to the Indian Ocean, then there will be a net waiting for them!" Admiral Ali looked at the information on the desktop about the cruiser Sicily and sneered. At this time, Iyakino did not expect that the Germans and Turks would set up such a big battle to wait for him, and then hijack a ship full of tungsten sand and tin ore. After leaving a few soldiers to escort him to India, Iyakino was already preparing to shrink his fleet to the northern Indian Ocean oil routes. In this regard, Iyakino was still very covert, all the battleships gave orders after entering the intended rendezvous point with the supply ships, and there was almost no long-wave radio communication between all the battleships, so the possibility of radio leaks was almost eliminated, after several hours of replenishment. Except for one destroyer that could not continue to follow the fleet north to India due to a malfunction. The remaining 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser and 2 destroyers began to embark on the ......... way north.

In order to deal with this small fleet, the Allies have made overall considerations, and it is not to say that this fleet is really terrible. But the German top brass has finally realized the fragility of its own sea lines of communication! "Today...... A fleet of only two cruisers can do whatever it takes in our back garden, and tomorrow we will face an even stronger adversary, in Madagascar, the French have already begun to build bases for aircraft carriers, our situation is even more serious, if we can't even destroy such a weak opponent as today, then what else do we talk about the eastward strategy? I'm afraid that before India is defeated, its own transportation lines have been cut off! So, I hope that the Navy and Air Force will work closely together to get this damn bedbug out for me! Wilhelm II said angrily.

The Allies thus changed their original plans, and the Turkish fleet eventually went south instead of going to the Mediterranean, which led to a balance of power between the two navies in the Mediterranean, and Tycho might have been somewhat jealous if it was against the German fleet commanded by Hipper, but look at the admirals of the opposing side, an admiral with a prince's hat and a rear admiral who had served as a staff officer. Tycho thinks that they can't afford to educate themselves in the Mediterranean! And from the point of view of the situation. With the arrival of the Imperial Air Force, the air forces of the United States and France in northern Italy were under increasing pressure, and the addition of a large number of twin-engine aircraft greatly reduced the home field advantage of the Entente side. "In a maximum of 3 weeks, our air defense line in the north will collapse, and in less than three weeks we have lost 300 aircraft of all kinds, as well as more than 240 crews. The accumulation in the early stage is rapidly depleting, and although the price paid by the other party is a little greater, our supply speed is far from keeping up with the supply speed of Germany and Austria. The result of this is that the other side will gain air supremacy and then cover the landing of the army on the Apennine Peninsula. Rear Admiral Li Mei, who was in charge of the operations of the US and French air forces, said this in a telegram to Tycho..........

"The Germans have a deep heritage." After reading the telegram, Tycho also had to admit that the difference in national strength between the two sides was too great, and that the construction of aviation was more expensive than that of the army and navy, and that the training of airport facilities, aircraft, and crew members was a bottomless pit. Tycho's air force that he had worked so hard to pull together, coupled with the naval aviation at hand, was not as strong as the strength of the German air force. And even with the assistance of the United States and France, it is only a slight peak in the early stage by relying on home advantage, and the allies who are serious are indeed not something that Italy, which is now scattered, can resist.

Therefore, in order to advance the air pressure in the north, the Italian navy had to launch an attack in the south in order to attract German and Austrian air forces to the south. This was easier said than done, however, with the Italian navy retreating to Sicily and the southern coast of Italy, the Austro-Hungarian navy in Greece and the German Mediterranean fleet in Crete. The two sides are very close to each other, both are backed by land-based aviation, and there is a submarine blockade and an aviation cordon in the front, and once they are dispatched during the day, they will soon be discovered by the other side, and at night, they must be careful of the threat of submarines and mines. In this kind of closed sea area, which is almost transparent and can be encountered at the door, there seems to be no other way to conduct naval battles than hard fighting. Attacks during the day will turn into strong attacks, and it will be difficult for the attacking side to do anything against the defending sea-based and land-based forces, while the result of a night battle may be stealing chickens and rice. Aircraft carriers cannot be used at night, and gunboats that want to shell the enemy's ports must first rush through the submarine blockade and then cross the minefield. …………。

What made Tycho even more depressed was that the German-Austrian navy did not seem to have the intention of taking the initiative at this stage, and in the German-Austrian strategy, it seemed that as long as the southern entrance to the Adriatic Sea was blocked, so that the Italian navy could not hinder the German-Austrian landing plan, the task would be completed. Anyway, the air force can slowly wear down the air force of the Entente and Italy, so there is no need to risk the precious warships. Therefore, the German and Austrian navies were very conservative, with the main warships protecting the cruise ships sailing from Alexandria to Greece under the cover of land-based aviation, and the light warships and minelayers going out to lay minefields. And the submarines formed a cordon. The entire defense line was so thick that the Italians did not dare to cross it easily.

"Now which side of the time is on the opponent's side, there are three battlefields: the air battle in Italy, the southern sea theater and the Indian Ocean theater, and no matter which battlefield goes wrong, it will cause a full-screen crash. And from the current point of view, the aviation battlefield in the north is the most prone to problems, and although the Indian Ocean theater will not have problems in a short time, the Allies have also left quite strong forces there, so they can't make any waves, so we can only look at us! Tycho thought for a moment and said.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, the members of the dead group for their reward~~~, and the book friend tehie81, jbbt, gplay for the monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued).