"The defense of the Combined Forces-class battleship is still very good. The thick 330mm sloped main armor covers the defense area from the lower deck to the middle deck. The entire side main armor is as high as 5.2 meters. The front armor of the main gun is 380mm thick, and the gun

The armor of the ship also reached 360mm. In the Battle of Beda, the vertical defense of this battleship withstood the test. The Italian 10-inch L50 naval gun used armor-piercing shells to hit at least one

The armor belt, turret and gun mount were hit more than 8 times, but not a single shot penetrated it. The best result was just a dent about 10 inches deep on the side. But in the area outside the main armor box,

For example, the transmission shaft was not well protected. A 10-inch armor-piercing bullet hit the 9-inch sloped armor outside the transmission shaft compartment at close range, causing penetration and damaging one of the transmission shafts." - Excerpted from "Bei"

Night Battle Report"

"Your Excellency, Commander, one of our transmission shafts seems to have been damaged and was forced to stop working." A few minutes later, a staff officer said with some anxiety. "Damn it! How disgusting! These reptiles actually injured the powerful Union.

Power!" Moody felt a little ashamed and confused.

Angry. I found that I was really unlucky. A very well-planned operation was ruined by the Italian night attack. What was even more unlucky was that the other party actually damaged two of my precious battleships, especially

I don’t know if the Aegean can be saved!

Just as Moody was cursing the Italians, the United Forces finally hit the first target! A 16-inch shell hit the stern of the Zara. The powerful 16-inch shell almost cut off half of the stern from the Zara's stern.

The violent explosions and vibrations also damaged the Raza's power to a certain extent. At the same time, it also caused the

Hundreds of tons of water entered the stern of the battleship. This blow was like a wake-up call that finally made Casaldi realize the seriousness of the situation. Even if his tactics were correct, he still could not gain an advantage even if he had the upper hand. The fight continued.

, as long as the other party has a little better luck, then your cruiser may really not be able to return!

"Pull the smoke and evacuate! All battleships evacuate the battlefield on their own!" Looking at the flaming Aegean and the powerful battleship USS United Forces in the distance, Casaldi finally decided to evacuate. As for the seaplanes? This thing will let them

Fly towards the southern area under our control. Under the threat of the opponent's naval guns, Casaldi does not have the courage to fly over the sea to recover water.

The machine! Although there was smoke blocking it, the Austrians, who were lucky, scored another hit. A 16-inch shell cut off half of the bridge of the cruiser Goricia. Because it was a direct shot at close range, it was not easy for the two sides to fight.

Go to the main armor belt. Although the Austrians also changed to armor-piercing shells at this time, there is nothing they can do if they can't hit the core compartment.

"How is the contact with the land-based aviation?" Lieutenant General Moody asked gloomily, looking at the Italian cruiser looming in the smoke and night. "Our aviation fuel has not been lost. As long as it is daytime, our air force will

You can continue to track these two warships. And if they flee to the northwest, we will also send them from Crete.

patrol planes and bombers." The staff officer next to him said. "That's good, let's chase these two Italian cruisers, tell the fighter force in Benin Port, let them be responsible for our air defense, and also notify the submarines cruising at sea.

Troops, if possible, deploy a cordon along their route to Sicily to see if they can stop it!" Moody ordered.

The other party obviously planned to end the war. But Moody didn't want the other party to run away like this. Two Italian cruisers dared to attack with a few destroyers. After sinking no less than 7 transport ships, they also sent 3 destroyers away.

When it reached the bottom of the sea, it also severely damaged the Aegean aviation cruiser and lightly damaged the United Forces. Although the two Italian cruisers were also damaged, it was obvious that the other side had the upper hand. If that was all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Where is the face of the fleet?!

Moreover, he also fully considered the feasibility of the matter. The two Italian warships were also damaged and their speed would not be too fast. Even if they were faster than him, they would definitely be within the tolerable range. And what if they were lost?

?They only have two directions to run, one way

The direction is to return northwest to Sicily, but this road will encounter land-based aircraft departing from Crete. The Italian fleet without any air defense capabilities will definitely not be able to escape the hands of land-based aircraft, while the other route is along Libya.

The coastline evacuated to the southwest. At this time, the Italian ship

The fleet is in the north of itself, and he can lead the fleet to take a shortcut to intercept it. The Italians who are eager to escape will never evacuate directly to the west. In this case, the distance between the two sides will be very close for a time. As long as a proper hit is taken, the Italians will

Can make the Italians in danger

Reply. There is never such a thing as 100% certainty in war. Although he does not know the damage to both sides, Moody judged based on the battle report just now that he is 70% sure that he can retain his opponent, so it is worth a try! The Italians have finished their performance.

Now it's time to look at the Austro-Hungarian fleet.

Casaldic was not clear about the Austro-Hungarian fleet's plan. However, the Italians also had a way out. The Sicilian air cruiser and the land-based flying team would cover their retreat. At this time, both battleships were hit.

The damage to the cruiser was particularly serious. In addition to the shell that hit the upper structure of the battleship, there were also two 16-inch near-misses that caused serious damage to the cruiser. Among them

One shell exploded near the power cabin, and the sharp shrapnel ripped open the side string protection of the Goricia driven by the water flow, directly causing water to enter a boiler room. The other shell entered the water near the stern wheelhouse, destroying the ship.

One side of the ship's rudder was blown to pieces. It also caused water to enter part of the cabin. As a result, the speed of the Goricia was reduced to about 25 knots, which was slower than the injured United Forces.

"The cruiser Sicily was ordered to move 80 nautical miles forward to respond. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to arrive at the scheduled location at the scheduled time and tell the British! Their intelligence is simply terrible! I really want to know why there is a battleship here.

!" Casaldi said angrily.

"All planes are ready. I'm afraid we need to launch continuous high-intensity flights." Lieutenant Colonel Vito, the captain of the Sicily, thought for a while after receiving Casaldi's order. "We must ensure that the first wave of planes has at least

8 fighters and 12 bombers, the latter must carry 250kg bombs, well, that's it. If the deck is not enough, you can try catapults." Lieutenant Colonel Vito added after a moment.

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

"The colonel mentioned in the telegram that the other party has battleships, and the firepower of the heavy cruisers is not enough to destroy such a target. If they catch up, we are the only ones who can stop them." Lieutenant Colonel Vito was still prepared.

His mind gave the order, and what he did happened to save Casaldi's life!

When the sun rose again and the gorgeous sunlight shone on the calm sea of ​​the Mediterranean, what Casaldi felt was not the warmth of the sun, but the biting chill! Because just now, a British reconnaissance plane

It was discovered that a fleet was approaching rapidly in the northeast direction, and the leader was naturally the battleship USS United Forces. According to the British

According to human estimates, the opponent's speed is about 27 knots, and based on the current speed and distance between the two sides, it will take at most 2 and a half hours for the opponent to bring himself within the range of the naval gun! Although in the morning fog,

Under the influence, Casaldi could not see the scary guy in the distance, but fear and worry weighed on his heart like a mountain.

"How about giving up the Goricia?" At this time, the speed of the Zara can still reach about 29 knots. If Zara is abandoned, then Casaldi can definitely run back, but for the Italian Navy, which also has a weak financial background,

It is said that abandoning a 15,000-ton heavy cruiser is also a difficult decision to make!

"Lieutenant Colonel Vito called. He said that he has learned the positions of both of us based on the British intelligence, and his bomber force will fly over the other side in half an hour." As a subordinate, Vito is very conscientious.

He just told the commander what he wanted to do, and then let the commander decide how to choose. And Vito's telegram was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Casaldi!

"Half an hour? If our bombers can stop the United Forces, then there is no need to abandon the Goricia. Even if the stoppage fails, the Zara still has a chance to evacuate. In this case, it is better to wait a little longer." Casa

Erdi said.

Because the USS Sicily air cruiser was about 80 nautical miles ahead of the scheduled rendezvous point, the direct distance between the two sides was greatly shortened. So when the fleet released by the USS Sicily arrived over the battleship USS United Forces, the aircraft at Beda was

The Allied land-based aviation forces were still on land, and the battleship United Forces, which had already fought a night battle, was forced to face these deadly aerial assassins.

"Damn it! Almost all of our right-side anti-aircraft guns were destroyed by high-explosive bombs!" At this time, Moody discovered a serious problem, that is, although his battleship's core cabin did not suffer any damage, the battleship side surface

The anti-aircraft guns on board were almost destroyed by two Italian heavy cruisers

The ship was cleared! The 10-inch gun's high-explosive shells hit these anti-aircraft gun emplacements with only one bulletproof steel plate or no bulletproof steel plate at hand. Look at the anti-aircraft guns that were beaten into piles of ruins, and then look at the dive in the air.

The bomber made Moody's face turn pale!
Chapter completed!