Imperial Overlord

Just as the British Mediterranean Fleet was charging towards Taranto, in the dark seas, an Italian submarine had actually spotted the fleet.

From a week ago, the German boss of the Axis powers gave advice to the Italians, and asked Italy to deploy covert reconnaissance forces on the only path of the British.

As a result, the intelligence superiority was evident at this moment, when Italian submarines routinely patrolling the nearby waters easily found the British Mediterranean Fleet.

Because the attack position was not ideal, the Italian submarine finally chose the second set of plans, rather than directly launching torpedoes to scare the snakes as in the first set of plans.

So, after letting the British fleet go, the Italian submarine surfaced and sent Taranto a signal of vigilance.

In the port of Taranto, there are many Italian warships docked, and there are iron nets to defend against torpedoes, and hot air balloons with steel cables to interfere with the bombing of the opponent's aircraft.

A large number of air-blow guns and searchlights were also deployed around. For the military port in 1940, it was considered impregnable.

Still, when the officer on duty was shocked to receive a set of codes from the telegraph, he nearly knocked the coffee off the table.

In a panic, he hurriedly tore off the telegraph paper with a word of alarm written on it, and ran to the office of the general on duty.

"Quick! Execute the "Defender Plan"! Quick! Quick!" The general on duty quickly issued an order, but he knew that this word of warning meant that the British fleet was not far from Taranto.

The Defender Plan is a set of contingency plans for the defense of the Taranto battleship drawn up by the German side a week ago.

The content of this plan is not complicated, in fact, it can be said to be extremely simple! That is, when the British came to steal chickens in the middle of the night, they drove the battleship out of the port and let the other party's plane be empty!

Although the method is a bit old-fashioned, it is definitely an appropriate plan. This is not an air raid during the day. The attack power of British aircraft at night is also very limited.

Under the fixed lighting of the flare, as long as the battleship moved quickly, it would quickly get rid of the entanglement of the British aircraft.

When the British planes went to bomb the port, it would have to test the ability of the German anti-aircraft artillery units. Goering deployed two anti-aircraft gun positions here, one with 88mm cannons and the other with 40mm Bofors.

The added anti-aircraft artillery positions were not in the original historical time and space, and there were also two searchlight units, which can be said to be used to deal with 30 Swordfish attack aircraft, which is really too luxurious.

"The ready whistle can be sounded! Cover the battleship's warm power system!" The officer who received the order instructed in the duty command room of the port.

Soon, the whistle sounded in the port, but the whole port was still dark, and the battleship could not be seen to start the engine.

Because of the noise of the whistle, some citizens of Taranto pushed open their windows and looked in the direction of the port, wondering what happened.

The few unknown British spies left in Italy also heard the whistle at this time and wondered what was going on in the port.

"The tugboat is ready, the battleship is leaving the anchorage, and all the anti-aircraft guns are ready to shoot in the air!" An Italian naval officer reported on the preparations in the port.

The Taranto at this time, and the unprepared Taranto in real historical time and space, are already worlds apart.

First of all, after several major victories, the fighting spirit of the Italian Navy is much higher than in history!

They sank the British battleship HMS Resolve at the Battle of Oran and also played a supporting role at the Battle of El Alamein, defeating the British Army Nile!

In addition, Italy has begun to obtain oil from Libya, which makes Italy dare to use more crude oil reserves and makes the navy more active.

With so many enhancements, the current mental outlook of the Italian navy is definitely not comparable to them in the history of the same period.

As for combat literacy, the Italian navy is definitely not as bad as rumored, and they still achieved certain results in the Mediterranean!

Therefore, the Italian navy at this time is not a belly to be slaughtered, but a fairly good local maritime force.

"Why is the whistle sounding at this time? And the whistle of so many ships?" A British spy suddenly raised his brows and looked at his partner.

His partner was also confused, and it was still dark by dinner time. It was him who visited the Taranto Naval Port in person, saw the warships moored inside, and sent a confirmation signal to his superiors.

However, now, everything that happened tonight seemed to be filled with a disturbing atmosphere for him.

"Could it be that the action was discovered? Didn't it say that the German spy was being censored in China?" The spy who opened the question asked again.

However, before his question was answered, the door was kicked open from the outside. A large group of Italian black shirts rushed in, holding short guns in their hands.

"Me!" Seeing the enemy, the spy's companion reached out and drew a pistol from his arms, but it was then smashed into a sieve by bullets.

The British spy who asked the question just now was not spared either. He wanted to jump off the building to escape, but was also killed by bullets and hung on the balcony of his house.

"Take off the attack plane! For the sake of the British Empire, for the sake of His Majesty the King, start the attack!" In the distant sea, with the aid of searchlights, a Swordfish attack plane rose into the air with the command.

This was followed by a second Swordfish attack aircraft, and then a third. The planes rushed to Taranto in the distance, not knowing that their fleet had actually been discovered by the opposing submarine.

Cunningham was nervous, and this combat operation, on the one hand his carefully planned attack, represented the pinnacle of his wit and command.

On the other hand, this is also a bold attempt by the British Navy to change the fate of the country in the midst of the crisis of the motherland.

As long as this sneak attack is successful, the British navy in the Mediterranean will still have the opportunity to make waves, and if it fails, it is just running away, and there is no cost at all.

Still, Cunningham was nervous because he feared that his actions would be known ahead of time.

He was not afraid of the Italian Navy, nor the German Navy. What he is afraid of now is the lingering ghost of the British mainland thousands of miles away.

On September 25, three months after Li Le had been traveling, the Battle of Taranto started. The Swordfish attack plane that had been attacked by the United Kingdom dropped a flare beside an Italian air defense balloon.

Behind the bomb-dropping British Swordfish attack aircraft, the front-line commander Major Williamson was driving his Swordfish attack aircraft and heard the nervous whistle in the port.

"British fighter jets! British fighter jets are here!" As the first flare in the sky lit up, the British arrived as scheduled, which excited the Italian air defense forces.

Countless anti-aircraft guns began to roar, and red and yellow tracer bullets intertwined in the sky to form a net of fire, shrouding the British aircraft.

Although it is a double-wing structure, the sturdy and stable Swordfish attack aircraft flexibly shuttles among the air-defense balloons used by Italy to block aircraft at this time.

The artillery fire on the ground did not scare the warriors of the British Royal Navy, but everything in front of them completely plunged them into collapse.

Because on the sea within the port of Taranto, there is no shadow of the Italian main fleet they are looking for!

Whatever the reason! Italy's main fleet, the Italian main fleet that was still in the daytime, has now left, and it is a very frustrating "nowhere".

Looking at everything in front of them, the British pilots on the attack mission could only carry torpedoes and bombs in vain, carefully avoiding the artillery fire on the ground.

As the command plane, on the Swordfish attack plane marked L4, Major Williamson pressed the intercom and reported to Cunningham what he had encountered in a desperate tone.

Dodging the shells coming from the ground, he shouted: "The Italian fleet is not here! Repeat! The Italian fleet is gone! They are not in Taranto!"

In confusion, two British Swordfish attack planes were hit by Italian artillery fire, and soon the third and fourth planes were also shot down by artillery shells and rushed to the sea.

The British aircraft that rushed towards the oil depot on the ground~www.wuxiaspot.com~ happened to be ambushed by the German anti-aircraft artillery units. The German anti-aircraft artillery positions were more than twice as dense as the Italian anti-aircraft positions, and all at once completely wiped out the four British aircraft that flew over. Swordfish attack aircraft.

In a short period of time, the British Navy was shot down by 8 Swordfish, and the remaining 7 Swordfish attack aircraft also had to hurriedly drop the torpedoes and bombs they were carrying, and dispersed the formation to leave Taranto.

The second wave of attack aircraft was about to fly to the place at this time, but what they heard was the news that the Italian naval fleet was missing.

There is no need to go to the port, waiting for the British planes are countless anti-aircraft guns and searchlights from the Axis powers. Attacking at this time is almost the same as sending death.

The United Kingdom has a total of 30 Swordfish that can be used for attack. Now 8 have been lost, and another one has been damaged and returned due to lack of experience in night operations.

Cunningham felt that he could not bear the loss of almost one-third of his troops. He ordered the carrier-based aircraft to be withdrawn and immediately left this unfortunate place.

Since the attack failed, the commander of the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet was already thinking about how his fleet would run away.