Imperial Overlord

The aircraft carrier Radiance of the British Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Cunningham on the bridge looked at the sea in the distance, and pressed his hand on the chart table, because he was nervous and a little hard.

He couldn't help but be nervous, the current Mediterranean Fleet was carrying out one of the most difficult tasks in history.

"The fleet is sailing at a speed of 15 knots, and no abnormality has been found on the sea!" An officer came over and reported the latest news to Cunningham, who was nervously watching the distant battleship.

In order to conceal this combat mission, Cunningham's main force left Port Said in batches, and they assembled on the nearby sea before embarking on this secret mission.

"The island of Crete is ahead... The Air Force's **** fighters are already in place." Seeing that his fleet commander did not speak, the British officer spoke again and reported.

Several British fighter jets appeared in the sky, giving a nervous Cunningham a lot of confidence.

Crete is still under Greek and British control, which at least guarantees that the mission has a more than half chance of success.

Once upon a time, the mighty British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet had no rivals in its own jurisdiction, and the Italian Navy was still a weak and incompetent enemy at that time.

And a few months ago, this weak Italian fleet had to be attacked by a powerful British fleet, and it had to face the pressure of the British ally, the French navy.

At that time Gibraltar had the mighty H-Fleet of the British Royal Navy, which was flanked by French mainland and fleets in African ports.

The British Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Alexandria also had an overwhelming advantage over the Italian fleet at that time, and there was a nail in the middle of Malta to protect the safety of the Mediterranean route!

As a result, after just three months, the French fleet was no longer an ally of the British fleet, and the strategic pattern of attacking Italy between Gibraltar and Alexandria was about to cease to exist.

Everything has begun to become unrecognizable. The powerful British maritime power has degenerated to the point of going out to sea secretly, which is really embarrassing.

"Let the fleet maintain its course and speed up to 17 knots. We have to reach the designated sea area within the specified time. The plan cannot allow the slightest confusion." Cunningham retracted his thoughts and issued his own order.

"Keep your course! Speed ​​up to 17 knots!" The officer on the bridge repeated the order loudly with his hands behind his back.

"Sir, there is a convoy behind us... Will speeding up make the following convoys difficult?" The officer standing behind Cunningham asked the question he was worried about.

Cunningham shook his head and squeezed out a smile, not knowing whether he was comforting himself or his subordinates.

"We didn't receive an **** mission. They followed us, and we have no **** responsibility. Don't pay attention to these transport ships. If you are willing to follow, you will naturally follow." He shook his head and said this.

It can be said that it was a shameful thing the British navy did after it became famous.

What's more, the Mediterranean fleet is not facing a strong enemy, and they are still sailing in a relatively safe sea area.

"Your Excellency, shall we send a light signal to the transport fleet behind to tell them that we are going to speed up?" The officer asked a little depressedly, looking at Cunningham with hope.

Cunningham thought about it for a while, but finally softened and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I agree to send the signal, but I must keep the radio silent, understand?"

"As ordered, Your Excellency General!" Hearing that his general finally agreed to send a signal to the transport fleet behind him, the officer's expression became much more relaxed.

"Light signal! The main force of the fleet is speeding up! Send the order to the engine room, immediately accelerate by 2 knots, and maintain the speed of 17 knots!" On a destroyer on the periphery, the captain saw the light signal sent by the light cruiser in the distance, and opened his mouth and commanded.

Soon, he saw another set of light signals, and let him use the light signals to transmit the acceleration message to the following transport fleet.

"Let the transport fleet speed up as soon as possible? Isn't this a joke, with so many transport ships, it is impossible for the speed to reach the standard of the battleship fleet?" Putting down the telescope, the destroyer captain frowned and looked at the chief officer beside him .

The first officer was also at a loss, but still persuaded: "This time there is no **** mission, so we really don't need to accommodate the speed of the transport fleet behind."

"Combat mission... sigh... send a message." The captain sighed, and after giving his order, he stood there and closed his mouth.

He and the chief mate beside him knew that after such an acceleration order was passed on, many transport ships would be left behind, and he did not know how many ships were sunk by the Axis submarines cruising in the Mediterranean Sea. .

In the distance, in the transport fleet behind the Mediterranean Fleet, a large transport ship leading the way was slowly sailing, loaded with oil produced from Iraq.

On the bridge of this transport ship, the captain's eyes widened and he put down the telescope in his hand, and after a long while he began to murmur: "What a joke, they want my ship to go to 17 knots, don't they have a brain? ?"

This transport ship filled with oil has a maximum speed of only 17 knots, but this is already the limit speed, and it is impossible to maintain it for a long time.

Unlike warships, transport ships are often accommodating their own transport capabilities, rather than one-sided pursuit of speed.

It is possible that when forming a formation, at a speed of 19 knots or even 20 knots, the battleship fleet can drive out, but it is really difficult to make the transport fleet reach a speed of 20 knots.

No matter how many times he cursed the speeding fleet in front of him, the captain still had no ability to make the fleet commander in front change his mind. So the only thing he can do is speed up, or keep the original speed and stop following.

In the end, the captain still decided to try and follow up with the performance of his own ship. If it doesn't work, he will make a plan: "Quick! Send the light signal to the ships behind, the ship will accelerate to 17 knots, and keep pace with the battleship in front. The distance remains the same!"

After all, on the sea, following behind a fleet, safety is still guaranteed. If you go alone, you will be easily attacked.

After seeing the light signal, the merchant shipping fleet that followed, scolded but could not do anything.

Many ships cannot reach this standard because of the maximum speed, or the ships in formation cannot drive so fast at all, and can only choose to fall behind.

After a few minutes, the layers were pulled apart, and some merchant ships followed behind the Mediterranean fleet, while the other part had been clearly thrown a distance away.

"Sir! A message from the Air Force." On the aircraft carrier Radiance, Cunningham didn't know how many times he was scolded, and seemed to have sneezed countless times along the way. Just as he kept sneezing, the liaison officer came over and reported the news of the telegram.

"What?" Cunningham was waiting for this message, so when he heard a call, he immediately asked.

"The message has only one word, Wednesday." The officer in charge of the liaison gave an action code that he didn't even know what it meant, because the level of secrecy this time was quite high.

"I see." Cunningham knew that his air cover had left, and the waters around him had become dangerous now that his fleet had moved away from Crete and into Italy and Malta's air force. scope.

"Order the planes on standby on the deck to take off and scout the nearby waters! The radio silence continues, and the peripheral alert destroyers remain vigilant!" Cunningham, who was nervous again, kept issuing combat orders, and the time to test him really began now.

"Gentlemen! Now I announce the battle plan for this time!" Cunningham, who has already come here, has only really spoken about the content of the battle this time.

He looked at the officers around him, and announced in a heavy voice with his hands behind his back: "I order, the "Tang Tu Project" officially starts, the fleet adjusts the course and turns the course!"

"Heading south...speed 19 knots!" The sailor standing in front of the steering wheel repeated the steering command loudly. After the Mediterranean Fleet abandoned the following transport fleet, even the intended course changed.~www.wuxiaspot.com ~ The transport fleet behind the entire fleet finally gave up. As a transport fleet, they knew that the fleet was not here to **** them this time. Obviously, they had more important tasks.

So they, who lost their cover, now have to rely on themselves again, but they don't know that in fact, the Mediterranean Fleet chose to act with them to hide themselves through the transport fleet.

Such an arrangement did deceive an Italian submarine on the route. After seeing the fleet, its first reaction was to report the location of the transport fleet, but did not find the British aircraft carrier mixed in the fleet.

"Now, let's go to Libya to see what the **** the Germans are doing!" Cunningham finally said the target of this operation: "Before leaving the field, always leave some unforgettable memories for the enemy, Just to prove our existence!"

"Fleet to the south! Full rudder!" Following the orders one after another, the Mediterranean Fleet strayed from the original route, and rushed towards Benghazi, which is due south of their route, like a tiger going down the mountain.

There, it is Italy's second largest port city in Libya, and it is also an important supply base for the construction of oil fields in Libya, an Axis country.