Imperial Overlord

When Rommel made this call, a piercing air defense siren had already sounded near Sirte, and 17 Swordfish bombers were shuttled in the fire net woven by the anti-aircraft artillery.

They saw the huge wharf floating on the sea, the huge cranes that were busy on the wharf, and everything they didn't want to see.

If in Benghazi the British pilots were taken aback by the results of their air raids, in Sirte they were taken aback by the German construction.

This is not something that can be done in a short time, because here, the third huge pier has been presented, and some small transport ships can be docked.

The port of Sirte, which was originally unknown on the map, whose throughput is not as good as that of Benghazi, or even the port of Tobruk, now looks almost as spectacular as Tripoli...

Unlike Benghazi, Italy, which is messy and a little noisy, Sirte is completely under the rule of order.

Ships shuttled back and forth under the command and dispatch of German patrol boats. The construction of the port was orderly, as if it were a set of parties that had been arranged a long time ago, and everything was going according to plan.

On the ground, the warehouses were well camouflaged, and there were plenty of anti-aircraft guns for cover. Unlike the loose defenses of Italian ports, the AA fire here, though not dense, had precise coverage.

Because of the early warning from Benghazi, the German air defense unit here has entered the air defense mode in advance. The anti-aircraft artillery positions are guarded by soldiers, and the air defense alarm has been sounded.

Inside the port, the anti-aircraft machine guns temporarily arranged are also very targeted. These large-caliber machine guns are concentrated near the dock and around the warehouse.

Compared with the loose anti-aircraft guns of Italy, the Germans have new guys! There were 18 88mm anti-aircraft cannons and 32 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, which outnumbered incoming British aircraft in quantity and quality.

"Bah! Bah!" Even in the daytime, the tracer bullets fired by the continuous Bofors anti-aircraft guns can easily distinguish the trajectory with the naked eye.

These shells formed a good barrage, covering the most vulnerable part of the port's flammable warehouses, and forming a shield over the docks to prevent British aircraft from approaching.

"God! How did the Germans build so many giant wharves in such a short period of time? Still carrying cranes?" Sitting in the pilot's seat, an English officer looked down at the huge port that made them tremble. Pier, shouted in shock.

He couldn't feel the slight ups and downs of the floating pier on the waves, because only standing on it could feel the feeling of floating on the sea.

Because the pier is so huge, it is impossible to see from the plane that the pier is actually hollow and floats on the sea.

These huge wharves are huge, and the German engineers also appropriately added anchor chains and pressurized weights, so it is difficult to determine that these giants are just like goods without a close observation.

What's more interesting is that one side of these piers is sitting on the shore, so it also plays a very good role in fixing. The waves in the Mediterranean Sea are much calmer than the Atlantic Ocean, so the working environment of the floating pier is more suitable. .

"It's no wonder that the German army was able to quickly transport supplies on the front line, and it was not unusual for them to get supplies in a short period of time." The front-line commander who flew the plane sighed.

British navy pilots had heard about the fiasco on the front lines, and they knew exactly why. Now that they saw the Germans' marvelous port construction capabilities, they finally realized where they had lost.

"As long as the Germans build such a **** pier in Matrouh, they can support them in winning the Battle of El Alamein!" On another plane, a pilot who avoided ground artillery fire followed.

Soon, the first Swordfish attack aircraft crashed near the barracks on the side of the port under the attack of intensive German ground anti-aircraft fire, dragging a long smoke.

After all, the Swordfish attack aircraft is an old equipment ten years ago, and it still stubbornly uses the double-wing design, so it is not very good against the perfect defense artillery fire of the German army.

At this time, the disadvantage of the British Naval Air Force was finally exposed at a glance when facing an evenly matched opponent.

Only 17 British planes attacked the port of Sirte! This is the huge disadvantage they have to face!

There are only 10 carrier-based aircraft on the Eagle aircraft carrier, and there are only 20 Swordfish attack aircraft on the Guanghui. The limit attack scale of these two aircraft carriers is only 30 aircraft.

However, in a short half month, the two aircraft carriers first lost 10 carrier-based aircraft in the battle of the port of Taranto in Italy, and then they were shot down by the Italian defenders in the battle against Benghazi not long ago. 2...

Of course, it seems like an exaggeration to say that two were shot down by the Italian defenders, because the Italians only shot down one Swordfish, and the other crashed themselves...

In the process of returning to the voyage, the British themselves crashed a Swordfish due to a malfunction, and now there are only 17 swords that can be obtained.

Obviously, 17 aircraft would not be enough to attack a well-guarded port that was not weakly defended.

The numerical disadvantage put the British pilots in a very embarrassing situation, that is: even if they achieved the victory, they did not have enough strength to expand it.

In fact, 90% of the huge losses caused by the bombing of Benghazi were not caused by bombs dropped by British attack planes, but by the burning of petroleum and gasoline.

When the Germans guarded their oil areas, it would be unrealistic to rely on bombs carried by a small number of carrier-based aircraft to cause damage to a port city.

Another embarrassing thing for the British was the lack of ammunition in the Sirte port! The actual total amount of petrol and gasoline is not much!

The main reason for this situation is that the German oil pipeline to Sirte is about to open, so there is no need for the Germans to store a large amount of oil products in the port.

These petroleum products were transported to Benghazi a few days ago, and they were forcibly transported by truck...

The ammunition used in the war will not be transported to a port like Sirte. Most of the materials here are cement and steel bars for construction, and the rest are pipelines and various mechanical equipment.

After such an analysis, it is known that the damage that the British aircraft can cause in Sirte will not be as great as that in Benghazi.

Therefore, most of the gasoline stored in the port of Sirte is used to prepare consumables for port equipment, and the ammunition is also used by the garrison.

Compared with Benghazi, it is more like a civilian port, and because it is still under construction, larger-scale damage has been avoided.

...

Cunningham, who was standing on the aircraft carrier USS Radiance, realized at this time that his bold decision to kill Sirte Bay still had many unexpected gains!

The first gain is that, through the content of the call over the radio, he can determine that the Germans have the technical means to quickly build the port terminal, which is a very important military intelligence.

The second harvest is not simple, that is, he has found the exact location of the Germans' future secret port in Africa!

Such a huge gain was all because of a momentary inspiration when he was studying the specific process of implementing the "Tang Tu Project" a few days ago.

Today, he gained a lot of valuable information because of his own inspiration. Moreover, he has already won the air raid in Benghazi, and now he is robbing his house in Sirte, which is definitely a big victory.

"Breaking the radio silence, there is no need for us to hide our position!" Cunningham's confidence returned to his face again because the nervously clenched fist was released.

He issued a series of combat orders and began to arrange the subsequent combat missions: "The fleet turns and assembles at the pre-planned meeting point! Accelerate north!"

"Send a telegram to London to confirm the previous speculation... The Germans have the technology to quickly build a large-scale port terminal in Africa... This matter must be reported first!" Feeling the slight shaking of the battleship under his feet, Cunningham sent one after another. The command and tone were completely different from before.

The success of the attack on Benghazi~www.wuxiaspot.com~ The success of the sneak attack on Sirte allowed him to regain his self-confidence, and at the same time completed a detachment and transformation of his heart.

"The important port of the German army in North Africa is not Tripoli, not Benghazi, but Sirte!" Just following, he sent another telegram to London.

Keeping the radio silent now, as Cunningham said, is actually meaningless, the other party can already guess the approximate location of his fleet.

It was time to turn around when the Italian fleet intercepted him near Alexander, and they would return straight to Malta for a decisive battle with the British fleet.

The Italian submarines that followed, and the planes taking off from mainland Italy and Africa would soon find his fleet, but he still won the naval battle!

"I'm sorry, I still won. In this case, even if you found my fleet, I won... I won without any suspense!" He looked at the sea in the distance and said to himself with a smile. Said to himself.

When he said this sentence, over Sirte, the battle of British carrier-based aircraft was not over. The battle that belongs to them, on the contrary, has just begun at this time.