The decisive battle against the Third Reich

While sending the plan to the Second Fleet and ordering it to conduct exercises according to the plan, Redel's First Fleet was also exercising while moving forward.

The drill is very simple, that is, the fleet is divided into two, with one team playing the first fleet and the other playing the second fleet. Then, the safety angle is continuously calculated based on the distance between each other and the height of the warship, and instructions are given to the gunners to quickly adjust the elements.

Of course, the shooting and so on are all simulated, and the gunners have no real targets. Although such exercises are not very effective, they at least tell the soldiers what to do or what to pay attention to when the battle starts, so as not to make a mess. Some low-level errors.

Leider took Qin Chuan and others to watch the exercise. The German navy was indeed well-trained and was very proficient in operating various equipment on the warships, including the warships' maneuvering to avoid enemy bombers and torpedoes... One of them is very important. Yes, it is the "S-shaped" mobile bombardment used by warships to escape enemy ships.

French warships also have a very strange design, that is, all the main guns are placed at the bow, and there are only secondary guns at the stern.

This will not be a problem in terms of air defense. There are secondary guns at the bow and stern of the ship. If there is a problem, it is its 75-degree elevation angle.

but……

If an enemy ship appears in the rear, or a French warship needs to escape from the enemy ship due to numbers or other reasons, it will be tragic: the 130MM secondary gun will probably not pose a threat to the enemy ship at all, and the enemy ship can safely stay behind. Chase and fight until the French warship is sunk.

As a result, French warships have a unique "S-shaped" maneuver. They can use their high speed (French warships are characterized by fast speed) to stay away from enemy ships while turning sideways to let the main guns fire rearward.

This requires a high degree of coordination between the main gun and the warship, because it requires the main gun to be pointed directly behind when the warship turns sideways, and when it turns to the other side, the main gun is ready to fire again and adjusts the new elements... If the warship side If you point this way and the main gun points in the opposite direction, it would be a joke.

Being able to do this fully demonstrates that the German Navy has mastered the control of French warships and learned its tactics, and is even better than others, such as the mutual cover air defense method mentioned by Qin Chuan... Redel named this tactic A name was given: "Cross Air Defense".

This name is really apt, it's like two machine guns forming crossfire with each other to minimize blind spots.

Darlan looked more and more heavy as he watched this scene... He seemed to realize that the shame of the French Navy would last for a long time. Not only would it last for a long time, but it would also continue to be amplified by the victories achieved by the German Navy.

This was certainly not what Darlan wanted to see, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Marshal!" While Redel and the officers were watching the exercise with binoculars, a staff officer rushed up and reported: "I just got the news that an enemy aircraft group has been spotted in the direction of Sicily!"

Redel couldn't help being stunned, and immediately walked back to the headquarters with the officers, and then asked the map: "The location!"

"Here!" the staff officer replied, pointing to a point: "Over Corleone!"

Redel couldn't help but look at the staff officer in surprise: "Over Corleone? God, the British aircraft group flew over Colleone before the Italians discovered them?"

No wonder Redel was so surprised, Colleone is the hinterland of Sicily...

Normally, the Italian 6th Army in Sicily would have sent out warships, submarines and reconnaissance planes for reconnaissance after receiving the warning. In this way, the British aircraft group would be attacked by the rebels as soon as they had just taken off or even before they had assembled. The Italian army discovered and reported it to the German army.

But the actual situation is obviously not like this.

A huge fleet of British aircraft passed through the Italian reconnaissance aircraft search area, then passed through the reconnaissance area of ​​submarines and warships, passed through the Sicilian coastal defense line, and was not discovered until it was over Colleone and reported to the Germans!

"God!" Reidel glanced at Qin Chuan, shook his head and said, "I was so wrong. I actually hoped that the Italians could block the British fleet. Now it seems... we should ignore the existence of these Italians! "

"Marshal!" said Colonel Slain. "You'll get used to this!"

"Fortunately!" said a staff officer: "We changed the plan in time to correct this mistake, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous!"

Redl asked: "How long will it take for the enemy planes to reach us?"

"Half an hour!" the staff officer replied: "The enemy plane is not flying at the highest speed, so it may have temporarily lost our accurate position!"

This is what often happens in sea and air combat... When a fleet is dispatched, it cannot be said that hundreds of fighter planes swarm to find enemy warships. If they cannot find them, it will be in vain.

Due to the slow speed of submarines, as long as the fleet is at full power, it will easily leave the enemy reconnaissance submarines far behind.

Therefore, the enemy should send out several reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance first, conduct reconnaissance and tracking according to the position of the submarine and the speed and course of the enemy ship, and then let the fleet of aircraft fly towards the enemy ship as quickly as possible.

Redel nodded and breathed a sigh of relief: "We only need twenty minutes to rendezvous with the Second Fleet!"

At this time, another staff officer reported with a telegram: "Marshal, an enemy reconnaissance plane has been discovered!"

The atmosphere immediately became tense. The discovery of an enemy reconnaissance plane meant that the reconnaissance plane had also discovered the fleet, which meant that the British aircraft fleet had determined the location of the target. Then the fleet would probably arrive over the fleet within thirty minutes.

"Get ready for battle!" Redel gave the order without thinking.

"Prepare for battle!"

"Prepare for battle!"

…

The orders were passed on one by one. This time it was live ammunition and not a drill.

However, because of previous exercises, the German Navy was actually ready for battle. The difference was that it had to load live ammunition for various weapons.

"Should we notify the Air Force?" the staff officer asked.

Normally, this is to notify the aviation wing and ask them to come and provide air cover for the fleet, but Redel thought about it and shook his head and said: "No, the battle will be over by the time they arrive, and they can't help much." busy!"

It was this correct order that completely changed the outcome of this battle.

Ten minutes later, a lookout shouted from a high place: "I saw them, Second Fleet!"

The officers raised their binoculars and looked in the direction pointed by the lookout, and sure enough, the shadows of warships appeared on the hazy sea, led by the "Richelieu", the flagship of the Second Fleet.

Almost at the same time, someone shouted: "Planes, British fleet!"

British fighter planes arrived almost at the same time as the Second Fleet.