My Italian: Chapter 617 Mediterranean Fleet

The Italian sharpener has bad intentions towards Malta, and the Maltese defenders as its target are not ignorant. After all, it is necessary to prepare for combat, so the preparation of personnel and materials before the war, as well as the reconnaissance of intelligence, and other tasks such as logistical support.

Therefore, it is not easy to fight a war, and it is even more difficult to conceal strategic intentions.

"Enemy airship!"

A British soldier shouted, and the other soldiers immediately scattered to find shelter.

However, the island of Malta has few trees, most of which are small bushes, and the earthy earth makes them a little conspicuous in green military uniforms.

But they were relieved that the airship did not come to them, but drove slowly towards Valletta in the sky.

"It seems to be going to Valletta."

The British soldiers who escaped the disaster heave a sigh of relief.

For the Italians' airships, the British soldiers did not feel anything at first, until half a month ago, an airship launched an attack on a troop that was marching on foot. After the machine gun bullets fell from the sky, causing heavy casualties, avoiding airships became an essential training subject for the defenders.

After a while, the sound of gunfire came from Valletta, which was driving the airship in the sky.

"Everyone keeps digging trenches."

After the leading officer tidied up his clothes to avoid messy clothes, he ordered the soldiers to continue working.

Although the soldiers could ignore the situation, Major General Behrens, the commander of the Maltese garrison, could not.

Don't look at the Italian airships just dangling overhead every day, but this is an obvious signal that the Italians are about to attack Malta.

As the commander of a strategically important place, Major General Behrens is definitely not bad in the British army, and of course he knows his situation.

If it is contained by the Mediterranean fleet, then Malta can not be said to be impregnable, at least it can be regarded as a strong fortress. Because it used to be the station of the Mediterranean Fleet, there is no shortage of various defense facilities here.

But if there is no containment of the Mediterranean fleet, then the fortress, no matter how strong it is, will be broken without reinforcements.

Major General Behrens, who knew this truth, even sent a report to London and Alexandria, stating the situation facing Malta.

This is also its cleverness. Asking for help directly will give people a feeling of panic, but stating the situation facing Malta and leaving the choice to the superiors will allow the bigwigs to make decisions.

Major General Behrens' telegrams were transmitted by airwaves to London and Alexandria.

Alexandria is the seat of the Mediterranean Fleet, where a large fleet is stationed here. That's right, this is the Mediterranean Fleet, one of the pillars of the British Empire. As one of the two major British fleets, the Mediterranean Fleet is in its heyday, and many new warships are densely packed with ports.

As the commander of the fleet, Admiral Sackville Carden was also busy at his command.

"Report."

"Come in."

"Admiral, this is a telegram from Malta."

The communications officer placed a telegram on the admiral's desk.

Cardon glanced at the general. "Invite the chief of staff."

"Yes."

After the officer went out, the originally capable general showed a look of fatigue. This time he was exhausted, and the reason was Major General Behrens' telegram.

As commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Sackville Carden would appear to others in power. But only sitting in his position will know how uncomfortable it is.

As the governor of Malta before, he certainly has feelings for the island of Malta, and he can become the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, and he also knows the importance of the island of Malta.

Therefore, after receiving the information from Major General Behrens that Italy was preparing to attack the island of Malta, he specially asked the staff to do a tactical deduction. However, the result is not optimistic. Whether it is full rescue or a containment battle, the victory rate of the Mediterranean Fleet is not high.

The reason for all this is very simple, that is, the Mediterranean Fleet is at a disadvantage. With the inferior troops, when the opponent has the home field advantage, even if the staff of the deduction thinks that their own fleet will win, there is no good way.

It is precisely because of the unsatisfactory results of the staff game that General Cardon hesitated to send a telegram to Major General Behrens.

"Commander, look for me."

After a while, Lieutenant General Robeck, the fleet chief of staff, arrived.

"Robeck, this is a telegram from Malta."

Facing his deputy, Carden directly took out Major General Behrens' telegram.

"I think it must be the news that Italy is investigating Malta again."

As soon as he heard the admiral's words, Lieutenant General Robeck basically guessed the content.

"That's right, my successor is smart enough to send me a telegram of what happened to Malta."

"Then you plan to continue not replying to him?"

Facing the Chief of Staff's question, Carden raised his brows. "How do you ask me to reply, do you tell him to stick to the waiting list or to do his duty for the kingdom?"

Having said that, General Cardon continued angrily. "Our Mediterranean Fleet is far less powerful than Idiot's fleet. They have 12 battleships and 5 battlecruisers, while we only have 10 battleships and 3 battlecruisers. We are inferior to each other in terms of strength. Earlier I proposed to let the French battleships Join us, only to have the French reject us outright on the grounds that these ships need to defend their Mediterranean coastline.

I don't know how their four battleships would protect the coastline when they faced the Io-Austrian fleet. Are they huddled under the protection of shore guns? We applied to London for reinforcements of warships, and we were given a bunch of useless ex-dreadnoughts, but not a single usable dreadnought. These **** bureaucrats, they know in their eyes to defend the mainland, the Mediterranean Sea has been cut off, and Asia's personnel and materials want to go to the Cape of Good Hope. "

Don't blame Carden for getting angry, because he had already reacted to London long before he took office, that the Mediterranean Fleet was insufficient and could not achieve the purpose of deterring Italy, the main target. The Admiralty Churchill agreed to his request, saying that he would send reinforcements of no less than four battleships to the Mediterranean Fleet. Faced with the assurances of a young Churchill, Carden then readily took office.

But what he didn't expect was the action behind the young Admiralty.

After he took office, the Admiralty immediately announced that 8 battleships and more than 20 small and medium-sized warships would be transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. You see, this is twice as high as promised, isn't it interesting? However, after Kadeng was about to see the eight battleships, he became furious.

Because this transfer to the Mediterranean Fleet is not the dreadnought or super dreadnought battleship he needs at all, but some old-fashioned former dreadnought ships. We can't talk about the old age, because these warships have only served for more than ten years and are still in good condition.

However, seeing these eight Dreadnoughts, General Cardon would rather give them a discount and ask for two Dreadnoughts.

Because these warships are enhancing the Mediterranean fleet, it is good not to hold back.

Of course, the fire returned to the fire, and Admiral Cardon could only admit that he had taken a wrong look and let the young Admiralty fool him.

And after a fire, Carden looked at his chief of staff and said. "Now we are jointly drafting a telegram, requesting the local deployment of battleship support, at least two, and not the former dreadnoughts."

"No problem, let's draft together."

Lieutenant General Robeck, who knew the situation of the Mediterranean Fleet, immediately agreed with the commander. As for whether London was satisfied or not, he could not control it now. But he knew that if the Mediterranean Sea were seized by the Italians, neither he nor Carden would have good food. As long as the Italians are prevented from taking control of the sea, some outrageous actions will also be forgiven because the victor is not condemned.

Then a telegram, drafted jointly by the Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet and the Chief of Staff, was sent to London.

London was embarrassed by the telegrams of Carden and Robeck requesting reinforcements from the dreadnoughts. The reason is very simple. Although the British Empire has a lot of warships, it is not enough to ensure that the mainland is not threatened by the German High Seas Fleet, and to suppress the Italian-Austrian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the calculations of senior admirals of the Admiralty, the British Navy can only guarantee one direction. Considering the safety of the homeland, London can only guarantee the homeland fleet first.

But looking at the telegrams from Carden and Robeck, Churchill, as Admiralty, hesitated.

So he found Fisher to discuss.

"Marshal, this is a telegram from Carden."

In front of the famous Fisher, even the current young and vigorous Churchill is well behaved.

After receiving the telegram, Filscher looked seriously.

The content of the telegram was actually very brief, that is, given that Italy was eyeing Malta, Carden wanted to be reinforced by at least two battleships.

However, although the content of the telegram was brief, Filscher read it slowly, and after reading it, he looked at Churchill and said. "Then what are your thoughts?"

"I don't want to lose Malta to the Italians, I want to send reinforcements to General Carden."

Churchill's remarks would certainly have caused an uproar on other occasions in London. Regardless of the safety of the homeland, he insisted on weakening the homeland fleet, which still did not make his throne of naval minister unstable.

But Fisher knew that the one in front of him was not that simple, and then he asked. "What are your specific plans?"

Seeing the old marshal asking, Churchill said. "My plan is to secretly transfer four battleships from the local fleet, let them go out day and night, slip into the Mediterranean, and then merge with the Mediterranean fleet to surprise the Italians."

Although Churchill said it was very simple, Fisher knew that it was definitely not easy to do it. At least it required sufficient cooperation, careful planning, and a little bit of luck was also essential.

After listening to Churchill's words, Filscher did not answer immediately, but calculated the feasibility in his mind.

First of all, it needs the cooperation of the local fleet, and secondly, the timing is just right. It's too early to go, because this has led to the reduction of the strength of the local fleet, and the Germans will definitely come out when they know it. Even if you are late, UU reading www.uukanshu. com that would result in the Mediterranean Fleet encountering the Italian Fleet without reinforcements.

After a long time, Marshal Fisher said. "The risk is not small."

Hearing this, Churchill showed a bitter expression. "I know that too, but the British Empire can't afford to lose control of the sea in the Mediterranean. It's all to blame for the parliament's unwillingness to give more budget before. Let our navy focus on one thing over the other now, and there's no way to take care of both directions."

By this time Churchill had completely forgotten how he had blocked the passage of the Navy budget a few years earlier when he was business secretary.

For Churchill's words, Fisher can't directly express his position now. "Well, I'll let the naval officers first formulate a plan to dispatch four silently battleships to the Mediterranean Sea, and let's see if it's feasible first."

Since Fisher said so, of course Churchill knew that this matter was in a hurry. If it is self-defeating and the plan fails, he can become a sinner for the Navy.

But one thing he knew, Fisher was tempted, otherwise he wouldn't say that the risk is not small. Remember the website address, www. biquxu. Com, it is convenient to read next time, or you can enter this site by entering "" in Baidu