My Italian: Chapter 626 Battle of Malta 8

The joint fleet's sudden departure to the sea caused the British and French spies in Taranto to move immediately, but because of the Italian control, they could not go out to observe by boat, so they informed London and Bordeaux (the temporary capital of France) of the situation by radio waves. .

Regarding the move of the joint fleet to go to sea, Britain and France immediately sent a notification to their own fleets. At this time, all the naval formations of the Allied Powers in the Mediterranean Sea have received this news.

"Your Excellency, this is a telegram from London."

On the Thor, off the coast of Tunisia, the communications staff officer delivered the latest telegram from London to Lieutenant General Stirdy, commander of the secret reinforcement formation.

Lieutenant General Studi took the telegram and looked at it at a glance, but the content of the telegram made him frown involuntarily.

"What's the matter, Commander?"

The chief of staff at the side saw that something was wrong, and immediately asked.

"There is a telegram from London saying that the combined enemy fleet left port early this morning and is nowhere to be found."

Obviously, this sudden disappearance of the enemy fleet will become a thorn in the heart of Lieutenant General Studi who is about to lead the team through the enemy's sea blockade.

"It looks like our opponent is very smart."

"Our opponent is not simple at all. I have never underestimated this man. The French, Japanese, and Americans have all suffered from him before. With such a rich and excellent record, if he is a British Competing for Commander of the Home Fleet."

Obviously, this Lieutenant General Studi was a little dissatisfied with his own native fleet commander.

There is also a reason for this. When considering the commander of the local fleet before, Lieutenant General Studi was also considered, and it was relatively high. As a result, Marshal Fisher pushed Admiral Jellicoe hard, causing everyone else to have no chance, so it is normal for this man to be a little bit resentful.

But this is the only one who can say it, and the other officers don't dare to talk about this topic as if they didn't hear it.

Although he occasionally complained, Lieutenant General Stirdy was still worthy of being a candidate, and he continued to speak. "Compared to our hidden opponent, I now want to know when the French will arrive. We have been in this **** Tunisia for half a day, why is there no news about the French?"

That's right, what makes Lieutenant General Steddy feel impatient now is that apart from the missing Italian fleet, the slow movements of his own allies, the French, make him even more anxious.

Speaking of it, the Ministry of the Navy considered that even if there is a reinforcement formation, compared with the United Fleet, they still cannot occupy a sufficient advantage in strength, so before their departure, London paid attention to the four French dreadnoughts.

But this time the French were happy and agreed to their request.

Therefore, the reinforcement formation not long after departure received a telegram from London, saying that they should wait off the coast of Tunisia to join the French formation.

After sailing all the way in concealment, after the reinforcement formation arrived off the coast of Tunisia, it was told that the French formation would have to wait a while to arrive, and there were originally four dreadnoughts, but because of the mechanical failure of the Paris, it became three.

Just three ships, it's better than nothing.

Regarding the number of French reinforcement battleships, Lieutenant General Stirdy is actually very impressed.

But what made him unbearable the most was that the French were delayed. They had been waiting here for a long time, but the French formation had not arrived yet.

That's right, Lieutenant General Stirdy is now the most indignant about the delay of the French. Because this secret reinforcement has very high time requirements, it must be known that the absence of these four warships will make the local fleet no longer have an advantage when facing the German High Seas Fleet.

Therefore, while the reinforcement operation must be kept secret, there must also be a time limit.

According to the plan, the time limit for their reinforcements is seven days. After seven days, no matter whether they fight against the Italians or not, they need to consider the issue of returning home.

But waiting for half a day off the coast of Tunisia is a waste of time, not to mention increasing the risk of being discovered.

How could this not make Lieutenant General Steddy feel anxious. If it is discovered by the Italians at this time, the difficulty of rendezvous with the Mediterranean Fleet will increase exponentially.

Lieutenant General Stirdy would not think that after Italy knew of its reinforcement formation, it would just watch itself and General Carden join.

"Push the French again, tell them to hurry up."

"Okay, I'll telegraph Tunisia myself."

Just as the two were worried about the slow action of the French, the communications officer came in with another telegram. "Here is a telegram from Malta."

Before Lieutenant General Studi took over, the chief of staff took over first. But after a quick glance, the chief of staff didn't look very good.

Without waiting for Lieutenant General Studi to ask, he explained first. "This is a telegram from Major General Behrens of the Island of Malta. He hopes that we can give the Island of Malta a little help when we pass by."

"What?"

Lieutenant General Studdy was shocked by the words of the chief of staff.

Don't blame Lieutenant General Studi for being taken aback suddenly, because going to the island of Malta to fight is not planned.

"What's the matter with Major General Behrens?"

It is precisely because of this that Lieutenant General Stirdy feels uneasy. This is what happened, and today's accidents happened one after another. At this time, the chief of staff carefully handed him a telegram.

Lieutenant General Studi, who received the telegram, later understood why. It turned out that the defenders on the island of Malta couldn't bear it anymore.

Although there are many defenders on the island of Malta, they are only nearly 10,000, while the attacking Italian side has sea and air advantages, and there is no shortage of troops and materials. If it weren't for the fact that the island of Malta has been the station of the Mediterranean Fleet for many years and there are many fortifications on the island, the island would have been taken by the Italians long ago.

Although the United Kingdom is still defending, its situation is not good. The defenders on the island are currently only defending two places, one is the port of Valletta, the original Mediterranean station, and the other is Dingley Heights, the commanding height of the island. Except for these two places, the others were indeed abandoned by the British.

The reason for giving up is very simple. The Italians attacked too fiercely, causing a lot of casualties to the British defenders on the island. In order to save troops, they could only stick to the most important positions.

In just a few days, the British army had to retreat to the last two key points. In addition to the powerful offensive of the landing marines, the navy's adequate preparation is also inseparable.

You must know that in order to ensure the firepower and ammunition supply of the landing troops, the Navy built two movable temporary docks in advance. Although this cannot allow transport ships of thousands of tons to dock directly, there is no problem at all for ships of about 1,000 tons. Therefore, although Italy has not yet seized the Port of Valletta, it does not affect its transportation of personnel and materials.

In addition, there are landing craft temporarily serving as transport boats as a supplement, coupled with airship attacks in the air and support from warships at sea. Although the situation is overwhelming, it makes the defenders feel heavy pressure.

As its commander, Major General Behrens, at this time, remembered the reinforcement formation that was about to arrive, and wanted to ask him to help the Maltese defenders relieve the pressure.

However, Major General Behrens' calculation was wrong, and Lieutenant General Studi said. "It's a good idea to let us bombard the landing site in Malta, but it doesn't suit our purpose. Send a telegram to Major General Behrens and tell him that our military situation is urgent. There is no way to stay in Malta, so I am angry."

"Wait a mininute."

Seeing that the communications officer was about to send a report, the chief of staff immediately stopped the other party.

"Lieutenant General, isn't it not good to directly refuse like this, it will make our formation appear too passive."

Lieutenant General Sturdy certainly knew what his chief of staff meant, but he immediately asked. "Chief of Staff, tell me, did Major General Behrens send a telegram to London and Admiral Carden for help from France? Don't forget that the other side also has a former dreadnought formation near Malta."

You don't need a heavy hammer to beat the drum, and it's certainly not an ordinary person to be the chief of staff of the formation ~www.mtlnovel.com~ One point is clear. Now that the telegrams have been sent to their reinforcement formation, Major General Behrens must have also sent telegrams to London and the Mediterranean Fleet. Neither side has sent a message to themselves, and many things need to be understood by themselves.

"I think it's better to inform London and Admiral Carden."

The chief of staff added cautiously.

"You can figure it out. As long as we win the naval battle, the crisis in Malta will be resolved immediately."

Just as the two had just processed the request from Malta, another communications officer hurried in.

"Your Excellency, the French have sent a telegram. They are still more than 30 nautical miles away from us and will arrive in two hours."

These words let Lieutenant General Studi's heart drop. "That's it, send a report to Admiral Cardon and tell them that we are about to pass through the Central Mediterranean, and pay attention to the timely position so that we can meet up."

(end of this chapter)

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