African Nationhood

Ou Haiwa's request was very simple. Let the Allied forces cooperate with South China's submarine force to take the lead in capturing the Antivali Port in Mendinigro (near today's Heibar Port).

Then attack the base of Kataro (today's Kotor City, Montenegro) via land. At this point, the entire operation will be considered a success.

Antivali Port is the outskirts of the Cattaro base, where the Austro-Hungarian Navy has deployed a large number of anti-submarine nets, mines, destroyers and floating forts.

It was not easy to capture this place. Nanhua asked the navies of the other three countries to assist in the attack, requiring them to take responsibility for the floating turrets on the ships on the water opposite them, and the submarines and mines below the sea surface.

After discussion, Britain, France and Italy agreed. They asked again, how to attack on land?

Ou Haiwa informed the other party that the troops from South China would be responsible for the main offensive task, and the Allied Powers would act as auxiliary forces.

Britain, France and Italy agreed again, and the attack time agreed upon by the four parties was May 5.

……

5月15日，英、法、意三国4艘战列舰、4艘巡洋舰以及16艘驱逐舰一起出发。

What is even more coincidental is that the Austro-Hungarian Navy also planned to take advantage of this day to launch the largest raid on the Otranto Barrier since the war began.

Three light cruisers and two destroyers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had just come out of the Cattaro base. The light cruiser "Novara" was the flagship of this support fleet.

At 9:30, the two sides encountered each other on the sea 30 nautical miles away from the port of Antivali.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Navy was panicked when encountering such a large-scale attack fleet, they were more confident to fight at home.

While the Austro-Hungarian Navy urgently called for help, it launched an attack on the invading enemy.

"dong dong~~"

The Allied forces came cruising at a low speed and had no time to set up their formation. They were fired upon by a salvo from the enemy, causing a panic.

Emergency launches and precise strikes allowed the Austro-Hungarian navy to take the lead.

The "Novara" hit the ammunition magazine of the Italian destroyer "Showind" with one shot, causing a explosion. The 1500-ton destroyer sank directly.

The four French battleships "Justice", "Democracy", "Diderot" and "Vigneault" quickly turned around and lined up to fire directly.

"Boom~~~"

The British light cruisers "Bristol" and "Dartmouth" also adjusted their positions to attack the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Destroyers from various countries also turned on their power and fired at the enemy warships.

Ou Haiwa, who was nearly 50 nautical miles behind the fleet of the Three Kingdoms, received a radio message from Britain, France and Italy. She was immediately confused and muttered in her heart: What a shame, they encountered the Austro-Hungarian navy as soon as they went out.

Then he ordered the submarine force to speed up and attack freely after reaching the battle site.

Before the submarine force reached the battle site, the Italian reconnaissance cruiser "Marsala" reported the news to the Allies via radio.

They discovered the support force of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The support fleet included 1 coastal defense battleship, 1 armored cruiser, 2 destroyers, 7 torpedo ships, and an unknown number of submarines.

Hearing that enemy reinforcements were coming, the Allied generals were a little nervous.

The Austro-Hungarian navy's attack fleet was not reluctant to fight. They fought and moved.

Britain, France and Italy were hesitant, they could not make up their minds whether to pursue or not.

The French "Justice" formation first attacked the Austro-Hungarian cruisers. They found that the Austro-Hungarian navy had an obvious advantage in speed.

These cruisers and destroyers relied on rapid movement during the attack to avoid the attacks of French warships, leaving the French at a disadvantage.

The British cruiser "Dartmouth" and several destroyers intercepted two Austro-Hungarian destroyers and did not want to let them go.

Unexpectedly, the Austro-Hungarian destroyer "Chapel" luckily hit the boiler room of the British destroyer "Leader Eagle", paralyzing it.

……

At 10:05, the British cruiser "Bristol" suddenly notified friendly forces: saying that their ship had a malfunction and could not increase its speed.

The cause of the failure is estimated to be the failure to clean the bottom of the boat in time. At 10:20, the French cruiser "Mirabello" also notified friendly forces: Their condenser failed and they might not be able to pursue the enemy ships.

At 10:30, the French destroyer "Commander Riviera" also suffered a malfunction and was unable to sail, leaving two other French destroyers to stay behind for rescue.

Listening to this radio report, Ou Haiwa suspected that Britain and France were up to something and did not want to pursue the enemy.

……

However, the British "Dartmouth" and "Dartmouth" were chasing the Austro-Hungarian naval ship "Novara" to prevent it from escaping.

The destroyers "Talat" and "Chapel" of the Austro-Hungarian Navy also fired tenaciously at the British army.

At 10:35, a 6-inch shell from the British army hit the engine room of the cruiser "Novara", causing half of the boilers to flame out.

"Novara" suddenly lost its ability to maneuver and became a dead fish.

At this moment, the Austro-Hungarian Navy's battleship "St. Stephen" and reinforcements composed of the cruiser "Helgoland" arrived on the battlefield first.

The fierce artillery attack came, causing water to splash on the surrounding sea surface.

France's four battleships are all pre-Dreadnought class, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire's "Saint Stephen" is a Dreadnought-class battleship.

The displacement tonnage of this giant ship is close to 2 tons, and its main guns are 12 triple-mounted 305 mm caliber main guns. The bombardment is definitely a disaster level.

The French did not dare to fight head-on with this Dreadnought-class battleship, and the four former Dreadnought-class battleships retreated and escaped.

At 10:45, Nanhua's submarine force also rushed to the battlefield. Without a unified order, 40 submarines dived one after another.

……

The "Sea Patrol Bengjiang" was the first to detect the submarine signal reflected back from the seabed, and judge what kind of object was ahead based on the size of the light spot on the fluorescent screen.

After determining based on experience that it may be an enemy warship, the sonar observer notified the captain and then launched a torpedo at the incoming enemy ship.

"Boom~~"

Huge water splashed, and the navies of Britain, France, and Italy showed smiling faces. Nanhua's submarine really had a trick.

Torpedoes were released one after another, sea water continued to splash, and five ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy suffered varying degrees of damage.

At this time, the Austro-Hungarian Navy did not dare to hold on any longer and took the initiative to retreat.

……

The British cruiser "Mostow" continued the pursuit, and the "Bristol" although malfunctioned, still followed closely.

Although the "Dartmouth" suffered some damage before, the impact was not significant and it could still continue to fight.

Later, the Austro-Hungarian navy destroyer "Saida", which fell behind due to mechanical failure, became the target of a concentrated fire from the British cruiser and received two shells.

At 11:15, the Italian Navy's cruiser "Acerbi" was driven away by fire from three Austro-Hungarian cruisers because of its high speed.

The Italian reconnaissance cruiser "Marsala" relied on high speed to go up to the rescue.

At 11:35, the pursuing Allied fleet discovered reinforcements coming from the north. This was a fleet composed of an armored cruiser, two destroyers and four torpedo ships.

The Nanhua submarine force was too slow underwater and could not catch up with these surface ships, so it became a situation where the Allied Navy faced the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

The Allied commanders believed that their side might soon face threats from several enemy armored cruisers and even Dreadnought-class battleships, so they ordered a retreat.

On the way back, the German submarine U25, which was hiding on the seabed, severely damaged the "Dartmouth" with a torpedo.

The French destroyer "Arquebus" triggered a mine laid by a German submarine and sank.

Suddenly, the Allied navy was directly in crisis. (End of chapter)