my head

Zhang Jun was also aware of Rommel's desperation, and quickly left the position of the German Armament Department for trivial matters, and rushed to Sicily, Italy. At this time, Sicily had two or three SS division-level troops, but Zhang Jun did not intend to play against Tunisia. The direction is adding troops. Zhang Jun has this confidence. Although Rommel has [-] SS troops in his hands, he must defend Tunisia and the Tunisian port at the same time. Otherwise, Zhang Jun dare not say that the [-] SS troops commanded by Rommel It is possible to stick to these two places for a month, and there is no shortage of Rommel's supplies now. This is also thanks to the Italian troops who went to the British and American prisoner-of-war camps to enjoy their blessings.

Rommel's burden was reduced, but the burden of Britain and the United States was heavy. More than 20 "burdens" were added for nothing. According to General Patton's words:

"These Italians are simply stupid pigs. Raising them is just a waste of food. I really want to drive them all to the Mediterranean Sea to feed sharks."

……

It is only [-] kilometers away from the German SS to Sicily, Italy, and it is not far away for the US Army to land in North Africa. The United Kingdom is a little faster than the German SS, but if All the SS troops landed in North Africa, so even if all the British troops were transferred to North Africa, they would not be Zhang Jun's opponent.

The head of the Commonwealth—Windsor, urgently convened an imperial meeting. The head of Windsor proposed an incredible campaign plan, which was to raid the Italian naval base—Taranto, waiting for Windsor, who Zhang Jun had slept for almost a year, deeply Knowing the strong combat effectiveness of the German SS army, their commander-in-chief is also a strategist, and Zhang Jun's men.For example, Rommel is also a master tactician.In order to try to prevent the SS from landing in North Africa on a large scale.It is necessary to destroy the Italian navy, so that they have no fleet and transport ships to provide Zhang Jun with a fleet to cross the sea and escort.

Windsor's strategy once again pinched Zhang Jun's testicles directly. What can you do with Zhang Jun's army in the Caspian Sea? You can only watch the scenery on Sicily. There are no ships and fleets to send your troops to North Africa. , Is it really "the most poisonous woman's heart", wrong.Windsor weaves for the sake of the British Empire. As the head of the Commonwealth, Windsor must restrain her personal emotions. In fact, every night Windsor dreams of Zhang Jun, and then she is awakened by shouts.

As Prime Minister, Churchill also served as the Lord of the Navy of the United Kingdom. Churchill, who had a bit of strategic vision, also expressed his admiration for Windsor's strategic concept, and quickly ordered the navy to formulate a specific combat plan. sent to the bottom of the sea.Make Taranto the graveyard of the Italian Navy.

Battle background France was defeated and surrendered, and the British navy, which lost its ally, was miserable.And the SS SS is about to arrive in Sicily, Italy on a large scale, and is preparing to land in North Africa. The British Navy has to face the Italian Navy in the Atlantic and Mediterranean at the same time, which seems to be at a loss.The main force of the Italian Navy is stationed in the port of Taranto in the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula, and holds the command of the sea in the central Mediterranean.Facing the vast eastern Mediterranean, Taranto shares the throat of the Mediterranean with Sicily.Relying on the superior geographical conditions, the Italian navy could advance and retreat freely, and also attacked the British army's transport fleet in the Mediterranean at any time, which made the British army's logistics and supplies fighting in Egypt difficult. [

Based on the above two reasons, Windsor, the head of the Commonwealth, formulated a battle plan for the battle for sea dominance in the Mediterranean Sea, which was implemented by the British Secretary of the Navy Sir Alexander.Inigo Camponi, the commander of the Italian Navy, adopted the strategy of sticking to the defense and waiting for opportunities to attack. He usually parked the main force of the fleet in the port of Taranto.Admiral Andrew Cunningham, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy, planned to use the tactics of luring snakes out of their holes, and sent several destroyers and merchant ships to sea in an attempt to lure out the main ships of the Italian Navy and catch them all.But the wily Camponi has always closed the door and hung up the "free battle card".For several days, Cunningham could not find any fighter planes, but the large SS SS troops were about to reach Sicily.

The head of state of Windsor gave a specific strategy once, and Windsor ordered the British navy to take the initiative to attack Taranto by air.Cunningham finally decided to surprise the main force of the Italian Navy stationed in the port of Taranto with carrier-based aviation.The basis for his decision is that in the Mediterranean area, the British Navy is at a disadvantage relative to the Italian Navy in terms of the number and tonnage of ships, but the British have two aircraft carriers; , but the armor protection is weak, known as the "cardboard fleet"; although the air force provides air cover and support for it, after all, it is inconvenient for the two services to cooperate.

On the eve of the British air raid, a reconnaissance plane took pictures of the port of Taranto.In addition to showing Taranto's tight defense facilities and a large number of warships in the photo, a group of small white dots arranged in an orderly manner and with equal intervals attracted the attention of intelligence personnel: Could it be a fault in the printing process or a camera lens? Stains will not, stains will not be so regular! They finally decided: it is the blocking balloon.These balloons are tethered with steel cables. When the plane enters at low altitude, it is likely to hit the steel cables, cut off the wings, and cause the aircraft to crash and die.In order to resist the bombing of London by the Luftwaffe, the United Kingdom once used this method.Now, the Italians have learned too.General Arturo Riccardi, the commander of the Taranto base, was very satisfied with the defensive measure of setting up arresting balloons.He repeatedly patted his chest and assured the superior officials who came to inspect: "My Taranto is impenetrable! Firepower, lighting, and interception have all been connected into a network, and no plane can get in!" Cunningham made the following The decision of carrier aviation to surprise Taranto required a certain amount of courage.The British carrier-based aircraft is mainly the "Swordfish" torpedo aircraft, which is an old-fashioned aircraft with a speed of only 138 knots.The distance between the arresting balloons set up by the Italian army is about 270 meters. During the day, the aircraft can still fly between the tethered steel cables, but at night, the steel cables cannot be seen clearly with the moonlight alone.In this regard, the British army quickly refitted 30 torpedo planes so that their battery life could fully meet the operational needs. Some of them were equipped with lights and bombers, so that they would put lights on the east bank of the port to illuminate the target before bombing the port facilities. Let the "Swordfish" aircraft carrying torpedoes attack directly from the southwest and northwest.In addition, a group of pilots with rich combat experience was carefully selected by Major Williamson and Major Hale of the British Navy to conduct intensive training for ultra-low-altitude attacks at night.They also activated the newly developed magnetic torpedo, which made the Italian army's elaborate lightning protection net useless.

At noon on January 1940, 1, General Cunningham led the aircraft carrier formation from Alexandria and marched westward.In order to conceal the combat attempt, in addition to maintaining normal forces and cruising routes, the British escort fleet also frequently mobilized in the Strait of Gibraltar, far away from the combat zone, in order to disturb the attention of the Italian army.At this time, General Ricardi knew nothing about the actions of the British army.It's not that he doesn't want to know, but that he has no choice, because he doesn't have a plane available for use.According to the regulations of his superiors, he is only responsible for base defense, and the air force is responsible for distant sea reconnaissance.Mussolini, the supreme commander of the Italian army, once asserted: the Italian navy does not need its own aircraft, and it is enough to cooperate with the sea and air in the war.But he forgot a very important point, that is, no matter how good coordination is on the battlefield, it cannot replace unified command.

10日,意大利海军司令部陆续收到空军转来的侦察报告:英军航母舰队已驶离亚历山大港,正在向西开进。坎普奥尼将军立即通知驻塔兰托港的舰队作好迎战准备,可次日清晨的空中侦察又否定了上述报告。一连几天,纷纭杂乱、相互矛盾的情报充斥着作战室,搞得坎普奥尼真假难辨。11日20时30分,英军航母编队悄悄出现距意大利海岸东南方大约170海里的水域。一声令下,威廉森少校率领12架战机离舰升空,发起了第一波攻击。远道而来的不速之客很快打破了塔兰托的宁静。一个音响侦听站报告:收听到飞机的声音。里卡迪立即下令发出警报。塔兰托港顿时一片漆黑,人们匆匆进入防空洞,港湾里的舰只赶快做好了起锚疏散的准备。

The anti-aircraft gun on the east hill of the harbor may have lost control due to the nervousness of the gunner, and a string of tracers shot into the night sky.But soon, everything calmed down. After 10 minutes, the alarm was lifted.Soon, the sirens sounded again, and then calm down again. At about 22 o'clock, the residents and soldiers who had just fallen asleep were awakened by the third alarm.While people were still cursing the pranks again and again, the sound of the plane engine gradually became louder, and the fleet quickly flew over Taranto.Italian anti-aircraft guns fired hastily.Two British aircraft cast lights outside the barrier balloon barrier.The lighting is suspended high in the sky by small parachutes, illuminating the entire military port as bright as day.This is also a signal to order the Sailfish aircraft to conduct a dive attack.Under the strong lighting, the British aircraft flexibly shuttled between the tethered steel cables of the arresting balloons, and bombed one by one to the target accurately.

Captain Williamson of the British army braved the intensive anti-aircraft firepower of the Italian army, quickly flew between the two arresting balloons, skimmed the breakwater at low altitude, and dropped a torpedo on the Italian battleship "Cavour".A big mouth was blown open on the side of the ship, and seawater poured in immediately.Williamson was hit by anti-aircraft fire as he retreated from the attack and fell headlong into the sea.But the next two planes arrived in time and finally sank the "Cavour".At this time, the Port of Taranto was full of soaring flames and violent explosions, like a hornet's nest that had been stabbed over, in a mess.

Italy did not expect that a storm last week destroyed more than 90 of 60 anti-aircraft balloons, and it did not expect that British pilots could shuttle freely between steel cables.Although the 21 anti-aircraft artillery companies of the Italian army fired, most of the soldiers had not been trained in night combat and could not even catch the target.What made Riccardi even more angry was that after the first wave of British planes left, the anti-aircraft guns were still shooting at random targets, as if sending off the triumphant return of the enemy.Ricardi thought the attack was over, so he picked up the phone and prepared to report the situation to the Navy Command.He didn't expect that the siren sounded for the fourth time.

... (To be continued..)

ps: Tomorrow on the 8th, I will officially start to work at the end of the year. Luoye will try her best to go home and code after work. I hope I can complete some words.