Imperial Overlord

Counting on the Italian navy and the British H fleet to fight to the death, even Li Le felt that this was an impossible thing.

He felt that when the Italian navy was running smoothly, it was possible to bully the H fleet, which had already been defeated.

But let them take the fleet to fight a full-fledged British H fleet, then it's hard to say who wins and who loses.

Maybe it will add another record to the British outside the French squadron - then the allies will lose more fleets, and Li Le's life will not be easy.

Therefore, Li Le still has to give himself an advantage in an advantageous battle.

In the end, he persuaded Mussolini to let the Italian Navy's submarine ambush in the predetermined sea area, and even the ambush location was very cleverly chosen.

Note that the submarine used here is not the German submarine that the British Navy thinks, but the submarine force of the Italian Navy.

In fact, if you calculate the record, the submarine force of the Italian Navy can be regarded as one of the few troops that can be regarded as a strong army in Italy, the axis of World War II.

Comparatively speaking, this unit dares to fight tough battles and executes tactics better. Therefore, it is also the biggest reason why Li Le is assured of letting this submarine force to ambush the British fleet.

This time, Li Le used his own blood, did not hesitate to cheat, and even disregarded the suspicion of others that it was a trap, which prompted the Italian Navy's action.

And just in case, 20 Italian submarines were scattered around the sea area, waiting for the battle to start before looking for opportunities to attack them individually.

After all, the German wolf pack tactics can't be played by the Italians. Their submarines are fighting each other, and some submarines attack in advance, while some submarines are still looking for positions in the distance.

However, even so, the attack effect was good, because the British small battleships were all around the Ark Royal aircraft carrier, so the battleship was exposed to the submarine.

This exposure directly ruined the poor battleship Resolve and made Somerville standing on the bridge of the battleship Warrior almost collapse.

The battleship Determination exploded and caught fire, the entire battleship had already rolled, and the captain of the battleship Determination reported that the battleship lost at least one-half of its power.

"Let the two destroyers go over to help and drive away each other's submarines, and the battleship maintains the S-type maneuver and leaves this sea area!" Somerville once again emphasized the maneuvering action to avoid torpedoes.

"Port side! Torpedo found!" The observation post of the battleship Warrior discovered the track of the incoming torpedo, and was so frightened that it hurriedly reported to its own command.

At 18:07, the British battleship Warrior began to evade the turn of the torpedoes. Two torpedoes rubbed the stern of Warrior and passed the huge battleship.

Under the condition of preparation, the probability of a faster warship evading torpedoes is still very high. The soldiers on the British warship are well-trained and naturally avoided this attack.

The Italians didn't work together, so the torpedoes were fired in different directions and were not densely packed.

The British naval fleet quickly found many torpedoes, avoiding the vast majority of torpedo attacks.

Only one cruiser was hit by torpedoes, and there was also billowing smoke. Unlike the thick-skinned battleship, the cruiser suffered even more heavy losses and was soon stopped at sea.

"This is an ambush! The Germans knew we were coming! The information was leaked! Hell!" Somerville roared loudly, beating the chart table in front of him.

If at this time he still can't see that this is a trap that the Axis powers have prepared for a long time, then he doesn't need to be a fleet commander.

The intelligence leak was the first reason Somerville thought of, because the enemy's deployment was too calm and too detailed.

Now, as he can imagine with his own ass, the vanishing Italian fleet is rapidly approaching here, annihilating his fleet in this **** place.

"Bastard! Let the fleet continue to accelerate! The carrier aircraft on the Royal Ark aircraft carrier will return immediately, leave the French fleet alone! Prepare to face the Italian Navy!" After realizing it was not good, he immediately responded.

As soon as he finished speaking, a telegram from the Ark Royal arrived. An officer hurried over and reported to the Somerville Report: "General! The reconnaissance plane on the Ark Royal has found the Italian fleet!"

"Where?" asked the commander of the Royal Navy's H fleet.

"It's about 40 nautical miles from us, in this direction!" The officer pointed at the chart, and then stopped talking.

"What? It's so close? Turn the rudder and let the Warriors come to the rear. The fleet wants to retreat from Gibraltar!" Somerville didn't have the heart to persist any longer.

His current position is very unfavorable. If the French warships leave the naval port and attack the British fleet with the Italian navy, his H fleet will soon be destroyed here.

This is a loss that he, or rather the British Navy, can't afford at all - such a loss is enough to affect the defense of Gibraltar, if Gibraltar loses...

Well, if Gibraltar is lost, the King of England and his Prime Minister Churchill don't have to play anymore, just wipe their necks early.

In the current situation, although the French squadron was not annihilated, and another cruiser was lost, the loss is still acceptable.

The Resolve was only wounded, and had not yet sunk to the point of sinking. As long as he covered his fleet and fought back and returned to Gibraltar's aviation range, the Italians would have nothing to do.

The main reason for Somerway to make such a judgment is that he is not personally responsible for the loss - it is entirely the fault of the intelligence services.

Thinking of this, Somerville hurriedly ordered: "The fleet returns and leaves the battlefield to the west! Pay attention to the sea conditions and be careful of enemy submarines!"

At 18:11, in the French port.

M? Jean Sur finally realized that things might turn around. The shells that landed in the harbour disappeared, and the observation post by the sea returned with good news.

The news said that the British warship exploded and began to make violent maneuvers, seemingly being attacked by an unknown army on the other side.

Hearing this, General M? Jean Sur of course thought that the German reinforcements had arrived, and he realized that his fleet had been saved and the British had left.

"Order the fleet to leave the port! Start a pursuit like the British fleet!" Seeing the victory and the kills, M? made Sur realize what he should do, at least express his gratitude to the German "friendly forces".

The way he expressed his gratitude was to pursue the British fleet and show the determination of the French fleet to never surrender.

How determined are the French? Their resolve was dissipated when a destroyer went to sea and saw the trail of a torpedo on the surface.

Made General Sur fear that his fleet would be accidentally wounded by German submarines, since the French fleet had never been coordinated with the Axis navies.

It is obviously dangerous and unwise to rashly get involved in the decisive battle between the two fleets in this state.

So Sur took the safest and most realistic approach. He ordered his fleet to stay in Kebir Harbor, and after the battle was over, he would go out to sea to rescue the drowning people on both sides...

In the eyes of the French, they haven't figured out which side they want to stand on, so preserving their own strength is the choice they must make now.

Li Le, who was far away in Berlin, didn't know that he had planned a naval battle to attack the British H fleet, so he simply went bankrupt.

After all, he is not a professional naval commander, let alone speculate on the outcome of a naval battle that has never happened in history.

Because of this, after this naval battle broke out and the battleship Determination was wounded, Li Le's prophet's golden finger was no longer useful.

M? Jean Sur's fleet in Kebir Port did not participate in the battle. On the other side, far away, the Italian main fleet of the British Navy's H fleet was rushing towards it, but the morale was very high.

Just got the news, UU reading www.uukanshu.com a British battleship was hit! In the face of the British fleet, whose combat power has plummeted and its formation has been chaotic, the Italian Navy certainly doesn't mind going forward to make a profit.

"The Führer's intelligence is really accurate. This naval battle has been doomed from a few days ago." The commander of the Italian navy said to the German officer beside him with a smile on his face.

The German officer was also encouraged by the good situation in front of him. With a smile on his face, he seemed to be the decision maker himself.

He was talking about the intelligence agency of his own country, but the expression on his face seemed to be showing off himself.

Now this naval battle seems to have been won, and the two cutting-edge battleships of the Italian Navy took the lead, like a dog who saw the **** enemy fleeing.

At this time, the tragic British Royal Navy H fleet was still maneuvering in a serpentine shape, relying on the torpedoes launched by the Italian Navy's submarines scattered in this sea area.

At 18:18, at a relatively interesting point in time, the cruiser the British Navy had previously hit sank.

The loss made Somerville very depressed, and his battleship Warrior and the faster battlecruiser Hood finally fired their cannons once.

At 18:19, the naval battle between the British Royal Navy's H fleet and the Italian main fleet officially broke out.

The British battleship Warrior and the battlecruiser Hood opened fire at the same time. Only one minute later, at 18:20, the Italian battleship Veneto fired back.

Afterwards, the battleship Littorio followed the flagship to fire and attack, and the brand-new Battle of Oran kicked off.