January 7, 1914, sunny, light wind, and good sea conditions.
At this time, in the Mediterranean Sea, the two fleets were gradually approaching.
At this distance, the two sides cannot visually observe each other, but for the combined fleet, this is unilateral and transparent, and a large amount of information is constantly being compiled.
"The airship reported that the enemy fleet is still sailing westward at a speed of 18 knots. We are still thirty nautical miles away from the enemy. It is expected that the enemy ship will be visually detected in half an hour."
"The reconnaissance formation sent a telegram. They can already observe the enemy's reconnaissance formation with their naked eyes."
"The airship observing the reinforcement fleet reported that the enemy fleet is still eighty nautical miles away from us, and its speed remains at eighteen knots."
"Report……"
One officer after another, officers continued to report reports and news from various places to Leifer. At this time, all kinds of pressure came to him.
However, in the face of these pressures, Leifer was not stumped. He continued to issue various orders based on the collected information.
Among these orders, Leifer also issued an order that seems a bit strange today.
"Order each ship to prepare food, and let the officers and soldiers eat in half an hour."
Although it was only two o'clock in the afternoon, no one raised any objections to this order. Because everyone knew that there was a fierce battle to be fought next, and no one knew when the next meal would be. So no
Now get something to put your stomach in. There is no time to eat during the battle.
Following Leifer's order, the kitchens of each battleship began to get busy. Fortunately, the cooks in charge of the kitchens had already made the ingredients into semi-finished products, so it was not difficult to cook them in half an hour.
As a result, the aroma of the kitchens of each ship filled the air, and various delicacies were cooked by chefs with superb cooking skills, and then delivered to the hands of the officers and soldiers of the warships.
At this time, on the battleships of the combined fleet, the officers and soldiers were devouring the last meal before the battle broke out.
When the officers and soldiers of the Combined Fleet completed the final preparations before the war, the Mediterranean Fleet as their target was not at a loss.
"Robeck, the enemy should be near us."
At this time, on the flagship Orion, Admiral Cardon, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, looked at several airships in the sky that had been following the fleet, and suddenly said this.
"Your Majesty, did you discover something?"
Admiral Cardon's words shocked Roback, who was the chief of staff of the fleet, and the other staff officers around him were also shocked.
Feeling the many questioning looks on him, General Kaden had no explanation.
Since the admiral didn't want to explain, no one else dared to step forward and ask. Fortunately, someone satisfied their curiosity.
"Admiral, your joke is not funny at all."
The person who spoke was Lieutenant General Roback. Only he could say this in a mocking tone. Of course, he was also trying to make up for the tension caused by General Cardon's words just now.
However, Carden did not admire Lieutenant General Roback's words to ease the atmosphere. Instead, he glanced at the opponent and gave an explanation. "I have my own reasons for saying this. Although I don't know the opponent's current position, but in the reinforcement formation
Before being exposed, the opponent will definitely hide in the middle ring line from Malta to Crete."
Admiral Cardon said this, glanced at the officers around him, and continued. "And if I were the commander of the opposing fleet, I would stare at the Mediterranean Fleet."
Admiral Cardon's words made the surrounding officers take a breath. They were also capable and experienced officers, otherwise they would not have boarded the flagship and become a member of the fleet command center. This situation was predicted by the admiral.
, they already believed 80% of it.
"If that's the case, wouldn't we be in great danger now?"
Someone whispered softly.
General Cardon seemed to have heard what this man said, and then continued. "But although this seems dangerous, it is not without a chance. Although we are being watched by the Italians, we can also restrain their hands and feet. As long as
If we can wait until the reinforcements arrive, that's our chance."
It was obvious that Commander Cardon was betting on the arrival of the reinforcement fleet.
Of course, he said this with confidence, because at this time they were less than a hundred nautical miles away from the reinforcement fleet. If they were lucky, they would meet in three hours, but if they were unlucky, it would take five hours.
However, good luck did not favor them. They saw an officer hurried over with a telegram. "Admiral, a telegram was sent from the reconnaissance formation. They encountered an Italian cruise formation, and its five battleships
Xundu is here."
These words made the hearts of everyone on the Orion sink. They did not expect that Admiral Cardon's prediction was right, and the opponent was actually coming towards them. Although this was just an encounter with the opponent's cruise formation, in this situation of being intercepted
Next, the Italian battleship is definitely behind it.
Facing this news at this moment, General Kaden clearly felt that the current atmosphere was aggravated, and immediately spoke to stabilize the situation.
"Immediately send a message to Lieutenant General Sturdy, informing them that we are about to encounter an interception by the Italians, and order each ship to immediately prepare for war. In addition, send this message to London to inform them that we are about to encounter an interception by the Italians.
News of the war."
Admiral Cardon's several consecutive orders fully proved that he already knew all kinds of response methods, otherwise he would not have issued a series of response orders immediately after hearing the news that the enemy had been discovered.
When General Kaden issued orders for the upcoming encounter with the combined fleet, the situation of the reconnaissance formation that had already encountered its vanguard was even more different at the moment.
At this moment on the sea, two battleship formations are constantly maneuvering. The purposes of their maneuvers are also different, and their purposes are also different.
"Turn left and increase the speed to 23 knots."
On his flagship, the Indefatigable, Rear Admiral Hinken, as the commander of the battle formation, was observing the movements of the battle cruisers on the opposite side while commanding the battleship to avoid the outflanking from the Italians.
That's right, after the two sides discovered each other, the cruise formation, which was the vanguard of the combined fleet, tried to catch the other side.
The cruise formation was shocked when it discovered the Italian battle patrol formation. Facing the menacing Italian battle patrol formation, the cruise formation immediately wanted to open the distance between the two sides.
Although this is not in line with Nelson's spirit of attacking the enemy upon sight, when the strength gap between the two sides is too large, the opponent's five battle cruisers can be contained with a disadvantage of three ships, allowing the battleship formation to reduce the pressure. For the commander, Rear Admiral Hinken,
will be the main task.
As for the miracle of defeating the opponent's five battlecruisers with three battlecruisers, I'm sorry to say that Major General Hinken is very self-aware and does not think he has this ability.
So he chose another method, which was to delay his opponent.
"Send a message to General Cardon. We will divert the enemy's battle patrol formation. May God bless the British Empire."
