Lieutenant General Gomes, the commander of the formation, saw Major General Xinken's attempt to lead his battle patrol formation away from the Italian battle patrol formation at a glance.
"Order, the formation immediately speeds up to 25 knots and bites the enemy warship."
At this time, on the flagship Milan, Gomes ordered to increase the speed and catch up with the enemy battle patrol. He could see at a glance the opponent's intention to slow down his pace, but if he wanted to slow down his pace, he also had to look at it.
Does the other party have this ability?
Gomes is full of confidence in this. First of all, he has this confidence in himself, and he is confident that he can see through the opponent's methods. Secondly, he also has confidence in the battleship at his feet. The Milan-class has a maximum speed of 27 knots (externally claimed to be 25.5 knots).
, the maximum of the Taranto class is 26.5 knots (25 knots is declared to the outside world), which is its confidence guarantee.
This also led to the tit-for-tat construction of the Invincible-class Indefatigable class by Great Britain, which was maintained at a maximum speed of 26 knots. Now that the benefits of concealing the speed for many years have been revealed, the British will definitely be surprised by the high speed of the Italian battle cruiser.
Following Gomes' order, the Italian battle patrol formation moved closer to the Mediterranean battle patrol formation.
Facing the fierce Italian battle cruiser approaching at high speed, Rear Admiral Hinken showed a ghostly expression on his face. "Why are the Italian battleships so fast?"
But at this time, he couldn't care about that much and could only continue to order. "Increase the speed to 25 knots."
As for why the maximum 26 knots is not mentioned, it is because this will cause the battleship to wear and tear to the maximum and increase the probability of power system failure. And if a battleship fails on the battlefield, it will drag down the entire formation.
Seeing the speed of the British battle cruiser, Gomes immediately ordered. "Increase the speed to 26 knots."
As the two battle patrols chased each other, they gradually turned south. Seeing that not only could they not get rid of their opponents, but they were also getting closer. Major General Xinken knew that his purpose of delaying the opponent's time could not be achieved. It cannot be said that it was impossible.
It was delayed because the two sides were racing for nearly an hour.
Of course, the more important reason is that Major General Xinken can already see the land in front and has to slow down at this moment.
Speaking of which, it is also to blame that Gomeska was in a good position and intercepted Major General Hinken's formation from the northwest. This prevented him from moving in the northwest direction. As for why he went south, because behind him was the east, where is
Cardon is the main force of the Mediterranean fleet led by Admiral Kaden, so it can only go south. And to the south is the coast of Libya, leaving them very limited room for trouble, not to mention that the opponent's formation is much faster than them.
"Order each ship to lower its speed to 19 knots and prepare each ship for battle."
At this moment, Major General Xinken saw that he could no longer delay, so he could only prepare for a fight, intending to use his own formation to buy time for the main force in the Mediterranean.
When the two battle patrols were preparing to fight, the battleship formations that were the core of the two fleets had already encountered each other.
At this moment, General Kaden looked at the enemy warships appearing from the northwest and immediately ordered, "Let all ships prepare for war."
"Send a signal to all ships to prepare for battle."
This order was quickly passed on to all the battleships in the formation. Whether they were tall and mighty battleships, or cruisers that commanded all sea areas, as well as small and exquisite but equally deterrent destroyers, torpedo boats, etc., they were all busy under this order at this moment.
middle.
Although we had received reports that the battle patrol formation had encountered an enemy before, we were not sure when the enemy ship would be encountered and the admiral would board the ship. Therefore, some preparations were started before the war and could only be started when the enemy appeared.
Compared with the busy enemy, the combined fleet that is constantly approaching the enemy at this moment is quite orderly.
Thanks to surveillance from the air, the Combined Fleet can control the opponent's movements at any time during the day. Therefore, it can adjust the status of the fleet at any time according to the distance from the Mediterranean Fleet to ensure that it can exert its maximum combat effectiveness when encountering the enemy. This is also the reason why the Combined Fleet can
The biggest home field advantage.
"Order the fleet to form a longitudinal formation, with the first, second, and third battleship squadrons in order to form a combat artillery formation. The destroyer and cruiser formations will cover both sides of the artillery formation."
On the flagship Cavour, Lieutenant General Leifer ordered the final reorganization of the battleship before the war. As the strongest battleship at present, the Cavour class has absolutely no problem in leading the battle. Its ability to withstand and fight should not be placed in the first battle.
where.
As for the Dante class in the middle, although it is the first-generation dreadnought, due to coordination and command convenience, there is no problem in placing it in the middle.
The third battleship squadron at the rear, composed of the Dauntless and three United Forces-class ships, is even more powerful than the second battleship squadron. However, considering issues such as coordination and tactics, it is placed at the rear. If anyone dares to underestimate it, it will definitely
It will surprise him.
The Combined Fleet is proceeding with its final formation in an orderly manner, and the Mediterranean Fleet is also undergoing formation formation.
"The fleet is organized vertically, with the order of the first, second, and third battleship squadrons, and the destroyer and cruiser formations protecting the two wings of the formation."
Admiral Cardon was also making the final formation before the war, because he knew that he could not retreat at this time and had no way to retreat. He could only fight with the opponent. However, compared with the United Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet seemed much busier.
.
"Report, the Second Battleship Squadron sent a telegram stating that its pre-war preparations will take half an hour to complete."
"The Third Battleship Squadron sent a telegram that they need 40 minutes to complete pre-war preparations."
"Our First Squadron also needs thirty minutes to prepare."
On the flagship Orion, news that did not look good kept coming. As an experienced naval admiral, Carden certainly knew that the complaints of the battle squadrons at this time were not lies, but
fact.
Because pre-war preparations are really very cumbersome. If a warship of 20,000 to 30,000 tons wants to engage the enemy in the best condition, it needs the close cooperation of all the crew members on the ship. The preparation of ammunition, the preparation of fire-fighting equipment, and inspections
Power equipment, etc., are all part of the pre-war preparations, so that a warship can be in optimal condition to meet the enemy.
But now that he saw the enemy warships approaching him with great momentum, Admiral Kaden certainly had to buy some preparation time for his fleet.
"Order the fleet to turn south and make a U-turn, and we will drag the other side."
At this time, the Mediterranean Fleet, led by the leading flagship Orion, turned around one after another, giving people a feeling as if they were about to run away.
Naturally, the actions of the Mediterranean Fleet were also noticed by the Combined Fleet.
"The enemy wants to escape!"
At this moment, most of the officers and soldiers of the Combined Fleet held this view. Because if the other party turned back without hesitation, it would be too much like running away.
"The enemy is not trying to escape, he is just trying to delay."
As the fleet commander, Leifer could see the intention of the other party's actions at a glance.
"Order each ship to speed up to 22 knots. We will catch up and not give the other side a chance to change."
Following Leifer's order, the combined fleet increased its speed to the extreme and pursued the Mediterranean Fleet at high speed.
Seeing the enemy ship pursuing at high speed, Carden knew at this moment that the enemy ship had seen through his intention to delay time. In this case, there was nothing to hide, and the pride of the British Empire's navy surged in his heart at this moment.
"Order the fleet to turn 90° to the left, reduce the speed to 17 knots, and prepare for engagement."
At this moment, the Mediterranean Fleet turned 90° to the left and then sailed north, forming a T-shape with the pursuing United Fleet. It was obvious that the Mediterranean Fleet was trying to grab the T.
"Turn 85 degrees to the north and we'll stick to it."
At this moment, Leifer, as the commander of the combined fleet, can still take advantage of the speed to grab the tank, but this time he wastes a lot of time. Considering that the enemy's reinforcement fleet is not far away from here, so in the end
After thinking about it for a while, he decided to stick to it and fight with the opponent in an upright manner.
