At eight o'clock in the morning on July 23, David Beatty, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, was enjoying coffee sent by staff officer Zach Dillon on the bridge of the flagship HMS Hood. 23us.
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Different from the original British Mediterranean Fleet, this Mediterranean Fleet is a temporary organization, which was only established for the purpose of fighting Sardinia. After this station, this organization will be cancelled.
David Beatty is a British naval marshal. 53 years old is indeed a bit young for a marshal, but it is not surprising at all when it comes to David Beatty.
David Beattie is a senior member of the British Navy. He served as deputy commander of the Nile Fleet at the age of 25. He later participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion and performed outstandingly in the last world war. He was eventually able to accept the surrender of the German fleet on behalf of Britain.
David Beatty was promoted to Admiral after the war, when he was not even fifty.
After John Jellicoe faded from active service, David Beattie became the undisputed number one man in the British Navy. This guy had a violent personality and was very aggressive. Of course, if I use nicer adjectives to describe it, he is full of energy and courage.
During the last world war, David Beatty's boss John Jellicoe once refused to let David Beatty take a higher position on the grounds that the more ships given to David Beatty, the bolder David Beatty would be.
This judgment was correct. David Beatty was indeed very courageous, so even when he lost air protection, David Beatty still resolutely ordered the fleet to move towards Sardinia.
Sir, we will enter the position in two hours. Zach Dillon looked serious and looked at David Beatty with expectation.
Don't worry little Zach, the Lanfang planes can't break through our anti-aircraft firepower. They can only bark miserably like puppies and watch us destroy all the airports in Sardinia and turn them into the Mediterranean.
bluefin tuna. David Beatty was very confident. Once he decided on something, he could not change it. Then David Beatty shouted: Full speed ahead, let’s kick the Lanfang people’s ass.
A neat response sounded from the bridge, and the Hood began to accelerate, heading towards Sardinia at full speed.
I have to say that the Lanfang people still have some merits, at least their coffee is really good. Only then did David Betty pick up the coffee sent by Zach Dillon, put it under his nose and smell it, and then looked intoxicated:
Tom, won't you have a drink?
Oh, I have to stay alert. When we land in Sardinia, I will have a good drink with you. Rear Admiral Tomkinson, the captain of the Hood, has a determined look.
The battleship Hood is the most advanced battleship in Britain. It was commissioned four years ago. Tomkinson is the first captain of the Hood. Perhaps after this battle, Tomkinson will be promoted, so Tomkinson will never accept any
Failure of form.
The British admirals can be said to be the most proud people in the world. Although Britain's national power is now weakened and it has actually given up its position as the world's leader, in the hearts of the British admirals, the fleet of the British Empire is still the arrogant one.
The Armada, perhaps when seeing the frequent launches of American battleships and the fact that the British Navy has not received fresh blood for a long time, the British naval generals will feel sad in their hearts, but these British naval generals firmly believe that even in the face of all
The U.S. Navy, which is composed of cutting-edge warships, and the British Navy will not be at a disadvantage, because the British Navy has a proud enough tradition and enough outstanding officers, which cannot be bought with money.
When thinking this way, these British naval admirals must not have realized that it was precisely because the British Empire was rich that the United Kingdom was able to build an invincible fleet that dominated the world. Now that the United Kingdom has lost its economic advantage,
, then it is numbered how long the navy can maintain its dominant position.
Of course, British naval admirals will definitely not think about this issue. Perhaps in the eyes of many British admirals, only boring politicians and businessmen who smell like copper will consider this issue. In the UK, the projects that admirals are responsible for are
To show the handsomeness of the British Navy, it is as straight as the gowns worn by admirals. The folds on the clothes must be folded according to the regulations, so as to conform to the noble temperament of the British Navy.
Very good, let's work hard. When we land in Sardinia, I will provide a bottle of red wine from my private collection to celebrate with everyone. David Beattie made a promise.
The atmosphere of Hu Ya's response became even more enthusiastic.
It is said that there are a lot of drunkards among the British, and alcoholism is very common in the navy. Like homosexuality, it is a stubborn disease that cannot be cured in the British navy.
Just as everyone responded with a roar, a shrill air defense siren suddenly sounded in the bridge, and the battle was about to begin.
In this battle, the radar installed by the Lanfang Air Force on the Marmora Peak in the Jinnargentu Mountains played a key role.
Although David Beatty advocated attack, he was not reckless. As the British fleet advanced towards Sardinia, David Beatty ordered the aircraft carrier to release reconnaissance planes early for reconnaissance, giving the fleet more warning time.
David Beatty knew that the British Air Force could not defeat the Lanfang Air Force. Yesterday's battle had fully proved this, so David Beatty did not place his hope of protecting the fleet on the Air Force. David Beatty also knew that the British fighter jets and Lanfang fighter jets
There is a performance gap between them, so David Beatty does not expect the Air Force's carrier-based aircraft to be able to push the Lanfang Air Force out of the fleet's protective network. As long as the British carrier-based aircraft can give the fleet a certain amount of early warning time, it will be enough.
Wei Betty is still very confident in the fleet's air defense capabilities.
It's a pity that although David Beattie knew that there was a performance gap between British fighter jets and Lanfang fighter jets, he didn't know how big the gap was.
The practical ceiling of Lanfang's Falcon is 10,000 meters, while the practical ceiling of the Hurricane is only 9,000 meters. This kilometer determines the fate of the British fleet.
Before the hurricane came into contact, the radar station on the Marmora Peak provided early warning for the Lanfang fighter jet, so the Lanfang fighter jet began to climb early and fully occupied a favorable position. By the time the falcons were almost flying directly above the hurricane
At this time, the falcon began to dive in a nearly vertical attitude.
At this position, the hurricane has the largest area in the eyes of the Falcon pilots. Lanfang's ace pilots will never let go of this opportunity. Dou Yongyi used a two-plane formation to attack again. If the first plane did not hit
In the middle, there was a second plane that could fire back up, so the British Hurricanes were very miserable. In less than a minute, all eight reconnaissance planes were shot down. The British pilots didn't even have a chance to warn the fleet.
.
After clearing all the reconnaissance aircraft, it was actually less than ten nautical miles away from the British fleet. For the aircraft, it was just a dive. Because there was no harassment from the British Air Force, Dou Yongyi could command the bombers and torpedo planes to form calmly.
Launched attacks on the British fleet in batches.
Dou Yongyi's formation is very layered. Compared with bombers and torpedo planes, fighter jets are the smallest in size, so the first wave of dives are carried out by fighter jets. When the fighter jets deflect the anti-aircraft firepower of the British fleet, the bombers dive from the British fleet.
The aircraft dived directly above the fleet, while the torpedo planes carried out ultra-low-altitude penetrations close to the sea while launching attacks on the British fleet.
Dou Yongyi's requirements are not high, as long as he can sink one or two large British warships, of course it would be best if he can sink more, and Dou Yongyi has no objection.
It must be said that the British did conduct air defense drills before the war, but air defense drills and actual combat are two different things after all. The Lanfang Air Force attacked in a way that the British sailors had never heard of, so naturally they had no precautions.
, so it was not until the first wave of fighter jets began to dive that the British sounded the air defense alarm.
In fact, Dou Yongyi had already made a mistake at this time. If the first wave of dives were not fighter jets but bombers or torpedo planes, then the Lanfang Air Force would only need one attack to severely damage the British fleet, even if it was not like the battle against the Japanese fleet.
The chopping of melons and vegetables is enough to make British people feel heartbroken.
This can be regarded as an empirical error both Dou Yongyi and David Beattie made. Both Lanfang and the British conducted fleet air defense drills before the war, but the two armies had never fought against each other. Therefore, when David Beattie speculated on the combat effectiveness of Lanfang Air Force,
, is inferred based on the combat effectiveness of the British Air Force, which is a level higher than the combat effectiveness of the British Air Force, so David Beattie believes that the Lanfang Air Force cannot break through the air defense network of the British fleet.
David Beatty still underestimated the penetration capability of the Lanfang Air Force. It may take a lot of effort for the Lanfang Air Force to break through the British fleet's air defense network, but it is by no means impossible to break through. The Lanfang Air Force is better than David Beatty imagined.
Although powerful, the air defense network of the British fleet was not as complete as David Beatty imagined.
When the Lanfang Navy conducted exercises, it started with two bomber formations and two torpedo aircraft formations, a total of four formations penetrating from four directions. Later, with the advancement of Lanfang pilots' skills, the four formations were reduced to three
, and now it has been reduced to two, which fully proves the progress of Lanfang Air Force.
Dou Yongyi speculated that the air defense capabilities of the British fleet were also based on the Lanfang Navy. In Dou Yongyi's imagination, the air defense capabilities of the British fleet were at least similar to those of the Lanfang Navy, because the air defense capabilities obtained from the Lanfang National Security Bureau
According to intelligence analysis, the anti-aircraft firepower of the British ship is comparable to that of the Lanfang warship.
Dou Yongyi overestimated the air defense capabilities of the British fleet.
The Lanfang Navy's air defense capability was developed by the Lanfang Air Force. It is currently second to none in the world. Both in terms of defense level and coordination of air defense firepower, it is much better than the British fleet. Although the British ships
It is also equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft weapons, but the British air defense is not coordinated, and basically they are fighting independently. This is not comparable to the air defense density of the Lanfang warship.
Under the circumstances, David Beatty indeed learned an unforgettable lesson.
