Outside Alexandria, several nervous-looking men, wearing traditional Arab robes, were unloading tires and gasoline from a car. From their skin color, which was obviously different from Arabs, we knew that these were definitely fake.
, but this is impossible to see from a distance.
And this is not within the city of Alexandria, but in the suburbs where the British jurisdiction has plummeted. After all, this is considered Egyptian territory, even though it is a puppet regime.
These guys pretending to be Arabs carried scrap tires and gasoline tanks and rushed up the hillside. They needed to make arrangements at a high point.
After carrying all the tires and gasoline to the top of the hill, everyone collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. After everyone rested for a while, the leader looked at his watch and called to the others. "It's 5:30 now, get ready to light the fire.
"
Following his words, the resting people immediately divided the waste tires into three piles and sprayed them with gasoline. The person in charge lit a lighter, lit a cigarette for himself, took a nice puff, and then threw the lighter into a
Prepared tires smelling of gasoline were piled on top.
"boom"
The tires covered with gasoline ignited instantly, and the flames shot out higher than a person, and the billowing smoke made the black smoke column vaguely visible in the already bright sky.
"boom"
"boom"
The other two fires were also lit, and now the three pillars of black smoke make them even more iconic.
"Okay, let's get back to the car."
Under the leadership of the leader, these people returned to the car and now they were preparing to leave. They were not the only ones to light fires near the coast. During this period, no less than a dozen fires were lit on the Alexandria coast and nearby.
As for the lead aircraft responsible for navigation, it was able to find Alexandria faster with its smoke plume.
In the early morning, Cunningham had just gotten up in the Mediterranean Fleet headquarters. As the commander of the British Empire's Mediterranean Fleet, he had been very busy recently. Because of Britain's declaration of war on Romania, the Mediterranean Fleet had to take on the task of monitoring the Italian Navy overnight.
, the dual mission of the Romanian Navy to blockade the Aegean Sea.
This was a serious consideration for him, considering that his Mediterranean army only had four battleships (Rodney, Sovereign, Malaya, Warspite), two aircraft carriers (Eagle, Fury) and
Repulse battle cruiser, 3 heavy cruisers, 7 light cruisers and a large number of destroyers and submarines.
Fortunately, the mainland also knew about his difficulties and specially deployed the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the battleship Nelson to support him. Yes, it was the Nelson. The mainland fleet gave its only two Nelson-class ships to the Mediterranean Fleet. Of course, it was not because of him.
Cunningham was too proud, but the George V and the Prince of Wales were already in service, so they had the spare capacity to take care of the Mediterranean fleet.
This George V-class battleship did not use a 14-inch main gun as historically. Facing the 15- and 16-inch main gun calibers of Europe, the British had to save money and save a 16-inch main gun. So.
This George V-class battleship is equipped with 9 406 main guns, adopts a layout of 2 in the front and 1 in the rear, with a standard displacement of 35,000 tons, a full load displacement of 45,000 tons, and a speed of 29 knots. It can compete with a large number of Axis 380 and 406 caliber battleships.
A week ago, these two ships had arrived at the Port of Alexandria. With these two ships, Cunningham had the confidence to compete with the Romanian fleet.
That's right, it's a competition. If you want to win, you must make good use of shore-based aircraft.
Look at the construction time of a battleship in Cunningham's hands, and then look at the construction time of a battleship in Romania. It would be great if he can compete. Of course, he has not thought about winning by surprise, but there are many channels in the Aegean Sea, although there is a large island.
You can borrow it. But Romania is very defensive and prevents him from finding opportunities.
After the Romanian navy reconnaissance aircraft set out, they have been patrolling the Sea of Love, preventing Cunningham from seeing any opportunities for sneak attacks.
And now Cunningham, who had just finished washing up and put on his military uniform, planned to have breakfast with the two new captains to connect with each other.
At this time, I saw Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence, who was in charge of intelligence work, slamming open his door, holding a telegram in his hand, and anyone could see the anxiety on his face.
"What's the matter, Lieutenant Colonel?"
The unfazed Cunningham straightened the threads on his cufflinks and asked him the reason for his visit.
"Lieutenant General, our agents discovered that the Romanian fleet is not in the port of Thessaloniki, and its current whereabouts are unknown."
"Bring it to me and see."
Facing the lieutenant colonel's words, Cunningham stopped his movements. He stretched out his hand to take the telegram.
This was a telegram sent directly from Salonika. The latent agent responsible for espionage work knew that there was a problem when he discovered that Salonika had been placed under martial law three days ago and that no one was allowed to enter or exit the port area. He tried his best to find out the information, but
The military and police blockade was extremely tight, so it was extremely difficult to find out the news. I didn't know until early this morning that there was no fleet in the port, so I immediately sent a message and reported it quickly.
After reading the telegram, Cunningham thought for a moment and immediately asked, "Have we found anything unusual during our patrol recently?"
Faced with Cunningham's inquiry, Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence thought about it carefully and said, "No, there were no abnormal reports found by our patrol aircraft and warships before."
"So are there any other unusual reports?"
"nor."
After being missing for three days, where will these Romanian fleets go?
Cunningham walked back and forth and thought. Without the help of other intelligence, just a fleet missing for three days made him unable to figure out the situation. But no matter what the situation is, it is always good to make your own preparations first.
.
"Immediately send a telegram to the Cyprus side and order them to send out planes to search the Aegean Sea in a fan pattern. Also send a telegram to the Said side to ask them to be more vigilant. In addition, let the airport prepare to send planes to conduct a detailed search around us in a fan shape.
.”
"Okay, I'll give you the order right now."
"Oooah~oooooooooooo"
While the two were talking, they heard the air raid siren suddenly blaring loudly.
The two of them combined the telegram they had just received, and their expressions suddenly changed. Unexpectedly, the Romanian team members had sneaked up on them.
On the pilot plane, Lieutenant Colonel Elsted couldn't help feeling overjoyed when he saw the five battleships, two aircraft carriers, various large and small cruisers, and destroyers parked neatly in the port.
How could such an undefended warship in the harbor be the opponent of the carrier-based aircraft led by him?
Then he sent a telegram that was said to be from His Majesty and that the surprise attack was successful and would bring good luck.
