Chapter 746： Battle of Crete (2)

On the blue sea, a fleet is rushing all the way.

They are the second task force commanded by Major General Fernandez. The fleet is lined up in a row on the Mediterranean Sea. There are dozens of fighters in the sky defending the airspace of his fleet.

Major General Fernandez, the commander of the fleet, looked at the sea with a serious expression. "How far is it from the goal?"

"According to the results of the investigation ten minutes ago, the current distance is still 120 kilometers. However, the other party should have discovered that our previous two investigations were desperately driving towards the island of Crete."

Hearing the communications staff's words, Major General Fernandez glanced at him with some dissatisfaction, and then asked again. "What is the opponent's current speed, are there any signs of distracting?"

After being glanced at by the major general, the communications staff who was a little flustered hurriedly replied. "At present, the opponent's ship speed is around 14 knots, and we haven't noticed any movement of the other party to disperse again. It may be that we were frightened by our previous actions."

"Okay, I see. Now we order all warships to continue to increase their speed and increase their speed to 30 knots. I want to see the enemy fleet today."

With the order of Major General Fernandez, the ships are fully powered and the white waves on the stern of the ships are pulled even more, and the speed of the fleet is further improved.

When Major General Fernandez gave the order, Corcos, the commander of the transport fleet with the target number B-12, corrected the news waiting in the mail room anxiously.

"Crete, haven't you called back yet?"

"Your Excellency, there is no call back yet."

"It's been almost two hours. Haven't they figured out a way yet, knowing that we are here to reinforce them."

Colonel Corcos wanted to scold his mother anxiously. As a veteran (first mate of a destroyer) who participated in the Battle of Jutland, Colonel Corcos was not satisfied with being assigned to command the transport fleet for one hundred reasons.

But the situation cannot help him. Because Alexandria was attacked by air, the fleet commander General Cunningham and Chief of Staff General Hawkins were ordered to retire. The newly appointed General Somerville is an old guy with a tough style, and he dare not have any resistance to this appointment.

This time, the B-12 transport fleet he was responsible for had more than a dozen transport ships, which were filled with materials to support Crete, and there was also an Anglo-Indian infantry brigade that reinforced Crete on board.

In fact, the B-12 transport fleet was the last one to transport to Crete. During Romania's capture of the Cyclades, the Greek government that retreated to Crete kept asking Britain for help. They not only need weapons and ammunition and other military materials, but also food for daily necessities, and they also hope that Britain will send reinforcements to help them defend.

Considering that Greece is an ally, and Crete is also very important to the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has sent several fleets to take the opportunity to transport a lot of weapons, ammunition and materials ashore. More importantly, Britain also sent reinforcements. Nearly 20,000 officers and soldiers from India and Australia and New Zealand were fighting side by side with the Greeks in Crete. They were commanded by Major General White, who also commanded all the British troops in Crete. military force.

And this time, there are many materials and personnel that he specified, especially the more than 50 anti-tank guns and more than 180 anti-aircraft guns on board, which are the equipment he urgently needs.

The hope of Colonel Colcos is that the major general can attach importance to this batch of equipment, and that he can send airplanes to support him.

The waiting receiver, seeing the green light on the radio, hurriedly said something. "The telegram is here."

After the sender and receiver had prepared the message, Corcos took it over. There are only a few words above, enter the Crete defensive circle as soon as possible, and we will send aircraft to support you.

Corcos was waiting for this telegram, only to see him yelling, "I will inform all crew members of the news immediately to let them know that we have not given up."

So this telegram from Crete was immediately sent to every ship.

Let Corcos do this, in addition to the low morale of the fleet because of being attacked by Romanian fighters, there is also their pessimistic attitude that this is a transportation task.

Because this can be clearly seen, the youngest transport ship in the fleet this time is the Martin, which is 15 years old. Not to mention other transport ships, generally starting in 20 years. As for the warships that Corcos escorted, they were all veterans. There was no warship newly built after the war. They were all old-fashioned characters.

Take the cruiser Karadok at my feet, this is currently the most chronological light cruiser in the navy, and its history can be traced back to World War I. It should be understood that small warships are different from large warships. The replacement cost of small warships is not as high as that of large warships. Therefore, countries basically replace small warships much faster than large warships.

So Karadok is a very old guy, but this old guy is also the backbone of this small fleet, and other goods are even more unbearable.

The destroyer Panyan on the right is obviously the style of a lightning strike ship before World War I. Just look at its slow pace. Don't think about lightning strikes. Be careful to drop anchor halfway. The color of the Antelope on the left is much better, at least in the style of World War I. The only downside is that it has a higher failure rate and has been repaired three times along the way.

Just such a group of veterans and remnants, to protect this transport ship, there is no confidence in anyone to change it.

This is not to say that Britain does not have good warships, but that the route from Egypt to Crete is too dangerous. Under the circumstance of losing dominance of the sea, old ships that can be used must not use new ships, because they are all vulnerable to the battleship intercepted by Romania.

This telegram has somewhat increased the confidence of the fleet, at least letting them know that there will be rescue planes coming. Therefore, the fleet still maintained the maximum formation speed of 14 knots and fled to Crete.

In addition, the B-12 fleet is the last transport fleet in Crete. This is because Britain needs the island of Crete to delay Romania's footsteps, instead of filling the bottomless pit of Crete with British troops and supplies. Britain hopes that the island will be able to resist Romania’s attacks for more than one month, and it is best to hold the Romanians for three months so that the British colonial forces will gather in Egypt and the Middle East.

Every move of the B-12 fleet is under the eyes of the Second Task Force, and Major General Fernandez, who holds the three aircraft carriers of the fleet, will naturally not let the fleet run away. If he didn't want to capture the opponent, the three carrier aircraft alone could send them all to the bottom of the sea to feed fish.

He may not necessarily be sure of attacking a fleet of warships, but the transport fleet is almost like shooting a target.

Time was slowly passed by the two fleets chasing and fleeing. When the time came to four o'clock in the afternoon, a cloud of smoke appeared on the horizon.

This made Corcos' heart sink, because it represented that the Romanian fleet had caught up.

"How far are we from Crete now?"

Anxiously, he pulled the captain and asked for the distance. As Corcos of the old navy, this plume of smoke knew that there were a lot of ships coming. At this time, it was only the Romanian fleet pursuing him. Now no one dares to approach the waters near Crete.

The same frightened captain answered truthfully: "We are still about 100 kilometers away from Crete."

"At this speed, we can't get rid of the Romanian fleet that is chasing. Let the transport ship go first. Let's block Romania's pursuit."

At this moment, Colonel Corcos was possessed by the British Navy for a hundred years, and he wanted to block the Romanian fleet.

"Yes, sir."

Following his order, the escorting warship slowly separated from the fleet, allowing the transport ship to pass first. Now they plan to use their warships to block the enemy chasing them and fight for time for the transport fleet.

"Damn it, didn't it mean that the island will support us? Where did the plane go?"

Although an order was made to intercept the incoming Romanian fleet, Colonel Corcos still hoped to be supported by aircraft, even if he harassed the Romanian fleet.

"Report ~ www.novelhall.com~ This is a telegram from Crete. The reinforcements they sent were blocked by the Romanian fighter group. It is reported that the number of intercepted fighters was more than 70. The reinforcements suffered heavy losses and were already unable to survive. Support us."

The words of the communications officer caused Colonel Corcos' whole heart to fall to the bottom.

"Okay, I get it."

"Now I order, raise the Z-flag, and tell all the crew that the British Empire needs everyone to perform their duties."

Although later generations knew that the Z-flag was used more by Japan, it was only because Japan imitated the British navy. During the Battle of Trafalgar, Viscount Nelson used it for the first time in a naval battle.

And now Colonel Colcos intends to imitate the feat of his ancestors, also using this flag. Although he did not have the strength and means to defeat the incoming Romanian army, he wanted to let the Romanians know the determination of the British Empire to never surrender.

So I saw five old British warships rushing towards the Romanian fleet without hesitation.