Chapter 797： Battle of the Cape of Tunis (End)

In the blue sea, a huge fleet is sailing. This fleet has more than 60 warships, large and small, of which six are particularly conspicuous. Its tall and mighty image is a battleship.

Yes, this is the French fleet commanded by Darlan. After the fleet left Algiers, he led the fleet slowly along the coast of Algeria towards Tunisia at a speed of 14 knots.

The journey was not peaceful. The Italians showed great enthusiasm for their arrival. If it were not for the efforts of the French Air Force, the warships he carried on the road would have been damaged.

Seeing the fuselage being driven away from the Italian warfare, Darren sighed sincerely. "It seems that without the cover of the aircraft carrier, the air defense of the fleet will become a big problem in the future."

Yes, Darlan still believes that battleships will act as the main force in battle. In fact, his concept is still the mainstream in the world navy, even after Romania's raid on Alexandria, the status of the aircraft carrier still has not reached the core position of the battlefield.

The most important thing is that the aircraft carrier is an indispensable warship for the fleet, which can provide the fleet with air protection and the convenience of reconnaissance.

As for Alexandria, it was only a special case. At that time, the warship was completely stopped and defeated by a surprise attack. If faced with a fully deployed fleet, the aircraft on the carrier still are less threatening to the fleet than battleships.

This view still firmly occupies the mainstream in the world navy. Of course, if there are multiple naval battles dominated by aircraft carriers, then this will speed up people's recognition, but at present, the use of aircraft carriers by various countries is still in the stage of understanding or understanding, and Edel is not willing to let other countries accelerate this recognition.

Although Italian aircraft are harassing, the results achieved are limited. On the one hand, France has the cover of the air force, and on the other hand, the Italian air force has limited naval combat capabilities.

Despite these harassment methods, Darren and Compionni's eyes are firmly locked on each other, and they both know that they can only rely on the battleship in their hands to speak.

…

After two days of sailing, Darlan was already close to the sea near Cape Tunis. At this time, the number of Italian fighters suddenly increased and even protected by fighters. This made the French fighters feel very strenuous. From time to time, Italian aircraft broke through the blockade and entered the fleet.

Fortunately, the French fleet is in an air defense formation, and there are fewer aircraft entering the sky, so the fleet maintains a complete formation.

After driving away this wave of attacking fighters, Darlan frowned. "How far is General Cunningham from us now?"

"The latest report shows that they are about a hundred nautical miles behind us."

This is a distance of more than three hours, but according to the experience of the last Jutland naval battle, more than three hours is too much, and this can determine the outcome of the naval battle.

"For General Cunningham to speed up, it is best to keep the distance between us at about 50 nautical miles."

"Yes, your admiral."

Solved the distance from the friendly forces, then the next step is to understand the opponent's location. From this point, the French fleet commanded by Darren is at an absolute disadvantage, because he has been under the surveillance of the Italian Air Force, and he has not yet learned the position of his opponent.

For such an unfavorable situation, Darlan also has his own solution. That is to use the outstanding heavy cruisers of the French fleet to form an exploratory formation to explore the sea.

He believed that even if the heavy cruiser could not find the Italian fleet, they would send it to the door by themselves. Because the heavy cruiser formation owned by France is the second strongest formation in Europe, second only to the heavy cruisers built by Germany to break the ocean.

In particular, the Algeria class, the last heavy cruiser of France, is equipped with 55 times the 203 caliber main gun in order to deal with the German Admiral Hipper class. Its armored fire protection is also extreme. The only disadvantage is speed. The speed of 31 knots is almost equal to that of many new battleships.

But now Darren intends to use his heavy cruiser, which is stronger than France, as a decoy to lure the Italian fleet.

"Give Major General Labaud an order to lead the first and second cruiser fleet to search for the enemy. But you must remember that you cannot leave your fleet 40 nautical miles away."

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander."

Following Darren's order, the forward formation consisting of 7 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser and more than ten destroyers began to leave the fleet, and the warships of its own formation began to accelerate and search forward.

This is also Darlang's last resort. If there is a way, he won't let the heavy cruiser be a bait. As for its only aircraft carrier, the Bayern, there are only 40 carrier-based aircraft on it. Darlan can't bear to consume this carrier-based aircraft in vain, so this aircraft carrier is firmly protected behind the fleet. After waiting for the rendezvous with the British fleet, strengthen its aircraft carrier power.

The division of the French fleet was quickly learned by Italy, which had air superiority.

It is located 150 nautical miles north of the Tunisian waters. It is close to the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. It is not only threatening the Tunisian waters, but also under the protection of its own air force. So there is no better place to wait for the arrival of the French fleet, and all kinds of warships from the Italian fleet are waiting here quietly, the arrival of the French.

Of course, waiting blindly, but it is impossible, you need to be flexible.

At this point, Admiral Campioni, the commander of the Italian fleet, thought he was doing a good job. So when the news of the division of the national fleet appeared in his hands, he couldn't help but smile.

That's right, it's the kind of expression of unexpected joy at a sudden. He thinks he has also received a surprise. With seven heavy cruisers, plus one light cruiser and more than ten destroyers, there should be a 100,000-ton warship. And such a gift was sent out by the French fleet commander, he felt that if he did not accept it, his conscience would be disturbed.

So he held up the telegram and said jokingly to the other officers. "Are we going to have Christmas?"

There was a burst of laughter in the command cabin. UU reading www.uukanshu. com

Some people even spoke. "Your Excellency, is this the day when Mr. Darlan didn't remember Christmas?"

"Should be, do we need to remind him?"

Seeing the subordinates shaking their heads, Compionni also felt unnecessary.

This is the result of a free gift, and there is no reason not to eat it. Since Darlang had made a faint move, then he had reason to give him a heavy blow.

Thinking of this, Compionni's expression tightened and gave the order. "Immediately ordered to rush to the predetermined sea area, we first eat the French squadron, and then directly attack its own fleet."

Following Compionni's orders, the Italian fleet was dispatched, and they rushed to the French heavy cruiser formation that was searching for themselves.

And this also opened the prelude to the naval battle in the Cape of Tunisia.

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