Vol 4 Chapter 67: ,meet by chance

The second bombardment has just passed, and the third round of bombing has come again. Now the Italians are too lazy to put out the fire, hiding in bunkers that they think are safe.
Unlucky Italy's major naval duty Major General Georgius Messer was unfortunately affected by the second round of bombing when he was commanding the fire fighting. But he was also lucky, he just scratched his skin and passed out happily.
The Italians who do not have the highest commander on the scene will naturally not act.
Of course, Taranto cannot have only Georgius Messer as a commander. In fact, there are quite a few generals in Taranto's navy at this time. Unfortunately, everyone is not willing to come out and take responsibility!
Turn the tide? This is based on the premise of being able to succeed. Now naval warships, shipyards, material storage warehouses, and turrets have been patronized by the Bulgarian Air Force. The planes in the sky cannot be hit, and the damaged property cannot be restored. What can they do?
The waiting time is long. Originally, the Bulgarian Air Force's bombing started from the first round to the end of the third round. It was only three or four hours, but for the Italians underneath, this is already a life!
With the successful completion of the bombing mission, the Bulgarian Air Force returned happily, leaving the scene in a mess, the raging fire was still burning, and the scarred warship continued to sink. Everyone knew that Taranto was dead!
After a morning of bombing and indiscriminate bombing of more than 200 tons of bombs, on average, the port was hit by three to four kilograms of bombs per square meter. There is no need to recover for more than ten or twenty years.
More than two hours after the bombing, the Italians finally made sure that they were safe, and then one after another came out of the bunker. At this time, the fire had spread from the port to the city, and they had to come out to put out the fire!
The Italian navy officers who were pretending to be ostriches also came out to clean up the mess, organizing firefighting and counting losses, and reporting the situation to the Roman government.
Will things end so easily? Obviously this is impossible. As early as when the air force was dispatched, the Bulgarian navy also came out of Kofu Island.
Even the other French fleets were dispatched. Although the French didn't think the Bulgarian airstrikes could be of much use, they still acted in the hope of any eventuality.
In order to keep secret, Ferdinand only notified the French an hour before the start of the operation, so now the French fleet has just arrived.
Upon receiving the news of the success of the airstrike, the commander of the French fleet, Darren, immediately ordered all the battlecruisers in the fleet to take the lead and implement the plan to shut down and fight dogs with the Bulgarian Navy.
There is no satellite monitoring in this era. Even if the warship is finished, it will take time to sink. Obviously, the Air Force has no time to wait for the Italian warship to sink. The only thing that can be determined is that all the Italian battleships have been visited.
This is enough, at least it is certain that the Italian navy has been badly injured. After all, it is a bomb of several hundred kilograms. Even if it falls from the sky, it can smash the deck into a pit!
After the air raid, the Bulgarian Navy was not far from Taranto. With five dreadnought ships, four coastal defense battleships, a bunch of cruisers, destroyers, etc., the entire fleet totaled more than 120 warships.
The commander of this operation was Bulgarian Rear Admiral Pert Ivanov, who was also the captain of the flagship HMS the Great.
The Great Emperor just joined the Bulgarian Navy in early 1915. There is no doubt that this is a dreadnought-class ship. The specific parameters are as follows:
Displacement: 2895o tons/full load displacement: 3252o tons
Dimensions: length 196 meters / width 27.3 meters
Draft: 9.1 meters
Power: 24 boilers
Main engine power 75ooo horsepower, 4 axles
Flight: 25 knots
Endurance: 4, 6oo nautical miles/12.5 knots
Armament: 8 double-mounted 15-inch/42-caliber main guns, 12 6-inch/45-caliber secondary guns, 2 76 mm guns, 4 4-inch caliber anti-aircraft guns, plus eight 4o mm anti-aircraft guns
Armor: The side armor belt is 13 inches, the main deck is 2.5-5 inches, the turret (front) is 13 inches, (top) is 5 inches, the gun mount is 1o inches, and the conning tower is 11 inches. The total armor weight is 81oo tons.
Crew: 1o15 people
This is already the full strength of the Bulgarian Navy. If it is severely damaged, the First World War can be declared, and the Bulgarian Navy can only fight soy sauce!
Reluctantly, it can be regarded as a gamble. If the Italian navy can be successfully killed this time, then the Bulgarian navy will make a breakthrough, and Bulgaria will become a naval power!
On the contrary, Ferdinand can abandon the navy and display the 6th army and air force honestly!
The Italians did not know that the danger was approaching, and they were busy organizing manpower to extinguish the fire and repair the warship.
After all, many warships that have been seriously injured must be rescued immediately, otherwise they will likely turn from severe injuries to death.
Watching the continuous sinking of warships, the heart of Count Abruci, the commander of the Italian Navy, also sank to the bottom. He knew that the Italian Navy had suffered a great loss this time.
Although the specific losses have not been counted, at a glance, there are already double-digit warships missing, and more importantly, two dreadnoughts have also disappeared from his sight!
The Italian navy paid the price of blood for their thin-skin armor, and the two dreadnoughts Dante Alligre and Count Cavour sank neatly.
No way, who said that the Dreadnought is the focus of the Bulgarian Air Force?
An unknown premonition emerged in the heart of the Earl of Abruzzi, is it possible that the Bulgarian Air Force will come to bomb it?
He is a navy, and he didn't know that after a bombing was completed, the aircraft of this era had to undergo an overhaul before it could continue to fight.
"Now I order all the warships that can go to sea to go to Palermo!" Count Abruci said solemnly
"Yes!" After a young officer finished speaking, he passed down the order.
Everyone knows that the port of Taranto is no longer suitable for the Italian navy. Who knows when the Bulgarian aircraft will come over again and continue to drop bombs on their heads?
...
It was too late for the Italians to start! When the Italian navy left the port, the Bulgarian navy came to block the door.
No way, Kofu Island is not far from Taranto. It's not a joke day and night!
The Italians reacted quickly to no avail. They were attacked from the early morning and did not end until noon.
Even if the Earl of Abruzzi gave the order in the shortest time possible, after the Italian navy was organized to inspect the warships and replenish some supplies in a panic, it was still evening.
At this moment, the Bulgarian navy was already waiting outside. Under the cover of night, even if the two sides were only standing for 20 to 30 nautical miles, the Italians still didn't know that the enemy had come under their noses.
"Apply for the general, this is our preliminary statistical loss." In the evening, an officer submitted a list of losses to the Earl of Abruzzi.
Of course, this is limited to the statistics of the loss of naval warships and the loss of active naval officers and soldiers.
Two dreadnoughts, five cruisers and a dozen old warships sank, including one old battleship. The remaining large warships were all wounded, and less than half of the warships capable of leaving the port, including a dreadnought ship that suffered severe damage and was unable to leave the port!
There were 2,846 casualties of active navy officers and soldiers, and 876 deaths have been confirmed. Logistical casualties have not been counted, and now this number is not small.
After receiving the casualty report, the Earl of Abruzzi's mood is even worse, which means that the main Italian navy has lost a third at the beginning of the war!
"Can't wait any longer!" If you get another bombing, the main Italian navy will be over! The Earl of Abruzzi knew that even if he left now, he would only be able to keep the warships on the fourth floor or so in the Taranto port. As for what remained, he would have to resign himself to fate!
But he had to leave, Taranto port gathered more than 80% of the main force of the Italian navy, including the fleet withdrawn from Tripoli.
The whole army may be wiped out if you stay, and now you can at least save more than half of the kingdom's main force! He has no illusions about Italy's air defense capabilities!
Whether it is an anti-aircraft artillery or an anti-aircraft machine gun, it is impossible to be fired in one or two days and be equipped for service!
In a hurry, the Earl of Abruzzi decided to take the fleet out overnight. Anyway, it was offshore Italy. Everyone was familiar with the road conditions and there was nothing to worry about.
Otherwise, if the Bulgarian Air Force comes to visit again tomorrow, the Italian Navy will really be over!
Of course, Ferdinand did not know the loss of the Italian, otherwise he would not ask the French for help.
After all, you can kill the main force of the Italian navy on your own. It is very valuable for Bulgaria to enjoy this glory alone. UU reading www.uukanshu.com is very beneficial to the distribution of interests after the war!
History has no if! As the Italians did not understand the reality, the Bulgarian navy stayed at the port of Taranto 20 nautical miles away for safety reasons, waiting for the arrival of the French navy.
In the dark night, the two fleets collided together, and when the enemy appeared, the distance between the two fleets was only six or seven nautical miles.
"The general attacked!"
Pert Ivanlov was taken aback. He thought it was the Italians who had discovered their presence, and he was ready to act first.
But soon he calmed down. If the Italians spotted them ahead of time, they should have started during the day. Night battles are not so easy to fight!
To a large extent, it depends on the luck of both sides. Even if the Italian navy is stronger, it is very likely that both sides will suffer.
So it is very likely that the Italians wanted to escape. After all, they were just bombed during the day. If they don’t run yet, stay and wait for the bombing to continue?
After judging the enemy's initial purpose, Major General Pert Ivanov also confirmed that the Italians must have suffered heavy losses, otherwise they would not be so anxious to run away!
"Order the fleet to prepare for battle!" Pert Ivanlov calmly ordered
...
Since the Bulgarian navy has Italians, naturally the Italians will also find them, but the Earl of Abruzzi has not been able to determine who the enemy is on the opposite side and how big it is!
For the Earl of Abruzzi, this is another life-and-death decision. If the main fleet of the Allied powers is outside, then the Italian navy is now semi-crippled and does not even have the power of the First World War. It is the direct order to disperse and break through. the best choice!
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