Chapter 383: Italian Victory

On July 8, 9 and 10, 1940, the arrogant British Empire had to admit the fact that air supremacy in the Mediterranean belonged not to the British Royal Air Force, but to the Italian Fascist Air Force!

Although in the past 2 months, the powerful fascist air force has not shown up like this, very politely and gracefully allowing British aircraft and fleets to sail freely in the Mediterranean. But now the fascist leader said he wanted to teach the British a lesson, so the powerful Italian Fascist Air Force immediately took action.

From the afternoon of July 8 to the morning of July 10, the sky across the Eastern Mediterranean was filled with "hunchback aircraft" (S.M.79 medium bombers) carrying bombs or torpedoes, chasing ships passing by on the sea everywhere, seriously Affecting freedom of navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean...

The Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy had no choice but to tuck their tails between their legs and run away in despair against these unscrupulous Italian aircraft.

At about 9 a.m. on July 10, when Admiral Cunningham was writing a report on the situation of the Battle of Calabria (called the Battle of Ponta Stillo in Italians) in his cabin, the phone rang and he was interrupted. Picking up the receiver, I immediately heard Major General Crutchley's voice.

"The radar detected enemy planes, more than 10 in number!"

"Damn!" Cunningham cursed, "Are these Italian hunchbacks finished?"

He was a little impatient after being bombed. In less than two days in the past, he had experienced the power of the fascist air force!

If it weren't for their "hunchback" bombers that littered bombs, his fleet would have been able to sink the Italian battleship that was slowed down by the bomb in the great sea battle on July 8.

However, the subsequent "persistent" air strikes launched by the Italian "Hunchback" aircraft made him really afraid to fight, and he had to give up the victory that he was almost about to win.

For most of the afternoon of July 8, groups of 10 or 8 Hunchback bombers flew over non-stop. They also don't dive bomb like the Germans. Most of them bomb at high altitudes, and a few will drop a few torpedoes from a distance. Although such bombings were not very accurate, Cunningham even found that many bombs fell around the Italians' own warships.

But the British fleet also had to do air defense. Even if the bombs were not accurate, S-shaped evasion still had to be done, and anti-aircraft shells had to be fired out as if they were free. Just once or twice is enough. Who can bear it if it comes eight times out of ten?

Moreover, there were 12 German Fokker Zeros and Spitfires in the sky, and from time to time a few G.50s would come to play shallow dive bombing. In addition, it is not known when two Veneto-class battleships, which are no less powerful than the Hood, will arrive.

Therefore, after the Italians' 11th air strike (11 air strikes plus only 109 aircraft came together), Cunningham finally lost the courage to continue to struggle and ordered the destroyers to release smoke to cover the battleships and aircraft carriers and withdraw from the battlefield. .

But these damn fascist air forces were unforgiving. On the afternoon of July 8th, all day on July 9th (even at night they were bombed twice), and until now (the morning of July 10th) the fleet was almost here. Alexandria, Italian planes are still bombing every hour or two. If you include the bombing of Fleet A, there have been three to four hundred aircraft sorties that dropped bombs on the British fleet.

Although the bombs dropped by these Italian hunchback aircraft were not accurate, the results were pitiful. They only severely damaged one light cruiser (the Gloucester of Fleet A) and opened a big hole in the flight deck of the USS Eagle aircraft carrier. In addition, some high-explosive bombs fell on the decks of the Glorious, Warspite and Sovereign, but they did not cause much damage.

However, such frequent bombings showed that the Italian Air Force had the strength to severely damage the British Mediterranean Fleet, but the Italian style of sloppiness prevented them from using such strength correctly for the time being.

But once the Italians get serious, these "humpback planes" with a long range and flying quite fast will drive Cunningham's fleet out of the Mediterranean!

Therefore, in a report to the Admiralty in London, Admiral Cunningham told his superior, Admiral Pound: "The battle was extremely unsatisfactory for us. We were almost defeated by the Italians."

At the same time, he also requested in the report that the Navy Department be given a battleship, several heavy cruisers, an armored aircraft carrier, an anti-aircraft cruiser and several other smaller warships. In addition, Cunningham also asked London to immediately provide at least 60 Sea Spitfires, 120 Spitfire or Hurricane fighter jets, and 180 heavy-duty fighter jets with long range...

…

"Marshal, the Italians have won at sea!"

On the evening of July 10, Marshal Hessmann had just returned to Zossen's manor and was about to make out with Chloe when he received a long-distance call from General Halder in Rome.

"You won?" Hersman asked doubtfully, "Are you sure?"

He did not remember any great victory the Italian Navy had fought in the Mediterranean in July 1940.

"Very sure!" Halder reported, "Mussolini told me personally. Admiral Priccolo, Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, also provided photos. At least two British aircraft carriers were severely damaged, and another two were severely damaged. The battleship was severely damaged... It is obvious that the British Mediterranean Fleet has lost at least half of its strength. Now the control of the sea in the Mediterranean is firmly in the hands of the Italian Navy! "

This is real?

Hersmann couldn't believe it, and asked again: "What are the losses of the Italians?"

"The battleship Caesar was hit, and another light cruiser and two destroyers were damaged by the Italian Air Force's accidental bombing."

"A mistaken bombing?" Hesmann was stunned. He didn't know yet that in the Battle of Ponta Stiro, many accidental bombings occurred because the Italian Air Force was not able to distinguish between the enemy and ourselves. However, since their bombing was not accurate, it did not cause much damage.

"This is normal," Halder said, "According to statistics, the Italian Air Force has dispatched more than 600 aircraft to bomb the British fleet on the 8th, 9th and today during the day, and it is inevitable that there will be mistakes in the process."

Accidental bombings and injuries happen everywhere, and the German Air Force did a lot of such things in the Western Front. So Hesmann didn't ask much, but asked about the preparations for the Battle of Malta.

General Halder on the phone told him that 12 British transport ships arrived in Malta on July 8, so the strength of the island of Malta may have been strengthened.

Moreover, the Italian battleship Caesar may need three months to repair (actually it was repaired in 30 days), so the Malta operation can not be carried out until October at the earliest.

"Marshal," Halder assured on the phone, "you can rest assured that the Italian Air Force will carry out air strikes on Malta and Alexandria, guaranteeing that these two strategic points can be paralyzed and will not affect the North African campaign."

Can the Italian guarantee be trusted? Hessman was very skeptical when he hung up the phone. However, he could not question the Italian ally without any evidence. Fortunately, he, the Chief of the General Staff, has great power now. It only takes a word to send a high-level inspection team to investigate the situation of the Ponta Stiro naval battle.

...

When Halder hung up the phone, one of his adjutants pushed the door and walked in: "General, the car is ready and can go to the Venice Palace at any time."

There is a cocktail party tonight at the Venice Palace to entertain the heroes of the fascist air force-although Marshal Hessman doubted the victory of the Italians, the Italian leader Mussolini firmly believed it. Just this evening, he announced the news of victory in a speech to the nation.

According to him, the Italian navy and air force have won a decisive victory in the past three days of operations! Two British aircraft carriers and two British battleships were sunk, while the Italian navy's loss was only a battleship slightly damaged.

"... Obviously, we have won and will continue to win, which is unstoppable. The great Roman Empire will be revived in our generation, and we will be the rebuilders of Rome. When the Romans a thousand years later mention the fascist heroes who fought bravely against the enemy in the Mediterranean, North Africa and East Africa, they will use a tone of great respect! They will shout: Long live the fascist heroes! Long live fascist Rome! Long live fascist Italy!"

The Italian leader Mussolini, who was speaking at the Venice Palace, really believed that his invincible air force had just dealt a heavy blow to the British Mediterranean Fleet - there was no need to doubt it, because the Italian Air Force had more than 600 "hunchback" aircraft that could roam the Mediterranean. This was twice as many as the German aircraft that bombed the Spaca Bay on September 3, 1939. Moreover, each "hunchback" aircraft can carry two 500 kg bombs. More than 600 aircraft can drop 1200-1300 500 kg bombs at a time. How can the British Mediterranean Fleet fight against such air power?

So the destruction of the British Mediterranean Fleet is inevitable, and without the Mediterranean Fleet, how can the small British army in Egypt defeat the powerful Italian Army?

It will take a few months to see Italy win the war, and then the Roman Empire will be revived!

Mussolini, who could not suppress the smile on his face, was already thinking about holding a grand military parade under the Egyptian pyramids. This is more remarkable than Octavian's conquest of Egypt 2000 years ago, because this time it was not a Roman general and an Egyptian queen who were defeated, but the British Empire!