Chapter 391: Encirclement and Attack on the Sea

10 Downing Street, Cabinet Meeting Room.

Winston Churchill walked slowly into the meeting room with a cane while talking to War Minister Eden. He had a cigar in his mouth and looked unhappy. Obviously, Eden's efforts to win over Turkey failed again. Although Italy suffered a disastrous defeat in North Africa and Greece, Britain's defeat of Italy was not enough to shake Turkey's neutral position. Unless Britain can prove that it has the ability to defeat Germany!

Now, an opportunity to prove the ability of the British Empire is in front of Churchill. British intelligence reported that Italian Prime Minister Mussolini had just visited Germany and asked for help. In the last public joint statement, the news of the establishment of a joint command in the Mediterranean theater was announced!

And according to the news that the British intelligence department learned from Italy, the commander-in-chief of the German-Italian Mediterranean Theater Joint Command will be concurrently served by Marshal Hessmann, Chief of the General Staff of the German Wehrmacht.

This is very bad news, indicating that the Germans attach great importance to the Mediterranean battlefield! And they also sent their chief of staff to serve as the commander-in-chief of the German-Italian coalition forces.

Considering that the Germans have no intention of attacking the British mainland or the Soviet Union, the Germans are likely to deploy unprecedentedly large forces in the Mediterranean battlefield, both on land and in the air!

"The Germans at least have no way to send their fleet to the Mediterranean," Churchill suddenly laughed after informing all cabinet members of the bad news, "and we already have eight battleships and three aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean! And all three aircraft carriers are equipped with the latest Sea Spitfire fighters, which are very powerful enough to fight against the Fokker Zero. With their presence, our fleet will not be defeated by the enemy from the air."

Realizing that the Italian Air Force has strong potential anti-ship capabilities, the Royal Navy has quickly adjusted the configuration of carrier-based aircraft in the past few months. All the Gull fighter-bombers and F2A carrier-based fighters were cancelled and replaced with the superior Sea Spitfire, while the proportion of carrier-based fighters was increased.

In addition, the Mediterranean Fleet also replaced all the old Swordfish aircraft on the aircraft carriers with the relatively new "Big Bluefish" torpedo bombers. However, Cunningham now does not expect to use the "Big Bluefish" to deal with the Italian fleet.

After the three German air regiments moved to Sicily in early October 1940 and established radar stations in Sicily, Calabria and Taranto, Cunningham canceled the planned surprise attack on Taranto.

"In addition to the strengthening of the Mediterranean's naval power, our army and air force there will also be further strengthened."

Churchill continued: "The 3rd Division and the 1st Armored Division, which have just completed the replenishment, will board the ship as soon as possible and go to Egypt via Africa. In addition, we will also draw troops from India, Australia and New Zealand. We will strive to increase the number of ground forces to 250,000-300,000 by the end of March next year, and the number of tanks will exceed 1,000. The number of various shore-based and seaplanes will exceed 1,500!"

250,000-300,000 ground forces, 1,000 tanks, 8 battleships and 3 aircraft carriers, and 1,500 shore-based and seaplanes. For the British Empire at the moment, it is really a big deal to put out such a force.

The reason for spending so much money is to do something big. According to the plan of the British High Command, the British Mediterranean Fleet must defeat the Italian Navy before the two French super battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart are repaired and built! Because once Richelieu and Jean Bart join the German-Italian coalition, the German-Italian coalition will have four brand-new super battleships in the Mediterranean, and the British can't even take out one in the Mediterranean.

In fact, by March 1941, the entire British Royal Navy could only take out two completed new super battleships, "King George V" and "Prince of Wales". Together with the old and strong "Hood" and the small ship "Nelson" and "Rodney", they are the real backbone of the British Royal Navy. However, these battleships cannot all be used in the Mediterranean, because in the North Sea and the English Channel, two powerful German battleships "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz" are eyeing them.

Once these two super battleships, accompanied by two aircraft carriers, force their way into the Denmark Strait, Britain's maritime lifeline will face an unprecedented crisis. Therefore, the British Royal Navy can only keep the "Hood", "Nelson" and "King George V" in the Home Fleet, ready to use them to fight against the two "Bismarck" class ships that break through.

Moreover, according to the reconnaissance of the British intelligence department, at least two German battleships larger than the "Bismarck" class are currently being fitted out, and it is estimated that they will be in service before the end of 1941.

By then, the British Royal Navy can only get one more "King George V" class - in addition to the "King George V" class, the UK currently has two "Lion" class battleships under construction, but these two battleships were suspended for 10 months due to the shortage of raw materials after the outbreak of World War II. It was not until the H class was found that it was hurriedly resumed. However, the lost time could not be recovered. The two Lion-class ships originally scheduled to be commissioned in 1942 had to be delayed until 1943. This was only possible if there was an adequate supply of raw materials.

So the British Royal Navy had to plan to recall most of the battleships to the mainland before the end of 1941, and use the advantage of numbers to fight against Germany's four or more super battleships (and two O-class battlecruisers "Barbarossa" and "Schlieffen" that Britain did not know about).

Therefore, the British Mediterranean Fleet had to completely defeat the Italian Navy before the end of June 1941.

"James, you are so much to look forward to!"

In Alexandria Harbor, on the H Fleet's flagship battleship "Rodney", Admiral Cunningham shook hands with Vice Admiral James Somerville who came from afar, and said with a smile: "How is it, how are the ships? How long does it take to maintain them?"

Because the German aircraft deployed on Sicily were too terrible, the H Fleet did not dare to force its way into the T Neisse Strait, so it had to detour 11,000 nautical miles from Africa. After such a long journey, the large and small battleships of the H Fleet naturally had to be maintained.

"One month," Vice Admiral James Somerville replied with a smile, "After one month, I guarantee that all warships will be as good as new."

"It's about the same as I expected," Admiral Cunningham smiled with satisfaction. He and Vice Admiral Somerville walked into the command tower of the "Rodney" and stopped in front of the chart table. "I have a plan to fight a decisive battle with the Italian Navy in February next year. The location will be the sea area between Benghazi and Crete."

The sea area chosen by Cunningham is more than 600 kilometers away from Sicily where German aircraft are stationed. Although it is still within the combat radius of Fokker Zero, Ju88 and He-115, the distance of more than 600 kilometers will still limit their performance.

In addition, the British army has currently deployed P-39 Flying Snake fighters (American products), Mosquito reconnaissance bombers and Blenheim torpedo bombers with a longer range on Crete. They will be able to provide strong air support for the British fleet when the two fleets are fighting.

"But why do the Italians want to fight us there?" asked Vice Admiral James Somerville. "I think they should know that we (referring to Fleet H) have arrived."

"Because of Benghazi!" Admiral Cunningham said, "The Army's Operation Compass has achieved an unexpected victory. Two divisions defeated 150,000 Italians and have now invaded Libya. According to my request, the Army will drive the Italians to Benghazi, their most important stronghold in Libya, and then surround them. If the Italians want to rescue the troops in Benghazi, they can only send out the navy to fight a decisive battle with me."

His plan is very simple, which is to "besiege the point and attack the reinforcement." Use the army to besiege the point and the navy to attack the reinforcement. Since the land transportation line between Benghazi and Tripoli, another major port in Libya, is nearly 1,000 kilometers, once the main force of the Italian army is surrounded in Benghazi, the Italians can only send out the navy to rescue.

Cunningham went on to say: "I think they will do so, because they now have two super battleships and four modernized old battleships, and two aircraft carriers, which are as strong as ours."

Because the Battle of Taranto did not happen, the current Italian Navy can be said to be strong and powerful. Not only are there six battleships and two aircraft carriers ready to fight at any time, but the maritime beat radar provided by Germany is already in place. All the battleships and heavy cruisers (a total of 13) and another seven light cruisers of the Italian Navy have been equipped with radar, thus having the ability to compete with the British fleet at night.

In addition, under the repeated requests of the German Southern Front Headquarters, the Italian Air Force finally got the hang of it.

Starting from October 1940, ten torpedo bomber squadrons were successively established, equipped with 120 S.M.79 torpedo bombers, and under the supervision of German instructors, they underwent fairly rigorous training. At the same time, the Italian Air Force also formed four "long-range fighter squadrons" with 50 Fokker Zeros provided by Germany, which were specifically responsible for escorting the S.M.79 torpedo bombers.

In short, as Cunningham said, the current Italian Navy can definitely fight a decisive battle with the strengthened British Mediterranean Fleet! However, the British Royal Navy is never afraid of evenly matched opponents!