Chapter 272 Battle of the Adriatic Sea
The idea of Archduke Ferdinand was quickly fed back to Constantine. This matter is very easy, that is, to transfer some immigrants from Dar es Salaam to Mkani to complete the cleanup of this deserted building that has been abandoned for two years. Work.
As long as he doesn’t need money, Constantine is still very generous. Soon more than 2,000 immigrants will be assigned to Mkani, which will temporarily become the most populous city on Pemba Island and the second largest military port in East Africa.
…
At this time in the Adriatic Sea, the Austro-Hungarian Navy had already exchanged fire with the Royal Italian Navy. The naval battle was not far from the Republic of San Marino on the Apennine Peninsula. On the coast, people could already hear the faint sound of artillery fire.
Sea.
"Load ammunition and aim." Following the command of the commander in an orderly manner, the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire completed every operation step in an orderly manner.
"Fire!"
With the sound of "boom", the naval gun emitted thick black smoke, and the shells flew straight towards the Italian navy ship.
It is a pity that the first shot did not make a difference and fell into the sea of the enemy ship, but it also allowed the Austro-Hungarian Navy to find an angle.
The huge impact brought by the firing of the artillery made the whole ship a little bumpy, but the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy did not seem to be affected in any way.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy has been reformed by William von Tegerthoff. In the past two years, its military quality has been comprehensively improved during the Bilisa naval battle.
"Damn it, the firepower of the new warships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has been strengthened again, and they have a high degree of completion. They almost succeeded just now, fight back!"
The Italians also began to shoot at the ships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the lessons of the last Lisa naval battle, although the Italian Navy’s funding was greatly reduced, it also allowed the Italian Navy to work **** its soldiers and command system.
During the Lisa naval battle, the Italian navy was composed of the original five navies, so the command can be said to be chaotic, and the quality of the naval soldiers is also uneven, and the troops are relatively scattered. This is also an important reason for the failure of the Italian navy when it has great advantages.
Although the current Italian Navy has completed a comprehensive improvement in self-awareness, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has made considerable progress, especially in the use of new technologies and the training of soldiers' professional skills.
Soon, the training results of the naval soldiers of the two countries were reflected. Italy finally completed the overall coordination and unification this time, and the cooperation between the various ships was also good.
But it is still inferior to the Austro-Hungarian Navy, especially in terms of shooting, the artillery on board the Austro-Hungarian Navy is obviously more accurate.
"General, we are flanked by artillery from the Austro-Hungarian Navy!"
"The formation on the opposite side is changing, and their ships are moving closer." At this time, the Italian commander noticed the change of the Austrian Navy, "It's a "V" wedge-shaped horizontal formation, and William von Tegerthoff wants to repeat the trick again! "
"Let our ships also form a "V" wedge-shaped horizontal formation, and this time we must face each other." The Italian commander ordered.
opposite.
"Oh! Naive." William von Tegerthoff said disdainfully when he saw the Italian Navy in the telescope.
"Let the first column break away immediately, and pass obliquely from the left. The second column will immediately follow up, and we will rush directly." Wilhelm von Tegerthoff ordered.
Soon, Italy noticed the changes in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Almost instantly, the formation of the Austro-Hungarian Navy fleet changed again, while Italian ships were still gathering.
Seeing the changes in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Italian Navy commander was very puzzled: "What is going on with the Austro-Hungarian Empire!"
"That was our formation last time!" said the careful Italian commander.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire learned from the Italian Navy during the Lissa Sea Battle, and turned into three columns, outflanking the Italian Navy.
"This time we have to give full play to our mobility. Compared with last time, our strength has improved a lot. In terms of equipment, it is basically the same as Italy. All ships must be ordered and flexible to the Italians under the command of the command ship. Attack." Wilhelm von Tegerthoff said to his subordinates.
"The 'V' wedge formation has never been my forte. It was just that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was at a disadvantage at that time. The method I used to deal with many Italian ships was mainly to avoid being overwhelmed by the Italian fleet, which had an advantage in the number of ships at that time. Defeat, especially to ensure the safety of those lagging ships at that time, you will find out when you replay the Lisa naval battle, I put the lagging ships and small ships at the tail of the 'V' to avoid losses, because at that time There's no way they're going to win in a frontal attack."
"The Italian side, can they do the same this time?"
Wilhelm von Tegerthoff shook his head and said: "At that time, the Italian commander Persano did not make good use of his own advantages. I seized the opportunity because of a command error. The Italian fleet did not cooperate properly. The ships began to fight on their own, and as long as we don't make the same mistakes, the cooperation of the three columns can cause serious damage to the Italian Navy."
While the two were talking, the ships of both sides had already made contact.
"Fire!"
Almost at the same time, the two sides opened fire together, and a huge wave was directly blown out of the sea.
"The first column, go around the back, the second column attacks the Italian Navy's flank, and we go around to the right side of the Italian Navy." William von Tegerthoff ordered.
Under the command of the Lisa, the Austro-Hungarian fleet was divided into three parts, directly avoiding the frontal charge of the Italian Navy.
And just now, the Italian navy, which seemed to understand William von Tegerthoff's intentions, was heading towards the second column in a V shape, trying to cut off the Austro-Hungarian navy.
The Italian Kaiser issued an order, and the entire Italian fleet shifted to the left of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
At this time, the disadvantage of the V-shape has been revealed. Because of the formation restriction, its steering is not flexible. There are only three directions to charge left or right.
However, the well-trained Austro-Hungarian Navy, under the command of Wilhelm von Tegerthoff, did not give the Italians a chance to confront them head-on.
Except for the third column where the Lissa was located, the first two columns deflected sharply to the left, and looked like they were fleeing from a high altitude.
But in an instant, the Austro-Hungarian Navy turned right again at a rapid speed, attacking towards the left side of the Italian Navy. At this time, the third column also circled to the right side of the Italian Navy.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Italian Navy fleet instantly became a state of three parallel lines.
"Damn!" the Italian commander yelled.
At this time, he woke up like a dream, but it was too late. Although he caught the tail of the second column of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the three columns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire completed the encirclement of the Italian Navy.
"Fire!" The Italian navy, which was surrounded by the Austro-Hungarian navy, quickly became a living target.
"Speed up, we rushed out of the encirclement, and the artillery returned fire." The Italian commander ordered.
At this time, there are no enemies in front of the Italian navy, so as long as they run fast, they can still clear the siege, but how could William von Tegerthoff give them a chance.
"The third column rushed towards the middle of the Italian navy, with the Lissa taking the lead."
The Lissa, where Wilhelm von Tegerthoff was located, instantly led the Third Fleet towards the center of the Royal Italian Navy.
Although the first half of the Italian navy has broken through most of the encirclement, most of them were still bitten by the Austro-Hungarian Empire because of the death-defying attack of the Lisa and the third column.
At this time, the first and second columns also joined the melee, and the second column headed towards the head of the Italian Navy.
The front ship of the Italian Navy wanted to turn around and return to the rear to make a final resistance, but the second column seized the gap in its turn and directly accelerated and rushed towards it.
In an instant, the hull of the Caesar was violently impacted, and the Italian commander-in-chief almost failed to stand still in the face of the sudden and huge impact.
At this time, he has realized that the Italian navy has completely lost its chance of winning, and now there are two ways in front of him, or fight to the death with the Austro-Hungarian navy, and the result is a high probability that the entire army will be wiped out. Either surrender, but I will definitely be able to escape the guilt when I return to Italy. Although the Lisa naval battle was also a big defeat, the commander Persano is much bigger than himself.
While he was still struggling in his mind, the Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Navy struck again from the left.
Surrender! The fear of death instantly cut off the idea of the Italian commander wanting to die for the country. Anyway, now that the kingdom of Italy is gone, why should he be buried with Italy, but he must find a family quickly.
(end of this chapter)