Bulgarian Empire

Just after the second bombing, the third round of bombing came again, and now the Italians didn't bother to come out to fight the fire, and hid under bunkers they thought were safe.

The unlucky Italian Navy Rear Admiral Georgoff Messe, who was in command of the firefighting, was unfortunately affected by the second round of bombing. But he was also lucky, he just scratched his skin a bit, and then passed out happily.

The Italians, who did not have the highest commander on the scene, naturally would not take any action.

Of course, it is impossible for Taranto to have only one commander, Georgoff Messe. In fact, there are quite a few generals in the Taranto navy at this time, but it is a pity that everyone is unwilling to come out and take responsibility!

Turn the tide? This is based on the premise of success. Now the naval warships, shipyards, material storage warehouses, and forts have been patronized by the Bulgarian Air Force. The planes in the sky cannot be shot down, and the damaged property cannot be restored. What can they do?

The waiting time was long. Originally, the Bulgarian Air Force bombed from the first round to the end of the third round, but it took only three or four hours, but for the Italians below, this is already like a year!

The bombing mission was successfully completed, and 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 finished!

After a morning of bombing, more than 200 tons of bombs were bombed indiscriminately. On average, every square meter of this port was bombed with three to four kilograms of bombs.

More than two hours after the bombing, the Italians finally came out of their bunkers when they were sure they were safe. At this time, the fire had spread from the port to the urban area, and they had to come out to put out the fire!

The Italian naval officers pretending to be ostriches also came out to clean up the mess, organized firefighting and counted the losses, and reported 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 left Corfu Island.

Even the French fleet in Malta was dispatched. Although the French did not think that Bulgaria's air strikes would have much effect, they still acted in the hope of just in case.

In order to keep it secret, Ferdinand notified the French only an hour before the start of the operation, so the French fleet has just arrived.

After receiving the news of the successful air strike, the French fleet commander Darlan immediately ordered all the battlecruisers in the fleet to go one step ahead, and together with the Bulgarian Navy, implement the plan to close the door and fight dogs.

There is no satellite monitoring in this era. Even if the warship is finished, it will take time to sink. Obviously, the Air Force is too late to wait for the Italian warship to sink. The only thing that is certain is that all the Italian battleships have been patronized.

This is enough, at least it can be sure that the Italian navy has been seriously 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 hole!

After the air raid, the Bulgarian Navy was not far from Taranto. Five dreadnoughts plus four coastal defense battleships and a bunch of cruisers, destroyers, etc., the entire fleet totaled more than 120 warships.

Commanding the operation was Bulgarian Rear Admiral Pelt Ivanlov, who was also the captain of the flagship Vladivostok.

The Great Emperor just joined the Bulgarian Navy in early 1915. There is no doubt that this is a super-class dreadnought. The specific parameters are as follows:

Displacement: 2895o tons / full load displacement: 3252o tons

Dimensions: Length 196m/Width 27.3m

Draft: 9.1 meters

Power: 24 boilers

Host power 75ooo horsepower, 4 shafts

Navigation: 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 76mm guns, 4 4-inch caliber anti-aircraft guns, and eight 40mm anti-aircraft guns

Armor: Side armor belt 13 inches,

Main deck 2.5-5 inches, turret (front) 13 inches, (top) 5 inches, gun mount 10 inches, conning tower 11 inches. The total armor weight is 8100 tons.

Crew: 1o15 people

This is already the full strength of the Bulgarian Navy. If it is severely damaged, World War I can be declared, and the Bulgarian Navy can only play soy sauce!

Barely can be regarded as a gamble, if the Italian navy can be successfully killed this time, then the Bulgarian navy will make a qualitative breakthrough, and Bulgaria will become a naval power!

On the contrary, Ferdinand can give up the navy and honestly develop the army and air force!

The Italians didn't know that the danger was approaching, and they were busy organizing manpower to put out the fire and repair the warship.

After all, many seriously injured warships must be rescued immediately, otherwise they may turn from serious injuries to death.

Watching the sinking of warships, the heart of the Italian Navy Commander Count Abruzzi also sank to the bottom. He knew that the Italian Navy suffered a great loss this time.

Although the specific losses have not yet been calculated, at a glance, there are already two-digit warships missing, and more importantly, two dreadnoughts have also disappeared from his sight!

The Italian Navy paid a bloody price for their thin-skinned armor, and the two dreadnoughts Dante Allegri and Count Cavour sank cleanly.

No way, who said that the dreadnought is the focus of the Bulgarian Air Force?

An ominous premonition emerged in Earl Abruzzi's heart. Could it be that the Bulgarian Air Force is still coming to bomb?

He was in the navy, and he didn't know that after a bombing, the aircraft of this era had to undergo an overhaul before continuing to fight.

"Now I order that all warships that can go to sea set sail and head to Palermo!" Earl Abruzzi said seriously

"Yes!" After a young officer finished speaking, he went down to deliver the order.

Everyone knows that the Port of Taranto is no longer suitable for the Italian Navy to continue to be stationed. Who knows when the Bulgarian planes will come again and continue to drop bombs on their heads?

...

It was too late when the Italians started to act! When the Italian navy left the port, the Bulgarian navy had already come to block the door.

There is no way, Corfu Island is not far from Taranto, and it is not a joke!

It was useless for the Italians to react quickly. The air raids began in the early morning and did not end until noon.

Even though Earl Abruzzi issued the order in the shortest possible time, after the Italian navy organized itself, conducted some inspections on the warship, and replenished some supplies in a panic, it was still evening.

At this moment, the Bulgarian navy is already waiting outside. Under the cover of night, even if the two sides only occupy 20 or 30 nautical miles, the Italians still don't know that the enemy is under their noses.

"Apply for the general, this is our preliminary loss statistics." In the evening, an officer submitted a list of losses to Earl Abruzzi

Of course, this is limited to statistics on the loss of naval warships and the loss of active naval officers and soldiers.

Two dreadnoughts, five cruisers and a dozen older warships were sunk, including an older battleship. The remaining large warships were also all injured, and less than half of the warships were able to leave the port, including a dreadnought that suffered heavy damage and was unable to leave the port!

There were 2,846 casualties among active navy officers and soldiers, 876 of whom have been confirmed dead. The casualties of logistics personnel have not yet been counted, and this number will not be small now.

After receiving the casualty report, Count Abruzzi's mood became even worse. This means that the main force of the Italian navy has lost one-third since the beginning of the war!

"Can't wait any longer!" If there is another bombing, the main force of the Italian navy will be finished! Earl Abruzzi knew that even if he left now, he would only be able to keep the warships on the fourth floor of the port of Taranto, and the remaining ones could only be left to fate!

But he had to go. The port of Taranto gathered more than 80% of the main force of the Italian navy, including the fleet withdrawn from Tripoli.

Staying here may wipe out the entire army, but running away now can at least keep more than half of the kingdom's main force! He has no illusions about Italy's air defense capabilities at all!

Whether it is an anti-aircraft artillery or an anti-aircraft machine gun, it is impossible to deploy it in a day or two and equip it for service!

In order to hurry, Count Abruzzi decided to take the fleet out overnight. Anyway, it was all off the coast of Italy, and everyone was familiar with the road conditions, so there was nothing to worry about.

Otherwise, if the Bulgarian Air Force visits again tomorrow, the Italian Navy will really be finished!

Of course, Ferdinand didn't know about the loss of the Italians, otherwise he wouldn't have asked the French for help.

After all, it is very valuable for Bulgaria to kill the main force of the Italian navy on its own, and it is very valuable for Bulgaria to enjoy this glory, which is very beneficial to the distribution of benefits after the war!

History has no ifs! For the sake of safety, the Bulgarian navy stayed 20 nautical miles away from the port of Taranto, waiting for the arrival of the French navy.

In the dark night, the two fleets collided like this. When the enemy was discovered, the distance between the two sides was only six or seven nautical miles.

"General enemy attack!"

Pelt-Ivanlov was taken aback. He thought it was the Italians who had discovered their existence and planned to strike first.

But he calmed down soon. If the Italians had discovered them in advance, they should have attacked them during the day. Fighting at night is not so easy!

To a large extent, it all depends on the luck of both sides. Even if the Italian navy is stronger, there is a great possibility that both sides will suffer.

Then it is very likely that the Italians want to escape. After all, they were bombed just now during the day. If they don’t run away now, they will stay and wait for the bombing?

After judging the enemy's initial purpose, Major General Pelt-Ivanlov 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!" Pelt Ivanlov calmly ordered

...

Now that the Bulgarian navy has discovered the Italians, the Italians will naturally discover them too, but Count Abruzzi is still not sure who the enemy is and how big it is!

For Earl Abruzzi, this is another life-or-death decision. If the main fleet of the Allied Powers is outside, then the Italian Navy is now half-crippled and does not even have the power to fight a war. the best choice!

...

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