No. 10 Downing Street, Cabinet Conference Room.

While talking to Army Secretary Aiden, Winston Churchill walked into the conference room slowly with a cane. He was holding a cigar in his mouth and his face was not very good-looking. Obviously, Aiden's efforts to win over Turkey were once again declared a failure. Although Italy suffered a crushing 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 capabilities of the British Empire is in front of Churchill. The British intelligence agency reported that Italian Prime Minister Mussolini had just visited Germany and asked for help. In the final public joint statement, the news announced that the Joint Command of the Mediterranean Theater was set up!

Moreover, according to the information founded by the British intelligence department from Italy, the commander-in-chief of the German-Italy Mediterranean Theater Command will also serve as Marshal Hessman, the chief of the General Staff of the German Wehrmacht.

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

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

"The Germans at least have no way to send their fleet to the Mediterranean," Churchill laughed suddenly after informing all the 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, which is a very powerful aircraft that can fight against Folk Zero. With their presence, our fleet will not be defeated by enemies 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 Dayou fighter bombers and 2 carrier-based fighters were eliminated, replacing them with superior sea spitfire, while also increasing the proportion of carrier-based fighters.

In addition, the Mediterranean Fleet also replaced all the old swordfish aircraft on the aircraft carrier with the relatively new "Big Blue and White Fish" torpedo bomber. However, Cunningham does not expect to use "Big Blue and White Fish" to deal with the Italian fleet now.

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

“In addition to the strengthening of the sea power in the Mediterranean, our army and air force there will be further strengthened.”

Churchill continued, "The 3rd and 1st Armored Division, which have just been supplemented, will board the ship as soon as possible and detour Africa to Egypt. In addition, we will also draw troops from India, Australia and New Zealand. We will strive to increase the number of ground troops to 25.3 million by the end of next March, and the number of tanks will exceed 1,000. The number of various shore-based and seaplanes will exceed 1,500!"

25.3 million ground troops, 1,000 tanks, 8 battleships and 3 aircraft carriers, as well as 1,500 shore-based and seaplanes. For the current British Empire, it is really a huge investment to use such power.

It was naturally to do a big deal. According to the plan of the British Command, the British Mediterranean Fleet must defeat the Italian Navy before the restoration and construction of two French super battleships, Richelieu and Jean Bar, completed the restoration and construction! Because once Richelieu and Jean Bar join the German-Italy coalition forces, the German-Italy coalition forces will have four brand new super battleships in the Mediterranean, while Britain cannot even take out one in the Mediterranean.

In fact, by March 1941, the entire British Royal Navy could only produce two completed new super battleships "King George V" and "Prince of Wales". In addition, the old and strong "Houd" and the "Nelson" with small ships and large cannons, the real backbone of the British Royal Navy. However, these warships cannot be used all in the Mediterranean, because in the direction of the North Sea and the English Channel, the two powerful German battleships "Bismar" and "Tirpitz" were eyeing each other.

Once these two super battleships break through the Denmark Strait accompanied by two aircraft carriers, the British maritime lifeline will encounter an unprecedented crisis. Therefore, the British Royal Navy can only leave the Hood, Nelson and King George V in the local fleet, ready to use them to fight against the two Bismarck-classes of the penetration.

Moreover, according to British intelligence reconnaissance, at least two German battleships larger than the Bismarck class are currently being installed, and they are estimated to be put into service before the end of 1941.

At that time, the Royal Navy could only get one "King George V" class at most. In addition to the "King George V" class, the UK currently has two "Lion" class battleships under construction. However, these two battleships were suspended for 10 months due to the tight supply of raw materials after the outbreak of World War II. It was not until the outfitted class was discovered that it was quickly resumed. However, the delayed time could not be recovered. The two "Lion" classes, which were originally scheduled to be put into service in 1942, will now be delayed until 1943. This can only be achieved when the raw materials are sufficient.

Therefore, the British Royal Navy had no choice but to recall most of the battleships to the mainland by the end of 1941, and use its numerical advantage to fight against four or more super battleships from Germany, and two class battlecruisers "Barbarossa" and "Sharifen" that the British did not know about.

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

"James, I've been looking forward to you!"

In Alexandria, on the battleship of the fleet's flagship "Rodney", Admiral Cunningham shook hands with Lieutenant General James Somerville who came from afar, and smiled and said, "How about it, are the ships in good condition? How much time is needed to maintain it?"

Because the German aircraft deployed on Sicily were too terrible, the fleet did not dare to forcefully break into the Nice Strait, so it had to circle 11,000 nautical miles from Africa. After running so far, the fleet's large and small warships naturally had to be maintained.

"One month," replied Lieutenant General James Somerville with a smile, "In a month, I promise that all warships will be like new."

"It's almost the same as what I expected," Admiral Cunningham smiled with satisfaction. He walked into the commander tower of the "Rodney" with Lieutenant General Somerville and took a foothold in front of the chart table. "I have a plan to fight a decisive battle with the Italian Navy in February next year, and choose the location 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 Folk Zero, 88 and 115, the distance above 600 kilometers will still limit their performance.

In addition, the British army has deployed US cargo, mosquito reconnaissance bomber and Blenheim torpedo bomber with a larger range on Crete. They will be able to provide strong air support to the British fleet when the two fleets are in war.

"But why did the Italians fight us there?" asked Lieutenant General James Somerville, "I think they should be very clear that we mean the fleet has arrived."

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

His plan is very simple, which is to "surround the point and attack aid". Use the army to surround the point and use the navy to attack aid. Since the land transportation line between Benghazi and Tripoli, another big 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 this, because they now have 2 super battleships and 4 modernized old-fashioned battleships, and 2 aircraft carriers, which are comparable to ours."

Because the Battle of Taranto did not happen, the Italian Navy can be said to be strong now. Not only are six battleships and two aircraft carriers able to fight at any time, but the German-aided maritime beat radar has been in place. All the Italian Navy's battleships and heavy cruisers have been installed, and the radar has been installed, thus having the ability to compete with the British fleet at night.

In addition, under the repeated requests of the German Southern Front General Command, the Italian Air Force finally got his head open.

Starting from October 1940, ten torpedo bombers were established one after another, equipped with 120 79 torpedo bombers, and under the supervision of German instructors, they conducted relatively strict training. At the same time, the Italian Air Force also used 50 Fokker Zero provided by Germany to form 4 "long-range fighter squadrons" to specifically escort the 79 torpedo bombers.
Chapter completed!