Chapter 272 Battle of the Adriatic Sea
Archduke Ferdinand's idea was quickly fed back to Constantine. This was an easy task. All it took was to allocate some immigrants from Dar es Salaam to Mkani to complete the cleanup of the city, which had been abandoned for two years.
As long as no money is asked, Constantine is still very generous. Soon more than 2,000 immigrants are 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 Italian Navy. The location of 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.
maritime.
"Load ammunition and aim." Following the commander's orderly command, the Austro-Hungarian soldiers completed each operation step in an orderly manner.
"fire!"
With a loud "boom", the naval gun emitted thick black smoke and the shells flew straight towards the Italian naval ship.
Unfortunately, the first shot did not succeed and fell into the sea of the enemy ship, but it also allowed the Austro-Hungarian Navy to find the angle.
The huge impact caused by the artillery firing caused the entire ship to shake slightly, but the Austro-Hungarian Navy soldiers seemed to be unaffected.
After the reforms of Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has made comprehensive improvements in military quality in the past two years compared to the Battle of Lissa.
"Damn it! The firepower of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's new warships has been enhanced, and they are also very advanced. We almost let them succeed just now. Fight back!"
The Italians also began to shoot at Austro-Hungarian ships. After the lessons learned from the last Battle of Lissa, although the Italian Navy's funding was greatly reduced, the Italian Navy also put a lot of effort into its soldiers and command system.
During the Battle of Lissa, the Italian Navy was composed of the original navies of five countries, so the command was in chaos. The quality of the naval soldiers was uneven and the troops were relatively disorganized. This was also an important reason why the Italian Navy failed despite having a huge advantage.
Although the current Italian Navy has completed a comprehensive improvement in self-awareness, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has also 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 became apparent. This time, Italy finally achieved overall coordination and unity, and the cooperation between the various ships was also good.
However, it was still inferior to the Austro-Hungarian Navy, especially in shooting. The Austro-Hungarian Navy's shipboard artillery was obviously more accurate.
"General, our flank has been hit by artillery fire from the Austro-Hungarian Navy!"
"The enemy has changed their formation, and their ships are approaching." At this time, the Italian commander noticed the changes in the Austrian Navy. "It's a "V"-shaped wedge formation. Wilhelm von Tegetthoff is trying to use the same old trick again!"
"Let our ships also form a "V"-shaped wedge formation, and this time we must confront each other head-on." The Italian commander ordered.
opposite.
"Ha! Naive." Wilhelm von Tegetthoff said disdainfully when he saw the Italian Navy following suit through the telescope.
"Let the first column break away immediately and move diagonally from the left. The second column will follow immediately and we will rush straight forward." William von Tegetthoff ordered.
Soon, Italy noticed the changes in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Almost in an instant, the formation of the Austro-Hungarian naval fleet changed again, while the Italian ships were still gathering.
Seeing the changes in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Italian Navy commander was very puzzled: "What's going on with the Austro-Hungarian Empire!"
"That was our formation last time!" said a careful Italian commander.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire followed the example of the Italian Navy during the Battle of Lissa and formed three columns to outflank the Italian Navy.
"This time we must give full play to our mobility. Compared with last time, our strength has improved a lot, and our equipment is basically on par with Italy. All ships must attack the Italians in an orderly and flexibly under the command of the command ship." Wilhelm von Tegetthoff said to his subordinates.
"Commander-in-Chief Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, why didn't you use your famous "V"-shaped wedge formation, but instead used this common column form to attack the Italian Navy?" asked an Austro-Hungarian naval general.
"The 'V'-shaped wedge formation has never been my forte. It was just that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was at a disadvantage at the time. The method I used to deal with the numerous Italian ships was mainly to avoid being defeated one by one by the Italian fleet, which had a larger number of ships at the time, especially to ensure the safety of the lagging ships at the time. If you review the Battle of Lissa, you will find that I placed the lagging ships and small ships at the tail of the 'V' to avoid them from suffering losses, because at that time they had no chance of winning in a frontal attack."
"Then can Italy do the same this time?"
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff shook his head and said, "Persano, the Italian commander at the time, did not make good use of his advantages. He made mistakes in command, which gave me the opportunity to seize the opportunity. The Italian fleet did not coordinate well, causing each ship to fight on its own. As long as we do not make the same mistake, the three columns can cooperate with each other and inflict heavy damage to the Italian Navy."
While the two were talking, the ships of both sides had already come into contact.
"fire!"
Almost at the same time, both sides opened fire, and huge waves were blown up directly on the sea surface.
"First column, go around the rear, second column attack the Italian Navy's flank, we will go around to the right side of the Italian Navy." Wilhelm von Tegetthoff ordered.
Under the command of Lissa, the Austro-Hungarian fleet was divided into three parts and directly avoided the head-on charge of the Italian Navy.
Just now, the Italian Navy, which seemed to understand Wilhelm von Tegetthoff's intentions, was moving towards the second column in a V shape, trying to cut off the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
The Italian Caesar issued an order, and the entire Italian fleet shifted to the left side of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.
At this time, the disadvantage of the V-shape has become apparent. Due to the limitations of the formation, its turning is not flexible, and it only has three directions: left, right, or straight charge.
However, the well-trained Austro-Hungarian Navy, under the command of Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, did not give the Italians any chance of a head-on confrontation.
Except for the third column where the Lisa was located, the first two columns deviated sharply to the left. From the altitude, they seemed to be escaping.
But in an instant, the Austro-Hungarian Navy turned right quickly and attacked the left side of the Italian Navy. At this time, the Third Column also went around the right side of the Italian Navy.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Italian Navy fleet instantly became three parallel lines.
"Damn it!" cursed the Italian commander.
At this time he woke up from his dream, but it was too late. Although he caught the tail of the Austro-Hungarian Second Column, the three columns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire completed the encirclement of the Italian Navy.
"Open fire!" The Italian Navy, sandwiched between the Austro-Hungarian Navy, quickly became a sitting duck.
"Speed up, we'll break out of the encirclement and fire back." the Italian commander ordered.
At this time, there were no enemies in front of the Italian Navy, so as long as they ran fast, they could still escape, but how could Wilhelm von Tegetthoff give them a chance?
"The third column rushed towards the center of the Italian navy, with the Lisa leading the way."
The Lissa, on which Wilhelm von Tegetthoff was stationed, instantly led the Third Fleet towards the center of the Italian Navy.
Although most of the front half of the Italian Navy had broken through, due to the desperate attack of the Lissa and the Third Column, most of them were still held back by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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 Italian Navy's front ships wanted to turn around and return to the rear for a final resistance, but the second column seized the opportunity when they turned and accelerated to ram into them.
In an instant, the hull of the Caesar was hit violently, and the Italian commander-in-chief almost lost his balance in the face of the sudden huge impact.
At this time, he had realized that the Italian Navy had completely lost the chance of winning. Now there were two options before him: either fight to the death with the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which would most likely result in annihilation, or surrender, but he would definitely be held accountable if he returned to Italy. Although the Battle of Lissa was also a great defeat, the commander Persano was much more powerful than himself.
While he was still struggling with the problem, the Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Navy hit him from the left again.
Surrender! The fear of death instantly put an end to the Italian commander's desire to die for his country. Anyway, the Italian Kingdom was doomed, so why should he be buried with Italy? However, he had to find a new home quickly.
(End of this chapter)
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