Chapter 272 Battle of the Adriatic Sea

Archduke Ferdinand's idea was quickly fed back to Constantine. This was an easy matter, which was to allocate some immigrants from Dar es Salaam to Mkani to complete the cleanup of the building that had been abandoned for two years. Work.

As long as there is no money, Constantine is still very generous. Soon more than two thousand immigrants were assigned to Mkani, which will temporarily become the most populous city in Pemba Island and the second largest military port in East Africa.

…

At this time, on the Adriatic Sea, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was already exchanging fire with the Royal Navy of Italy. The location of the naval battle was not very 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." With the commander's orderly command, the Austro-Hungarian soldiers completed each 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 was a pity that the first shot failed and fell in the sea among enemy ships, but it also allowed the Austro-Hungarian Navy to find an angle.

The huge impact caused by the firing of the artillery made the whole ship jolt, but the Austro-Hungarian navy soldiers did not seem to be affected in any way.

After the reforms of Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, the Austro-Hungarian Navy's military quality has been comprehensively improved in the past two years during the Battle of Lisa.

"Damn it, the firepower of the new battleships of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has been strengthened, and their completion level is also very high. They almost succeeded just now, fight back!"

The Italians also began to shoot at the Austro-Hungarian ships. After the lessons of the last naval battle of Lisa, although the Italian Navy's funding was greatly reduced, it also allowed the Italian Navy to work hard on its soldiers and command system.

During the Battle of Lisa, the Italian Navy was composed of the original navies of the five countries, so the command could be said to be in chaos, the quality of the naval soldiers was also uneven, and the troops were relatively disorganized. This was also an important reason for the failure of the Italian Navy despite its huge advantage.

Although the Italian Navy has completed a comprehensive improvement in its self-awareness, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has also made great progress, especially in the use of new technologies and the training of soldiers' professional skills.

Soon, the results of the training 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 was still inferior to the Austro-Hungarian Navy, especially in terms of shooting on both sides. The Austro-Hungarian Navy's ship-based artillery was obviously more accurate.

"General, we were hit on the flank by artillery from the Austro-Hungarian Navy!"

"The formation on the opposite side has changed, and their ships are getting closer." At this time, the Italian commander noticed the changes in the Austrian navy, "It is a "V" wedge-shaped formation, and William von Tegerthof wants to do it again! "

"Let our ships also form a "V" wedge-shaped formation, and this time we must face each other tit for tat." the Italian commander ordered.

opposite.

"Ha! Naive." Wilhelm von Tegthof said disdainfully when he saw the Italian Navy imitating the same thing through the telescope.

"Let the first column break away immediately and penetrate diagonally from the left. The second column will follow immediately. We will rush over directly." William von Tegetthof ordered.

Soon, Italy noticed the changes in the Austro-Hungarian Empire again. 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's going on with the Austro-Hungarian Empire!"

"That was our formation last time!" said the attentive Italian commander.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire followed the example of the Italian Navy during the Lisan Sea War, forming three columns and outflanking the Italian Navy.

"This time we must 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. Each ship must be under the command of the command ship to attack the Italians in an orderly and flexible manner. Attack," Wilhelm von Tegerthof said to his subordinates.

"Commander-in-Chief Wilhelm von Tegerthof, why don't you use your famous "V" wedge-shaped horizontal formation, but instead use this common column form to attack the Italian Navy." An Austro-Hungarian naval admiral asked.

"The 'V'-shaped wedge formation has never been my specialty. It was just that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was at a disadvantage at the time. The method I used to deal with many Italian ships was mainly to avoid being overwhelmed by the Italian fleet, which had the advantage in the number of ships at the time. Defeat, especially to ensure the safety of those lagging ships at that time. If you review the Battle of Lisa, you will find that I placed the lagging ships and small ships at the end of the 'V' to prevent them from suffering losses, because at that time There was no way they could win in a frontal attack."

"As for Italy, isn't it possible to do the same this time?"

William von Tegthof shook his head and said: "At that time, the Italian commander Persano did not make good use of his own advantages. Only when he made mistakes in command did I seize the opportunity. The Italian fleet did not cooperate properly, which caused various The ships began to fight independently. As long as we don't make the same mistake and the three columns cooperate with each other, we can cause serious damage to the Italian Navy's decision."

While the two were talking, the ships on both sides were in contact.

"fire!"

Almost at the same time, both sides opened fire, and a huge wave was blown up directly on the sea.

"The first column, circle back, the second column attacks the flank of the Italian Navy, and we circle to the right side of the Italian Navy." William von Tegetthof ordered.

Under the command of the Lissa, the Austro-Hungarian fleet was divided into three parts and directly avoided the frontal charge of the Italian Navy.

And just now, the Italian Navy, which seemed to understand Wilhelm von Tegetthoff's intentions, was heading 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 of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

At this time, the disadvantages of the V-shaped formation have become apparent. Due to the limitations of the formation, its steering is not flexible. It can only charge in three directions: left, right, and straight line.

However, the well-trained Austro-Hungarian navy, under the command of Wilhelm von Tegerthof, did not give the Italians a chance for a head-on confrontation.

Except for the third column where the Lisa was located, the first two columns deflected sharply to the left. From a high altitude, they looked like they were escaping.

But in an instant, the Austro-Hungarian Navy quickly turned right and attacked 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 three parallel lines.

"Damn it!" the Italian commander yelled angrily.

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 the sailing, we rush out of the encirclement, and the artillery fires back." 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 rescue them, but how could William von Tegerthof give them a chance.

"The third column rushed towards the center of the Italian navy, with the Lissa taking the lead."

The Lisa, where Wilhelm von Tegthoff was located, instantly led the Third Fleet towards the center of the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Italy.

Although the first half of the Italian navy had broken through most of the encirclement, most of it was still bitten by the Austro-Hungarian Empire due to the desperate 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 Italian Navy's forward ship wanted to turn around to support the rear and make a final resistance, but the second column caught the gap in its turn and accelerated directly to ram it.

In an instant, the hull of the Caesar was violently impacted. 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 he had two roads in front of him, either to fight to the end with the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which would most likely result in the total annihilation of the entire army. Either surrender, but he will definitely not be able to escape the blame when he returns to Italy. Although the Battle of Lisa was a huge defeat, Commander Persano has a much greater background than himself.

While he was still struggling in his mind, the Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Navy rammed from the left again.

surrender! The fear of death instantly stopped the Italian commander from thinking of martyrdom for his country. Anyway, the Kingdom of Italy was in doom now, so why should he be buried with Italy? However, he had to quickly find a new home.