The Rise of the Third Reich

On July 8, 9 and 10, 1940, the arrogant British Empire had to admit the fact that air supremacy in the Mediterranean belonged not to the British Royal Air Force, but to the Italian Fascist Air Force!

Although in the past two months, the powerful fascist air force has not shown up like this, it has very politely and gracefully allowed British aircraft and fleets to sail freely in the Mediterranean. But now the fascist leader said he wanted to teach the British a lesson, so the powerful Italian Fascist Air Force immediately took action.

From the afternoon of July 8 to the morning of July 10, the sky across the Eastern Mediterranean was filled with "hunchback aircraft" (S.M.79 medium bombers) carrying bombs or torpedoes, chasing ships passing by on the sea everywhere, seriously Affecting freedom of navigation in the Eastern Mediterranean...

The Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy had no choice but to tuck their tails between their legs and run away in despair against these unscrupulous Italian aircraft.

At about 9 a.m. on July 10, when Admiral Cunningham was writing a report on the situation of the Battle of Calabria (called the Battle of Ponta Stillo in Italians) in his cabin, the phone rang and he was interrupted. Picking up the receiver, I immediately heard Major General Crutchley's voice.

"The radar detected enemy planes, more than 10 in number!"

"Damn!" Cunningham cursed, "Are these Italian hunchbacks finished?"

He was a little impatient after being bombed. In less than two days in the past, he had experienced the power of the fascist air force!

If it weren't for their "hunchback" bombers that littered bombs, his fleet would have been able to sink the Italian battleship that was slowed down by the bomb in the great sea battle on July 8.

However, the subsequent "persistent" air strikes launched by the Italian "Hunchback" aircraft made him really afraid to fight, and he had to give up the victory that he was almost about to win.

For most of the afternoon of July 8, groups of 10 or 8 Hunchback bombers flew over non-stop. They also don't dive bomb like the Germans. Most of them bomb at high altitudes, and a few will drop a few torpedoes from a distance. Although such bombings were not very accurate, Cunningham even found that many bombs fell around the Italians' own warships.

But the British fleet had to do air defense. Even if the bombs were not accurate, S-shaped evasion still had to be done, and anti-aircraft shells had to be fired out as if they cost nothing. Just once or twice is enough. Who can bear it if it comes eight times out of ten?

Moreover, there were 12 German Fokker Zeros and Spitfires in the sky, and from time to time a few G.50s would come to play shallow dive bombing. In addition, it is not known when two Veneto-class battleships, which are no less powerful than the Hood, will arrive.

Therefore, after the Italians' 11th air strike (11 air strikes plus only 109 aircraft came together), Cunningham finally lost the courage to continue to struggle and ordered the destroyers to release smoke to cover the battleships and aircraft carriers and withdraw from the battlefield. .

But these damn fascist air forces were unforgiving. On the afternoon of July 8th, all day on July 9th (even at night they were bombed twice), and until now (the morning of July 10th) the fleet was almost here. Alexandria, Italian planes are still bombing every hour or two. If you include the bombing of Fleet A, there have been three to four hundred aircraft sorties that dropped bombs on the British fleet.

Although the bombs dropped by these Italian hunchback aircraft were not accurate, the results were pitiful. They only severely damaged one light cruiser (the Gloucester of Fleet A) and opened a big hole in the flight deck of the USS Eagle aircraft carrier. In addition, some high-explosive bombs fell on the decks of the Glorious, Warspite and Sovereign, but they did not cause much damage.

However, such frequent bombings showed that the Italian Air Force had the strength to severely damage the British Mediterranean Fleet, but the Italian style of sloppiness prevented them from using such strength correctly for the time being.

But once the Italians get serious, these "humpback planes" with a long range and flying quite fast will drive Cunningham's fleet out of the Mediterranean!

Therefore, in a report to the Admiralty in London, Admiral Cunningham told his superior, Admiral Pound: "The battle was extremely unsatisfactory for us. We were almost defeated by the Italians."

At the same time, he also requested in the report that the Navy Department be given a battleship, several heavy cruisers, an armored aircraft carrier, an anti-aircraft cruiser and several other smaller warships. In addition, Cunningham also asked London to immediately provide at least 60 Sea Spitfires, 120 Spitfire or Hurricane fighter jets, and 180 heavy-duty fighter jets with long range...

…

"Marshal, the Italians have won at sea!"

On the evening of July 10, Marshal Hessmann had just returned to Zossen's manor and was about to make out with Chloe when he received a long-distance call from General Halder in Rome.

"You won?" Hersman asked doubtfully, "Are you sure?"

He did not remember any great victory the Italian Navy had fought in the Mediterranean in July 1940.

"Very sure!" Halder reported, "Mussolini told me personally. Admiral Priccolo, Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, also provided photos. At least two British aircraft carriers were severely damaged, and another two were severely damaged. The battleship was severely damaged... It is obvious that the British Mediterranean Fleet has lost at least half of its strength. Now the control of the sea in the Mediterranean is firmly in the hands of the Italian Navy! "

This is real?

Hersman couldn't believe it, and he asked again: "What are the losses of the Italians?"

"The battleship Caesar was damaged, and a light cruiser and two destroyers were injured due to accidental bombing by the Italian Air Force."

"Accidental explosion?" Hersman was stunned. He still doesn't know that in the naval battle of Ponta Stillo, the Italian Air Force was not strong enough in distinguishing between ourselves and the enemy, which resulted in many accidental bombings. However, since their bombs were not very accurate, they did not cause much damage.

"This is normal," Halder said. "According to statistics, the Italian Air Force dispatched more than 600 aircraft to bomb the British fleet on the 8th, 9th and today during the day. Mistakes are inevitable in the process."

Accidental bombings and accidental injuries occur everywhere, and the German Air Force did many such things during the Western Front campaign. So Hessmann didn't ask much, but asked about the preparations for the Malta campaign.

General Halder on the phone told him that 12 British transport ships arrived in Malta on July 8, so the strength of the island of Malta may have increased.

Moreover, the Italian battleship Caesar may take 3 months to repair (actually it was repaired in 30 days), so the Malta operation will not be carried out until October at the earliest.

"Marshal," Halder assured on the phone, "you can rest assured that the Italian Air Force will carry out air strikes on Malta and Alexandria, ensuring that these two strategic points can be paralyzed and will not affect the progress of the North African campaign."

Can Italians’ guarantees be relied on? Hersman was very skeptical when he hung up the phone. However, he cannot question the Italian allies without any basis. Fortunately, he, the chief of general staff, now has great power. Sending a high-level inspection team to investigate the situation of the Ponta Stillo naval battle is just a matter of words.

…

When Halder hung up the phone, one of his adjutants opened the door and walked in: "Your Excellency, the car is ready and you can go to the Palazzo Venezia at any time."

There is a reception for the heroes of the Fascist Air Force in the Palazzo Venezia this evening - although Marshal Hersmann doubts the victory achieved by the Italians, Italian leader Mussolini firmly believes in it. Just this evening, he announced his victory in an address to the nation.

According to him, the Italian navy and air force achieved decisive victories in the past three days of combat! Two British aircraft carriers and two British battleships were sunk, while the Italian Navy's losses were only slight damage to one battleship.

"...It is clear that we have won and will continue to win, which is unstoppable. The great Roman Empire will be revived in our generation, and we will be the rebuilders of Rome. When a thousand years from now When the Romans mentioned those fascist heroes who fought bravely against the enemy in the Mediterranean, North Africa and East Africa, they would use a tone of great reverence! They would shout: Long live fascist Rome! Long live fascist Italy!"

Italian leader Mussolini, who was delivering a speech at the Palazzo Venezia, really believed that his invincible air force had just dealt a heavy blow to the British Mediterranean Fleet - there was no need to doubt this, because the Italian Air Force had more than 600 "Hunchback" aircraft that could Rampant across the Mediterranean. This was double the number of German aircraft that bombed Spaka Bay on September 3, 1939. And each "hunchback" aircraft can carry two 500 kilogram bombs. More than 600 aircraft can drop 1200-1300 500kg bombs at a time. How can the British Mediterranean Fleet fight against such air power?

Therefore, the destruction of the British Mediterranean Fleet is inevitable, and without the Mediterranean Fleet, how could the small British army in Egypt defeat the powerful Italian Army?

Watching Italy win the war is what happened in these few months, and then the Roman Empire will be revived!

Mussolini, who could no longer suppress the smile on his face, was already thinking about holding a grand military parade under the Egyptian pyramids. This is an even more remarkable thing than Octavian's conquest of Egypt 2000 years ago, because this time he defeated not a Roman general and Cleopatra, but the British Empire!