"How can I drag over these five minutes and let the joint fleet enter the waters on the west side of Ustica?"

El Alixis was in a dilemma. According to the conclusions calculated by the fleet's staff, once the joint fleet turns eastward, the Mediterranean Fleet's T-shaped cross-head advantage will become a complete joke, because the Mediterranean Fleet, located at 23,000 yards northwest of the United Fleet, cannot touch the sea area on the southern edge of Ustica Island after turning eastward, and will only hit the hard granite of the volcanic island.

Major General Drogbeck, the British Chief of Staff, had no choice. The two fleets were only 23,000 yards apart, and the distance was still getting closer. The joint fleet could see through their true bodies at any time.

"Commander, I'm very surprised. We were only 30,000 yards away from the Joint Fleet at first. When we set up the formation, the Joint Fleet did not take action. When we were leading the Joint Fleet one battle line, the Joint Fleet still did not take any action..." Just as Lieutenant General Alexis and Major General Robeck looked at each other and were at a loss, Intelligence Staff Sezel proposed a possibility that was eye-catching:

"Will it be that the Joint Fleet encounters a similar misjudgment to the advance fleet, and they didn't notice us at all!"

Sezel's view explains the strangeness of the two main fleets of different formations being able to be peaceful. Alixis had previously hesitated whether to seize the formation immediately, because the Mediterranean Fleet was nearly 30 kilometers away from the west coast of Ustica. Turning eastward into the combat distance before approaching Ustica, the Mediterranean Fleet could gain a horizontal advantage of about ten minutes, but facing the temptation of annihilation of the Combined Fleet, Alixis hesitated again.

Ten minutes of horizontal shooting, the Mediterranean Fleet may achieve some results, or may return empty-handed. The day before, Alexis felt that he could defeat the United Fleet. Sinking one or two main battleships of the Allies was a great victory, but when Alexis held the T-shaped horizontal artifact, his greed was unstoppable: Alexis felt that sinking one or two main battleships of the United Fleet was not considered a success, and he would have to severely damage or wipe out the United Fleet!

"Watch Tower, report to me the movements of the joint fleet at any time. If there is any sign of turning east, the alarm will be sounded immediately!" Alixis grabbed the phone connecting to the watchtower and told the commander, and turned his head to order the commander: "Reduce the speed to 15 knots. Let the dragged forward fearless fleet catch up immediately. In short, the Mediterranean Fleet cannot have any actions to stimulate the joint fleet!"

"If the Mediterranean Fleet on the west side discovered that we were the main force of the joint fleet, I would have taken measures long ago to seize the t-word. So I doubt whether the Mediterranean Fleet encountered similar embarrassment as us - because of the wrong intelligence that led to misjudgment of the battlefield situation."

Wang Heidi pointed to the photo of El Alixis nailed to the chart and said lightly:

"This is the last chance for Alixis to defeat the Combined Fleet, so I concluded that Alixis was not satisfied with seizing the formation immediately and seized the opportunity of a crossing team that only had fifteen minutes at most. Instead, he deliberately made the mistake and attracted us to the waters west of Ustica and then fought a decisive battle."

General House and Lütjens agreed with Wang Heidi's clear-cut analysis. However, the conclusions they came to based on were completely opposite to those of Wang Heidi.

"Commander, since you have seen through the Mediterranean Fleet's plan, why do you still insist on going north? It's impossible for us to defeat the Mediterranean Fleet, which occupies a horizontal position!"

Lütjens retorted with the German persistence.

Wang Heidi's cold eyes swept across the confused face of the officer of the flagship of the Joint Fleet. He pulled the pencil and drew two parallel lines on a wrinkled manuscript paper to represent the positions of the two fleets, then drew a slightly arcuate diagonal line, facing the third team of the Mediterranean Fleet. Wang Heidi picked up the red pen again and circled the three Spanish-class pocket battleships of the third team heavily.

"The battle line of the joint fleet is more than eight kilometers, and the distance between each battleship is relatively large. After turning west, although the Mediterranean fleet is a horizontal team compared to us, only their second and third teams are at an effective range. Although the joint fleet is a column, for a period of time, the second and third teams can use most of the sidewalk artillery, and the first team can also fight with the bow main gun. As long as we can first defeat the three pocket battleships of the third team with weak protection and take advantage of the opportunity to move towards each other quickly, we can be invincible in this naval battle!"

Wang Heidi's plan was shocking. Although it could not escape the most mainstream era of the dreadnought era before the emergence of radar, it was almost the only practical battle line tactics. However, this plan still made the officers of the Joint Fleet smell the aura of Lisa's naval battle-like chaos that was coming to their faces.

Wang Heidi convinced the United Fleet to join this century-long gamble without support. In the desolate Tyrrhenian Sea, the United Fleet made preparations, and the three-row cruise formations gradually rose.

The flagship that led the entire fleet was almost one and a half seats and was hung with the flag saying "The First Team Advances at full speed". The speed of the three Italian battleships of the First Team suddenly increased from 15 knots to 21 knots.

The majestic steel giant ship dripped through the Mediterranean Sea, dizzying the shattered white waves. It was boundless and shocked to both sides. The main ship of the first team had compressed the front and rear distance to 350 meters. This distance was quite dangerous for the battleship with a captain who often exceeded 150 meters and had relatively insufficient steering ability. The sailor of the battleship Dante said that when it was recently, he could even see his compatriots kneeling on the stern of the battleship of the Cayodurio, praying to God.

The second team located on the right wing of the first team also began to shrink the battle line and speed to 13 knots. If everything goes well, the second team will connect to the battle line extending from the first team in four minutes. The third team also began to slow down. At about the same time when the second team joined the battle line, the third team could pull enough space to join the battle line.

Adjusting the formation under the noses of the French is extremely risky, especially the time when the United Fleet completes the battle line is too sensitive.

The sailors and officers decompose and ponder every detail in their hearts, and then carefully unfold their actions and repeatedly confirm. The staff officers do not tire of calculating on the manuscript paper and formulate premonitions to deal with various emergencies.

The extremely compressed distance between warships made the captains of each battleship feel suffocated. They tense their nerves, widen their eyes, and their palms are filled with sweat, because any ship collision or collision accident will cause the entire fleet to fall into a state of doom, because any delay in time may cause the joint fleet to miss the most favorable opportunity to turn east in the face of the Mediterranean fleet that suddenly attacked.

On the towering watchtower of the main battleship of the United Fleet, Italian and Austrian lookouts widened their eyes, and they needed to provide the most timely warning to the fleet.

After five minutes of the pocket watch, everything was as expected by Wang Heidi. Except for the two fleets traveling against each other, the distance between them was shortened to 22,000 yards, everything was quiet on the Mediterranean fleet.

Since then, the joint fleet has no chance of moving eastward. Thousands of officers and soldiers of the joint fleet who were hovering between fleeing the battlefield and heading north to the decisive battle, finally did not have to make difficult choices. The stone pressed on the chest fell to the ground, and the joint fleet, which had no way to retreat, calmed down and rushed towards the third team of the Mediterranean Fleet, which was 22,000 yards away.

"A battle against the enemy will make the joint fleet a comeback again!"

Wang Heidi grabbed the microphone and shouted.

"The Joint Fleet did not turn!"

When the watch passed for five minutes, the commander tower of the Battleship Brittany immediately exclaimed the watchtower.

"Haha, the door to victory has been opened to the Allies!"

When the United Fleet accelerated and looked calm, El Alixis refused to escape. When the United Fleet changed its formation, El Alixis still refused. Five minutes had passed, and the United Fleet might not have realized the crisis at all, or it had given up the only chance of escape in Alixis's opinion. In short, it was time for the Mediterranean Fleet to reap the fruits!

"Major General Robeck, this is probably the third formation training of the Joint Fleet. Although it did not turn to this tactical action, the unfamiliar Joint Fleet would have to take another seven or eight minutes to line up the battle line, right?" Alixis sat leisurely on the chair, lowered his head and cut off his cigar. "Order, the Mediterranean Fleet advance at full speed, and the teams followed the flagship and cleaned up the slags of the Allies!"

The order to advance at full speed and follow the flagship's turn was repeated by flags and radios. The Frenchmen of the Mediterranean Fleet showed similar textbook-like battle line technology in the Tyrrhenian Sea. At this time, Wang Heidi's "dance on the egg" in his autobiography had been on the death charge of Ustica Island for about five minutes.

"The United Fleet turned west and did not seem to be afraid of hitting our crossbar. Also, they were well-trained and well-kept, and the battle lines were maintained, not like the Fleet with only two or three formation trainings..."

It is less than the fire exchange distance, and the watchtower of the USS Brittany battleship watchtower located on the northernmost side of the battlefield can only exist as a broadcaster.

The flagship of the Third Detachment of the Mediterranean Fleet, the atmosphere was completely different. The former commander of the Spanish battleship was filled with panic sounds of lookouts:

"The United Fleet is rushing towards us with a cross-cutting action with arc. The first team formed a column with us and was about to enter the combat distance." The lookout quickly turned the telescope to observe the second team behind the first team, which had not yet completed the steering, and moved the telescope back without careful observation. "Wait, the flagship of the United Fleet is not the Cafur, but the second ship Julio Caesar." (To be continued...)

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Chapter completed!