Romanian Eagle

On the blue sea, a fleet is rushing all the way.

They are the second task force commanded by Major General Fernandez. The fleet is lined up in a row on the Mediterranean Sea, and there are dozens of fighter jets in the sky defending the airspace of his fleet.

Admiral Fernandez, the commander of the fleet, looked at the sea with a serious expression. "How far is it from the target?"

"According to the results of the investigation ten minutes ago, the distance is still 120 kilometers. However, the other party should have discovered that our previous two investigations were desperately driving towards Crete."

After hearing the communication staff's words, Major General Fernandez gave him a dissatisfied look, and then asked again. "What is the opponent's speed now, and is there any sign of running away?"

After being glanced at by the major general, the communications staff member who was a little flustered in his heart quickly replied. "Currently, the other party's boat speed is around 14 knots, and we haven't noticed that the other party has moved to disperse again. It may be because we were frightened by our previous actions."

"Okay, I understand. Now order all the warships to continue to increase their speed, and increase the speed to 30 knots. I want to see the enemy fleet today."

Following the orders of Major General Fernandez, each ship was even more powerful, and the white waves at the stern were even more powerful, and the speed of the fleet was further improved.

When Major General Fernandez gave the order, the commander of the transport fleet with the target number B-12, Colonel Colcos, was anxiously standing in the mail room waiting for the news.

"Crete, haven't you called back yet?"

"Lord Colonel, there is no call back yet."

"It's been almost two hours. Haven't they figured out a way yet? We're here to reinforce them."

Colonel Colcos anxiously wanted to scold his mother. As a veteran of the Battle of Jutland (the first mate of a destroyer), Colonel Colcos had a hundred reasons for dissatisfaction with his assignment to command the convoy.

But the situation is not up to him. Because Alexandria was attacked by air, the commander of the fleet, General Cunningham, and the chief of staff, General Hawkins, were ordered to retire. The newly appointed General Somerville is an old guy with a tough style, and he does not dare to have any resistance to this appointment.

This time, the B-12 transport fleet he was in charge of had more than a dozen transport ships, which were full of supplies to support Crete, and there was also an Anglo-Indian infantry brigade that reinforced Crete.

In fact, the B-12 transport fleet,

It was the last fleet to ship to Crete. During Romania's seizure of the Cyclades Islands, the Greek government, which had retreated to Crete, kept turning to Britain for help. They not only want military supplies such as weapons and ammunition, but even food and daily necessities, but also hope that the British will send reinforcements to help them defend.

Considering that Greece is an ally, and Crete is also very important to the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has sent several fleets to take the opportunity to transport a lot of weapons, ammunition and supplies ashore. More importantly, the United Kingdom also sent reinforcements. Nearly 20,000 officers and soldiers from India and Australia and New Zealand were fighting side by side with the Greeks on Crete. They were commanded by Major General White, who also commanded all British troops in Crete. military force.

And this time, there are a lot of materials and personnel that he needs, especially the more than 50 anti-tank guns and more than 180 anti-aircraft guns on the ship, which are the equipment he needs urgently.

The hope of Colonel Colcos is that the major general can attach importance to this batch of equipment, and it is more than enough to send planes to support him.

The waiting dispatcher saw the green light on the radio station and hurriedly said something. "The telegram is here."

After the dispatcher had prepared the telegram, Colcos took it over. There are only a few words above, enter the Cretan defense circle as soon as possible, and we will send planes to support you.

It was this telegram that Colcos was waiting for, and he shouted loudly, "Inform the entire crew of the news immediately and let them know that we have not given up."

So this telegram from Crete was immediately sent to every ship.

For Colcos to do this, in addition to the low morale of the fleet due to being attacked by Romanian fighters, there is also their pessimism that this is a transport mission.

Because this can be seen clearly, the youngest transport ship in this fleet is the Martin, which is 15 years old. Not to mention other transport ships, which generally start every 20 years. As for the warships escorted by Colcos, they are all old-fashioned, and there is not a new warship built after the war. They are all old-fashioned characters.

Take the cruiser USS Karadok at his feet as an example. This is the most age-worthy light cruiser in the Navy, and its history can be traced back to World War I. You must know that small warships are different from large warships. The replacement cost of small warships is not as high as that of large warships. Therefore, countries basically replace small warships much faster than large warships.

Therefore, Karadok is a complete old guy, but this old guy is also the backbone of this small fleet, and other goods are even more unbearable.

The destroyer Panyan on the right is obviously in the style of a lightning strike ship before the First World War, but looking at its slow pace, forget about lightning strikes, and be careful to break down halfway. The Antelope on the left is in much better condition, at least in the style of World War I. The only downside is that it has a high failure rate and has been repaired three times along the way.

With just such a group of veterans and remnants protecting this transport ship, there is no confidence in anyone else.

This is not to say that Britain does not have good warships, but that the route from Egypt to Crete is too dangerous to transport. In the case of losing control of the sea, old-fashioned ships can never be used, because they are vulnerable to the main ships intercepted by Romania.

And this telegram has boosted the confidence of the fleet to some extent, at least letting them know that there will be rescue planes coming. So the fleet still maintained the maximum formation speed of 14 knots and fled towards Crete.

In addition, the B-12 fleet was the last transport fleet in Crete. Because the United Kingdom needs Crete to delay Romania's footsteps, rather than filling the bottomless pit of Crete with British troops and materials. The British hoped that the island would be more resistant to Romanian attacks for more than a month. It was best to hold off the Romanians for three months, so that the British colonial troops would gather in Egypt and the Middle East.

Every move of the B-12 fleet is under the eyes of the Second Task Force, and Rear Admiral Fernandez, who holds three fleet carriers, will naturally not let this fleet run away. If he didn't want to capture each other, the carrier-based aircraft of the three aircraft carriers could send them all to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish.

He may not be sure about attacking the warship formation, but the transport fleet is like shooting a target.

Time passed slowly as the two fleets chased and fled. When the time came to four o'clock in the afternoon, a plume of smoke had already appeared on the horizon.

This sank Colcos because it meant that the Romanian fleet had caught up.

"How far are we from Crete now?"

In a hurry, he pulled over the captain and asked about the distance. As the old navy's Colcos, he knew that there were a lot of ships coming, and the only one that appeared at this time was the Romanian fleet that was chasing him. No one dared to approach the waters near Crete.

The navigator, who was also frightened, answered truthfully: "We are still about 100 kilometers away from Crete."

"Now this speed can't get rid of the chasing Romanian fleet, let the transport ship go first, and we will block the Romanian pursuit."

At this moment, Colonel Colcos was possessed by the British Navy for a century, and he wanted to block the Romanian fleet.

"As ordered, Your Excellency."

Following his orders, the escorting warships slowly separated from the fleet and let the transport ships pass first. Now they plan to use their warships to block the pursuing enemy and buy time for the transport fleet.

"Damn, didn't you say the island would support us, where did the plane go?"

Although the order to intercept the incoming Romanian fleet was made, Colonel Colcos still hoped to get aircraft support, even if it harassed the Romanian fleet.

"Report, this is a telegram from Crete. The reinforcements they sent were stopped by the Romanian fighter group. It is reported that the number of intercepted fighters was more than 70. The reinforcements suffered heavy losses and were no longer able to support us."

The communication officer's words made Colonel Colcos' heart sink to the bottom.

"Okay, I see."

"Now I order, raise the Z flag, and tell all the crew that the British Empire needs everyone to do their best."

Although later generations know that the Z-flag is more used by Japan, this is just an imitation of the British navy by Japan. It was first used by Viscount Nelson in naval battles at the Battle of Trafalgar.

And now Colonel Colcos intends to imitate the feat of his predecessors, but also uses this flag. Although he did not have the strength and means to defeat the incoming Romanian army, he wanted to let the Romanians know that the British Empire would never yield.

So I saw five old-fashioned British warships rushing towards the incoming Romanian fleet without hesitation.