Admiral Cunningham's fleet includes George V, the Prince of Wales, two new battleships, Queen Elizabeth and War Inflammation, three old Queen-class battleships, and one with six gates and ten
The five-inch main gun counterattack battlecruiser is not inferior to the four new battleships of the Republican Navy in terms of firepower.
Seeing that he was facing the danger of being attacked by two British fleets, Wei Zihao ordered the fleet to turn to the northeast and escape from contact with the British fleet.
Although it has been modified twice, the old Queen-class and Revenge-class battleships can only run to about 25 kilograms. The main battleships of the Republic Navy are even the earliest Pamir-class battleships, and the ship age is only about ten years.
, and the modernization of the "Miaoling" was quite successful. After replacing the power system and lengthening the hull for better high-speed performance, its speed also reached nearly thirty knots.
As the Republic fleet retreated at full speed, Cunningham and Steam Muville could only watch the distance between their opponents and themselves widened little by little, but there was no way.
At 1:20 in the middle of the night, the two fleets went through another brief artillery battle, and the Republic Fleet was reinforced by four "Veneto-class" battleships, the main Italian fleet led by General Kafriyani.
The artillery battle lasted for about twenty minutes, and both sides were damaged by each other, but none of the battleships lost power under the opponent's heavy artillery. General Cunningham saw that he could not win, and was worried that he would be attacked by his opponent after dawn.
The attack of the aviation warships ordered the withdrawal of the battlefield and led the fleet to retreat towards Gibraltar.
Wei Zihao did not order a pursuit either. After all, the main purpose of this battle was to land in Spain. The main task of the fleet was to protect the safety of the landing fleet.
The largest battleship duel since the Battle of Jutland ended quickly. The result of the artillery battle also confirmed that it is difficult for battleships with strong defense to be sunk by naval warfare. The only thing that can cause fatal damage to the battleship is the aircraft bomb.
and torpedo, while an aviation warship can easily sink a ship hundreds of nautical miles away.
The former sea overlord is old, like a lion with tooth loss. Although it looks scary on the outside, it cannot cause a fatal blow to the opponent.
In the early morning of January 28, the fleet transporting the 7th Marine Division landed in Marvelica, about 100 kilometers away from Gibraltar, while the 1st Italian Marine Division seized the port of Malaga.
Before this, the Spanish had withdrawn from the garrison in this area, and General Juan Bigon ordered that any armed forces, including police, should not resist, and also sent some liaison officers to cooperate with China and Italy.
The coalition's actions.
The entire landing process was very smooth. By 9 a.m., when the coast in Malaga was arrived from Marbella, the heavy equipment needed by the Marines began to land one after another.
As a fortress that the British had run for more than 200 years, Gibraltar's entire defense system was more solid than ordinary people imagined. Here, the entire fortress system was completely built in a hard granite mountain, with 22 doors and 15 inches arranged.
Fortress guns, and there are more than 200 large-diameter shore defense guns with a diameter of more than 4 inches. Bullets built with several meters of reinforced concrete and steel plates are densely packed, and their complexity is greater than any fortress system in the world.
Currently, there are more than 20,000 defenders in the entire Gibraltar Fortress, and there are two powerful battle fleets in the port. There is also a military airport, which can accommodate about 160 combat aircraft.
The entire Gibraltar Fortress area is less than 7 square kilometers. Its length is less than 5 kilometers and its width is only 1 to 1.5 kilometers. The limited area determines that it lacks sufficient defense depth. In fact, it is a Gibraltar Mountain and surrounded by it.
A port between.
After the Sino-Italian coalition landed, the Franco government immediately issued a statement, "solid protest" the Sino-Italian coalition ignored the Spanish government's neutral position and blatantly invaded Spanish territory, and said that the Spanish army would definitely allow the invaders to obtain "
A bloody lesson." But in fact, they did not make any moves and even took the initiative to hand over the Malaga Airport and the two nearby military airports.
The current situation is already very obvious, and the target of the Sino-Italian coalition is Gibraltar.
In danger. Gibraltar!
Almost all British and American newspapers marked such titles in bold letters on the front page, and the small Gibraltar attracted the attention of the whole world.
"The Japanese sacrificed their lives to occupy the Lushun Fortress controlled by the Russians, but if they wanted to conquer Gibraltar, they would have to pay at least a hundred thousand people. Only stupid orientals would do such stupid things!"
Lieutenant General Elvin, the British commander stationed in Gibraltar, endured his inner panic and sweared to the outside world that the Gibraltar Fortress was unbreakable and would never be easily captured by the Republican army.
The Republican Army rarely engages in tough battles. Most of the battles rely on mobility and firepower to win, but this does not mean that they do not have the ability to attack. However, in the Republican Army's tactics, they do not care much about one city and one place.
Just gains and losses.
Now the British could not stop the Republican Army from landing in Spain. With the 11th Republican Marine Division as a reserve force also landed successfully in Malaga, the 7th Army Division, which was the first wave of attack forces, was on February 1
The sun has entered the periphery of Mount Gibraltar.
Lieutenant General Yang Tinggang, commander of the 3rd Marine Corps, set up his command in the town of Guatiala about forty kilometers from Gibraltar. The 19th Land Brigade, as the forefront, has occupied the town of Lalina on the border, as a advance.
base.
The entire Gibraltar Fortress was carefully constructed with Mount Zhiluartar as the center. The two limestone peaks are about 400 meters above sea level. The rocks of the mountain are suddenly between the peninsulas extending into the sea. The cliffs stand tall, which is very dangerous.
Although plagued by civil war, the traffic conditions in Spain are much better than those of the British colonies. At least two asphalt roads lead to Gibraltar. Now there are fleets of tanks and armored vehicles driving over the kilometers, which has already turned out to be the original one.
The flat road surface is destroyed and it becomes very bumpy when driving.
A group of bombers taking off from Malaga passed the convoy and rushed towards the small Gibraltar. After three days of continuous bombing, most of the surface fortifications at Gibraltar Airport and the fortifications had been blown into ruins.
"Our armored troops can only march along the coast. As for the fortifications and firepower points in the mountains, they can only rely on infantry to compete and clean up one by one!"
"It's not that I look down on the British, but they are actually not as good as those Italians. The general attack will be carried out in two days. The strategic bomber troops transferred from the country will drop special bombs for attacking the fortress.
Good British people will collapse directly in front of special bullets!" Yang Tinggang deployed the offensive details before the general attack in the command center. To be honest, the British Army's performance on the battlefield was the worst among all the opponents of the Republican Army.
The combat effectiveness is several levels worse than the Australian Army formed in a hurry.
"Special bombs, is it chemical..." Chief of Staff He Tianci was surprised. Chemical weapons are weapons of mass destruction that are clearly prohibited in international conventions. Although countries have a lot of reserves, they must be used on the battlefield.
It will still be widely condemned by international public opinion.
"It is not a chemical weapon, but a new type of air bomb, which uses mid-shock waves to kill the enemy. It is very effective against closed fortifications. The most terrifying thing is that it will cause a range of about 50 meters when it explodes.
It is deficient in oxygen for several minutes and produces a large amount of carbon monoxide. Most of the enemies in it will suffocate and die due to some suffocation. I have seen the scene of weapon experiments, which is quite terrifying!" Yang Tinggang said.
The 7th Division of the Lu Division has entered the attack position designated on the front line, waiting for the general attack order to be issued, and the heavy artillery troops have begun to cover and shoot at the small Gibraltar.
The British fortress Gibraltar, which was claimed to be able to hold on for six months, appeared to have turned into a ruin under the attack of the Republican army, but in fact, the continuous bombing could not damage its main defense system at all.
At Malaga Airport, dozens of Bomb-11 heavy bombers carrying new cloud bombs were quietly arranged on both sides of the runway, waiting for the general offensive order to be issued. This night is destined to be a sadness that will never be forgotten by the British.
time.
At 6:30 pm, three green signal flares illuminated the airfield, and the general attack finally began!