After seeing the names of these warships, Churchill couldn't help but shook his head and sighed. Everyone understood the meaning behind this sigh. Although six battleships were prepared in three directions, none of them were opponents of the Tirpitz. Even the two ships jointly fought together could not block the Tirpitz.≯

After pondering for a moment, he suggested: "Aviation forces are of great value. There is not enough escort aircraft carriers. Should each fleet be equipped with one more ship?"

Tovey and Pound looked at each other and said embarrassedly: "We have almost used all the available escort carriers. The Navy only holds one as a backup. The other escort carriers are already on the transport fleet and cannot be mobilized in a short time."

"Maybe I need to communicate with President Roosevelt once and ask him to support us in the battle first." Churchill explained. "Now we do not have a fleet aircraft carrier. Although the number of carriers of the two escort aircraft carriers can be compared with that of a fleet aircraft carrier, judging from the active situation, they are not fast enough, not strong in defense, and cannot fully perform the functions of a fleet aircraft carrier. This is too bad."

The Independent light aircraft carrier was delivered three weeks ago and had just completed the sea trial work. Although it is still on the East Coast, it is planned to be transferred to the Pacific Fleet soon. Tovey has contacted the United States once. The Atlantic Fleet said that they cannot make the decision and must ask the above. Tovey was worried about how to speak with him, so Churchill said this himself.

"That would be great."

"Are you sure you add an Independence?"

"This..." Tovey glanced at the silent Pound and spoke carefully, "Now the troops blocking the Tilpitz are not even two-thirds of the ones that blocked the Bismarck, we..."

The congregation was silent, and Churchill spoke for a long time: "Maybe it can't be blocked, but we must rush up, otherwise the Atlantic route will face catastrophic consequences. In extraordinary times, Britain needs everyone to do their duty."

"Yes, I will command myself." Tovey spoke with difficulty after expressing his statement, "The Navy Air Force is not strong enough. Can you ask for some assistance from the Royal Air Force?"

Admiral Porter, Chief of Staff of the RAF, immediately said: "There is no problem, the RAF will do its best to eliminate this scourge."

Just as the congregation was racking its brains to think about how to deal with the aggressive challenge of the Tirpitz formation, a staff officer stumbled into the venue and gasped and reported: "The news came from Italy that the Axial Navy was dispatched, and the target was Malta!"

"How many troops?"

"6 Japanese battleships, 3 Italian battleships, 1 German battleship, 12 heavy cruisers and a large number of destroyers, and a huge transport fleet, but no aircraft carrier!"

Everyone frowned when they heard this. It was not that they felt that the enemy's troops were too scary, but that the information was too detailed. Even "right, about, it seems, it is said that" there are no common words in the intelligence system, and every number is very solid.

“Is the intelligence reliable?”

“Reliable, absolutely reliable!”

After explanation, everyone realized that the information was not obtained through secret channels. It was all public information. One and a half hours ago, the famous Italian military port Taranto held a grand expedition ceremony. The people witnessed teams of German soldiers boarding the transport ships, and naval warships slowly left the dock and malta. The Italian Mussolini, the commander-in-chief of the German Southern Front, Marshal Keserin, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet General Hori Teiki, and other important figures were personally present. The drums and music on the scene were shocking, and the cannons were sounding, and the posture was very strong. The Italians did not want to hide it at all.

A few minutes later, more accurate news came into the conference room. Italy released the "Medon Book of Melton urging the Malta defenders to surrender unconditionally" through a clear telegram: "... Let's go and leave the war and reply within a 6-hour period. Otherwise, the powerful navy of the three countries' axis will completely destroy Malta!"

"This is a demonstration!" Churchill was so angry that he was so angry that he had: Apart from more than a dozen aircraft and several old cruisers or destroyers, Malta had basically nothing worth mentioning, that is, the shore artillery positions deployed on the island and the anti-aircraft artillery positions have been almost the same as the bombardment of the German and Italian Air Force in recent times. It is impossible to defend against such a powerful force. As for the lack of an aircraft carrier, it is not surprising that Sicily is the largest natural aircraft carrier!

"What can we do for Malta?" Churchill asked.

No one answered his question, and everyone's eyes were full of despair.

Churchill finally could only say helplessly: "I send them comfort and telegrams in my name, 'Great Britain will always remember your loyalty and dedication!"

This kind of fancy work is of course the most popular among Mussolini. Since the capture of Malta was clearly the Italians as the commander-in-chief of the Italian leader, the Italian leader wanted to set up the venue. Hoffmann originally wanted to refuse directly, but after careful consideration, he felt that it was still necessary: ​​First, such a large-scale fleet could not be hidden from those who were interested. Since it will be known by the British sooner or later, it would be better to use this high-profile approach to show the strong force of the axis; Second, Mussolini is in many aspects such as the integration of the German-Italy axis.

All of them cooperated, and as a reward, they must satisfy his vanity, which also helped to enhance the enthusiasm and confidence of the Italians in the war and further consolidate the political status of the Italian leader within the party and at home; third, this time, the three Axis countries jointly set out to fight, and it is necessary to show the close cooperation between the three countries to jointly suppress the spirit of the British Empire, and give some confidence to some "neutral countries" that are still swaying. If they can quickly win Malta after the high-profile expedition ceremony, Hoffman felt that the "advertising fee" would be worth it.

For this island, Hori Teiki certainly would not end in person. So the commander-in-chief of the Malta Battle was General Iakinso, the commander-in-chief of the Italian Navy who fought at home. Tsukahara's mobile fleet was busy training and familiarizing itself with the new aircraft, and all remained in the port, so there was no aircraft carrier. The oldest qualified General Kondo Nobutake served as the commander of the artillery fleet and ruled all battleships because Japan had the most battleships, and the commander of the German Mediterranean Fleet, General Crank, the commander of the 6th Fleet, and covered the 6th Army, because the 6th troops were all German.

As for all the planes sent by the Italian Air Force and German HNA, Kesselin transferred more than 50 aircraft for the Battle of Malta. If so many planes were swept over closely together, the entire sky of Malta might be covered.

Before the war started, he sent an ultimatum to Malta, ordering him to surrender unconditionally within 6 hours. Otherwise, the idea of ​​using naval guns and bombs to return to the Stone Age was also Hoffmann, but as a result, a bunch of people applauded.

Although a 6-hour ultimatum was given, everyone believed that the Malta defenders would not surrender easily, so they gave the ultimatum while asking the fleet to hurry up. The general attack on Malta was set at 12 noon on February 7, requiring the completion of the occupation before sunset.

In the evening, Hoffmann arrived in Rome with Keitel and Redel on a special plane. Mussolini led a large number of Italian senior figures to greet them at the airport, and the top Japanese Navy leaders who did not go on the expedition were also on the list.

"Who is this?" After shaking hands with Hoffman, Mussolini immediately saw Eva who was following him and showing her elegant temperament in every move. Eva was excited for this visit abroad for a whole week, but when she finally received a call from Berlin to ask her to visit abroad together, she was so excited that she cried with joy.

Not only did he arrive in Berlin one day in advance, he also carefully prepared all morning, and his clothes, shapes and makeup were all perfect. Hitler was already impatient, but Hoffman generously expressed his understanding of which woman was not traveling like this? Fortunately, although Eva was struggling, she had a strong sense of time. She acted immediately as soon as she said it, without delaying at all, and would not pull Hoffman on the plane to comment.

After Mussolini's kiss, Eva introduced shyly: "Dear Yuan, I am Eva Braun, and I am Yuan's personal secretary."

"Oh..." Mussolini thought.

"She is my girlfriend, but her identity is still confidential to most ordinary people at present... You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not, I am very honored..."

After hearing Hoffman's personal introduction, Mussolini's eyes immediately narrowed a slit. He actually knew that Evacun had seen him several times in public, but Yuan had never shown him as openly as today. He couldn't help but feel a little suspicious, but he also felt that it was very normal that the Italian leader had many lovers, men...

After hearing Hoffman introduce his "girlfriend", Eva felt that she was about to merge. She looked at Hoffman affectionately, making the latter feel hot and stared at her back with a hot look that she could pass through the winter clothes.

The second person to meet was Hori Teiki. Under the introduction of the second deputy Cole, the two shook hands and greeted each other warmly, as if they had not met for many years, although they had never met.

Hoffman personally introduced to Eva: "This is the world's top-ranking commander-in-chief of the Japanese Navy General Hori Teiki who was sent to the bottom of the sea by him was stronger than the combined strength of the German and Italian naval naval forces."

"I dare not take it, I dare not take it..." Horitiki smiled softly, "Yuan made contributions to the German nation, the greatest leader in the world in history, far away from Emperor Napoleon."
Chapter completed!