Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2150 This ally is unreliable

The French fleet stationed at Meers el Kebir is powerful, with four battleships, an aircraft carrier, and six destroyers.

Among the four battleships, the two "Brittany"-class battleships were built before the last World War. They were modernized in 1932 and 1935 respectively, and their combat effectiveness has been improved.

The two "Dunkirk" class battleships were built in 1931 and 1934 respectively. Under the premise that France has not yet completed the "Richelieu" class, these two "Dunkirk" class battleships are the strongest in France. Big battleship.

"Lieutenant Commander Teste" is a seaplane carrier. In 1925, Lieutenant Commander Paul Tester, the advocate of French naval aviation, the chief instructor of naval aviation, and the commander of the Navy's training air force, was flying the then new type of Azerbaijan. The Mio-122 long-range bomber unfortunately crashed and died of severe burns. France decided to name the ship after him.

The "Lieutenant Commander Tester" has a full load displacement of 11750 tons, a total length of 167 meters, and a maximum load of 26 aircraft.

The British H fleet has the battlecruiser "Hood", the two battleships are "Resolution" and "Brave", the aircraft carrier "Ark Royal" that has just entered service, two light cruisers, and 11 destroyers .

In the early morning hours of 7 July, Admiral James Somerville arrived with Force H at Mers al-Kebir.

At this time, Darlan had not decided to join the Vichy government, but James Somerville could not wait any longer. The intelligence obtained by the United Kingdom showed that if the Royal Navy launched an attack on the French Navy, the French Navy stationed in other areas, as well as the Italian Navy Both will provide support to the French navy at Mers el Kebir.

At seven fifty in the morning, James Somerville delivered an ultimatum to the French admiral Jean Sur.

James Somerville asked the French navy to join the British army and continue fighting against Germany.

Or use a small number of sailors to drive the French warships to the British port and dismiss the other French sailors.

Or be "escorted" by the British army, with a small number of sailors to drive the warship to the French East Indies, or southern Africa, and then disarm.

If Jean Sur does not want to accept the above conditions, then Jean Sur can choose to sink all the warships.

Sur didn't want to accept these conditions.

So Jean Sur turned down James Somerville's request.

However, Jean Sur also underestimated the insidiousness of the British, and he did not realize that the British had the determination to do it.

After rejecting James Somerville's ultimatum, the French fleet did not even take up battle formation, but remained at berth as in peacetime.

At twelve o'clock in the morning, British fighter planes took off from the "Ark Royal" and deployed mines at the exit of the military port.

At this time, Jean Sur finally realized the seriousness of the situation. He replied to James Somerville and said: The order to disarm has been received, and the French fleet is about to go to the port of the French East India to disarm.

James Somerville believed it,
A temporary cessation of mine laying was ordered.

But soon, James Somerville received a telegram from London, saying that other French military ports had sounded the battle alarm, and the French warships were igniting and anchoring, preparing to leave the port for combat.

The French battleships in the naval port also left their berths one after another and entered the combat state.

Fighting broke out immediately.

At 4:30 in the afternoon, the "Hood" first set off to enter the combat position, followed by the battleships "Resolution" and "Brave", as well as the light cruisers "Arethosa" and "Enterprise". Enter combat mode.

At 4:54, the "Brave" opened fire first, followed by the "Hood". Both battleships attacked the "Dunkirk".

At this time, the exit of the naval port was blocked by British mines, and the French warships lacked enough space for movement. The "Dunkirk" could only sail at a speed of 12 knots.

At 4:59, only 5 minutes after the start of the battle, the No. 5 turret of the "Dunkirk" was hit, and the No. 8 to No. 4 guns lost their combat capabilities, leaving only the No. [-] to No. [-] guns to continue fighting.

At this time, Jean Sur should hate the French warship designers. The quadruple turrets look very visually impactful, but they don't perform well in actual combat.

At 5 o'clock, three more shells hit "Dunkirk" at the same time, one of which penetrated the deck, caused damage to the "Dunkirk" boiler, and detonated at least two 130 shells.

The power of the "Dunkirk" was seriously affected. The smoke from the explosion of the shell and the smoke from the damaged boiler were mixed together. The sailors who were working nearby suffered heavy casualties, and only a few sailors escaped.

Another shell hit the tail engine room, and the carrier-based aircraft of "Dunkirk" was destroyed, and the aviation fuel leaked. Fortunately, it did not ignite, so no greater damage was caused.

So far, the "Dunkirk" has lost its combat effectiveness and can only run aground on a nearby beach and withdraw from the battle.

Just as unlucky as "Dunkirk" was the "Provence".

The "Provence" has been firing on the "Hood" since the battle.

However, the sailors of the "Provence" seemed to have problems with their gunnery. During the entire battle, none of the shells hit the "Hood".

At 5:03, after the "Dunkirk" ran aground, the "Hood" and the "Brave" shifted their attack targets to the "Provence".

The "Provence" was quickly hit, the No. [-] turret caught fire, the No. [-] turret lost its steering ability, and the hull began to flood with water. Soon the "Provence" was also forced to run aground.

Even worse was the "Brittany".

The ammunition depot of the "Brittany" was hit shortly after the war, and the violent explosion caused the "Brittany" to roll over.

The British refused to let go of the "Brittany" and completely destroyed the "Brittany". At 5:09, the captain of the "Bretagne" ordered to abandon the ship, and only 145 people were rescued.

Compared with the unlucky "Dunkirk", "Provence", and "Brittany", the "Dunkirk" class sub-ship "Strasbourg" is like a miracle.

The Strasbourg hadn't even weighed anchor when the fighting broke out.

At five o'clock, the "Strasbourg" did not leave the berth until the "Dunkirk" ran aground.

"Strasbourg" did not join the battle, but sailed directly to the port.

At this time, the port has been blocked by British mines, and the "Hood" and "Resolution" are busy dealing with the "Provence", and no one cares about "Strasbourg".

"Strasbourg" used the severely damaged "Mogardor" destroyer as a cover, turned on the mine detection device on the warship, and miraculously drove out of the port and escaped.

At this time, the British warships finally noticed "Strasbourg".

"Strasbourg" had no intention of fighting, and continued to escape after releasing smoke. The destroyer "Mogardor" also desperately attacked other British warships to cover "Strasbourg" from escaping.

The "Ark Royal" found that the "Strasbourg" had escaped, and sent a carrier-based aircraft to attack the "Strasbourg".

However, the carrier-based aircraft of the "Ark Royal" are all carrying bombs at this time, not torpedoes.

"Strasbourg" escaped smoothly, not only unscathed, but the anti-aircraft weapons on board also shot down two British carrier-based aircraft.

At seven o'clock in the evening, as it was getting dark, the pilots of the "Ark Royal" thought they had hit "Strasbourg" at least twice.

It later turned out that the pilot was bragging.

For Britain, Operation Ballista was very successful. Only the French warship "Strasbourg" escaped, and the rest of the warships were either sunk or stranded. Only the "Lieutenant Commander Tester" escaped with minor injuries.

In Operation Ballista, 1302 officers and soldiers of the French navy were killed, and only two British soldiers were injured.

All the pilots who were shot down were also rescued.

When the news reached the British mainland, the British cheered as if they had defeated the Germans.

The French are in a bad mood.

After "Operation Ballista", the French Navy issued a statement stating that the "Dunkirk" was only slightly damaged and would be able to return to the battlefield soon after repairs.

This news made the British very upset, so the British dispatched bombers again and bombed "Dunkirk" again.

Now the French are no longer stubborn.

The French didn't say anything, but their hatred for the British had reached the extreme.

After "Operation Ballista", the French navy did not dock in the UK, did not carry out repairs and modifications in the UK, and did not cooperate with the British army. Even the Free France led by Charles de Gaulle had a serious gap with the British army.

The British were confident, probably because they believed that de Gaulle could only rely on the United Kingdom to restore the country, so they disregarded the feelings of the French and brazenly attacked the French navy.

Although de Gaulle is young, he is not a character who allows the British to bully him.

After "Operation Ballista", de Gaulle took the initiative to go to the southern African embassy in the UK, hoping to get help from southern Africa.

Although the French mainland has fallen, unlike the Poles, de Gaulle still has resources in his hands.

France now has huge colonies in North Africa and East Asia.

Before the fall of Paris, the French transported the gold out of Paris overnight and scattered it in the French East Indies and French North African colonies.

This batch of gold is de Gaulle's confidence.

The French North African colony has announced to accept the leadership of the Free France at this time. De Gaulle hopes that the federal government of Southern Africa can provide the Free France with the weapons and equipment it needs, and send experienced instructors to train the Free French army.

That's right.

Not to mention the Southern African Defense Forces.

The army that Free France had just recruited in the French North African colony, even if it was trained to the level of the Southern African Union troops, was as strong as the Germans.

De Gaulle made a mistake. He didn't have a clear understanding of the strength of the Southern African Union troops. He thought it was the level of the French servant army.

Patton didn't talk nonsense and invited de Gaulle to conduct a field trip to southern Africa.

De Gaulle readily accepted the invitation. Through the Dunkirk retreat and the Ballista operation, de Gaulle had already recognized the essence of the British, and this ally was unreliable.

(End of this chapter)