"Even if the government retreats to Canada, we must stick with it, otherwise we will lose everything!" Churchill said firmly, "Now start organizing the withdrawal of royal members and some government agencies to Canada."

On October 18, 1940, in the Bay of Melia in Malta in the central Mediterranean, almost all the maritime forces of the Austro-Hungarian Navy except for the expeditionary fleet were assembled, including six battleships, including the flagship "United Force" of the Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Hans Frankel, four aircraft carriers, four heavy cruisers and more than fifty ships of various types.

Admiral Luca Wagner, the second fleet of the Navy, set off with the second fleet first, and then General Hans Frankel and General Matt Kovadic, commanded the main force of the first fleet to sail quietly and sailed to the Western Mediterranean.

At the same time, in the port of Taranto, the main force of the Italian Navy's surface fleet led by Admiral Angelo Ziano also began to be dispatched. This fleet includes two battleships, including Admiral Ziano's flagship "Vinato", two aircraft carriers "Sky Eagle" and "Falcon" modified with merchant ships, four heavy cruisers, four light cruisers and fourteen destroyers, a total of twenty-six ships, which are almost all the existing surface force of the Italian Navy.

As the first part of the entire Battle of Gibraltar, the Aoi Joint Fleet first sent air forces to bomb Gibraltar Airport and first destroyed British air forces.

At the same time, the Austrian ground forces will first land in Spanish Morocco. After controlling the situation there and occupying the airport, the Austrian-Hungarian Army Air Force and the Italian Air Force will first enter the airport in Morocco to blockade and bomb Gibraltar. Afterwards, the Austrian Army will land in Malaga, Spain and launch an attack on Gibraltar.

The ubiquitous British spies quickly reported the news that the Austrian fleet was leaving the port to the British headquarters in China and Gibraltar. The British Governor of Gibraltar Gorte judged that the two fleets were likely to be coming to Gibraltar. While sending a telegram for help to London, he ordered all guards to enter the fortifications and prepare to hold on.

Since Gibraltar was occupied by Britain in 1704, Mount Gibraltar, which guards the Strait of Gibraltar, has gradually been built into a large fortress with strong defense. Since the narrowest point of Gibraltar is only 13 kilometers, it completely covers the effective range of the fortress artillery. Without the permission of the British Guard, any ships traveling to and from Gibraltar will be sunk by dense firepower from the fortress artillery.

Before the war, the British invested more than 5 million pounds to renovate and expand the Gibraltar Fortress. Among them, the tunnels dug on the mountain alone were more than 16 kilometers long. The interiors of the three main mountains in Gibraltar were hollowed out and solid fortifications were built.

The British did not have many garrison troops in Gibraltar, only more than 12,000 people, but with their strong fortress defense system, they still firmly believe that they could completely defend this place.

Attacking Gibraltar from the sea was almost impossible. The British built permanent shore defense turrets in the fortress, equipped with 20 15-inch fortress guns and more than 200 heavy artillery with a caliber of more than 100 mm. No fleet could withstand such intensive fire strikes.

But times have changed. Strikes from the air have made any so-called defensive fortresses of mankind a past.

In Saint-Nazell, the German fleet began to dispatch, patrolling the Spanish coast of the Bay of Biscay, ready to attack at any time and intercept the reinforcement fleet sent by the British. On the coast of West Africa, Admiral Molvitz Yanker, commanding the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Expeditionary Fleet to advance north with all his might and attack the Strait of Gibraltar on both sides.
Chapter completed!