[BnW - Byz vs Ita] 4- Who Dares, Wins

[StuccoFresco]

The Italian offensive has been stopped on all fronts. Ioannina and Arta stood proud in the face of the enemy’s onslaught, their defenders fighting off hordes of soldiers and machines, braving the hail of artillery fire, and pushing it all back.

But the war is far from over: the enemy WILL reconstitute its strength and make another try, which means we must keep up with our war preparations. One of the most impacting defeats of the last year was the italian (imperfect) blockade of Smyrne: the island provides refined fuel for our war effort, and with the Italian fleets roaming about and sinking our convoys we can’t keep up.

Since a full-on engagement is unadvisable, we devised a different plan: a daring night raid against the Italian fleet moored at Livorno for repairs and resupply. It’s the same fleet that sunk the biggest Smyrne convoy last year, with the same Battlecruisers that wrecked our escorts.

This time we have two Battlecruisers ourselves: the brand new Anatolia-class. Their 315mm main batteries can duke it out with the enemy ones, but we aren’t planning an open battle. The main weapon for our raid will be the nimble, quick and deadly Epirus-class Corvettes. Those bad boys are armed with massive torpedoes and they will be the ones to sink the enemy’s big ships. Those small crafts don’t have the operational range to do much more than coastal defense, so we towed them into range with our Destroyers.

Livorno isn’t expecting a night raid, but the port is well defended nonetheless, so we will send a part of the fleet forward to act as bait. The enemy will set sails to intercept it, leaving the port vulnerable to our incursion.

A British Carrier Squadron has been sent to assist us, but will leave the battlefield as soon as the main objective is completed or the enemy gets too close: the Carrier is too precious to be lost here. Our own Battlecruisers must survive as well.

It’s time to wreck shit up! The northern units are dubbed Blue Squadron, the middle one White Squadron, and the raid party Red Squadron.




20/4/1942
I successfully bait a heavy Italian patrol northwest of Livorno with the Blue Squadron, but this backfires pretty quickly when the Acitrezza and La Spezia light cruisers promptly sink one of my Destroyers. Blue Squadron fights back, damaging both cruisers.

White Squadron advances in the middle, setting up a possible flanking move on the Italian ships that will try to intercept Blue Squadron. I push forward my submarines.

Red Squadron advances along the coast, but pauses before getting in range of Livorno.




21/4/1942 - morning and afternoon
Our Battlecruiser Eubea sinks the La Spezia Cruiser, and the rest of the Blue Squadron manages to cripple the Italian patrol. Our Thrace-Class Cruiser Aiya II is damaged, but still battle-worthy.

White Squadron has maneuvered marvelously and catches the bulk of the Italian fleet on the flank. Three of our submarines can set up a perfect ambush against three modern Italian Tirreno-Class Cruisers, heavily damaging them. Our Hellas-Class Cruiser Mykonos joins the battle firing on an escort Destroyer, trying to keep it from locating our submarines with its sonar. The rest of the Squadron keeps the distance, ready for the enemy’s counterattack. The other Cruiser Kos attacks the Acitrezza, scoring several hits.

In the south, our Destroyers spot the Italian Battlecruiser Pisa steaming northwest, trying to join the battle. Again, our maneuvering is perfect and it’s in range of our Torpedo Corvettes: three of them manage to close the distance in the darkness and torpedo it. At the end of the ambush the once mighty Battlecruiser is a flaming wreck, barely afloat. The British Commander sees the opportunity and launches its Torpedo Wing; its planes locate the damaged ship and finish it off.






21/4/1942 - evening
The rest of the Red Squadron moves toward Livorno. Right before dawn, it strikes: the Makedonia-class Destroyers lead the way entering Livorno’s port area and immediately sink an unaware enemy Destroyer. The Epirus-class Corvette rush forward, aiming at the docked Battlecruisers and tearing through them with their torpedoes. The Venezia is the first to sink, the Amalfi is burning and seems about to break in half.

Northwest, the White Squadron has joined the battle against the struggling Italian fleet: our Cruisers score several direct hits on the Cagliari, and two Destroyers are sunk. A Submarine attack damages the L’Aquila in the enemy’s rearguard, which is then engaged by our Attica Battlecruiser. Both our Battlecruisers have joined the battle, but I have to remind myself to keep them safe.

[StuccoFresco]

22/4/1942
Now aware of the trap, the Italian fleet tries desperately to extricate itself from the battle in the high sea and return to defend Livorno. Too late for their Battlecruisers, but they certainly fear I could thoroughly bombard the port and cripple it. This wreaks havoc for their formation, and both Blue and White Squadron go at it. Meanwhile, the Italian patrols near the port are trying to engage Red Squadron, damaging some ship. Italian Fighters take off and decimate the British Torpedo Bombers, but it’s too late for the Pisa.

The Italian Cruiser Catanzaro tries to sink our Corvettes, but the swarm evades its salvos and retaliates with precise torpedo runs that cripple the ship. The Italian cruiser is finished off before sunrise.

The Agia Marina II and the Mykonos flank and sink an Italian cruiser. Our submarines cripple the Palermo, which is then finished off by the Attica. The Eubea Battlecruiser engages the light cruiser Enna, heavily damaging it.


The British planes keep flying in spite of the enemy AA and Fighter cover, and sink another Cruiser, the already burning Acitrezza. Enemy submarines join the battle, one of them scoring a direct hit on the Eubea. The enemy fleet, their Battlecruisers already sunk, is trying to avenge them piling on my forces. It’s time to retreat!

In front of Livorno our Corvettes are starting to buckle under the volume of enemy fire: two of them are sunk and another two crippled. The Support Ships I was slowly pushing forward that were planned to mine Livorno’s approaches are intercepted by the L’Aquila cruiser and under fire.




23/4/1942 - morning
Blue and White Squadron are decimated: I start to withdraw my Battlecruisers. Enemy bombers start searching for them, and one actually scores a hit from an high-altitude attack. The rest of my fleet has reached the “sink 5 Cruisers” objective, but I won’t be able to mine Livorno’s port because the Support Ships are rapidly sinking under the Italian L’Aquila cruisers’ guns.

A three-way attack from my Cruisers cripples the enemy heavy cruiser Ancona.

The British squadron is retreating as well.

The Eubea sails away safely, but the enemy aviation is targeting the Attica and scoring hit after hit. Despite a desperate effort by its AA gunners, the Italian bombers manage to cripple the ship, whose speed decreases dramatically.

Meanwhile, my Destroyers are wreaking havoc among the Italian fleet: showing their prowess and the elite training that all Byzantine crews enjoy in our Arsenals, they outmaneuver the enemy cruisers and sink Destroyer after Destroyer. Our Submarines join the battle, bravely (or insanely) surfacing to keep fighting when the batteries run out.




23/4/1942 - afternoon and evening
At noon the Italians get their shit together and sink ship after ship. Only a single Submarine and a Cruiser are still afloat, all that remains of the Blue and White Squadrons.

The Attica Battlecruiser is barely hanging together, downing another two Bombers but losing his rear batteries, aflame and barely able to steer. One of the enemy squadrons has been forced to fly back to resupply, and the other follows it after a last bombing run. Barely, but the Attica escapes!

The battle is won. The enemy fleet has been thoroughly crippled, even if it has costed us basically every ship we brought except for three Destroyers. The remaining three heroic Corvettes will be scuttled, we can’t tow them back. We couldn’t mine the port, but this victory means Smyrne is again free to send its convoys to the mainland.