in your original post, you forgot the carrier. bring that to soak hits. if they blow the retal, keep it and fighters alive; now axis have 2 french ships and 4 uk hits they need to finish off.
if germany doesnt blow up the sz 91 cruiser it makes the layout for this easier bc it can help kill the dd tt w gib fighter whereas it might survive against just 1 attacker
easy fix to this is to divide the adriatic into 2 sea zones/convoy zones, then taranto is still possible but no better odds than attacking the other fleet and then its no longer a must do attack (tobruk is though)