The harbor of Havana is full of people. Some of the buildings of the USS Maine, which was sitting on the bottom due to the explosion, are still exposed on the water. However, on the still exposed buildings of the Maine, an investigation team from the United States is conducting an investigation.
"Quick, pull up."
A naval officer who was pulling the rope immediately shouted when he felt something moving on the rope. Then he and several other officers immediately pulled up the rope. Under the rope, a man wearing a diving suit and a diving helmet was pulled up.
Come up.
"How's it going, Colonel Melville?"
Before the man could take off his diving suit, a large group of naval officers gathered around him and started questioning him.
"How about you wait until I take off my clothes?"
Major Melville took off his heavy diving suit and helmet before he spoke. "I observed the explosion wounds on the Maine, and there were signs of the ship's sides turning outwards."
"Okay, let's talk about it later."
Colonel Jovan Lloyd, the leader of the investigation, stopped the Navy's chief engineer from speaking.
After taking this man to an uninhabited corner, Colonel Lloyd said, "Okay, Melville, you can talk now."
"I observed that the explosion hole on the side of the Maine was turned outward, indicating that the explosion on the Maine came from inside the ship. The explosion point was in the coal seam bunker, which is adjacent to the ammunition bunker, so it is very likely that the explosion was caused by the ammunition bunker.
, and the explosion in the ammunition bunker may also be caused by the spontaneous combustion of thermal coal in the coal bunker."
Melville is worthy of being the chief engineer of the U.S. Navy. After some investigations, he has made enough judgments about the explosion of the USS Maine. Speaking of spontaneous combustion of coal seams, this is nothing new for the U.S. Navy. Several incidents have occurred in the U.S. Navy.
There was an incident of spontaneous combustion of steam coal on a warship, and the design of the USS Maine did not take this into consideration. There is only one wall between the ammunition bunker and the coal bunker. If spontaneous combustion occurs in the coal bunker, it is very easy to lead to the ammunition bunker. This should be part of the design.
Caused by unreasonableness.
After hearing Melville's judgment, Colonel Lloyd frowned. "Is this your judgment?"
"Yes, based on my many years of experience, this is the result."
After hearing Melville's words, Colonel Lloyd immediately retorted, "No, this result must be revised."
"What?"
Colonel Lloyd stared at the other party and said word by word. "I say the result must be revised. The Maine cannot be an ammunition depot explosion caused by the spontaneous combustion of a coal bunker, but should be an accident caused by an external mine explosion."
"But such modifications will be discovered. The Spaniards only need to look at the damage on the Maine and they will come to the same conclusion as me."
It's obvious that Melville has been in technical positions for a long time, so he thinks everything is simple.
"So what, who will listen to a loser's excuse? Besides, this time our investigation must be that the mine exploded from outside. This is not only the expectation of our navy, but also the expectation of the government and the American people. We just need
An excuse. As for what the real results will be, we don’t need to care. If someone does investigate and come up with other results in the future, at worst, we can just say it was a mistake. Anyway, Cuba will be under our control by then, so we can say whatever we want.
"
After receiving a political education from Colonel Lloyd, Melville, the chief engineer of the United States, still listened.
"Okay, Colonel Lloyd, I will write my report as being caused by a mine explosion that caused the Maine to sink."
"Very good. This is the outcome of this matter. We just need to hand in this report. In fact, we only need to pretend to be here to investigate. No matter what the outcome of this matter, the Spaniards must pay the price.
, they took too much money from us."
Just as the two of them were talking, they heard the voice of a subordinate coming from the side. "Colonel Lloyd, can you come over here? A few Spaniards came over. They said they wanted to send someone to help us investigate the explosion of the Maine.
reasons."
After hearing what his subordinates said, Colonel Lloyd immediately replied. "Damn it, tell those Spanish people that we, the U.S. Navy, will handle the investigation of the explosion of the Maine without their help, so they can leave."
After receiving the order, the U.S. naval officer immediately refused the Spanish boarding, and this scene was seen by everyone.
In a room at the port, Weiler, the governor of Cuba, saw this situation from a window.
"It seems that these Americans don't want our people to get close to the broken ship."
"Yes, Your Excellency Governor, these Americans are really hateful. Do they think we don't know about their support for the rebels? The rebels have become active again in the past half month. Combined with the attitude of the Americans, I am a little worried.
"
The person speaking was the garrison commander, General Mauro Reveli. This general in charge of military command is the most sensitive to rebel activities. The rebel activities in the past half month and the attitude of the Americans have made him worried.
reason.
"Actually, it's not just you, I'm also worried about these Americans. The day before yesterday, Ambassador Depp sent someone to bring a letter, saying that the current attitude in the United States towards the Kingdom is very bad, and the media and newspapers are adding fuel to the fire, and it is very likely that military measures will be provoked.
."
As Cuban officials are separated from the United States by a sea, they feel more about news from the United States than from home, so they judge some things faster than at home.
Governor Weiler's words made General Reveley frown. "If we provoke military measures, then we are too far apart in the navy. I wonder if there is any way at home?"
Well, even General Revley, who was born in the Army, knows the maritime gap between the two countries.
Weiler did not answer the naval issue that General Revley was worried about, but instead talked about another question.
"Leave the issues at sea to the Prime Minister and Admiral Cervera to consider. Now we need to consider the issues on land. If the U.S. troops land in Cuba, where will they land and how should we prevent them? In addition, we also have to deal with the rebels.
We must not be vigilant, we must ensure sufficient pressure, and we must not give the rebels a chance to strengthen themselves."
"But in this way, our country has lost its sea control. Considering the small terrain of Cuba, our army has no way to defend it."
Facing General Revley, who was still a little stubborn, Weiler planned to provide some information to stabilize his mind. Although the matter was still confidential, he still had to reveal something to himself.
"Don't worry, Reveley, Prime Minister and others will find a way. At least we won't completely lose control of the sea."
Weiler's obvious hint made General Reveley feel at ease, but he also had doubts. What method did the Prime Minister and the others use to close the gap in strength with the U.S. Navy? Which country was it? Is it feasible?
