The U.S. Navy has been conducting strict surveillance in the Caribbean for a month, and still has not found any trace of the Spanish fleet. And high-intensity surveillance for a long time can easily lead to negligence. After all, people are not machines. After the Spanish fleet was not found for a long time, the U.S. Navy
The officers and soldiers also made some perfunctory actions. For example, they changed from inspecting the areas required to be inspected every day to inspecting every other day.
Of course, this has also caused the gaps in this dense network to widen, from being airtight to being somewhat sparse.
Fortunately, in addition to naval warships, the United States also employs many civilian ships. These private ships, mainly fishing boats, also do part-time patrol work while fishing.
On September 13th, a fishing boat hurried back to the Jacksonville Naval Port, bringing shocking news. The ship saw the Spanish fleet on the evening of the 11th.
In view of the high stakes, Major General Samplin personally asked the fishing boat captain Ralph. "Mr. Ralph, you said you saw the Spanish fleet?"
"Yes General, we saw the Spanish fleet while fishing in the waters north of the Windward Islands."
As if to increase his persuasiveness, Captain Ralph took out the ship diagram given to him by the Navy and said, "At that time, these two ships (Garibaldi-class USS Columbus and USS Francisco) were at the forefront, followed by this one.
Three (Maria Teresa-class armored cruisers), then these three (Turin-class) and these two (Venice-class), as well as some other small warships and other ships. I counted them.
There are as many as twenty-four ships.”
Rear Admiral Samplin took a look and took out the ship identification pictures printed by the Navy. These pictures were all burred. It seemed that Captain Ralph often looked at these warship illustrations. This made Rear Admiral Samplin uneasy.
I believe it a bit.
Major General Samplin then continued to ask, "What was the speed of the Spanish fleet you saw and which direction was it going?"
Faced with Major General Samplin's inquiry, Ralph immediately responded. "The speed of the Spanish fleet should be 14-15 knots. When I saw them, they were heading northeast."
"Okay, thank you very much for your help. We will reward you after verification."
After hearing this, Major General Samplin already had a preliminary impression in his mind. Coming from the north of the Windward Islands and heading northeast, isn't that the direction of Cuba?
After seeing off Captain Ralph who had observed the Spanish fleet, Rear Admiral Samplin immediately had preliminary ideas. But before that, he needed to determine the location of the Spanish fleet.
Of course, a telegram was sent from Jacksonville Naval Port to Washington. Rear Admiral Samplin reported to the Navy Department that he had discovered traces of the Spanish fleet and requested that the warships previously sent to the north be returned. In addition, he also hoped that Washington would
, can send a message to the Cuban rebels, asking them to observe various ports in Cuba for signs of the Spanish fleet.
Of course, these are all requests for help from outsiders, and the most important thing is to take action yourself. He immediately ordered to dispatch fast warships to patrol the Caribbean Sea closely, focusing on Cuba and Puerto Rico, because he suspected that the warships coming from Spain would definitely stop here.
.After all, the Atlantic Ocean is so vast, so crossing it requires some repairs.
Following Rear Admiral Samplin's order, the U.S. Navy completely mobilized, including three Indiana-class battleships and four Pennsylvania-class battleships. After all, it wanted to prevent the Spanish fleet from possible attacks on the southern coast.
Following Major General Samplin's order, the Caribbean became even busier, with various American warships and hired civilian ships searching for the whereabouts of the Spanish fleet.
However, after three consecutive days of searching, the Spanish fleet seemed to have disappeared. It appeared once in the Windward Islands and was nowhere to be seen.
The exploration of Cuba and Puerto Rico did not find anything in their ports.
Where is the Spanish fleet that the U.S. Navy misses so much?
The Bermuda Islands, 1,100 nautical miles away from Florida, USA, is an overseas colony of the British Empire. This coral reef archipelago consisting of seven main islands has a small population, and its products are mainly salt and marine fish.
The Spanish fleet led by Vice Admiral Cedela is here.
"Vice Admiral Sedra, according to the principle of belligerent neutrality, there are only four hours left in three days, and your fleet needs to prepare to leave."
Mr. Oakes, the Governor of the British Empire in Bermuda, was at the port, informing Lieutenant General Cedella that they needed to leave.
If you don't count the boxes of high-quality Scottish white coal that are transported to the ship in the port, then Governor Oakes is a quite normal guardian of diplomatic norms.
Wrong, the Governor of Bermuda just disposed of the excess 3,000 tons of high-quality white coal and a large number of fruits and vegetables, and did not sell any supplies to the Spanish fleet. He just sold these supplies to a company called Bob Dylan Trading
The company (established when the Spanish fleet arrived) was a company that violated the principles of belligerence, but it didn't matter what happened to Governor Oakes. Besides, the scent of thirty thousand pounds of banknotes was indeed refreshing.
Of course, he did not let Lieutenant General Sedela suffer. Recently, various news in the United States have been inadvertently revealed.
"By the way, you want to hire someone who is familiar with the hydrology of the East Coast of the United States. Have you prepared the candidates?"
"We looked for a few, but none of them were particularly satisfactory."
"Well, then let me recommend one to you, Captain Juriti, who is known as the Living Chart of the East Coast. This guy used to travel to the East Coast, but then he fell out with his boss for some unknown reason and was fired. But.
Let me first state that the salary this guy demands is a bit high."
"It doesn't matter. We're not afraid of a higher salary. As long as he has the ability, we will definitely satisfy him."
After seeing off Governor Oakes, Lieutenant General Cedella turned to Colonel Leifer and asked Major General Samplin Castillo. "What do you think of Governor Oakes?"
"A patriot with a bit of greed."
Faced with Colonel Leifer's answer, Lieutenant General Sedra shook his head and said, "I think so too, but the fact that the other party helped us so generously makes me feel a bit unreal."
"What else can there be? I just hope that we can give the United States a hard blow. Didn't you see that he has helped us find a good navigator? We should not miss this good opportunity, otherwise you will regret it for life."
"Let me think about it again, this is a big deal, and if you make a mistake, it will lead to very serious consequences."
While Lieutenant General Sedra was hesitant, Colonel Leifer, after learning about the deployment of the U.S. Navy from Governor Oaks, proposed a combat plan to attack the Newport News Shipyard on the east coast of the United States, and even
You can go north to attack the prosperous northeastern ports of the United States. The basis is that the main force of the U.S. Navy is currently in the south, and the northern ports have empty defenses, which are very suitable for attacks. In addition, you can also attract the main fleet of the United States in the south to lift its blockade on Cuba.
.
Well, this Governor Oakes of the Bermuda Islands was really not tight-lipped at all. He talked about the deployment of the east coast of the United States.
Colonel Leifer's suggestion made Lieutenant General Cedela a little tempted, but such a huge modification of the combat plan made him a little hesitant. This is basically beating the United States to death, and there is no guarantee that it will not incur the wrath of the United States. And Spain
The national strength is simply not enough for the United States to see, which really angers the other side. Even if they have given up the idea of peeking at Cuba now, what will they do when the other side builds a new batch of warships? Spain does not have the next Philippines to sell.
However, this plan was too tempting, but now his chances of winning were greatly increased, and he didn't want to give up. It was really a dilemma.
"Let me think again!"
Now that he had said everything he needed to say, Colonel Leifer stopped speaking. After all, this battle still had to be decided by the Spaniards themselves. He was only responsible for commanding and hiring retired Italian officers and soldiers, so he just obeyed the orders.
Lieutenant General Cedella had heard a little bit about Colonel Leifer, and knew that he was a very promising naval genius officer in Italy. However, it was only after he came into contact with him that he discovered that he was actually such a genius. His keen sense of battlefield skills was also part-time.
It's just terrible.
"Let us do it, no matter the consequences."
Lieutenant General Cedela, who had been thinking for a long time, finally made up his mind to deal with everything first. What did he have to worry about? This should be something that Madrid cares about, so he should do what he should do first.
