After the U.S. Navy renegotiated its countermeasures, more ships were circling around in the Caribbean and the Atlantic.
These ships appear all over the sea, especially in the Bermuda Islands, and there are several ships wandering around every day.
These ships wandering around were like a tight net, trying to catch the Spanish fleet.
Not to mention, the large net spun by the U.S. Navy this time was really effective. In less than three days, news about the appearance of the Spanish fleet in Puerto Rico immediately reached the ears of the U.S. Navy.
After receiving the news that the Spanish fleet had appeared in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Navy immediately dispatched additional patrol ships to grasp the traces of the Spanish fleet.
Sometimes the magic of money is so powerful. After the United States increased its efforts to spread money, the Caribbean Sea was filled with various ships, leaving the Spanish fleet with nowhere to hide.
"Lieutenant General, it seems that it is impossible to sneak to the Port of Santiago. I suggest you just go there openly."
On the flagship Queen Sabel, Colonel Leifer looked at the various ships escaping in the distance, and said helplessly to Lieutenant General Sedra. "This can also speed up the speed and help Christine as soon as possible."
Princess Nana will install the boiler."
Well, there were too many benefits from concealing their whereabouts before, so this time the Spanish fleet hopes to rush to Cuba in a concealed manner.
On the one hand, although two N-3 heavy-duty boilers were obtained, the three days in Bermuda were not enough to install these two boilers into the Princess Christine. Therefore, after leaving Bermuda, the only way to restore
You can only use Spain's own shipyard. Currently, the only shipyards capable of repairing the Princess Cristina are Havana and Santiago on the island of Cuba.
On the other hand, it has been almost two months since the fleet came out, and it has traveled nearly 10,000 kilometers. The officers and soldiers are very tired from the high-intensity work. In order to allow the fleet officers and soldiers to rest and maintain the ships, they must also be repaired in the port.
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Due to these various reasons, the Spanish fleet could only dock in Cuba. Although they also knew that this would cause a lot of dangers, there was nothing they could do about it.
It is precisely because of this that Lieutenant General Cedela hopes to rush to the Port of Santiago quietly. After all, the Port of Havana is too close to the United States and is too unsafe.
But since Colonel Leifer said so, after some consideration, Lieutenant General Sedra spoke.
"In this case, we will no longer hide it and rush to Santiago at full speed."
Following Lieutenant General Cedela's order, the Spanish fleet, which no longer concealed its whereabouts, rushed all the way to Cuba in full view of the public.
The news that the Spanish fleet was heading for Cuba fell into the hands of the U.S. Navy within two days.
After receiving the news that the Spanish fleet was heading to Cuba, the U.S. Navy also did not dare to neglect and immediately held a meeting to discuss the matter.
"Everyone, our efforts have finally yielded results. The Spanish fleet is currently speeding towards Cuba. We have reason to believe that this time we have caught the tail of the cunning Spanish fleet. For this reason, how should we encircle and suppress this fleet next?
The fleet causing unrest on the east coast and taking Cuba away from Spain will be the next task of our navy."
"Everyone, I think the Spanish fleet is heading towards Cuba. This is a good opportunity. We should immediately send the fleet back to the Jacksonville military port. After we find out where the enemy is, we can surround or destroy it."
Brigadier General Dewey put forward his own opinions and suggestions from the beginning.
"Isn't this too hasty?" Although they knew about Dewey's relationship with Secretary Roosevelt, some people still opposed this direct all-or-nothing approach. Major General Samplin continued.
"Now that we know that the Spanish fleet is rushing to Cuba, we can of course return to the Jacksonville military port, but I suggest that before returning, collect all the unused mines in each port. We do not need to forcefully break into the enemy's port, we only need to know that the enemy is there
Which port was conducted."
Obviously, although Major General Samplin has not said the specific method, but there are experienced senior officers present, naturally he can think of a method from the items he mentioned. Yes, mines are a good thing, this thing has both offense and defense, and is very suitable for
The current situation of the U.S. Navy.
That's right, compared to a radical attack, wouldn't it be better to use good things like mines to block the enemy somewhere? You must know that the warships currently in the hands of the U.S. Navy cannot be said to be able to completely defeat the opponent.
The Navy's private estimate.
It can be seen from here how weak the U.S. Navy's confidence is. Locking the enemy in the port will coincide with the Army's landing operations.
"In addition, I hope that in addition to bringing mines, torpedo boats and shallow-water heavy gunships will also be brought this time."
Rear Admiral Samplin's words made the other generals look stunned, and also made Secretary Roosevelt's face change slightly. This would easily lead to topics if most of the naval warships were to be pulled over. For this reason, as the Secretary of the Navy,
Roosevelt asked, "Do I have to bring it with me?"
"Yes, Your Excellency Minister, I cannot guarantee that we can win in the battle with the Spanish fleet, so I need every warship to play its due role, which will increase our chances of winning."
Yes, for Rear Admiral Samplin, after the unexpected loss of the support fleet headed by the USS Iowa, the U.S. Navy currently does not have an advantage. Damn the Italians, why are they selling so many warships?
Every battleship in hand now is valuable, let alone a shallow-water heavy gunship.
The U.S. Navy has three 4,000-ton shallow-water heavy artillery ships. These three shallow-water heavy artillery ships, numbered bm2, bm3, and bm5, are equipped with four 254 mm 30 times caliber main guns. The main armor belt is 224 mm thick, and the gun mounts are armored.
is 260 mm, and the turret armor is 180 mm.
This data looks good, but because it is very early, these armors are all steel-faced iron armor, and their protection level is still far from enough. As for the speed, it was 12 knots when it first entered service, and it is good to have 10 knots now.
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But after all, there are still 12 10-inch guns on these three battleships, right? At this juncture of preparing for the decisive battle, these three shallow-water heavy gunships were brought onto the battlefield, used to attack the forts and consume the opponent's fleet.
"Do we have to bring three ships?"
"Having them increases the fleet's chances of victory."
"Then take it with you."
After the U.S. Navy made up its mind, it began to take action. Warships distributed in various ports in the Northeast began to move to the Jacksonville Military Port. In addition, ammunition supplies and other materials were also transported to the Jacksonville Military Port.
Of course, the most important thing is to detect the location of the Spanish fleet, how long it can stay there, and what the reason for staying there is.
