"Why not concentrate the fleet to intercept them midway?" Schefter asked puzzledly. This way of crossing the sea was simply a kind of mental torture for him. Looking at the enemies wandering around looking for opportunities to come up for a fatal blow,
Even a veteran like him who has experienced a real mountain of corpses and seas of blood is inevitably a little frightened.
"How do we stop them? They don't even need to accelerate to the fastest speed. Even the most fuel-efficient low speed is faster than our top speed. They can get rid of us in a circle on the sea and intercept the troop transport. We are fighting for that damn Chinese Exclusion Act.
The price paid is too high! Those congressmen are doing stupid things!" Dewey said bitterly. Of course, this was just an afterthought. In fact, neither he nor Roosevelt supported the use of diesel engines at the beginning. After all, as long as they used that thing, it would be equivalent to being banned.
Yang Feng kidnapped him, just look at how the British are now restrained in front of Yang Feng.
"I agree with this. They have indeed not done anything decent. For example, they have sent 25,000 soldiers to defend a land of nine million square kilometers. For example, our young men are still carrying the black huoyao.
Rifles, even if they know that this thing should be in the garbage dump, I think they are the biggest enemies of the U.S. Navy and Army soldiers." Schefter said with a shrug.
The Army is really helpless at this point. In fact, the United States has many good guns, including the Bofors rapid-fire rifle produced by Texas-based Raytheon Company, Winchester, and Jorgson. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress believes that they
All too expensive.
Just as the two American generals were venting their dissatisfaction with Congress, Admiral Cervera was also worried on the Princess Astraas in the distance. The Americans' tactics left him with nowhere to go.
The feeling in his mouth. Two steel walls firmly blocked his front.
After all, the country's national power is strong enough. It is impossible for Spain to suddenly add so many warships in such a short period of time. Even if the merchant ships are refitted, these merchant ships equipped with a large number of artillery will suddenly increase the firepower projection of Dewey's fleet.
Times, although small and medium-caliber artillery was of little use to battleships, those destroyers couldn't stand it. Even one 120 shell from their thin bodies could be fatal. He didn't dare to risk these precious destroyers.
And there are too few torpedoes in his hands. This kind of expensive torpedo, in addition to the six in the launch tube, there are only two spare ones on each destroyer. The price of 10,000 pounds a piece makes all countries daunted by it, if not
The price of rubber has skyrocketed in recent years, and coupled with the proceeds from the sale of the Philippines, Spain cannot afford this luxury product. It is a bit of a loss to use it to attack protected cruisers, let alone these cheap auxiliary cruisers. Even one torpedo can be replaced by one.
It wasn't cost-effective, because he didn't know if Prime Minister Canovas still had the money to buy him more torpedoes.
Of course, he was simply overly worried about this. He didn't know that Canovas had already obtained a loan of 10 million pounds from the People's Bank.
The Raleigh on the opposite side is still holding on tenaciously. This 3,600-ton protected cruiser is actually useless at this time. Because the power system is damaged, it has even left the formation, and its gap is being assisted by three ships.
The cruiser was blocked, and under the cover of the Tocana, the destroyer launched a charge, but was forced back by the intensive firepower from the opposite side. Angrily, one of the destroyers ignored the prohibition and fired a torpedo at one of them, destroying the two ships.
Thousand-ton boats were sent to the bottom of the sea.
Cervera knew that he was powerless to stop the Americans from landing. So he decided to kill the Raleigh first. The Princess of Astrias did not continue to attack other American warships, but grabbed the Raleigh, followed by the Katona.
Also coming up, two armored cruisers kept pounding the poor cruiser with dense shells, and soon it began to take in water, struggling crookedly on the sea surface.
Watching this scene, Dewey and Schefter in the distance couldn't help but sigh at the same time. At this moment, they suddenly heard the observer's excited shout: "Land!"
After a night of hard sailing, Cuba finally arrived. The entrance to the Bay of Matanzas was clearly visible on the far coast. The entrance to the bay was only four kilometers wide, but the water was deep enough for cruisers to enter. There was a small port, which was mainly used for
Come and export cane sugar to the United States. As long as you capture this place, you can establish a real foothold on the island of Cuba.
Like African bison facing a pride of lions, all the American ships gathered tightly together and then slowly sailed into the bay, with the three ships of the Olympia as the leader, and dozens of merchant ships following closely behind, while the auxiliary cruisers stayed behind
The entrance to the bay was protected by four battleships blocking the entrance. The destroyers that had been following behind in the distance looking for opportunities looked at this scene helplessly. But at this moment, with a huge explosion, the poor Raleigh finally left.
At the end, the cruiser, which protected the entire fleet with its life, sank to the bottom of the sea with a trace of tragedy.
After sinking the target, the Princess Astrias and the Tocana also followed. Looking at the dozen warships lying across the entrance of Matanzas Bay like steel fortresses, Admiral Cervera said expressionlessly.
Said: "The rest depends on the Army!"
What he didn't know was that the Army was worried at this time. There were only 10,000 people stationed here. After all, the Governor of Pollavisha had too much work to do. Although in theory he had a full 250,000 troops, he could really
There are only 60,000 soldiers used for fighting, and the rest are old, weak and disabled soldiers who are like rubbish. It is difficult to bully the Cubans, let alone fight. There are even some Cuban sympathizers who are bewitched by various ideas.
.
The 60,000 capable fighters not only have to prepare for the US landing, but also continue to clear out the Cubans. The huge island is scattered in all directions. Even in an important city like Matanzas, only one brigade is left, and there are still some garbage left. The commander is
A brigadier general named Diaz broke out in cold sweat after learning that this was the landing point for the US military.
Fortunately, this guy who had participated in the Battle of the Philippines still had some courage. After panicking, he gradually calmed down and then mobilized troops to set up defenses at the most likely landing site for the US military. The depth of this bay was also very small, with 10,000 people.
The defense was actually sufficient. He deployed the main force that had withdrawn from the Philippines with him on the west coast. He hastily dug a long trench at the edge of the woods near the coast, mounted machine guns, and even laid mines in front. There were also mines on the shore.
Several ancient stone forts from the Age of Discovery can be used as machine gun forts. The only six 75 cannons are placed on a high ground far away from the coast, and six mortars are placed in dug out emplacements.
As for those who made up the numbers, he pushed them all to the east bank defense. Matanzas was sandwiched between two rivers. Even if the Americans landed on the east bank, it wouldn't be a big deal. Besides, these were the only ones he had anyway.
As soon as the hurried arrangement was completed here, the US fleet came in. Schefter knew everything about the situation in this city. After all, there were so many Americans in Cuba. Besides, they had been thinking about this place for more than a day. They had done it before.
The asking price was US$130 million, but the Spaniards did not agree. Since then, the Americans have been preparing to grab it, and various maps have long been piled up in the navy and army.
Because he had to avoid the Spanish naval guns, Schefter could only choose to land in the bay, and he could only choose the west bank. Of course, he did not have Yang Feng's landing ship. All the troop transports and warships put down their boats one after another, and one by one they
The soldiers in blue military uniforms carried Springfield rifles on their backs and began paddling towards the shore. However, no one stopped them. This scene confused Schefter. In fact, he had not seen the enemy yet!
Brigadier General Diego used the trench tactics he learned from the Filipinos thoroughly. The hastily constructed defense line was just five hundred meters away from the coast and was covered by sparse trees. Schefter did not see them.
But the observer on the mast saw it clearly, and immediately reported to Schefter that the Major General dismissed it. It was not like he had never played with trenches before. They had already been used during the Civil War. Even barbed wire had been erected. That
Yang Feng just stole the idea from American heroes. As long as you have enough courage, trenches are not a problem.
At his request, Dewey ordered the fleet to open fire. In addition to the expensive large-caliber main guns, all the cannons on each ship facing the west coast roared at the same time. The entire coast was instantly engulfed in the flames of the explosion. The poor Spanish soldiers could only hug themselves.
He huddled in the trench with his head down and screamed like crazy in response to the huge explosion that day, which was like the ground cracking. The stone fortresses and some of the machine guns inside were instantly wiped out by heavy artillery.
Major General Schefter looked at the bombed-out coast with great satisfaction. While expressing his gratitude to Dewey, he said confidently: "It seems that our boys will set foot on the land of Cuba just like traveling. In the final analysis, war is still artillery."
After all, no matter how deep you dig a hole in the ground, it will only serve as your own grave."
"Your metaphor is very vivid!" Dewey said with a smile.
At this time, the US forwards had landed. On the Spanish army position that was bombed beyond recognition, there was still no counterattack gunfire. With the joy of a successful landing, the US soldiers began to assemble on the beach under the command of their respective officers. A group
The formations were neatly arranged and looked particularly eye-catching. The bombardment of warships at sea has stopped. Naval guns are not very accurate. A slight sway of the waves may hit the shells on one's head. The coast that was originally like a volcanic eruption suddenly became calm.
Come down.
As more and more American soldiers landed, this empty beach was already filled with soldiers. Many of them even carried their guns directly on their shoulders without taking off their guns. They were unloading various supplies with relaxed expressions and laughing.
No one noticed the black muzzles of guns aimed at them.