At midnight, in Fort Wordsworth on Staten Island on the west coast of the New York Bay Channel entrance, a shrill siren awoke the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Willis, from his sleep, and then a piece of bad news reached his ears.
He was still somewhat unconscious and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
"Asshole, what did you say? If you lied about military information, I will send you to a military court." He pinched the collar of the officer on duty and roared angrily. In fact, his reason told him that this must be true, but it was just emotionally unacceptable.
"Lieutenant Colonel, it's true. A merchant ship at sea just sent a telegram that it encountered the Spanish fleet ten kilometers south of Long Beach. However, there is no follow-up telegram. It is estimated that it has been captured by the Spanish." The officer on duty said with a white face.
said.
"Get ready to fight! Damn those bastards in the Admiralty, if the Spaniards come in, I will put a gun in Minister Long's eye!" Lieutenant Colonel Willis roared sadly and indignantly. Just yesterday morning, the Admiralty
He had just mobilized a dozen warships gathered in Lower New York Bay. If these warships were still there, it would obviously not be his turn to face the Spanish.
"Lieutenant Colonel, Minister Long has committed suicide." The officer reminded him kindly.
"Huh?" Lieutenant Colonel Willis was stunned for a moment, and then roared: "Get out!"
Just when Fort Wordsworth received the alarm, the battle alarm also sounded at Fort Hamilton opposite it. In these two fortresses that locked the entrance to the New York Bay Channel, thousands of soldiers immediately woke up from their sleep, one by one.
Rushing to their posts in panic, the 240- and even 280-mm coastal defense guns all entered combat mode, and the muzzles of countless black holes were all pointed toward the sea below New York Bay.
Immediately after, Fort Clinton, Fort Williams, Fort Wood, Fort Gibson and even the two forts at the mouth of the East River on New York Bay sounded the alarm. The whole of New York immediately fell into hysterical panic, especially those who thought that there would be no
For the residents who had just returned after being bombarded again, this shrill battle siren was like the sky falling. Countless people poured into the streets crying and screaming in the dark night. Some even didn't even bother to put on their clothes.
They were wandering around in the street in a daze.
Officials from the New York City government and various district governments, police, and National Guard members were all summoned and ran to the streets to maintain order. These heavily armed soldiers had some effect, but at this moment, a series of muffled thunder faintly came from the southeast.
.Immediately afterwards, eight huge fireballs exploded in the direction of Brooklyn. At this time, all the efforts of the New York City Government were in vain.
As for Brooklyn, with the fall of these eight shells, the entire order completely collapsed. Originally, the residents here were complex and purely belonged to the slums of New York. Blacks, Mexicans, Southeast Asians, and even lower-class Japanese were the main ones.
Under normal circumstances, it is known for its chaotic order. Now when the shells fell, it was beyond description of chaos. The entire city streets were completely flooded by the fleeing people, and even some police officers and officials were rushed down and trampled under their feet. Soon
When the second round of shells fell, even these people joined the fleeing ranks.
The fleeing people naturally fled to Manhattan Island through the Brooklyn Bridge. After all, even Fort Tutton and Fort Schuller in Queens sounded the alarm. Undoubtedly, no place in the entire Long Island was safe. The only way to get there was through Manhattan Island.
It would be safest to go north or simply cross the Hudson River.
Amid the flames that continued to explode in Brooklyn, the surging crowds rushed straight to Manhattan. They were crowded and trampled in the dark. Countless people were not killed by cannonballs, but trampled to death by their own compatriots. The arrival of these rioters intensified the chaos in Manhattan.
, poor people come to rich areas in the dark, and some inevitable things happen on a large scale.
At this time, people discovered a serious problem. What are our coastal defense artillery doing? In addition to sounding the battle alarm, why have no counterattacks been heard yet?
Lieutenant Colonel Willis, the commander of Fort Wordsworth, and Lieutenant Colonel Edward, the commander of Fort Hamilton, didn't know how to answer this question. They really wanted to fight, but how could they fight if they couldn't reach the enemy?
"How far is the range of Spanish naval guns?" Lieutenant Colonel Willis asked the officer beside him blankly as he watched the flames exploding in Brooklyn.
"The report of the Atlantic Fleet said that their longest range is the 240 naval gun on the Princess Astraas. It can usually fire from a distance of twelve kilometers. It is estimated that the maximum range will not be less than thirteen
Kilometers." The officer said hurriedly.
"How many kilometers does it take to get from the south of the Rockaway Peninsula to the current landing point?" Lieutenant Colonel Willis asked with wide eyes.
"If you consider the draft issue, it is estimated to be at least 17 kilometers!" the officer swallowed and said.
Lieutenant Colonel Willis stopped talking expressionlessly. The four 330 coastal defense guns newly installed in his fortress have a maximum range of 11 kilometers. Of course, it is impossible to hit a target 11 kilometers away at night like this.
Impossible, don't expect it even five kilometers away, not to mention there is a large land mass between the Spaniards and them.
In fact, what he didn't know was that the maximum range of Princess Astraas's 240 main gun could reach 20 kilometers if the barrel loss was not taken into account and the charge was strengthened. You must know that the steel used in this kind of artillery is from
Even some of the key components purchased by Hyundai were processed by beautiful women. The reason why they used to fire at twelve kilometers was mainly due to the limitation of sighting equipment. Nowadays, it is still necessary to bombard a city with so many tubes. Just aim at it.
Just call it.
But even so, it is very difficult to hit Manhattan under normal circumstances. Even if the charge is strengthened and the shells are in the current position, they cannot hit there. Unless the fleet can enter the Lower New York Bay, but in that case, it may have to face
The U.S. military's coastal defense artillery was under fire, and Admiral Cervera was troubled by this issue.
It is difficult for Americans to remember the bombardment of Brooklyn. After all, Manhattan is the core of the country's economy. The destruction of slums and the destruction of the most prosperous financial center are completely different concepts.
"What if poison gas bombs are used? The Bishop and Tocana both have some poison gas bombs. There is no wind on the sea today. We can absolutely use poison gas bombs, smoke bombs, and incendiary bombs to attack them just like Yang Feng did in Japan.
We don't need to destroy these two forts, we just need to make them unable to function. Poison gas, white phosphorus fire, and smoke screens, these things combined are enough to drive the Americans out of these two forts. And then we don't
We need to get too close, just hit Wall Street five kilometers away to destroy the symbol of American capital. Even if we don't use these things at this distance, it will be very difficult for the Americans to hit us at night, not to mention
There are also these things that interfere." A staff officer next to him said sinisterly.
"It's just that we may be criticized to some extent," another staff officer said.
"Accusation? No one will accuse the winner." Cervera sneered and said that since the last time Charleston was destroyed, the Americans had already added the title "executioner" to him. In this case, he might as well act like a real executioner.
Executioner.
"Get ready to enter Lower New York Bay!" he said with a grim expression.
As his order was issued, the three ships Princess Astrias, Bishop, and Tocana immediately sailed forward into Lower New York Bay. In the distance, the two fortresses sandwiching the entrance of the New York Bay Channel to the east and west gradually gradually
Entering the field of view, huge searchlight beams are constantly searching the sea surface.
"Enemy ship found!" The observers screamed in Fort Wordsworth, and the entire fort immediately became chaotic. Lieutenant Colonel Willis hurriedly shouted: "Quickly measure the distance and prepare to fire."
Measuring the distance to a target nearly ten kilometers away in the dark with a few lights on the opposite side is a bit too far-fetched. Besides, there is generally little training for such night operations. If it is not in a searchlight column, the cannon
It was just pure confusion, and Lieutenant Colonel Willis knew this very well.
Fortunately, the Spaniards on the opposite side were obviously continuing to close the distance. Looking at the approaching enemy, Lieutenant Colonel Willis couldn't help but sigh. He naturally knew what the opponent's purpose was.
"Inform the headquarters and tell them that the Spanish will bombard Manhattan and let the capitalists prepare to lose Wall Street!" He said expressionlessly, and at this moment, a fire suddenly shone on the sea in the distance.
"Artillery attack!" Lieutenant Colonel Willis yelled, and then he heard a harsh whistling sound in the sky, and then a series of small explosions sounded on the fortress.
"Incendiary bombs!" A scream of horror immediately came from the upper gun emplacement. The incendiary bombs at this time were all filled with white phosphorus. Wherever this thing landed, no matter whether there was any combustible material or not, it would be a terrifying sea of fire. More importantly,
It was these incendiary bombs that turned the two fortresses into eye-catching torches. Just when the American soldiers were frightened by the white phosphorus flames and fled in all directions, something more terrifying fell.
The 152mm mustard gas shells are the standard shells that these warships carry when they buy them. According to the instructions, they are for ground support. There are not many, so the Spaniards don't pay much attention to them. They have never been used. Now they are all poured out.
Arriving at two forts.
In the burning flames of white phosphorus, poison gas bombs exploded on Fort Wadsworth and Fort Hamilton one after another. As clouds of poisonous mist spread, the entire fort was in complete chaos, and people everywhere were screaming and fleeing.
Soldiers, gas masks are the equipment of the Army. The Navy does not have them and has never wanted them. Now it is unlucky.
In fact, the poisonous mist was not all filled with poisonous gas bombs. There were also a large number of smoke bombs mixed in it. But at this time, the American soldiers were not in the mood to distinguish. They looked at their fallen comrades one by one, and then remembered the evil reputation of this thing.
There was no other thought in his whole brain except to escape.
As for the Spanish bombardment of Manhattan, what business does that place have to do with these ordinary soldiers?