1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 461, The Darkness Chen Cang (2)

As Donald predicted, the situation changed after the Army landed in early December.

Prior to this, the US fleet had been blocking Cuba, so if the Spaniard’s expeditionary fleet came over, it would definitely not be able to break into the Caribbean Sea. In the original history, because the outbreak of the war was a few months late, so the Caribbean storm began to increase. As a result, the Spanish fleet hid in the Sacred Land Yago Naval Port under the cover of weather. But this time, there is no weather to help. According to reason, the Spaniard’s fleet will definitely not be able to enter the Sacred Land Ago Naval Port. However, something unexpected happened.

A few days ago, the Florida patrol fleet-a group of enthusiastic patriotic sailors sailing to search for the Spanish fleet on their own, lest they attack the east coast of United States. Volunteers sent back a message saying that they were in Flo. The Spanish fleet was spotted about a hundred kilometers west of Rida, and the Spanish fleet was heading north.

If there was only this report, it would be fine, but not long after, volunteers in South Carolina also issued a report, claiming to have discovered the Spanish fleet sailing north. And no matter the number of ships, heading speed, etc., it can be consistent with the report of the volunteers in Florida. So even General Sampson, the commander of the United States Naval Fleet, believed it (I didn’t dare not believe it, because if something really happened and he and his fleet didn’t respond, then the responsibility would be too great. Big.), so he quickly ordered the fleet to turn north to catch up with the Spanish expeditionary fleet.

The “Spanish Expeditionary Fleet” has been maintaining a speed of about ten knots, slowly moving north, while the United States Fleet chased all the way north at a high speed of 20 knots. After several days, it finally caught up in the waters near Maryland. The Spanish Expeditionary Fleet”, the United States people took a closer look, hell! Where is the Spanish fleet, it is clearly a British merchant fleet heading to Canada. Although the patriotic volunteers have high vigilance and enthusiasm, their professional level is really…

At this time, the spies staying in Cuba sent back information, and the Spanish fleet entered the Sacred Land Angkor military port.

“Damn it!” After receiving this information, the face of General Sampson, who was rushing back, turned green. Now he can only expect that after the Spaniards enter the Sacred Land Yago Naval Port, it will take more time for supplies and repairs to allow him to rush back and block the Spaniards fleet in the military port. Otherwise, it will be really big. trouble.

Just as General Sampson was cursing loudly, General Severa, the commander of the Spanish fleet, was also cursing loudly.

“This damn port! These damn broken ships! Everything is so damn! Damn! What a hell!”

The Spanish warships are old ships, and they are not well maintained after they are in the hands of the Spaniards. It used to be okay to go around the coast of Spain, and crossing the Atlantic Ocean is really hard work. In addition, the Spaniards paid attention to ostentation, and a small amount of military expenditure was not spent on normal maintenance, training, etc. on these old warships. Instead, a lot of them were spent on decoration. As a result, these warships were decorated with a lot of high-end mahogany, high-end sofas, wool carpets, and all kinds of messy sculptures. In short, they just sold the British to them. The warship was transformed into a luxury hotel.

With such a hell of a trick, I don’t know whether it’s “improvement” or “reversion”. The reliability, sailing performance, and everything of these ships have all successfully dropped a lot, but the result is a long voyage. All of the machinery on the warships had problems and needed repairs urgently. However, the maintenance capabilities of the Sacred Land Yage Naval Port were very limited, and it was difficult to fix these problems in a short time. General Cervera knew that if the United States fleet came to the door at this time, the own fleet would definitely be blocked in the military port, so he was very anxious.

However, there is no use to worry about this kind of thing. As a result, until General Sampson’s fleet ran back, the Spanish fleet still did not leave the port. While the United States fleet ran back and forth at high speed along the way, the condition of the ship was still basically intact, which once again demonstrated the unparalleled stability of the steam turbine compared to the traditional steam engine.

Blocking the Spanish fleet in a military port is certainly not as good as killing them directly at sea. But it’s better than not knowing where they went. Just hiding the Spanish fleet in the military port is equivalent to dragging the United States fleet immobile. So it’s better to get rid of them as soon as possible.

The first trick that people in United States think of is to find a few old ships and sink them directly on the waterway entering and leaving the port, blocking the waterway. However, during the implementation, the first ship was hit by several shells by the fort of the military port before it could get close, and the second ship accidentally struck a mine. It was still far away from the predetermined location and sank. ——So this plan was cancelled.

Since this trick doesn’t work, it can only be hard. Of course, the so-called hard work is not to let the United States fleet go to hard bars to guard the fort of the naval port in the waters full of mines. Although it may not be defeated, using a precious fleet to do this kind of thing is like using a precious Damascus knife as a mattock. Therefore, the conventional solution is to rely on the army to turn around, take the commanding heights near the port, and then set up cannons there. The Spanish warships hiding in the port can only surrender or come out to die. And if the Spaniard’s fleet is destroyed, it can directly declare that Spain has been defeated.

On December 5th, the U.S. Army landed near the Sacred Land Yago Naval Port. Theodore Roosevelt, who led the team, gave a speech to the soldiers and said: “Fighters, the Spanish fleet has been blocked in the naval port. As long as we take Once we descend the mountain on the opposite side, we will definitely win. I can assure you that we will be able to go home before Christmas!”

Roosevelt resigned to lead the army as the Vice Secretary of the Navy. Of course, he relied on this opportunity to become a hero and pave the way for his future political career. And this battle is definitely the most critical battle in this war.

The Spaniards are of course very clear about the significance of this commanding height to the port, so on this high ground, the Spaniards have been prepared for defense. Relying on the experience gained when attacking the area controlled by the insurgents, and the experience learned from other European countries, the Spaniards spent a lot of time on this high ground.

The Spaniards cut down all the trees within five kilometers of this highland to avoid obstructing the line of sight. At the same time, as an indispensable facility, they pulled several barbed wire fences in front of the trenches and built a lot of bunkers on the mountain. When attacking the area controlled by the insurgents, the Spaniards suffered a lot from the bunkers disguised as mounds or something, so they also built many such bunkers. In addition, the Spaniards also bought a lot of British-made Macdonald anti-infantry mines and broadsword anti-infantry directional mines from the British. The Spaniards laid a lot of them. In addition, the Spaniards also equipped several 4.8-inch heavy mortars on the high ground that were also copied by the British from the McDonald Infantry Weapons Company. To be honest, this is really a hard bone to chew, at least until the Army can send enough heavy artillery to face such a position, there are really not many ways.

However, the US military is not ignorant of this. In the previous period, the Cuban insurgents also launched one or two tentative attacks on this highland. They know more or less about the situation of this highland. Therefore, through them, the U.S. military has more or less understanding of the situation of this highland. I still know a little bit.

“It’s best to dig through tunnels and get as close to the target as possible. However, this highland has a lot of rocks and shallow soil. It is tunneled through trenches, and the distance that can be advanced is also limited. I am afraid there is still a considerable distance to move on the ground. It is not easy, or even impossible, to dig the trenches to the distance that can throw the grenade into the enemy trenches in one go. Therefore, General, if we attack alone, the attack will be very difficult and the casualties will not be small. Of course, it would be great if our navy could provide us with fire support.” US Army Staff Officer Johnson said to Roosevelt.

“The navy can’t count on it.” Roosevelt, who was the Deputy Secretary of the Navy, certainly knew the restrictions that the navy would be subjected to. He pointed to the naval ship’s current cruising position on the map and explained to the officer under his opponent, “In this position, the navy’s artillery range Barely enough to get here. But this is already at the extreme range. At this distance, the navy’s guns are not at all accurate. If you really want them to fire, I dare say that the chance of hitting us is better than hitting Spain. The people are much bigger. Unless they continue to move from their current position to here-this is the nearest shore position allowed by the depth of the water. But these locations were mines by the Spaniards, and they were also within the precise range of the port fort, and they had to advance to it. Here, they must be able to kill the turret first. And if they can kill the turret, there is no need for us to attack this high ground. Therefore, this battle can only be done by ourselves. Unfortunately, we only have nothing in our hands. Up to ten three-inch guns, other heavier guns could not be shipped ashore. Fortunately, according to the Cubans, the Spanish firepower is not particularly strong. Let’s prepare first. In the morning of Houtian, we will do it once. A tentative attack, at least to figure out their firepower allocation…”

…

“Selling newspapers, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Sun, there are the latest battle reports, and battlefield news!” A newsboy was carrying a pack of newspapers, hawking on the street. A man on a bicycle passed by. He stopped and said to the newsboy: “Child, give me a copy of the New York Times.”

“Good! Three cents, thank you!” The paper boy ran over and took out a copy of the New York Times and handed it to the man.

The man took the newspaper, put it under his arm, then took out his wallet to find money, and asked, “What’s the news?”

“Our army was frustrated when attacking the Sacred Land Yage Military Port, causing hundreds of casualties.” The newsboy replied.