The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 808 Ten Minutes

The sound of gunfire and explosions was like a rainstorm, and the whole of Havana fell into chaos.

The guards at the Governor's Palace all clenched their guns and looked outside vigilantly, worried that the rebels would attack.

Fortunately, the rebels met reinforcements sent by a nearby fortress and broke through to the outside of the city.

The gunfire in Havana did not stop until dawn.

Valeriano Weiler kept pacing back and forth in the room. He couldn't sit down at all and his mind was in a mess.

As reinforcements from the castle arrived at the Governor's Palace, he kept asking people about the situation in various places.

The castle did not suffer much damage, but there was an exchange of fire between the soldiers sent out and the rebels in the city, resulting in more than 200 casualties, more than half of whom were killed and wounded at the artillery position.

When they arrived near the artillery position, they were ambushed, and the enemy was using... submachine guns!

The soldiers retreated in panic, leaving behind hundreds of corpses.

Valeriano Weiler had no time to reprimand at this moment. He was more worried about the port. As the telegraph lines were destroyed, he could not contact the port at all and had no idea of the specific situation there.

It wasn't until six in the morning that news came back from the naval base.

The naval base was attacked, with more than 400 casualties.

The arsenal was also bombed.

Except for some gunpowder and shells that were still on board in accordance with war preparedness regulations, everything else was destroyed.

Normally, gunpowder and artillery shells are not stored on ships as they are prone to fire and accidents. Gunpowder and artillery shells are only drawn before sailing.

It is also because of the US declaration of war that there are some gunpowder shells on the naval ships in the port, so as to avoid surprise attacks and be able to sail at any time.

But it's not full ammunition either.

This is also the reason why Chen Zhengwei’s first goal was to blow up the arsenal.

At seven o'clock, Valeriano Weiler led his men to the naval base. What they saw was devastation, with bullet holes and blood everywhere, and corpses lying on the side.

The commander of the naval base, Florencio Trillo, was covered in dirt and directing the soldiers to clean up.

"Be prepared! I think the Americans will attack soon!" said Governor Valeriano Weiler.

"We must fight this battle in the port! There is enough ammunition in the castle, and those artillery can provide sufficient support!"

"Just hold on until reinforcements arrive!"

"The reinforcements also brought some ammunition. Once they arrive, those Americans won't be able to cause any trouble!"

Valeriano Weiler now placed all his hopes on the reinforcements that had just arrived in Santiago.

Before the work at the port was finished, many wealthy Spanish people came to Valeriano Weiler in panic and asked, "Mr. Governor, is Chen Lao Hu attacking us? What should we do?"

After freezing Chen Zhengwei's assets, Valeriano Weiler held a press conference and auctioned some of the assets to these wealthy people at a lower price in exchange for a large amount of cash.

Except for some military expenses left for themselves, most of it was sent back to Spain.

Therefore, the people who are most afraid now are these wealthy people.

Do they know who Chen Zhengwei is?

The last time Chen Zhengwei came to Cuba, he killed a group of them.

Valeriano Weiler looked at these wealthy people with a gloomy face and said coldly: "They can't get in, and the reinforcements from the mainland will arrive soon!"

After that, he ignored these people: "Soldiers, send them away!"

How could he care about them now?

Near noon, a soldier on the port's watchtower suddenly shouted in panic: "There's a fleet! There's a fleet!"

"Eight ships in total..."

“It’s the Americans!”

When the news spread, there was chaos in the naval base and the soldiers in the base ran onto the ship.

But they were attacked last night and haven't slept yet. They also cleaned up the base in the morning. How much combat power do they have now?

By the time they were ready, the US Navy was not far away from them.

"So chaotic? It looks like the explosion last night was really an explosion in the arsenal!" The fleet's commander, Stephen Luce, was looking at the chaos at the port ahead with a telescope.

Most of the ships had just heated up their steam engines and had not even left the dock, so they were unable to evade the attack.

Stephen Luce's face suddenly showed joy.

"I wonder how much ammunition they have... I don't think it's much!"

"Pass the order, attack!"

No matter what he thought of Chen Zhengwei, Chen Zhengwei did indeed plot to kill the Spaniards before the war.

His strategic level is first-class among famous generals from all over the world.

"Send flags to those torpedo boats!"

"Let them attack together!"

Not far away, the Chinese on several torpedo ships were also looking at the port ahead with binoculars, especially the only ironclad ship among them, which was also their main target:
The Ortega, an armored cruiser with a displacement of 4500 tons, was launched less than two years ago.

"We just left the dock and haven't gotten up to speed yet. And with so many boats around, it's hard to avoid them!"

"Those Spanish are dead!"

"Full speed ahead!"

Without any need for Stephen Luce's orders, these torpedo boats moved forward at full speed, leaving other US Navy ships far behind.

boom!
In the distance, the sound of artillery fire like muffled thunder continued to be heard.

The guns of several forts in Havana opened fire first, and large clouds of smoke rose above the forts.

Although this type of large-caliber shore-based artillery uses black powder, it has a larger caliber, more powder, and a longer range.

Water splashed suddenly on the sea surface.

"Captain, should we fire?" The chief gunner of the Ortega quickly ran to the captain and asked.

"Wait! Wait a minute! We don't have much ammunition... and there are no cannons on these ships... There are launch tubes on the side, which look like torpedoes! The range will not exceed 700 meters, and if they want to break through our defense, their range will not exceed 200 meters!"

"Wait until they get within 1500 meters before opening fire!"

"This battle depends on us!"

The captain of the Ortega observed the opening through a telescope, his eyes always on the ships behind.

He was one of the few in the Spanish Navy in Cuba who had a certain understanding of the naval equipment of various countries.

Those small ships were too fast and had too long a range, so there wasn't enough ammunition on board to waste.

The correct option is to wait until they get close before opening fire.

What he was most concerned about were the ships at the back, especially the two light armored cruisers Atlanta and Boston.

They are the biggest threat.

He knew what the training of other ships was like, so he said, "This battle depends on us."

Although they did not open fire, other warships opened fire directly in panic.

One shell after another exploded on the sea surface far away from the torpedo launcher.

"Notify them to save shells!" Captain Ortega instructed his subordinates while continuing to observe the Atlanta and Boston in the distance.

When the torpedo launchers were still two kilometers away, they began to turn, with the side launch tubes pointing towards the port.

Torpedoes were fired one after another.

"Captain! It's a torpedo. They actually launched it from two kilometers away!" The voice of the deputy captain next to him alarmed the captain of the Ortega.

He quickly put down the telescope and looked towards the sea. He saw several black spots moving horizontally in the distance and lines of water cutting through the sea and heading towards him.

"Two kilometers?" The captain of the Ortega had a puzzled look on his face.

How could these American torpedoes be launched from such a long distance?

Today's torpedoes are all propelled by compressed air, that is, there is a compressed air tank in the torpedo, so the range is only a few hundred meters.

The larger the gas tank, the longer the range, but the less gunpowder it contains.

"Try to avoid it, and notify everyone to prepare for the impact! But don't worry too much, it's impossible to break our armor with such a long range!" the captain gave the order.

boom!
Then a huge splash of water exploded at the waterline of the Ortega, the entire ship shook violently, and two sailors close to the side fell directly off the ship.

"what happens?"

"Is it a torpedo?"

"How can it be so powerful?"

The captain of the Ortega's face changed drastically.

"Another batch of torpedoes is coming!" The deputy captain's face also changed drastically and he shouted loudly.

The captain of the Ortega quickly gave the order: "Check the damage, speed up, ignore the other ships on both sides, and ram them!"

"Aim at them and fire! We can't let them fire again!"

The captain of the Olgate gave the order, but his face had already begun to turn pale.

At this distance, with the enemy moving very fast, the artillery's hit rate is extremely low. It takes a bit of luck to sink one ship, let alone four!
However, the guns were unable to fire before they had rammed the other ships on either side.

Another torpedo hit the hull, causing it to shake violently again.

These Spanish warships were crowded in the harbor, like a huge living target.

Moreover, those torpedo boats kept turning in an S shape, firing as they approached, and rows of torpedoes streaked across the water.

Boom boom boom!
The Isabel II frigate not far away was a wooden warship, once the main force of the Spanish Navy. It was hit by just one torpedo, and a large hole immediately appeared at the waterline, and the ship began to tilt to one side.

All the crew members on the ship ran and shouted frantically.

“Hit!”

"Water coming in on the left side!"

All the ships in the entire port were in chaos. When two wooden warships tried to evade each other, they collided directly and were stuck there, unable to move.

On the armored cruiser Olgate, the boatswain was lying on the side of the ship, looking at the side with despair on his face.

When the first torpedo hit it just now, a big hole was already broken in the side armor.

The second torpedo hit not far away, and large areas of armor were twisted and deformed.

Although he hadn't gone down to check yet, he already had a guess in his mind.

The boat is leaking!

Sure enough, when this thought came to his mind, a sailor below the deck ran up and said in panic: "Watertight compartment No. 8 is flooded!"

The captain of the Ortega shook his body after hearing the news, and then said firmly:
"Seal watertight hold No. 8 and leave the port as soon as possible!"

His eyes were fixed on the front, and there were still white lines running through the waves on the sea.

Two minutes later.

Boom boom!

The Ortega was shaken twice in succession, and the crew members who were running busy on board fell to the ground like rolling gourds.

A large amount of seawater poured into one of the cabins, and the Olgate began to tilt to one side.

Less than ten minutes after the war started, the armored cruiser Ortega, the main force of the Spanish Navy in Cuba, was sunk in the sea 300 meters away from the pier.

The Isabel II frigate sank 150 meters from the pier.

The gunboat San Carlos sank 100 meters from the pier.

(End of this chapter)