The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 809: I don't feel bad if it's not my ship

Watching the Ortega and several surrounding wooden boats slowly sinking in the harbor, Lieutenant General Stephen Luce held the telescope for a long time, unable to recover from his shock.

He heard about the torpedo in Chen Zhengwei's hands from the Navy Department, and he also knew that this type of torpedo had a very long range and great power.

But this result still made him feel as if he was frozen in time, and he stood there for a long time, unable to recover.

Even for the Atlanta's main guns, at a distance of less than 1800 yards (5 meters), it would take at least five dispersed hits to inflict serious damage on the enemy.

At a distance of 2000 to 3000 yards, 8 to 13 dispersed hits are needed to inflict heavy damage on the enemy.

And he saw clearly just now that the opponent's armor was completely deformed and even water-logged after only being hit by two torpedoes.

After being hit by four torpedoes, it began to tip over and sink rapidly.

Moreover, this type of torpedo ship is low in cost, short in construction time, fast and flexible. Even ten torpedo ships can be used to besiege a battleship... Although the range is not as good as large-caliber artillery, the attack distance of more than 2000 yards is enough for the torpedo ship to deter the main battleships of all countries.

It took Stephen Luce a long time to come back to his senses. He now had only one thought in his mind.

Times have changed!

Now is the era of torpedoes!
……

"Boss, Havana won a big victory!"

Captain Woodshui of the Palmer came out of the bridge with a telegram in his hand, looking happy. At this time, Chen Zhengwei was enjoying the breeze on the deck.

"Are they done fighting?" Chen Zhengwei asked.

"Yes, the battle is over, a great victory!" Wu Deshui handed the telegram to Chen Zhengwei.

"Just ten minutes after the battle started, they sank the Spanish flagship Ortega in Havana and two wooden warships. Fifteen minutes later, they sank two more wooden warships, and one ship hoisted the white flag! The entire battle took no more than twenty minutes, and only one person was injured and one died."

"It went better than I expected!" Chen Zhengwei glanced at the telegram and said with a smile.

"It's all the boss's plan!" Wu Deshui flattered him respectfully.

This captain, who is in his forties, is one of the few pig captains left in the fleet.

He was born into a poor fisherman family in his early years. He joined a gang to keep each other warm. Later, he seized the opportunity and became the captain of a piggy boat, mainly traveling to Guangzhou, Nanyang and the United States.

When Chen Zhengwei first formed the fleet, he kept a group of pig captains in the fleet to assist in training. However, these people had bad habits that were hard to change and were difficult to manage, so most of them were cleared out of the fleet in about half a year.

Wu Deshui was not a good person either, but he was strict in managing the members and had a good brain, so he was one of the few captains who stayed.

Although the USS Palmer is now outdated in Chen Zhengwei's naval sequence, at that time, it was the second most important battleship in Chen Zhengwei's hands after the USS Warrior.

This shows the ability and status of Wood Water.

Chen Zhengwei looked up at the high ground ahead. It would take another hour to reach the port of San Diego.

I guess by the time I arrive, Santiago will have received the news from Havana.

But Chen Zhengwei didn't care whether they knew it or not.

Most deep-water ports in this era have unique geographical conditions and are surrounded by mountains, which can block typhoons and tsunamis.

This is true in both Havana and Santiago.

The Port of Santiago is 6 kilometers deep and more than one kilometer wide inside, but it is extremely narrow on the outside, with the entrance and exit only a hundred meters wide.

Although there are artillery batteries on the mountains on both sides, they cannot hold out for long under the fleet's artillery fire.

And...the commander of the Spanish reinforcements was Admiral Miguel Lobo Maragonto.

Miguel Maragonto's information flashed through Chen Zhengwei's mind.

This admiral, who once served in the Caribbean and is very familiar with the navigation conditions in the Caribbean, is 50 years old, in the prime of his life, with a pragmatic and decisive character and rich experience.

However, their combat style is conservative, tending to ensure the safety and combat effectiveness of the fleet. Once they find that the port is blocked, they will never risk breaking out.

Besides, they had no chance of breaking out.

As far as Chen Zhengwei knows, Spain has another suitable commander, Luis Pinezon, whose ancestors were the Pinezon brothers in the Columbus era and came from a famous sailing family.

However, the choice of Maragonto as commander already shows Spain's idea. They do not want to suffer too much damage in this war and want to preserve the fleet as much as possible.

With Spain's current economic situation, they can't afford to lose.

Chen Zhengwei showed a sarcastic smile on his face, and then burst into laughter.

"Boss, what have you thought of that makes you so happy?" Wu Deshui said with a smile.

"Spain was afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind. They wanted to fight a war but also wanted to preserve their fleet... and in the end they were completely wiped out. Their expressions must have been very interesting!" Chen Zhengwei said excitedly.

"If their commander is not dead, remember to find a dog after landing. I said before that the Spaniards and dogs should eat at the same table."

After taking a look at the mountains in the distance that extended deep into the ocean, Chen Zhengwei put a cigar in his mouth.

"If they don't eat, beat them!"

……

At this time, half of the port of Santiago was bombed, and there were ruins and corpses everywhere, and it was a mess everywhere.

Miguel Maragonto stood at the bow of the ship and looked at the port, his brows had been furrowed since he arrived here.

"General, you should take a rest first!" the adjutant next to him advised.

The fleet arrived in Santiago this morning, and Maragonto has not had a rest since then.

"How can we rest?" Miguel Maragonto sighed and said worriedly:

"The naval base in Havana was also attacked, and the warehouse was also bombed!"

"We only have some ammunition on the three supply ships of the fleet, which can only sustain us for a naval battle at most!" "It will take at least 20 days to transport the supplies from Spain."

"So we must win the battle in one naval battle!"

The Americans bombed their naval base and they must have known their current predicament. This was deliberately designed by the Americans.

This is what he has been worrying about, how to secure victory in a naval battle, otherwise he would have to leave with the fleet first.

Just as they were worrying, a horse galloped towards the city center, and a naval officer in uniform jumped off the horse with a telegram tightly in his hand. He pushed aside the other sailors who were blocking his way and quickly ran onto the ship.

"Havana was attacked by the American fleet. Five ships, including the Ortega, were sunk. The Sánchez Barcastegui hoisted the white flag... They... surrendered..."

Hearing the words of the visitor, Miguel Maragonto took a deep breath and then asked hurriedly: "Has the Warrior appeared?"

"No, of the eight ships attacking Havana, four are from the US North Atlantic Fleet, including the light cruisers Atlanta and Boston that they just launched, as well as a torpedo boat!"

"The telegram tells us to be careful of torpedo boats! Their torpedoes have a range of over 2000 meters and are extremely powerful!"

The man said quickly.

"Not good!" Miguel Maragonto's face changed when he heard that the Warrior did not appear and only four warships of the US Atlantic Fleet appeared.

Then he gave a hasty order: "Wake up everyone, tell the engine department to heat up the boilers now, and notify the people below to return to the ship immediately and prepare to set sail!"

The Warrior and Palmer left San Francisco very early, and since they did not appear in Havana, they were most likely heading for Santiago.

As the order was given, the sailors who were still resting on the ship were awakened, and the soldiers who were still loading food and coal quickly ran aboard.

At the same time, a bell rang in the distance.

"It's an alarm! They are coming!" Miguel Maragonto looked anxious when he heard the bell in the distance.

However, the ship remained at the dock without moving.

This is also the reason why the Spanish fleets in Havana were only a few hundred meters away from the dock when they were sunk.

Nowadays, steam engines in various countries are compound steam engines. After the ship's boiler is cooled, it takes at least five hours of preparation time to cold-start it so that it can sail.

During the war, the battleship's boilers were in hot standby mode, and in order to sail in time without delaying the fighter planes, it would take at least one and a half to two hours for the battleship to move, and then slowly increase speed.

Therefore, even if the high-altitude watchtower discovered the enemy's whereabouts an hour in advance, it would still be difficult to drive the ship out of the port in time.

after an hour.

boom!
Smoke rose from the fortress high on two mountains that stretched into the ocean.

"Have the engine room go faster and everyone get ready for battle!" Maragonto gave the order loudly.

……

"Boss, be careful of the artillery!"

Hearing the sound of artillery fire, the thugs immediately surrounded Chen Zhengwei.

"I haven't seen all kinds of storms and waves. What's the use of you if a shell comes over? You're not even qualified to be a human shield. I don't even have anywhere to run!" Chen Zhengwei kicked his henchman aside while cursing.

He continued to observe the front with a telescope in his hand, and at the same time gave the order: "Notify the Warrior and the North Atlantic Fleet to fire back after advancing two kilometers! Shoot down their artillery for me!"

Land-based artillery has a larger caliber, more explosive charge, and a much greater range than those on battleships.

"Let the torpedo ship speed up and observe the situation in the enemy's port."

Chen Zhengwei couldn't see the inside of the port from his current angle, and he didn't know the current situation of the Spanish fleet.

Under Chen Zhengwei's command, the nearby warships received the order and after moving forward two kilometers, the Chicago was the first to open fire in retaliation.

Boom! Along with the sound of the cannon, the entire ship shook.

Next was the protected cruiser USS Newark.

After the Warrior advanced another kilometer, it slowly turned and faced the fortress on the mountain on one side. The gun deck opened, revealing rows of gun muzzles.

Boom boom!

A row of shells were fired from the Warrior and fell into the distance.

Explosions continued to occur around the fortress.

At the same time, the two torpedo boats accelerated and rushed directly to the outside of the port for observation.

Seeing that all the Spanish ships were docked at the dock and black smoke was constantly coming out of their chimneys, the captains of the two torpedo ships were overjoyed.

"They haven't been able to start yet!"

The two torpedo launchers turned around and sent out flag signals.

"Brother Wei, their ship hasn't started yet!"

"Notify the Chicago and Newark to rush into the harbor."

"Notify the torpedo boats to charge in using these two ships as cover!"

Chen Zhengwei decisively ordered to use the Chicago and Newark as targets to attract the enemy's artillery.

He saw clearly just now that when the two torpedo boats rushed into the harbor, the enemy's main targets were still the Warrior and the Chicago. Apparently, the fortress had not received the telegram about the torpedoes, and in their view, the torpedo boats posed little threat.

Then...these two cruisers are the best choices.

After all, it looks threatening.

Moreover, the former has 2 inches and the latter has 3 inches of armor, which are more resistant.

The most important thing is...what does the sinking of a US Navy ship have to do with him?
He doesn't feel sorry!
(End of this chapter)