At 9 a.m. on 24 July, Servera led his fleet out of Santiago.

Since the submarine cable from Havana to the mainland via Cifuengos had been cut by the Americans, the Spanish Minister of the Navy handed over the command of the fleet to the Cuban governor, who in turn threw the hot potato to the commander of the ground forces, General Linaris, who ordered the fleet to break out after the Americans landed.

However, at this time, Servera did not lead the fleet to accept this order to die as in history, but waited for the arrival of local support. Fortunately, before the cable was cut by the Americans, the Spanish mainland had already notified the fleet of its departure and scheduled arrival time, so Servera had been preparing for the day.

July 24 was Sunday, 9 o'clock was the time for American sailors to listen to the sermon on deck, and the waterway that had been half blocked by the wreckage of the Merrimack was difficult to navigate, and the American warships had searchlights, and they were also brightly lit at night, so it was not safe to sail at night.

Coupled with the fact that he cared about the glory and dignity of the Spanish navy, it was a loss of grace and dignity to sneak away like a thief while it was dark, so Servera decided to break through during the day and sail east to try to meet the reinforcement fleet.

On the evening of July 23, the Spanish fleet began to burn boilers to prepare steam at night, and in the early morning of July 24, the Americans found a layer of black smoke in the harbor, and Sclairy, who was not sure what the Spaniards were going to do, instinctively ordered the fleet to be on higher alert.

However, at about half past eight, some holes appeared in the American blockade, and the appearance of a column of smoke in the east caused Sampson to lead the flagship armored cruisers USS New York, the USS Oregon, the battleship USS Texas, and the protective cruisers USS Columbia and USS Minneapolis to turn due east to investigate, so that a large gap immediately appeared in the American blockade.

At 9 a.m. Servera had quietly sorted, and the Spanish fleet carefully avoided the minefields and the wreckage of the Merrimack. At about 9:30 a.m., the Spanish fleet approached the exit of the waterway, and there was no Brooklyn quartermaster who had taken a telescope to see the land scenery and then spotted the moving pillar of smoke behind the hill where the Sakpa Fortress was located.

Servela's plan came to fruition perfectly, and the Spanish fleet rushed out of the waterway without being detected by the Americans. At this time, the Americans, who only discovered that the Spaniards had come out, were shocked, although the American warships, which had long been on guard, had not appeared to be crowded on the deck while everyone was listening to the pastor's sermon. However, they still rushed to the battle position.

The whole fleet was full of "thump" and "thump" sounds from closed hatches and watertight doors, taking advantage of the chaos of the Americans, Servela's flagship Maria? The Theresa began to turn its rudder eastward while firing a burst of shelling.

In fact, if Servera ordered the fleet to fight to the death in a decisive battle with the American fleet at this time, he might have achieved considerable results while the American imperialists were panicking, but Servera, who was eager to meet with the reinforcement fleet, gave up this golden opportunity.

At this time, the Spanish fleet could not reach the rated speed due to poor maintenance, but the Americans were in a long-term blockade, and the general boilers were idle to save coal, so at this time the two sides were in half a pound and eight taels of speed, and the Spaniards took the lead. The Americans will not be able to catch up for a while.

In this way, the two sides carried out this inaccurate artillery bombardment, chasing and fleeing to the east, when there was no wind on the sea, and the gunpowder smoke produced by the shelling of both sides lingered on the sea surface for a long time, like gray clouds.

The Spanish fleet, with its columns of water splashed by these clouds and American shells, looked particularly beautiful between the blue sea and sky, but the combination of the cruelty of being a hunter and a war with this elegance fills the heart with a strange feeling.

The chase lasted more than two hours, and the Americans, who had been robbed of the front, did not inflict heavy damage on the flagship of the Spanish fleet after an hour of pursuit, as is the case in history, and in this way the Spanish fleet of Servera actually caught up with the Sampson fleet, which had sailed east earlier to investigate the smoke column.

At this time, Sampson, who had discovered that the source of the smoke column was the Spanish fleet that had come to reinforce him, was embarrassed to find himself a sandwich biscuit sandwiched between the Spaniards, and after thinking about it. Sampson decided to take the fleeing Spaniards first on the left helm.

And Servera, who also found himself a sandwich biscuit for the Americans, had no choice but to order the course to remain unchanged and break through directly when there were wolves in front of him and tigers in the back.

And taking into account the fact that on the American side, only the fastest armored cruiser USS New York poses the greatest threat. Servera also insisted that even if it collided, he would sink the New York first, so that the other ships could still escape and gather reinforcements, otherwise he would have to be really made into sandwich cookies by the American fleet catching up behind.

With this determination, Servera charged with a martyrdom-like consciousness, but the dense fire of the Americans made Servera's charge meaningless. Although the main guns of both sides were outdated and old, the two fleets with the intersecting tracks of the diagonal cut were getting closer and closer.

The two sides are about 4,000 meters apart, after entering the combat distance that is common in naval battles at this time, which can guarantee a hit rate. The difference in the level of training of the sailors of the United States and Spain was manifested in the concentration of all firepower in Maria? Shortly after the Theresa boarded, a 5.5-inch rapid-fire gun was uprooted by a shell from the New York with the gun mount, and then another shell took away the captain and most of the officers on the bridge, and Servera had to take command of the battle himself.

However, the gunnery of the Spanish sailors could not be complimented. Although they were desperate and brave, they only cared about the fanatical reloading, firing, loading, and firing of artillery without any accuracy, and in the face of the American gunners' cycle of loading, aiming, and firing, the battle was quickly decided, although the post-war statistics of the Americans were only about 2% of the hits.

Maria? Theresa's stern burst into flames, shells scattered across the aft deck exploded, scattered shalnel flew like fireworks, and hot steam leaking from the ruptured steam pipes erupted from all around the canopy with a terrible whistling sound. By this time, the road to the stern had been blocked by fire, and Servera could not even fill the rear ammunition depot with water.

Knowing that the general situation was gone, Servera ordered the battleship to rush to the beach and run aground, and at the same time, Amirante? The Okundo was also unlucky, a single shot from the Oregon's 13-inch guns sent 2 shells directly into the hull, and Amirant? The Oquindo lost power on the spot.

The Okundo, paralyzed on the surface of the sea, was targeted by the USS Texas. A succession of shells turned the deck of the Okundo into a slaughterhouse.

A 12-inch main gun shell from the USS Texas hit the front main turret of the Okundo, tearing the head of the turret commander standing in front of the lookout hole straight from his neck, and the flying head smashed into the back wall of the turret, leaving a cloud of red and white flesh. The six gunners in the turret were bleeding and slumped on the deck, and although there were no external injuries, the shock wave shattered their internal organs, and their abdominal cavity had become a mass of broken cotton wool.

Followed by. The bridge was shot, most of the officers were killed, and the seriously wounded captain ordered all torpedoes to be fired at the Americans, hoping for a miracle, and then ordered tar to be dumped on the deck to burn the battleship completely, while he himself fulfilled his last duty in the raging flames.

Just as the Texas had to dodge the incoming torpedoes, the Oquindo's ammunition depot exploded, and the violent explosion broke the entire battleship in two, and the surviving sailors jumped into the sea with a miserable howl of flames. However, most of them never surfaced again, and such a brutal and tragic scene even made the captain of the Texas Ship, John? Colonel W. Philip ordered the cheering American sailors to shut up immediately.

And the Vistaya is also in a bitter battle, she has been using her hull to cover the Cologne in front of her left, as the best ship in the fleet, the Cologne is the most likely to escape.

Therefore, the Viskaya was set on fire by two American protective cruisers, but Viskaya was a belt cruiser anyway, and the American shells did not damage it very much, as a tribute. Viskaya rewarded the Columbia with an 11-inch shell, which was not as rotten as the one that hit the Brooklyn in history.

The violent explosion immediately caused the Colombian bow protection to be gnawed off by a dog. Then the second shell hit the bridge of the Columbia, killing all the officers below the captain, but that was the end of the Viskaya's victory. The Minneapolis poured shells onto the Viskaya without any pressure.

Even a broadside gunner once asked the officer behind him very blankly: "Why can't I see my own bullet hitting the water?" I can't fix the aim that way. This question made the officer stunned for a long time before he reacted: "If there is no water jet, it means that you have hit, stupid!" ”

After turning its guns to aim at the Viskaya after the Texas took out the Okundo, the Viskaya also came to its own end, as it was battered. She tried her last to adjust course and ram the Texas, but a shell that hit the ship's bow torpedo tube and detonated the torpedo inside completely destroyed the Viskaya.

The Viskaya, whose bow was almost destroyed, could only drag the whole body to the fire and choose to rush to the beach and run aground.

As Servera's fleet was on the verge of annihilation, the ironclad ships Pelayo, Carlos V and Prince of Asturias, who had come to their aid, finally joined the battle.

The Spanish fleet, lined up on the right side of the American fleet, immediately flanked the Americans, who were still beating the children on their left. It would not be right to say that it was a flanking attack, after all, the Spanish fleet on the left had already been beaten by the Americans.

However, the Americans, whose main firepower was concentrated on the left, could only hurriedly turn their guns in the face of the Spanish fleet at this time, and the Spanish reinforcement fleet opened fire. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read. (To be continued......)

PS: Thanks to the book friend Bu Guansui for pointing out the bug in the book review area, the total population of Germany should be more than 60 million at this time, not the 50 million mentioned in chapter 187, which has been modified

Another: Today almost broke off again, on the way off work because of the rain and darkness and no street lights, riding a bicycle directly hit the cement pier, as a result of the left knee hit the ground heavily, and then immediately swollen into a steamed bun, and then go to a friend's appointment first, because the friend is going to work in the field, which is practice. Then I went home and went to check it again, and there was no time to finish it.

Then I rushed to 1 o'clock and finally finished the chapter