"What the hell do you Germans want to do?! Is it with those cowboys to declare war on Spain?! "Patricio, commander of the Spanish Far East Fleet? Major General Monteyu yelled angrily at Didrichs.

"We have not received an order from our country to declare war on your country, but we have ordered us to protect your fleet from being attacked by the Americans." Colonel Dierichs, chief of staff of the German Far East Fleet, replied with a straight face.

"Protection? Is this how you protect it? This is a threat of force! You're still asking our fleet to accept your arrangement?! You say it's protection? "Hear the nonsense of the Germans, Patricio? Major General Monteu was even more furious.

It all started a few hours ago, when Tirpitz had a terrible headache when he received a telegram from his country asking him to "protect" the Spanish fleet.

Militarily, it was easy for the Imperial Far Eastern Fleet to defeat the Spanish fleet, but to "protect"? Although it is said that it is protection is actually control, no matter which other party can be harmed. This makes Tirpitz very tricky, the commander of the Spanish Far East Fleet, Patricio? Rear Admiral Montey Tirpitz also had several contacts with the German Navy after entering the Philippines, and was a capable, courageous, and highly honorable naval officer.

Tirpitz thought that a good officer like Montyu, if he was in command of a cruiser detachment in Germany, would be fine, and if it weren't for the poor strength in his hands, he could teach the Yankees a lesson.

But now this excellent officer is lacking because of his bad hands, and there is no hope of winning at all. However, Tirpitz also knew that Monteyu was still actively preparing for war in this situation, and was ready to defend the honor of the Spanish Navy in this completely unwinnable battle.

But it was this sense of honor that most likely made him not accept the "protection" of the German Navy, but the order was given from above, and Tirpitz had to carry it out.

So the day after the declaration of war in the West of the United States. On April 22, Tirpitz personally led the main force of the German Far East Fleet from Moresby to Manila Bay, and blocked the channel of Manila Harbor after a night meeting on April 23 and two small cruisers of the American Eagle class departed from Subic.

In the early morning of April 24, the Spaniards found eight German naval warships blocking their door, although the Germans' naval guns did not point at them. But the feeling is definitely not much better for the Spaniards.

Could it be that after the war with the Americans, these damn Germans are also ready to get involved? This thought made the Spaniards in Manila almost hopeless.

Just when Rear Admiral Monteu ordered the fleet to prepare for battle, rush out of the harbor as soon as the Germans began to attack, and show the Germans the backbone of the Spaniards even if they were defeated, a small boat was lowered on the large warship of the flagship of the German Far East Fleet flying the flag of the rear admiral, and the sailors on it waved the white flag towards the port area.

The Germans came to negotiate, and it was none other than Colonel Dierichs, chief of staff of the fleet.

And the German side brought by Colonel Deedrichs demanded that the Spanish fleet should not leave the port, and the German naval fleet entered the port area. The Spanish fleet had to accept the arrangements of the German Navy.

How could such a request, which was no different from surrender, be accepted by Major General Montyu, and Didrichs had just explained his intentions when he was angrily interrupted by Montey, so he had the previous furiousness.

In the face of the anger of the Spaniards, Dyderichs could only smile bitterly, he was just a messenger, but fortunately, although the Spanish major general in front of him was angry, he still maintained his demeanor. I didn't let myself be sprayed with saliva.

But since you're here, you have to complete the task. As a German, Colonel Diedrichs waited for Major General Monteu to finish his work and began to try to get his job done.

"Your Excellency, I can understand your anger, but please believe that this is our move to protect your fleet. If we have bad intentions. Then now our naval guns are aimed at you.

The protection of your fleet will be carried out according to the results of negotiations between our government and your government.

And until then, your fleet will be under the protection of our country and avoid the attack of the Far East Fleet of the US Navy. Didrichs politely explained.

"The Spanish Navy does not need your 'protection'. This is the Spanish naval base, if you are here to go to war, then go to war, if not, leave immediately! Major General Monteu flatly refused.

Didrich, of course, would not give up so lightly, and continued to persuade: "Of course we believe in the courage of your fleet to fight, but the situation of Your Excellency's fleet is not very good, right? And the US Navy will come soon, and as far as I know, the US Navy's Pacific Fleet has already assembled in Hong Kong.

The fleet commander is George? Commodore Dewey, although the Americans have not set foot in Philippine waters for 22 years, our intelligence services have discovered that they have obtained the hydrological conditions and defensive arrangements for the consuls and merchant ships in Manila.

According to our analysis, the Americans are expected to launch an attack on your fleet by the end of April, and your fleet is clearly not ready for war.

If your country wants to start a war with the Americans, it must rely on shore batteries to cooperate with mines for defensive operations when its strength is not strong, but your warships are not in good condition, and the batteries in other ports are not well prepared, and the mines laid are also negligent in maintenance, and the new mines are detained by the British in Singapore on the way to them. Didrichs unceremoniously revealed the old bottom of the Spaniards: "So your country can only rely on us now." ”

Historically, Montyu's situation was even worse, originally Monteuil was prepared to defend in Subic Bay, which was heavily fortified and the terrain was very good, but when he arrived at Subic, he found that all the 120mm guns that should have been mounted on the batteries were lying on the beach.

On the way back, the Castile leaked due to disrepair and had to be plugged with cement, so that the ship's propellers could no longer be used and lost power. Flagship Rena? The Cristina returns to Manila with the Castile in tow.

Now since Subic is already the chassis of the Germans, there is no need to run Montyuba.

"Don't worry about the army, even if we are not strong, we will definitely fight to maintain the honor of the Spanish Navy, we will fight here and in Manila!" Montyu replied categorically.

Monteyu's answer made Didrichs sigh at the same time as the stubbornness of the Spaniards in front of him. I remembered the war between Spain and Peru and Chile in 1866 mentioned in the book about the Spanish Navy that I had read, and when faced with the Chilean side's threat to join forces with the American fleet to organize the Spanish fleet to attack the port and take the initiative to attack, the commander of the Spanish fleet at that time, Mencastro? Mendetz? Rear Admiral Nunetz responded: "I'm going to have to sink them [the U.S. fleet] because even if I have one more ship I'm going to bombard the port." Spain, Her Majesty the Queen, and I would rather choose the glory of not having a ship than a fleet without glory! ”

The Spanish major general in front of him was also ready for battle. It was not a preparation for victory, but a preparation for glory, and it was basically difficult for him to change his mind with such a negotiator, but Diedrichs was prepared to do his best.

Didrichs then began to speculate on Montyu's next move from a telegram sent from his own country: "If Your Excellency wants to engage the U.S. Navy in Manila, you will probably choose to anchor in the shallow waters of Cavit next to you, where the terrain is like a tiger's mouth open by a man, and the batteries at your fingertips can protect the fleet in the middle." ”

After listening to Didrichs's words, the expression on Montyu's face changed suddenly, and seeing Montey's expression, Didrichs knew that he was right. Although he did not know how the Admiralty, who was far away in Germany, knew about the plans of the Spanish rear admiral, Didrichs continued with a calm look on his face while he was also very surprised.

"And not only because of the protection of the batteries, but also because of the shallow water, the ship can sink a few feet after being damaged, and you are preparing for the escape of your soldiers after defeat. You know it's a hopeless battle, and I admire your courage and persistence in maintaining glory, but now that putting your fleet under our protection will allow your sailors to avoid a hopeless battle, do you still hold on to the glory? ”

After the Germans completely guessed their intentions, Monteyu was in a panic at the same time. My heart was shaken.

Seeing Monyu's face constantly changing, he knew that the major general was struggling. Diedrich continued to add fuel to the fire: "My country, like yours, is reluctant to see the Americans enter the Philippines, and as a European country, we are more than willing to help you, so if my German Far East Fleet maneuvers in the middle of it, we should be able to prevent the American landing, and your fleet can avoid war and achieve its purpose." Isn't that the best of both worlds? ”

Of course, Monteu knew what the Germans were planning to do, and they coveted the whole of the Philippines as much as the Americans, but the Germans had already established themselves in the Philippines in advance, and they only needed to fill the vacuum in the face of Spain's declining power in the Philippines, instead of fighting like the Americans.

So here the Germans disarmed themselves in a relatively mild way. No matter how nice it may sound in name, in reality the Spanish Far East Fleet lost the ability to defend the Philippines.

But do you have a better choice? As long as the Germans did not fire the first shot, they could not attack the Germans at the risk of triggering a war between the two countries, which was blocked in the waterway and could not rush out without fighting.

In the end, Monteu could only convince himself that he could not take the initiative to attack the German warships, agreeing to the fleet's request not to leave the port, and agreeing to the German ships entering Manila for resupply, but the Spanish ships would not accept the German Navy's arrangement, and remained on alert, and if the Germans broke their promises, they would attack immediately.

But this was enough for Didrichs, as long as you don't go out of port and stay honest, so is there any difference between accepting the arrangement of the German Navy? As for the incoming supplies, it doesn't really matter what you actually go in and do, what matters is the fact that the German Navy entered the port of Manila.

After Diedrichs returned to his life, two Irene-class heavy cruisers sailed into the harbor and berthed at the docks, indicating that the Germans had entered Manila.

Other ships remained in the open sea, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the one hand, on the other, on the other hand, ready to deal with the US fleet that could arrive at any time.

At this time in Europe, Foreign Minister Machar once again had a "friendly" and "warm" exchange with the Spanish minister. (To be continued......)