Caprivi was the first to agree with Jochen's idea, although he was also an old Junker from the officer corps, but as the prime minister of the empire, Caprivi had more things to juggle.

The empire wants to expand its army, which is the requirement of the army; However, the number of troops should not be too large, this is a financial constraint. In this case, Caprivey's dissatisfaction with the possible leadership of the officer corps was put second, and the current German Army was not the old Prussian Army, and a large number of non-Prussian officers entered the Army General Staff, which had already affected the power of the Prussian officer corps.

For Caprivey, if he meets the needs of the army and does not arouse the opposition of parliament, then as the prime minister, he can complete the task, and he does not have to worry about how to solve the so-called traditional problems within the army.

Accordingly, Caprivi agreed with Jochen's idea, and proposed a two-step process, starting with an increase in the number of adjutants in the integrated and standing units, which had a large number of soldiers and a large number of daily tasks, and it would be more appropriate to increase the number of officers in these units first.

Compendium troops can see the actual effect and then follow suit, after all, the German Army now has a total of 68 divisions, and it is difficult for you to make up so many officers at once.

Seeing that His Excellency the Prime Minister agreed, Schlieffen could not object, so he decided to implement it according to Caprivi's vision. He also agreed to send 6 more divisions to the Philippines to solve the chaos in the Philippines as much as possible.

A shooting club or something could be set up slowly, but while the council was drafting amendments to the new traffic laws, driving schools were more urgent, so at Caprivi's request, Jochen had to help with the development of the traffic laws and the subjects to be taught in the driving schools.

So Jochen had to rack his brains to remember the things he used to take for a driver's license, in short, in order to let the Germans at the end of the 19th century experience the pain of the 21st century Celestial Empire driver's license. What kind of written test, venue test, and road test are all sorted out. Let the Germans get a headache for side parking, wrapping around the flatbread, and starting uphill.

However, this also means that Germany will have to put considerable effort into building the road transport infrastructure of the future, which is a good thing in the long run.

While the Germans were making a series of moves over sending troops to the Philippines, the Spaniards were doing everything they could to maintain their last overseas colonies.

The Spanish reinforcement fleet was anchored at Cape Verde on the west coast of Africa. The commander was Pasco, a 59-year-old veteran with a long history of service in Cuba and a high prestige. Admiral Servela. His fleet has the flagship Maria? Princess Theresa, Viscaya, Amirant? Okundo and Cristobal? 4 armored cruisers of Cologne.

The first three warships were designed to be at least modern enough to meet the average level of the armor-belt cruisers of their time, and the Cologne was part of the Garibaldi family, an Italian armored cruiser.

Due to the intervention of the Germans, the Cologne, which was sold to the Spaniards in history, changed from the second ship of the Garibaldi class to the first, while the second ship, which was supposed to be sold to Spain, was retained by the Italian Navy, and the third ship, which was originally canceled by the Italian government and finally sold to Argentina, has not yet found a buyer.

However, even with decent ships, they all had the common problems of Spanish warships: lack of maintenance, ammunition shortages, and a lack of highly skilled and tactical soldiers.

Moreover, the first three ships all had more or less mechanical problems, plus the barnacles and seaweed accumulated on the bottom of the ship had not been cleaned for a long time. The performance of the ship was greatly reduced.

The Cologne was a new ship, and there were no problems of one kind or another, but the problems within the Navy and the disputes with the weapons suppliers made the main guns on this battleship a joke, and the Navy originally wanted to replace it with the same 11-inch naval guns as the other three ships, but the Cologne, which had not been fitted, could only withstand two models of the 10-inch Armstrong guns that were originally standard in the Garibaldi class.

This was well known to Serveira, but his request for the construction of the second-class battleship Pelayo and the two armored cruisers Carlos V and the Prince of Asturia that was waiting in the Canary Islands for overhaul in the port of Cádiz on the mainland was justified by the Admiralty because of the Cuban Governor Raymond? Blanco repeatedly refused in a hurry.

Therefore, at the urging of the Spanish Admiralty, he could not wait for the support of the mainland, so he had to embark on the final journey with these four problematic cruisers and three torpedo boat destroyers, and he wrote in his report when he set sail on April 29...... Walk to the altar with a sinless conscience. ”

But the only thing that was better than history was when the Spanish Admiralty promised that once the overhaul was complete, the three fleets would go to Cuba to meet him. This was thanks to the fact that the Germans informed the Spanish government that the US North Atlantic Fleet had at its disposal 5 battleships, 2 armored cruisers and a large number of protective cruisers. The Spanish Admiralty was not stupid enough to think that 4 armored cruisers would be victorious.

However, when the British, who were smashed by the Americans' money-wielding bills, sold two cruisers to the United States, the Germans pretended to be strictly neutral and refused to sell warships to the belligerents, although the Italians and the French were eager to sell warships. But without the courage to break the rules, the Spaniards really couldn't come up with a more powerful fleet.

So what Servera can do is to drag, and the arrival of the three warships that dragged to the mainland still has the strength to fight. Therefore, Servira set his destination in Santiago, where he waited for reinforcements to arrive.

After receiving the news that the Spanish fleet had set sail, the Americans believed that they would arrive at the Spanish territory of San Juan in the Caribbean Sea around May 10 to refuel, so Sampson, the commander of the North Atlantic Fleet, immediately led the fleet to intercept it.

In consideration of the need for a long-term siege and fortification, the Americans also dragged a shallow gunboat behind each large ship, and in the middle of the fleet there was also this large group of reporters and civilian yachts watching the excitement. It's like a lively garden party.

On May 11, the U.S. fleet arrived outside the port of San Juan. Due to the tight defense of the port, the U.S. fleet conducted a heavy artillery remote attack outside the port at 5:30 a.m. After 2 hours of shelling. The Americans, however, found after dawn that the harbor was full of merchant ships, and that the Spanish fleet was not here at all. The Americans had no choice but to return home.

On the way back, Sampson learns that Severa has cleverly chosen the French island of Martinique and the Dutch port of Curaçao for supplies, and has snuck into the Caribbean. Frustrated, Sampson ordered the flagship armored cruiser USS New York to abandon the other ships. Rush to Key West at full speed to meet up with Sclairy's mobile fleet, which is already heading south. Discuss the next steps.

After discussion, the Americans decided that Servera would not go to Havana, which was under the noses of the Americans, but would most likely go to Cienfuegos, southwest of Cuba, or Santiago, the southernmost point.

If it were the historical Servela, the Americans were right, and Servera would have chosen Santiago, Cuba's second largest city with a difficult terrain and a well-built city, which is a natural fortress.

However, now Servera, who is bent on delaying time, has begun to circle in the Caribbean. While Sclairy set out to search for two ports as a result of their discussions, while Sampson stayed in Key West waiting for his fleet to be abandoned halfway through, Servera was in hiding in the Caribbean.

The constant news of the appearance of the Spanish fleet in various different areas also exhausted the American fleet. And it also made the East Coast cities of the United States a lot of noise, for fear that the Spanish fleet would suddenly appear on their doorstep after they had enough of turning around in the Caribbean.

After nearly a month of playing this game of peek-a-boo, on June 29, Sclairy finally blocked Servela, who had sneaked into Santiago to resupply, but Santiago's natural geographical advantages made the Americans helpless.

To enter the port, you first have to pass through the narrow waterway of Guò which is 1.6 kilometers long and 2 to 300 meters wide, and the Putaguda Fortress is blocked here, and the waterway is only widened after the Guò fortress is passed, but in this waterway that is about 3 kilometers wide and 11 kilometers long. The Spaniards laid mines.

After Guò is the back of this water, Santiago is backed by the Maestra Mountains, and on either side of the port, on the top of the steep cliffs, stand the fortresses of Sakpa and Fort Mojee. And there was also the fortress of Estrilla next to the fortress of Fort Moje, so the Americans did not dare to attack rashly.

On the 31st, Sampson's North Atlantic fleet also appeared off the coast of San Diego, and took over the command of Sclairy, and the two fleets surrounded the mouth of San Diego, determined to trap the Spanish fleet in the harbor.

On July 2, the Americans drove the old coal carrier Merrimack to the waterway with all its might under the control of eight daredevils, turned off the engine as it approached the entrance, and used inertia to quietly infiltrate it. Prepare to turn the ship across the ship to anchor in the narrowest spots, and then detonate the explosives at the bottom of the cabin. Let the ship sink and block the channel.

However, as soon as the Americans entered the waterway, they were spotted and attacked by Spanish sentinel boats, and did not detonate all the explosives at the time of the explosion. The Merrimack, which had lost power, was carried deep into the channel by the current, and then sank in a wider part of the channel, filling only half of the channel, and the eight daredevils were captured by the Spaniards the next day after escaping on a life raft.

Four days later, the American fleet, which had no better way, began to venture into the Spanish defenses, and the two fleets sailed to the shore about 3,000 meters and began to shell the fortresses and fortifications on the cliff tops, and then the Spaniards began to return fire, and the sound of cannon and earth-shattering explosions echoed among the mountains for a long time.

However, the level of artillery skills of the Spaniards was truly miserable, and in the three-hour artillery battle, the Americans flew away unscathed, while the Spanish fortress was completely destroyed by the Americans, and the 260-year-old Fort Moje was reduced to ruins in the explosion.

As a division of the U.S. Expeditionary Force arrived in San Diego on 20 July aboard 37 transports, Rear Admiral Sampson led a fleet to greet them, firing a cannon salute, and the convoy formed a 12-kilometer-long parade-like column under the cover of warships and sailed through the ruins of Fort Mojee.

On the 22nd, the American Expeditionary Force began to land at two landing sites to the accompaniment of military music, and at first the American attack went smoothly and met with little resistance.

However, as the troops advanced, the Americans met with stubborn resistance from the 36,000 Spanish defenders cowering in the fortifications. Rear Admiral Sheft asked the fleet to enter the waterway to provide fire support, but Sampson refused.

At this time, the three capital ships of the Spanish Navy from the mainland arrived off the coast of Santiago, and seeing this scene, knowing that the fleet would stay in the harbor any longer, with the advance of the American army, Servela, who was more than lucky, absolutely rushed out of the harbor to fight to the death with the Americans.

The Battle of San Diego began. (To be continued) R580