"As long as our people go up to these islands and declare that they are under our control, the Americans can only swallow their anger even if they are unwilling to do so." Frederick III said lightly.

"Yes, Your Majesty, as long as the Americans have not gone mad, they will not want to provoke the German Empire, the top European power, at the same time as a war with a European country." Caprivi is also convinced of this.

"And even if they want to provoke, they can't win, Tirpitz now has a much better force in his hands than the American Asian Fleet, if the Asian Fleet is completely defeated, it means that the entire West Coast of the United States is undefended, and the Americans will definitely be honest." Jochen was also relaxed.

You must know that in history, George Dewey had four protective cruisers, the USS Olympia, the USS Baltimore, the USS Riley, and the USS Boston, and two gunboats, the USS Concord and the USS Petrel, and when their strength had surpassed that of the Spanish Far East Fleet, he was still strong and forcibly conscripted the McCurrowck, a customs anti-smuggling ship that was on a mission nearby.

At this time, after reinforcing 2 Erin-class and 4 Type 1895 destroyers in the Far East, Tirpitz had enough strength in his hands to deter George Dewey from acting rashly.

But the question is, of course, the answer is not Broughley, but the Spanish Far East Fleet, and the Germans are watching it being killed by the Americans? It's better to keep it as much as possible.

If the Americans completely defeat the Spaniards in the Philippines, will they cause the Spaniards to get into trouble if they lose it, I can't maintain my rule in the Philippines, the Americans are the winners, and the Germans will have a fight with the Americans if you want the Philippines.

Perhaps Frederick III and Caprivi weren't worried about making enemies with the Americans, and even if they were in the current state of the United States, they would have to endure it, but Jochen knew how open the future of the country was.

Moreover, the defeat of the Spanish in the Philippines will make the Filipinos think that they have a chance to gain independence and freedom, and the wave of resistance that has now been basically suppressed is likely to resurge, so Germany will not take over the Philippines at that time to do the finishing work, but to carry out a comprehensive suppression war like the Americans in history.

Although Jochen cannot guarantee that even if the Americans do not intervene, there will be some unrealistic hope for the Philippines, but more is better than less, and what can be done is better than done.

"Can we contain the Spanish Far East Fleet after the war in the West and the United States to prevent the Americans from attacking it?" Jochen asked Caprivi about it.

"It's all right to keep the Spanish Far East Fleet in check, but why should we do it?" Frederick III asked suspiciously.

"Father, I think that the defeat of the Spaniards by the Americans in the Philippines is not good for our next step in the control of the Philippines, whether it is the infiltration of the Philippines by the Americans, or the Filipino monkeys who think that the Spaniards have been defeated and then start to act unscrupulously, it is very bad for us.

And our argument for the Spanish side can be to put the Spanish Far East Fleet under the protection of our navy in order to avoid being attacked by the Americans, so that when the war is over, the fleet can at least return home safely. Jochen spoke his mind.

"Maybe the Spaniards will be angry when they are first 'protected', but if the Spaniards are completely defeated in the battle that follows, they should thank us for helping them keep a fleet, rather than losing their pants outright."

"There is some truth in what His Highness said, what we need is a smooth handover of the Philippines, and if the Americans go to war with Spain on Philippine soil, it will be very disadvantageous to us. It is indeed necessary to prevent the Americans from landing in the Philippines. ”

"But if we detain the Spanish navy, we're at great risk in public opinion, because we're not at war with Spain, but if the Americans can really beat the Spaniards, then we'll be able to get by," Caprivi said, weighing the risks. ”

None of those present asked whether Spain had any chance of winning, and Jochen ordered the Admiralty to put an analysis of the current state of the two navies on the desk of the Emperor and the Prime Minister.

In fact, it was not a big problem, because only six days after the declaration of war between the United States and Spain, George Dewey's Asian detachment was assembled in the waters of Mirs Bay, 30 miles from Hong Kong, and two merchant ships were purchased from British merchants.

In addition, the U.S. consul in Manila, together with some captains of merchant ships, provided information on the defense of the Spaniards and the local hydrological conditions, and used all means to collect intelligence information, obviously preparing for a big move.

This information was given to the Spaniards, who, if they were not too stupid, would still know that their Far Eastern Fleet was in danger, and that it would be wise to accept it helplessly in the face of German 'protection'.

"In addition, the Spaniards will lose this war, and the United States will step on the corpses of the Spaniards to assert its power, so while we want to stop the American ambitions against the Philippines, we should show goodwill to the United States so that they do not pay too much attention to us. While we are not worried about the threat that the Americans pose to the Empire, we will also have a headache if someone keeps causing trouble for us in the Far East. Jochen used this rather euphemistic language to emphasize the American threat, but it is not known whether Frederick III and Caplevy would accept it.

Fortunately, both Frederick III and Caprivi only wanted to accept the Philippines smoothly and did not want to cause trouble, so they also agreed. But it's not enough to just talk about kindness, we have to be practical.

What is the most practical? In order to prevent Spain, the flagship of the war, from buying warships from other countries, smashed away the two protective cruisers originally built by Britain for Brazil with money, just because they were afraid that this South American country would sell the ships to Spain regardless of the European set.

And like Li Hongzhang during the First Sino-Japanese War, he coveted the warships of the Chilean Navy, but the naval competition between the Chileans and the Argentines was already in good shape at this time, so it was impossible to sell them.

Naturally, Germany does not have warships for local tyrants to smash, but Germany has guns. At this time, most of the U.S. troops used Norwegian Kraggjögensen 1892 and 1896 rifles, still with an old five-round lob structure, and in the face of the continuous firepower of the Spaniards, which was a full double that of the same type of rifle in history, it was estimated that the Americans would lose even more in the Battle of San Juan.

"The Americans were clearly not prepared for this war, and the Spaniards, though weak, had gathered 100,000 troops there to suppress the Cuban riots*, and even if the Americans could easily win the naval battle, the army would inevitably be met with a strong counterattack from the Spaniards.

And the Americans are not ready to fight a large-scale war at all, they don't even have enough rifles, and many people are estimated to be able to carry personal pistols when they want to go to war. And we can supply arms to the Americans, and promise not to supply the Spaniards with any weapons, including ships, during the war. "Yoheng built yì to.

Both Frederick III and Caprivi thought that Jochen was exaggerating and was just laughing at the Americans for not being prepared for war, but in fact the United States had the embarrassment of having to go to war with a pistol in mind.

As for selling rifles, there is no need to worry about others accusing the Germans of helping the United States fight Spain, the goal of rifles is much smaller than selling warships, and since the British can sell warships to the Americans, the Germans can also sell rifles. What's more, the Germans sold before the war, and it was much more disciplined than the British sold during the war.

"Then we can contact the Americans now to ship weapons to the East Coast of the United States before the two countries declare war." Caprivi was naturally familiar with this set of small tricks to circumvent the rules of neutrality, and immediately understood it.

"Americans have money, and we can be a little more bold in our bid for this much-needed commodity." Jochen built yì with bad intentions.

"Of course, I believe that our heroism will be exchanged for the boldness of the Americans." Caprivi said with a smile.

At the same time, the situation was moving forward step by step as the Germans had envisioned.

Under the bombardment of American newspapers, the American public began to believe that the Spaniards were responsible for the Maine incident, and the investigation report on the sinking issued by the Admiralty confirmed this view.

The Admiralty's report says that the Maine sank because a mine installed at the bottom of the ship exploded to detonate the ammunition depot, and who installed the mine? It is not said in the report. But does it need to be said? Who else could it be but the Spaniards? The angry American public is calling for action from the U.S. government.

Slogans such as "Remember Maine" became the most common slogan spoken by Americans at this time, and the declaration of war became the only demand of Americans for the government.

And the Spaniards on the other side who were framed were also outraged, how could the arrogant bullfighters endure the repeated slander and provocation of the crude and uneducated American nouveau riche?

Moreover, the Spanish people, who indulged in Spanish liqueurs, bullfights and operettas, wishful thinking, believed that the Spanish Empire, with its glorious traditions, could teach a lesson to the United States, which had only cowboys and Indians. Some newspapers even wrote: The rebellion in Cuba will not end completely until Spanish soldiers set foot on American soil.

Thus, William McKinley received a war authorization from the United States Congress on April 18, while the Spanish government rejected the U.S. government's ultimatum to abandon Cuba on April 21, and the Spanish-American War inevitably broke out. R1152