At midnight on April 30, 1898, the first quarter moon, the South Waterway of Manila Bay, the Strait of Boca Grande. {We don't write novels, we're just web text porters-[]fiction ※%,

The semi-circular moon hung in the sky, sprinkling the cold moonlight on the sea, bringing a glimmer of light to the dark water, but in an instant, it was hit by waves beneath the surface of the sea.

Six gray-black hills of different sizes are arranged in a zigzag on the dark sea, and under the cover of darkness, the hills push the slow waves through the Guò Grande Strait to Manila.

These slow-moving black hills were the U.S. Asian Squadron that attacked Manila, starting with the fleet's flagship USS Olympia, followed by USS Baltimore, USS Raleigh, USS Petrel, USS Concord, and USS Boston.

Although the cold moonlight did not leave much light on the sea, and the occasional dark clouds shrouded the sea in pitch black, the moonlight that occasionally sprinkled on the sea shrouded the gray cement forts of Corregidor Island and Spain on Krabi Ground a few nautical miles away under a silver light, so that people could clearly see the silver-gray fortresses.

The faint yellow lights on the fort batteries were constantly swaying under the sea breeze, dotting the silver forts with yellow spots, making those forts seem to come to life, as if they were lying there and wearing silver armor, and they were quietly watching the fleet of Tongguò.

The whole fleet did not have a trace of light, spitting thick black smoke, like a black ghost only slowly moving on the surface of the sea, slowly sliding the sea water, slowly but firmly moving forward, but the sound of the roaring waves hitting the bow of the ship, as well as the rhythmic and low clatter of the steam engine, and the sound of the propeller churning the sea, against the background of the silent night, seemed so roaring, so that the people who manipulated these sea monsters all tensed their nerves, for fear that these sounds would wake up the beast clad in silver light.

Dewey stood on the bridge with a straight face and kept looking at the cannon ports sticking out of those fortresses from a distance, the black hole of the cannon ports showed a formidable deterrent in the silver moonlight, which made him can't help but have a little waver in his actions, is such a risky action right or not, will it bury the entire fleet in this narrow sea lane?

The enemy only needs to place a few mines on this sea lane, and even sink a few small boats to block the channel. It would put the entire fleet in a dilemma, and if the Krupp cannons in those batteries were shelling with fuel on fire, it would be a disaster for the entire fleet.

Restlessness and restlessness filled Dewey's heart little by little, and in the officer's room, he impassionedly cheered for those subordinates, swore promises, the southern waterways of Manila, the Strait of Pocaland, there were no mines, no shipwrecks, Spain, the sailors in the batteries were lax in defense, and even they were not ready for war, all in his control.

But that kind of anxiety and restlessness still occupied Dewey's heart little by little, and there was a tendency to become more and more intense, so that he kept raising his binoculars more and more frequently.

The anxiety and restlessness that came out of the commander's table affected everyone on the entire bridge little by little. As a result, the officers on the entire bridge also frequently raised their binoculars and looked at the turrets on both sides of the fleet.

"What will Farragut do? What happens to him in this situation? ……。 Dewey asked himself over and over again in his heart, would he be calm enough to face this situation?

"Yes, he will."

"What about me! If Farragut can do it, then I can do it too. ”

Dewey glanced left and right at the officers around him, and then found that the people around him, one by one, under the influence of his increasingly nervous feelings, also became nervous, and hurriedly lowered his voice and said in a faint tone: "Gentlemen, what General Farragut can do, we will definitely be able to do, if the target is exposed, then let us break in." It was as if crossing the sea lane was a trivial matter, and with that, he casually handed his binoculars to his adjutant, the journalist Stickney.

Dewey's words and actions successfully relieved everyone's tension, and everyone put down their raised binoculars one after another and silently stared at the dark sea.

Suddenly, a large flame burst from the top of the chimney of the USS Baltimore, and in the dark of the night, like a torch, the flaws that illuminated the entire fleet were bound to appear, and the entire fleet was exposed to the sea.

"All note, the speed of the ship remains the same, and as soon as the enemy fires, the fire will be suppressed, and we will break through." Dewey commanded in as smooth a tone as possible.

With that, he snatched the binoculars from the adjutant's hand and raised them to look at the Spanish batteries on either side of the fleet.

The Olympia was like a beast awakened, and the main and secondary guns on the battleship slowly moved their muzzles in the creaking sound, aiming their muzzles at the treadmills.

But the Spaniards' batteries were as quiet as ever, the black holes on the batteries did not shoot out fiery flames, and the batteries were still like sleeping monsters, quiet and serene.

If Brigadier General Dewey had understood a Chinese idiom "living like a year", then he would have felt at this moment that this idiom was the truest portrayal of his current mood.

In the past few minutes, everyone in the entire U.S. Asian Squadron raised their hearts to their throats and nervously observed the Spanish batteries, but as time passed little by little, the Spanish batteries were still asleep as usual, without the slightest reaction, so people's nerves gradually relaxed, and they couldn't help praying in their hearts, God! He was still on the side of the Americans, otherwise it would be impossible to explain how the Spaniards had no reaction at all, could it be that they were all asleep by magic?

Although many people relaxed their vigilance, Dewey still did not feel a little relaxed, but fell into deeper fear as the fleet continued to deepen.

Why didn't they react, why didn't the Spaniards fire their batteries, and couldn't such an obvious target still wake up the Spaniards?

Is this a trap? A trap that buries the US Asian detachment?

What should I do?

Is it to move on?

Or do you want to quit now?

What to do?

At this time, the moon, which was still shining with a faint silver light just now, was obscured by a dark cloud, which plunged the entire sea into darkness again, and the entire American fleet was hidden in darkness, and everyone in the fleet was greatly relieved, and the darkness was now American's best friend.

But in the eyes of Brigadier Dewey, the pitch-black sea was like a monster with a huge mouth open, and the US Asian Squadron now seemed to be sailing into the giant mouth of the monster little by little.