【2nd Update】

The talks between Shen Shouchang and the Spaniards did not reach an immediate agreement that day, which was actually expected, although Governor Viller and Lieutenant General Severa had the absolute right to speak in the colonies, but in Madrid, it was obviously not enough...... What's more, the assassination of conservative leader Castillo in Madrid four months ago has destabilized the Spanish government.

However, Shen Shouchang is obviously very patient, as a diplomat in South America for many years, he is well aware of the turbulent situation in this land, and the shape will inevitably force the Spaniards to fall to him, but it is not yet time, but he will not bet all his chips on the Spaniards who will fall sooner or later, later that day, two Chinese quietly came to a Chinese trading house in the port of Santiago, there are many Chinese in Cuba, but there are not many who can really be among the commercial houses, This is directly related to the way the Chinese enter Cuba.

In the past few decades, a large number of Chinese have moved from the United States to Cuban farms, and eventually remained as Chinese indentured laborers, and only a few of them have been able to find their fortunes in this troubled colony.

This business house, which is also well-known in the port of San Diego, was secretly funded by him a few years ago, and the head of the family surnamed Han had secretly obtained Chinese nationality a few years ago, and when the shopkeeper surnamed Han saw a copper token brought by the visitor, he immediately enthusiastically introduced him into the back hall, and the person quickly handed over a secret letter from Shen Shouchang to the other party.

Early the next morning, the Han family's merchant ship left the port in a hurry. After almost a day of sailing. Stop at a fishing boat pier in the Bue Mountains. After the two sons and nephews of the Han family came ashore with two guests, they quickly disappeared into the vast mountains, and almost at the same time, after Vice Admiral Severa could not wait to pay a visit to Liuhetu, the two fleets quietly left the port of Santiago after sunset.

In Washington, D.C., since Britain began to mediate the Sino-US conflict at the beginning of the month, negotiations between the two sides have reached a deadlock, and the minister to the United States, Huang Zunxian, has shown a very generous attitude. The original 15-point agreement was reduced to seven, but U.S. Secretary of State Sherman, who was involved in the negotiations, was reluctant to relent.

This made the British Minister to the United States, Sir Chuck Richton, quite a headache, and the unexpected incident once again further escalated the conflict between the United States and Spain, which made the British side have to start worrying about whether the Chinese side will start a full-scale war with the United States! Sir Chuck Cleton visited Huang Zunxian in the United States on the same day, conveying the British side's hope that both sides would exercise restraint, and at the same time, he also told Huang Zunxian that Britain would exert further pressure on the United States if necessary!

Regarding the British Yankee's rhetoric, Huang Zunxian had to immediately report it to China. It really didn't expect much, and Beijing had no territorial claims on the east coast of the Americas. But as a veteran U.S.-based official, he has completed a new book over the past few years, a report on the study of American institutions, which has sharpened his understanding of Beijing's strategy to contain a rapidly expanding economy.

However, after Chacleton's visit, he immediately received a classified telegram, and on the same day, he met with the top level of the White House again, reiterated the negotiations between the two sides, and even explicitly told US Secretary of State Sherman that if the United States could not give a satisfactory answer to the Chinese side on the timing of the attack on the Chinese warship, it could trigger a more serious and even swerving conflict on the West Coast...... Although Americans are concerned about this, they are paying attention to President McKinley, who is coming from the Democratic Party to include "Free Cuba" in next year's campaign, and they are not too concerned.

In the early morning of the 25th, when an American offshore fleet was passing through the strait north of the Bahamas, it was again attacked by the Spanish fleet, and the heavy cruiser Gasimi, the commander of the Sevila, ordered all American merchant ships to leave immediately, and then sank the American merchant ships laden with coal and ore in less than 40 minutes.

Brigadier General Sampson immediately informed the Winfield patrol fleet under the jurisdiction of Winfield, which was cruising near Palm Bay, that the news was sent to the US North Atlantic detachment cruising outside Miami late on the night of the 25th.

After careful judgment, he believed that the coastline from Palm Bay to Miami would still be the focus of the Spaniards' attack range, after all, after completing the attack, the opponent would have sufficient range of maneuver, but this time the American fleet would open a large encirclement network, and if the Spanish fleet dared to get in, he would make full use of the advantage of fleet speed to solve the opponent on the coastline.

The only thing that worries Commodore Sampson is probably the problem of the Chinese fleet, but with the experience of the last time, he also realized that the Chinese fleet is short of supplies, and it is definitely unwilling to fight hard with the heavily armored American battleships, which is also the reason why he finally insisted on the evacuation last time, and this time, he will never make the mistake of blind pursuit again.

He had already imagined that if he made full use of the coastline, if Chinese he dared to show up, he would inevitably be attacked by himself and the Second Squadron, and finally close the distance with the other side and face off with heavy artillery...... Although the squadron ships under Commodore Winfield's command were almost all old armored ships, they were clearly sufficient to complete the flanking mission.

The plan was drawn up, but the result was obviously not satisfactory to Brigadier Sampson, after receiving the news on the 26th, the two fleets tossed around the east coastline for two days like a net, but there was no gain, the Spaniards actually disappeared completely after a shot, and at noon on the 28th, he received even more surprising news, the other party had inexplicably escaped from his encirclement net, appeared near the small island of Tigar south of Miami, and happened to be discovered by an American fishing boat.

Sampson immediately judged that the other party would obviously not raid the port of Key West again this time, even if it was to raid, the port that had already been fortified would be unlucky...... The other side was most likely to intercept the American merchant ships returning from South America, so the American fleet soon unified its pace, leaving two unprotected destroyers to guard Miami, and the other 12 warships immediately pursued the Spanish fleet south.

The 12 American warships opened a large net of distance, enough to cover a large area of the sea, but Commodore Sampson was obviously disappointed again, and from the 28th all the way south, the fleet swept the Florida Strait, and went around the Gulf of Mexico, but still did not find the Spanish fleet, and on March 3, Commodore Sampson, who was frowning about whether to continue the blockade of the Cuban coastline, got the news again, and the British merchant ships saw the Spanish fleet in the sea west of Havana, and the Spaniards seemed to have taken refuge in the Caribbean.

The news that made the Americans even happier was that they had received another piece of news from several British merchant ships: Chinese warships that had been engaged with the American fleet earlier appeared in Puerto Rican waters, and American merchant ships passing through the area saw three Chinese warships sailing in that area, although Puerto Rico is also a Caribbean coast, but it is nearly 2,000 kilometers away.

Commodore Sampson and Brigadier General Winfield carefully discussed and believed that this would be the best combat opportunity after the start of the war, of course, considering the potential risks, the two brigadier generals finally decided to go to the periphery of the Caribbean Sea first, definitely not too far from the mainland of the United States, not to mention, this can also sweep the coast of Cuba by the way.

In the early morning of the 4th, the US North Atlantic Detachment and the Cruise Squadron set off immediately after resupplying at the port of Key West, and Commodore Sampson first went to the other side of the strait to reconnoiter near Havana, confirmed that the Spanish fleet did not hide in the harbor, and then immediately headed west along the Florida Strait, intercepting several Spanish merchant ships on the periphery of the strait at 9 o'clock in the morning of the same day, and obtained an important piece of information from one of the merchant ships, and several sailors confessed that they had indeed seen the Spanish Grand Fleet in the waters near Cancun.

This time, Cancun was less than 80 nautical miles from the position of the fleet, and Sampson immediately informed Commodore Winfield, and pulled the fleet away and quickly pounced on the sea east of Cancun...... And this time, it seems that the god of luck has finally arrived.

Just after noon, a destroyer that was reconnoitring in front of the fleet hurried back to report to the flagship Iowa, and found a large column of smoke due south, Commodore Sampson immediately realized that this might be the Spanish fleet operating nearby, and he immediately issued an assembly order to the fleet that followed, and completed the formation of a double column before 1 p.m., Commodore Winfield was ordered to intercept it head-on, and Commodore Sampson personally led the team to accelerate the advance to the sea area on the east side, and prepare for the return of the Spaniards to Cuba.

As the distance between the two sides narrowed, at half past 1 o'clock in the afternoon, Vice Admiral Sampson was very surprised when the Spanish naval flag appeared from the sea level, and at this moment, Commodore Winfield's fleet had cut off the Spanish fleet's access to the Florida Strait, and Commodore Sampson only gave the Spaniards a choice, that is, to break through in front of the North Atlantic Fleet head-on, otherwise they would not be able to return.

When all the Spanish fleets appeared at sea level, Commodore Sampson had to be proud of the accuracy of his prediction, the Spanish fleet did capture two merchant ships flying the American flag, but after the other party saw the American fleet on the way home, he panicked and gave up his control over the captured merchant ships and began to speed up.

"Full throttle and intercept the Spanish fleet!" Commodore Sampson finally found an opportunity to take revenge, and the opportunity to annihilate his opponent was in sight, and if the opponent wanted to return home, he would have to cross a network of 20 large-caliber naval guns under the bombardment of his own artillery, and their flanks would be attacked by the cruising fleet...... And the Spanish fleet, with a cruising speed of less than 12 knots, simply could not get rid of its own pursuit! (To be continued......)