The military port of Key West is less than 100 kilometers from Havana, and the veteran Brigadier General Sampson is naturally very concerned about the Admiralty's operational order to blockade Cuba, and the US Navy has not fought with the Chinese Navy in the past 30 years, except for a battle with the Chinese Navy on the East Coast...... However, from Commodore Sampson's point of view, the ironclad war on the East Coast was completely a diplomatic storm solicited by politicians, and the East Coast has never been the center of the US Navy, so it is not a real engagement at all.

After more than ten years of vigorous warfare, especially after President McKinley took office, the importance of the Navy has been raised to an unprecedented height, and the improvement of the Navy's combat effectiveness has also reached an unprecedented height with the entry of four Indiana-class battleships, and the current port of Havana on the other side of the strait is a new battlefield where the US Navy is about to usher in its first victory.

As soon as the 11 American warships left the port, Commodore Sampson suddenly felt a little uneasy, he raised his eyes to look at the sky, except for the blazing sun in the eastern sky, there was no trace of the enemy in the wide Florida Strait, and a moment later, he explained his state of mind with pre-war anxiety, and he also knew very well that in only two hours, he would inevitably encounter the Spanish patrol ships in the strait.

"Hang the new flag! Expelled all ships flying the Spanish flag! Sampson gave the order loudly to the adjutant beside him, the naval commander's art of war largely depends on whether the flagship order can be executed by the battleship behind him in time, and as the elite of the American Navy, he naturally has sufficient self-confidence.

The front end of the battleship Iowa, on the cage-type observation deck characteristic of American battleships. Navy Ensign Camelot was also nervously looking around with five soldiers. Of course. They were very proud to be on board the USS Iowa, the most powerful battleship in the United States, the last of the Indiana-class battleships to represent a new concept for the U.S. Navy.

However, the 13-inch and 35-diameter main guns of the other three Indiana-class battleships exposed the unsatisfactory rate of fire in wartime, so the firepower of the battleship Iowa was quickly transformed into a combination of twin 12-inch main guns and 8-inch secondary guns, and had eight 4-inch rapid-fire guns to deal with small targets. What's more, the experience gained from the construction of the first three battleships increased the power of the battleship Iowa by a full 20 percent, which was enough to propel the new battleship with 14-inch Harvey steel armor with 18 knots of main armor.

"Second Lieutenant, look at that cloud!"

Just when Ensign Camelot proudly condescended to look at the huge fleet, he was suddenly interrupted by the exclamation of Corporal Bell in the observation position next to him...... This damn guy should be observing the southwest. How can you see the clouds go up!

"Corporal Bell, what are you doing? Don't you know your mission? Your telescope is also too far off sea level! Ensign Clay yelled at the black corporal...... Immediately made Corporal Bell stammer. For a while, he couldn't find a chance to interject, and seeing that his angry scolding had an effect, Ensign Camelot was obviously a lot more depressed, "What did you see?" ”

"Ensign...... I...... See the clouds above the ...... There is a moving ...... Rugby! Corporal Bell stammered for a long time before he finished speaking!

Moving Rugby ...... What could be a worse lie, Second Lieutenant Camelot looked back at where Bell's finger was pointing...... There was nothing there at all except large clouds and glare sunlight, and he immediately roared, "Bastard, do your thing, you are telling such an unreliable report, and immediately punish you to the boiler room to carry coal for two weeks!" ”

Corporal Bell was obviously shocked by this punishment, the worst job on the battleship was the boiler room, because it was the worst job, so the navy has always had a tradition, every time the coal was transported, it was all mobilized, in order to reflect the concept that all the people on the battleship were a fighting collective, and was punished to go to the bilge to transport coal, it was a terrible errand, he frowned and looked at the sky in the southeast, immediately denied his judgment, and honestly continued to observe the sea level in the distance.

The U.S. fleet swooped down on the port of Havana across the Florida Strait with impunity, and the scene was clearly seen by the flying rugby ball in the sky...... This is obviously not a rugby, but a "Tianzhou II" type reconnaissance airship that rose from the Tiankui battlecruiser, with a total length of 15 meters and a lifting limit of 1,500 meters, which can easily run at a speed of 30 knots on a clear day.

"Hold your bearings, keep tracking! Report to the flagship, the discovery of the American fleet, 11 warships, azimuth 21.2 south latitude, longitude -81.2 east, speed forecast 12 knots, target prediction ...... Port of Havana! As a senior airship scout, he was very vigilant in occupying the sunlit airspace in the southeast, unless the other party could bypass behind him, it was almost impossible to find himself in the dazzling sunlight.

Eighty nautical miles away, near the Cuban port of Matanzas, three huge warships were in full combat readiness, billowing black smoke was spewing from the chimneys that stood tall, the gun jackets on the three angular full-covered turrets had long been removed, and the long barrels were raised high towards the mouth of the bay...... If the U.S. fleet passed through here, it would have been a big surprise.

Because less than 7,000 meters away from the three huge warships, eight cruisers of different sizes flying the Spanish flag were cowering and preparing to sail, but they only showed hesitation when they saw the black holes on the three huge ships outside the bay.

"General, the Spanish bullboy is not a good battleship, but it is very fast...... It's good that we brought a reconnaissance airship out, otherwise it would be really hard to find them! In the command room of the Sky Wolf Battle Patrol, staff officer Zheng Donghe looked at the Spanish fleet in the distance with a smile, and took 3 super warships with a total tonnage of more than 37,000 tons to intercept the Spanish fleet with the largest warship of only 5,600 tons at the T-shaped position here, isn't this a clear bully!

The fleet commander Liu Hetu, who was lying on the high-powered telescope to observe the Spanish warships in the distance, did not pay attention to Zheng Donghe's nonsense, and after the 13 rapid detachment passed through the Guò Magellan Strait, in addition to anchoring in Georgetown, Brazil, for a day of simple hull repair and coal replenishment, it galloped to Cuba almost day and night, and when it arrived at the port of Colón, Panama, it was a full four days earlier than expected.

In the past month, the Intelligence Department has definitely not been idle, and by the time Liu Hetu arrived at the outskirts of Jamaica, Lieutenant Colonel Wei Heng of the Panama Station of the Intelligence Division had successfully connected a local overseas Chinese businessman with Franco, the Spanish consul in Jamaica!

Although the entire Spanish and Central American colonies were already in turmoil, although they had not yet officially declared war on the United States, the news that the Americans were going to fight had already spread, and the Spanish Army was completely unable to complete the suppression of the indigenous rebels in the war in Cuba, which heralded the twilight of this old colonial empire.

This Consul Franco is obviously a person who understands, and after his request for assistance in evacuation was met, he immediately launched a political transaction with Wei Heng very cooperatively, and from Franco, the Intelligence Department got more clear information, but it was obviously not good news!

Although Spain itself had high hopes for the domination of the entire colonies of Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, the years of war had put this colony in jeopardy, and the so-called garrison of 200,000 was only four infantry divisions in Santiago, and the Spanish army in other places had fallen into a state of passive defense.

What worries Wei Heng even more is that in the face of pressure from the US Navy, the Spanish Navy is simply unable to carry out the active offensive plan made by the Spanish Admiralty, but accepts the construction of the Santiago garrison, and is planning to evacuate the port of Havana, which is facing the United States head-on, and hide under the protection of the fortress artillery of Santiago.

The news from the Intelligence Department also made Liu Hetu very depressed, if the Spaniards were beaten down by the Yankees as soon as they came up, this would quickly stimulate the United States to expand the scale of the battle against Spain, so he made this strange plan 4 days ago! Now for the opening ceremony of the strange moment......

"Send a flag signal to the Spaniards that they must immediately accept the command of the Chinese Navy! Otherwise, we will have to sink them here! Liu Hetu pursed his lips and gave the order without any scruples, without scruples at all, which was comparable to a heavy decision to declare war on Spain.

Soon the Spaniards reacted, apparently noticing the lack of Chinese warships, and the fact that the Strait of Matanzas was a V-shaped port with a 7-kilometer wide gap at the exit, so Rear Admiral Sevila immediately decided to break through along the western coastline......

The billowing black smoke of the Spanish warships made full use of their knowledge of hydrology and quickly rushed to the open sea along the shallow waters on the eastern side of the bay, where they would not dare to approach even if their own fleet was disbanded!

Sevela made this decision to break through, in fact, it was also a last resort, the port of Matanzas is an unprotected free port, limited port firepower, not at all to help the naval defense, the reason why he anchored here, is completely the need to cruise around Havana, when the United States through the war against Spain, he quickly made a decision, since he could not fight against the American battleships, then he could only retreat to Santiago first, waiting for the opportunity! (To be continued......)