A second ago, the sea around the "Agile" was still calm, except for a little white spray stirred up by the battleship's high-speed advance; But in the next second, she was already in a dozen columns of water that suddenly rose up and signaled impending danger. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

It's not just "Rena. Cristina", the entire Spanish fleet fired, and then the coastal batteries in Manila also began to fire. A tight and deadly web of fire around the Agile - but only around her. The response of the Spanish artillery was quite remarkable, their enthusiasm was indisputable, and yet their aiming was terrible...... Or not aiming at all. Not a single shell approached the "torpedo ship" moving at full speed, and nothing came of it, except for setting off column after column of water on the sea.

It was only at this time that Captain Hamilton breathed a sigh of relief that the poor shooting of the Spanish artillery relieved him of possible trouble. He laughed, and suddenly slapped the first mate standing beside him on the shoulder, almost causing the poor young man to fall on the deck.

The first mate turned his head and looked at him. "Captain ......"

"We upset the Spaniards, didn't we?" Hamilton began to laugh, "Look around us, what a spectacular sight. ”

If the shells land on the deck, you won't feel spectacular. The first mate thought and said, "Maybe the Spaniards are using us for torpedo ships. ”

"No doubt, young people." The captain shrugged. He knew that the Spaniards would misjudge, but it was precisely because of this that he ordered the battleships to rush to the Spanish fleet at full speed.

The Spaniards, who had misjudged their judgment, would fire heavily on the Agile in an attempt to destroy the threat before she could get within range of the torpedoes; And when the Spanish fleet fires, the batteries in Manila will fire, and finally the coastal guns will fire - their positions will be completely exposed.

Of course, the level of firing of the Spanish artillery was also evident in plain sight: as bad as the eggs of the recruits, so much so that the numerical superiority could not compensate for the aiming deficiencies - but there were not enough batteries in Manila.

"How many guns do you think?" He asked the first mate.

The first mate turned his head in the direction of Manila City, watched carefully, and counted the fire of the artillery fire. Suddenly, a column of water rose close to the side of the ship, blocking his view and drenching him as he fell. The first mate had to tear off the seaweed that fell on his head and start over.

"I think there are about three batteries." Finally, he reported, "there should be the same number of batteries, or two, in the Krabi direction." ”

Hamilton snorted, picked up the message, and turned his gaze back to the Spanish fleet. The Spaniards adjusted their firing, the guns were aimed directly in front of the "Agile", and the water column was getting closer and closer. "Z-shaped maneuver." He ordered, "Then retreat before coming into range of the six-pounder gun." ”

The Agile began to turn to the left.

"The American torpedo ship turned!"

"Leave it alone!" Montojo roared, "Keep firing and sink her!" ”

The rear admiral was almost mad with his gunners. They didn't even hit a single shell. Fortunately, the Americans sent only a torpedo ship, and if it was a cruiser with eight-inch guns, she would definitely be able to sink all of his cruisers like a target, and she would not have suffered a little damage herself...... Montoho was a little glad that he had anchored the fleet in Cavite instead of going to sea to engage the American fleet at Rivera's request. Otherwise, even if he had a fleet worthy of Dewey, an idiot-like gunner would have made him lose the battle.

"Aim for it, you goddamn idiots!" He yelled at the sailors operating the main guns in front of him, "Aim and fire, sink her, or I'll throw you all into the sea!" ”

However, the gunners continued to work the way they did, and after loading the shells and kits, they only took a cursory aim for a while...... Probably only a few seconds, and then fire. So the shell still just set off a column of water, instead of blasting a beautiful fireball on the target's deck, as Montojo had expected.

The rear admiral began to have a stroke. "You stupid pigs! I'm going to shoot you all! ”

Unfortunately, the threat he escalated still did not have any effect, on the contrary, "Rena. Captain of the USS Christina, Louis. Cardasso. Rainey defended his sailors: "The torpedo ship is so fast, Your Excellency the Admiral, at least twenty-five knots, that it is almost impossible for our old guns to aim at her accurately. And the gunners also lacked training. ”

"I don't need a reason, I want that ship!" Montojo was almost speechless.

"Calm down, Your Excellency." "The American torpedo ship is still closing in on us, and once she is within effective range of the rapid-fire guns, we can surely sink her." ”

He was referring to the six-pounder rapid-fire guns and the 42-millimeter rapid-fire guns on the warships. The Christina's two 70-millimeter rapid-fire guns were already firing – these rapid-fire guns were an effective tool for large warships against small torpedo ships, and they were usually effective. Moreover, any torpedo ship must enter a relatively stable attack course before firing a torpedo, and cannot maneuver to avoid counterattack fire, so there are still many opportunities to sink that ship.

Cardasso trusted his judgment, however, the "Agile" was not a torpedo ship at all and was not intended to attack the Spanish fleet. Just before she was in the effective range of the six-pounder gun, she suddenly turned again and began to retreat.

"She actually retreated?" Cadaso stared at the torpedo ship farther and farther away, secretly guessing the intentions of the American captain, "Or is it just a trick?" ”

"Sir?" An officer looked at him, then to the rear admiral.

"Keep firing and knock her off." Montojo waved his fist and hissed in a hoarse voice, "That ship has figured out everything here, and she can't be allowed to bring the information back." ”

Now he finally understood why the Americans sent only one torpedo ship into the bay: if she was lucky enough, she could launch a torpedo to sink his flagship, and if she was not lucky enough, she could also find some important intelligence. He couldn't let the torpedo ship leave safely - to make her bad luck.

However, his gunners were still not able to complete this task. As if it had been predestined, the shells always fell only around the Agile until she completely disappeared from his sight, and the rear admiral did not see a single explosion, not a single fireball.

She ran away unscathed.

"We had a lot of luck, I have to say." Hamilton looked contentedly at the rear of the battleship, where the Spanish fleet and the Cavite batteries were out of sight. Next, the only thing that could pose a threat to the Agile was the coastal guns south of the fairway, but if the gunners there were as incompetent as the gunners of Manila, Cavite and battleships, he didn't even need to worry about losing a piece of paint on the company's vital property......

While he was pondering, several more jets of water suddenly splashed on either side of the Agile. The coastal guns to the south of the fairway also fired, but, like their colleagues, these gunners also had serious problems with aiming.

The Spanish artillerymen enthusiastically bombarded the sea with shells, and their targets slipped away with ease and pleasure, noting their location by the way.

"Have you decided on the Spaniards' gun positions?" He looked at the first mate.

"Yes, Captain. I've marked it on the map. The first mate handed Hamilton a map and let out a long breath, "Well, the next battle has nothing to do with us, does it?" ”

He thought about it. "The rear admiral probably won't let a small notification ship with only three one-pound guns participate in a naval battle."

It was true that Dewey would not have allowed the Agile to enter the battle, but Hamilton himself did not want to miss the first and only naval battle he encountered. Of course, it was a little difficult to get the "Agile" into the battle between the cruisers, and the rest of the crew did not want to get involved.

"If nothing else, I think I should rest for a while, Captain." The first mate said. "I must say, I was frightened just now."

"Of course, you can go and rest." Hamilton shrugged. Maybe he just didn't have a chance to participate in naval battles. "Maybe I shouldn't have retired so early." He grunted.

"Goodbye, Captain." The first mate pretended not to hear his complaints, saluted, and left.

Hamilton looked up and looked ahead. As long as it passes through Correhill Island again, the "Agile" can rendezvous with Dewey's fleet, and then it will be the turn of the Spaniards to be beaten, which is of course the purpose of Washington's dispatch of a fleet to the Philippines. Thank you, General Dewey.

"Olympia" is ahead, and there are three thousand yards left.

"It's unbelievable that she was able to return safely." Dewey stared at the approaching Agile and suddenly had a very unreal feeling—but she was real. "Do you think it's her luck, or is it true that the Spaniards have that bad shooting standards?" He asked in a low voice.

"Maybe both." After hesitating for a moment, Gridley finally said, "Attack now?" ”

"I think Captain Hamilton has already marked the location of the Spanish batteries for us." After a pause, Dewey's tone became excited and resolute, "Inform all warships to prepare to enter Manila Bay." ”

"Yes, General." Gridley turned and relayed the order to an equally excited officer, who relayed the order to the signalmen, who in turn teleported it to every warship in the fleet.

Soon, every officer and sailor was excited.

"Prepare for battle!"

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Note: Cadaso's full name is D.Luis.Cadarso.y.Rey, who died in the naval battle and was the only captain who died (to be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )