However, the connection did not mean that it was officially navigable, and Theodore Roosevelt could not wait until the Panama Canal was officially opened, because at that time, sending troops to occupy it would be to interrupt the international waterway, and God knows how many countries would be offended. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The reason why he ordered the naval fleet to go south instead of the normal procedure was that he had to do it before the Panama Canal was officially opened, strictly speaking, before the government of the Republic of Colombia extended an invitation to dignitaries from various countries.

In order to avoid war as much as possible, Roosevelt hoped to directly force Colombia to submit, so the U.S. Navy sent the strongest lineup they could send this time, and all the six South Carolina-class battleships that had been completed and put into service were dispatched, and the total number of capital ships was doubled! In addition, they brought with them a large number of cruisers and destroyers in case of attacks by the Colombian Navy's torpedo boats, which were the only possible threat to the American fleet posed by the weaker latter. If you include the transport ships, the total number of ships in this fleet has almost reached hundreds, with a total tonnage of more than 300,000 tons......

However, the commander of the US fleet, Rear Admiral George Dewey (Note 1), was speechless that after discovering them, the Colombian fleet stationed in the port of East Panama, which had been built for less than a year, drove out without flinching, blocked the US fleet, and ordered the US side to leave immediately by wireless telegram, "This is the territorial waters of the Republic of Colombia!" Leave now! Otherwise, it will be considered an act of war! Leave now! Otherwise, it will be considered an act of war! ”

"It is really courageous that several small boats, the largest of which are only more than 1,000 tons, dare to come out and block them." George Dewey sneered, ignoring the Colombians' warnings, but considering that it was best not to fire the first shot, he did not immediately order the ships to open fire, but only asked them to fight back as soon as they were attacked.

However, what Dewey didn't expect was that the ships neither left nor opened fire to attack the American ship, but calmly rushed straight towards the nearest American battleship, and the speed was getting faster and faster!

"Damn, this is to force us to do it first, forget it, just fight, there's nothing to be afraid of." With a gloomy face, Dewey gave the order to destroy the Colombian ships, which were equipped with torpedo tubes, and if they were allowed to get closer, it would be dangerous to suddenly attack and shoot torpedoes at their own battleships.

After all, the torpedoes in the world have been replaced with new thermodynamic torpedoes, and the maximum range can generally reach two or three thousand meters, and the gyroscope greatly increases its accuracy, once those ships are within the effective range of the torpedoes, more than a dozen torpedoes are fired at the same time, with the clumsiness of the battleship and the huge power of the torpedo, it is simply nine deaths. Even if he assumed the responsibility of starting the battle first, Dewey could not risk his precious battleship.

The firepower of the battleship was too strong for the old cruiser with a maximum displacement of just over a thousand tons, and almost in the blink of an eye, she was turned into a huge fireball by the onslaught from all directions, and when the smoke cleared, there was no trace on the sea......

Seeing that the Americans actually opened fire, the remaining Colombian ships immediately turned around and fled, what are you kidding? It would be a death for such a few small ships to challenge such a huge fleet, and their Chinese teachers didn't teach them to do that!

However, it rushed too fast before, and it was not far from the US ship, so where was it so easy to get away from it immediately? Since Dewey had already sunk one, he didn't care about getting some more results, so the remaining few Colombian ships were also destroyed, except for two torpedo boats, which escaped back to the port of East Panama without danger because of their small targets and high speed, and the remaining five ships were all torn to pieces by the sharp artillery fire of the American fleet like a storm.

At this time, a terrible siren finally sounded over the port of East Panama, and the commander of the Colombian Navy, Martinez, personally dialed the phone to the Haiphong fortress, and anxiously shouted in Chinese words, "I'm Martinez, pick me up your brigade commander Feng Yuxiang...... Feng, did you hear that? The Yankees fired, they really fired! Our warships have ......"

"They're all good guys, I'll make those Americans pay for their blood, promise, sure!" , Feng Yuxiang still couldn't change his habitual loud voice even when he answered the phone, but his words that should have been righteous indignation were mixed with a trace of excitement that couldn't be suppressed......

After listening to Duan Qirui's suggestion to apply for the Naval University, due to his outstanding intelligence and hard self-discipline, Feng Yuxiang has always been the leader in both cultural and training courses in the same period, and even the original very bad water nature has been successfully overcome through long-term efforts, and he has become the first student of the Naval University to graduate with full honors.

Generally speaking, students majoring in military command from the Marine Department of the Chinese Naval University can only become a company commander after graduation, and outstanding graduates can only become a battalion commander, but Feng Yuxiang suddenly became a regiment commander. And because he had military experience before attending a military school, and two years ago he was promoted again to become a brigade commander, except for those founding heroes, no one was as young as him when he became a brigade commander. However, what made Feng Yuxiang a little aggrieved for a while was that this brigade was actually a garrison force, did he offend a big man?

Note 1: Although there was no Philippine battlefield in the Spanish-American War in this time and space, George Dewey, who had been unknown before, was promoted to rear admiral after the war because of the strong recommendation of Theodore Roosevelt, who was then the US Navy Undersecretary. But perhaps because of this (in fact, Roosevelt's New Deal was the main reason, the reform inevitably offended people, and Roosevelt needed more cronies to consolidate his authority. George Dewey did not retire as soon as he has historically. Because this mission was too important to be missed, Theodore Roosevelt, who had already become president of the United States, remembered this old friend again and asked him to contribute the last of his spare heat...... (To be continued.) )