At the time when the "Sino-Western Beijing Treaty" was signed between Beijing and Qingxi, the United States on the other side of the earth was still at night. However, no matter how urgent Tian Bei's telegram was, it would take more than an hour to get to the other side of the earth.

At half past seven in the morning on April 10, New York time, U.S. President William McKinley had run out of breakfast. A black Ford made in China was parked in front of the door, and with the help of his wife, he was getting dressed and ready to take the car to the office to start the day's work. However, at this moment, the door was slammed open, and Secretary of State William? Rufus? Dai rushed in with a panicked face: "Oh no, William, something happened to Qingguo?" ”

McKinley calmly asked his wife to continue to help him get dressed: "Rufus, what happened to the Qing Kingdom made you so nervous, even if the Qing Emperor died in a rebellion, it has nothing to do with the United States." ”

"No, the Qing Emperor is fine. But the Qing sold seven of their main warships to Spain. ”

"Whoa—" The moment Rufus finished speaking, it was the moment when Mrs. McKinley fastened her tie into place. And the tightness in his throat made McKinley, who heard the news, unable to breathe as if he had just been choked by the neck. McKinley pushed away Madame and tugged at the tie desperately, and with great difficulty he pulled the tie and seemed to get rid of the suffocating feeling. After a violent cough, McKinley asked, "What did you just ←say?" ”

"I said that the Qing State sold seven main warships to Spain, and Spain could rely on these warships to attack the east coast of the United States. William, do we still have to deal with Spain? ”

"Oh, hell - Rufus, we're going to have a meeting right now to discuss this." After speaking. McKinley didn't care about his clothes, and pulled Rufus and rushed out. Then I got in the car and sped away towards the Capitol.

At this time, in the port of Lushun of the Qing Dynasty, the fastest Guanhai fast destroyer belonging to the Pingyang ship sailed into the dock. The Spanish Governor of the Philippines, Polavicia of the Far East Fleet, and the commander of the Army, Peña, who received a telegram from the Minister in China, arrived in Lushun. Under the guidance of Gilberto, the minister to China, they met Wang Shizhen, chief of staff of the Qing Dynasty, Duan Qirui, chief of the general staff of the army, and Cheng Cheng, chief of the general staff of the navy, in a small basement.

After the two sides had met each other, Polavisa pointed to the map of North America on the table and asked, "Generals, what does this mean?" ”

"It's not interesting. The United States has built more and more warships and formed more and more armies in recent years, and we do not know the combat effectiveness of the Americans. And these possible outbreaks between the United States and your country are the best opportunities to assess the combat strength of the United States, so my country would like to know in advance about your country's possible strategies and tactics in order to assess the combat effectiveness of the US ** team. Wang Shizhen replied with a smile: "You have also seen the environment here, and we don't want to leak it out, after all, we will also have our own immature opinions." We don't want people to think that the Qing were involved in the war between the United States and Spain. ”

The discussion in the U.S. Congress was intense. Both a declaration of war and a declaration of war have good reasons. But the United States must be a capitalist policy, and everything is done for the purpose of maximizing profits, and the war in Cuba has caused the capitalists to suffer heavy losses. Finally, the U.S. generals told Congress that they had 24 new warships, that the ships sold by the Qing to Spain were old five years ago, and that the army had the absolute strength to defeat the Spaniards against the Cubans. With the assurances of the American generals, the U.S. Congress finally passed a motion declaring war on Spain.

It was 10:30 a.m., 30 minutes later than expected. The United States officially declared war on Spain and issued a resolution at the same time to recognize the independence of Cuba and demand that Spain withdraw from Cuba. In the afternoon of the same day, 16 warships of the 1st Atlantic Detachment of the United States headed for Cuba. The next day. Eight warships of the 2nd Atlantic Detachment of the United States left the shores of the United States with the vanguard of eight thousand army forces. And in the afternoon of the same day, Spain, which had received seven powerful warships, declared war on the United States.

When the US fleet marched toward Cuba, Dewey, who was far away in Asia, vomited blood angrily. On April 4, he set out from Hong Kong with his fleet. After drifting at sea for nearly a week, he rushed to Manila Bay at 10:30 a.m. on April 11. was blocked at the mouth of the bay by a Qing destroyer and was inexplicably informed. All of Luzon, including Manila Bay, was now under the jurisdiction of the Qing state. "Explain what you mean." This is the signal of the destroyer of the Qing State.

Dewey, who didn't know the situation, planned to rush hard, but he didn't expect that as soon as he started the Qing State on his side, he pointed the barrel of the cannon over, and hung out the flag clearly: "Does the United States plan to go to war with the Qing State?" ”

What a joke, it's impossible. Although a destroyer could not be the opponent of Dewey's entire Far East Fleet, the Qing Royal Navy, known as the First Fleet in the Far East, was behind him. If he was killed, Dewey believed that the entire U.S. Far East Fleet, including him, would be sent to the bottom of the sea by the Qing navy, and the Qing would definitely not take prisoners.

Dewey had to say that his fleet was undersupplied and needed to enter Manila for resupply, so that the Qing destroyers would be relinquished. Before Dewey could reach the shore, he saw the flag of the Qing Kingdom flying everywhere on the shore, and the Spaniards were boarding the freighter in an orderly manner. After Dewey went ashore, he met Lin Yongsheng, the commander of the Qing Nanyang Fleet, and only then did he understand what was happening in Luzon, but he could only secretly spit blood and swallow it.

But the matter was not over, after a full two days of meetings in the Lushun secret meeting, the fleet transferred by the Qing State to Spain had completed its supply and maintenance. On the afternoon of the 12th, after all the soldiers of the Spanish Far East Fleet arrived in Lushun, Cheng Cheng, chief of the general staff of the Qing Navy, and Wu Deren, commander-in-chief of the Qing Navy, held a farewell banquet on the Lushun wharf.

This was a supplementary provision to the Sino-Western Treaty of Peking, and the Qing were required to assist the Spanish Navy in mastering the use of these ships. So Wu Deren, the commander-in-chief of the Qing Navy, who needed to go to Singapore on a business trip, personally led the officers and men who had gone through the Battle of Arthur to train these naval "rookies".

Dewey, who got the news, jumped to his feet in a hurry. Now that the United States and Spain have declared war, once they are targeted by the new Spanish fleet, it is estimated that they can only be completely annihilated. Dewey, who had conceived the idea of increasing his speed without bringing enough supplies, searched all over Manila for supplies, as the coal burning on his fleet took him back to Canton at most. But he did not dare, because Canton was also a supply place for the new Spanish fleet. Fortunately, the Qing state in Manila did not make things difficult. Whether it is fresh water or all kinds of food, etc., it is beginning to be prepared for the Americans, but Manila, which has just passed through the war, is very chaotic. It took a week to get his warship fully restocked. But there was no way to burn coal, because Dewey had seen the coal warehouses of the Spaniards. The only thing left in it was used by the Qing people. No way, the Spaniards have already arrived in Hong Kong. Dewey had no choice but to leave in a hurry before the Spaniards could return to Manila. However, the Chinese were still kind, telling the Americans to let them rush to Pontianak, and they would inform Pontianak in advance to prepare coal.

By the time he arrived at Pontianak, he had a complete collapse. Boats come and go on the Kajiang River, and the Pontianak pier is even more crowded. It seemed like a no-brainer to spare two slots on this busy commercial dock to resupply the U.S. fleet. Although Dewey had seven warships, he could always catch up. It's just that a new problem has come out, and Pontianak doesn't have enough coal to burn, so he can only supply a part of it first. Of course. If the Americans are willing to wait a few days, they can bring coal from Java. Dewey looked at the empty coal bunkers of his warship, gritted his teeth and signed the high coal price list in Pontianak, but he waited for four days before the Java coal ship arrived. Then at this time, bad news came, the Spaniards did not go to Manila, but paid for the Qing to load the Spanish soldiers who remained in Luzon on ships. There was only one reason, the Spaniards, who had learned the news of the United States declaring war on Spain, wanted to annihilate the American Far East Fleet in the Far East.

What if the Spaniards didn't go to Manila but came directly to Pontianak?! Dewey's legs began to tremble after measuring the map, if he did not leave Pontianak within two days. Then he would be blocked by the Spaniards from returning home, and he estimated that it would take at least a few days to complete the supply of all ships. So he begged Pontianak to speed up the supply to him, and at the same time hurriedly sent a telegram to the domestic minister in China. Ask them to coordinate and ask the Qing State to help them slow down the Spaniards.

The Qing side gave a suggestion, because the Spanish fleet was training along the way, so the shells were somewhat lost. If the United States is willing to contribute a sum of ammunition. The Qing could hold off the Spanish fleet for at least two days under the pretext of supplying the Spaniards with shells, so that the American Far East Fleet would have enough time to complete the supply and leave the range of the Spanish fleet. It took less than four hours for the proposal to be made. Tian Bei happily signed the bill, and the cargo ship that had been waiting in Manila headed west.

It turns out. The Chinese are honest at least when it comes to doing business. Having promised the Spaniards that they would replenish the ammunition they had lost after training, Manila's cargo ships stopped the Spanish fleet in the Spratly Islands and spent two full days refilling the Spanish fleet's ammunition magazine. Just by the time the Spaniards arrived at Pontianak, the American Far Eastern Fleet had already been in the direction of Singapore for a day. As soon as the Spaniards heard the news, they turned around and chased after the Americans without saying a word. However, when they reached the Suez Canal, they did not see the US Far East Fleet. Because the American fleet at this time reappeared in Guangzhou Bay.

The U.S. Far East Fleet had just finished replenishing, and Dewey was rushing towards Singapore like an arrow in the ass. Dewey's idea was very good, he hoped to use the cover of Singapore to drag the Spanish fleet in the Far East as much as possible, but the British did not let them stay in Singapore, on the grounds that the United States and the West had declared war and the American fleet was not damaged, and Dewey, who had no choice but to continue to go west. When sailing out of the Strait of Malacca and facing the ocean, Dewey lost his attention. If he advanced towards the Mediterranean, he could attack the Spanish coast to relieve the pressure on the American mainland, but when the Spanish fleet returned home, he would inevitably end up in total annihilation, sacrificing the small self to achieve the big self, which was obviously not Dewey's style. Either they can only walk the Cape of Good Hope and go around Africa to return to China to join the war, which does not seem to be a wise choice. Only then did Dewey calm down and think about the problem, and when he recalled the whole thing, he found that the whole incident had the shadow of the Qing Kingdom in it at all times, and he smelled a strong smell of conspiracy from the analysis. At this time, Dewey came back to his senses, because the huge pressure of the Spanish fleet and the closer and closer distance, he lost enough judgment, so in the panic he followed the advice of the Qing State and sailed more and more westward, and the result was that Spain kept chasing behind. Forcing the American fleet back to the United States, maybe this is the conspiracy of the Qing people, but the whole thing started because he didn't bring enough fuel before leaving, otherwise the best way to return home should be to go to Hawaii.

So far. Dewey had an idea. Instead of continuing westward, he headed south. He took the fleet around Sumatra and reappeared in Canton Bay. Then it was resupplied again at Canton Bay. The merger and acquisition purchased a supply ship through Tianbei, filled it with coal and other supplies, and then drove through Malacca towards the Suez Canal.

Dewey's move made the world, especially the Spaniards. The Spaniards, who had just been basking in the joy of returning home with a mighty fleet, were faced with a difficult choice: whether to send a fleet to attack the United States or stay and defend their homeland. But Cuba was the greatest source of interest for the Spaniards, and the Spanish Congress insisted that the fleet go to war to defend their interests. As for the U.S. fleet, which was entering the Suez Canal, it was defended by concentrating all the old ships and a Tiger-class heavy cruiser.

Rear Admiral Pascual? Severa? Topet? Severa insisted that a maritime alliance that could help with equipment and supplies should be assembled so that the fleet could make the U.S. coast a lucrative military target. This proposal was supported by Rear Admiral Montoho, the former commander of the Far East Fleet. Moreover, the former commander of the Philippine Army, Peña, believed that the Americans would not come to help the Cubans for no reason, they were under the pretext of helping the Cubans get rid of the Spaniards, and their real goal was actually to occupy Cuba. Peña proposed that since the Spanish army was no match for the US-Cuban coalition forces, it would be better to let all the Spanish troops from all over Cuba concentrate on Havana to hold out. In this way, once the US army and the Cuban army converge, there will inevitably be contradictions, so that Spain will have a chance. In response to the generals' insistence, Congress revised the original plan, but insisted that the Navy should at least defend Puerto Rico.

Severa insisted that this was the time when Congress was committing suicide to its own fleet. Originally scheduled to command the new fleet, he was transferred to command the remaining fleet. Rear Admiral Montojo was forced to take on the task of the new fleet expedition to the United States, and Peña became the new commander of the Cuban army, and even Polawezia became the new governor of Cuba. The people who thought that they had lost the Philippines would definitely be dismissed were sad again, and the reason why they came up with ideas was that they did not plan to be promoted and make a fortune. Their original intention was only to see that Congress would see that they still had some role to play and could keep their current titles. Now this person regrets that he shouldn't have gone to see any Qing generals a long time ago, these ideas are the same as the opinions of those Qing generals. I have a fart relationship with them, and I really became the one who implemented the strategy of the Qing generals.

Because the time is tight and the task is heavy. Unable to wait for the ship to be maintained, four Dragon-class battleships and two Tiger-class heavy cruisers took two Roaring-class destroyers "Roar" and "Proudhon". The eight battleships set off in a hurry after filling up with coal. On the docks, Severa, who saw him off, was filled with pessimism, and he felt that the fleet in front of him was carrying out a quixotic mission, not for victory, but for the preservation of the last honor of the empire, even if the defeat was already doomed. But Severa never imagined that the continental United States, thousands of kilometers away, would also fall into a huge panic because of the imminent arrival of this fleet.

Spain did not have enough military bases on the west coast of the Atlantic, so the fleet, named the Spanish Armadada, had to go south to Cape Verde first. When the fleet left Cape Verde, local American journalists sent telegrams home. Now all Americans knew that the Spanish fleet was coming. But in the vast ocean, without the guidance of satellites or radar, no one knows where this fleet will go. Naturally, rumors spread that the Spanish fleet would attack New York and Boston first. In a panic, many wealthy businessmen on the east coast fled to the mainland, and ordinary residents were also in panic, asking the government to send warships to protect them. For a time, reports of the "discovery" of the Montojo fleet came from all corners of the East Coast, leaving the US Navy exhausted.

The U.S. Admiralty was well aware that the North Atlantic Squadron must act as a whole, and that even if the Montojo was not attacking in the Caribbean Sea, where the Americans were waiting for them, but attacking other areas, the fleet would still be able to strike the enemy a tooth for a tooth with its preserved whole; If the fleet were to be deployed scattered along the coastline, it would be militarily tantamount to self-destruction. However, an important piece of news determined the formation of the American army: the Spanish Armada had the new Cuban governor-general, Bolawicia, and the commander-in-chief of the Spanish-Cuban army, Peña. In this case, the Spanish Armada would have to send the two to Havana. However, even then, it is necessary to somehow satisfy the cries of coastal cities for naval protection.

In the end, the US Navy Department solved the problem with a compromise approach. The North Atlantic Squadron was divided into two large units: a group of the most combat-ready warships of the U.S. Navy stationed in Key West, led by Rear Admiral William Brown. Thomas? Sampson commanded, preparing to annihilate the approaching Spanish fleet in one fell swoop; Another of the fastest warships assembled at Norfolk under the auspices of Commodore Winfield? Scott? Schleih commanded, guarding the Atlantic coast as an active sea fortress; A small Northern Patrol detachment of old, mostly decommissioned ships guards the coastline north of Cape Delaware. And the U.S. Congress distributed a shipment of vintage guns to East Coast residents to comfort those who couldn't go far.

It was at this time that the first naval battle between the United States and Spain broke out in the Mediterranean. (To be continued......)