Aguinaldo was joined by Leonardo and Balbo, representatives of the MacDonald consortium, who boarded General Dewey's flagship armored cruiser, the USS Maine.

"General, at what cost do you think we can defeat those Spaniards?" Aquinato asked General Dewey. Although both Leonardo and Balbo told him that the strength of the Spanish fleet was very large and almost vulnerable, Aguinaldo, who knew almost nothing about modern warfare, especially naval warfare, was still very worried about the upcoming naval battle. Although his thirst for money and power drove him to take risks, his cowardly side gave him nightmares all night. So he still couldn't help but ask General Dewey such a question. Originally, he wanted to ask, "Can you beat the Spaniards?" but considering that such a question might offend the Americans, he changed his question.

Although full of contempt for the humanoid, General Dewey felt that basic politeness had to be maintained. So he said to Aguinaldo, "Sir, do you know what worries me the most right now? There are only two things that I am most worried about now, and that is: first, I am afraid that the Spanish fleet has left Manila, and then the Pacific Ocean is so big, it will not be easy for me to find them. Second, I fear that the Spaniards will be laying mines near Manila, which will seriously interfere with our fighting. As for a direct battle with the Spanish fleet, that would be really undesirable for us. The fleet of the Spaniards was simply vulnerable, and I dare say that in a direct fleet decisive battle, we would not sink even a single ship. ”

It was not for nothing that General Dewey had such confidence. Although he did not have the tallest battleships in his fleet, those things were left in the Atlantic Fleet to be used against the Spanish expeditionary fleet and possible British intervention (although the British were unlikely to intervene at this time). But the fleet of the Spaniards in the Far East was even more different from his fleet on the mainland. The Spanish fleet still had one old battleship, while the Spanish fleet in the Far East consisted of only four cruisers. Although Dewey also had cruisers in his hands, and there were only four of them, the difference between the two types of cruisers was too great. Two of Dewey's cruisers were the latest armored cruisers, and the remaining two unprotected cruisers, although poorly defended, also had speeds of up to 25 knots and the latest unified caliber guns. And what about the cruisers of the Spaniards? Although they also have a displacement of 3,000 tons, their shells are still wooden! These are four old warships with iron keels and wooden shells that are far behind the times. Although the Spaniards purchased some rapid-fire guns to replace the original old-fashioned barrel guns, not to mention competing with the brand-new fleet in Dewey's hands, even compared with the Beiyang Navy, which was completely wiped out not long ago, the Spaniards' fleet was vulnerable.

The fleet was already approaching Manila Bay, and Dewey ordered the fleet to slow down. This was mainly due to the fear that the Spaniards would lay mines near Manila Bay. From the time of the Crimean War, these things began to come in handy in naval battles. However, at that time, the mines were still filled with black. Fire. medicine, the power is still quite limited. And now, since Scrooge invented the T.N.T, the power of these things has immediately become frenzied. Now a typical anchor mine, the charge in it often reaches more than 400KG, and some perverted guys will even stuff a whole 1000KG T.N.T into an anchor mine. It is said that not long ago, the MacDonald Infantry Weapons Company had produced a number of such perverted goods and sold them to the coastal states of the United States to deal with the possible Spanish expeditionary fleet. If a warship accidentally touches such a guy, let alone an ordinary cruiser, even if it is the largest battleship of the British, it is estimated that it will have to be severely injured in such an explosion, and if it accidentally hurts the keel, I am afraid that one such thing can make the British newest battleship with a displacement of more than 20,000 tons finished. In Manila, this was probably the only thing in the hands of the Spaniards that could pose a threat to Dewey's fleet.

As the fleet slowed down, several wooden, diesel-powered boats ran to the front of the fleet. This is a special-purpose minesweeper from the Morgan MacDonald shipyard. These small boats, with a displacement of only two or three hundred tons, lowered their demining gear from the tail and began to lead the fleet forward in front of them.

……

Early the next morning, the New York Times published its first tribulation of the war between the United States and Spain. To the Americans. People. Yesterday afternoon, General Dewey's fleet had annihilated the Spanish fleet in Manila. It took only a little more than an hour for General Dewey's fleet to wipe out the aging Spanish fleet. It was a one-sided battle, and the U.S. fleet took advantage of its speed and range to effectively control the distance of the battle, and in the entire battle, not a single American soldier was killed, so no soldier had the opportunity to receive the Medal of Honor. However, the Purple Heart can be issued three times: a soldier falls in battle and breaks the bridge of his nose; There was also a soldier who accidentally injured his instep by a shell while loading a shell; The last one braved the muzzle storm when his own cannon fired, bravely rushed to the deck to save the mascot of the warship, a cat named "Prince", but was injured by the muzzle storm. Although this behavior is brave, it seems that it is not enough to be eligible for the Medal of Honor, so he can only apply for the Order of Purple Heart.

The news of the victory caused the whole of America to rejoice, and the newspapers followed suit, analyzing the situation of the war, discussing how to implement democracy in which areas of Spain originally controlled. The discussion was super lively, and from time to time there were questions such as "Shut up, we're talking about democracy!" Quarrels like that. The attention of the whole United States is focused on this aspect.

At the same time, discussions on the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States of America Draft were quietly intensified in Congress. The various caucuses and parliamentarians are busy researching the manuscript word by word, analyzing the pros and cons of this thing for their supporters, and then constantly bargaining. Sometimes, just one sentence can take an entire morning to reach a compromise.

This efficiency made Morgan a little anxious, but Scrooge felt that it was not the time, because the American army was too smooth now, and although the war also attracted attention, it was not enough to get everyone's attention to it. So, Scrooge felt that now was not the time.

……

"The Spaniards are too weak, and if this continues, this war will not make any waves at all, so how can it be done, it will not be conducive to our plans. Donald, what do you think? Scrooge asked.

"Uncle, I don't think there's a need to worry about it now, there will be a repeat later. For example, during the attack on the city of Havana. "The fortifications in Havana are still good. Although the cannon is a little older, it can still kill people. More importantly, the level of the US Army is not good. Both equipment and training are. ”

Donald's statement is not bad. For many years, the United States has had an interesting tradition of cutting down the Army quickly after the war. For years, states felt that an overly strong federal army posed a threat to state power. There is no foreign threat on the North American continent, so what does the federal government want such a strong army to do? So cutting the army has become a habit. As a result, thanks to the joint efforts of state legislators, the federal army is inferior to the state soldiers in terms of training and weaponry. In contrast, the navy had to watch the British in the Atlantic and the Japanese in the Pacific, so life was much better.

Over the years, MacDonald has sold many advanced weapons abroad, but here in the Army, he has not sold many good things, and of course, the militias in the states have bought a lot. Recently, however, because of the news in the newspapers that the Spanish fleet might attack the east coast of the United States, and that a small number of troops might even land to carry out raids, the coastal states, although they all supported the federal dispatch of troops to teach Spain a lesson, they also kept the most elite state militias tightly for coastal defense. And the inland states are already much poorer, so although their state militias are willing to fight, their equipment is not good. On the whole, in addition to the fire support of the Navy, the equipment of the US Army is limited to that of the Cuban guerrillas, and some of the equipment is even inferior to that of the guerrillas. As for the level of training, it is even worse than that of the partisans.

On the contrary, after playing with the Cuban guerrillas taught by Blackwater for so many years, the level of the Spaniards has grown a lot, not to mention anything else, digging trenches, digging anti-artillery holes, sniping and counter-sniping, all of which have made great progress. So Donald estimates that when the army lands, the situation may change.

"Our military advisers have all been sent to the state armies, right?" Scrooge asked.

"Yes, uncle." Donald replied.

If the veterans of Blackwater, as well as those advisers who are proficient in tactics, enter the federal army, they must not be able to contribute to the work, it is easy to see through this, so they can only be sent to the troops of the states to help the states defend against the non-existent "possible landing force of the Spaniards". In the United States, it is very common and common for loyalty to the state to exceed loyalty to the federal government, so these people have run back to their own states, and people naturally have nothing to say. Anyway, after the federal army hits the big nail, it will be too late for them to save the situation. Wouldn't it even be better to turn the tide and gain prestige? R1058