The next day, President William McKinley delivered a speech to members of the Senate and House of Representatives on Capitol Hill, in which he strongly condemned the terrorist acts of the Spanish government and enumerated the numerous crimes committed by Spain in the Americas. The flood of the Atlantic Ocean is inexhaustible." And I, the great United States, have a clear destiny to be commanded by Jehovah God to remove the defilement of the world. Helping the peoples of the Americas, as well as the people of the world, to free themselves from the evil rule of Spain is the sacred mission that God has entrusted to the great United States of America. Therefore, he strongly demanded that the members of the Senate and House of Representatives approve him to use military force to solve the problem.

After the president's murderous speech, the Senate and the House of Representatives held urgent consultations, and after a final vote, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, the two houses passed a resolution authorizing the president to use military force in Cuba by a majority of nearly 3 to 1. This resolution is not a declaration of war, but everyone knows that such a resolution is actually no different from a declaration of war.

Immediately after receiving congressional authorization, President William McKinley issued an order to the Navy for a complete blockade of Cuba, demanding that the Navy "in order to eliminate the humanitarian catastrophe and maintain peace in the Americas and even in the world," with immediate effect prohibit any Spanish or other foreign ships from entering Cuba's territorial waters and ports.

……

The cruiser USS New Orleans pulled up its anchor chain and sailed out of the port of Miami, where it received orders from its superiors to carry out a blockade mission off the coast of Cuba. This was an easy job, because Spain did not have any decent warships in Cuba, and compared with the New Orleans cruiser with a displacement of 4,500 tons, a maximum speed of 25 knots, and eight 5-inch guns and 45 times the barrel of the cannon, the Spanish naval power in Cuba was completely insignificant, and the largest warship in their hands was nothing more than an old-fashioned coastal defense ship with a displacement of 3,200 tons.

Captain Reid was very familiar with the Spanish coastal defense ship in Cuba, although that warship seemed to be not much smaller than the New Orleans in terms of tonnage, and in terms of the caliber of the main guns, the caliber of the main guns on that ship was a little larger. But this dominant egg is useless. The Spaniards had two 8-inch guns on that ship, which looked good. But those two guns were still old enough to be sent to the museum, with a slow rate of fire, low muzzle velocity, and a short range, and it was impossible to compare with the 5-inch guns on the New Orleans. In addition, the ship was still a coal-burning broken ship using a reciprocating steam engine, and the maximum speed was said to be twelve knots, but considering that the age of the ship was older than Captain Red's father, Captain Red felt that the ship could run to a speed of ten knots, and it was already the apparition of the Virgin Mary.

In addition to the fact that Spain's military presence in Cuba is weak, another reason is that it is the best time in the Caribbean. The sea is calm, the weather is clear, and the sight conditions are particularly good.

The cruiser USS New Orleans glided gently across the sea, its bow gently separating the clear and turquoise waters of the tropics. The warm sunlight shone in through the glass of the bridge, and the sun was soft. At one point, even Captain Red wondered if he was on a combat mission or on vacation.

"Maintain your current speed, turn to Area 003, and we'll go around there." Captain Rhett ordered.

The cruiser made a light turn and headed towards Area 003. The area is full of islands and shoals, and many years ago it was a paradise for pirates, not so long ago it was a haven for smuggling boats, and now, if a Spanish ship tries to sneak across the blockade, they are more likely to come first, hide behind an island, and wait until it gets dark before sailing to the port of Havana. So this area is the area that the cruiser New Orleans will focus on searching.

"Cheer up the boys." Captain Red said.

The cruiser slowly navigated the channel between the two turquoise islands, and the extremely colorful macaws flew over the warship, and one of them landed and landed on the mast of the warship, less than two meters away from the lookout post Andy. The flamboyant parrot apparently caught the attention of Tom the cat, the warship's mascot, who hunched its back, bent down, and crept towards the parrot.

Andy was also so fascinated by this qiē that he forgot to look around, but instead watched the play intently.

But maybe the crew usually fed Tom so much that Tom became a lot fatter and dumber. So when Tom pounced on the macaw, it was noticeably too slow, and the parrot flew away with a single wing, and Tom didn't catch a single feather.

"Haha, Tom, you're too fat to catch birds." Andy laughed as he began his work to search for Spanish ships that might have been deposited.

"What's that?" Andy suddenly saw through his binoculars that there seemed to be something behind the island in front of him. He quickly put down the hand-held telescope in his hand, and the fixed high-powered telescope with the bogie set aside, now the speed of the ship is very slow, the shaking is very small, and the telescope with a magnification of 15-20 can barely be used.

This time, Andy saw clearly, it was a merchant ship, extinguished the fire, and stopped there quietly.

"Ship spotted, ten o'clock direction!" Andy shouted.

It was a Spanish-flagged bulk carrier of about 5,000 tons. In order to avoid the black smoke of the steam engine, the ship turned off the fire and quietly stopped here, waiting for the sunset, but unfortunately encountered an American cruiser.

……

The seizure of a Spanish merchant ship by the U.S. Navy was immediately made public. And it caused a huge storm in Spain. The more decaying the empire, the more sensitive and arrogant its citizens become. The Spanish people immediately launched a demonstration, demanding that the government immediately declare war on the United States and send an armada to clean up the American barbarians.

In fact, the Spanish politicians knew that the Spanish navy was far behind the times. Since Scrooge invented the steam turbine, the U.S. Navy has been developing rapidly, and although the U.S. Navy is still not as impressive as the United Kingdom, it is no match for Spain. Today's Spanish Navy is still a little bit stronger than the historical one in Scrooge's previous life. This is mainly due to the fact that after the advent of gas turbines, a large number of warships in the hands of the British immediately became obsolete. These outdated warships were sold all over the world by the British. The Spaniards picked up some bargains and came back. So compared to the original history, the Spanish Navy is still really a little stronger. Even after the age of sails, they once again had battleships.

However, it would be tragic if this little bit is compared with the United States, because the United States is not just a little stronger than the original history. Although the tonnage of today's US Navy is far inferior to that of the British, and even there is a gap with Germany, if you look at the quality, even the British Navy will drool. At this time, the U.S. Navy was already powered by steam turbines in addition to speedboats, and even destroyers of about 1,000 tons used steam turbines. All warships are also new (old ones have been disposed of), and the average age of the ships is the smallest of all the naval powers. Although the Spaniards had the old battleships that the British had eliminated for them, they would have to be beaten if they encountered American armored cruisers, and if they encountered new American battleships, they would be even more vulnerable. In general, the gap in strength between the two sides is wider than in the original history.

It's just that everyone knows this, but no one dares to say it. Because sometimes it's good to tell the truth and offend people. Especially in a declining empire like Spain, you think everyone will be grateful for telling the big truth, exposing what everyone pretends to be invisible? Then you would be naïve! Those people will only be angry and scold you for betraying the country or something. This situation is actually very common in any era. For example, a certain one is in control, and always thinks that the Red Rabbit Country can't afford to eat tea eggs, and the F-22 is plagiarized from the IDF; Another example is a certain person who doesn't even have a decent offensive weapon, but always likes to blow half an hour to destroy the Red Rabbit Navy, basically belongs to this type.

In fact, could it be that their media people, their officials, are really brain-dead to such a degree? In fact, it's just because telling the truth is often a loss. Even if it is not like what Mr. Lu Xun mentioned, when people hold a full moon wine for their children, they run to say "This child will definitely die in the future" and other big truths, to be honest, most of the time there is no good result. Because if they don't make it up according to everyone's wishes and stab the delicate self-esteem of the public, they will have nothing to eat. Those guys who like to commit tsundere disease don't care if what you say is true or not, they will cover their ears with their hands in Chinese, and at the same time seem to shake it. Head. He shook his head violently like a pill and shouted, "I don't listen, I don't listen." (Please think your own Taiwanese romance film) If you are uncivilized, you will simply shout "Heaven and eight feet", ah, no, it is "Heaven and the country thief". So everyone can only play stupid together. Anyway, if I end up unlucky, I'm not the only one who is unlucky. So, upright, courageous and loving children, before telling the truth, you must see clearly whether the guy across the street is worthy of telling him the truth. And if it's your girlfriend or wife over there, remember the famous saying: "Be lenient in your confession, and kneel through the keyboard." ”

Therefore, at the behest of the masses, the Spanish government took the initiative to declare war on the United States early the next morning.

There's something to do tonight.,Leave a chapter.,Tomorrow normal double change R1058.