Just as the citizens of the old empires are always prone to misjudge the strength of their own country, so the citizens of the emerging countries are also prone to misjudge the strength of their own country. The difference, however, is that people in emerging countries tend to have polarized views. For example, in the United States now, some people feel that the powerful US Navy can already make the British Navy shout invincible, and as for Spain, it is fundamentally vulnerable. So these people even shouted stupid words like "end the war before Christmas, let the children go home for the holidays". But there are also some people who seem to be stuck in the eighteenth century, and always think that the U.S. Navy can do the work of harassing the lines of communication, and may not have done it with others. It's like in the twenty-first century, the footbasin chickens are certainly boasting about their sea self. Comfort. The team can destroy the red deer of the Red Rabbit Navy's navy in half an hour, and the Red Rabbit Country also really believes that its navy will be self-contained at sea. Comfort. The stupid hat that the team killed in half an hour.

Such a mentality naturally gave Scrooge an opportunity. Just after the United States and Spain officially declared war, the Spaniards organized their second-hand warships bought from Britain and prepared to form an expeditionary fleet to relieve Cuba. Although anyone with a modicum of military knowledge knows that it takes a lot of time, at least a month or so, to form such a fleet and prepare it for a long voyage and then sail across the Atlantic. And the Spanish Navy also has a problem, that is, it was greedy for cheap and bought some old British warships. These warships look cheap, but they are not cheap to use. The cost of maintenance is higher than that of a new warship. Spain has spent a lot of money in Cuba and the Philippines over the years, so much so that the maintenance of these warships is not particularly good. It may not be possible to drive here before Christmas. But this did not prevent Scrooge's media from talking about the Spanish fleet.

The Sun, which was also undisciplined, first opened up a section of readers' letters to simulate war, and asked those readers to write letters about how they would fight if they were American generals, and how they would be prepared to command if they were Spanish generals.

Although the war between the United States and Spain, in addition to Cuba, there were also battles in the Philippines. Now the US Pacific Fleet, under the leadership of General Dewey, is staying in Hong Kong and is preparing to pounce on the Philippines. But, to be honest, the American people don't care much about the Philippines, which is almost like another world, and Cuba is under the nose of the United States. Therefore, almost the entire attention of the United States is focused on Cuba, so most of the letters received in the "Mock War" column are also talking about how to fight on the Cuban side.

To be honest, the audience of The Sun is very low-level, so the various brain-moving plans put forward by these people can naturally make people laugh to death. However, it is undeniable that this column has added a lot of popularity to the Sun, and the sales of the newspaper have increased by nearly 10%. Naturally, this achievement also made other newspapers red, so the New York Times, which has always been strict, also launched a similar column, called "The Admiral's Decision".

Rumor has it that the name was taken by Scrooge. It is said that Mr. Scrooge had a group of friends who were proficient in warfare. After watching the bullshit "war simulations" of the Sun that are comparable to the messy political programs of the later generations of 4V, they were so disgusted that they couldn't stand it, and they were also choked back with a stomach full of thoughts, and they really wanted to talk about it in the newspaper. But given the Sun's reputation, which rivals that of the dung pit, no one can afford to submit an article to The Sun, and besides, they suspect that with the meagre military knowledge and negligible brain capacity of the Sun's editors, they will probably be shot by these stupid things even if they do. If such a thing really happens, it will be a double shame. So Mr. Scrooge's friends strongly urged Scrooge to use his influence to make a similar column in a high-end newspaper to have fun with.

If you want to say that the New York Times has come up with the level and compulsion of the "Admiral's Decision", it is indeed much higher than that of the Sun. And the first article they published attracted widespread attention.

The author of this article, called "Sea Guerrilla Warfare", assumed that he was the commander of the Spanish fleet, and then he carefully analyzed the balance of power between the Spanish Navy and the American Navy, and then naturally came to the conclusion that "if I take the fleet to Cuba and try to fight a decisive battle with the American Navy, then my brain must be wrong", and then the author further put forward his assumption: the Spanish fleet does not seek a decisive battle with the American fleet, and does not go to the Caribbean. Instead, go straight to the East Coast of the United States.

"The United States has a long coastline, and it is impossible for the US Navy to keep a sea force in every port that is sufficient to defeat our fleet in a decisive battle of the fleet. So, if I were the commander-in-chief of the Spanish navy, I would definitely go and attack these ports and cities. Of course, because of the speed of the fleet, if the American fleet were to keep an eye on me, then I would definitely not be able to run away. But the sea is so big, and they can't spread it too far, so it's really not that easy to catch me. In this way, it is only a matter of supply that can limit me. Fortunately, the British are supporting us, so we should be able to get supplies in Canada or elsewhere......"

Although the New York Times has always claimed that the "Admiral's Decision" is only an entertainment section, it does not represent the position and views of the New York Times. However, these articles published by them still attracted great attention from the public. For example, a certain senator in New York State even directly demanded that the US Navy leave a fleet near New York to defend New York. With New Yorkers taking the lead, the congressmen in Portland and Boston also jumped up at once and demanded that the U.S. Navy send a fleet to protect their cities. It seems that if you don't jump out and shout like this, it is not enough to show your love for your hometown. Obviously, the US Navy cannot afford to do such a thing with such a fleet. The depressed navy even wanted to shout: "Who did he meow in the first place, and he was going to cut our ship-building plan if he had nothing to do?" Fortunately, it wasn't long before another contributor, who played the role of an American general, came up with a corresponding response.

"I would take this approach in response to a possible attack on the West Coast of the United States. First of all, I will build a group of high-speed patrol ship formations. We in the United States have the best shipbuilding technology in the world. Many of the civilian ships we built were faster than the Spanish fleets. For example, Mr. Morgan's Viking cruise ship, Mr. MacDonald's Speedy cruise ship, and the Alaska Gold Mining Company's special transport ship are far faster than any Spanish warship, and they also have radio systems, which can easily communicate with the shore from near shore distances. Once the Spanish fleet is discovered, such ships will be able to track them from a safe distance and constantly report their location to us via guò, creating the conditions for our fleet to annihilate the Spanish fleet. Even if these numbers were not enough, there were some existing fast merchant ships that could have an advantage over the Spaniards in speed and could perform such a task if they were modified for power.

Moreover, Lord Nelson famously said, 'A gun with one gun can fight a warship with a hundred guns.' Therefore, the construction of coastal defense batteries in some important ports, although permanent batteries cannot be built in a short time, but considering that the Spanish fleet itself is relatively weak, even ordinary artillery can pose a considerable threat to them. As far as I know, last year MacDonald Infantry Weapons exported more than 20 sets of railway artillery systems to European countries and the Transvaal Republic, if we combine these mobile and flexible train guns with high-speed search fleets, then our coastline can be impregnable......"

……

"Scrooge, this guy is really going to take the opportunity to make money. Whether it's an improvised battery, or a train gun, or a modified high-speed ship, it's all money. Of course, I can make a lot of money with my shares in the shipyard, but considering that the engines are all his, this guy will make more money. Morgan dropped the newspaper in his hand and said with a smile, "And this damn guy is making such a fuss that I'm going to have to take my pirate out of it...... Well, I'll make a statement in a moment that I'm going to take the lead in organizing a volunteer patrol, and I'll go into battle myself, and every once in a while I'll take the Pirate to the seas. Is it leisure and serving the motherland? I dare say Scrooge would have done the same. I've got to be quick, get ahead of this guy...... Forget it, this guy must have been prepared, and she has a radio station in her hand, it's not easy to get ahead of him, he's the best at doing this. By the way, what does he call it? ”

"Mr. Morgan, it's prestige." A servant replied.

"Yes, prestige!" Morgan nodded and said, "It's like white paint." Or like our White House, when it's all over the white paint, who remembers that it's pitch black under the white paint...... Scrooge is such a guy who is covered in white paint. Ah, turn on the radio for me......"

"Mr. MacDonald has decided to lend his pleasure boat, the Speed, and the three transport vessels owned by the Alaska Gold Mine to the New York government unconditionally and unsecurely, for the government to form a fast patrol unit. At the same time, Mr. MacDonald told us that it was not a problem to change the engines for the fast merchant ships or to produce more railroad guns, and that he could produce them as the first priority for the government if it needed them......" said on the radio.

"I knew it was going to be like this." Morgan said. R1058