"Your Excellency, the West Coast Fleet, is ready. If our opponent is only the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy, the Imperial Navy is confident of victory! "Secretary of the Navy Theodore? Roosevelt gave William? President McKinley answered in the affirmative. At present, the US Navy has gradually recovered its strength. Although, if the start of the war can be delayed until the second half of next year, it will be more beneficial to the US Navy. The U.S. Navy's capital ships will be increased. However, even if the war starts now, the West Coast Fleet will not necessarily be without a chance.

The main forces of the US Navy are almost all concentrated in the West Coast Fleet. The West Coast Fleet, commanded by General Mahan, now had six battleships, including three 'Illinois-class' battleships, the 'Illinois', the 'Alabama', and the 'Wisconsin'. Two 'Chishaji-class' battleships, the USS Chishach-class and the USS Kentucky. In addition, there is an "Indiana-class" battleship "Massachusetts", which is also the only "Indiana-class" battleship that survived the first Sino-American Pacific War. In addition to the six battleships, the West Coast Fleet also had an armored cruiser, an armored cruiser of America's own design, the performance was too poor, when Japan ordered armored cruisers from Britain, the United States got the drawings, and when it built it for Japan, it also built one on its own, this class of light cruisers, named 'New York-class' armored cruisers by the US Navy, were 'New York', 'Brooklyn', 'Pennsylvania', 'West Virginia', 'California',' USS Colorado', USS Maryland and USS South Dakota.

The 'New York-class' armored cruiser has a displacement of 50 tons, a maximum speed of 25 knots, and its main guns are two twin 20 mm naval guns, six 55 mm single guns, six 05 mm single guns, 7 mm machine guns, and four 450 mm water torpedo tubes. Among the cruisers, the combat effectiveness is already very good. Merely. In the face of the 'Chengdu-class' heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy, there is still a certain gap.

At this time, the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy, in the past two years, has not increased in size, except for the addition of the USS Oregon, one of the 'Indiana-class' battleships of the US Navy captured in the last naval battle. After restoration and modification. The performance of this battleship is already barely close to the 'plateau-class' battleships equipped by the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy. It was named the battleship 'Hawaii'. There were also four heavy cruisers 'Chengdu', 'Chongqing', 'Kangding' and 'Lhasa'. Compared with the US Navy, the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet has fewer warships, at least half of them. In this case, if there is a war. The Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy has taken less than half of the advantage.

"Very well, in that case, then the Admiralty will start preparing! If necessary, launch an attack on Hawaii and be sure to annihilate the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy. Take Hawaii back! "William? President McKinley said. Originally, Hawaii had become the fat in the mouth of the United States, but at the last moment, it was taken away by China, and the cooked ducks flew, which made the US government very angry. And this war is undoubtedly a good opportunity for them to retake Hawaii.

"Your Excellency, if you want to retake Hawaii. I'm afraid we'll have to send more troops. According to the information we have received, the Chinese are transporting troops to the Hawaiian Islands. They planned to deploy an army group, an elite army of 160,000 men, in Hawaii. In this case, even if we defeat the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet, if we want to retake Hawaii. I'm afraid the army will have to invest at least 200,000 people, and pay the price of more than 100,000 casualties! "Secretary of War Russell? Alger said suddenly.

"So many people! What do the Chinese want to do? Did they know that the Pacific Fleet was no match for us, so they deliberately sent as many land forces as possible to Hawaii? "Secretary of State, John? Sherman asked, surprised. How big is Hawaii! The Chinese actually deployed so many troops, plus the troops deployed in Hawaii in advance. That's probably 200,000 people! Hawaii is just a few small islands, can it be used by so many people?

"I'm afraid. It's not that simple! The Chinese are planning for the battle situation ahead! "Theodore? Roosevelt said.

"Could it be that the Chinese are so confident that they will be able to defeat the combined fleet of Britain, France and Russia?" Vice President Garrett? Hobart also said. Obviously, he had already thought of a deeper reason.

"I think so too, the Chinese are clearly confident in defeating the combined fleet of Britain, France and Russia. So, they kept sending troops to Hawaii. It's not for the defense of Hawaii, it's for us. I am sure that after defeating the combined fleet of Britain, France and Russia, the Chinese will launch a full-scale attack on us. The army deployed by the Chinese in Hawaii is used to land in the United States! The ambition of the Chinese is very big! "Secretary of War Russell? Alger asserted.

Everyone in the conference room looked shocked. China and the United States are separated by tens of thousands of kilometers. Even after the defeat of the U.S. Navy the year before last, they believed that the U.S. homeland was safe. The Chinese cannot project their large army to the United States, which is tens of thousands of kilometers away. And now, the Chinese have actually begun to make preparations in this regard, how can this not make these high-level US government officials not frightened?

"So, gentlemen, do you think that the Chinese Navy is capable of defeating the combined fleet of Britain, France and Russia?" William? President McKinley is right. This is a big question, if the Chinese Army lands in the United States, will the US Army be able to resist it? The Chinese Army's continuous victories on the battlefield have proved the strength of the Chinese Army. Relying on the United States, which has just been transformed from a militia to an army, it is impossible for them to compete with a world-class army.

"Your Excellency, though, I think it's very unlikely. However, I have to admit that there is such a possibility! "Theodore? Roosevelt said. The combined fleet of Britain, France and Russia has nearly thirty battleships, although they are all old-fashioned battleships, but with such a huge number, it can already achieve an overwhelming advantage.

"So, what do we do now?" William? President McKinley asked.

"Your Excellency President, we have two methods, one is to wait for the results of the Chinese Navy and the British-French-Russian combined fleet, and make a judgment on the next step based on the results. If the Chinese Navy is defeated, then the crisis is lifted. If the Chinese Navy wins, but it is a crushing victory, then we are safe. If the Chinese Navy wins a big victory, then we will probably have to find a way to end this war. In addition, the West Coast Fleet can defeat the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy first, although the Chinese army is powerful, but as long as their navy is destroyed, they will not be able to pose a threat to us! "Theodore? Roosevelt said.

"Well, then, the Admiralty should plan accordingly! If the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Navy can be eliminated, it will undoubtedly be the best. In addition, the army should also begin to expand its strength and increase its weaponry and equipment, and be prepared for the worst. I'm going to convince Congress to allocate a special amount of money to the Army! "William? President McKinley said.

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Secretary of the Navy Theodore? Roosevelt and Secretary of War Russell? Alger replied. Especially Secretary of War Russell? Alger, he's very excited. On the US side, like the United Kingdom, the navy occupies a dominant position, and the navy takes the lion's share of the annual military expenditure, and the army only gets a little bit. Although, now the total number of the US Army has expanded to 400,000, the equipment is too rubbish. If the U.S. Army can continue to expand, the Army's voice in the U.S. will gradually increase.

While the United States was preparing for war, China calmed down. The Northern Battlefield is still being prepared, and it has begun to continuously raise weapons, ammunition and other strategic materials. On the Nanyang battlefield, the squadron also continued to win victories, defeating the British and French armies and occupying the entire Nanyang, it was only a matter of time.

At the same time, because the Chinese side is preparing to charge, although the outbreak of the war will have some impact on the economy, on the whole, it is still within an acceptable range. The prices of grain and daily necessities remained basically stable. It doesn't matter what happens to the lives of the people.

If at the beginning of the war, the people of the empire were still pessimistic about this large-scale war, then now, with the victory of the imperial ** team again and again, it has also turned the tide of the battle. The vast majority of people are tasked with the Empire to be able to win this war. To this end, everyone is also willing to contribute their own strength.

After the war, countless young people wanted to join the imperial ** team and fight for the empire. The cultivation of the empire over the years has not been in vain, at least among the younger generation, everyone already has a high sense of national responsibility. In such a critical situation, the empire can be the first thing to think of. It's just that the emperor didn't recruit more soldiers, which made these hot-blooded young people very depressed, and they had a feeling that they had no way to serve the country. Those students can only go back to school to continue their classes. In general, the people of the empire are already supportive of this war. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Biquge www.biquge.info to vote for recommendations and monthly passes, your support is my biggest motivation. )

ps: The third more arrives, and the fourth more is at the point! Ask for a subscription, ask for a monthly pass! Thank you for the tips of book friend Alex, the Eagle of the People's Liberation Army, and extreme deep-sea diving!