"The Newport News shipyard was actually attacked by the Spaniards! I really don't know what those guys in the Ludao Navy are doing! A bearded American glanced at the newspaper and said indignantly. Almost on the day Newport News was attacked, the news had spread throughout Newport, and even the U.S. government didn't have time to block the news, which is not to say that the U.S. government is inefficient, but people have hit your doorstep, and you can't block it if you want to!

When the American public heard that the Spaniards had attacked the United States, they were first outraged, and they expressed their indignation that Spain, an outdated country, dared to attack the most important shipyard in the United States so blatantly! Then there is confusion and doubt, what does your navy do to eat? I ran south without anything, but my home was raided! Then came anger! Those Navy guys are stupid pigs! With a size far larger than the Spanish fleet and nothing to achieve, stay in circles around Cuba! As for the qualitative comparison under the scale of the two sides, and whether the US Navy can no longer guarantee that there will be enough troops to cover the homeland in the event of a blockade of Cuba, this ordinary person does not understand and is not interested in studying! They only know the strength of the paper fleet, and then expect a "fair" duel between the two sides like medieval knights!

The protests of the civilians seem to be huge, but they are nothing to the current national will of the United States. After all, these protests are more of a way to show anger, and in the eyes of the vast majority of Americans, there is certainly a feeling of being slapped in the face for letting the Spaniards pick up the leak. But that's all. The Spaniards fought with restraint and their attacks on Newport were limited to military targets.

But for those politicians and conglomerates who control the American economy behind the scenes, it is absolutely intolerable for the Spaniards to attack the most important shipyard in the United States so easily! First of all, for politicians, their original intention in starting this war is to acquire the two colonies of Cuba and the Philippines through a clean war, and to show the world that the United States is strong! But now, not only must they abandon their plans to expedition to the Philippines, but even the navy, which they see as dominant, has not done much. And at the same time. The Spanish expeditionary fleet dealt a moderate blow to the United States!

"How does this make the world view the United States? A small European country that has been in decline for a hundred years can so easily hit a shipyard that is vital to the United States! This performance was even worse than that of their naval predecessors in the war against Britain in 1812. At that time, we were facing the most powerful navy in the world, and the young navy of the United States could still inflict heavy losses on the opponent through guerrilla warfare! And now? We actually let a fleet of only 4 warships come to the door! "A lawmaker expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the Navy on Capitol Hill.

The industrial plutocracy, on the other hand, feared that the Spanish fleet would not be wiped out for a long time. What a loss it would bring to them if they were cruising in the open sea. The general public did not know about the American merchant ships destroyed by the Spanish fleet at sea, but the plutocracy did not, in the recent past. More than 20 ships of various types have been lost. This is not a large number, but the important impact is that more and more ship owners or operators are refusing to continue to engage in maritime transportation until the "sea calms down". After all, the most to lose money now is far better than putting the whole ship on the cargo and the ship! And in this case, they urgently need a result to put an end to this shipping danger, or the US Navy to defeat the Spanish fleet. Or the two sides will fight to a tie and then find a way to end the war with dignity. Otherwise, in this environment where you may be robbed if you go to sea, the interests of those chaebols will really lose too much. And the U.S. government will not compensate for these losses! …,

As for the Spaniards? How so? Since the defeat of the Armada by the British, the Spanish Navy has been on a downward slope, so to speak. And just since 1890. When the Spaniards decided to reinvigorate themselves and step up naval construction, it took eight years. The Spanish government and citizens have spared no effort in rebuilding the navy. And today, they finally see a glimmer of light. Although because of the huge gap in combat power between the two sides, the entire battle process is very dull. But the feeling of victory still excites the Spaniard.

While the United States was spitting over the war and the Spaniards were celebrating their victory, the nations of the world were also paying attention to the changes in the New World. At this moment, this great power, which has been unknown on the American continent, finally shows his ambitions! Everyone can see that the US Navy is not well prepared for its tasks! But its strong potential and expansion have already put pressure on many countries. If it was only for economic interests that the United States supported Japan in the war with the Qing Dynasty in the past, now the United States is personally in charge of the scope and territory of its power!

At this moment. Whether it is Britain and France, the current first-rate colonial powers, or Germany and Italy, the rising generations have begun to be wary of the United States on the other side of the ocean. Needless to say, Britain is an enemy of Britain to some extent any country that tries to change the pattern of the world, while Germany has expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the United States' plot against the Philippines. Germany did have a dispute with Spain, and Wilhelm II really had ideas about the Philippines! For example, if you are trying to find a piece of cake from the other person, and suddenly a new eater arrives, and this eater is more difficult to deal with than the owner of the cake, then you can only choose to drive the new competitor away.

Therefore, although Britain and Germany were divided because of Germany's preparation for the implementation of the new naval law and Germany's position on the Boer issue, in the face of some extraordinary moves by this potential power, the two countries decided to join forces to suppress it! France and Russia, on the other hand, were silent on this. One really has little to do with France and Russia. On the other side, both sides had already expressed great vigilance against the approach of Germany and Austria-Hungary. France and Germany were feuding, while Russia and Austria-Hungary were in fierce conflict over the Balkans. Russia wanted to be the protector of all Slavic peoples. Austria-Hungary, however, wanted to bring the Balkans into his sphere of power. So France and Russia are indifferent to this. While Russia was fighting against Austria-Hungary in the Balkans, it was still trying to run the Far East, and it had no energy to care about other things. "The United States of America has no friends at this time," the Times said, pointing out the situation of the United States at this time!

By the way, and the Italians. The Italians paid no less attention to this war than Britain and Germany! It's not that Italy had much to do with the war. It's all money, a mischievous thing! If the Sino-Japanese naval battle between the Qing and Japan was the rise of the Italian navy's arms sales, then if the Spanish navy could also use the Italian fleet in its hands to inflict heavy damage on the US navy, the Italian industrial giants can imagine how many countries eager to gallop across the ocean will place orders!

In addition to the countries of Europe, on the other side of the world, there is another person who is very concerned about all this. And this person is Xu Jie, who has been planning the Sino-Japanese War since 1889, and is also planning the Spanish-American War. When the U.S. Far East Fleet was transferred back to the mainland, Xu Jie's plan was already half successful! For a long time, it was impossible for the Americans to extend the sphere of their power to the Far East. It can be said that the minimum goal has been achieved, if Beiyang can win against the Russians, then after the outbreak of World War I, China can take advantage of the British to take care of themselves to infiltrate the whole of Southeast Asia. As for the highest goal? It depends on what the Spanish Navy does. …,

If the Spanish Navy fights well and can inflict heavy damage on the US Navy, it will have a fatal impact on the Americans' footsteps out of the mainland and deep into the ocean, and it may not take much time to rebuild the fleet, and it may not take much time to reserve personnel. But the U.S. government's determination to expand abroad will thus be undermined by failure for a long time. In addition to material and human capabilities, the will of a country is also very important for the achievement of a country's strategy. And if the Spanish fleet is lucky enough to achieve this, Xu Jie doesn't mind getting Hawaii, which the United States is about to get its hands on!

Although the Americans have been infiltrating Hawaii for a long time, it is all based on the fact that other powers did not interfere and that the United States still has a fleet that can handle it! If the U.S. Navy fleet is damaged in this war, then Xu Jie's opportunity has come. The Americans will need to readjust their naval policies and reconstruction efforts for at least five years, and if Beiyang has a good grasp of it, it is still possible to eliminate Hawaii's American influence within five years.

If the Spaniards are still as uncompetitive as they were in history, then Xu Jie can only position the strategic target to control the second island chain. The role of the Spaniards was to slow down the development of the U.S. Navy, and sooner or later the U.S. could take Cuba into its pockets if the U.S. wanted to. And at the time of the complete decline of Spain. Huaxia can control the Philippines in its hands, whether it is to encourage Philippine independence or directly send troops to intervene. Of course, there is a premise for this, and that is that new countries can be established as soon as possible! As for the British? Naturally, there was Germany to deal with.

"Lord Yang, Severa's performance is decent, it's up to you now!" Xu Jie said with a long sigh.

Thank you for the monthly pass support of book friend Williamian, book friend 2010072319002349, and rain leakage~~~. The next stage will be the cruiser battle, so let's support it a little more~~~. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )