Jericho's bold maneuver not only saved the Pluto temporarily, but also caused some damage to the Newark, the battleship that had been damaged in yesterday's battle was damaged again, and in the face of such a difficult opponent, Shelly had a retreat but in the face of the sinking Pluto and the battered Fury, he hesitated again, and just in this dilemma, a telegram surprised Shelly!

The telegram was sent from the USS New York and was simple: "The USS Brooklyn has sunk, and the fleet is withdrawn to Area A7." "At that time, I didn't know how I gave the order, but I felt that the sky was falling, and really, at this moment, I suddenly felt that there was a good chance that the United States of America would sign the first contract that did not win! The main combat power of the cruiser fleet has already suffered heavy losses, and we have not many opportunities! Afterwards, Brigadier General Shelly described his mood at the time.

After receiving this order, Commodore Shelly resolutely decided to evacuate, but before leaving, he still thought of getting rid of the Jericho fleet and sailing towards the Pluto. At this time, Jericho didn't care about the struggling Pluto, but sailed to the Olympia, which was thrown away! And this move made Jericho controversial!

Those who support him believe that his actions maximize the interests of the fleet and obtain the greatest results, while those who oppose him find it shameful to abandon friendly forces! When Jericho was then asked if he had considered his comrades on the Pluto, Jericho replied as follows: "The battleship Pluto has lost its combat effectiveness, and we had a plan for this situation before that. In this case. The crew can abandon the ship to survive, and their life safety will be guaranteed. If the Americans don't, then we can avenge our comrades in the same way! ”

Later, Pluto's actions also completely confirmed Jericho's answer, and when Shelly led the fleet close to Pluto to prepare for a new attack, Pluto decisively lowered the flag and chose to sink himself! "Ugh!" After a brief hesitation, Shelly decided to retreat immediately, after all, you don't know when the two 10,000-ton ships in the Spanish fleet will return. And in this case, it is clear that Shelly will not be able to rescue the Olympia that is being besieged.

Seeing the fleet of Shelly and Magifin who were leaving the battlefield, Jericho couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. A 4,000-ton warship was exchanged for a 5,800-ton warship. Jericho's results were not bad, especially in the face of the two second-class cruisers that suddenly came out, Jericho was able to save the remaining 3 battleships. This is especially rare. And in the face of the last Olympia, which will definitely not be able to run, this ship still has some resistance between death, and Jericho is a little hesitant in the face of this battleship that is always ready to fight the trapped beast. After all, the losses of his battleships were also huge!

At this moment, a huge ship appeared on the sea level in the distance, at first, Jericho was still very nervous, if it was Brooklyn or New York (Jericho didn't know that the Brooklyn had sunk), then his fleet would have to sink at least 1 or 2 warships! But with the graceful flying scissors head appeared in Jericho's telescope. A hanging heart finally let go. "It's Cologne!" A smile tugged at Jericho's lips. The battle on this battlefield can finally end perfectly, as for the King? Jericho wasn't worried, in his opinion. Even if the USS Brooklyn and USS New York attack the USS King at the same time, at least the USS Kings will still have the option to retreat! And soon, a telegram from the King confirmed this! The USS Brooklyn sank. The fleet has won a big victory!

It is said that the Cologne and the King left early, and should not wait until the end of the fight here. In fact, after separating from the King, the Cologne did not go directly to the place where Jericho and Majifen were fighting. Instead, he chased the New York for a long time to see if he could expand the results, and the idea was good. But in fact, it is more tragic, since the beginning of the war, the King and Cologne have been the first target of the Brooklyn, and only when the New York rushes up to share the pressure of the Brooklyn, the Cologne uses its 10-inch gun to "educate" the opponent. So at the end of the day, the damage to the New York was not severe. …,

At this time, the New York, which was not seriously injured, wanted to escape, but the Cologne could never catch up, and the long voyage and lack of adequate maintenance made the cruiser unable to run at a speed of 20 knots, at most 18 to 19 knots. And the New York is the master who can run out of 21 knots through strong pressure ventilation at a critical moment! Although the powerful 10-inch gun still hits, but because the hit point is not very critical, it just scrapped the rear turret of the New York, and did not slow down the opponent, and in this way, the New York was successfully evacuated from the battlefield by the New York.

Just when the officers and men of the Cologne were feeling disappointed that they had not been able to destroy the New York, the appearance of the Olympia made up for the regret of the officers and men of the Cologne! Jericho, in order to avoid unnecessary losses as much as possible, left the honor of sinking the Olympia to the Cologne. But what is unexpected is that the Olympia did not give the Cologne this chance at all, and when they found that the figure on the sea in the distance was not New York or Brooklyn, the vice captain of the Olympia decisively gave the order to sink himself! Now that the end is doomed, it is pointless to resist again, so it is better to spare the lives of the crew than this. According to the American parlance, "I have done my best, my obligations are complete, then I have to think of myself." ”

Shortly after the return of the Cologne, the King also returned to the formation with the prisoners captured from the Brooklyn, and the two-day Battle of the Florida Strait, later known as the American Cruiser's Disaster Day, officially came to an end, in which the American fleet lost a total of five warships. They are the 10,000-ton armored cruiser USS Brooklyn, the 5,800-ton protective cruiser USS Olympia, and the 4,000-ton protective cruisers USS Baltimore, USS Philadelphia and USS San Francisco. The Columbia-class cruiser was heavily damaged, and the USS New York, USS Newark and USS Charleston were hit. The Spanish fleet lost the 4,000-ton cruiser Pluto, the Fury was heavily damaged, the Santiago and Manila were damaged, and the Kings and Cologne were slightly damaged. The entire campaign ended in a complete victory for the Spanish fleet.

"General Yang, what is our next mission?" Looking at the various debris and debris floating in the sea, Jericho asked excitedly.

"Ready to go home, we need to rest now. Go directly to the port of Santiago through the Windward Channel. Looking at the direction of the departure of the American fleet, Yang Yonglin was a little unwilling in his heart, but he definitely didn't want to stay longer, the fleet consumed a lot after two days of fighting, especially the 3 cruisers directly under Jericho, the ammunition was almost bottomed out, and the speed of the Fury was also reduced to about 16 knots, and the San Diego and Manila also needed to be repaired, in this case, it was really unwise to continue to stay in this sea area where the opponent's battleships could appear at any time.

After this battle, the Spaniards finally breathed a sigh of relief, although the US Navy still had as many as 10 cruisers at this time. But half of them were 3000-ton cruisers that were not suitable for the decisive battle of the fleet, and the gap between the two sides was no longer as big as it was at the beginning, and the Spanish fleet at this time could finally enter the port of Santiago to take a breath without worrying about being blocked in the port by the opponent and not being able to get out!

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