In the western part of the Florida Strait, a huge fleet of ships is sailing south at a speed of 10 knots. It is a fleet of 8 transport ships and 5 warships. The entire fleet was arranged in three columns, with five Dome cruisers in one column, and the remaining eight transports in another two columns. The transports were loaded with large quantities of supplies and up to 5,000 American soldiers. They will reinforce the US Army, which has already landed on the north shore of Cuba.

The U.S. government has run out of patience. The attack on the Newport News shipyard has discredited the U.S. government. And now. They desperately need a victory to wash away the shame of their opponents' leadership! The US Navy has already been ordered to move to the north, where they will search for and crush Sevila's fleet. And the U.S. Army is officially involved in the war. They will use their rifles to finally end the Spanish rule in Cuba. Of course, the premise is that they can get to Cuba safely.

On the safety of the transport line. Americans are still very concerned. After the transfer of the main forces of the Navy to the north. Maritime transport was suspended for a while, and only after the Americans' cordons in the Florida Strait and the Bahamas were fully deployed, did the U.S. Navy's Third Fleet continue to cover the convoys. In Commodore Shirley's view, the blockade line of the main force of the US Navy can already guarantee that the Spanish fleet will be stopped outside the Florida Strait, or at least that the Spanish fleet can be detected in time after entering the strait. And their own fleet is not so much an escort as a vacation. Or as a surprise army, if the Spaniards were lucky enough to have some of their ships able to pass through the blockade, then they could choose to attack or wait. Until the arrival of the main forces of the American fleet.

As for the west entrance of the Florida Channel, it would be a long voyage no matter how much it was detoured, and it seemed to the Americans that the Spaniards would have to be resupplied somewhere in the Bahamas or Haiti when they crossed the Atlantic. Therefore, until the U.S. Navy completed the deployment, the Army's transportation was temporarily suspended. It was only after the deployment was completed that no trace of the Spanish fleet was found, and sea transport was restored. Since the rest of the Spanish fleet did not take advantage of the deployment period to enter this waters. This means that it is impossible for the Spanish fleet to make a detour into the west entrance of the Florida Strait without the US Navy noticing.

This layout seems perfect and can handle most problems, but the only problem is time! After the fleet commanded by Yang Yonglin and the Saila fleet departed from Bermuda. One went to the East Coast of the United States and one to Cuba. Before the U.S. fleet entered the eastern part of the Florida Strait, Yang Yonglin's fleet had already begun to rest. And the blockade of the Americans was discovered by the British. And this led to the fact that before the Americans completely completed the layout, Yang Yonglin's fleet had already left the Bahamas area, completely leaving the reconnaissance system of the American fleet behind.

Just when Commodore Shelly thought that the other party was still far away from Cuba, Yang Yonglin's fleet had already taken advantage of the time difference to complete the detour. And now, cruising the western Florida Channel! If someone can take a hot air balloon ride and observe from above, you can see that the two fleets are getting closer!

On the afternoon of May 28, 1898. In this sunny and windy weather, Brigadier General Shelly was in as good a mood as the weather. In such weather, what could be more soothing than sitting on a boat with rippling blue waves, leisurely drinking coffee and looking at the sea view in the distance? And just when he was enjoying this rare leisure, a lookout's report surprised him!

"To the southwest, a column of smoke was found. It is suspected to be a fleet, and its identity is yet to be verified. The lookout said as he watched the black smoke at the meeting of water and sky with a telescope.

"Black smoke? Fleet? Brigadier Shelly's heart sank suddenly, and an ominous premonition surged from his heart! The U.S. fleet doesn't have to think about it, except for its own division, the others have already gone to encircle Sevila's fleet. And now the fleet that suddenly appeared could only be another Spanish fleet. This is undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Shelly! …,

"The fleet is about 5 or 6 ships, and it's heading towards us!" At this time, the words of the lookout made Shelly fall into an ice cave! He could already judge the identity of the other party based on their size and actions. Although the distance is far away. It is impossible to distinguish the specific types of ships, but for an experienced lookout, it is still possible to count how many ships the opposing side has, depending on the size of the smoke and with the help of a telescope.

"What should I do?" Shelly took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. It's useless to be afraid, come back sooner or later! If there was no convoy, then Shelly's first instinct was to immediately turn around and evacuate. The distance between the two sides is at least more than 10 kilometers. Even if the speed of Shelly's fleet can only be maintained at about 16 knots at most, the speed of the other side will drop after a long voyage, at most about 18 knots, of course, the 4 Guiyuan type may be slightly faster, but because of the drag of the two armored cruisers, they will only be 18 knots at most, so that the speed difference between the two sides will be about 2 knots, that is to say, the approach speed of the two sides will not exceed 4KM per hour. In this way, wait a few hours for the weather to get darker before they can catch up, and at night, the other party is likely to lose themselves.

But now the situation is different, he still has 8 slow transport ships to cover, and these guys with a maximum speed of only 10 knots really can't escape the pursuit of the other party! In 2 hours at most, they will be overtaken, and then the other side will clear these transports like ducks! Leave the carrier to cover, and the result will definitely be a dead word! If he abandons the transport, his fleet can be saved, but he will definitely go to court-martial! Thinking of this, a drop of cold sweat dripped from his head!

"Disband the transport fleet." After weighing it for a long time, Shelly finally gave the order. "What are you talking about, Mr. Brigadier General?!" Shelly's flagship, the captain of the USS Newark, said loudly. "Did you know that your decision will push the entire convoy and yourself into the abyss?!"

"I only know that if the other party catches up with us, all of us will fall into the abyss!" Shelly said with a gloomy face. "Tell me, how far are we from the Second Fleet's range of activity?"

"Mr. Brigadier General......." The captain wanted to say something more.

"Execute the order. Mr. Major! I have a plan, if we can lure this Spanish fleet into the range of the Second Fleet, I think we can make up for this loss, this is our only chance! Shelly barely managed to squeeze out a smile and looked at his men with encouraging eyes.

"The distance between us and the Second Fleet is about 200 nautical miles. Of course, if we're lucky, we might be able to run into General Dewey after 160 nautical miles. The first mate said. But what if the other side doesn't jump into our trap? Then the first mate asked.

"It's man-made, this is our only chance, and if necessary, we can choose to fight them!" Shelly was not just running for his life at this time, a bolder idea gradually became clear in his mind.

"Order, from now on, the radio group sends a telegram every 15 minutes. Tell General Dewey that we have met a formation of Spanish cruisers and plan to lure them to the A5 area! Shelly ordered.

"Mr. Commodore General, I think I need to remind you once more that if it were just a few transports, this responsibility would not be great, but there are a whole 5,000 American soldiers on board! You can't afford that! The first mate kindly reminded him, to be honest, deep down, the first mate still wanted Shelly to make this decision. He was still young and didn't want to die on the battlefield like that.

"Execute it now." When Shelly finished speaking, he sat down in his chair and closed his eyes. If the other party continues to pursue him, then there will be a battle today. …,

And as soon as this order was given, all kinds of invective were heard from the transport ship. The unbearable voice came to Shelly's ears from time to time, but now Shelly was surprisingly calm, because he knew that he had done his best. Even if the formation is not disbanded, it can only allow the Spaniards to catch up with them faster, and then after annihilating themselves in about 2 hours, the convoy will still be brutally killed. And if the formation is disbanded now, although it is ugly, although it will be infamous for fleeing without a fight. Although he may go to a court-martialed because of this. But after a few hours, the transport fleet will be more dispersed, there will always be some ships that can run away, there are five cruisers under their own command to maintain deterrence, the other side does not dare to disband the formation to pursue separately, and if the other side pursues itself, after more than 10 hours, the other side will likely fall into the second and third fleets of the US Navy. If the other side walks away after knocking out one or two transport ships. Then they gave up a golden opportunity to expose their entire whereabouts without inflicting any heavy blow on the American fleet.

From this point of view, there is nothing wrong with Shelly's choice from a rational point of view. Of course, as for what will happen to him in the end, it depends on the battle later and how the big men in the Admiralty are prepared to treat themselves. The same thing can be said to be rational avoidance, or it can be said to be greedy for life and fear of death. But it's all behind you. Brigadier General Shelly has no time and no interest in thinking!

"Lord Yang, the U.S. fleet has chosen to disband the formation. The convoy began to scatter and flee the battlefield. The American fleet should withdraw again to the northeast. After a long observation, Sippel said.

"I have to say that the American admiral on the other side is still quite level, the strong man broke his wrist, and he said it lightly, but there are too few people who can make up his mind immediately." Yang Yonglin said with a hint of appreciation.

"So what should we do?" Hippert said a little confused. The transport ship and the opposing fleet are really incompatible.

"Grasp the purpose of our operation, analyze the intentions of the other side, and then decide what we are going to do." Yang Yonglin said with a slight smile. "Let's take a break first, we're going to be busy!"

The real war is about to begin, so let's support it a lot~~. Commuter passes, clicks, and recommendations are all done~~~. (To be continued) RQ