Just as Yang Yonglin and the others were formulating a plan for the next battle, less than 150 nautical miles away from them, Ma Jifen and Dewey were also analyzing the information sent by Shelly. Just before the two sides fought, Shelly had already sent the first telegram out of the country, and Ma Jifen and the others were also very shocked after receiving the telegram, and they didn't understand how this fleet came from the blockade of the US Navy! However, Dewey was still very practical, since he didn't know how the other party came over, then don't think about it, now he is thinking about how to deal with this American fleet that is wandering around.

Subsequently, Brigadier General Shelly sent two more telegrams. The first is that the 3rd Cruiser engaged 4 second-class cruisers of the opponent, and the Philadelphia-class cruisers were damaged. The second telegram said that the Spanish Navy's King and Cologne had been encountered, and the Baltimore had been damaged. As for the opponent's damage, it's not clear!

"Shelly, a stupid pig, actually let the other party fight three to zero directly! In less than an afternoon, the US Navy lost 3 cruisers! Dewey cursed as he looked at the charts, trying to find the location of the Spanish fleet. The grumpy U.S. Navy Commodore didn't use the pencil in his hand to mark the possible routes of the two sides on the map. Because of his anger, the pencil in his hand was broken again and again.

"General Dewey, are you going to fight this Spanish fleet?" Ma Jifen on the side asked with a calm face.

"Of course, these Spaniards sank three of our warships, and of course we can't let them go!" Dewey was stunned for a moment, then said.

"I personally think that we should be prepared to evacuate, our 5 warships are still very difficult against the opponent's 6 warships, we have no advantage in tonnage, and even less in firepower." Magiffen spoke his mind.

"Just kidding, let me learn from Shelly, that coward? He's going to be court-martialed. Dewey sneered.

"Brigadier General Shelley may indeed be court-martialed, but he is not cowardly. Judging by the telegram, when he found out that the other side had only 4 warships, he also tried to engage them, but the result was very disappointing. The Italians had a poor army, but the ships they built were good. Magifen said, keeping an eye on Dewey's reaction.

"Go on, you're sure to have something to say." Dewey stopped the workstation in his hand and straightened up.

"I suspect that this division is a trap for the commander of the Spanish fleet. This move. Brigadier General Shelly felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and then Brigadier General Shelly lost in this contest of unequal strength. And the other two capital ships were blocked on the route of Commodore Shelly's evacuation, if it weren't for the problem of night, then I think General Shelly's fleet would definitely be wiped out! Magiffen said.

"Your argument is a good defense for Shelly." Dewey said coldly.

"Colonel Majifen is right, this set of tactics was used by the Beiyang Fleet in the Sino-Japanese War, and in the last decisive battle, the Beiyang Fleet first used 3 Guiyuan-class to lure the enemy, and then after the two fleets engaged. 3 armored cruisers of the Garibaldi type entered the battlefield. If I'm not mistaken, the commander of this fleet should be Yang Yonglin. Hikonojo Uemura, who participated in the war as a staff officer, interjected.

"Okay, you yellow-skinned monkey, your fleet of that small country has fought with the Beiyang Fleet several times, and has not won once, and you actually come to criticize my decision! Get the hell out of the command room. Dewey glared at Uemura and said.

"General, I hope that after the end of the war, you will still be able to say something like this, of course. Provided you're alive. Hikonojo Uemura said calmly, and then left the command room.

"Hell." After Dewey muttered, he tried to calm down his emotions and said, "Mr. Colonel, in fact, what you said is very reasonable, I am just annoyed that which Japanese is too ignorant of the way to advance and retreat." ”…,

"Then do you still want to continue to insist on fighting with Yang Yonglin's fleet?" Magifen asked.

"Do you know, we have to do something, the U.S. Navy has lost face in the first battle of Newport News, if this time Shelly's fleet is severely damaged. If the Army transport ship is attacked, and we can't do something about it, the senior officers of the U.S. Navy may be forced to commit suicide by the people and Congress. Dewey said solemnly.

"Can we not talk about politics? Only talk about war? Magiffen asked.

"I'm afraid it won't work. This is in the United States, not in the North Ocean. We have to come up with a plan of action tonight. And put it into practice the day after tomorrow at the latest! Despite Magifin's opposition, Dewey made the final decision!

"Well, you're the chief officer, and you have the final say. Let's make a plan now. "Majifen is not nonsense, since the facts cannot be changed, then it is better to plan how to make this matter have a better result!

"First of all, we have to determine the identity and strength of the other party!" Seeing that Magifin had agreed, Dewey didn't talk nonsense and began to prepare for the plan. "According to the information obtained, the 6 battleships that appeared this time are basically all the remaining warships of the Spanish expeditionary fleet, and the two 10,000-ton armored cruisers should be the King and the Clone, which are the improved versions of the Garibaldi type, and the 4 cruisers should be the improved version of the Guiyuan type and the original Hot (Baidu) Naya type cruisers, and the commander should be General Yang Yonglin!"

"Well, that's the correct analysis, so what do we do?" Magifen asked.

"I have to say that we may indeed be at a disadvantage, the 11 8-inch guns of the Brooklyn and the New York are really at a disadvantage compared to the 4 11-inch guns and the 6 10-inch guns of the King and Cologne. As for the Columbia class? There is a displacement of 7,000 tons, but firepower is very scarce. It is estimated that it will not take advantage of the two Manila. As for the Olympia, it is really a good ship, but he has to face two 4000-ton cruisers. There was a kind of helplessness in Dewey's words.

"If we can join up with the rest of General Shelly's fleet, I think we can still achieve some results by concentrating our firepower on the opposing side's protective cruisers. Add in General Shelly's battleship and we're 7 to 6. The two armored cruisers pinned down each other's King and Cologne, although the Manila's firepower and protection were much stronger than the Columbia's, but Columbia was a big ship after all, and it would be better in terms of redundancy. In other words, it may be more resistant to fighting. Speaking of this, Ma Jifen couldn't help but laugh dumbly.

"And then? Do you mean that the remaining 3 cruisers are as close to the opponent as possible and use high-explosive shells to suffocate 2 dome cruisers? It's a good idea, just beat them to the ground. Beyond the repair capacity of Cuban ports, the two battleships were scrapped. We don't have to sink them at all. Dewey said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Then we chose to evacuate after severely damaging the two protective cruisers of the other side. In order to take care of the damaged battleship, the opponent must slow down, and if they catch up, then it will be 7 to 4. Of course, this is in an ideal world, and we can only hope before we hit our opponents hard. Our battleship did not slow down because of the damage. Magiffen added.

"There should be no problem, it is impossible for the opposing warships to be without losses in the engagement. Their combat power will definitely decrease. "Dewey was very satisfied with this tactic of Magifin." If there are no problems, then let's contact Shelly and get them to join us as soon as possible? Dewey said.

"In addition, I propose to disperse the command group and leave a part on the Columbia, the Brooklyn will inevitably be attacked by the other side, and it will be necessary for us to take measures to maintain command of the fleet in the event of damage to the flagship. And I need to command the remaining battleships to attack the opposing side's protective cruisers. Magiffen added. …,

"That's a good idea. I'm on the Brooklyn, how about you and that Hikonoki Uemura get on the New York? I really don't want to see that yellow-skinned monkey," Dewey said.

"He and I used to be enemies. And I have a lot of disdain for what the Japanese do. Magiffen shook his head and said.

"Okay, okay. For the sake of you've come up with a way for me to do something that works. I'll leave this yellow-skinned monkey behind, but he won't want to enter my command room again! Dewey said hatefully.

At the same time, the planning and formulation of Yang Yonglin and others has also reached the last moment. According to the information provided by Jericho and others, Yang Yonglin found that Shelly basically evacuated in a straight line, if it wasn't for the King and the Cologne halfway out, they would continue to sail in a straight line, and when the King destroyed the Baltimore, Shelly may have chosen to change course in order to avoid being easily discovered by the opponent.

"If my guess is correct. Shelly may have to join up with another fleet. If the opponent is 4 battleships, then we can only choose to retreat immediately, and if it is a cruiser, we can still fight! Hipper said.

"According to intelligence, in addition to the fleet that we have just destroyed, the U.S. Navy should have a fleet composed of all first-class cruisers, and if we can meet them this time, we only have two targets. The first target is the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn, and the second is the USS Olympia protective cruiser! Yang Yonglin said in a deep voice.

"I understand that the target is on the USS Brooklyn, after all, this is the flagship of the American fleet. But why not New York? Hipper asked.

"In terms of firepower. Brooklyn first, New York second. Olympia third. The same is true in terms of protection, the first two are armored cruisers, and the latter is a protective cruiser. Although we have the advantage in firepower, it is obviously more difficult to destroy a 10,000-ton cargo ship in the shortest possible time. With the New York being pinned down at the same time, it was not easy for the King and Cologne to complete this task. Yang Yonglin paused and continued.

"And the remaining 4 battleships will fight with the opponent's 3 protective cruisers, in terms of firepower or we still have the advantage, but the Columbia-class is a 7,000-ton battleship after all, and it will take a certain amount of time to sink it with 8-inch guns and 6-inch guns. In terms of sinking resistance, the warship of more than 5800 tons is certainly inferior to the former. ”

"Okay, but what about that fleet today? They didn't get much of a hit. If in case the other party converges in advance....... Jericho asked.

"It's very simple, we immediately start a search, look for the target in the direction that the other side sailed before, if the other side preemptively converges, we will immediately retreat, and if the other warships of the other side suddenly arrive during the engagement, then we will talk about it then." Yang Yonglin said.

Thank you to Bai Can...... The reward and the monthly pass support for reading the world's books ~~ The main cruiser battle is about to start ~~~. RV