"The Hamilton Harbor garrison fleet is gone!" "Newport News shipyard has been attacked, and the battleships Chilshaji and Kentucky, which are being outfitted, have been destroyed!" When these two pieces of information were delivered to Theodore Roosevelt, he only felt a blackness in front of his eyes, and then the whole ground shook. It took him a long time to recover from his shock and fear.

"Damn the Spaniards didn't go to the West Indies, but to the East of the United States!" Roosevelt cursed as he looked through the relevant information. In the original plan, the American fleet mustered up all the strength to engage in a Trafalgar-style decisive battle with the Spanish navy bound for the New Indies. And expect to win the war by relying on absolute tonnage superiority. Now, instead of taking direct measures to resolve the Cuban crisis, the adversary has chosen a crucial place along the long coastline of the United States. And after the first blow, the Spanish fleet disappeared again, and God knows where they will appear next time.

"Immediately meeting, we need to recalibrate our strategy." Theodore Roosevelt ordered.

In the conference hall of the battleship Indiana, the U.S. Navy held its first emergency meeting since the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. They need to adjust their strategies in order to cope with possible re-emergence of attacks.

"Gentlemen, the Navy of the United States of America has suffered the heaviest losses in history, and I think you all know the circumstances. So who can tell me now what we should do next. We can't let the Spaniards run rampant like this, we have to win the war. Roosevelt said indignantly.

"If the Spanish fleet is still roaming the east coast, we will have to go north. Concentrate the 1st and 2nd fleets to search for the Spanish fleet. They have no supply points in the Atlantic, and the huge consumption is enough to make them less combative. All we need is to send out a clipper to search, then track, and deliver a fatal blow when the other side is tired. Dewey's opinion was simple. In his opinion, a fleet without a stable supply would simply not be able to exert its own power, as long as the 20-knots battleships of the Second Fleet could find each other and contact the main fleet by radio. Then the American fleet will have a good chance of winning.

"It's okay to track during the day, but what about at night? It's very likely that you will lose it all at once. Brigadier General Shelly asked.

"We can break up the Second Fleet and form an arc cordon in front of the First Fleet. Maintain a distance between warships that can be communicated by radio. At the same time, it is equipped with a radio announcement boat. As soon as we find out, we can quickly assemble. It was impossible for the Spanish fleet to maintain a high speed of more than 15 knots all the time, and we were well supplied. There is no problem with traveling at high speeds, and even if it is temporarily lost due to weather or night, we can still repeat the process until we find it again. Without supplies, the Spaniards could not return to Europe, and it was basically impossible for them to go south without being detected by the numerous notification ships. Dewey added.

"But it will take time, and we will only be able to determine the position of the opponent after the next Spaniards attack, and this will greatly irritate the already fragile nerves of our people." The implication of Admiral Simpson's words is obvious. This solution works, but it is too time-consuming.

"There is no other way, our fleet is too scarce, and it is simply not enough to cover the landing of the army and the blockade of Cuba. Unless the Army guys give up their plans to land in Cuba for the time being. Dewey said helplessly.

"It's impossible to give up on planning. But should we think of another way to find a compromise? We can concentrate on transporting one force and enough supplies for the army to spend about 20 days to Cuba. Then we temporarily stopped sea transport and concentrated our entire fleet in search of the Spanish fleet for a decisive battle! Shelly asked tentatively.

…,

"How long will it take to complete this project?" Theodore Roosevelt asked.

"It will take about 10 days to prepare and execute." Shelly's plan wasn't just coming up now, he had already prepared plenty of materials. The transportation itself is not difficult, but it takes time to prepare and raise supplies. And in order to shorten the distance of sea transportation as short as possible, Shelly even decided to land on the north coast of Cuba instead of smashing Huanglong. After all, as long as you send people to Cuba. There is nothing to do with the Navy.

"It can't be, I reckon, the president will probably order us to go north tomorrow." Theodore Roosevelt smiled wryly.

"In that case, we may have to leave the Third Fleet and a few third-class protected cruisers to cover the sea transport lines. And there was more than one Spanish fleet! And what about the other 6 battleships? Where are 2 10,000-ton armored cruisers and 4 light armored cruisers? At this moment, Magifen, who had been silent, spoke.

"Shh......h Admiral Simpson gasped. "The Spaniards don't want to use four warships to lure us away and then take the opportunity to cut off the army's sea supply lines, right?"

"It's possible, but it's more likely that the other side wants to use this opportunity to spread us apart so that we can break down. Just like the example of General Xu who immediately went south to the coastal waters of Japan after the Battle of Toshima and forced the Japanese First Guerrilla Fleet to fight a decisive battle, it was precisely because of this battle that the combat strength of the Japanese Combined Fleet and the Beiyang Fleet reached a balance. Magiffen continued.

"Then you mean that the fleet must concentrate its operations and go north to everyone together? This was not bad, the whole fleet of 4 battleships and 15 cruisers was enough to catch those 4 Spanish battleships. Dewey muttered to himself. But what about the Army? Will the Admiralty be able to withstand the pressure of the White House and public opinion? Damn it. We simply can't devote 100 percent of our energy to combat, and we have to deal with the Army, against the White House, and against the people who don't even know how to fight a naval battle! ”

"Mr. Colonel, your idea is very good, but it is not executable! Congress and the American people will not allow a Newport News incident to occur. Roosevelt shook his head and said.

"This kind of large-scale and long-term shelling should not happen, the whole battle went on for more than two hours, if you calculate the reserve of 120 ammunition for each main gun of the Pisa-class battleships, their main gun shells should consume a lot, except for leaving a part in case of accidents, the margin should be very small, but it is still possible to hit a merchant ship at sea, or close to a certain harbor to come with two guns, if I were Cervila I would definitely try to replenish ammunition and coal." Simpson said.

"It's hard to say, during the attack on the Newport News shipyard, it was mainly the 6-inch turret guns. The secondary guns of the Italian battleships were also turretized, and their elevation angles were high, so the firing range was relatively long. And even if each gun fires only 10 shells, these 20 main guns will fire 200 high-explosive shells, which is a very staggering number, and we can't afford to take this risk. Theodore Roosevelt was not willing to take a risk for this speculation!

"Actually, we can guess what the Spaniards want to do. Maybe then we'll see something essential. Majifen thought for a moment and said.

"The Spaniards attacked ports and shipyards for one purpose, to weaken our navy, to defeat us in a decisive naval battle, and to preserve the West Indies. For the Spanish fleet, far from the homeland, cruising on the eastern coast for a long time did not make much military sense, and sooner or later they would have to come to Cuba, to Santiago! The White House asked us to go north, so we'd go north, but we'd stay in the Eastern Caribbean for a while, where we could lay out a pocket and wait for the arrival of the Spanish fleet. Of course, we need to concentrate our fleet as much as possible and send as many notification ships as possible. Because, most likely, we will encounter the entire Spanish Navy. "Magiffen laid out his plans.

…,

"And when they enter the Caribbean, they may be plagued by the exhaustion of the undersupplied personnel, and this is our chance!" Admiral Simpson said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"It's a plan that works. But what will we do if the Spanish fleet is in the vanguard of British dominions in the Caribbean? Brigadier General Shelly asked.

"We don't have anything we can do. There is no way we are going to attack the British colonies. But we can deploy notification ships and camouflage reconnaissance ships in advance on a wider scale. As long as we find them, we have a chance to fight them! After long sea voyages, lack of maintenance and supplies, their speed will definitely decrease. Admiral Simpson had a hint of helplessness in his tone.

"If that's the case, how are we going to deal with it on the army side? If the fleet is gone, the Army guys will sue us to the White House. Dewey took a sip of his coffee and said.

"Leave the Third Fleet to the Army. 5 4000-ton second-class protected cruisers are also reasonable. Theodore Roosevelt said.

"Option one, we leave the fourth fleet of 5 cruisers of the third rank, and option two, we leave the second fleet." Magiffen said coldly.

"What do you mean by that? I don't understand. Shelly was a little confused.

"It means that if you run into either of the two Spanish fleets, only the Second Fleet has the strength to fight a battle, and the remaining three or four fleets are only lost in vain." Looking at the pale face of Majifen, Admiral Simpson broke the idea that this person can be said to have entered the abyss!

"Colonel Majifen, I didn't expect you to think like this, could it be that Mr. Xu also taught you? Do you mean to let the Fourth Fleet be used as cannon fodder for the prevarication army? Dewey was also stunned by this thought, and said in a trembling voice.

"I mean leave the Second Fleet, or dismantle the Third Fleet and divide it between the Second and Fourth Fleets, so that at least the transport lines are guaranteed." Magiffen said with a little embarrassment. In his opinion, this is the best choice, both militarily and personnelly. Dewey and Shelly could lead all 15 cruisers. Rights have not been diminished.

Thanks to the book friend Pine Forest Pony for the evaluation vote~~. Today is the day after the recommendation, can you give more recommendation votes, collections and annual writers, and work tickets?