On 22 September, the first major European newspaper to carry the same headline on the front page of the newspaper, New York was shelled by the Spanish fleet.

Although this is not what the United States wants to see, some things do not change by its will, and the news of this kind of thing spreads quite quickly, not to mention that New York is still a node of the Atlantic telegraph cable, as long as it is willing, any news that appears in New York can reach Europe in an hour.

As for the willingness of European countries to make a big splash, this is also quite understandable. The United States has surpassed European countries in terms of industrial scale, and its goods have already competed with European countries, and the United States is far away in North America, so countries have little to do with it. It's rare to see its bad luck, don't take the opportunity to promote it, do you keep this news for the New Year?

So the newspapers of various European countries are sneering at the United States on this matter.

The Times, for example, asked senior British naval admirals to comment on the shelling of New York. The shelling of New York and Newport News fully shows that the US Navy lacks strategy, does not take Spain's strength in its eyes, and commits the mistake of underestimating the enemy.

And it was precisely this that the Spanish fleet took advantage of, so it shelled New York and Newport News one after another.

In addition, the general pointed out that at present, the US Navy has no good way to harass the Spanish fleet on the east coast. Because of the difference in speed between the two, it was difficult for the US Navy to catch the Spanish fleet.

He is right, the United States can rely on only three Indiana-class battleships, and their maximum speed of 15 knots is completely out of step with the times. And if these three battleships are not brought, then the U.S. Navy's fleet lacks battleships, the core battleship, and only four Pennsylvania-class cruisers to lead other warships cannot be the opponent of this Spanish fleet.

So in the end, the British Empire general said. For the US Navy, the main problem at present is how to force the Spanish fleet to engage itself, otherwise the United States will not be able to withstand several such attacks.

The Times report is quite pertinent, and those newspapers that want to attract attention have long ridiculed the performance of the US Navy. To say that the performance of the US Navy is a complete disaster, it is better to simply ask Italy for help. As long as the Americans are willing to spend money, the Italians will certainly not refuse.

Well, that's Italy.

However, regardless of what the European media thinks, for the United States, it is the most important thing to stop the Spanish fleet from wantonly plundering the east coast.

In the Atlantic, a convoy of warships was hurrying. Judging from the flag, this is a warship of the US Navy, led by four warships tall and mighty, which is different from other warships in the United States, it is obvious that this is a Pennsylvania-class cruiser, and after the Pennsylvania-class is the USS Brooklyn, which is of the same class as New York.

Compared to the New York, the Brooklyn is larger and has a standard displacement of 9,200 tons, and its front and rear diamond arranged in a diamond shape with eight twin 203 mm guns, in addition to 12 127 mm secondary guns, with a maximum speed of 20 knots.

In addition to the USS Brooklyn, the fleet also included the Columbia-class protective cruisers, the USS Columbia, the USS Minneapolis, and the USS Olympic.

These eight warships are also the eight fastest warships in the United States at present, and this time because of the attack of the Spanish fleet on the northeast, Rear Admiral Samplin personally led the team to support.

"Report to the General, we are still forty nautical miles from Newport News, and we have received a telegram from the Hamilton Military Harbor that no trace of the enemy has been found from Rhode Island, and a telegram from the defenders of Boston, that they have finished evacuating the inhabitants, asking when we will arrive. A telegram from New York told us to arrive as soon as possible. ”

At the flagship USS Pennsylvania, Rear Admiral Samplin listened to the communications officer's debriefings one item at a time.

"Tell the Hamilton Naval Port that we'll be on their side for three hours to refuel and hopefully they'll be ready. Also send a telegram to New York City, and we'll be there in two days. Tell the Boston defenders that they can't let their guard down and that there's a good chance the Spanish fleet is going to attack them, so they can be on their toes. ”

After replying one by one, Major General Samplin looked at the sea and fell into deep thought. Whether the Spanish fleet would continue to attack the port, where they had come from, and where they were now, were questions that had been pressing on his mind.

Of course, for Major General Samplin, after receiving Spanish supervision to attack Newport News, he knew that things were not good. They underestimated the enemy, thinking that if they besieged the island of Cuba, the Spanish navy would rush to send a fleet to relieve the siege, and then he could lead the American fleet to easily destroy it.

Unexpectedly, the other party did not play his cards according to common sense at all, regardless of the safety of Cuba, but ran to the east coast to make trouble.

It has to be said that the Spanish Navy still has capable people, and the weakness of the US Navy can be seen at a glance. So as soon as he heard the news of the attack on the east coast, Washington sent a telegram asking him to lead the fleet back to defense. True, it is more important to keep the East Coast safe from attack than to seize Cuba.

Rear Admiral Samplin also raised eight battleships for the first time and personally led the team to rush over, while the other battleships went north with the three Indiana-class battleships.

The eight battleships personally led by Rear Admiral Samplin were also carefully selected, and all eight battleships could reach a maximum speed of 20 knots at a minimum. And along the way, Rear Admiral Samplin led the battleship at a gallop, and the speed never dropped by 17 knots. That's why the day after the Spanish fleet shelled New York, they were able to get all the way to Newport News.

Now he only needs to wait for the Spanish fleet to attack Boston, so that he can catch the opponent, of course, he can't solve the opponent with his eight ships, but this time he can rely on speed.

According to intelligence, the Spanish fleet had two Garibaldi-class cruisers with a speed of 23 knots, three Maria Teresa-class cruisers with a speed of 20 knots, and then three Turin-class battleships and two Venetian-class battleships, both of which were 18 knots.

It was found that there was no problem, and the speed of the Spanish battleship was divided into three levels. And the formation led by Rear Admiral Samplin, the worst battleships have a maximum speed of 20 knots.

As long as he could find the Spanish fleet, he would not let them run away from his eyes. As long as he waited for them, the Spanish fleet lacked the most important concealment, and when the time came, he could entangle his opponent and wait for the other warships to arrive and force him to fight a decisive battle, which was also the most effective method that Rear Admiral Samplin had thought of at the moment.

But it was already afternoon the next day, why hadn't the Spanish fleet appeared yet, and where were they?