Master Yuan, start!

Even without the hurricane, they would have failed.”

"Come to think of it, if Spain hadn't fallen, it wouldn't be our turn to intervene in the Philippines." Xie Baozhang blew out a smoke ring and smiled narrowly. "I think we should kill him while he's weak. I heard that Spain also has a colony south of your country called Guguba."

"It's Cuba." Little Magifan laughed.

"This name is really similar to that of the defeated French general Courbet." Xie Baozhang complained for a while and then continued to talk about the topic:

"Brother Ma, how can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed? Why don't you send a telegram to your Navy Department and take a two-pronged approach?"

Little Ma Jifen nodded, then suddenly turned his head to look at Xie Baozhang, blinked his eyes, and said jokingly, "Brother Xie, if you can think of something, how could our Navy Department not think of it?

Maybe now, our president has already delivered his Manila naval victory speech at the White House.

As long as the Battle of Manila is concluded, the next step will be to capture Cuba!"

"Boy, are you implying that I'm not smart enough?" Xie Baozhang scolded with a smile, "I thought the US Navy was just starting out and didn't dare to split up its forces. I didn't expect it to be so bold."

"The Spanish Fleet is nothing." Little Magiffin, cigarette between his lips, raised his hands in surrender. "If there's a chance in the future, maybe the U.S. Navy will clash with the British Navy."

"Gan Linliang, what nonsense are you talking about again?" Xie Baozhang spoke directly in his hometown dialect.

Seeing Xie Baozhang's expression, Maggie put down his cigarette and said calmly, "Don't worry, Captain. Before we have sufficient strength, I, Baqi6... Liu San4, closed the lock: I believe the US Navy will not provoke the British Navy. They still have this common sense."

Xie Baozhang exhaled a puff of smoke when he heard this: "You are really careless.

Today's American fleet is only slightly stronger than the Beiyang Fleet. I always think that if the Beiyang Fleet in the future can be half the size of the British Navy, it would be a blessing from our ancestors.

I didn't expect you to actually think about going to war with the British. You're really a young and inexperienced person."

"Who can predict what will happen in the future?" Little Magifan flicked the cigarette in his hand into the sea and said slowly, "Brother Xie, do you remember what the President once said in class that the rise of emerging countries is often accompanied by the decline of established countries?

Originally, I was not impressed by this sentence.

However, both this year's Sino-French War and the Spanish-American War have made me realize this again.

China's rise was achieved by stepping on the French, so who will the United States step on when it rises?"

"I don't know." Xie Baozhang shook his head, unwilling to discuss this point.

The topic had already touched upon relations between nations, and he didn't want to go into so much depth with little Magifin. In his opinion, those were not things soldiers should consider.

Seeing that Xie Baozhang remained silent, Ma Jifen did not continue speaking, and the atmosphere became quiet for a moment.

"Report, a telegram came from the front saying that French warships are still patrolling the coast of Guangxi-Hue. We estimate that we may encounter them off the coast of Hue in three hours!" The communication officer's report interrupted the two men's thoughts.

"Tell the Haiji to lead the formation to sail slowly northward and ensure that the ship's shells are ready and ready to attack at any time."

"Send flag signals to control the Fuji and Yashima, and have them advance to intercept. We must lock the French warships off the coast of Guangxi."

"Notify the remaining ships to gather around the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan and prepare for battle!"

Xie Baozhang, who was still daydreaming just now, seemed to have become a different person in the blink of an eye. After Liu Bohong returned to Guangzhou with the Hailong, Xie Baozhang became the temporary commander of the fleet.

After Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were incorporated into the Beiyang Fleet, they were not used as flagships because of their slow speed.

Therefore, Xie Baozhang still commanded on the Haifeng.

However, for the commander, it doesn’t matter if he is standing on a sampan. The most important thing is to judge the situation and make favorable decisions.

More than an hour later, when Fuji and Yashima both sent signals of preparing to engage in battle, the French Indochina Fleet that the Beiyang Fleet had been thinking about finally appeared in the distant horizon.

"Full rudder left, follow the flagship's movement, and ready the port guns."

Xie Baozhang gripped the telescope tightly, looking at the French naval warship with a mottled hull, and the tragedy of Mawei seemed to come to his mind again.

He was still a student at that time. After hearing the news that the Fujian Navy was ambushed and annihilated by French warships in Mawei, he was so angry that he couldn't eat for the whole day.

But things are different now!

When the French Indochina Fleet discovered the unidentified battleship behind them, the 305mm caliber cannons on the four warships, Yashima, Fuji, Zhenyuan and Dingyuan, had already been aimed at the 9000-ton giant ship, Formidable.

"fire!"

Xie Baozhang's roar erupted from the bridge, as if he wanted to vent all the depression he had accumulated over the years.

似乎在回应他的怒吼，可畏号上的8门274mm主炮也同时咆哮起来，当主炮的硝烟还没发散，6门M1893式100毫米/30倍径速射炮也紧跟着怒吼起来。

Feilunti l skirt?9679-1025^

"Boom boom boom..."

Suddenly, countless towering water columns rose above the sea. In the smoke and dust, the remaining warships of the French Indochina Fleet also began to fight back. Flames and smoke continued to spew out from the ships, and the rumbling sound of artillery spread in all directions like thunder.

Off the coast of Hue, looking at the Fuji and Yashima that looked like mountains in front of him, and the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan in the distance, the captain of the French ship HMS Formidable ordered a counterattack, but he was still confused about the situation.

The Indochina Fleet hasn't challenged them for a decisive battle yet, so why did they come here first?

Moreover, where did the Chinese get so many huge ships?

Aren’t they afraid that the French support fleet will arrive and surround them from the front and back?

Due to the deliberate concealment of Paul Toume, the Governor-General of Indochina, the Indochina Fleet far away in central Vietnam was unaware of the late arrival of the French support fleet.

In addition, the Indochina Fleet had been roaming around South China and the waters near Vietnam without encountering any obstruction, so they relaxed their vigilance and did not send cruisers to provide early warning on the periphery.

It was not until the Beiyang Fleet approached that they reacted and fought back.

Although the Beiyang Fleet's rapid-fire main guns could not guarantee a hit rate at a distance of 10,000 meters, their firing frequency was fast.

The Beiyang Fleet, together with the Fuji and Yashima warships, had a total of more than 20 150mm high-speed naval guns, plus 12 105mm secondary guns with a faster firing rate, with hundreds of shells fired each time.

But even if you are pouring water, there will always be a time when it will splash you.

At this time, facing the Beiyang Fleet, which was coming with great force, the French Indochina Fleet had already given up the idea of ​​fighting.

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The French commander's only thought now is to rush into the port of Hue as quickly as possible, and then use the waterway filled with mines to block the enemy and survive first!

Fortunately, the Indochina Fleet had just engaged in battle and the warships had not suffered large-scale losses. So, after deciding to escape, the commander immediately ordered the release of smoke and fought while running.

Xie Baozhang, who was observing through a telescope, was also very clear that this place was not far from Hue Port. If the French fleet was allowed to approach Hue, coupled with the firepower of the fixed artillery batteries on the shore and the mines in Hue Port, the Beiyang Fleet would most likely return empty-handed.

Therefore, we must try our best to destroy one or two important warships before they escape!

Just as the French army turned around and fled, Xie Baozhang aimed at a French battleship, the Vauban.

Although this battleship is an ironclad ship powered by eight boilers, it does not run fast, with a speed of only 14.5 knots. Even though it was once hailed as the pride of the French Navy, its slow speed now makes it a sitting duck.

One of the two chimneys was pierced and lost its function, and the rear bridge had long disappeared. If the French had not installed 250mm of external armor on this warship at all costs, the command tower would have been destroyed.

But the French are not omnipotent after all. While taking into account speed, firepower and endurance, the main side armor can only reach 160 mm. This thickness may be able to withstand the attack of rapid-fire guns, but it is definitely not able to withstand the fierce bombardment of 305mm caliber main guns.

So, when this French warship emitting black smoke became the target, the Fuji and Yashima almost simultaneously locked onto this ironclad ship with a total length of 85 meters and a displacement of 6200 tons.

In just four minutes, four consecutive salvos finally dealt a fatal blow to the warship. The more than 400-kilogram shell drilled a large hole in the thick side armor under the front bridge. After penetrating the armor, the coal bunker interlayer that was originally used for protection was exposed. The coal bunker, which had been empty for a long time, did not play a unilateral blocking role at all. The shell smashed straight through the armor behind the coal bunker and penetrated the ammunition depot.

Almost instantly, the violent explosion cut off half of the warship's front bridge, and even the front main gun flew out.

The design flaws of the French remaining from the era of sailing battleships were perfectly reflected in this ironclad ship. As soon as the bow broke, the huge hull suddenly stopped as if it had hit a mountain, and plunged into the warm tropical waters of the northern hemisphere.

Ten minutes later, when the Fuji and Yashima chose a new target again, the hull of the Vauban had been raised high and slowly sunk into the seabed like a straight wooden stake. The two propellers were turning rapidly, as if they were still working hard to escort the more than 400 sailors on the warship back home.

The Vauban, a ship that cost France millions of francs and was hailed as the pride of the French Navy in the ironclad era, plunged into the ocean in an extremely strange vertical posture.

The sinking of the Vauban shattered the last of the French confidence. The remaining battleships, such as the Formidable and Duguesclin, were even less interested in fighting and accelerated towards the waters near Hue.

In order to escape, the French warships had been releasing smoke. Coupled with the smoke from naval guns and explosions, visibility at sea became very low, which had a great impact on navigation.

At this moment, the Formidable, which was in the front, suddenly made a deafening noise, and large clouds of thick smoke emerged from the water.

Due to panic, the French warships ran into the mines they had laid in Hue Port.

Seeing this, the Beiyang Fleet quickly opened fire on the French warships in chaos with nearly a hundred naval guns of all sizes.

The bombardment lasted for a full 15 minutes, with the gunpowder-filled shells pouring down on the hulls of the French fleet without reservation.

Finally, with another explosion, the flagship of the French Indochina Fleet, the Formidable, could no longer withstand the bombardment.

Its bottom hit a mine and seawater rushed in frantically; the side armor was torn apart; and the turret was also destroyed by the Beiyang Fleet's shells.

On the open sea, after a teeth-grinding sound of steel twisting was heard, the Formidable could no longer bear its own weight, broke into two parts from the middle, and slowly sank into two huge whirlpools.

Xie Baozhang, who was in the distance, squinted his eyes and looked at this refreshing scene, feeling extremely comfortable in his heart.

"The destruction of Mawei, the Fujian Navy, was finally avenged"

The Pacific Ocean is big enough

United States, White House.

Standing at the window and looking down, on the West Lawn of the White House, President William McKinley was beaming as he delivered an impassioned victory speech, his arms waving excitedly from time to time.

In front of him were his official friends and leaders from all walks of life who came to watch the ceremony, and of course a large number of reporters.

Every time the dazzling flash light came on, a puff of white smoke would burst out, and the president informed the people of the whole country of the great victory of the US Pacific Fleet.

Many people began to expect that the new president would lead the United States to another victory in the Cuban War, and even lead the United States out of its economic difficulties and move to a higher level.

But the Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt Sr., who was hiding in an office in the White House, frowned. He looked at the reporters and citizens downstairs who were excited about the Battle of Manila, and his thoughts had already drifted to another thing.

He didn't like to join in the fun, so he didn't go, which would have given him the opportunity to enjoy national praise with the president.

On the surface, the Spanish-American War was a show of strength for the United States, but in fact, Roosevelt knew that this was an attempt by the president to seize power.

Fourth, the reason for launching a war and seizing power is to be able to carry out economic reforms with more confidence.

8. Former President Cleveland obviously left us with a bad hand, especially after the national gold reserves were privatized, which forced the US government to face the risk of losing its monetary power!

^During this gold crisis, the performance of the American financial trusts also deeply disgusted reformers such as William McKinley and Roosevelt.

The Jewish group headed by Morgan, Rockefeller and Thomas is gradually eroding the American economy. Powerful trusts can already influence the government's foreign policy decisions. This is not a good phenomenon.

Both William McKinley and Roosevelt Sr. had sensed the danger of the trusts, but in a country like the United States, which is full of liberalism, solving the trust problem was not an easy task.

Therefore, President William McKinley decided to start from the outside, first using diplomatic issues to establish his own prestige, control domestic military power, and then confront the group of financial tycoons when he was strong enough.

Of course, these things are still too far away. The most important things at the moment are still Cuba and the ever-changing situation in the Far East.

Wu, the Napoleon and Washington of the Far East, seemed to have led his army to victory again.

Not only did they defeat the French army, but according to a telegram from the ambassador to China, they also intercepted the French support fleet that came from afar and won an ambush!

It is said that this naval battle was possible only because two new Japanese battleships that had been docked in a British shipyard for a long time participated in it.

Old Roosevelt felt a headache when he thought of Britain.

The British's steel production has fallen behind that of the United States, but their lead in naval technology is still difficult for the United States to achieve.