As Donald expected, the situation changed after the Army landed in early December.

Before this, the US fleet had been blocking Cuba, so if the Spanish expeditionary fleet came, they would definitely not be able to enter the Caribbean Sea. In the original history, because the war broke out several months later, there were more storms in the Caribbean. As a result, the Spanish fleet hid in the Santiago military port with the cover of the weather. But this time there was no help from the weather. According to reason, the Spanish fleet would definitely not be able to enter the Santiago military port. However, unexpected things still happened.

A few days ago, the patrol fleet in Florida, a group of enthusiastic patriotic ships sailing on their own to search for the Spanish fleet, so as not to attack the East Coast of the United States, sent a message back that they had discovered the Spanish fleet about a hundred kilometers west of Florida, and the Spanish fleet was heading north.

It would be fine if there was only this report, but not long after, volunteers from South Carolina also issued a report claiming that they had discovered the Spanish fleet sailing north. Moreover, regardless of the number of ships, the speed of the course could match the reports of the volunteers in Florida. So even General Sampson, the commander of the U.S. Navy Fleet, believed it (did not believe it, because if something really happened and he and his fleet did not respond, the responsibility would be too great.), so he quickly ordered the fleet to turn north and chase the Spanish Expeditionary Fleet.

The "Spanish Expeditionary Fleet" has maintained a speed of about ten knots and slowly headed northward, while the American fleet chased north at a high speed of twenty knots. After chasing for several days, it finally caught up with the "Spanish Expeditionary Fleet" in the waters near Maryland. As a result, the Americans looked carefully and saw that it was a hell! This is not the Spanish fleet, it is obviously a British merchant fleet sailing towards Canada. Although the patriotic volunteers are highly vigilant and motivated, their professionalism is really...

At this time, the spies left in Cuba sent back the intelligence and the Spanish fleet entered the Santiago military port.

"Damn it!" After receiving this information, General Sampson, who was rushing back, had his face turned green. Now he could only expect that after entering the Santiago military port, it would take more time to replenish supplies and repairs, so that he could have time to rush back and block the Spanish fleet in the military port, otherwise, it would be a big trouble.

Just as General Sampson was cursing loudly, General Severa, the commander of the Spanish fleet, was also cursing.

"This damn port! These damn broken ships! Everything is so damn! Damn it! It's so damn!"

The Spanish warships were all old ships, and after they arrived at the Spanish, they were not well maintained. They were fine before, but they were scrambled along the Spanish coast, but crossing the Atlantic Ocean was a hard work. In addition, the Spanish paid attention to the show and had little military expenditure. However, they did not spend normal maintenance, training, etc. on these old warships, but instead spent a lot of time on decoration. As a result, these warships were decorated with a lot of high-end mahogany, high-end sofas, wool carpets, and various messy sculptures. In short, they turned the warships sold to them into luxury hotels.

With such a life-long trick, I don’t know whether it is “improvement” or “reversal”. The reliability and navigation performance of these ships have been greatly reduced. As a result, when the long journey, the machinery on many warships had problems and urgently needed repairs. The maintenance capabilities of the San Diego military port were very limited and it was difficult to fix these problems in a short time. General Severa knew that if the US fleet came to the door at this time, his fleet would definitely be blocked in the military port, so he was very anxious.

However, this kind of thing is useless to worry about. As a result, until General Sampson's fleet ran back, the Spanish fleet still did not leave the port. However, the American fleet ran back and forth at high speed, but the ship's condition was still basically intact, which once again demonstrated the unparalleled stability of the steam turbine compared to traditional steam engines.

It is better to block Spanish fleets in military ports than to kill them directly at sea. But it is worse than not knowing where they ran. It is just that the Spanish fleet hides in military ports, which is equivalent to dragging the American fleet to move. So it is better to get rid of them as soon as possible.

The first trick that Americans thought of was to find a few old ships and sink directly on the waterways entering and leaving the port, blocking the waterways. However, when the implementation was implemented, the first ship had several shells hit by the military port's fortress before it could get close, and the second ship accidentally hit a mine, and it sank a long way from the scheduled location - so the plan was cancelled.

Since this move is not working, we can only be hard. Of course, the so-called hard work does not mean that the American fleet will be able to guard the military port's turret in the waters covered with mines. Although it may not be impossible to defeat, using a precious fleet to do such things is like using a precious horse, serge, and knife as a pickaxe to hoe the ground. Therefore, the conventional solution is to rely on the army to detour, take down the commanding heights near the port, and then set up cannons there. The Spanish warships hiding in the military port can only surrender or come out to die. If the Spanish fleet is destroyed, it can be directly declared that Spain has been defeated.

On December 5, the US military landed near the San Diego military port. Theodore Roosevelt, who led the team, spoke to the soldiers and said: "Soldiers, the Spanish fleet has been blocked in the military port. As long as we take down the mountain opposite, we will definitely win. I can assure you that in this way, we can go home before Christmas!"

Roosevelt resigned as the deputy minister of the Navy and led the army, of course, to become a hero by relying on this opportunity and pave the way for future political careers. This battle is definitely the most critical battle in this war.

The Spaniards were of course very clear about the significance of this commanding height to the port, so on this high ground, the Spaniards had long been prepared for defense. Relying on the experience they gained when attacking the rebels' controlled areas and the experience they learned from other European countries, the Spaniards spent some effort on this high ground.

The Spaniards cut down all the trees within five kilometers of this highland to avoid blocking their sight. At the same time, as an indispensable facility, they pulled several barbed wire in front of the trenches and built many bunkers on the mountain. When attacking the area controlled by the rebels, the Spaniards suffered a lot of losses in front of the bunkers disguised as mounds, so they also built many such bunkers. In addition, the Spaniards also bought a lot of them from the British.

The Spanish laid a lot of anti-infantry mines and broadsword anti-infantry directional mines made by the British. In addition, the Spanish also equipped several 4.8-inch heavy mortars on the high ground that the British copied from the MacDonald Infantry Weapons. To be honest, this is really a hard bone to chew. At least before the army could send enough heavy artillery up, there were not many ways to face such a position.

However, the US military is not ignorant of this. Some time ago, the Cuban rebels also launched one or two tentative attacks on the highland, and they knew more or less about the situation of the highland, so through them, the US military still knew more or less about the situation of the highland.

"It is best to dig through tunnels and approach the target as close as possible. However, there are many rocks in this highland, and the soil layer is very shallow. The distance that can be advanced is limited by digging by trenches. I am afraid there is still a considerable distance to operate on the ground. It is not easy to dig the trenches in one breath to the distance that can throw grenades into the enemy's trenches. So, if we rely solely on us to attack, the attack will be quite difficult and the casualties will not be small. Of course, it would be great if our navy could provide us with firepower support." US military staff Johnson told Roosevelt in this way.

"The Navy can't count on it." Roosevelt, who was the deputy minister of the Navy, knew of the various restrictions that the Navy would be subject. He pointed to the map where the Shanghai ships are now cruising. He explained to the officers under his command, "In this position, the Navy's artillery range can barely be here. But this is already at the limit range, and at this distance, the Navy's artillery cannons have no accuracy at all. If they really want to open fire, I dare say that the opportunity to attack us is much greater than that of attacking the Spanish. Unless they continue to move here from their current position - this is the nearest shore position allowed by the depth of water. But these

The Spaniards laid mines at the location, and they were within the precise range of the port turret. To move forward here, they must be able to kill the turret first. If they could kill the turret, we would not need to attack this high ground at all. Therefore, this battle was up to us. Unfortunately, we only had less than ten three-inch cannons on our hands, and other heavier cannons could not be transported to the shore. Fortunately, according to the Cubans, the Spaniards' firepower was not particularly strong. Let's prepare first. The morning after tomorrow, we will conduct a tentative attack, at least we must understand their firepower configuration..."

...

"Selling newspapers, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Sun, there are the latest battle reports and battlefield news!" A newspaper boy was hawking on the street with a bag of newspapers on his back. A man on a bicycle passed by here. He stopped and said to the newspaper boy: "Child, give me a copy of the New York Times."

"Okay! Thank you three cents!" The newspaper boy ran over and took out a copy of the New York Times and handed it to the man.

The man took the newspaper, put it under his armpit, then took out his wallet to find money, and asked casually: "What's the news?"
Chapter completed!