"Mr. Yang, have you read the telegram sent by the Italians?" Admiral Severa asked. "They gave us two options for the main gun of the Dante class, three triple 10-inch guns.

And two twin 12-inch guns. What do you think, Mr. Yang?"

"My personal opinion is to continue to use the 10-inch gun." Yang Yonglin thought for a while and said.

"I need a good reason. The new 12-inch turret gun has a firing speed of 40 seconds. This speed is already great. The 10-inch gun is a bit less powerful when facing patrols." Saiwei

La said with some displeasure.

"After installing 12-inch heavy guns, isn't it still impossible to penetrate the 15-inch or larger main armor belts of American battleships? And even with 10-inch guns, isn't it still no problem to deal with the 4-inch upper armor of American battleships? And consider

The armor belt of the American battleships is too low, so what we need to face later is the situation." Yang Yonglin said with a smile while pouring a cup of green tea for Severa.

"In addition, from the perspective of the entire navy's tactics, our main battleship is to defeat the opponent's warship so that most of its resistance is lost, and then use torpedo boats to deal with the opponent. It is difficult to sink a 10,000-ton warship simply by relying on artillery shells.

For the large number of protected cruisers in the United States, a large number of high-speed artillery guns are obviously more lethal. Moreover, from the perspective of logistics supply and

In terms of ammunition carrying capacity, the 10-inch artillery shells have a larger amount of ammunition. And it is more convenient to supply. Don’t forget, we are fighting in the ocean. From a training perspective, the 10-inch artillery is obviously easier to form combat effectiveness. Our

Gunners can be trained from existing warships. Of course, you are the commander, and you will decide everything." Yang Yonglin added another sentence at the end.

"This reason is quite sufficient. Considering that we are going to fight in the ocean, the supply problem will be our second biggest enemy after the Americans." Severa was quite satisfied with Yang Yonglin's answer.

"In addition, Mr. Yang, do you think our current war preparations in the West Indies require anything other than what is mentioned in the document?" Severa said, changing the topic.

"For the war preparations in the West Indies, we can no longer just prepare from a military perspective. We should plan from an overall perspective. The first point is how to minimize the intensity of resistance of the non-white races on the island as much as possible.

This problem can definitely not be solved by military suppression alone. What we need is a relaxed and relatively friendly environment, even if it is only for a short period of time from before the war to the end of the war." Yang Yonglin said.

"This is not something the Navy can decide, but I will try my best to persuade Congress to restrict those greedy capitalists." In this regard, Severa has no good solution.

"Secondly, the Spanish Army must strengthen its defense of the West Indies before the conflict. We cannot win this war with the navy alone. If the Spanish Army cannot even withstand the first wave of the US Army's attack, then there is no need to fight

Yes. When necessary, I personally think hiring some non-zheng fuxing mercenaries is a good choice." Yang Yonglin continued.

"Mr. Yang, we are the navy, and these measures are very necessary, but they are beyond the control of our navy. I hope you can provide some suggestions to the navy, such as how to strengthen the defense of Santiago Port." Severa was a little dissatisfied.

said.

"The defense of Santiago Port does need to be strengthened, but if the fleet enters Santiago Port during the war, I am afraid that either the war situation has reached an uncontrollable level, or a decisive battle has to be prepared." Yang Yonglin said with a smile.

"I don't understand what you mean." Severa was a little confused.

"What is the combat mission of the U.S. fleet? What is the combat mission of the Spanish fleet?" Yang Yonglin asked rhetorically.

"Isn't the mission of the fleet not to destroy the opponent's fleet and gain control of the sea?" Severa asked.

"No. The most basic task of the U.S. fleet is to ensure the safety of the transport fleet. The West Indies are far away from the Spanish mainland. As long as the U.S. Navy can provide sufficient cover for the army, the Americans can completely use the army to win the war, and it does not necessarily have to be

We have to fight to the death with the Spanish Navy. Not only is this too risky, but it is also easy to lose sight of the other. So in the first stage of the war, the Americans will not take the initiative to seek a decisive battle with us," Yang Yonglin said.

"If we follow your thinking, we also don't need to find the main force of the U.S. Navy for a decisive battle, but only need to attack the opponent's transport fleet?" Severa seemed to understand something. "But what does this have to do with the Port of San Diego?

?”

"The Port of Santiago is on the southern coast of Cuba, far away from the northern coast where the United States may land. Once it enters the Port of Santiago, the whereabouts of the fleet will inevitably be exposed, which will cause great trouble for us to attack the American transport fleet. In response,

, the Americans will definitely gather a quite powerful escort fleet to cover the transport fleet." Yang Yonglin said.

"If this is the case, if the U.S. Navy concentrates its main force, it will have an absolute advantage in terms of tonnage. We have little chance of winning in a head-on confrontation." Severa nodded and said.

"So we must take it by surprise and attack it unprepared. Attack the opponent's transport fleet and cover fleet as soon as possible after the war to weaken the strength of the U.S. Navy and reduce the pressure on the Army. So at this level, we cannot enter San Diego

.At least we cannot enter the Port of San Diego until we can have a decisive battle with the US Navy." Yang Yonglin said.

"So, the key to victory in the war is whether our navy can enter the war covertly and take action before the U.S. Navy can react?" Cervera asked.

"You can think so. But if you want to completely end the Spanish-American War, then after weakening the strength of the U.S. Navy, our fleet can enter the Port of San Diego for supplies and preparations in order to start a decisive battle with the U.S. Navy." Yang Yonglin nodded and said.

"Then this is a test for the officers and soldiers. Crossing the entire Atlantic and then participating in the battle without corrections, one can imagine the hard work involved," Severa said.

It's okay that Severa didn't mention this matter, but when he mentioned it, Yang Yonglin felt quite angry! Before that, Yang Yonglin thought that the Green Camp and the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty were incompetent enough. However, after arriving in Europe, Yang Yonglin discovered that among the great powers

In a vast Europe, it is not special to find a navy that does not have a certain level of fighting spirit.

Difficult! (Historically, the performance of the Spanish fleet can be called the worst performance since the emergence of steam ironclads! There was even a 7,000-ton cruiser Cologne that was stranded in a hurry after only being hit by 4 6-inch shells and 3 57mm shells.

! Even the weakest Pingyuan in Beiyang cannot be sunk with this few shells!!)

"Dear Admiral, I must make it clear that the current Spanish Navy must undergo a top-to-bottom overhaul. In this navy, I cannot see the glory of the Spanish Navy that spanned the oceans in the past! We must

Reorganize and at least make this unit dare to face the enemy! Otherwise, no matter how good the equipment is, it will be like a fire stick if it falls into the hands of such a unit!" Yang Yonglin said.

"I'm afraid this is a bit difficult. There are more than 7,000 officers and men in the entire fleet. It will be very difficult to replace them. And some of the senior officials cannot be replaced just by saying." Severa is also very concerned about the entire bureaucracy.

Powerless.

"At least the mid-level and low-level officers who are preparing to participate in the war must change their blood. Even if we hire retired officers and soldiers from some countries' navies, they will perform better than the current ones!" Yang Yonglin said angrily.

"Then you mean to hire a group of navies? This is a good idea. Although it is very difficult to operate, it is still possible. After all, Britain and Germany are now more wary of the expansion of the United States in the Far East.

." Severa nodded and said.

"What I want is the result. Mr. Admiral, without excellent officers and soldiers, we cannot win with just battleships. Since the Kingdom of Spain has spent so much effort to do this, why don't we do it more thoroughly?"

?Sometimes there is only half a step between victory and failure!" Yang Yonglin said in a tactful tone.

"Beyond that, does Mr. Yang have any other suggestions?" Severa said with a pale face. After all, for Beiyang, which had participated in many bloody battles, the Spanish fleet, in terms of strength and quality of officers and soldiers,

They are not as good as the current Beiyang Fleet. As for the tactical literacy of the officers and soldiers, they are even worse. And when the proud mentality of the white people is suddenly shattered one day, the impact of this gap is naturally very strong.

"Supply issues. In fact, in terms of ocean supply, I think we can refer to the practices of the famous Russian naval admiral, Makanov." Yang Yonglin said.

"But General Makanov's approach was considered ineffective. His fleet was destroyed at the temporary supply station." Severa said doubtfully.

"The idea and train of thought are correct, but General Xu is too familiar with the situation in the Far East, and the Russian fleet stayed too long. My idea is that the Spanish fleet can set up multiple supply points, at least to complete the fleet's

Add coal and ammunition supply. If possible, the best place is the British islands in the Caribbean. Supply in these places. Even if the Americans know about it, they may not dare to take any action." Yang Yonglin analyzed.

"There is certainly no problem with adding coal and water, but ammunition supply may be more difficult. After all, the storage conditions for ammunition are relatively high, and it is impossible for the British to allow a large amount of ammunition to be placed on their territory. Beiyang and the British

As allies, we can naturally communicate with each other, but the most that Britain can give Spain is to provide some help." Severa shook his head and said. "But we can store a batch of ammunition in the Port of Santiago first."

"Mr. Admiral, do you think you can requisition some high-speed civilian ships to accompany the fleet to provide supplies? The speed must be fast. And the range and load capacity must be sufficient." Yang Yonglin thought of the Guiyuan class led by Xu Jie and Lin Yongsheng in Japan

Supply methods during guerrilla warfare in the open sea.

"But it is quite difficult to replenish coal and ammunition at sea. Moreover, the so-called high-speed civilian ships can only keep up with the fleet at cruising speed. Once a war breaks out, the two sides will inevitably distance themselves. And the fleet does not have enough power to cover it.

These ships are loaded with ammunition and supplies." Severa was a little confused.

"This problem can be solved through tactical means. The first targets we will attack are the American transport ships and cruiser formations. If we can eliminate some of the cruisers before the Americans can react. Then once the war starts, four 5,000-ton protective ships will

The cruiser can completely entangle the opponent's remaining cruisers, at least giving the transport fleet time to evacuate. We can't just do it because of the danger, we need a lot of supplies to support the fleet's long-term mobile operations." Yang Yonglin emphasized.

"Okay, I will try my best to make relevant preparations." Severa nodded and said.
Chapter completed!