Chapter 251 Declaring War on Spain

The snowstorm that ravaged the winter finally dispersed, and everything in Washington revived in spring. The streets and pubs were full of joy and laughter.

The spacious carriage stopped in front of the White House. The sound of the engine made Roosevelt turn his head in the carriage and looked at a new four-wheeled car passing by with thick tail smoke, and his eyebrows frowned deeper.

He knows where that kind of car comes from. It is said that in the upper class, this kind of five-pointed star car has been sold like crazy, and it is often already booked out before the goods arrive.

However, he must also admit that compared with the previous tricycle with a pungent kerosene smell, this is a real car. It uses gasoline, can ride four people at a time, can drive 80 kilometers in a row, and it is very comfortable.

When the car disappeared quickly, his mind returned to the situation in the Far East, which was still broken at this moment.

Due to the special relationship between the United States and Japan, he can quickly get the latest news from Japan. Although the telegram needs to be delayed for a day, it does not prevent him from analyzing the direction of action of the Pacific Army from the snowflakes of news.

But the problem is that there are still more than ten days left, but so far, the information he has received is all about the army, and the most worrying Pacific Fleet, except for replacing two of the four Arctic star battleships originally used to block the Uraga waterway with the Duke class that has just returned from Germany. There is no more news.

Even the Tsushima Strait and the sea off Incheon, which are crucial to the Korean battlefield, only two torpedo ships and a few torpedo boats patrol, as if the remaining main force of the fleet had disappeared!

Yes! Disappeared!

The door of the Honolulu Shipyard is open, and the dock is empty. The workers are slowly cleaning the dock and basking in the sun, but no matter what he has done, no one knows what the four docks have made in those two years!

The same is true of the Ryukyu Shipyard. There are only two torpedo ships being built in the six docks, and the remaining four Russian warships that have been repaired are also traceless, and no one knows what the warships have been repaired.

Even the two Arctic star battleships, four determination-class large cruisers, and several small cruisers that should have returned there to rest and wait for the return fleet have all disappeared. Where did they go?!

Roosevelt is very clear that, taking into account for the four unknown ships in Honolulu, the remaining fourteen capital ships and four small cruisers of the Pacific Fleet are hiding somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the Pacific Ocean is too big, and the United States has not really taken that step so far, not to mention that even if someone finds them at this moment, until they disappear. It will take at least half a month for the information to reach you.

Half a month.

At that time, the huge return fleet that had departed from Britain should have arrived in the South China Sea.

"Is it possible that the main force of the Pacific Fleet is on the South China Sea? Why don't you ask George Dewey to help me search for him? As soon as Roosevelt thought of this, the footsteps broke his mind and saw that William McKinley, who had just succeeded in the election and was about to become the next president of the United States, had walked out of the White House.

After pulling the door quickly, William McKinley got into the carriage and glanced at him, and suddenly laughed, "Dear Teddy, the life of the Admiralty must make you very happy."

"God, that's the most difficult job." Roosevelt smiled and said, "I finally know why John likes to recuperate, because no matter who encounters so many things, he will definitely have a headache."

"Haha." William McKinley also laughed. He knew who John was in Roosevelt's mouth. John Rundo had been recuperating at home since he became the Secretary of the United States Navy, but this also made it cheaper for him to install Roosevelt as Deputy Secretary of the Admiralty, so he immediately blinked his eyes and smiled, "Teddy, I think He has been resting all the time, but it's a good opportunity for you.

Hearing the meaning of William McKinley's words, Roosevelt quickly leaned forward and asked urgently, "Our President of Cleveland agreed?"

William McKinley nodded with a cold light in his eyes: "Yes, Mr. Cleveland has promised that if the situation in Cuba is deteriorating, he will sign a mobilization order immediately."

"Mobilization order?!"

Roosevelt shook his head vigorously: "No, what the United States needs now is not a mobilization order, but an immediate war with Spain to seize the pearl in the Caribbean Sea! We can no longer let Cuba continue to be in turmoil. Once the Cubans win the war and are recognized by the international community, we will lose it forever!"

Hearing his complaint, William McKinley also shook his head with a wry smile: "Teddy, don't be angry. Mr. Cleveland has tried his best. You know, his term is only one month, and no one can start a war at the end of his term."

Roosevelt didn't know the difficulties of Cleveland. In fact, he had a good feeling for Cleveland. At least the president already had a sense of Pacific worry. During his term of office, he allocated funds to the navy twice and built four Iowa-class and four Chilshaji-class battleships, as well as more than a dozen cruisers, but His shiver at this time made people feel that his previous achievements were wasted.

The Far East is in full swing. Although the four Japanese capital ships built by the United States have returned to Japan, they were blocked in Tokyo Bay by the Pacific Fleet on the first day after returning, and there was almost no possibility of going to sea. Therefore, the Pacific Army could block the Tsushima Strait with only a few destroyers, making the Japanese army stationed in the North Korea become Lonely army.

An army that lacks supplies can't win the war. Only a paranoid like Japan will not give up North Korea. If it were the United States, it might have withdrawn its fists and prepared for the final battle!

My paranoia is inseparable from their national surname and unique geographical environment. After all, this island country that lacks resources is not capable of participating in this cruel competition at all. And Honolulu did not have it, but after acquiring the three northeastern provinces of China, they have initially exposed their sharp fangs. If they can clean up Russia in a few years, they can announce that the Far East has changed color!

So Roosevelt is the most staunch Pacificist. According to his idea, he should immediately participate in the action of competing with Honolulu for the Pacific, instead of continuing to focus on the aging Atlantic Ocean!

The idea is good, but the problem is that he has just become the Deputy Secretary of the Navy and can only convince some members of Congress who are greedy for the Far East. Most Americans still focus on the Atlantic Ocean, especially at this time!

Damn Cubans actually chose a sudden riot at this critical moment, and the rotten and old Spain, more than 200,000 troops were beaten at a loss, one after another. If it hadn't been for the numerical advantage, perhaps Cuba could have announced that it would have been free from colonial rule now!

Seeing that under its own influence, the attitude of the United States is tilting towards the Pacific Ocean. Unexpectedly, at this moment...

However, the road to the Pacific Ocean is still open to the United States, and the Philippines, which is also a Spanish colony, is rioting! But the current president is Cleveland, but William McKinley, who agrees with him!

This is an almost insurmountable obstacle!

William McKinley sighed. He didn't know what Roosevelt was thinking, but when he thought of Cleveland's words just now, he sighed: "In addition to the end of his term, there are also problems in our country. The recent gold run has reached the most dangerous situation. I asked the Ministry of Finance, and they told me that There are less than 30 tons of gold left in the former treasury. If the run continues, the United States will not be able to find a gram of gold!"

"There are only 30 tons!" William McKinley's words made Roosevelt temporarily forget the war and quickly asked, "How is it possible? Don't we have nearly 400 tons of gold reserves? Isn't it!"

Before he finished speaking, William McKinley sighed: "Teddy, our finance has reached a very dangerous moment. If the remaining gold is also run, the U.S. financial industry will face a heavy hit and the currency will depreciate sharply. At that time, I'm afraid we can't even collect all the coal money for the warships to Cuba!"

"Is it so serious?" Roosevelt knew that there was a recent gold run in China, and it was difficult to find even a gram of gold in the market, but he didn't expect that the 400 tons of gold reserves in the U.S. treasury would be run out in just two months!

As long as there is a little financial knowledge, everyone knows that once the treasury reserve of gold is runned, the dollar green coin will have to be supported by silver, but the problem is that silver is not recognized in the international market, and the value of silver is also very low. In that case, the credibility and status of the dollar will become precarious.

William McKinley took a breath: "Mr. President Cleveland has asked Morgan, Thomas and Carnegie for help, but judging from the reply, there are few people who responded. Carnegie and Rockefeller do not have enough funds. Only Thomas and Morgan are willing to contribute 150 tons of gold to the rescue, but?"

"What, do they want to blackmail the president?" Roosevelt clenched his fist.

"It's not blackmail, but they don't believe that the political axe has the ability to calm down the market and solve the run. They are afraid that the gold invested will be lost, and they are also worried about our gold and silver double standard system. Therefore, they proposed that the premise of bailing the market is to establish a new reading financial reserve institution, and they will be responsible for managing the United States. The country's gold reserves.

"What!" Roosevelt almost jumped up. Even if he didn't know finance, he knew what it meant to establish this institution. At that time, the American political axe would completely lose control over the currency!

"The President of Cleveland has been consulting with them and is willing to issue $100 million in gold bonds to the two of them to buy their gold, but the situation is not optimistic at present." William McKinley sighed and continued, "In addition to the run, I think there is another thing I should let you know."

William McKinley cleared his throat and said again, "Just when I was with the president, I got the news that three days ago, two convoys in Honolulu were bombed and sunk in the port of Manila. A total of 74 sailors were killed in the explosion. At present, Honolulu's political axe has urgently summoned the Spanish ambassador and made a request. The compensation is 100,000 pounds for each dead soldier, one million pounds for each gunboat, and the demand for the slaughter of Chinese Filipinos must be stopped immediately!"

"What!" Roosevelt opened his mouth again. There was an explosion in Manila, and it was attacked by the warship of the battlefield maniac Li Mo. God, you will know from the conditions they put forward that the next step must be war!

The problem is that the war between Honolulu and Japan is urgent, and the returning fleet has also set out. Why did Li Mo fight against the Spanish in the Philippines at this time? Did he also see Spain's weakness? Get ready!

Thinking of this, Roosevelt immediately shook his head. Li Mo was not a fool. In fact, from his rise to Honolulu, he skillfully borrowed international relations at every step and chose the best time for every war. So this time?!

"Malacca!"

Roosevelt's eyes suddenly lit up: "I know, Lee Mo wants to block the Strait of Malacca!"

"He saw Spain's weakness, so he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to go to war with Spain to send his fleet into the southwest Pacific, so that his fleet could operate openly in the Strait of Malacca and block the way for the Japanese fleet to return home!"

"God, we must immediately stop the Japanese fleet from going to Malacca. If they break through, they don't even need battleships. They only need to arrange a few torpedo ships, and they can completely block the whole strait!"

Roosevelt danced and excitedly wanted to jump out of the carriage immediately to inform him, but as soon as he was about to get off the bus, he was stopped by William McKinley: "Teddy, don't worry, you can think of it, George Dewey has also thought of it, so he has taken the fleet to the Philippines, hoping to launch a march in Honolulu. Nila, delay Honolulu's actions.

"Teddy, I don't think we can keep our eyes on Hawaii at this time." Speaking of this, William McKinley flashed in his eyes and gritted his teeth: "Just now, I have called the Admiralty. They will send the Maine to visit Cuba tonight while protecting our expatriates."

This sentence shocked Roosevelt. He knew what happened to the Maine's trip, because the plan was almost made by him with William McKinley and Mahan!

Roosevelt regained his composure and slowly sat down again. For him, Honolulu has become the biggest stumbling block for the United States to obtain the Pacific Ocean, but if Cuba and Puerto Rico cannot be solved wholeheartedly, the United States will never be able to concentrate on the Pacific Ocean, so even if the fleet is already in this moment In great danger, he still had to temporarily put aside the Far East battlefield and make every effort to deal with the war in front of the United States.

Once he made up his mind, Roosevelt seemed to have regain his wisdom and determination. He turned his head to William McKinley and immediately said, "I will arrange someone to board the Main immediately. I don't think anyone will stop the appointment of the Deputy Secretary of the Navy."

"Then we'll wait for your good news!" William McKinley breathed a sigh of relief, took out a cigar and handed it to Roosevelt, and the sharp cold light in his eyes flashed away--

London on the other side of the Atlantic was also dizzy by the sudden explosion, and at the same time, it was a headache because both countries used London as a place for diplomatic struggle.

On April 11, after two Honolulu escorted two gunboats exploded due to the search of Spanish soldiers, Honolulu's axe immediately ordered to summon the Spanish ambassador to China and the ambassador to Hawaii.

In order to speed up, they even sent a telegram to the ambassador to the United Kingdom to protest to the Spanish political axe after many transits around half of the world, demanding that the other party immediately explain the deliberate bombing of the Honolulu warship, and at the same time proposed a huge amount of compensation and handing over the Spanish governor in the Philippines, Polavisa, to Tan. Xiangshan Court is on trial and other a series of requirements.

If Honolulu and Japan are just a fight between two military maniacs in the Far East, then this sudden apology and huge compensation are regarded by everyone as an omen that the Honolulu government axe is ready to intervene in international affairs and make its own voice.

Obviously, with the enhancement of strength, the young master of Hawaii is no longer willing to be in the remote Far East, so he chose to protest against the Spanish political axe in this ** place in London to expand his international influence!

In the Prime Minister's official residence, "Bang!" With a sound, the Marquis of Salisbury threw away the newspaper angrily. As the British Prime Minister, he was not interested in the slurity between Honolulu and Spain. What made him angry was that the damn Li Moe protested in London.

What is the meaning of this? You should know that Britain has just sent the Japanese fleet away. Is he now submitting this kind of diplomatic protest in London hitting the British political axe's attitude towards the current situation in the Far East?!

Sallsbury is not sure. Kimberly also can't know what Limer is thinking. Why should he protest in the UK? Is he geographically blind? Do you think that Britain is far away from Spain and his diplomats can't reach it?

The Marquis of Salisbury stroked his forehead. Suddenly, he had a strong impulse to order the Mediterranean Fleet to set out immediately, cross the Suez Canal, go to the Far East, catch the arsonist, the war madman with the Far East Fleet, and then cut open his head to see what this guy was thinking!

Of course, this is impossible, at least not now, because the British Empire still pursues an isolation policy. Even if it is slowly changing, there are still many parliamentarians who do not agree to let Britain join international affairs immediately, and Germany and Boole need to concentrate on dealing with it during this period.

All I can say is that this troublemaker has picked a good time!" Has Spain reacted? The Marquis of Salisbury sighed and asked.

"No." Foreign Secretary Kimberley shook his head: "Cuba and the Philippines have made the Spaniards anxious. They don't have the energy to deal with it now, but the Spanish ambassador has come to me. I hope we can coordinate."

"Coordination?" The Earl of Salisbury sighed, "What's the matter? Isn't it said that the Philippines has been controlled?

"So it is." Kimberly shrugged his shoulders and couldn't laugh or cry: "But the new governor of the Philippines probably wanted to make good results, so after suppressing the rebels, he continued to eliminate the remaining party on a large scale. I heard that he also killed a lot of Chinese."

"Idiot!" The Marquis of Salisbury cursed and said, "Well, please go and see the Spanish ambassador, indicating that we did not know this in advance, and tell them that we, Britain, will not interfere in the affairs between Honolulu and them."

"Then, leave them alone!" Salisbury patted the table and was furious.

On April 15, on the third day after the British decided to stay out of the incident, after receiving the news that the Japanese fleet had passed through the Suez Canal, he thought that Li Mo was just acting like a Spanish political axe to scare people, and made a rash decision to officially reject Honolulu's unreasonable request, saying that if the Philippines was attacked Then the Spanish Far East Fleet stationed there immediately cooperated with Japan to launch an attack!

On April 16, Li Enfu, on behalf of Li Mo, read the already prepared ultimatum, demanding that the Spanish political axe must meet the previous conditions within two days, otherwise all the consequences will be borne by Spain.

On April 18, after the ultimatum reached Spain, the Spanish political axe woke up. Li Mo was not joking, and the Spanish parliament, which had always been lazy, decided to take the lead in the war!

However, because Honolulu has no diplomatic personnel in Spain, the Spanish political axe immediately submitted a declaration of war to the British ambassador to the British ambassador to Honolulu in London. At the same time, it sent a telegram asking the Spanish Far East Fleet in the Philippines to set out immediately and go north to attack Ryukyu.

At the same time, it is announced that it will send a fleet of its warships, including the first-class battleship Pelejo, Hermitokendo and the two large cruisers of Bisyakar, and the Far East Fleet will go north together!

On April 20, Li Enfu, who got the news, also officially declared war on Spain on behalf of Honolulu!

In a short time, from the explosion to the declaration of war, everything is dazzling. Even in many cases, the first telegram has expired when it arrives. Whether it is the Japanese version that really makes every effort to prepare for war, or Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries, there is no time to respond at all.

When the new British ambassador to China, Sir Dou Nale, who replaced Ogner, arrived in Lushun to intervene in negotiations and dissuaded the two sides, the two countries had already declared war separately!

When the news of Spain and Honolulu finally declaring war on each other spread, no one could believe this fact. They all thought that Li Mo had been driven crazy by the huge returning fleet, so he took such an extreme action!

The British Prime Minister Salisbury, who had always thought that Li Mo was just out of the limelight and would not really go to war with Spain. At least there were only ten days left to declare war with Japan, no one wanted to make a branch at this time, and even directly smashed his pocket watch.

The whole world is in an uproar!

(to be continued)