Chapter 252 The Trembling Gulf of Manila
April 18th, early morning.
In the Apra military port, two cargo ships flying the Spanish flag are next to each other. On the deck, hundreds of sailors squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands.
Next to, while several soldiers were monitoring with guns, they did not forget to take turns to look at the fleet that was gathering in the distance, with a proud and envious smile on their faces.
For several years, the secret that has been maintained in the name of Slo Nanyang Company and his uncle, the Governor of Guam, has been completely torn apart today. Two battleships, eight heavy cruisers, six light cruisers and two destroyers, as well as several gunboats from the Nanyang Escort here are all concentrated here, so that the huge harbors are several It's filled.
Next to the waterway connected to the harbor, a door has already been installed, but the coastal defense cannon that has to be hidden so far has been exposed for the first time, and the cold muzzle emits a compelling light in the sun.
When the soldiers looked at their fleet and smiled, the Spanish sailors on the deck all cried and stared at the captain in the front one after another. They all blamed him for taking over the business and insisted on coming to Guam to reclaim coal. Otherwise, how could such a thing happen?
The captain is even more like a mourning. How could he know that Spain had declared war on Honolulu just after arriving in Guam? And Guam has already been occupied? You know, I'm afraid you don't have to run the boat. As long as you tell the news to China, the bounty will be enough to live a stable life!
However, in addition to nervousness and fear, he, who had served in the Spanish navy, was also surprised by the four warships full of six-inch guns in the distance. If the unique triple suit is refreshing, then what can the six-inch be done?
Do you specialize in torpedo ships?
In addition to the four new warships like hedgehogs, what stunned him more was the coal-carrying ship in the center. The large warehouse in the center of the wide coal-carrying ship did not reveal a sharp coal pile, but moored an airship more than 20 meters long!
Yes, it must be an airship. He has seen much more shipyards in European countries all year round than ordinary people. Naturally, he knows this kind of airship that European countries are studying. He didn't expect that some people in the Far East have made this thing, and it seems that he is ready to put it into a military war.
Before the Spanish shipyard continued to sigh, the two largest battleships began to fire and anchor with four large cruisers. After a while, eight torpedo ships and gunboats centered on two small cruisers took the lead in rushing out of the port of Apura.
Half an hour later, the prepared six capital ships and a strange-looking cruise ship also slowly drilled out of the waterway, leaving as many as eight large troop carriers and the coal carrier carrying the airship.
Li Mo did not board the flagship Antarctic Star of this mission, not because the Antarctic Star was not good, but because he was afraid that he would not be in charge of his hands and feet when he went to Houji Rushan, which would affect the command of the fleet, so he continued to choose the test ship Honolulu to watch the battle.
In addition to Chen Ping, there are also Huang Fuqi, the commander of the Third Division, and Zhang Shun, the commander of the Marine Division, who had just arrived in Guam, and Zhang Shun, the commander of the Army Division, who had been promoted to the division commander. For a time, the bridge of the USS Honolulu was full of people. So many important people boarded the ship, which made the intern captain of the Naval Academy who had just taken over the Honolulu sweat, afraid. There was a little mistake.
Fortunately, when he saw that the captain was a little restrained, Master Li took the initiative to take several people to the flying bridge to blow the wind, and gave the bridge to the intern captain and his staff.
As an important test ship, in addition to experimenting with all kinds of new weapons, personnel training is also particularly important. Especially at the moment when the fleet expands too rapidly and the quality of personnel declines sharply, it is an extremely important means to make good use of every sea and battle to train sailors.
So in the past few days after leaving Guam, the flagship Antarctic Star will issue formation training missions on time every day. At that time, the fleet deck must be crowds and the turrets are spinning.
In the past two years, the third division has not been able to fight a decent battle. It has been nicknamed "the most reassuring army of the young master" by several other immoral division commanders. He laughed at Huang Fuqi for always guarding his old nest, so he has been holding back his fire. Although only two regiments were drawn to cooperate with the fifth division this time, he still packed all the staff and stuffed it in. The cabin.
The first regiment of the Marine Corps was an old army. Zhang Shun, who was near the water tower, learned that the young master had not started in North Korea so soon, so he sent the three battalions of the newly formed third division to the ship to grab the island, and then followed a regiment to the troop carrier and came to inspect the troops.
The two division commanders and the army staff officers saw the training carried out in the fleet's voyage for the first time, so they squeezed to the railing of the flying bridge on time every day and observed carefully with binoculars. Li Mo, who had nothing to do, and Chief of Staff Chen, brewed oolong tea like two rice insects waiting to die.
Aquinado, Jacinto, A-Mabini, Ann Luna, Quezon...
With a teacup, Li Mo recalled the list sent by Duan Fei, and involuntarily began to accelerate. In later generations, these names are all famous in the Philippines, but now they have become wandering souls under the muzzle of Liu Guishan's birds. In the short moment when the Spaniards launched an attack, the thirty-person night eagle The team not only completely blew up all the high-level officials of Katy Punan, but also lurked in the chaotic battlefield after the event, killing a large number of Katy Punan's grassroots officers!
Because of their appearance, the Spanish army of 15,000 people gathered almost effortlessly. It took only one night to successfully annihilate the 30,000 Kati Punan Uprising Army and almost uprooted the Luzon armed forces.
In addition to the information deliberately leaked by Sloe and the night eagle factor, it is also related to the low combat effectiveness of the Luzons. The Spanish army is already weak, but the soldiers who have just changed from mud legs to soldiers in Katy Punan are even more unbearable, and after the lack of command, they are even more chaotic. It is natural that porridge will be completely annijud.
The fleet is advancing at the unbearable speed of Master Li, sometimes with a long dragon, sometimes in columns, and wild geese like arrows. It takes at least five days from Guam to Manila at the speed of the fleet.
Fortunately!
Li Mo looked up at the white East. Today will be the last day!
"Young master, Ji Rushan reported that the fleet has passed through Su Luhai." Behind him, there was Duan Fei's report. Chen Ping also brought a message: "In addition, our fleet has also drilled out of the Red Sea."
Li Mo clicked and finally knew. In fact, from the beginning, he did not worry about the old ships hiding in Manila Bay, most of which were the Spanish Far East Fleet with unprotected cruisers. With the experience and equipment advantages of the Pacific Fleet over the years, even Chen Ping, who has always been cautious, believes that if it is for Luzon alone, even battleships do not need to be dispatched, sending four determination-class heavy patrols is enough to complete the task.
It's just that Luzon is a crucial part of this big plan, so the General Staff is also quite cautious after getting the plan proposed by Li Mo, because for everyone, planning two similar battles at the same time is undoubtedly a major and severe test.
But this test did not make anyone feel nervous. Instead, the staff officers looked happy and excited, because everyone knew that when the smoke of these two wars dissipated, Honolulu and the Pacific Army would lead to a new era!
Being able to participate in it is the dream of every man who is still flowing in his veins at this moment!
So for Chen Ping and the General Staff under his leadership, the landing battle after eating the Spanish fleet is the top priority. Although the strength of the Spanish garrison was consumed in the early stage, there were still nearly 20,000 Spanish troops there, plus the puppet army they organized, with a total number of about 40,000.
This is also the main reason why two battleships were added to the fleet. The General Staff wanted to consume the strength of the Spanish garrison as much as possible before landing through the strong firepower of the battleships and prepare for the later landing battle. For this reason, they even deliberately installed the first experimental airship with a radio. Taiwan is ready to guide the shelling through air reconnaissance.
Passing through the Sulu Sea means that the fleet is about to arrive in Manila. Although the fleet has also drilled out of the Red Sea at the same time, it will take at least half a month to cross the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to reach the Southern Ocean. Without a radio, they will at least wait until they arrive at the Andaman Sea to replenish coal to know Luzon's feelings. What's more!
So, I still have enough time!
I don't know if General Yamamoto, who chose the commander because of luck, had the courage to go straight into the Strait of Malacca or choose another way.
Suddenly, three dull and short whinings broke their thoughts, and the whistle sounded from the bridge at the same time, cutting through the tranquility of the morning.
The navy's whistle, just like the army's charge, the sailors who had been on standby for a long time immediately rushed to the deck, facing the fiery red Xu said, quickly pulled off each gun jacket, and the turret began to rotate left and right for the final pre-war inspection. The observer quickly climbed up the mast, and the signal soldiers on the flagship began to shake the flag constantly.
Ten minutes later, the airship on the coal carrier took off first. The huge size excited every Pacific soldier who saw this. The first investment of the airship indicates that the fleet will officially install a pair of eyes.
At this time, both Li Mo and Chen Ping, and even those army soldiers who crowded to the troop carrier have become outsiders, and they will become witnesses of another victory of the fleet! ——
Declared war!
When the news came, there was a chaos in Manila. Not only Beravitia was shocked, but also Montaujo, the commander of the Spanish Far East Fleet, scolded the idiotic legislators in China. Especially when the telegram ordered him to lead the fleet to attack Ryukyu in the north, he ignored his demeanor and directly in front of Puravisa. He tore up the telegram and then returned to the fleet base in Krabi without saying a word.
As a long-term naval general in the Far East, Montojo is very clear about the strength gap between himself and the Pacific Fleet. Although he still said in words that he would do his best, he knew very well that his fleet could not win the war at all!
Although he tore up the extremely idiotic order telegram, he still decided to do his best to maintain the glory of the Spanish fleet, but the reality gave him a headache.
Under the choice that it was impossible to take the initiative to attack, he had decided to rely on the Krabi and Manila forts to select the decisive battlefield of the naval battle in the Gulf of Manila, ready to rely on the forts and combine all the artillery on the warships for a defensive battle, waiting for the arrival of domestic reinforcements.
But the premise of such an assumption is that there must be enough mines to block the kilometer-long waterway of Manila Port as much as possible, but the problem is that there are no new mines in Manila, and most of the existing reserves of mines are decades ago. They are either rusty and moldy or useless, and cannot be used for blockade at all.
Of course, in addition, he has another way, that is, to use the sunken ship to block the waterway, but he also encountered thorny troubles. I don't know what's wrong with Manila Bay, which was originally full of ships. In the past few days, I can't even find a sang board. I don't know if those Chinese shipowners got the news and drove all the boats away, even people. I don't even know where I'm hiding!
It's impossible to take the few remaining warships to block the waterway, right? After thinking about it, he had to order the soldiers to cut down the wood and prepare to throw the dead horse into the waterway as a living horse doctor, but a more crazy scene appeared. The soldiers who were sent out suffered unimaginable losses. They were either killed by the Luzon's armed fish or a large number of Chinese troops recently gushed out of the net, or they were beaten into embarrass. Escape, less than 200 trees have been cut down in the past three days, and this amount of investment in the waterway is not enough for the battleship to hit!
In desperation, he had to give the final order to order the fleet to enter the shallow sea of Canaco Bay between Manila and Krabi and prepare to defend to the end.
In the Gulf of Canaco, Montojo stood on the deck of the first-class unprotected cruiser of the flagship Lena Cristina, with a pale face. With a full load displacement of 3,500 tons, it is named after the second wife of King Alfonso XII of Spain. It is actually old as the cruiser launched ten years ago.
But there are several older ones next to it, the first-class unprotected wooden shell cruiser Castile with a displacement of 3,342 tons, the second-class protective cruisers of Cuba Island and Luzon with a displacement of 1,030 tons, the second-class unprotected wooden-shelled cruisers Austria and Villatus, and the Marquis of Duaro and Lai The torpedo gunboat General Saw and the transport ship Danoman, which has been sent to the Gulf of Manila for reconnaissance.
Originally, he should have an unprotected cruiser Deuroa, but the last battle of Davao City was sunk by the Philippine mow force, so he only had these warships left to use.
After inspecting all the warships, Major General Montojo almost bit his teeth. Just as he was about to go to the fort to check the preparation, a cannon suddenly caught his attention. Outside the waterway of the Gulf of Manila, a gun smoke rose from the sky, which was a signal from the Danorman in charge of detection.
The Pacific Fleet is coming!
On April 23, the third day after the declaration of war in Honolulu, the Pacific Fleet arrived off the coast of Luzon and Manila. Afterwards, many people accused Li Mo of planning to annex Luzon because of the war time, so they could quickly arrive in Manila Bay three days after the declaration of war.
At 10:30, Major General Don Patricio Montojo, the commander of the Spanish Far East Fleet, gave an order that seven Spanish warships that had already been prepared raised fire and anchored one after another. At the same time, a series of signal flags were hoisted on the flagship Christina.
Content: "For Spain, a decisive battle!"
Half an hour later, Montaujo, who had just thought that he had inspired the water soldiers through the signal flag, was stunned by the news of the Dan Norman brought back. Two Arctic star battleships, four determination-class large cruisers, three protective cruisers, and as many as eight small warships!
An Arctic star battleship of 13,000 tons alone is enough to surpass all eight warships under his command!
Montho is not a fool. The name of the Pacific Fleet did not come from the desperate expansion of warships. If the Japanese fleet, which they attacked three years ago, was just a small test, then defeating the Russian fleet stronger than them, even Europe was shocked, and almost all countries listed the Pacific Fleet as Study the goal and analyze it carefully with a magnifying glass.
Although the other party's confidentiality measures are very strict, everyone still knows how much they have. Six capital ships and three protective cruisers are basically their first lineup to deal with the Japanese team, but the experience is far richer and more terrible than at that time!
And myself...!
"Damn it!" After Montojo woke up, he immediately cursed, because all his warships were not as good as the original Japanese fleet, not to mention combat experience.
"Bully people!" Montoya really wanted to rush to Li Mo, and then spit on his face, not to bully people like this!
In the face of such a huge Pacific army fleet, Montojo risked everything and ordered the ships to prepare for battle. In an eye, the fleet became silent. All the Spanish sailors widened their eyes and waited for the enemy to appear, but they didn't notice that an airship overhead had quietly empty--
Ji Rushan outside Manila Bay was not in the mood to spit across the bay and Montojo, and even ignored the Spanish transport ship as a target. As soon as the fleet arrived at the mouth of the waterway, he immediately sent all eight small warships, including two destroyers, and ordered them to thoroughly search the waterway.
Because he knows very well that for a fleet that attacks ports and fortresses, the most dangerous thing is not the other side's forts and warships, but the crises hidden underwater.
On the top of the head, the hovering milky airship was pulled up again until it became a small point. The destroyer responsible for exploring the waterway finally sent a message. Except for hundreds of thick trees that had been slowly scattered with the waves, no mines were found in the waterway.
Not to mention Ji Rushan, this news, even Chen Ping, who watched the battle behind, was stunned. I really don't know what the Spaniards are doing. Only Master Li curled his lips. He knew more than anyone how embarrassing the dilemma of the Spanish Far East Fleet was. If it hadn't been for the inability to interfere with the command, he would have ordered the fleet to go straight. It's Manila Bay.
Twenty minutes later, the two Polaris battleships, with rough skin and thick flesh, took the lead in crashing into a few floating logs and entered the Manila Bay waterway. At the same time, the Spanish army fort south of the channel made three loud noises.
"Boom!"
Three consecutive columns of water made Ji Rushan turn his head and look at it, but he was not nervous in Thailand, because the fort had already been marked, but he didn't expect the Spaniard to fire so eagerly.
The old-fashioned 152mm coastal defense gun will not cause much damage to the fleet even if it is hit. What's more, the Spanish soldiers don't know how long they haven't trained, and the fixed shelling is still hundreds of meters away.
"Suppress it!"
Ji Rushan decisively gave the first order after entering Manila Bay. After actual combat, the radio command gun battle method has been improved several times. Now he has become more and more proficient in the fleet. Even if he can't make real-line voice calls, the long and short signal command method invented by several correspondents has been able to protect the fleet. It is necessary to prove the smit-shot.
As the command conrespondents in the Antarctic Star communication module suddenly pressed the telegraph, a harsh long sound sounded in the radio stations of each ship at the same time. The long sound quickly spread along the telephone handset placed on the side to the ears of the gun commanders of each ship. Everyone almost shouted at the artillery at the artillery command phone of the other hand.
Boom...
Perhaps the Spanish defenders on the fort did not expect that they only fired the first shell, and the six capital ships of the Pacific Fleet fired back at the same time. Twenty-four large-caliber shells landed almost all around the position at the same time, and the 152mm secondary guns on each ship also sounded at the same time.
In an moment, the small fort was submerged by artillery. Although the Spanish soldiers tried their best to fight back, just ten minutes later, when the last troop carrier entered Manila Bay, the fort had become a pile of rubble.
Through the news from the reconnaissance airship, Ji Rushan had already locked the Spanish fleet hiding in the anchorage, so he immediately rushed to the shallow sea area of Kanaco Bay in southwest Manila with six capital ships.
The rumble of gunfire had already frightened the soldiers in the Spanish fleet. When the other fleet appeared in sight, almost everyone was scared by such a huge fleet, and Montojo did not expect that the other side even drove in the troop carriers!
While scolding Li Mo for preparing to annex the Philippines, he also issued an order to fire at the same time.
Boom...
A group of fireworks and thick smoke vigorously came out of the Spanish ships, and dozens of black spots roared through the air at the same time, rushing at the opponent.
In the telescope, the head crossed the mouth of Becco Bay in the east-west direction. The left wing was located in the Spanish fleet formation in the Gulf of Ganaco, which greatly disappointed the captains who were ready to do a big fight. Obviously, the Spanish fleet only intended to defend and was not ready to fight back.
The captains sighed one after another, which was obviously another unnecessary and boring shelling training, so after handing over the shelling task to the gun captain, they chose to stand by.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, after the Spanish fleet took the lead in firing, the four forts in Krabi and Manila were also filled with smoke at the same time. Although each ship had a gun with a range of 10,000 meters, and the four improved main guns reached 15,000 meters, because the other side were wooden warships, in order to improve accuracy Surname, enhanced killing, Ji Rushan still took all the high-explosive bombs and approached 5,000 meters before ordering to open fire!
Rumble, rumble...
Suddenly, the sea was filled with gunpowder smoke and fire. In order to cooperate with the slower battleships, the main guns of the six capital ships bombarded the Spanish fleet in reverse at a salvo speed every minute.
After the six capital ships opened fire at the same time, the whole Manila Bay trembled, and the deafening roar enveloped the whole harbor. Smoke, fire, explosions and water columns rose one after another, as if announcing the arrival of a new era in Luzon!
Under the sound of the main guns that destroyed and swept everything, the first unlucky was the island of Cuba. In the second round of volley, the protective cruiser, which protected only had a thin layer of dome armor, was directly hit in the middle of the hull by a 203mm high-explosive bomb. The huge explosion directly tore the port side of the hull with a diameter of two. In the big hole of rice, two unprepared and exposed .76-inch cannons were directly lifted several meters high.
The violent explosion attracted the attention of the deputy gunners. The two heavy patrols of the determination and the tenacious gunfire on one side almost overwhelmed the hull of the island of Cuba, which began to tilt. The cruisers, which were only more than 1,000 tons, were immediately set on fire and completely sunk in just two minutes.
The rapid sinking of the island of Cuba and the snihilation of the other party every minute made Montjo realize that if he continued to defend the shallow sea area, he would definitely die, so he immediately ordered to attack the other side.
But his order was obviously too late. Fang Jin's Sirius aimed at the largest Spanish flagship from the beginning. In the case of the slow speed of the main gun, the gun officer chose to concentrate all the secondary guns and fired at Christina with all his strength.
Four 152mm secondary guns per minute all use high explosive bombs that cause great damage to the wooden hull, and the distance is 5,000 meters. For the fleet gunners who have long been used to shelling fixed targets, it is no different from the usual shelling training competition.
And it is obvious that the Christina was not blessed in heaven.
Two minutes later, a few seconds after the flagship gave the order and transferred the bow, two 152mm shells accurately penetrated the bow deck, and the explosion suddenly arched from the deck, just like a crust covered by magma. The wooden deck suddenly arched and then scattered. The violent air waves carried countless fragments. Sweeping away, the sailors around the deck were swept into pieces of meat.
The explosion also attracted more attention. The gunners, who had always aimed at sinking, turned their guns one after another and aimed at the largest Spanish warship.
In the end, the front main gun of the Antarctic Star grabbed the first, and a 305mm shell penetrated from the bridge of the almost paralyzed and unable to move, directly announcing the fate of the flagship. The explosion not only killed all the officers in the bridge and the conning tower, but also pulled open the keel. Ten minutes later, the two survived. The deputy announced the abandonment of the ship.
The loss of the flagship not only boosted the morale of the artillerymen of the Pacific Fleet, but also dealt a heavy blow to the Spanish fleet and fled without unified command.
At this time, Ji Rushan also decisively ordered the disbandment of the volley, and the ships chose their own targets. In this way, the Spanish fleet was even worse. In just ten minutes, the Castile and Luzons ignited fires one after another, and Villatus was hit by a continuous 203mm main gun shell, the whole ship The body was torn into pieces and floated on the sea.
Thirty minutes later, the small-scale naval battle ended. Except for the stranding of the Austrian beach, the other ships were either sunk directly or burned down by fire.
Standing on the Manila fort, Beravisia, who watched the artillery battle with her own eyes, trembled. When the opponent's muzzle began to slowly raise and aimed at the fort, she immediately ran away from the image.
At 1:3, Ji Rushan, who had just finished the naval battle, issued an order to fully shell the forts of Krabi and Manila!
Countless shells began to rush to the four turrets, which were not strong, and the disrepaired turrets were suddenly submerged in the sea of fire. Especially after free shooting, four new 203mm main guns of four heavy patrols sent shells weighing 250 kilograms to the fort at a speed of two rounds per minute.
Plawissia and his generals obviously underestimated the strike capability of the Pacific Fleet. The ancient open-air fort and the neat line of soldiers have completely become the targets of naval guns.
The only regret is that due to the high terrain of the four turrets, the secondary guns of each ship could not participate in the massacre because of the angle problem, and the main gunner, which needed to save ammunition, hit the door smoothly and kept stuffing hundreds of kilograms of shells into the gun.
In this scene, the corners of Master Li's eyes on the Honolulu are twitching in the distance. You should know that every round of the main cannon shell is extremely expensive. In order to prepare two consecutive battlefields this time, the logistics has been squeezed to the limit.
Chen Ping, who was holding a telescope beside him, sighed that if it hadn't been for the young master a few years earlier, he had proposed to increase the angle of naval gun shooting and raise the European standard of 15 degrees to 25 degrees, and the recently imitated improved 203mm naval gun and the new 152mm naval gun to 30 degrees and 40 degrees. Otherwise, I'm afraid that only a few small-caliber deck guns on the cruiser in the fleet can reach the target at this moment.
Forty minutes later, the four forts were completely wrapped in gunpowder smoke, so that the airships hovering overhead could not see whether there were any enemies. As the four determination-level heavy patrol main guns were raised to the maximum firing angle.
Li Mo knew that he was ready for long-range shelling at this time!
He looked at the airship hovering at an altitude of 2,000 meters and exhaled deeply. This may be the first gunfire in history that was purely guided by a radio station out of sight.
It's just a pity in his heart. If four Jinghai-class light patrols and four Vladivostok-class heavy patrols were here at this time, what a spectacular scene! Unfortunately, in order to hide them, I made sure that the secret of the triple suit was exposed early, and I was confused, so I can only save this regret for the next time.
I don't know if there is still a chance to see this boiling shelling with my own eyes after this end.
"Boom...!"
A few seconds later, 16 203mm shells were fiercely pushed out of the gun. The huge recoil force made the four ships move several meters at the same time. Two hundred and 250 kilograms of shells tore the air and roared to the Spanish colonial headquarters in Krabi, which was blocked by mountains and forests. Fly away!
In the silence of the radio...
(to be continued)