Chapter 193 A One-Sided Start

Venezuela made the United States agree to expand its military, but then it became a routine, with the military branches competing for military funds, because to the north of the United States is British Canada, if it could handle it, the Venezuelan crisis would not be so embarrassing. And the last time the White House was burned down, to the south is Mexico, where changing rulers is like changing underwear in Sheffield.

The United States did not have much pressure on land, so naturally the navy believed that the army was useless and did not need to be expanded. Even Cuba had nothing to do with the army. It was only on the eve of the war that they felt that 30,000 troops were a bit insufficient. There were more than 200,000 Spanish troops on the entire island of Cuba. They could not expect the first-class troops to go ashore and fight, right?

Could it be that this evolution has nothing to do with Roosevelt who is in front of Sheffield at this time? This man is the Deputy Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Navy has long been almost the same as having no one.

It's not that the United Corporation is strong enough to mobilize half of the United States Army, but that the Army has suffered a lot of grievances in front of the first-class navy, and all the military funds have been used to build warships of these first-class people.

Of course, we cannot forget the Marine Corps of the United States. Although the situation of the third-class people is worse, it doesn’t matter. When the Air Force appears, they will become fourth-class people. There is no worst, only worse, and the hard days are yet to come.

As for logistics, the federal government naturally did not need a private enterprise to care about it. Injections had not yet appeared in this era. The key impression was that the US military suffered few casualties, so there was no room for toxic and bacterial gauze and tap water injections. If they were stockpiled, they would also lose money. All of this prevented black capitalists from taking action.

As for the supplies for the expeditionary force, in addition to guns and ammunition, the only thing related to the United Company might be food and fodder. Naturally, the United Company also had trusts in its hands. Some called it the canned food trust, some called it the beef trust, and some called it the flour trust, but they were all of no use.

The Civil War was the war in which the United States had fought with all its might. As a result, there were mountains of supplies piled up in military warehouses. The beef jerky in them had been stored for 30 years. The federal government must have felt that they could still be put to good use. In fact, not a single bit of the supplies were used up in the Spanish-American War. Sheffield remembered that during the Pacific War, the American troops who were beaten badly by the Japanese army relied on these beef jerky, which were bigger than their grandfathers, to deal with the Japanese Combined Fleet.

It can be seen that if the country acts like a hooligan, there is no room for black-hearted capitalists like Sheffield to play. Now he can only make a profit at a loss, so that Coca-Cola's Candler will take the initiative to appeal and be willing to provide free drinks to American soldiers on the battlefield, so that the US military can drink the taste of home anywhere.

Helping Theodore Roosevelt to raise a decent private army naturally did not require his personal involvement. If that didn't work, he could also release a group of people from private prisons to make meritorious contributions. However, the most vicious and serious criminals might not be willing to come out. In his own prison, there was a group of core prisoners who were treated quite well and even made a living from it. Prison was the best job for these prisoners.

Of course, this kind of help may not be understood by everyone. Gale soon learned about this matter and came to Oak Manor to learn about it. He was very puzzled and asked, "Why should we help a Yankee?"

"We are in the same country after all. Besides, we have put so much effort into expanding overseas in order to share the risk and grow by relying on overseas markets to prevent being harvested again. I have always had a question in my mind. Today, the economy of the United States is strong in the north and weak in the south. If one day we successfully restore our political influence before the Civil War, will the Yankees harvest us again? We have to be on guard and tell them not to act rashly." Sheffield wiped a shotgun, lowered his head without looking at Gale, and said slowly, "Today's situation was established after the Civil War. If there comes a day when the competition reaches that level again and I win again, will they accept their fate?"

Gail was stunned, savoring Sheffield's conjecture. If he said that everyone was at the top of the pyramid of the United States, with a family and a business, the Civil War should not break out again. But the problem was that the Civil War had already broken out once, and the result was that they, the plantation owners, were harvested. With such a precedent, how could he make a hasty assertion?

Sheffield thought more than Gail. He remembered that when Theodore Roosevelt was president, although he took measures against various trusts, these large enterprises were not seriously damaged. However, small and medium-sized enterprises and banks in the Great West were in a mess under Theodore Roosevelt's heavy blow. Theodore Roosevelt, who was born in New York, also focused on the real giant enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. He obviously spared his strength for the enterprises in the northeastern states.

"It's still a long way off, not yet at that time." Sheffield forced a smile at Gale, "So we farmers, just like when we were running plantations, still need to make necessary internationalization and share risks. We need to cultivate areas that have not yet been noticed by northeastern capital and get as many states as possible to stand with us. We still have a long way to go to regain our political influence."

Making friends with Theodore Roosevelt was just one of the preparations, and going overseas to share the risk was also one of them. But when the time comes, we still have to rely on the necessary armed forces. Fortunately, the United States has never paid much attention to the feelings of the army. This Spanish-American War was only a temporary mobilization of the army, and once the war is over, the army will be restored to its original state.

Although the United States is a bi-oceanic power, Sheffield believes that the army is more threatening internally. What if the contradiction becomes irreconcilable? If he can regain political dominance through business, what if the capital in the northeast is unwilling to accept this?

It would be great if they could force these opponents to bow down, but it would also be normal if they thought that the Northeastern states had a large population and could still win after a reshuffle. From a worst-case perspective, who says a second Civil War can't break out?

Sheffield is now riding the wave of history, but he himself cannot estimate when he will become the driver and when the historical ride will no longer be useful.

Now we have to take this issue one step at a time. Anyway, it is impossible to avoid irreconcilable conflicts by just sticking his head in his crotch. He still wants to seize the fruits of victory in the Spanish-American War. At most, he can share them with some northern companies first, but definitely not all.

In fact, during his time at Oak Manor, Sheffield and Roosevelt had established a good personal relationship. Theodore Roosevelt was a very proud person, which Sheffield had already seen. The fact that he had taken the lead in issuing orders to the Asiatic Squadron was enough to prove this point. It should be noted that not many people in the United States knew about Spain's military power in Asia.

Sheffield happened to be one of them. Roosevelt did not expect that his accurate estimate of the direction of Asia would have a similar person who made a more accurate guess and also knew the power that could be borrowed in the Philippines.

The two were equally confident of the victory of the United States, and even discussed the status of the Philippines after the war, which was completely a boast. On this point, Sheffield believed that directly annexing the Philippines would do more harm than good. "The population of the Philippines is initially estimated to be around 8 million. Mr. Roosevelt should know that such estimates are generally less than the actual number. This is one-tenth of the citizens of the United States. The Great West cannot even accommodate more than 200,000 Chinese, so how can it allow one-tenth of the local population to join in?"

As one of the few people in the United States who can make sense when talking nonsense, Sheffield can say that others are talking nonsense even if they are reasonable. Moreover, this is a little-known fact that many people lack. This made Roosevelt think that this young rich man was really a very capable young man. No wonder he could accumulate so much wealth, not all of which was supported by his family. There are not many young people with a long-term vision, and Roosevelt thought Sheffield was one of them.

If he knew that Sheffield had the foresight to prepare for the Second Civil War, he would certainly be even more surprised, perhaps even terrified.

The Spanish-American War was just a backdrop for Sheffield. Who said that he was pulling together the private armed forces of various companies to prepare for the day when conflicts would become irreconcilable? He could pretend to be fighting for his country and show off a bit of strength to deter others. What a great battlefield it was. What did it matter if the enemy was weak? The weaker the better.

The news that the Spanish fleet was approaching the Atlantic still shocked the big cities on the east coast three times a day. The battle first broke out in faraway Asia. Spain's colonial power was mainly in Cuba. Asia's overall military strength could not be compared with that of the Americas. Spain's Philippine Fleet was not as good as the Japanese Combined Fleet, and was also unable to defeat the destroyed Beiyang Fleet.

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To be honest, apart from the interference of the great powers, the Philippine Fleet would not have been able to take the top spot in Asia, not to mention that the enemy came from America. The Spanish Philippine Fleet only had two protected cruisers and four unprotected cruisers, and another unprotected cruiser was being repaired in the Manila shipyard.

Late at night, the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, led by the cruiser Olympia, took advantage of the darkness to sneak into the Spanish fleet's base camp - Manila Bay. The two fleets were only 400 meters apart. Following George Dewey's order, in the early hours of the morning, the main gun of the cruiser Olympia roared, marking the beginning of the battle.

The protected cruiser Olympia, with a tonnage of nearly 6,000 tons, is half the size of the 3,000-ton flagship of the Spanish fleet in the port.

From the beginning, it was a one-sided battle. The U.S. Navy was in the best position to adjust the gun position and load the ammunition under the eyes of the Spanish fleet, and then turned the port into a sea of ​​fire. Amid the roar of the cannons, one Spanish warship after another became the stepping stone of the victor and the most brilliant fireworks. As the saying goes, art is explosion.

In a telegram sent back to the United States, George Dewey triumphantly reported the losses, "The Spanish fleet was completely destroyed, and eight sailors of the great Union Navy were injured."

When the news of victory came, the entire United States was immersed in jubilation. "Look, the global empire of the past is now at this level!" Sheffield looked at his equally happy companions and said with his legs crossed. He had compared the exact strength of Spain, which was third in Asia, behind Japan and the Qing Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)