Chapter 200 Don Quixote's Battle

"William, this will cause some losses to the private armed forces of our major companies. In fact, this can be completely avoided." Gail put the company's financial statements aside and raised his objection.

He didn't understand why Sheffield would take the initiative to cater to the needs of the navy and snatch the work that belonged to the expeditionary force that had not yet set out, and there was no benefit at all.

Sheffield smiled, looked at the tender green leaves of the big trees in the manor, and shook his head. "It is to make most people feel that the army is not important, and this is true in a sense. For the geographical location of our United States, the navy is indeed a priority. Sea power is indeed more important. Mexico is not a threat to us on land. As for Canada, the federal government does not dare to go against the British, at least not now."

"Also, the expeditionary force will definitely set off, but our private armed forces will indeed land soon. We may suffer some losses at the beginning, but compared to the gains, it will all be worth it."

That was all I had to say. In addition to what I could tell Gale, there were other reasons. A strong navy could threaten other countries, but a strong army could threaten internal opponents. Considering the worst-case scenario, if there was another Civil War, the navy's warships could not land, and the navy's position would not be considered.

And if the worst case scenario really happens, it's not thirty years ago now. Back then, they were shooting at each other with guns. Now, as long as the United Corporation can manufacture tractors, it can also manufacture tanks.

At that time, the position of the Army had to be considered, so the Navy wanted to exclude the Army and make it dispensable. This was a good thing for the entire South because the citizens of the Southern states were easier to mobilize, as can be seen from the membership of the National Rifle Association.

The army should be excluded, and should only have a scale of tens of thousands of people. Only a small army can be infiltrated. Sheffield United has been funding citizens to attend military schools. Although it has not borne fruit yet, there will be such a day.

What does a small loss mean? Who said that there would be no casualties in war? Although the Navy has no casualties so far, it has maintained a zero casualty status.

Since the private armed forces that were planning to take advantage of the chaos were incorporated by the US Navy halfway through, they were officially included in the combat sequence, so they had to have a more formal name. After much thought, Sheffield wrote in his reply, "Let's call it the Texas Legion. After all, it is indeed the descendants of those people back then, with the regiment and company as the second-level unit."

"Isn't that the name of the original Confederate Army?" Gail grinned secretly. The name seemed to have a bit of a contradictory meaning.

"What are you thinking? It's just a name. The real Texas Legion is still in Texas. It's the state's direct armed forces, not the United Company." Sheffield frowned. He had to criticize Gale's misunderstanding, "Although the United Company has always been a model of supporting the military and helping military families solve employment problems."

Sheffield is not very good at fighting, even the name is copied from the past, but this is the general idea. John Connor can fight, at least compared to the wars that have not required the army for many years, this Texas Legion belonging to major companies often suppresses the people who are eyeing overseas assets, so it can be regarded as having combat experience.

Although the true successor to the Texas Legion is still in the state, it is called the Texas Guard, which is the true successor to the Texas Legion, and includes six regiments, the Alamo Guards are stationed in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Weslaco, and Zapata. The Travis Rifles are stationed in Brownwood, Clifton, Killeen, Waco, San Marcos, and Austin.

The Panther City Guard is stationed in Arlington, Fort Worth, Denton, Wichita Falls, and Mineral Wells. The Texas Rangers are stationed in Houston, Bryan, Huntsville, Beaumont, and Port Arthur.

Parsons' regiments were stationed in Dallas, Grand Prairie, Wesley, Kilgore, and New Boston. Ironmen's regiments were stationed in Lubbock, El Paso, Midland, and Amarillo.

On the blockade fleet side, many naval officers were very impressed with such a thoughtful civilian armed force, and immediately began to formulate a battle plan with great interest. They did not say that the army was not needed, the army could certainly be present, but they did not want the army to demonstrate its importance and make the army an alternative option, which was necessary but not important.

It has to be said that Sheffield has seen through the superficial harmony among the various services but the intrigues behind the scenes, and accurately caught the ball kicked by the Navy to express his support for the Navy.

Fleet Commander Thompson sighed. Deep down in his heart, he did not like this kind of subordinates, but many naval officers and soldiers had already reached a consensus, and the Texas Legion also responded enthusiastically, so this was the only thing he could do.

The enthusiastic atmosphere of the crowd made the temperature of the already hot Caribbean Sea rise sharply. Even the Spanish fleet huddled in the port had a hard time. Although the sky was clear and the sun was shining, there seemed to be dark clouds over the heads of every Spanish naval soldier, and there was no smile on anyone's face.

Finally, Commander Thompson of the blockade fleet formulated a plan to divide the troops, with 15 warships, including four battleships, as the main fleet to continue the blockade mission to prevent the Spanish fleet from breaking through. Other warships helped the Texas Legion land in Guantanamo.

Thompson felt that the Spanish fleet could break through, even though they had just traveled thousands of miles to make tactical maneuvers and had entered the port of Santiago not long ago, which was not a contradiction. The battlefield was changing rapidly, and no one knew what their opponents were thinking.

From this point on, the Spanish-American War was no longer the same as history, and no one knew the impact it would bring. According to the order of General Thompson, the commander of the blockade fleet, the warships of the support fleet quickly joined the Texas Legion, which was a civilian armed force not long ago, and chose to land in Guantanamo Bay.

For naval officers and soldiers, it doesn’t matter who they cooperate with, because the United States Army is not necessarily very strong in combat anyway.

In the huge waves, these warships did not disgrace the reputation of the United States industry. Although the warships increased their speed to the maximum and the billowing smoke clearly guided each other's actions, they appeared unusually stable.

The news of suspected US landing forces appearing off the coast of Guantanamo has irritated the nerves of the Spanish fleet trapped in the port. Moreover, according to reports, the US landing forces seem to be protected by a large number of warships. Therefore, the strength of the US blockade fleet still blocking outside the port will be reduced to a certain extent.

The current situation is obvious. Once the US troops successfully land and step onto the land, coupled with the Cuban rebels who are already uncontrollable, the Spanish army will be attacked from both sides. Can they rely on the more than 200,000 Spanish troops on the island of Cuba? If they really have a very strong fighting force, even if the fleet does not come to support them, relying on the foundation of Cuba, they should have quelled the Cuban resistance long ago. Why wait for the fleet to come to support them?

At this critical moment, the Spanish Navy also showed the contradiction between sea and land. In the eyes of Spanish naval officers and soldiers, 200,000 troops were unable to suppress the Cuban rebels' army brothers, and their combat effectiveness could not be trusted.

Once the US landing force really landed, would the army, whose combat effectiveness was questionable, collapse and leave the fleet trapped in the port vulnerable to attacks from both land and sea? Rather than surrendering, it was better to give it a try and seize the tiny chance to defend the glory of the Spanish Navy.

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Cervera arranged the fleet in a single file, with his flagship in front and the two faster destroyers in the rear. From the shiny black hulls, where the huge prows with the Spanish coat of arms and shield shone in gold, to the huge sleek flags proudly waving on the masts, to the colorful sails on the decks, they expressed magnificence and chivalry, and a proud challenge.

"After this naval battle, the 400-year glory of the entire country of Spain will never return. Let the main guns of the United States Navy fleet serve as the final farewell to the entire former empire!" General Thompson, commander of the blockade fleet, learned that the Spanish fleet in Santiago Port began to break out and opened fire first. Instead, there was no trace of anger on his face. Instead, he was full of fighting spirit and was happy that God had given him the opportunity to bury Spain.

Following his orders, U.S. Navy warships began to open fire one after another. Sparks burst out on the vast sea. The huge sea thunder traveled far away and could be heard several kilometers inland.

Amid the majestic thunder, the muzzle fire instantly lit up a large area of ​​the sea. Even more than a dozen miles away, people could still clearly hear the roar that broke the silence. There was a slight interval between the first heavy artillery fire from the two Indiana-class battleships, and then the sea surface almost returned to silence, with only the special sound of heavy shells passing through the air.

Although a support fleet was sent to help with the landing, the main fleet under Thompson's command was still no match for the Spanish fleet. After the second main gun salvo, the two battleships attacked the enemy's large warships with their main guns, and used their secondary guns to deal with those small warships.

Other US Navy warships were also approaching rapidly. This naval battle looked chaotic, but the US Navy, which had an absolute advantage in strength, had ample opportunities to make mistakes, while their opponent, the Spanish fleet, could not make any mistakes. This was not a fair naval battle in itself, not to mention that there was not so much fairness in the world.

Soon the blockade fleet harvested its first trophy, a Spanish warship of about 3,000 tons caught fire. At this time, only half an hour had passed since the battle began, and the time since the firing was even shorter.

(End of this chapter)