Chapter 943: Battle of Manila Bay

First town.

After Spain declared war on the United States, Ernst soon got the news. The war between the two countries naturally attracted the attention of the East African Navy and Army.

The East African Navy has a short history, few battle records, and little experience, so it is very concerned about the upcoming naval war. The United States and Spain are both maritime powers, so no matter who wins or loses in this war, it can provide better data support for the development of the East African Navy.

The U.S. Navy is the focus of East Africa. After all, the expansion of the U.S. Navy has only been in recent years, and a large number of new technologies have been applied far more than Spain, which is a sunset flower.

The East African Army is not very concerned about the US-Spanish War, because the battle between the two armies is a chicken-pecking battle, but Spain has applied some East African standard equipment in the Philippines, so it still has a certain test effect on rifles, artillery, machine guns and other weapons.

"This war between Spain and the United States is probably the last war in the entire 1990s. Together with the South African War and the Far East War, three large-scale wars broke out in just ten years. This also indicates that the world is in a fierce collision period, and the battle between new and old forces is far from over." Ernst sighed.

East Africa against Britain, Japan against the Far East Empire, and the United States against Spain are all provocations of new forces against old forces in the international order.

Of course, the South African War is more complicated and involves Portugal. As for the relationship between Britain and East Africa, it can only be considered a draw, but when Britain intervenes in the South African War, other countries can easily ignore Portugal, which is also the main force, and the Boer Republic is even less concerned.

Of course, these three wars are actually appetizers. In Ernst's mind, Germany's challenge to British hegemony is the final outcome. Among the old countries, Britain and France are the most representative, and among the emerging countries, Germany is naturally.

Although there are East Africa, the United States, Japan, these rising stars, but these countries are not in Europe. Now the center of world civilization is in Europe, so the gold content is different.

The main battlefield of World War I was Europe, and World War II spread to the three regions of Europe, Asia and Africa. Of course, the main battlefield of Africa in World War II was North Africa.

Archduke Ferdinand said: "The current international situation is like this. Many countries have achieved their own breakthroughs with the help of the tide of the Industrial Revolution, but the international community is a cake that has been divided up long ago. If the up-and-coming countries want to share a piece of the pie, they can only challenge the old countries."

Constantine: "The United States should not be considered a rising star. In fact, the United States has always been very strong, but it is hidden deeper and is often easily overlooked. Therefore, the Spanish-American War is also an opportunity for the United States to demonstrate its military strength and gain more political influence."

"What my father-in-law and father said are both correct, but it is also because of this that we in East Africa cannot stop the pace of development. For East Africa, we are relatively passive in the current international situation." Ernst said: "On the one hand, we have the strong accumulation of countries such as the United States, and on the other hand, East Africa's domestic economy has just started to work, so if we want to dominate the division of the international pie, it will take at least 20 to 30 years."

The East African economy has actually just built the overall framework, and the country's industrialization will require at least a dozen years or even longer efforts.

According to the current economic development speed of East Africa, before 1910, if the urbanization of East Africa can break through 30%, then the East African government will have achieved excellent results.

After all, in 1910, the urbanization level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was only more than 20%, and that of the Tsarist Russia was only more than 10%, which is much worse than that of East Africa today.

East Africa can be among the world's powers because of its population and territory accumulation, which is also the case with the Tsarist Russia, while other powers are more powerful in industrial strength.

Of course, Ernst is not too worried about improving East Africa's industrial strength. After all, East Africa has completed the layout of emerging industries such as electricity and internal combustion engines, which means that East African technology will not be too bad in the future as time goes by.

Therefore, the economic work of the East African government is mainly to continue to improve its economic system and stimulate the vitality of economic development. At present, the state-owned economy is dominant, which can be more conducive to East Africa's catch-up with other countries.

East Africa's reform of the state-owned economy has never been interrupted. Even if the Far Eastern Empire in the previous life had to continue to spur state-owned enterprises, the state-owned economic framework in East Africa would only become more rudimentary. Now the East African government is constantly checking for deficiencies and filling gaps on this basis.

Of course, Ernst will not let go of the shackles of the private economy at this stage. After all, the state-owned economy in East Africa is still in its rising stage, and it is beneficial for the East African government to concentrate national resources to compete with other countries.

When the state-owned economy in East Africa is relatively mature and can lead the national economic development, it is time for Ernst to start the next reform.

…

Because of East Africa's provocation, Spain postponed the declaration of war, which gave the Spanish garrison in the Philippines more time to prepare.

After the two countries declared war, the US Asian Fleet stationed in Hong Kong officially headed towards the Philippines, and when the US Navy touched the coast of the Philippines, it was already June.

The Spanish Navy in the Philippines adopted the strategy of the previous life and prepared to rely on the terrain advantage of Manila Bay to deal with the powerful US Navy.

At noon on June 3, the US Navy finally arrived in Manila Bay and confronted the Spanish Navy. Because of the addition of Zaragoza and Sagunto, the number of Spanish Philippine Navy warships increased to eleven, including nine cruisers and two gunboats.

Among them, only Zaragoza, Sagunto, and Cristina were steel armored, so the Spanish Navy was still at a clear disadvantage.

The Spanish Navy was beaten to a pulp after only one encounter between the two sides. The Cristina, which was at the forefront, was directly blown out with a big hole, and seawater quickly poured into the cabin. Other warships were also sunk or injured. Fortunately, Zaragoza and Sagunto were not seriously injured.

This prevented the Spanish and Philippine Navy from losing all confidence. However, with the first round of head-on confrontation, the Spanish Navy did not dare to fight again. At this time, the Spanish Navy had lost four warships, so the Spanish Navy commander decisively ordered the entire army to flee to Manila Bay to avoid being annihilated by the US military.

During the escape, as expected, another warship was sunk, and Sagunto was also hit by a cannon because it did not react in time. Only Zaragoza could organize a limited counterattack.

After seeing the Philippine Navy escape, Dewey decisively ordered the US Navy to pursue the tragic enemy, but facing the Spanish army fighting at its doorstep, the US Navy was not so lucky this time.

First of all, Spain laid mines in Manila Bay this time, and the coastal defense guns were also upgraded. So when chasing the entrance of Manila Bay, in order to avoid the attack of Spanish coastal defense guns, an American warship sailed north and plunged into the minefield of Manila Bay.

With a loud bang, this American warship unfortunately became the first warship lost by the US Navy in the Spanish-American War.

And this is already a pleasant surprise for Spain. Of course, the Spanish government certainly doesn't think so. After all, they don't know that in the previous Manila naval battle, the United States did not lose a warship and easily wiped out the Spanish Asian fleet.

Although the Spanish Asian fleet has lost nearly half of its warships this time, it still has the strength to fight, and it has sunk a US warship, so it won't lose the war too badly. As for the outcome of the subsequent Manila Bay naval battle, it depends on the next actions of the two countries.