Chapter 197: The last glory
Unlike in history, although there are still 4 battleships available to the Spaniards on this plane, the composition is somewhat different. In history, the Maria Teresa-class armored ship sunk in the battle of San Diego. It still exists, but there are only two, namely the Princess Maria Theresa and the second ship Almirante Okendo!
The two battleships are not much different from the history. Both are 6800-ton battleships. They have 2 11-inch guns and 10 5.5-inch guns. Although the armor belt thickness is between 10 and 12 inches, the defense area is very small. Apart from speed and reasonable firepower, there are no advantages.
The historical battleship "Vizcaya" was originally a Princess III ship, but on this plane it was replaced by a Munich-type armored cruiser bought from Germany, while the Italian Garibal on another plane was originally The armored cruiser Kristol Köln was also replaced by the armored cruiser Munich.
In addition to some changes in the 4 battleships that participated in the battle of San Diego in history, this plane also has good news for the Spaniards, that is, the Carlos V that did not participate in the Spanish-American War in history. The armored cruiser is completed ahead of schedule! This warship can be regarded as a Spanish enhanced version of the Munich-type armored cruiser. The properties of this warship are much stronger than in history.
The sidestring armor belt of the historical Carlos V is very weak, only 2 inches! The real protection is provided by the 6.5-inch thick vault. In other words, the core protection is good, but it can't deal with the shooting of high-explosive shells, and it is relatively close to the Brooklyn in terms of attributes. The firepower is not very good, but 2 11-inch guns, 8 5.5-inch guns and 4 3.9-inch guns.
At this point, after referring to the Vizcaya armored cruiser, the Spaniards drastically modified their design, using a German-style single-mounted 11-inch turret as the main gun. The secondary guns are equipped with 2 calibers, 4 heavy 170mm guns and 8 5.5 inch guns. The former is used as a second-level main gun and is deployed at the four corners of the battleship, while the eight 5.5-inch guns are arranged at both ends.
The biggest change is the defense improvement. The main armor belt is 7 inches thick and 3.5 meters high! The upper armor belt is 6 inches, and all secondary guns above the medium caliber are deployed in the armored gallery, and even some anti-torpedo guns such as 12-pounder guns have a certain degree of defense. The hull also has an armor belt of about 80mm fore and aft, but it is not hardened armor but ordinary nickel steel armor. The maximum power output is 18,000 horsepower, and the maximum speed is more than 20 knots. The tonnage of Carlos V on this plane is the same as in history, as high as 9,000 tons! It exists as the flagship of the entire Spanish fleet.
Of course, the strengthening of the fleet is a very serious problem for the Americans, but the biggest problem is that the Spaniards seem to have really adopted a proposal similar to Prince Ruprecht! They ignored Cuba, but instead concentrated their fleet in the direction of the Philippines!
"Mr. Admiral, your decision is undoubtedly to throw Cuba abandonment to the Americans, and there are still a large number of Spanish armies fighting on the island of Cuba. It is difficult for me to accept this suggestion." After his plan was handed over to the regent Maria Christina, the latter's reaction was a bit fierce.
"We can't compete with the American fleet in North America. They have 4 battleships, 2 coastal defense armored ships, 4 shallow-water heavy gunboats, and a large number of cruisers. With complete port facilities and adequate supplies, even if we put all Even if the fleet is sent to Cuba, it can’t stop its opponents. It’s a waste to consume precious fleets where it is inevitably lost. If I don’t deploy the fleet in the Philippines, then we can at least defend here. Even if the United States sends more reinforcements, we use The geographical position of the Philippines can still block the Americans' attack!" Saivila repeatedly stated that he was merely stating this helpless fact.
When the power of the empire is no longer sufficient to support its global strategy, then it is an inevitable choice to shrink in time and give up part of it. In the past few hundred years of history, Spain has given up too many things. Now, making this decision does not seem to be difficult.
"The size of the US Far East Fleet is not large, we can deal with it with only a few warships. And I don't think the Americans have plans to attack the Philippines." The female regent said.
"But according to the information I haven't obtained from various sources, the Americans have planned to send their two armored cruisers to the Far East. At this point, we must gather more than 4 armored cruisers to barely block the opponent. Instead of this , It would be better to send all the 5 capital ships to the Far East. In this case, our chances of winning will be even greater.” Severa insisted.
"Then our homeland defense force can only rely on the only battleship Peleyo and some old warships to defend?" The Queen said with some worry.
"Our fleet strength is inherently limited. The only things we can do at present are these. In addition, I think it is necessary for us to transfer part of the army from Cuba to the Philippines and immediately strengthen the defense forces of important ports such as Manila. In this case, we will defend The likelihood is higher."
"The freeboards of American warships are very low, and their warships are not suitable for ocean warfare. If two armored cruisers come to the Far East, then even if the remaining warships come, they will not pose too much threat to the Spanish coast. "Sevilla said.
The Spanish finally accepted the suggestion from Germany, UU reading www.uukanshu. com And when Prince Ruprecht got the news, he was a little surprised! After all, this situation is too far from what happened in history! The originally weak Spanish Far East Fleet is not just a matter of strengthening, the whole elite of the Spanish Navy has been killed! This makes the changed situation further out of the track of history.
"On the whole, however, the Spanish response is the best possible result." The prince muttered to himself. Before crossing, someone did not study much on the history of the Spanish-American War, but he believed that Spain began to The Philippines’ defeat was largely due to the fact that the Americans did not expect the Americans to take action in the Far East. From the Maine incident in February to the official outbreak of the war in April, the Spaniards strengthened their fleet in the West Indies, but there was nothing in the Far East. action.
In fact, it is not that the Spanish fleet does not have the strength to do it, but it is really not prepared! After the occupation of the Philippines in history, the Spaniards organized a revenge fleet, consisting of the 9745-ton Pellera battleship and the 9,000-ton Carlos V armored cruiser, as well as two other cruisers and three. The destroyer fought soy sauce. Later, the fleet did not go to the Far East because of concerns about the American attack on the homeland and the British obstruction on the Suez Canal. If the Spaniards guessed that the U.S. military would act in the Far East, they would definitely take precautions in advance!
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