America 1881: Legend of the West

While Chen Jianqiu and Roosevelt captured the high ground, the village of El Kanie in the north was also captured.

Without the protection of Fort Elviso, the Spanish soldiers in the stronghold at the foot of the mountain were quickly surrounded by the superior strength of the US military.

The commander of the Western Army, Valla de Rey, faced an American force ten times his own.

He could have given up.

But when he heard the sound of gunfire from the direction of San Juan, he decided to continue to delay Lawton's army so that they could not support the battle of San Juan.

The Spanish army held on for almost an afternoon relying on the stone church.

Until their commander was killed.

The defeat of San Juan and El Canie meant that the Spanish no longer had any stronghold outside Santiago.

The city was surrounded into an iron barrel.

The only place without a U.S. Army presence was on the sea to the south, in San Diego Bay.

There is the powerful North Pacific Fleet of the United States, including three battleships, one second-class battleship, two armored cruisers and several gunboats.

Of course, there are also Chen Jianqiu's two "armed merchant ships".

Rear Admiral Sampson is commanding this fleet to blockade the Port of San Diego.

The Spanish fleet confronting it appeared weak.

They only had a total of four armored cruisers coming from Spain, namely the Princess Teresa, the Viscanya, the Sea Admiral Oquendo and the Columbus.

Except for the Columbus, the remaining three cruisers had barnacles growing on their bottoms due to lack of maintenance and upkeep.

The only ship that seemed to have some combat effectiveness, the Columbus, did not even have a main gun installed.

The reason sounds pretty funny too.

The Spanish Admiralty hopes to install a main gun with a larger caliber than the 254mm or the twin 203mm on this ship.

But this main gun has always lived in the minds of Navy officials, and it was not installed on the ship until the war started.

Therefore, the main weapons of the Columbus were only two 203mm cannons.

The day after the fall of San Juan Heights and the siege of Santiago.

Fleet commander Severa knew that his fleet was still doomed.

In the Far East, Manila Bay was defeated and Spanish forces were routed throughout the Philippines.

In the Caribbean, most of Cuba's areas outside the city have been occupied by the rebels and Chen Jianqiu's troops, and the remaining troops were besieged in Santiago.

This war is basically over, and Spain's defeat is certain.

Severa decided to break out with his fleet.

He didn't want his ship to be sunk in the port by the US military!

But facts have proven that in the face of a huge gap in strength, breaking through is an extremely luxurious thing.

The Spanish fleet sailed out of the bay in the early morning and turned westward into the Caribbean Sea.

But the North Pacific Fleet soon discovered their attempt, and all members joined in.

Among these ships, the fastest are Chen Jianqiu's "Kun" and "Peng".

They were nominally armed merchant ships, but in fact they were more like destroyers, and they quickly caught up with the Spanish fleet ahead.

But it was the battleship Iowa that fired first.

Its shell accurately hit the Theresa, the flagship of the Spanish fleet.

The latter originally planned to ram the cruiser Brooklyn directly in order to save other ships in the fleet.

Due to being hit on the waterline, the Theresa's speed dropped rapidly and she soon fell behind. At the same time, the second ship "Kunpeng" rushed up and bit it.

The battle quickly turned into a one-sided charade.

In the end, the flagship was hit by a torpedo from the "Kun", washed up on the beach to the north and finally ran aground.

The Oquendo Sea Admiral was the most tragic.

It became the target of three battleships taking turns to take care of it.

A raging fire broke out on the ship.

The fire spread to the ammunition depot.

Following the footsteps of the Theresa, it ran aground amidst the violent explosions.

Viskanya and Brooklyn were fighting.

Both are armored cruisers of similar tonnage.

They are not so much like two ancient warriors fighting hand to hand, but more like two ruthless street gangsters, fighting to see who falls first.

In the end, the Brooklyn won by a narrow margin.

The Viskanya was more unlucky.

When a Spanish crew member was loading a torpedo, he was hit by the Brooklyn's 203mm main gun at a distance of 870 meters, causing the torpedo tube to explode, and then triggering the explosion of the ammunition on the deck.

Another ship has been stranded on the beach.

The Brooklyn was also hit by more than 20 shells.

But whether it was due to good damage control or sheer luck, only one person was injured.

Of the four cruisers in the Spanish fleet, only the most elite Columbus was soon left.

The latter saw that the situation was not good and fled at a speed of 15 knots.

But the "Kun" and "Peng" did not give him this opportunity.

They gave chase again.

The two ships, one on the left and one on the right, pursued the Columbus fiercely.

The cruiser was quickly torn to death, and when it reached the mouth of the Tukino River, it could no longer hold on.

The crew got into the lifeboat and prepared to surrender.

They opened the sea valve and sank the Spanish cruiser at the mouth of the river.

At this point, all four cruisers have sunk, and the other gunboats have also sunk and surrendered.

The Battle of San Diego Bay ended with a resounding victory for the North Pacific Fleet.

They utterly destroyed the Spanish.

At least two hundred Spanish soldiers were killed in this naval battle, while the US military itself had only one death and one injury.

The victory in this naval battle basically became the last straw that overwhelmed the Spanish government.

Although there were still tens of thousands of soldiers in besieged Santiago, as well as in Havana;

Old Chiang Myers landed in Puerto Rico, Camilla's hometown, and was driving out the Spanish rulers there.

Spain's power in the Caribbean seems to be still a little bit, and it has not reached the point of exhaustion.

But the Spanish people don't want to fight.

Continuing the fight will have no value other than causing harm to more families.

Demonstrations broke out again in Madrid.

"My child, my child is dead! He was only eighteen years old!" An old woman was holding a portrait and crying at the front of the parade.

In a building not far from the parade, American representatives were negotiating with Spanish representatives.

The U.S. representative was a former U.S. ambassador to Spain and was fluent in Spanish.

He heard the crying coming from outside the window, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Immediately, he turned around and said to the Spanish representatives present:

"Let me remind you again, it was you who made the appointment with us. If you don't want to sign the surrender agreement, you don't have to sign it. But in that case, I really can't guarantee how long those Spanish soldiers in Santiago can last. Your government, How long can it last?”

The Spanish representative didn't even have a word to refute.

The two sides signed an armistice agreement on August 8 and began negotiations on a war treaty.

Theoretically, once the ceasefire agreement is signed, the people below should not continue fighting.

But in Cuba, there is a place that is special.

Guantánamo.

The Spanish soldiers there refused to surrender to the Marines and continued fighting in the nearby jungle.

The reason is that they are unwilling to surrender to their defeated generals.

Shaft was furious.

He once again mobilized Chen Jianqiu's troops to deal with the Spanish troops in Guantánamo.

The strange thing is that as soon as Chen Jianqiu's troops arrived at Guantanamo, the Spanish troops opened the gate to welcome them and let them in.

Outside the city, the captain of the Marine Corps was looking over here with a telescope.

He couldn't understand it, but he was greatly shocked.