The Rise of the Empire

What is different from history is that although there are still 4 warships available to the Spaniards on this plane, their composition is somewhat different. It still exists, but there are only two ships, the Princess Maria Teresa and the second ship, the Almirante Okendo!

There is not much difference between these two warships and history. Both are 6,800-ton warships, with two 11-inch guns and ten 5.5-inch guns. Although the thickness of the armor belt is between 10 and 12 inches, the defense area is very large. Apart from speed and decent firepower, there are no advantages.

The historical battleship "Viscaya" was originally the third ship of the Princess class, but on this plane it was replaced by a Munich-type armored cruiser bought from Germany, while the Italian Garibaldi on another plane The armored cruiser Krystal Köln of the first type was also replaced by the armored cruiser of the Munich type.

In addition to some changes in the four capital ships that participated in the San Diego Naval Battle 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. Armored cruiser completed ahead of schedule! This battleship can be regarded as an enhanced version of the Spanish armored cruiser Munich. The attributes of this battleship 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 dome armor. That is to say, the core protection is good, but it cannot deal with the shooting of high-explosive shells. In terms of attributes, it is closer to the Brooklyn. The firepower is not very good, but there are 2 11-inch guns, 8 5.5-inch guns and 4 3.9-inch guns.

On this plane, after referring to the armored cruiser Viscaya, the Spaniards greatly modified their design, and the main gun adopted a German single-mounted 11-inch turret. The secondary guns are equipped with two calibers, four 170MM heavy guns and eight 5.5-inch guns. The former, as a secondary main gun, is deployed at the four corners of the battleship, while 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 of medium caliber and above are deployed in the armored gallery, and even some anti-torpedo guns such as 12-pound guns have certain defenses. There is also an armor belt of about 80MM at the front and rear of the hull, 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, after the fleet becomes stronger, it 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's! They turned a blind eye to Cuba, but instead concentrated their fleet in the direction of the Philippines!

"Mr. Vice Admiral, your decision is undoubtedly to abandon Cuba to the Americans, and there are still a large number of Spanish troops fighting on the island of Cuba. It is difficult for me to accept this suggestion." When Vice Admiral Severa After handing over her plan to the regent Maria Christina, the female regent, the latter's reaction was somewhat violent.

"We can't compete with the US fleet in North America at all. They have 4 battleships, 2 coastal defense ironclad ships, 4 shallow water heavy gunships and a large number of cruisers. With complete port facilities and sufficient supplies, even if we put all Fleets sent to Cuba will not be able to stop the opponent, and it is a waste to spend precious fleets where they are bound to be lost.

If I don't deploy the fleet in the Philippines, then we can at least hold it here. Even if the United States sends additional reinforcements, we can still block the American attack with the help of the Philippines' geographical advantage! "Sevilla repeatedly stated that he was just stating this helpless fact.

When the power of the empire is no longer enough to support its global strategy, it becomes an inevitable choice to shrink in a timely manner and give up part of it. In the history of the past few hundred years, Spain has given up too many things. Now, making that decision doesn't seem too difficult.

"The size of the US Far East Fleet is not large, and we can deal with it with only a small number of warships. And I don't think the Americans have plans to attack the Philippines." The female regent said.

"However, according to the information I have not obtained from various sources, the Americans have already planned to send their two armored cruisers to the Far East. In this case, we must concentrate more than four armored cruisers to barely block the opponent. Rather than this , it would be better to send all five battleships to the Far East, then our chances of winning will be greater." Sevilla insisted.

"Then our local defense force can only rely on the only battleship Pelejo and some old battleships to defend?" the queen said with some concern.

"The strength of our fleet is inherently limited, and this is all we can do at present. In addition, I think it is necessary for us to transfer part of the army from Cuba to the Philippines and immediately strengthen the defenses of important ports such as Manila. The odds are higher."

"The freeboard of American warships is very low, and their warships are not suitable for ocean-going operations. If two armored cruisers come to the Far East, even if the remaining warships come, they will not be able to pose too much threat to the coast of Spain. "Sevilla said.

The Spaniards finally accepted the suggestion from Germany, and Prince Ruprecht was a little surprised when he got the news! After all, this situation is too different from what happened in history! The Spanish Far East Fleet, which was originally weak, is not just a matter of strengthening, the elite of the entire Spanish Navy has been killed! This makes the already changed situation further deviate from the track of history.

"But generally speaking, the response of the Spaniards is the best result that can be achieved so far." The prince said to himself. Before crossing, someone did not do much research on the history of the Spanish-American War, but he thought that Spain began to The failure of the Philippines was largely due to the fact that the Americans did not expect to do anything in the Far East. From the Maine incident in February to the official outbreak of war in April, the Spaniards strengthened their fleet in the West Indies, but they did not have any in the Far East. action.

In fact, it is not that the Spanish fleet has no strength to do it, but that it really did not prepare! Historically, after the Philippines was occupied, the Spaniards organized a revenge fleet, which consisted of the 9,745-ton battleship Pereira and the 9,000-ton Carlos V armored cruiser, as well as 2 other cruisers and 3 The destroyer played soy sauce. Later, because of concerns about the United States' attack on the mainland and the obstruction of the British on the Suez Canal issue, the fleet did not go to the Far East. If the Spaniards guessed that the US military would do something in the Far East, they would definitely take precautions in advance!

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