My Italy

There are many people in the harbor of Havana. Some of the buildings of the battleship Maine, which was sitting on the bottom due to the explosion, are still exposed on the water. However, on the still exposed buildings of the Maine, an investigation team from the United States is conducting an investigation.

"Quick, pull up."

A naval officer who was pulling the rope immediately shouted when he felt movement on the rope. Then he and several other officers immediately pulled the rope up. Under the rope, a man wearing a diving suit and a diving helmet was pulled up. Come up.

"How's it going, Colonel Melville?"

Before the man could take off his diving suit, a large group of naval officers gathered around him and started questioning him.

"How about you wait until I take it off?"

Major Melville took off his heavy diving suit and helmet before he spoke. "I observed the explosion wounds on the Maine, and there were signs of the ship's side turning outwards."

"Okay, let's talk about it later."

Colonel Jovan Lloyd, the leader of the investigation, stopped the Navy's chief engineer from speaking.

After taking this man aside to an uninhabited corner, Colonel Lloyd spoke. "Well, Melville, you can say it now."

"I observed that the explosion hole on the side of the Maine was turned outward, indicating that the explosion on the Maine came from inside the ship. The explosion point was in the coal seam bunker, which is adjacent to the ammunition bunker, so it is very likely that the explosion was caused by the ammunition bunker. , and the explosion in the ammunition bunker may also have been caused by the spontaneous combustion of thermal coal in the coal bunker.”

Melville deserves to be the chief engineer of the U.S. Navy. After some investigation, he made enough judgments about the explosion of the Maine. Speaking of spontaneous combustion of coal seams, this is nothing new for the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy has had several incidents of spontaneous combustion of steam coal on warships, and the design of the USS Maine did not take this into account. There is only one gap between the ammunition bunker and the coal bunker. Across a warehouse wall, if spontaneous combustion occurs in the coal bunker, it will easily lead to the ammunition bunker. This should be caused by unreasonable design.

After hearing Melville's judgment, Colonel Lloyd frowned. "Is this your judgment?"

"Yes, based on my years of experience, this is the result."

After hearing Melville's words, Colonel Lloyd immediately retorted, "No, this result must be revised."

"What?"

Colonel Lloyd stared at the other party and spoke word by word. "I said the result must be revised. The Maine could not be an ammunition depot explosion caused by the spontaneous combustion of a coal bunker, but should be an accident caused by an external mine explosion."

"But if you modify the results like this, it will be discovered. The Spaniards only need to look at the damage on the Maine and they will come to the same conclusion as me."

Obviously, this Melville should have been in the technical position for a long time, so he thinks everything is simple.

"So what, who will listen to a loser's excuse? Besides, this time our investigation must be that the mine exploded from outside. This is not only the expectation of our navy, but also the expectation of the government and the American people. We just need An excuse. As for what the real results will be, we don’t need to care. If someone does investigate and find other results in the future, at worst, we can just say it was a mistake. Anyway, Cuba will be under our control by then, so we can say whatever we want. "

After receiving a political education from Colonel Lloyd, Melville, the chief engineer of the United States, listened.

"Okay, Colonel Lloyd, I'm going to write my report as a mine explosion that caused the Maine to sink."

"Very good. This is the outcome of this matter. We just need to hand in this report. In fact, we only need to pretend to be here to investigate. No matter what the outcome of this matter, the Spaniards must pay the price. , they took too much money from us.”

Just as the two of them were reaching an agreement, they heard the voice of a subordinate coming from the side. "Colonel Lloyd, can you come here? A few Spaniards came over. They said they wanted to send someone to help us investigate the cause of the Maine explosion."

After hearing his subordinate's words, Colonel Lloyd immediately answered. "Damn it, tell those Spaniards that we, the U.S. Navy, will handle the investigation of the explosion of the Maine on our own without their help, so they can leave."

The U.S. naval officer who received the order immediately refused the Spanish boarding, and this scene was seen by everyone.

In a room in the port, Weiler, the governor of Cuba, saw this situation from a window.

"It seems that these Americans do not want our people to get close to the broken ship."

"Yes, Your Excellency Governor, these Americans are really hateful. Do they think we don't know about their support for the rebels? The rebels have become active again in the past half month. Combined with the attitude of the Americans, I am a little worried. "

The person speaking was the garrison commander, General Mauro Reveli. This general in charge of military command is the most sensitive to rebel activities. The rebel activities in the past half month and the attitude of the Americans have made him worried. reason.

"Actually, it's not just you, I'm also worried about these Americans. The day before yesterday, Ambassador Depp sent someone to bring a letter, saying that the current attitude in the United States towards the Kingdom is very bad, and the media and newspapers are adding fuel to the fire, and it is very likely that military measures will be provoked ”

As Cuban officials are separated from the United States by a sea, they feel more about news from the United States than from home, so they judge some things faster than at home.

Governor Weiler's words made General Revley frown. "If we provoke military means, then in terms of navy, our gap is too big. I wonder if there is any way at home?"

Well, even General Revley, who was born in the army, knows the maritime gap between the two countries.

Regarding the naval issues that General Revley was worried about, Weiler did not answer, but instead talked about another question.

"Leave the issues at sea to the Prime Minister and Admiral Cervera to consider. Now we need to consider the issues on land. If the U.S. troops land in Cuba, where will they land and how should we prevent them? In addition, we also have to deal with the rebels. We must not be vigilant, we must ensure sufficient pressure, and we must not give the rebels a chance to strengthen themselves."

"But in this way, our country has lost its sea control. Considering the small terrain of Cuba, our army has no way to defend it."

Facing General Revley, who was still somewhat stubborn, Weiler planned to provide some information to stabilize his mind. Although this matter is still kept secret, it is still necessary to reveal it to yourself.

"Don't worry, Revley, the Prime Minister and the others will find a way. At least we won't completely lose control of the sea."

Weiler's obvious hint made General Reveley feel relieved, but he also had doubts. What method did the Prime Minister use to close the gap with the U.S. Navy? Which country was it? Is it feasible?

I almost forgot to say, wish you all a happy New Year's Day