After Lin Yiqing's visit to the Naval Academy, Mahan and Lin Yiqing had many conversations, and Lin Yiqing's extensive knowledge, especially his understanding of the world's naval history, left a deep impression on Mahan, so much so that after each conversation, Mahan had to quickly write down the content of the conversation in his notes. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Mahan was convinced that his theory, coupled with Lin Yiqing's arguments, would conquer the U.S. Department of the Navy and Congress, and push the U.S. Navy into a new era.

“…… The United States has political possession of Culebra Island and has access to the port of Guantanamo in Cuba. The strategic effect of acquiring these places would be to be to allow the United States to push its base line from the Gulf Coast to the northern edge of the Caribbean Sea if needed. This allowed the United States to equip Guantanamo and Culebra as naval depots needed for the war effort through normal development, replacing New Orleans and Pensacola. By 'equipment', I mean the proper fortification and deployment of guard troops, the stockpiling of coal and all other supplies, and, most importantly, the establishment of dockyards and maintenance facilities. Sufficient coal and corresponding dock facilities are the two main needs of the fleet in wartime. In the last decade, the size of warships has increased dramatically, which has made the requirements for the depth of water at the entrance more stringent than in the past, among the conditions required for naval ports, and the associated tidal currents and waterway obstacles should be as easy to maneuver as possible. In terms of these requirements and locations, Pensacola and the Mississippi River estuaries are not as valuable as they have been in the past two decades. In summarizing the elements of the strategic value of a position at sea, we can say that Guantanamo and Culebra are absolutely superior to any combination of ports on the Gulf Coast of the United States in terms of location and natural elements of offensive and defensive forces; They can be equal to other ports in terms of the human resources most needed for war, although they are still inferior in terms of natural resources compared to their location on the coast of the mainland, which can rely on their own territory for natural resources without restriction. In short, as far as the Caribbean Sea and the Isthmus of Panama are concerned, Guantanamo and Culebra are as important to the United States as Gibraltar and Malta are to British interests in the Mediterranean and Suez; They are more convenient to use because they are closer to the ports of the continental United States than to the United Kingdom. ”

"A look at these ports reveals that, first of all, all the great powers, with the exception of Jamaica and Key West, are at both ends of the region. The United States holds the Pensacola and the Mississippi River. Britain and France had naval stations in the Lesser Antilles; The British have stations in St. Lucia and other small islands; France has stations in Martinique and Guadeloupe. As far as the general principles of naval strategy have been established in relation to the forces of each of these positions, the positions of those small islands three thousand nautical miles from the Motherland cannot be compared with those located on the shores of the great powers in which all the resources are behind them. However, the location of Britain and France in the Lesser Antilles ranged from nearly one to two hundred nautical miles to the Isthmus of Panama than the points of the United States bases in the Gulf of Mexico; The tide is also in its favor, so the distance is shortened. ”

"Secondly, you can see that there are two places that are occupied by the top powers, namely Jamaica and Key West. Jamaica is 930 nautical miles from St. Lucia and Key West is only 460 nautical miles from Pensacola. In terms of the ease of support from the base, Key West has favorable conditions; The disadvantage is that the island is small and lacks natural resources. As an outpost, Jamaica itself is superior; It is only half the distance from the Isthmus of Panama, where the great center of interest is located, and is only half the distance from Key West to the Isthmus of Panama. Jamaica, with its central location, exercises effective control over the entire Caribbean Sea. As mentioned earlier, Jamaica is in an excellent position to guard the Yucatan and the Windward Channel. In the case of the present possession, Jamaica should be included as an offensive element rather than a defensive force, since those shipping lanes were more useful to the United States than to Great Britain. Key West, on the other hand, has a position that is both offensive and defensive, and to control the Florida Strait, it must be at its center. ”

"The peninsula of Florida and the waterways separating it from the paallows of Cuba and the Bahamas have a striking military character that must be studied in detail. Suppose that all of this long, low, and narrow strip of land is removed; Or if the isthmus passes through a deep, navigable waterway and makes it an island, it would be most effective for U.S. maritime interests. In the latter case, the two inlets to the waterway should, of course, be secured, but at least it would be so that shipping would not be forced to pass through a long and narrow waterway with one side of which was contiguous to the borders of foreign States and possibly hostile States. In the event of war with Great Britain, the Florida waterways were likely to be infested by hostile cruisers based in the Bahamas; This provides the best conditions for the war of commercial sabotage. The U.S. effort to protect vessels using the waterway is greater than the use of the strait or the assumption that the Florida Peninsula does not exist. Because of the transtremity of the Florida Peninsula, the Atlantic coast and the Gulf Coast are three hundred nautical miles southward, and absolute control of the strait is required; At the same time, the situation is exacerbated by the almost complete absence of available ports. There is not a single port available on the most exposed side of the Atlantic coast; On the Gulf side, there is no port between Key West and Tampa Bay for 175 nautical miles, so Tampa Bay is valued not because of its power and resources, but because of its location. The United States' interest in the Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, is indeed exactly the same as its interest in the Florida Strait, which connects the Atlantic coast with the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River basin. All of this strengthened the importance of Key West and its dependency of Totugas, making it the only powerful military stronghold on this line; Because of its lack of natural resources or resources, it is all the more important to accumulate artificial resources in this area. ”

"Key West has a dual value to the United States; First, and primarily, it connects the Atlantic and Gulf mating lines, protecting lines of communication that are more internal than external. Second, it is an advance post, far from first-rate in terms of its military might, but it is still invaluable when any forward steps are taken to ensure adequate control of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and thus the Isthmus of Panama and the lines of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Although it is inferior to Jamaica in all aspects other than its location, it is more important to the United States than Jamaica is to the United Kingdom. ”

"It is necessary for Key West to be an forward base for U.S. Navy operations; In addition, its position covers Tampa, which can be reached by rail, the main staging point for Army units. This would allow the United States to gain a position to move further towards the largest strategic center in the Caribbean, the Isthmus Canal. Even if Culebra and Guantanamo are properly developed, the acquisition of these two locations will not deprive Key West of its unique location closest to the United States' major transportation hub in the Florida Strait. ”

"I would have liked to conclude with a general statement of naval strategy, but it would be more appropriate to insert it here. My aim is to give a comprehensive discussion of the subject, by illustration, mainly by historical examples, and partly by hypothetical situations to elicit principles. As stated at the outset, the lecturer teaches general principles that are derived from illustration and should be followed. Of course, the best examples of strategy are, and certainly should be, historical examples; Examples of major military campaigns of great scale, such as Napoleon's expedition to Egypt and the Athenian invasion of Syracuse, were of great scale at the time. Such an action lays out very clearly the principles to be implemented, which are consistent both on a large scale and on a smaller scale. ”

"We now apply the general principles to specific areas where naval warfare is likely, i.e., in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico; Incidentally, similar details can be seen in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans under the same principle, and can be used as further illustrations. The principle can be applied to all situations; Although these principles are drawn from and exemplified by the best historical examples cited in detail or occasionally mentioned above, they are also fully confirmed by an examination of geographical conditions. Because geography is the foundation of strategy; This statement itself is nothing more than an application of Napoleon's famous saying that 'war is the disposal of position'. When comparing the geographical conditions of the three coastlines of the United States, the other two coastlines can be used as examples to strengthen the inference drawn about any of them; At the same time, a more sensitive and perceptual knowledge of the situation along each coastline can deepen our understanding of the general principles. For example, in the Atlantic, the United States has two ports suitable for use as major maritime bases: Norfolk and New York. For these main bases, there are also certain other positions that need to be used as advance bases, such as the British in the Mediterranean Sea with Corsica as their forward base between 8094 and 8096; Between 8014 and 8082, Menorca was used as a base of advance; Today, it is based in Malta. For New York, similar positions are New London and Narragansett Bay; For Norfolk, it's Port Royal and Key West. In addition, New London and Narragansett Bay could provide a constant threat to the fleet based on them: i.e., to the flanks of the enemy line envisaged extending from the United States port of Norfolk to the port of New York. Compared to Key West, New London is a continental location, so it has advantages in terms of defense and resources. ”

"Two, in the Gulf of Mexico, the United States owns New Orleans and Pensacola. As far as their base is concerned, it is a pity that none of them are as close to New York or Norfolk, but because of their distance from Europe, it is safer for European enemies to attack. This relative security is not only due to the distance from the enemy, but also because if the enemy appears in front of these ports, his lines of communication, whether through the Strait of Florida or the Strait of Yucatan, are more exposed than in front of the ports of the Atlantic. This exposure is due to the prominence of Key West and the Florida peninsula, which are therefore offensive for the United States, but which have been noted as a disadvantage for American shipping. For ports in the Gulf of Mexico, Key West provides a forward base; And because it can take into account both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, its importance and value are multiplied. ”

"Third, in the Pacific, at this time the United States owned San Francisco and the Pitget Strait, two of which had already been built into naval stations; These naval yards were based in Hawaii, which is now unequivocally recognized and has begun to be properly developed. Once the intended fortification of the Panama Canal Zone has been completed, it will provide an additional forward base; It also juggles the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, just as Key West juggles the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. ”

Such a comparative examination also instructively observes that, if properly fortified at the entrance to the Long Island Strait, Long Island can push enemy ships a certain distance, thus acting as the Florida Peninsula forcing enemy ships to make dangerous detours. Thus, Long Island has a defensive role not only against the United States, but also on the offensive against the enemy. ”

"Generally speaking, when defending a coast with two or more sea bases, the best disposition of the Navy should be to concentrate ironclad ships in the ports where it is most advantageous for them to conduct offensive operations; and the use of other coastal ports to disrupt the enemy's trade or communications, in order to cause the enemy to disperse his forces and thus expose him to attack. Only an enemy with overwhelming superiority will disperse his forces or neglect some of his strongholds. On the Atlantic coast of the United States, for example, New York seems to be a very clear location point for the battle fleet, not only because of its proximity to the country's centre of industrial activity and its vast resources, but also because of its great tactical convenience in connecting New London and Narragansett Bay via Long Island Bay, both to confuse the enemy and to ensure fleet sorties. Although the staging point can only be determined after a thorough consideration of all conditions, there is absolutely no reason to violate the general rationale that the ironclad fleet of the weaker side in the battle should not be dispersed. ”

"Now let's go back to the direct topic of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean that we've studied and think about it carefully. Having already explained the bases first, and the forward posts of the first-class nations secondly, we now look at all the valuable and some of the most important strategic points on the line of St. Thomas, which stretches from the lesser-valued Isla of Mujeres in the west to the Strait of Anegada. ”

"The importance of the Yucatan Strait to the United States makes it imperative for the United States to take the island of Mujerez and provide it with the possible forces and resources at all costs, and there is no other way to do it. The island is located 500 nautical miles from the southern mouth of the Mississippi River, 600 nautical miles from Jamaica, 345 nautical miles from Key West, and about 300 nautical miles from Havana. The island is close to the Yucatan Strait, where the waterway is 100 nautical miles wide. Depending on the terrain conditions, St. Thomas is preferable in terms of location and defensive capabilities. In addition to this, it also has offensive value, i.e. it is easier to maneuver a battle fleet due to the conditions of the waterways, and it is safer to sail. Since the United States has no hope of acquiring St. Thomas, the usefulness of these comments is only to help to focus the attention of their peers so that they can use their wisdom to acquire the island. ”

"The four inner positions, Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago in Cuba and the Gulf of Samana in Haiti, are spread over a land line of 1,100 nautical miles from the tip of ancient Brazil to the eastern tip of Haiti (from Cape San Antonio to the Mona Strait); There is only one gap, the Windward Strait between Haiti and Cuba, which is just over 50 nautical miles wide. The many passages that merge with the Windward Channel are considered as a whole, officially called the Windward Channel, and its width is narrower than the Strait itself. ”

"From this we can see that not far from the center of this triangle there is a huge obstacle that stretches for more than a thousand nautical miles, and in between, with the exception of one waterway, through which ships cannot pass. If the waterway were firmly in the hands of one of the two contending sides, the other side's fleet, or a detachment wishing to join the main forces on the other side of the barrier, would be forced to make a detour to one of the two wings, and all its coal ships and supply ships would suffer this inconvenience. ”

"A watercourse with a position similar to that of a windward channel, like a bridge across a river, requires a mobile force to defend it, unless it is very narrow and can be defended by permanent fortifications; Because it is impossible to close it by fortification. Assuming, for example, that the Windward Strait between Cuba and Haiti is two nautical miles wide and has anchorage depths, it would be impregnable by means of batteries and torpedoes against any ordinary attack or passage. Natural water bridges of this nature are extremely rare. The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles are clear examples of this, which cannot be forcibly passed through if they are in the hands of a powerful country. At the entrance to the Baltic Sea, there is a similar structure, but it is shorter and therefore weaker; In addition, there is more than one entrance. Artificial waterways, i.e. canals, must be limited in width and depth. As a result, these waterways are easy to control and prevent the enemy from passing; However, they are highly susceptible to damage from attacks or surprise attacks, and if damaged, they can render their owners unusable for a long time. Therefore, if you want to maintain the interests of the other side for your own use and deprive the other party of the right to use them, you must guard them with heavy troops. (To be continued.) )