Chapter 326 The Direction of War

The Qing army fought the dragon flag. Although under the strong protest of the Red Corps led by Guo Jinzhang, they gave up the banner holding high the surnames of their respective generals, this behavior of holding a foreigner's flag to fight was also unhappy. Ronglu, Ding Ruchang and others could not accept it at all. They even asked that each army should at least have a banner with the word "Qing" to demonstrate the prestige of the Qing Dynasty.

However, Liu Yongfu was fine. The commander of the Black Flag Army had experience in fighting in other countries. After being forced to give up his signature black flag and the "Liu" flag, he reluctantly accepted Guo Jinzhang's kindness. However, he still underestimated the influence of the "Pelos' flag".

It may be exaggerated to say that it is a sight-seeing view, but after contacting the inner circle, he immediately received help from all directions. Especially those guerrillas and rebels who had originally hid in the mountains, after learning that he had captured Segod Avila, an important transportation and commercial center in the central region, immediately approached him under the leadership of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and finally joined forces. Gomez Baes, the chief and deputy commander of the rebel army of the Provisional Government of the Cuban Republic, and Marseo Grajales, were also in the rebel army where they met. Segod Avila has actually become the base camp of the Cuban Rebel Army. Although the number of Cuban Rebel Army was not large, only about 4,000, it is undeniable that their arrival was extremely beneficial to solving the difficulties faced by Liu Yongfu.

Moreover, Liu Yongfu was not afraid of the Spanish army several times more than a few times, because, from the information of the rebel army, he learned that most of these Spanish troops were recruits, had not experienced any war, had not had strong fighting will, and had not received any decent training. This is also the reason why Nikolau could not have an overwhelming advantage in Colombia after invading Colombia, which lacked training in Colombia. Of course, the most important point is that there is a general fear of the Chinese in the Spanish army.

The new recruits, with a low morale and insufficient training... This is simply a fat meat delivered to the door. When they learned that they could not get support, Liu Yongfu boldly dispersed his troops. Each unit was mixed with some Cuban rebels who were familiar with the terrain, and then they launched an attack on the invading enemy forces.

As a result, the Spaniard was stunned.

The bombardment of a large number of mortars and the strafing of light machine guns made them feel that every unit around them might be the main force of the Qing army. The enemy was far superior to them in terms of movement and combat. In particular, under the leadership of the local guerrillas, the Qing army suicide squad often played and interspersed, and took risks at the junction of several of their troops, firing one shot from the east and one shot from the west, which made them almost fight first. After this lasted for a period of time, even the artillery troops were attacked and were severely damaged by the opponent, the commander of the Spanish army could not control themselves and did not care about attacking Segod Avila, but instead shrank his troops. But he didn't know that this was exactly what Liu Yongfu wanted.

Liu Yongfu experienced the Sino-French war and knew the power of the great army, but when he was trained by the Red Corps, he thought carefully and believed that if he wanted to play the advantages of the Qing army, he could not distance himself. Instead, he should fight in close combat and melee, so that the enemy's foreign guns and cannons could not exert their due power. The Spanish army immediately gave him a chance.

Before leaving, Liu Yongfu asked Yuan Shikai for a large number of melee weapons, especially mortars and grenades. Both of them were his favorites. A vanguard unit almost took away half of Yuan Shikai's inventory. Seeing the Spaniards began to shrink, he also realized that it was time for these two good things to show their power.

The guerrillas regrouped and then found a part of the Spaniards, and when they approached on rainy nights, they first bombarded the center of their camp with mortars, causing chaos. Then, the Qing army equipped with a large number of grenades began to charge.

...

"I will never forget that night, the sudden explosion woke me up from my dream. When I stood up in a hurry, there were shouts of killing everywhere. I picked up the gun, but I didn't know which direction to go... Just as I was hesitating, a guy with a long braid behind him suddenly appeared in front of me. He was covered in blood and had a knife in his hand... Yes, that was a knife. A huge, absolutely terrifying knife I had never seen before. I even saw the hideous skeleton on the hilt... That

As soon as the guy saw me, he slashed him with a knife. I was extremely scared at that time and wanted to shoot, but I found that I couldn't find the trigger at all. But I saw the grim smile on the corner of the guy's mouth... He was obviously several shorter than me, thin and small, but at that moment, I felt like a demon coming out of hell, a blood-devouring demon... a demon that I couldn't resist at all... Fortunately, God blessed, Captain Tosia appeared in time and stabbed the guy's stomach with a bayonet on one side...

I escaped, but something even more terrifying happened. The guy with braids didn't care that he was seriously injured. He didn't even snorted, but just slashed Tosia's head with a backhand... Then, the guy ignored me and grabbed Tosia's head and tied it to his belt. At this time, I realized that the guy had several heads swaying around his waist... God, that was simply terrible. I wanted to escape, but found that I was at all

I couldn't move my legs and wanted to kill that guy, but I couldn't lift my gun... I could only watch him approaching me step by step with the terrifying skeleton knife... Until he suddenly fell to the ground... The bayonet that Tosia's sneak attack had seriously injured him, but that guy persisted for so long before he died. I really can't imagine what kind of guys they are. Are they all devils crawling out of hell? I never want to fight with such guys again, forever..." - "The Cuban War in the Eyes of the Spanish - Memories of Veterans"

...

The Spanish soldiers who had already entered the age of firearms were like spoiled young men. When they met the Qing army holding a big sword and spear, and fought with them in close combat, all their advantages were immediately gone, and they were replaced by endless fear... They were defeated and quickly defeated. Liu Yongfu deliberately let them go. As a result, the frightened new recruits rushed into the nearby Spanish barracks like headless flies... This brought a catastrophe to their comrades.

Overnight, tens of thousands of Spanish troops lost more than half. Not only were they chased and beaten by Liu Yongfu and the Cuban rebels, but they even had their way back. In desperation, his commander had to lead the troops to retreat to Camagui in the east to defend the city and did not dare to go out to fight again.

This was a result that no one expected. Originally, the US military easily captured Santiago. When they learned that the Qing army had also occupied Segod Avila, they were worried that Liu Yongfu would go straight in and attack the economically developed western Cuba first and destroy the plan formulated by the United States in advance. Therefore, they decisively stopped the transportation of the Qing army. Because they hoped that after their army was transported over, the Qing army would act together, so that everyone could distinguish the primary and secondary.

At that time, the US military can also become the greatest hero of Cuba, without letting the Qing army mercenaries divide too much of its own honor, which can also allow the United States to gain more benefits in Cuba. In their opinion, even if there is no support, with the strength of more than 10,000 Qing army and the support of thousands of Cuban rebels, they should be able to defend Segod Avila during the siege of several times the enemy, and at least for a few days. At that time, their army had arrived long ago.

But the Americans were destined to be disappointed. Liu Yongfu not only did not defend, but also took the initiative to attack. He not only attacked, but also won. He not only won, but also won happily...

The US side responded immediately to this situation. On the one hand, the order of Liu Yongfu's troops to rest, and on the other hand, the Federal Army, which had just occupied Santiago with the help of the navy, began to advance towards Guantanamo in the east, and they would take the area in a short time. They wanted everyone to see that it was not just the Chinese who could fight.

However, the US military obviously did not have the luck of Liu Yongfu. Because here, they met Nikolau, who had just withdrawn from Colombia. On February 19, the US military arrived outside Guantanamo. On the 21st, the US military began to launch a fierce attack on Elcane and Mount San Juan, the commanding heights east of the city. In this battle, Nikolau led the few elite soldiers left in his hands to fight to the death, repelled the US attack many times, and also defeated the First Volunteer Cavalry of the Federal Army, known as the "Ruan Cavalry", to almost half-destroy. However, Nikolau's good luck was also

That's it. After a fierce hand-to-hand battle, Mount San Juan and Elcane were still occupied by the US military. Although he led his troops to launch a counterattack many times in the next two days and launched a tug-of-war with the US military, he was eventually defeated, which only caused more than 2,400 casualties to the US military. Next, the US military also wisely joined forces with the local rebels to siege Guantanamo... After a few days, due to the lack of food, Nikolau had to lead more than 20,000 Spanish soldiers under his command to surrender. The land situation of the war began to be beneficial to the United States.

However, the two consecutive victories brought favorable situations to the US military, but also brought unfavorable situations. That is, their relationship with the Cuban rebels has changed from collaborators to hostiles.

Of course, this was expected. Because everyone knows that even if the Americans have publicly stated on the surface that they will not annex Cuba, but will support Cuba, how could they not get any benefits when they send troops to fight? Sooner or later, they will stand opposite to the Cuban rebels. But no one expected that the change in this relationship would be so fast.

So, what exactly made both sides turn against each other?

Or Guantanamo.

Nikolau had to decide to surrender because of his food cut off. However, after receiving the request for his surrender, the Americans left the Cuban rebels who besieged the Spaniards and demanded to negotiate separately with Nikolau. Nikolau understood this, and at the same time, he had no choice. So, in the end, he just announced his surrender to the US military and handed Guantanamo to the US military. After the US military entered the city, he immediately controlled the entire city and did not allow any soldiers from the Cuban rebels to enter, and Santiago, which was not far away, was

The same is true, and they have become a forbidden place for Cuban rebels... The reason for the US military to do this is that they believe that the Cuban rebels are not a truly pursuing democracy and freedom, but just a group of brutal plunderers. Moreover, they have sufficient reasons for this determination: the Cuban Revolutionary Party formulated a policy of deliberate plunder after the uprising. This policy stipulates that if Americans in Cuba do not pay the protection funds, their property will not be protected, and these protection funds are used to financially support riots and expand propaganda.

It can be said that the Cuban rebels did shoot themselves in the foot. Because one of the reasons why the Americans wanted to seize Cuba was to protect the sugarcane plantations and sugar factories owned by the Americans. The profits of these large plantations and sugar factories cannot be ignored. The investment of 50 million US dollars can be as high as 100 million US dollars, and the profits are huge. The Cuban rebels do not consider the consequences and are too naive, so they will naturally be fooled by the Americans.

However, no matter what, the Americans turned against each other so quickly that everyone could not react. In particular, they had not informed the Qing army yet.

The Cuban Revolutionary Party responded quickly and was equally resolute. While Liu Yongfu had not received the news, he suddenly withdrew from the battle while Camagui was confronting the Spanish army and returned to seize Segod Avila. After Liu Yongfu understood, all the remaining troops of the Qing army had been driven out of the city, and the weapons and supplies left in the city were also detained by the rebels.

Liu Yongfu was naturally furious. But he did not want to provoke another group of locals when fighting against the Spaniards. So he informed Ronglu and others who were still far away in Barranquilla. However, before he could receive the order from Ronglu and others, the commander of the US military commander had already arrived at his desk: the Americans asked him to immediately counterattack Segod Avila and regain the important transportation center.

Faced with such a situation, Liu Yongfu, and Ronglu who stayed in Colombia were extremely annoyed. But they were very helpless. Because they were far away from a foreign country, the Qing Dynasty was very poor and weak, and they could not speak internationally. They were not bullied, who was bullied? But being played like a monkey made them very unwilling, so they photographed the telegram to Guo Jinzhang.

Soon, facing Guo Jinzhang's pressure, the Americans finally let go. The original transport fleet, escorted by two battleships, drove back to the port of Barranquilla, transported the remaining 60,000 Qing troops to Hukaro in batches, and met with Liu Yongfu who rushed over. Then, Ronglu and Liu Yongfu led more than 40,000 Qing generals Segod Avila to besiege, while Yuan Shikai and Ding Ruchang led another 30,000 Qing troops to advance westward, and rushed to Saint Spiritus west of Segod Avila...

In mid-March, the Qing army conquered Saint Spiritus, and another week conquered Santa Clara. At this time, the troops of the pioneer Yuan Shikai were only more than 200 kilometers away from Havana, the capital of Cuba.

The Americans who were in negotiations with the Spaniards were shocked and hurriedly ordered the Qing army to stop advancing. The navy transported another group of troops to land in Huvalian in northern Cuba, to prevent the two cities of Santa Clara, and drove Ding Ruchang and Yuan Shikai, who had just made a little excited, back to Segod Avila. Soon, the US transport ships came to Hukaro again. Afterwards, according to the order of the command of US Army Commander Miles, Liu Yongfu and Yuan Shikai had to take more than 20,000 Qing troops to cooperate with 3,000 US troops to Puerto Rico. Half a month later, they besieged San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico in four directions. After paying the price of 50 casualties, they captured the entire island of Puerto Rico.

The balance of victory began to tilt further towards the United States, and the Spaniards became increasingly unable to do so. However, everyone ignored the feelings of the Cuban rebels. After learning that Puerto Rico had been captured by the Americans and that the Spaniards had had to start negotiations with the Americans, the Cuban rebels besieged in Segod Avila voluntarily gave up their occupation of the city, "breaking through" the numerous encirclements of the outside Qing army, and "breaking" towards the west under the leadership of its commander Marseo Grajales!

Along the way, the Cuban rebels bypassed big cities and specialized in attacking small towns and villages. As a result, they continued to break through 400 kilometers and fought to a place less than 60 kilometers away from Havana, the capital of Cuba. The Spanish Governor of Cuba Weiler was shocked and hurriedly summoned troops to encircle and suppress it. However, Marseo Grajales took the lead in attacking the Spanish army that came to support, and took advantage of the small number of people and familiar terrain.

He fought when he could not defeat him, ran away when he could avoid the strong and attacked the weak, and was flexible and maneuverable. He defeated more than 10,000 Spanish troops with 4,000 troops. Then, facing more than 10,000 Spanish troops and the strong city of Havana, Grajales led his troops to turn around again, heading eastward. Within a few months, he traveled more than 1,000 kilometers, defeated more than 50,000 enemy troops, and met with the rebels who retreated from Santiago to the west in Jiguani.

For a time, the Cuban rebels became famous and seemed to be no longer a small supporting role in this war that concerns the future situation in Cuba.

But in this way, the situation in Cuba has also fallen into a strange scene: the crumbling Spanish, the aggressive Americans, the Cubans who are unwilling to be merciless, and the seemingly ferocious Qing army... Four forces, the Spanish are discussing peace with the United States, but hate the Qing army and the Cuban rebels to death; the Cubans are uprising on their own territory, but they are the weakest, not only to deal with the Spanish, but also to deal with the Americans who claim to make Cuba **; the Qing army beat the Spanish the most fiercely, but they have complained about the employer of the United States, and they also have conflicts with the Cuban rebels, but they have basically not had too much contact with them... The four groups of people have many conflicts, who will laugh

Finally, the Spanish are impossible. Although the Americans have the advantage, after being curbed twice, the Qing army they hired has been somewhat unable to work and lose their enthusiasm for fighting. So, do they need to face the Cuban rebels who have just fought with a great power? But what if they win? Even if the Cuban rebels cannot win, they are still more than enough to make trouble for them. If that happens, the US military will be trapped in Cuba in large quantities, just like the Spanish had to arrange 200,000 troops to station this colony... This land will not only be difficult for them to become a source of wealth, but may also become a huge burden for them.

!#
Chapter completed!