America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 566 Basic Strategy of the Cuban War of Independence

"Mr. Chen! They ran away! Should we chase them?"

He Jianshun rushed to Chen Jianqiu's side, rubbing his hands excitedly.

"Chase, why not chase?" Chen Jianqiu said while arranging his gun, "But master the rhythm, like mosquitoes biting prey, like wolves driving sheep, don't be fooled."

"okay!"

He Jianshun was about to go back to deliver the order, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned around to ask.

"Mr. Chen, what should I do with these trophies?"

"Someone will pick it up. Let's just chase it and beat it." Chen Jianqiu said.

There is a saying that goes well, don't chase poor bandits, but although these Spaniards fled, they obviously still had a way out, and they were not considered poor bandits.

They were focused on returning to the city of Santiago.

There was a well-arranged defense line by the Spanish, and the San Juan Mountain outside the city was the top priority of the defense line.

Once they get there, they're safe.

But the four- to five-hour journey seemed too long for them.

He Jianshun and Chen Jianqiu followed them slowly with less than a hundred Chinese soldiers.

But as soon as they paused for a moment, gunfire rang out from behind.

The marksmanship of the soldiers of the rebel army may be ordinary, but the marksmanship of Long Xiang group and Chen Jianqiu is accurate.

From time to time someone would be shot and fall to the ground while running.

Without the officers, no one could tell how many pursuers were behind them. It was impossible to organize resistance on the spot, and everyone wanted to escape.

It doesn't matter whether you can outrun those Chinese, as long as you can run faster than your comrades.

Some Spanish soldiers even felt that the guns they were carrying were cumbersome and simply threw them away and ran away.

Not to mention the baggage, it fell directly to the ground.

Chen Jianqiu told He Jianshun and the soldiers not to worry about those things and just continue to bite the front and be done with it.

Not because he doesn't care about the loot, but because someone else will pick it up for them.

While they were fighting fiercely with the Spaniards, Lai Hua and Luo Xiangrong's troops were firing new guns not far from them.

Lai Hua did not follow Chen Jianqiu's instructions and go to the foot of the mountain to find a place to hide.

His team was not far from Chen Jianqiu's position, and he sent scouts to observe the situation here.

Once something goes wrong here, such as Chen Jianqiu playing tricks or they encounter an enemy and the battle situation is not going well, they can rush over immediately.

The scout quickly conveyed the news:

Fighting broke out over the river valley. Chen Jianqiu and He Jianshun's 100 men encountered about 400 to 500 Spanish soldiers. The specific situation of the battle is unknown.

When Lai Hua heard this, he became extremely anxious.

This young man is still too trusting.

He knew only too well how much fighting power his soldiers had.

Although these people are already considered the elite of his team, they will not have much advantage in meeting the well-equipped Spanish warriors head-on.

What's more, they formed a temporary team with the soldiers brought by Chen Jianqiu, and there was no tacit understanding!
What's more, the number of people is still a disadvantage!
"Luo Xiangrong! Quick, everyone, grab your weapons, march quickly, and go to the river valley to support!"

He stood up, picked up the bolt-action rifle he had just obtained, and shouted to Luo Xiangrong who was firing the gun.

Luo Xiangrong was stunned.

"But, we don't know how to use the new guns yet!" He glanced at the soldiers around him who were studying the new guns.

"I can't control that much anymore!"

Lai Hua had already taken the lead and walked quickly forward.

He didn't even look back, and his hair looked increasingly pale under the sunlight.

"If you can use it, use it. If you can't, use the original gun!"

"Everyone! March quickly!" Luo Xiangrong also shouldered his gun and shouted at the soldiers behind him.

The soldiers received the order and trotted after him without saying a word.

Santos watched the Chinese soldiers passing in front of him one after another, and then glanced at the mostly empty carriage behind him, feeling a little confused.

"Lai, Captain Lai! What should we do?"

he shouted to the front of the line.

"Let's go first. You guys can follow slowly from behind." Luo Xiangrong turned his head and waved at him.

Lai Hua and Luo Xiangrong led the soldiers to the mouth of the river valley as quickly as possible.

However, the expected gunfire did not come.

"They won't finish the fight, right?" This was Luo Xiangrong's first reaction.

"What do you think that is?" A soldier suddenly pointed at the river and shouted.

Everyone looked and saw a body floating down from upstream.

However, judging from their attire, they were all Spanish soldiers, and none of them were Chinese.

"It seems like things are not that bad!" Luo Xiangrong beamed.

But Lai Hua, who has experienced many battles, did not take it lightly.

He took off the rifle he was carrying, loaded the bullet as Santos said before, and held it in his hand.

"It's possible that the Spaniards did it on purpose. We'd better be careful."

Everyone walked upstream along the river bank, and not long after, they arrived at the scene of the battle.

They saw from a distance several familiar figures walking up and down the river.

"Huang Dakuan, what's going on?" Lai Hua rushed to one of them with a gun.

"Oh, report Captain, we are cleaning the battlefield."

Huang Dakuan didn't seem surprised by Lai Hua's arrival.

He turned around and wanted to salute the officer, but found that his accustomed right arm was injured and could not lift it, so he had to switch to his left hand.

Lai Hua glanced at the battlefield.

The corpses of Spanish soldiers were lying on the ground in different shapes; guns were scattered on the ground, and Huang Dakuan and several lightly injured Chinese soldiers were collecting these guns and ammunition, and incidentally shot the corpses on the ground.

Wait until those corpses are no longer dead and then take out the useful things from these people.

"We won." Huang Dakuan said with a relaxed expression.

He pointed to a few Chinese soldiers sitting or lying at the foot of the hillside not far away: "Four of us died and about ten were injured. Mr. Chen asked us to wait for you here and said that you would help pick up the equipment. "

"How did he know we were coming?" Lai Hua's mood was not relaxed because of his victory. His eyebrows were twisted into knots and he asked eagerly, "Where is he and He Jianshun?"

"Oh, they chased after him." Huang Dakuan replied.

"Leave some people to clean up the battlefield, and the others will continue chasing after me. We are not afraid of ten thousand, but just in case. If we advance too aggressively, we may be ambushed by the Spaniards!" Lai Hua said to Luo Xiangrong.

At this moment, Santos and Diaz arrived belatedly in a carriage convoy.

"Ah! Mr. Santos! Mr. Diaz!" Huang Dakuan recognized the two people and waved to them.

At this time, the two men were looking at the corpses on the ground in confusion.

"Mr. Chen asked me to tell you something. He wants you to help load the guns and other spoils we found onto the wagon." "He said these German Mauser rifles are pretty good."

Huang Dakuan also pointed to the Maxim rifle at the foot of the mountain.

"He also emphasized that the machine gun had to be recovered and that he would find a way to recover the bullets."

Santos and Diaz looked at each other.

They didn't quite understand what Chen Jianqiu meant by "recycling", but they nodded anyway.

So Lai Hua, Luo Xiangrong and their soldiers chased all the way to the other end of the valley.

They didn't have to worry about losing their tracking route because there were baggage and guns left behind by Spanish soldiers along the way.

They chased with the carriage team and picked up things along the way. The carriage that was originally half empty was not only filled up again, but also piled up high.

Finally, Lai Hua and Luo Xiangrong finally met Chen Jianqiu and others about one kilometer away from San Juan Mountain outside the city of Santiago.

Chen Jianqiu was standing behind a hillside, holding a telescope in his hand and looking towards the distant San Juan Mountain position.

He Jianshun stood behind him and played rock-paper-scissors with the soldiers out of boredom.

Lai Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that all his soldiers were safe and sound.

When He Jianshun saw his superior, he stepped forward and reported the entire battle to Lai Hua.

Lai Hua was somewhat overjoyed.

It seemed like he was worrying too much.

As expected of a descendant of the King of England, he is extremely skilled in fighting.

Luo Xiangrong immediately ran to Chen Jianqiu and said excitedly:

"Young Master, let's continue to pursue the victory and teach those Spaniards a lesson! When we join forces with other rebel forces, we may be able to capture Santiago! This is the second largest city in Cuba!"

Chen Jianqiu has not put down the telescope in his hand yet.

He was also observing the Spanish positions on San Juan Hill.

Although San Juan Mountain is called a "mountain", it is actually a highland outside the city of San Diego.

This highland has a unique geographical location.

Any army attacking the city of Santiago from the south coast would have to pass through here.

Colonel Francis arranged a very tight defense here.

Not to mention the various sandbags and semi-permanent fortifications, there were also a lot of the Maxim machine guns that he was most familiar with.

Chen Jianqiu could see layer upon layer of machine gun positions set up in the open, not to mention the firing points in the dark.

"We can't capture San Diego City for the time being." Chen Jianqiu put down the telescope in his hand and looked at Luo Xiangrong. "To put it bluntly, we can't even take down this high ground in front of us now."

Luo Xiangrong was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, we really don't have any way to deal with these cities for the time being." Lai Hua came up and sighed, "Mr. Chen, do you have any good ideas?"

"Retreat first." Chen Jianqiu put the telescope in his pocket and said without hesitation.

The Chinese Volunteer Army soldiers quickly evacuated the area around San Diego.

They headed north along the Sierra Maestra Mountains, preparing to join forces with another Chinese volunteer army, Hood's troops.

"There should be no hope for the big cities and their nearby areas." On the way, Chen Jianqiu and Lai Hua analyzed the current situation of the Cuban War of Independence together.

During his time in Cuba, he learned a lot of information from various channels, especially in Santiago.

"These areas should have been set up by the 'Butcher' as a zone of fortified defenses and cleared fields. With our current firepower and manpower, we are not enough to pose a threat to these areas." Chen Jianqiu said.

He placed his hands on the "table" made of boxes, on which was unfolded a map of Cuba.

"I suggest you go to the northwest. There are large tobacco plantations that employ Chinese people. Liberate them and then incorporate the Chinese people there into your army."

Chen Jianqiu drew a circle on the map with a pen.

"And some of the small ports there can avoid the patrols of Spanish warships, making it convenient for me to transport supplies here."

He straightened up and threw the pen on the "table":

“Abandon those big cities, attack and liberate the remote rural areas, use the rural areas to surround the cities, expand your own team in mobile warfare, and eventually become an important force in Cuba.”

Chen Jianqiu glanced at Lai Hua:
“That’s my suggestion.”

There was a glimmer of hope in Lai Hua's eyes.

He said to Chen Jianqiu very sincerely: "Jianqiu, please stay and work with me to fight for a place for the Chinese in Cuba.

Chen Jianqiu chuckled.

Creating a space for the Chinese in Cuba is definitely necessary, but now he has another very important thing to do.

"My wife and I have to go back to the United States." Chen Jianqiu scratched his head, "I have to arrange the next batch of supplies for you."

"But those soldiers from the Longxiong Group will stay here to train your soldiers. They are all fighters with very rich experience," he added.

So Chen Jianqiu and Camilla returned to the United States.

The two of them even walked through the Port of San Diego with a swagger.

The small team that went to cause trouble for them was wiped out.

No one knew that the battle that took place southwest of Santiago was related to these two men.

The identities they both used were still reporters from the New York World.

Although the relationship between Spain and the United States had become somewhat tense at this time, it had not yet reached the point where they were showing off their swords against each other.

So Chen Jianqiu and Camilla didn't encounter any trouble along the way.

Chen Jianqiu’s first stop after returning to the United States was Roswell.

He headed straight for the Roswell Armory.

In accordance with his request, the Ordnance Factory quickly organized a team of mechanical engineers and artillery engineers.

This is the benefit of having deep pockets.

Today, Roswell brings together the best scientific and technological talents in the United States.

Chen Jianqiu provided them with high salaries and ample research funds.

So, what if it’s a desert? What if it’s close to the border?
At the first meeting of the group, Chen Jianqiu put forward his own requirements:
"I need a kind of indirect-fire artillery. It needs to be easy to carry, preferably one person can carry it, and it also needs to have a certain power and lethality. I hope the range is at least 500 meters, so as to blow up the enemy's machine gun position."

The mechanical engineers began their own fantasies, but the artillery experts looked at each other in confusion.

They really don't know that there is such a thing in the world.

Fortunately, Boss Chen carried forward his fine traditions.

He continued his "abstract painting" career and spent less than half an hour to provide engineers with a schematic diagram:

It consisted of a gun barrel mounted on an adjustable bipod with a bowl-shaped seat at the end to absorb recoil.

A waist bag made of smokeless gunpowder wrapped in fabric is put on the bottom of the shell, placed in the barrel, and the firing can be completed by firing the primer.

Chen Jianqiu's painting was a bit blurry and his words were quite complicated.

But he knew clearly what he wanted.

Mortar.

(End of this chapter)