America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 577

It was Major Huntington of the Navy who was in charge of landing at Guantanamo Bay.

But they are different from Roosevelt.

The landing team does not belong to the Army, but the Marine Corps.

It stands to reason that these Marines should be more suitable than the Army for Cuban island landing operations, after all, they are professional counterparts.

In fact, the navy is indeed better prepared than the army, and these Maruns did perform better than the army near San Diego.

But, it's really just a little bit.

They landed at the southeast corner of Guantanamo.

The original Spanish stronghold here was also pulled out by Chen Jianqiu and his rebel army.

Huntington and his marines occupied the blockhouse and set up camp here, called Camp McCulla.

"Sir, should we dig some fortifications, such as trenches, to strengthen this camp?"

A soldier asked his officer, Major Huntington.

The latter is with one hand on his hip, watching with relish his subordinates hoisting the American Stars and Stripes in the camp.

Hearing what his subordinates said, the major was a little unhappy.

He stroked his upturned beard, glanced at the soldier, and pointed to the cruiser Marblehead not far from the sea.

"You think a Spaniard's head can take a few rounds from our fleet guns, huh?" said the major.

His confidence is not without reason.

Before landing, the cruiser Marblehead, the auxiliary cruiser USS St. Louis and the auxiliary cruiser USS Yankee had arrived at the outer bay of Guantanamo Bay first, and poured a burst of artillery fire at the surrounding bunkers and forts.

The major did not think the Spaniards had the courage to continue to stand before them in resistance.

Otherwise, why is the camp under my feet empty now?

Naturally, the major would not attribute these things to Chen Jianqiu and the Cuban rebel army.

In his eyes, these bumpkins are at best cannon fodder, how could they have the strength to drive away the Spaniards!
Seeing what his officer said, the soldier didn't say anything more.

It is better not to dig trenches or repair fortifications, and they are happy to be at leisure.

However, unlike the garrison in Santiago, the Spaniards at Guantanamo did not actually go far.

They hid in the forest not far from the beach.

The leading officer is called Rodriguez.

The officer was harassed terribly by the local guerrillas, then seduced by Chen Jianqiu from the garrison, and then beaten up by 21 Maxim.

Fortunately, in addition to the Spaniards, there are also some locals in the army under this officer.

Also known as the "puppet army".

They are very familiar with the surrounding jungle.

Rodriguez quickly retreated into it with the rest of his troops.

Chen Jianqiu did not let his troops chase after him in the jungle even after he had achieved some phased results.

First, he will continue to grab territory and expand his influence.

Secondly, he has completed the task assigned to him by the headquarters, at least the landing site has been cleaned up.

Three to rush into the Cuban jungle is not a very wise behavior.

Because you might really not know which tree is talking.

And of course, that damned mosquito!

After confirming that Chen Jianqiu and his troops had left, the Spaniards hiding in the jungle moved forward along the forest to the edge of the forest.

Until they saw the Star-Spangled Banner.

When the Spanish soldiers saw the flag, they were immediately outraged, and they all expressed their righteous indignation that they would retake the camp.

But their commander, Mr. Rodriguez, is not up to it.

He has suffered from Chen Jianqiu's loss once, and he will never be fooled again.

The latter's method of seduction was to bring a generator and the latest loudspeaker from the Roswell Electric Company from the United States, in which he insulted His Excellency Rodriguez and his immediate family in Spanish all day long.

"We have to be patient and think about those brothers who died under machine guns." Rodriguez pondered for a moment and said, "We shot at them from the jungle in several groups, they have no way of judging our position. "

The location of the camp is close to the coast, the terrain is low, and the surroundings are high, surrounded by dense bushes.

The Spanish soldiers divided into numerous groups according to the commander's order and began to attack the Americans below.

Major Huntington was still directing his soldiers to pitch the tent of his headquarters.

Suddenly there were gunshots around.

"Oops! Sir, the enemy seems to be attacking our camp!" The major's soldiers panicked and tried to find a place to hide.

The major, however, was not in the slightest panic.

He was born in Connecticut, graduated from the West Point Military Academy, and belonged to the Yankees with young roots.

He had the confidence of a Yankee officer.

"What are you panicking about? Let me see which daring bastards dare to attack us!" The major took out his gun and started walking towards the forest, observing which direction the bullets came from.

To be honest, this behavior is courageous and stupid.

But I don't know whether it was the poor marksmanship of the Spanish soldiers on the opposite side or the luck of the major, the bullets didn't hit him.

But courage doesn't solve everything.

The major wasn't sure where the Spaniards were hiding.

There were gunshots from all sides, and the guns they used were also smokeless powder, and it was impossible to determine from the flames and smoke where the attack came from.

Since there were no trenches dug in the barracks, the soldiers of the Marine Corps didn't even have a place to hide, and they were beaten and run around by the Spanish troops in the jungle.

The major saw that going on like this was not an option.

He yelled at the soldiers behind him:
"Come in with me and drive these damned Spaniards out of the jungle!"

Major Huntington charged first, Colt revolver in hand.

The commander is so brave, it is really unreasonable for the people below not to charge forward.

He took a group of brave marines and charged in one direction.

This approach seems to be working.

The Spaniards in that direction saw the Americans rushing over like a pack of wild dogs, and immediately chose to retreat.

But the slow ones among them were quickly caught by the major and the soldiers.

"Kill these damned Spaniards!" the major yelled, hitting a Spanish soldier looming in the bushes.

The major and his warriors quickly killed seven or eight Spaniards.

He decided to pursue the victory and chased into the dense jungle.

Facts have proved that it is reasonable for Chen Jianqiu not to enter the forest.

The major and the troops who rushed in were not only lost, but also beaten to pieces by the local "puppet army" who climbed up the tree.

These local Cubans smeared an "unidentified mixture" of rotten leaves and soil on their faces, and wore palm fronds on their heads. They dressed themselves as one with the jungle.

In less than half an hour, the Marine Corps lost forty or fifty corpses in the jungle.

Major Huntington, still not knowing where the rest of the enemy was, had to give the order to retreat.

But in which direction to withdraw and which way to withdraw, no one knows.

When the major withdrew from the jungle with the soldiers who rushed in, they dropped a dozen more corpses.

The marines who suffered a big loss had to retreat to their camp.

According to old tradition, Major Huntington began to seek support from his fleet at sea.

The captain of the cruiser Marblehead was also very face-saving. The two 205mm main guns on the ship slammed into the jungle marked by the major for him.

But the effect of these shells hitting the jungle is obviously not as good as hitting those fortifications.

After the shelling was over, Rodriguez came again with his Spaniards.

Same as shooting from the jungle, same as luring marines into the jungle.

But this time the major was not fooled, and did not rush into the woods rashly.

So the Spaniards came again the next day.

The major and the marines didn't know which direction to fight, and they didn't even dare to chase after them. They could only stay in the camp and shoot blindly into the jungle.

The Spanish defenders in the city of Kaimanera in the north were originally determined to be a turtle.

This city is located in the strait between the inner and outer bays of Guantanamo Bay. As long as you break through here, you can enter the inner bay.

But when they learned that Captain Rodriguez had brought his Spanish troops to teach the marines who had landed on Mount McCalla, Colonel Roberto in the city began to think about it.

In many cases, bullying is a neutral term, especially for the military.

Persimmons should be picked softly.

Colonel Roberto saw that the US troops were so easy to bully, so he decisively asked some of the defenders in the city to press forward with Captain Rodriguez.

After the captain received support, the number of his subordinates reached more than [-] at one time.

He didn't choose to push these soldiers up all at once, but divided them into several squads and began to harass the soldiers of the Marine Corps in turn, no matter it was day or night.

In order not to be driven into the sea, Major Huntington and his marines had to suppress their sleepiness and fight the Spanish soldiers who came to harass them.

The fleet at sea has nothing to do but worry.

The Marines could not provide them with exact coordinates of the Spanish camp, and they could not even break through the jungle.

They had to continue to advance towards the inner bay of Guantanamo Bay.

The original plan of the commander of the fleet was to block the bay, blockade the city of Kaimanera, and then bombard the city a few times.

Because their marines were stuck at McCallah Hill.

There is only so much the Navy can do without the Army's parallel advancement.

But soon, they received a detailed coordinate map showing the location of the coastal defense batteries outside Kaimanera.

Sent together with the coordinate map, there is also the above command:
Cooperate with the [-]nd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Brigade and capture Kaimanera!
In fact, Chen Jianqiu could have attacked the city long ago.
He basically wiped out everything from Guantanamo to Santiago, and even the telegraph cables were cut.

He is just waiting for an opportunity.

One is that it is best to transfer part of the defenders in the city, and the other is the arrival of the fleet.

Danny's artillery is still on the way, and what's more, there is nothing more exciting than the fire cover of the twelve main guns on the battleship.

Therefore, since he learned that the Marine Corps was blocked at Mount McCalla by the sea, he immediately assembled more than 1 soldiers and marched from the south of Guantanamo to Tokyu, heading towards the city of Kaimanera.

At the same time, the firepower deployment map in the city obtained by the undercover agent of the Border Detective Agency was handed over to Major General William Sampson, commander of the North Pacific Fleet.

This major general, like Dewey, is a direct descendant of Roosevelt.

Therefore, there is a good relationship between him and Chen Jianqiu.

More importantly, this major general is very pragmatic.

He will make the choice that is best for winning the war.

Poor Major Huntington suddenly discovered that the cruiser Marblehead, which was still wandering on the sea not far away, had disappeared.

"Fourth-class people" are still "fourth-class people" after all.

In the end, Ma Run could not escape his fate of becoming a bait to delay the Spanish troops.

(End of this chapter)