Chapter 949: Defeat

Manila Port.

The Philippine Navy has been basically wiped out, which makes the Spanish Philippine colonial government only hope to delay the US attack on land.

The coastal defense artillery of Manila Port still wants to resist stubbornly, but it is easily destroyed by the US military, because the main artillery of the Philippines is deployed at the mouth of Manila Bay, and the rear is relatively empty. After the naval ships were wiped out, Manila Port can only passively take the beating.

Compared with the Philippine Navy, the performance of the Spanish Army can be described as "a mess", which made the East African Military Advisory Group, which had previously conducted short-term special training for Spain, cover its face.

"The Spanish and Philippine Army simply don't want to be as shameless. I didn't teach them this before. Now the war is like a pile of shit. The weapons in their hands may not even be as good as a fire stick..."

"Okay, Peter, this is not our fault. It's all because the Spanish defenders of the Philippine colony have no will to fight. In this case, even if the gods descended to the earth, they can't win."

The members of the East African Military Advisory Group were very dissatisfied with the performance of the Spanish soldiers, but the US military on the opposite side didn't think so.

After landing, the U.S. military and the Spanish colonial garrison engaged in a firefight. Both sides were completely at the level of chickens fighting each other. Spain performed poorly, and the Americans were not much stronger, especially when the Spanish rifles had the upper hand.

This also annoyed Dewey, the commander of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, and he had to order the landing troops to withdraw to the dock area first.

He led the fleet to launch a devastating attack on the defense system along the coast of Manila Bay, and then successfully completed the blockade of Manila Bay.

In this case, the Spanish colonial garrison was completely trapped in Manila Bay by the Americans. As time went on, the Spanish soldiers would eventually surrender, unless Spain could support the Philippines.

This was obviously impossible. At this time, Spain's energy had been completely pinned down by the Americans in the Atlantic region, and the main forces of the U.S. and Spanish naval and land forces had already begun a confrontation in the Cuban region.

Compared with Manila Bay, the port of Santiago in Cuba can be said to be "impregnable" deployed by the Spanish army. The density of mines alone is far greater than that of Manila Bay. If the mines of the port of Santiago were deployed in Manila Bay, the local Spanish garrison might be able to achieve greater results.

On June 8, 1898, the Cuban Campaign officially began. The U.S. Navy launched a one-day and one-night attack on the Port of Santiago at all costs. After paying the price of hundreds of people, the U.S. military officially landed successfully in Guantanamo Bay.

The Cuban Campaign was not as good as the Battle of Manila in the Philippines from the beginning. Although Spain also failed in the Battle of Manila, it dealt a huge blow to the U.S. Asian Fleet. Two U.S. warships were sunk and nearly half of the U.S. warships were injured.

After the U.S. successfully landed in Cuba, the war between the United States and Spain also shifted from the coastline to the inland. The two sides launched a fierce battle in the jungle. History repeated itself. The performance of the Spanish defenders in Cuba was also not as good as that of the Philippine defenders.

On the one hand, the local people in Cuba welcomed the United States at this time, so there were many guides. On the other hand, Cuba was not as deep as the Philippines. Finally, Cuba was too close to the U.S. mainland, and the United States had more troops available to continuously support the U.S. military in Cuba.

Throughout June, the U.S. military continued to make achievements and continuously compressed the living space of the Spanish defenders with its advantages. In this case, the Spanish Navy had to take the initiative to attack and fight a decisive battle with the U.S. Navy.

July 4, 1898.

The Spanish Navy in Santiago engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the United States in Santiago Bay, attempting to break out of the blockade of the U.S. Navy.

The Spanish Navy flagship Maria Teresa led three cruisers and two torpedo destroyers out of the port, shelling the U.S. ships outside the port while evacuating, and the guns on both sides of the port also fired at the U.S. ships at the same time.

Less than three hours after the battle, the U.S. Navy sent all the Spanish warships into the sea, and after the Battle of Santiago, it was officially announced that the Spanish naval forces in the Philippines and the Caribbean were completely destroyed.

At this time, the main battlefield of the war had completely shifted to land. After the destruction of the Spanish Navy, the Spanish colonial defenders continued to resist stubbornly. The two sides fought from July to early August, and the Philippine defenders persisted until mid-August. After running out of ammunition and food, they had to surrender to the U.S. military.

…

Manila Port.

"Who are you and why do you want to leave the port?"

At this time, in the port of Manila, East African military personnel were stopped and questioned by American soldiers. After all, the war in the Philippines was basically over, and the members of the East African Military Advisory Group could not stay.

"We are Germans, this is our identity proof."

In fact, without identity proof, the Americans had no way to deal with the East African Military Advisory Group. Of course, they still had to keep a low profile.

After the Spanish army in the Philippines was doomed, the East African Military Advisory Group had destroyed all the signs and items with traces of East Africa.

The reason why they were stopped by American soldiers was mainly because they exuded the breath of "the same kind".

"You should not be businessmen!" The American soldier stared at the calluses on the hands of the East African Military Advisory Group and said, and he stretched out his hand to compare with his own. It was obvious that the other party was also a soldier.

"You have a good eye. We are indeed not businessmen, but East African diplomats in the Philippines."

"Then what is your purpose in coming to the Philippines?"

"No comment, this is not something you can ask casually!"

The American soldiers had no way to deal with the arrogance of the members of the East African Military Advisory Group. After all, they said they were diplomats in the Philippines, that is, officials, and they were not something they could afford to offend.

Of course, due to their dissatisfaction with their attitude, the American soldiers increased the inspection of the personal belongings of the members of the East African Military Advisory Group. Obviously, they did not gain anything.

"In this case, we have to leave this place of trouble. Goodbye, young man!" The East African Military Advisory Group joked.

At this time, shipping had resumed in Manila Bay, so East African merchant ships had long been waiting in Manila Port.

The East African Military Advisory Group, which had provided services to the Spaniards for more than three months, all returned safely to the East African mainland. As for the future work in the Philippines, it would still be controlled by overseas intelligence departments such as the East African National Defense Security Bureau.

Although it is certain that the Philippines has fallen into the hands of the Americans, the local intelligence work will not be cut off. After all, the geographical location of the Philippines is extremely important.

Three weeks after the East African Military Advisory Group left, the Spanish colonial army in the Philippines formally surrendered to the United States. The surrender of the Philippine colonial army also officially meant the end of the war between Spain and the United States.

Compared with Cuba, the Philippine colonial army could be tougher this time than in the past. After all, Cuba was supported by Spain, while the Philippines received almost no other support except for the small amount of aid it received before the war, and its record was also more dazzling than that of the Cuban defenders, especially against the Asian fleet.

Although the Philippine Navy was also annihilated, the Philippine Navy was the weakest in the Spanish Navy. It only had three ironclad ships, two of which were close to being scrapped before the war, and even one was far behind the US warships, and the rest were wooden hulled ships.

Compared with the pre-war situation of the Philippine Navy, the Cuban Navy was stronger. In addition to the higher quality and quantity of warships, it could also receive support from the local navy during the war, but the losses were also greater, and the main damage to the US military was basically based on land battles, and the navy's record was not good.