Chapter 537 Americans’ reaction

The day after the Philippines declared independence, the United States immediately held a press conference, announcing President Wilson's tough attitude and stating that it would fight all resistance forces.

Of course, the United States does not describe the crisis in the Philippines as a war. The US government stated that this was a rebellion by some people in the Philippines and an unrecognized anti-government armed revolution, not a so-called war.

In order to protect Americans in the Philippines, the United States announced in a high-profile manner that it would use its fleet in the Philippines to protect the safety of Americans, and at the same time mobilize two divisions to go to the Philippines to suppress the rebellion.

Why use the fleet in the Philippines to protect the Americans in the Philippines instead of mobilizing stronger troops from the mainland?

This question is also easy to understand.

Although the performance of warships has been greatly improved, the United States is separated from the Philippines by the entire Pacific Ocean, with a straight-line distance of more than 11,000 kilometers, and the fastest arrival time is about a month.

By the time the U.S. fleet arrived in the Philippines, the Americans in the Philippines had long been driven to an unknown location, let alone fulfilling President Wilson's promise to protect the Americans.

Therefore, the only thing that the United States can use urgently and can arrive in the Philippines to perform tasks soon is the squadron in the Philippines.

Although it is only a small fleet, there is still no problem in dealing with the Philippines, which has no navy at all.

The independence war that broke out in the Philippines quickly attracted the attention of many European and American media. Because it involves the United States, a great power, the news of this war was very hot in Europe, and the popularity even suppressed the war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire for a while.

The British immediately understood that this was Australasia's handiwork, because Britain and Australasia had exchanged views as early as a year earlier.

Australasia's decision to support the British in the World League gained British support for Australasia's actions in the Philippines. §§

As for the French, although Australasia did not obtain the consent of the French before the operation, the relationship between France and the United States is not very good. Moreover, the French have already intervened in the Russian Civil War and joined the British in supporting Greece in launching an attack on the Ottomans. The empire is already very busy with the war, and naturally has no idea of ​​intervening in the war in the Philippines.

This also resulted in the Americans’ fair and just protests not receiving support from any country. Even though Philippine independence seemed doubtful, no country was willing to stand up and openly support the Americans because of the poor reputation of the Americans.

It is worth mentioning that the island countries, allies of the Americans, did not choose to support the Americans. Perhaps because the Americans did not support themselves at the previous naval meeting, the islanders also remained silent in this incident.

Arthur is still very satisfied with Manuel's actions. He was able to quickly control the Senate and the government without causing too much turmoil in the Philippines. This proves that Manuel's reputation in the Philippines is still very effective.

As for retaliation for the Americans' protests, Arthur didn't care too much.

Although the Americans claimed in public that they would use two divisions to quell the rebellion in the Philippines, the Philippines' armed forces were not without growth.

Moreover, the United States is too far away from the Philippines. Such a long combat distance will greatly increase the United States' combat costs.

If the Americans want to stay with the Philippines, Arthur agrees with both hands. Because Australasia can quickly support the Philippines, but it takes more than two months for the Americans to go back and forth. The time and cost of the cylinder are very high, and can even directly hinder the attention of the Americans.

Using a small Philippines to hold back the Americans, causing the Americans to enter the economic crisis hastily without any preparation, this deal can be said to be a very cost-effective deal.

Although Australasia also needs certain assistance to the Philippines, it cannot spend too much money because of its relatively close distance.

What's more, the British are still wary of Americans. ɯoɔ˙xnɥsIf the opportunity can hold back the Americans, I believe the British will not miss it.

Australasia and Britain join forces to aid the Philippines. Can Americans really afford it?

I'm afraid not necessarily.

Even if the Americans just throw the table over and use a large navy to crush them, the fleets of Australasia and the British are not vegetarians.

It even only takes the British Indian Ocean Fleet and the Australasian navy to join forces to fight against all the American navies.

Do Americans dare to directly turn against Australasia and Britain? This is a question that President Wilson must have thought deeply about.

After all, President Wilson only has less than a year left in office. If some measures taken during this last year plunge the United States into dire straits, President Wilson will become the sinner of the United States. These are those who take reputation extremely seriously. politicians don’t want to see that.

President Wilson's tough speech soon appeared in newspapers in Europe and the United States, and also spread to the Philippines over time.

new

Although the situation in the Philippines is under control, Manuel is still worried about the current situation.

In order to completely reassure the Filipinos and make them willing to fight on the front line against the United States, Arthur directly waved his hand and once again granted Manuel and two others a total of 100,000 rifles. The armament assistance of one hundred machine guns and one hundred artillery pieces, as well as the corresponding ammunition required for these weapons, were transported to the Philippine port.

The weapons and equipment for the Filipinos have been prepared long ago, shipped from New Guinea, and can arrive in the Philippines in a few days.

With this new batch of more weapons and equipment, the worry on Manuel's face dissipated a little, and his attention immediately turned to expanding his armaments.

Knowing that the next most difficult issue was the American's revenge, Manuel and several others also united together and decided to unite closely during the War of Independence and not let the Americans take advantage of the loophole.

Because of this, after the three people discussed the distribution of this batch of weapons and equipment, a relatively fair method was adopted.

There were a total of 100,000 rifles, Manuel took 40,000, and the remaining 60,000 rifles were divided equally between the two.

Other weapons and equipment were also distributed to all armies in a ratio of 4:3:3, and the army was urgently expanded.

With this batch of weapons and equipment, the total size of the Philippine independent army can be expanded to more than 150,000 people.

With 50,000 people who have been trained for a year and 100,000 new recruits, the overall combat effectiveness cannot be said to be strong, but it can barely be said to be passable.

If prepared in advance, it may not be impossible to defeat two divisions of Americans.

What's more, Arthur's assistance this time included hundreds of machine guns and artillery, which undoubtedly enhanced the defensive capabilities of the Philippine army.

It has been proven in World War I that heavy weapons such as machine guns play a vital role in defensive warfare. If the Americans are not prepared, it is enough to make them drink a pot.

In order to make better use of these machine guns and artillery, Arthur sent a small team of instructors to help the Philippine army better control these heavy weapons.

Of course, since it takes at least a week to travel to the Philippines, the Philippine army only has three weeks at most to study.

The Australasian troops need to evacuate before the U.S. troops arrive. For the time being, the Americans cannot understand that Australasia is supporting the Philippines.

In order to better hide themselves, the weapons and equipment Australasia assisted the Philippines were either British-made weapons or German-made weapons. In short, they did not have Australasia's own weapons and equipment.

As long as there are no Australasian characteristic weapons, just relying on those British-made weapons and German-made weapons, it is impossible to tell which country is behind the Philippines.

The Australasian Military Factory has production lines for British-made weapons and German-made weapons, so there is no need to worry about logistical issues.

Although President Wilson announced in the eyes of many media that he would send at least two divisions to counter the rebellion, the speed of the Americans' actions surprised all countries.

The first was the call-up of American troops. Although only two divisions needed to be dispatched, it took more than a week for these two divisions to assemble and board the transport ship.

By the time the U.S. military boarded the fleet and left the mainland, it was already more than a week later, in early August.

At this time, the Filipinos had received weapons support from Australasia, and under the guidance of a small group of Australasian instructors, intense military training was underway.

The slow movement of the Americans bought time for Australasia. It was originally expected that the Filipinos would only have three weeks to learn the operation of machine guns and artillery. Now an additional week has been added to allow the Philippine army to become more proficient in operating heavy weapons.

In order to express his support for the Philippines, Arthur quietly transported a batch of food supplies to the Philippines, including some medical supplies without any labels, to help the Filipinos better fight against the United States.

Of course, under the instigation of John, the intelligence chief in the Philippines, the three Manuels signed a loan treaty, loaning 20 million Australian dollars from Australasia in the name of the Philippine Senate, agreeing to repay within ten years.

All weapons, equipment and resources provided by Australasia to the Philippines were actually purchased cheaply by the Philippine Senate using this loan.

Although it is an interest-free loan, Arthur is not optimistic that the Philippine government can repay the 20 million Australian dollars within ten years.

Moreover, even if the Philippine government is able to repay, Arthur will make the Philippine government unable to do so.

Compared with this 20 million Australian dollars, Arthur would like to see control of an obedient country with a population of tens of millions.

With the formation of the Philippine government in the future, further controlling the situation in the Philippines is what Arthur has to do now, and it is also urgent.

The second update of 3000 words, please vote for me and support!