Cuba, Havana Fortress.

It is now March 27, 3985, and on April 30, 1885, the Spanish-American War has been fought for four and a half years, and most of Cuba is occupied by the United States except Havana.

Outside the fortress of Havana, it was surrounded by more than 300,000 American regiments.

The entire fortress of Havana looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with all the surrounding city houses destroyed, trees burned to ashes, and rivers evaporated in artillery fire.

It is hard to imagine that the Spanish army, which has been reduced to the third rate of the world, has resisted for so long.

Among them, thanks to the strong support of the Chinese Empire, otherwise with the strength of Spain, it would definitely not be able to hold on to the present.

However, the Chinese Empire's support for Spain is also getting weaker and weaker, not that the Chinese Empire is unwilling to help, but that the United States is very cunning, in order to cut off the Chinese Empire's aid to the Spanish and Cuban defenders, the American army adopted the tactics of encircling the city from the countryside, first occupying most of the rural areas of Cuba, and then encircling Havana.

As a result, the U.S. Navy blockaded the sea, and the U.S. forces on land encircled Havana, making it difficult for the Chinese Empire to transport supplies to the Spanish defenders in Havana.

Of course, the magic is one foot high.

As a world-class power, the Chinese Empire lacked technology, capital, talent, and military strength, and still had the means to secretly assist the Spanish defenders in Havana. Otherwise, with the third-rate strength of the Spanish army, it would not be able to defeat the second-rate strength of the US army.

The Imperial Chinese military smuggled supplies into Havana by two methods, one was by land and sea, and it was impossible for surface warships to approach Havana, but submarines could.

The submarines of the Chinese Empire had a large tonnage, with a displacement of close to two thousand tons, and could carry a large amount of cargo to sneak into the port of Havana from under the surface. The Imperial Chinese military had the information on the deployment of water radium for the Spanish defenders, so there was no need to worry about colliding with radium.

It's just that at the beginning, the Imperial Chinese military used the Great White Shark-class submarine to transport supplies, but the effect was very poor, and the loading of materials was very inconvenient, at most some food, a small amount of guns and ammunition could be transported, and weapons such as artillery could not be transported at all.

Subsequently, at the request of the Navy, in response to the war in Cuba and the future needs of the Imperial Chinese Navy, the General Administration of Ships of the Chinese Empire quickly designed and produced a transport-type submarine specially designed and produced for transporting weapons and ammunition.

The biggest difference between this transport submarine and the combat type before the Chinese Empire is that the back of the submarine can be opened, similar to the strategic nuclear submarine of the 21st century, with a launch hatch on the back. The difference was that the transport submarines of the Chinese Empire had large hatches for the convenience of loading and unloading cargo.

The transport submarine was classified as a seahorse class by the Imperial Chinese military, with a displacement (surface / underwater): 2300 tons / 4160 tons, and used 4 6-cylinder 2-stroke diesel engines of the Staley NC83 type, the most powerful in the Chinese Empire, 2 Plante X11 motors (for underwater navigation), and dual propulsion shafts. Speed (surface/underwater): 12 knots/8 knots, 2 533 mm Fish Radium launch tubes, all in the bow, loaded with 2 Fish Radium, can participate in the battle if necessary. However, in order to reduce the load, the originally planned 128 mm 50 times diameter naval gun was cancelled.

Ever since the Chinese Empire developed the Seahorse-class transport submarines, it has been secretly transporting supplies from underwater to Havana, ensuring the supply of food, medicine, weapons and ammunition for the Spanish defenders.

For a long time, the U.S. military did not understand why the Spanish defenders in the fortress of Havana could hold out. According to U.S. military intelligence investigations, the Havana fortress has enough food for a year at most, ammunition for only 10 months, and medicine for up to three months. However, the Spanish defenders held out for more than four years and did not surrender voluntarily due to lack of supplies.

The American army had intended to besiege the Spanish defenders in Havana, but the strategy failed, and the Spanish defenders did not worry about supplies at all.

The U.S. military understands that this must be the work of the Chinese Empire, but the U.S. military just doesn't know how the Chinese Empire used to smuggle supplies in.

For this reason, the US military has successively dismissed 20 US generals who had been assigned patrol and vigilance duties, but unfortunately it was useless.

Later, the American army saw that the siege could not kill the Spanish defenders, and had to launch a large-scale attack again. Every day there was fierce fighting between the two sides, and although the Spanish defenders, as the defenders, had the advanced weapons and equipment of the Chinese Empire in hand, and the casualty rate was very low, they could not withstand the frantic attack of the American army. The U.S. military wanted to exhaust the Spanish defenders in Havana at the cost of five for one or eight for one, and this method of self-harm once frightened Fernando, the Spanish governor of Cuba.

However, soon the Chinese Empire secretly helped the Spanish government and secretly transported the Spanish troops from Spain mainland into Havana, and secretly transported the Spanish wounded and sick from the fortress of Havana.

As a result, Spain's military presence in Havana has always existed, and is even being strengthened. Because the Chinese Empire also brought building materials and engineers for the Spanish defenders, repairing fortresses while fighting, and even adding various permanent fortifications, these made the American army suffer a lot of casualties.

But the Chinese Empire also made a mistake, they should not have transported the Spanish wounded and sick from the fortress of Havana, and even after they were transported, they should not have been handed over to the Spanish government, they should have been detained in Key West, so that the information would not be leaked.

Unfortunately, the Chinese Empire did not think of this aspect at that time, and the Spanish government swore that it would not divulge information, but after the wounded returned to Spain, they actually met with their families, and the results were obtained by American intelligence officers, and it was learned that the Chinese Empire had developed a submarine that could transport supplies.

The American government was greatly annoyed and solemnly protested to the Chinese Empire, demanding that the Chinese Empire stop this kind of behavior that could trigger a war between China and the United States.

In this regard, the Chinese Imperial Government resolutely denied it, resolutely insisted that it was slander, and even claimed that the Spanish wounded and sick were victims of war trauma, and that their brains were hallucinating and could not be believed.

Knowing that the Chinese Empire would deny it, the American government was not mentally prepared for an immediate full-scale war with the Chinese Empire, so the American army began to deploy radium on a large scale in the waters around Havana, although it prevented the Chinese Empire from continuing to transport supplies to Havana by submarine, but also prevented the American Navy from attacking Havana head-on, which can be described as a lose-lose strategy.

However, this was a huge blow to the Spanish defenders of Havana, and soon the Spanish defenders were short of supplies, medicines, ammunition, and soldiers, and Governor Fernando was desperate for a while.

The Spanish government again appealed to the Chinese Empire for help, but was scolded by the Chinese Empire.

It's just that the Chinese empire is unwilling to let Cuba fall into the hands of the United States, so it has to find another way.

Soon, the Imperial Chinese military once again thought of a way, and that was the Imperial Chinese Air Force.

Of course, at this time, the Chinese Imperial Air Force was only an internal number, which was strictly kept secret to the outside world, and only claimed to be the Chinese Imperial Air Tourism Company.

Due to Li Weiguo's great attention, the Chinese Imperial Air Force developed rapidly, and by the time of the founding of the Yuan Dynasty in 3985, the scale of the air force had reached 1,000 airships, and the feat of airships manned across the Pacific Ocean was realized.

The Imperial Chinese military then used airships to transport supplies, and took advantage of the night to airdrop food, medicine, weapons and ammunition into the fortress of Havana, and finally saved the lives of the Spanish defenders again, so that the original precarious fortress of Havana was restored.

This time, both the Chinese Empire and the Spanish Empire learned wisely, and no longer transported the wounded and sick out of the fortress of Havana, and even when they had to do so, they would strictly put the wounded and sick under house arrest and cut off contact with the outside world.

However, the transport capacity of the airship is still limited, and weapons such as heavy artillery are too heavy to be transported and cannot be airdropped.

In this way, once the artillery in the fortress of Havana is damaged, it can only be repaired, and the Chinese Empire will airdrop some repair parts for the Spanish army to repair the artillery itself.

The fortress of Havana could not be attacked for a long time, the United States was completely insane, and Grant was repeatedly so angry that he vomited blood, but he was helpless. Unless there is an immediate war with the Chinese Empire, there is no way at all.

But starting a war with the Chinese Empire, Grant faced three major obstacles, one was that the British Empire did not agree, because the Viking Regiment, the war resources originally reserved by the British Empire, and because of the Chinese Empire's sea wolf tactics, the British Empire's economy suffered heavy losses and hurt its vitality, and it took three to five years to adjust the economy and recover. The British Empire did not agree, and Grant would never dare to go to war against the Chinese Empire alone, and the American economy was also hit hard by the Chinese Empire's sea wolf tactics, causing considerable losses.

The second resistance comes from within the United States. At this time, democracy had been restored in the United States, and Grant was no longer the dominant family, and if he wanted to go to war with the Chinese Empire, he had to have enough excuses and justifications, otherwise the American Congress would never approve the war.

The third obstacle is the most critical, that is, the military strength gap, Grant learned that the defenders of Havana were behind the support of the Chinese Empire, so he held out for four and a half years, which shows that the Chinese Empire has a strong military. Similarly, it would be more difficult for the U.S. military to directly attack the fortifications of the Chinese Empire's defenses.

Therefore, Grant had no bottom in his heart, and he did not dare to start a war with the Chinese Empire for a while, but had to find a way to prevent the Chinese Empire's sea wolf attack tactics against the United States.

When U.S. Foreign Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in the Chinese Empire, he began negotiations with Zhang Peilun, the Foreign Minister of the Chinese Empire.

At this time, Zhang Peilun had already defeated the British Foreign Secretary, and he had rich experience in negotiations on this issue, so that Rumsfeld was powerless to fight back.

"If your country is willing to renounce the war against Spain and transfer your occupation zone in Cuba to the Chinese Empire, then our Chinese Empire will take action against the remnants of the Viking regiment against American merchant ships."

Rumsfeld was so angry that his cheeks bulged like a toad, and it was obvious that he was pretending to be the Chinese Imperial Navy, but at this moment he still refused to admit it, and the politicians of the Chinese Empire were really too thick, but this does not mean that he admitted that his political level was much higher than that of the United States.

"It can't be! Cuba is left with Havana, and I believe that soon we will be able to take it. ”

"Then there's no need to talk about it!"

Zhang Peilun got up directly, made a gesture to end the negotiation, and prepared to leave.

Rumsfeld was dumbfounded, should Nima be so strong? Can you still have a good time?

"That--we have spent a lot of manpower, material and financial resources in Cuba, and it has taken almost five years, and your Chinese empire will take it if you say it, it's too domineering!"

Zhang Peilun smiled slightly and said, "In order to show the sincerity of our Chinese Empire, we can pay for it!" ”

Rumsfeld breathed a sigh of relief, and he knew very well that the Chinese Empire had set its sights on Cuba and had to get it. At the same time, he also knows that the United States spent too much money on the Cuban War, which has seriously affected the economic development of the United States, and in the past four and a half years, the United States has spent more than $3 billion on its military spending in the Cuban War, and the dollar has seriously depreciated due to the war, and the renminbi has soared to the level of 15 to 1, which is all the hard-earned money of the American people! I don't know how much I can get back, but I hope the Chinese Empire is not too dark.

"200 million RMB!"

Rumsfeld did not dare to ask for more, 200 million yuan, just to offset the military consumption of the United States in launching the Spanish-American War. This may seem like a lot, but if you count the rich cane sugar resources, tobacco resources, and cocoa powder resources on the island of Cuba, these are all luxury goods, and the profits are quite high. Any country can earn back 200 million yuan in less than 10 years.

"100,000 RMB!"

Poof!

Rumsfeld almost spurted out old blood, knowing that your Chinese empire is very black, but Nima should not be so black, okay!

100,000 RMB? Your uncle, I'll give it to you for nothing!

Rumsfeld was immediately furious, smashed the table and said, "It's too much! Cuba Island can create 20 million yuan of income from sugar tax and tobacco tax alone in a year! In less than 10 years, you will be able to earn your money back! ”

"Calm down! Calm down! Zhang Peilun had a harmless expression and said with a smile: "You must know that the current Cuba is not nominally from your country, but from the Spanish Empire. The war between the United States and Spain is not over, and once our Chinese Empire buys the island of Cuba from your country, it means a war with the Spanish Empire. ”

After a pause, Zhang Peilun continued: "For example, a company with a debt of 100 million yuan is about to go bankrupt. The owner of the company faces the inability to repay the money and is sentenced to jail time by the court. In this case, if someone suddenly buys the company for 1 yuan, what do you think the owner of the company will do? ”

Does this need to be asked? Of course, I can only sell it for 1 yuan! In this way, the person responsible for the debt is transferred, and there is no need to go to jail!

But when the words came to his lips, Rumsfeld suddenly held back, Nima set me up! Almost fooled!

Zhang Peilun smiled slightly: "Although you don't answer, you definitely understand!" After we get Cuba, we have to clean up the mess caused by your American army, and we have to go to war with Spain, which is very expensive. In this way, for the sake of the friendship between China and the United States, our Chinese empire sacrificed 20 million yuan. If your country does not agree, then forget it. ”

Ahh

Rumsfeld held back his anger and did not vomit blood. He looked at Zhang Peilun's attitude, and also knew that people were swords and I was fish and meat, and I was afraid that it would be difficult to bargain, so he nodded in agreement.

Although he only got 20 million yuan, being able to get Grant to give up Cuba can be regarded as saving the United States, otherwise the Cuban war will drag on for a few more years, and the United States will collapse economically and be dragged down!

Hum! Sell the island of Cuba to the Chinese Empire, and let the Chinese Empire and the Spanish Empire die!

Rumsfeld thought so, and his mind was a little more balanced.

Zhang Peilun's heart blossomed, and he bought Cuba Island for 20 million yuan, which was a huge profit for the Chinese Empire.

Of course, Zhang Peilun would not tell Rumsfeld that the Chinese Empire had secretly reached an agreement with the Spanish government to legally take over Cuba from Spain.

The United States fought the Spanish-American War for four and a half years, but in the end, the Chinese Empire was able to pick peaches. (To be continued.) )