"A bunch of rubbish!"

"A bunch of rice buckets!"

"50,000 people, 6,000 tons of ammunition, I didn't even fight 10,000 American troops, and I was defeated!"

"Defeat is defeat, ****** even cannons and heavy machine guns are thrown! Why don't you throw yourself away! ”

Inside the fortress of Havana, Fernando flew into a rage, scolding several Spanish commanders with blood.

If it weren't for the deep background of these Spanish officers, I'm afraid Fernando would have shot them in the first place.

Zhu Bin learned that the Spanish army had returned from a crushing defeat, and he also hurried to inquire.

His arrival immediately diverted Fernando's attention and relieved several Spanish officers who had lost the battle.

"Now there is no time to teach them a lesson, I am afraid that the US military will soon advance towards Havana, it is better to let them bear the guilt and make meritorious contributions!"

"Please tell me, what are we going to do now?"

Fernando regrets that he shouldn't have listened to Zhu Bin's persuasion at the beginning, and now he has lost the battle and has lost face. But most importantly, the U.S. forces landed and were soon about to launch a major offensive on Havana.

As the governor of Cuba, Fernando's own territory was not guaranteed, so he naturally panicked.

"Don't worry, we'll just stick to it! With our fortifications, it will be difficult for the US army to break through! Provided, of course, that you don't make the same mistake again! ”

"Just get rid of Staff Officer Zhu!"

Fernando had to bow his noble head and humbly listen to Zhu Bin's advice.

Although he suffered a defeat at Praci, losing nearly 20,000 men and some heavy equipment, there were still 100,000 Spanish troops in Havana, which would be enough if he only held his ground. After all, with the help of the military of the Chinese Empire, Havana built a large number of permanent fortifications and deployed a large number of advanced Chinese-made weapons and equipment, such as artillery, heavy machine guns, flamethrowers, hand radiums, ground radiums, and other advanced equipment, all of which were weapons of mass destruction.

In addition, from the very beginning, Fernando was preparing to hold on to Havana for a few years, and he listened to the advice of military experts in the Chinese Empire to play a war of attrition with the US army, so at this moment Havana has built a large number of underground warehouses and stored hundreds of thousands of tons of military supplies, as long as he does not make big mistakes, it is no problem to hold on for two or three years.

Of course, the premise is that the U.S. military does not go crazy, if the U.S. military loses its mind and attacks frantically and at any cost, then Spain really can't consume the United States, after all, the gap between the national strength of the two sides is huge. Spain's industrial strength is too weak, less than a fraction of the industrial strength of the United States, and it is impossible to fight the United States for war attrition.

However, Spain is not without a chance of winning, at least Spain still has money, hundreds of years of colonial plunder, the Spanish nobles have money, and they can buy military supplies from the Chinese Empire at a high price and fight with the United States to consume.

The American troops who landed at Prachi rested for seven days before advancing towards Havana, not because Fagrarates did not want to take advantage of the victory and pursue Havana in one fell swoop. It was really a disastrous victory for the U.S. military, with more than 10,000 dead and wounded, and the Chinese-made weapons and equipment made the U.S. military feel terrified from the depths of their hearts, and Fagrarates had to stabilize the morale of the army first, and then gather troops.

Eight days after the offensive and defensive battle of Praci, the 29th Division of the American Forward Force was the first to approach Havana, stopping on the west side of the Pumel Ridge, 30 kilometers from the peninsula where Havana City is located.

Pumel Ridge is a military fortress that the Spanish defenders only started building last year and has just been completed, and it is a fortress to defend the city of Havana, once the American army captures it, then the next 30 kilometers will be a flat horse, all the way to the castle of Havana.

Therefore, whether it is the U.S. military or the Spanish army, they all attach great importance to this place and regard it as a battleground.

However, the whole Pomel Ridge has been covered with trenches and pillbox fortifications of various directions, and there are rows of barbed wire around it, which are covered with barbed hooks, as long as people are not careful, they will be scratched, and after being drenched by the rain, the iron wire has rusted, and it is easy to cause wound infection. In this era, wound infection is not a trivial matter, especially on the battlefield, there are few medicines, the United States is not treated by the Chinese Empire, although you can also buy special drugs, but the price is very expensive, so the reserves are not much, and the American soldiers have to be extra careful.

There is also one of the most dangerous things is radium, the entire Pumel Ridge has already been covered with hundreds of thousands of radium by the Spanish army, several scouts of the US army have all hung up the color back, missing arms and legs, that sad appearance made the later American soldiers see it, are scared to pee.

If I had to use one word to describe Phummel Ridge, it would be impregnable.

But knowing that it is an impregnable wall, the US military still wants to attack, because their military expenses are provided by American businessmen, and they have to work for American businessmen.

Soon, the order to attack was issued, and the American artillery fired a salvo, with great momentum, and in the blink of an eye, the high ground guarded by the Spanish army on the opposite side was blown into a sea of fire, and black smoke billowed out.

Then the American army launched an infantry charge, and the Spanish defenders immediately fired back, and a large number of bloody heavy machine guns deployed on the position became the main force, and the tongue of fire spewed out, sweeping a large area.

The battle between the two sides instantly heated up.

Faced with the minefield, the U.S. military used human lives to storm the mines, and after paying a huge price in casualties, approached the positions of the Spanish defenders.

At this moment, under some low hills on the left and right, tongues of fire suddenly erupted. There was an ambush of the Spanish army's heavy machine gun bunker, and the bloody heavy machine gun was once again powerful, spitting bullets frantically, forming a crossfire network, and the American soldiers suddenly fell one by one, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

In the face of the frantic firepower of the Spanish army, the American army was instantly defeated, and the crying father and mother retreated.

Then, the Americans began to fire back again, and the Spanish quickly took refuge in bunkers, and when the American artillery fire was over, they returned to their ground positions.

The American and Spanish armies began a tug-of-war in this way, and the American army charged wave after wave, all of which were repulsed by the Spanish army, and the American army suffered heavy casualties, and the Spanish army, as the defender, relied on fortifications and bloody heavy machine guns, which was very advantageous and suffered few casualties.

The first day ended with more than 3,000 corpses left on the battlefield by the Americans, while the Spanish were killed or wounded less than 100.

When this battle loss ratio report was handed over to Fernando, he finally smiled and was finally relieved, according to this battle loss ratio estimate, there were still more than 100,000 Spanish defenders in Havana, and the U.S. army had to send at least one million troops to capture Havana.

Of course, this is only theoretical, and the US military may only need four or five hundred thousand troops in actual combat.

Even so, Fernando is full of confidence and full of confidence in holding Havana.

Over the next month, more than a dozen large-scale offensive and defensive battles broke out at Pumel Ridge, with more than 100,000 American troops taking turns attacking the Spanish positions with less than 20,000 troops, resulting in heavy losses. Over the course of a month, the U.S. military suffered more than 50,000 casualties and had to suspend the offensive.

Grant, who was far away in Washington, learned that the 50,000 American troops had not been captured in the Battle of Pumel Ridge, and he immediately vomited blood.

"Damn the Spaniards!"

"Damn the Chinese Empire!"

Grant scolded the Spaniards and the Chinese Empire at the same time, because the original Spanish army was backward in training and even more backward in weaponry, and it was completely vulnerable. However, in just one year, the Chinese Empire armed the Spanish army, and gave all kinds of advanced weapons and equipment, and now the Spanish army relies on the advanced weapons and equipment provided by the Chinese Empire to beat the American army all over the ground and suffer heavy casualties.

This is clearly the Chinese Empire deliberately disgusting the United States!

Frustrated, Grant quickly convened a meeting to discuss whether or not to continue the war in Cuba.

At the same time, the capital of the Chinese Empire, the Nanyuan Imperial Forest Army Barracks.

A huge hot air balloon was parked in the middle of the training ground, surrounded by heavy security, and no one was allowed to approach it except for scientific researchers and technicians.

Li Weiguo looked up at this hot air balloon, to be exact, he should be called an airship, and he was naturally very happy in his heart.

With this airship, the air force of the Chinese Empire was about to be born.

"Your Majesty, we have been tested many times, and there is no problem with security!"

"Great, then I'll go up and try it!"

"No way!"

Concubine Zhao Li and Concubine Ying Zhao Ying next to them objected in unison, this is the first time that the two of them oppose one thing at the same time.

"Don't worry, it's fine!"

Li Weiguo said with a smile, he still has to coax the two daughters.

"No! When it comes to heaven, everything is out of control, Your Majesty is the king of a country, and even the slightest danger cannot be risked! ”

Zhao Ying said solemnly, Zhao Li next to her rarely worked together with her sister, and she also grabbed Li Weiguo's arm and shook her head directly.

Li Weiguo rolled his eyes and watched the airship in front of him, but he didn't let him go up!

You must know that the airship in front of you is not only built by the experts of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, but also many of the design concepts are due to Li Weiguo's contributions.

It is precisely because Li Weiguo told these experts his understanding and memory of the airship that the performance of this airship is even more outstanding, and the dream of the Air Force can be realized.

This is a hard airship, with a missile shape design, 130 meters long, the maximum diameter of 18 meters in the middle, can be charged with 24,000 cubic meters of hydrogen, 30 tons of weight, 5 tons of load, equipped with a four-stroke diesel engine, to power the propeller, the previous secret test, the fastest speed reached 45 kilometers per hour, can continue to fly for 48 hours.

Although Li Weiguo is not very satisfied with the performance of this airship, looking at the world, this is already the fastest and best-performing airship.

At present, the whole world seems to be popular airship test, which has a direct relationship with the Chinese Empire, because the Chinese Empire is now recognized by the people of the world as the central empire, a scientific and technological power, with the telephone and telegraph widely used in the world, the Chinese Empire has any wind and grass, and the people of the world are concerned.

In particular, the capital of the Chinese Empire began to become popular with hot air balloons half a year ago, and soon all kinds of strange and strange hot air balloons appeared all over the country. Later, it was rumored that the Chinese Emperor Li Weiguo also loved hot air balloons, and gave the Imperial Academy of Sciences the task of building hot air balloons, so the whole Chinese people boiled, especially the rich teenagers at home have formed groups to study hot air balloons, and soon the movements of the Chinese Empire spread all over the world, and sounding enthusiasts all over the world also began to focus on the research and testing of hot air balloons.

French Emperor Napoleon II was most jealous of the Chinese Emperor Li Weiguo, and after learning that Li Weiguo was interested in airship hot air balloons, he immediately summoned French scientists to conduct research, and wanted to test the airship in advance of the Chinese Empire.

This is a competition with Li Weiguo!

However, the wisdom of the French should not be underestimated. The French studied airships many years earlier than the Chinese Empire, and they had a rich accumulation of technology.

Just a month ago, France's Lunard and Kribought built a 51-meter-long airship with a maximum diameter of 8.4 meters at the front, powered by a battery-powered electric motor. At the personal encouragement of Emperor Napoleon II, the test flight took place for 25 minutes around the Palace of Versailles, reaching a maximum altitude of 500 meters and a maximum speed of 24 kilometers per hour.

The French Emperor Napoleon II immediately announced to the world that the French airship had been successfully developed, and at the same time, he was anxious for the media of various countries to report it, deliberately saying that the Chinese Empire had set up a project to study the airship first, but it was not as fast as the French research, implying that the French technology was better.

In the face of Napoleon's provocation in the air, Li Weiguo also became interested, since the French wanted to compare, then the Chinese naturally had to fight.

As a result, Li Weiguo issued an order to announce the news of the test flight of the first airship of the Chinese Empire, and invited all major newspapers around the world to attend.

Since the French are uncomfortable and want to be slapped in the face, then the Chinese must satisfy the wishes of the French and slap them in the face.

When all preparations for the airship were in place, journalists from various countries were allowed to approach the airship.

The spokesman of the Imperial Press Office first made a briefing and informed the reporters of the data of the Chinese Empire's airships.

"This airship was named the Zhonghua by His Majesty the Emperor of our great Chinese Empire, and was designed with the shape of a Chinese original missile. The boat is 130 meters long, with a maximum diameter of 18 meters in the middle, can be charged with 24,000 cubic meters of hydrogen, weighs 30 tons, carries 5 tons, has a maximum ceiling of 1,000 meters, is equipped with a four-stroke diesel engine, the fastest reaches 45 kilometers per hour, and can continue to fly for 48 hours. ”

As soon as the words fell, hundreds of reporters suddenly exploded.

"Wow, the Chinese Empire's China airship is so big, it's three times bigger than the French Empire's France!"

"Not only is it three times bigger, but the ceiling is also twice as high! That's 500 meters! You must know that after the altitude exceeds 500 meters in the air, every 100 meters of elevation, the atmospheric pressure will increase exponentially, and it can rise to an altitude of 1000 meters, which is an unprecedented technical problem! It is worthy of the Chinese Empire! This technology is really good! ”

"There are still 45 kilometers per hour, which is more than double the 24 kilometers of the French airship!"

"At such a fast speed, it can still continue to fly for 48 hours, compared with the Zhonghua, the Frenchman's France can stay in the air for 25 minutes, which is simply weak!"

The French were suddenly unhappy, and a French reporter immediately retorted: "Cut, who wouldn't boast?" Our French airship is really flying, that is tested by practice, that is the truth! ”

The reporters from the surrounding countries suddenly cast a contemptuous look at the French reporter, clearly saying that they can't eat grapes and say that grapes are sour, which is Chiguoguo's jealousy and sour water!

Since the Chinese Empire has made public the data of the airship and called reporters from all over the world, it is clearly certain!

This time the French Empire will definitely be slapped in the face!

Journalists from all over the world have a mirror in their hearts, a month ago, the French Emperor provoked the Emperor of the Chinese Empire through the air, and today it looks like he is going to be slapped in the face!

So reporters from all over the world are gloating and ready to watch the show!

Soon, Li Weiguo personally untied the cable and watched the airship rise into the air with tears in his eyes.

Hey, my brother can't fly with you for the time being!

Li Weiguo smiled bitterly in his heart, he was stared at by the two concubines, and he had no chance to take an airship at all.

Being an emperor turns out to be unfree!

In order to increase the persuasiveness, the Chinese Empire allowed reporters from all over the world to take turns to experience the airship, which made the reporters from all over the world suddenly happy and happy, and said that they would praise the China Airship after they returned, and then truthfully publish newspapers to promote the Chinese Empire.

The next day, newspapers all over the world, without exception, carried a front-page headline about the test flight of the Chinese Imperial airship Zhonghua. There are all angles, and there are a lot of photos, because many reporters have boarded the airship experience and taken pictures, which invisibly increases the persuasiveness.

Only the French media are completely silent!

Emperor Napoleon II was so angry that he flipped the table, and for several days, his face was hot, as if he had really been slapped in the face by the Chinese Empire! (To be continued.) )