When newspapers in Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston began to advertise that "American troops have occupied Manila," Qin Lang's mercenaries also launched their landing operations. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Fifty small boats and one hundred and sixty fishing boats, under the cover of four cruisers and two gunboats, will send fourteen thousand soldiers and sixteen thousand tons of various supplies to the shores near Manila in four hours, and every mercenary, naval soldier and merchant sailor involved in the operation vows not to forget this moment.

Yes, no one will forget about it, because ......

"Hell, why do we have to use fishing boats?" When he realized that he had to squeeze into a fishing boat loaded with almost a full squad of mercenaries, William. Butz habitually complained. On the one hand, he didn't like to be crowded with so many people, and on the other hand, the lingering fishy smell of the boat made him extremely uncomfortable. But more importantly, Wend's heir, Vane, and Warhs were all in the lifeboat—he saw it, just now.

"It's not fair at all." He grunted.

"Moon's luck has been good." Zhang Biao was also a little jealous. At first, when they were tested for recruits in Area 51, he thought it was impossible for him to become a mercenary, but from the moment they left the boot barracks, he had always held a higher position than him, and of course earned more from his missions.

He was really jealous of that guy.

But Zhang Biao knows that there is one thing he does better than Wen Desi - in the past, and in the future: he is better at making gray income for himself within the limits of the company. In Abyssinia, in Vietnam, he has been doing well, and in the Philippines it will be the same.

At the thought of the actual benefits he would receive, he was able to restore calm immediately, and even persuade other mercenaries to keep calm. "Bear with me for a moment, William. We'll be able to go ashore soon, anyway. ”

"I'd rather swim to shore." Butz is still reluctant to give up, "The company should get more lifeboats." ”

Zhang Biao thought for a moment. "I don't think that's something you can't do, otherwise the boss will be able to get you what you want, you know he can do anything......"

In fact, being able to find fifty lifeboats was already a result to be celebrated: neither Qin Lang nor his military advisers expected that none of the passenger ships would carry a sufficient number of lifeboats according to the regulations. The vast majority of passenger ships are only half, and only one passenger ship reaches seventy percent, but two passenger ships do not have lifeboats at all. Because of this frustrating but unchangeable reality, they had to use fishing boats to make up the numbers, and this was a situation that Qin Lang had been trying to avoid.

Qin Lang didn't want his army to land in the Philippines on fishing boats, for no other reason than because he didn't like it—it didn't fit his almost ingrained intuitive impression of landing operations. But now, since there is no better option, it can only be this way.

And many times, if you put aside your habits and prejudices and look at things in a different way, you will find completely different, or even completely opposite, conclusions......

"You know, a lifeboat costs four times as much as a fishing boat, but it only carries two-thirds the capacity of a fishing boat. Maybe next time we can replace all the dinghy with a fishing boat...... What do you think? Qin Lang tilted his head towards his audience, the senior commanders of the mercenaries. But the commanders didn't know how to answer the question - it wasn't on their radar.

The commanders thought about the combat operation itself. Of course, so far, everything is going well, Dewey's fleet has solved the Spanish fleet, the Manila battery has become an ornament, and the Philippine rebels he found have blocked the Spanish army in Manila, and the Spaniards can only watch the mercenaries land on the coast, but nothing can be done, nothing can be stopped. Things were going well, but it was boring.

There was no fighting, no artillery fire, no rain of bullets, and the fact that the troops landed so easily on enemy-controlled territory, and that they were warmly welcomed by a large number of Filipinos on the coast, was not at all like a combat operation, but rather like an outing, and therefore meant that no one could be rewarded for the operation.

Qin Lang is not the only one who hopes to get the medal.

But in addition to honors and awards, there are people who face another problem - Casper. Fan. Commander Dean is feeling regret and embarrassment for the beach-grabbing landing training he organized for his troops. Only his troops carried out such training, which not only consumed a lot of ammunition, but also borrowed cruisers from the Navy. At that time, the commander saw it as proof that he was more far-sighted than others, but now, his actions are more like a joke.

"I shouldn't have scheduled those trainings. Fortunately, I did not brag to other commanders. "Fan. Dean muttered a little luckily. However, the ridicule and ridicule from the subordinate commanders and mercenaries was obviously unavoidable, and all sorts of jokes were about to spread everywhere......

"What are you worried about, Colonel."

Qin Lang suddenly asked him a question, so that Fan. Dean was in a hurry for a while, and it was almost a minute before he replied, "I just think that the beach-grabbing and landing training I arranged obviously didn't work as well as it should." ”

"That's not your fault, Commander." Qin Lang shrugged his shoulders and comforted, "You just didn't expect our enemies to be so vulnerable and that our righteous actions could be supported by the Filipino people. ”

"Yes, boss. But ......"

"You're worried that your soldiers will laugh at you for not working your training?" Qin Lang laughed. He knew that Fan. Dean was worried about something, the commander's voice, although low, was not yet to the point where no one else could hear it. "Colonel, you should remind your soldiers to remember, 'sweat more in peacetime, and bleed less in wartime,'" Patton had said, but now he was saying it, "and 'a pint of sweat can save a gallon of blood.'" ”

"I'll pass on your advice to everyone, boss......"

A minor mistake in the title. When Qin Lang noticed it, he immediately corrected it: "Brigadier General." ”

"I'm sorry, General." Fan. Dean hastened to answer.

"There is no need to apologize, Colonel, I think the vast majority of people did not pay attention to this little issue, after all, we are not the American army in the true sense of the word, or the Volunteers." After a pause, he changed the subject: "Gentlemen, what do you think of the current situation?" And our actions here. ”

Several senior commanders exchanged a few glances with each other, and then, one of them, the company's military adviser, Johannes. On behalf of everyone, Boulter asked a question that they had not been thinking about. "Do we really need to fight with the Philippine army, General?"

"There's no doubt about it."

"But the Philippine army will be an obstacle to the U.S. occupation of the Philippines......"

"Colonel Boult." Qin Lang interrupted him with a smile and said, "Obviously I forgot to remind you that when we need the Filipinos, they are our allies, and when we no longer need them, they will naturally become our enemies - when the time comes, I will order you to destroy the Philippine army." And, "the smile on his face turned into a sneer, but no one understood what he was laughing at, because none of them knew what he was thinking." "The goal of the United States is not to occupy the Philippines, but to establish a new order of democracy and freedom in the Philippines."

"I don't understand, General." Poulter glanced at the others, all confused, "I thought it was just nonsense used to deceive the soldiers." ”

"Oh, actually, it's not. That's what Washington is for. Qin Lang's expression was serious, serious, and he looked absolutely no jokes.

"Washington sent us here to fight the Spaniards to help the Filipinos establish a new order of democracy and freedom? I always thought it was just a joke, General. "What could be more ridiculous? Boulter would rather believe that God did not bless America than that politicians in Washington do...... Kindness.

"I told you, it's not a joke."

"Then we will evacuate the Philippines after we destroy the Spaniards?"

"Yes, we'll get out of here when the war is over." Qin Lang replied, paused for a few seconds, and added: "But there will be a federal army to take over from us to protect the territorial and sovereign integrity of this country, and to protect it from aggression by hostile countries and terrorist forces." ”

"What do you mean?" The commanders were so confused by him that they completely ignored the new word: the forces of terrorism.

Qin Lang looked at them solemnly for a moment, and then laughed again. "I mean, Washington's purpose is to establish a new order of democracy and freedom in the Philippines, not to occupy and rule it. But Filipinos cannot make this change on their own, and need the guidance and help of a democratic country. Therefore, the United States will take the initiative to lead the Philippines in establishing a new order and will not leave until it succeeds. Of course, in order to ensure the success of the reforms, the United States will also station a military in the Philippines to guard against imperialist powers, terrorist forces, and diehards who oppose the reforms. ”

The commanders were dumbfounded, and it was almost a minute before Poulter was the first to come to his senses and complained, "General, you're still joking." ”

However, as Qin Lang has always emphasized, he is not joking. "What you're hearing is the official answer that President McKinley will give when he is asked questions by reporters after we occupy the Philippines. So, now do you still think I'm just joking, Colonel Boulter? ”

"Your suggestion, General?"

"Of course."

Now, the only thing the commanders can feel is shock. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )