All bad ideas have one thing in common, they all look like good ideas until people realize they're actually bad ideas. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Dewey came up with one such idea. He wanted to work with Amelio. Aguinaldo formed a temporary alliance, believing that the conquest of the Philippines would be easier—that Aquinado could muster a large enough rebel army to blockade Manila. This would give him the time and conditions to negotiate secretly with the Spanish governor to guarantee the easy entry of American troops into Manila without any sacrifice.

Unfortunately, if he had followed, the United States would have been embroiled in a three-year campaign of armed repression that cost a billion dollars and cost 4,243 officers and soldiers...... Of course, Qin Lang didn't mind this kind of tragedy, and even had a little expectation: for mercenary companies, war meant business and profits. However, there is another more serious problem with Dewey's idea.

That plan would cost him a lot of money.

In fact, all Qin Lang really cared about was the vast wealth deposited in Manila - 50 million US dollars according to the most conservative estimates - that he could get a third of it, and the other third would be handed over to five consortiums that had invested in him under previous agreements. But if Dewey negotiated to force the Spaniards out of Manila, he would not have gotten even a silver ingot,

This was by no means the result Qin Lang wanted to see. For the gold and silver of Manila, he spent three years building an army large enough to complete the task, which consumed a lot of money and energy. Now, just before the fruits were about to be reaped, Qin Lang would not allow anyone to sabotage his plan.

Even if the man is a general, as well as his nominal superior.

At all times, however, violence is always the last resort. According to a standard procedure, the first step should be persuasion.

"General, we all understand that Washington has asked us to launch an attack on the Philippines to occupy the archipelago, not to help the Filipinos establish an independent republic." Qin Lang reminded with extreme seriousness, "Your idea will make our task difficult to complete. ”

"I'm well aware of our mission, Mr. Qin." Dewey replied, "But I have considered it carefully, and it seems that it is not as difficult to eliminate a group of natives as it is to eliminate 20,000 Spanish regular troops who rely on the defense of the city." ”

The Commodore smiled. "Do you think I'm going to allow the Filipino rebels into Manila?"

"Of course not, General."

Qin Lang knew what Dewey's plan was—the trick of deception that the colonists had used for centuries had always succeeded. But the Filipinos were not Indians of the North American continent, Aguinaldo and his generals were not chieftains of Indian tribes, and the Filipino rebels were not Indian warriors—things were not as simple as Dewey imagined.

"I have to tell you with regret that I'm afraid the actual situation is exactly the opposite of what you speculated." He stated the fact, "It is much more difficult to eliminate the Philippine rebels than the Spanish troops in the cities." They may not be as effective as our soldiers, but these people can fight us in the mountains and jungles for years, leaving us with a lot of money and manpower to search for and eliminate them. The price to be paid is great, perhaps a few thousand soldiers will be killed. ”

Fortunately, the guerrillas of this era, whether the Boers in South Africa or the rebels in the Philippines, were not proficient enough in guerrilla tactics and had few weapons at their disposal, not enough to cause serious trouble. Otherwise, the losses of the American army in the Philippines would never have been just that.

Four thousand two hundred and forty-three, just a small meaning.

Still, a few thousand soldiers, the number was enough to draw Dewey's attention and prompt him to re-examine his mind - or question Qin Lang's warnings. "Do you think that if we hadn't restored Aguinaldo, the Filipinos wouldn't have rebelled against the U.S. occupation of their country?"

"Nope."

"So, it doesn't really make any difference whether I execute my plan or not, does it?"

"Actually, there's a difference." Qin Lang held up his first finger, "First, giving a Filipino a promise and then breaking it, this deception will make them very angry - but anger will make people more aggressive, and more tenacious. And your idea might turn some Filipinos who remain neutral or even inclined toward the United States to rebels. What's even more troublesome is that our credit is also ruined. ”

Losing credit is a terrible thing and means that any inducement tactics, such as baiting, buying, and negotiating, will become difficult to implement. As a professional soldier, Dewey would hardly think about this kind of non-military-related issue, but he understood what Qin Lang meant. He nodded solemnly, reluctantly admitting. "It's a bit of a hassle."

"We also need to face the anti-imperialists at home, which is the second trouble." Qin Lang raised a second finger, "Although these people can't influence Washington's decision-making, nor can they influence our actions, as a businessman, I don't want to be the target of newspaper attacks." ”

Despite the fact that he is such a character, Qin Lang does not want to be called a "war merchant" by the newspapers and the public. DuPont received a similar title after the end of World War I, and its public image was severely affected, forcing it to shift part of its business to civilian chemicals, until it invented nylon to solve the problem – and it would have been too bad if that had happened to him.

Dewey burst out laughing. "That's your problem, Mr. Qin."

"Our problem, General." Qin Lang corrected, "You are the supreme commander, if we go to war with the rebel army, you will immediately lose the aura of a combat hero and become a villain." ”

In the next second, the smile on Dewey's face disappeared.

In fact, the battle against the Philippine rebels would not have erupted so quickly. Until the United States and Spain sign a peace treaty and officially become the masters of the Philippines, the U.S. military will be a close ally of the Filipino people; And when the war began...... Before the war broke out, his contract with Congress would have expired. Whatever happens in the Philippines will have nothing to do with him unless Congress is willing to sign a new contract.

But why did he tell Dewey about this?

And Dewey didn't guess either...... To be exact, he could not be sure that the situation would continue to develop strictly according to a predetermined pattern: mercenaries and rebels gathered in Manila, and only God knew whether they would fight or not.

It seems that the risk should not be taken.

Dewey began to seriously consider Qin Lang's warning, but he continued: "In the end, my mercenaries only carried ammunition to fight the Spanish army, and it was difficult for them to continue fighting the Filipinos. So, if Aguinaldo didn't start rallying his army until after we had captured Manila......"

"It's too late to say this, Mr. Qin." Dewey interrupted him suddenly, "I've already sent someone to contact Aguinaldo. He accepted my suggestion. ”

There is no doubt that he will accept it. A wonderful opportunity to overthrow Spanish colonial rule and establish an independent Philippine Republic...... An unexpected surprise to Amelio. Aguinaldo's vision was shallow, and he was full of resentment towards the Spaniards who had deceived him, and in the face of such great good news, his mind was only filled with excitement, and he was unable to tell whether it was just a false hoax or not.

Idiot!

So was Dewey.

Qin Lang was not polite at all—in his heart. On the surface, however, he was only slightly surprised for a moment, a dozen seconds at most, and then said, "Well, let's think of a supplementary plan." ”

Fortunately, he knew history well and foresaw the possibility of Dewey uniting with Aguinaldo, and had a plan in place before leaving San Diego. It came in handy.

"I'm listening to your advice." Now it's the turn of the Commodore to say so.

He pretended to think about it. "First of all, Filipinos can only stay outside Manila, do not participate in the siege, and do not enter the city."

"There's no doubt about it."

"Aguinaldo will definitely restrain his troops, so the Filipinos won't take the initiative to attack us...... I will command the mercenaries to capture Manila in the shortest possible time, and the Spaniards have at least 20,000 rifles and plenty of ammunition. Staying in the city, we can hold out until reinforcements and ammunition arrive. After a pause, Qin Lang added: "At the same time, we are imposing martial law in Manila, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving. ”

Martial law could prevent Aguinaldo from sending spies and saboteurs to infiltrate - this is only an open statement, and Qin Lang's real purpose was to create conditions for mercenaries to cleanse the Spanish immigrants in Manila, and of course to move the coffers of the Spanish colonial authorities. After doing this, the plan moves on to the third step.

"When the time is right, I will arrange some mercenaries, disguised as rebels, to cause some explosions in Manila."

Dewey didn't understand what he meant. "What do you want to do, provoke a war?"

"Shift the blame for the war to the Filipinos – they started the terror in the first place, and we're just fighting back, fighting terrorism."

Dewey still didn't understand what he meant. "What?"

He didn't care about it, and continued, "Aguinaldo isn't going to take the initiative to sabotage our alliance, so you can use these horrors to put pressure on him to dismiss some of his troops and keep the remaining soldiers away from Manila before Washington allows us to attack." ”

"Seems like a good idea." Commodore said bewilderedly, "But terrorism? ”

"You'll get used to it, General."

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Correction: There was a small error in yesterday's note, Pershing's special military rank is General.of.the.Armies, not General.of.the.Army - this is a five-star general of the Army (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.) )