The humid air of the Caribbean Sea is like a steam room.

After lunch on January 6, the military musicians in the Spanish army began to beat the trumpet, and after more than ten minutes of adjusting the pace, more than 12,000 Spanish troops began to advance towards the position of the Qing Empire's expeditionary force.

At the same time, the expeditionary force also launched an attack formation, which on the surface also appeared to be a linear formation, but in fact it was the same tactical formation that was originally used to paralyze the Russian army. Wait for the Spanish army to rush up and fight a defensive counterattack.

In addition to placing three rows of soldiers in front as a cover, the 1st Brigade was responsible for frontal combat, and heavy machine gun positions were constructed in the rear, and more than 100 heavy machine guns were arranged on a front more than ten miles long, which could barely form cross-fire firepower. That is, each heavy machine gun does not shoot at the enemy in front of it, but at the enemy in the diagonal line, so as to form a crossfire network, which can kill and injure the enemy to the greatest extent.

Governor Duan Qirui's Reading Artillery Regiment deployed eight light artillery batteries on the high ground on the left flank for artillery battles with the Spanish army, and four heavy howitzer batteries on the high ground on the right flank, aiming their guns at the frontal attacking Spanish army.

The central position of the expeditionary force was responsible for holding Bayamon and attracting the main force of the Spanish army to attack, and the 2nd and 3rd brigades on the left and right flanks were outflanked in a roundabout way, and the cavalry units on both flanks were used as assaults, quickly advancing towards Cataño and Guainavou.

Just after two o'clock in the afternoon, the Spanish army attacked. Perhaps the Spaniards looked down on the Chinese, and they did not first say polite words such as "please shoot first" according to European chivalry, but took the lead in firing more than a hundred meters away without saying a word.

Feng Guozhang thought that the Spaniards would let the expeditionary force shoot first, but the other party fired first without greeting, and immediately scolded the Spaniards for being shameless, and immediately ordered the expeditionary force to fire.

Suddenly, the guns and cannons rang out in unison, and the shouts of killing shook the sky.

The Spanish troops charged towards the expeditionary force to the beat of the drums, and the three rows of soldiers in front of the positions of the first brigade of the expeditionary force quickly opened fire, killing and wounding some of the Spanish soldiers, and immediately retreated.

The Spanish army, believing that the expeditionary force had thus been defeated, immediately shouted and charged. The Spanish troops rushed in a swive, and when they approached the position of the expeditionary force for more than 50 meters, they were immediately strafed by machine guns from the heavy machine gun positions of the expeditionary force.

"Click!"

On a battle line more than ten miles long, 120 heavy machine guns spewed out tongues of fire, and countless bullets were fired at the enemy in an instant. Because it was crossfire, the Spanish soldiers in the charge rushed forward, and they didn't notice the machine gun bullets coming from the side for a while, until the people around them were beaten into a sieve one by one and fell down miserably.

Under the heavy machine gun fire of the expeditionary force, the Spanish soldiers fell one by one, and in less than five minutes they were killed and wounded by thousands.

At the same time, the Expeditionary Force's Reading Artillery Regiment also engaged in artillery battles with the artillery of the Spanish army.

The Spanish army had only a dozen artillery pieces, which were placed outside without any protection, and they could be seen clearly through binoculars. Duan Qirui thought that this was a trap for the Spaniards, but Duan Qirui didn't know that Puerto Rico was already autonomous at this time, and the real Spanish Army had been transferred to fight on the island of Cuba, and what he saw in front of him was just the ragtag army of Puerto Rico's autonomous political axe.

Unexpectedly, he really overestimated the ability of the artillery commander of the Spanish army, and after some tentative attacks, Duan Qirui found that the entire Spanish army only had these dozen artillery pieces.

So, the next artillery battle was very easy. Forty-eight 80-mm infantry guns of eight artillery batteries on the left flank opened fire at the same time, destroying the Spanish artillery positions in less than five minutes, leaving the Spanish army without artillery support.

Then twenty-four 150-mm howitzers of four artillery batteries on the right flank also opened fire.

Fifty-kilogram grenades smashed into the shock formations of the Spanish troops, and the shells exploded with a deafening bang. The violent explosion set off smoke and flames of earth and rocks dozens of meters high, and the flames and dust flew up, and the earth suddenly trembled.

The Spanish soldiers who were in a dense attack were immediately wiped out, killed and wounded countless times. The explosion was so deafening that many Spanish soldiers could not hear the military music, and the formation suddenly became chaotic.

Under the saturation of the expeditionary force's heavy artillery and heavy machine guns, the Spanish army suffered heavy casualties, and the casualty rate skyrocketed, with more than half of the casualties in less than 15 minutes.

The Spanish commander, who was supervising the battle in the rear, was suddenly shocked and hurriedly ordered the Chinese military band to blow the horn of retreat.

The cannon roared, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the air. Some of the chaotic Spanish troops heard the retreating military music and immediately retreated. Some didn't hear it, so they continued to charge forward. Some were stupid by the fierce guns of the expeditionary force, neither charging nor retreating, dodging bullets and shells everywhere. As a result, the entire Spanish army was in disarray.

At half past two in the afternoon, Duan Qirui ordered the artillery regiment to extend its artillery fire, cut off the retreat of the Spanish troops in the front, and block the possible reinforcements of the Spanish troops in the rear.

"Stop shooting, all bayonets, blow the trumpet!"

Most of the Spanish troops in front of the position of the commander of the first brigade and the commander of the first regiment, Seanming, were wiped out, and the remaining hundreds of Spanish troops scattered and fled. Xiao Enming immediately ordered a regiment to stop firing and counter-charge on all fronts.

"Kill!"

"Kill!!"

Xiao Enming drew his command knife and immediately took the lead in the charge.

The fighters of the regimental headquarters guard platoon behind them followed closely behind and rushed out of their positions. Then, a regiment of companies and platoons mounted bayonets and launched a counter-charge against the enemy in front of their respective positions.

The Spanish army in confusion saw that the [***] team launched a counter-charge, thinking that they could regain the initiative, and in their opinion, the thin Orientals would definitely not be able to fight the sturdy and tall Westerners. However, what they didn't know was that the soldiers of the regiment had fought hand-to-hand battles with the Russian [***] team, and they had rich experience in fighting bayonets.

After a charge, the Spanish army, which took the initiative to meet it, was suddenly defeated and was defeated by the strong combat effectiveness of the expeditionary force. The Spanish soldiers in the rear, who had planned to turn around and come back to fight with bayonets, saw the powerful attack of the Chinese soldiers, and immediately turned around in fright and ran.

A counter-charge, just a counter-charge, a regiment of officers and men immediately broke the Spanish army in front of them, and drove the enemy like ducks.

On a front more than ten miles long, a regiment took the lead in crushing the Spanish army in front, causing the entire front of the Spanish army to rupture. As the 1st Regiment tore open the enemy's battle line, the linkage effect was that the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade also launched a counter-charge on the entire front.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the counter-charge of the 1st Brigade caused the Spanish troops in front of Bayamon to retreat on all fronts. The Spanish rout ran desperately in front, and the officers and soldiers of the first brigade pursued desperately in the rear, and the two sides launched a large-scale chase battle.

In the headquarters of the expeditionary force, Feng Guozhang could no longer describe the scene in front of him with surprise and shock. He knew that his side would win the battle, but he did not anticipate how vulnerable the Spanish army would be. In addition, he had intended to drag the enemy in the middle and outflank the main force of the Spanish army. However, as the 1st Brigade launched a counter-charge, it crushed the Spanish army in front, causing the Spanish army to retreat, leaving the 2nd and 3rd Brigades, which were outflanking on both flanks, empty.

Therefore, Feng Guozhang ordered the cavalry troops on both flanks to quickly penetrate in depth and disrupt the Spanish army's various levels and battle formations as much as possible, killing and injuring the enemy's vital forces.

At the same time, Feng Guozhang ordered the 2nd and 3rd Brigades, which were outflanked on both flanks, to quickly break through the two places of Cataño and Guainava, and march to San Juan in a hurry, making in-depth interspersed tactics to take San Juan in one go.

That night, the commander of the Western Army, Major General Carrod, fled back to San Juan with the remnants of the defeated army of less than 200 men, and before the ass could sit hot, the Chinese expeditionary force killed him.

Carold then quickly fled to La Fortaleza Palace on the island of San Juan, where his embarrassed appearance immediately frightened the Governor of Puerto Rico, Cairnguis.

"It's over! It's all over! ”

After listening to Carrod's description, the Governor of Cairengis suddenly fell into his chair. He thought that Carrod's sworn performance would definitely wipe out the Chinese expeditionary force that had landed. But the result was the opposite, and less than 200 of the 12,000 troops that Carrod brought with him returned. According to Carrod's description, from the very beginning of the war, the battle was one-sided, and the combat effectiveness of the Chinese expeditionary force was so strong that the governor of Cairengis had no confidence at all.

"Don't worry, Governor, we just need to hold the fortress until local reinforcements arrive."

Cairnjith asked, "How to keep?" You don't know that we are now on a narrow island, and the fortress of Morro can barely withstand the attack of the enemy at sea, but the saint on the side of the bay in our rear? Castoval Cristoval simply did not have the ability to hold the rear. If the enemy captures the city of San Juan and attacks us from the inside of the bay, it will be in ruins. ”

Carold said disapprerovingly: "The defense on the back of the Morro Fortress is also very strong, if this place cannot be defended, then we will withdraw to the Morro Fortress." I want enough food and water to keep us going for three months, and I'm sure we'll be able to wait until reinforcements arrive. ”

Kanengis sighed and said, "I hope you're right!" ”

That night, the 2nd Brigade and 2nd Regiment of the Expeditionary Force occupied the city of San Juan, and the next morning, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui led the main force of the expeditionary force into the city of San Juan.

In the following two days, Feng Guozhang mobilized troops to surround the entire island of San Juan, preventing the Spanish army on the island from having contact with the outside world, and depriving them of food and water. At the same time, the city of San Juan was taken under control, and all the property owned by the municipal axe was sealed. Because the Spanish army was defeated so quickly, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Cairngis, had not had time to transfer the treasury property, and as a result, more than $4 million worth of gold and silver fell into the hands of the expeditionary force.

The more than $4 million in gold and silver was the sum total of Puerto Rico's annual revenue, and it was quite impressive for a small island to have such a large amount of revenue. In addition to Puerto Rico's large exports of agricultural commodities, sugar cane, tobacco and cocoa, the industry consists only of mining, most importantly the gold and silver mines located in Morowes. Feng Guozhang immediately sent troops to occupy it.

At the same time, Duan Qirui built artillery positions in San Juan Bay, mainly four heavy howitzer positions, because only heavy howitzers could destroy the San Howitzer in the inner bay. Walls of Fort Cristobal.

On the evening of January 10, Feng Guozhang sent people out of the bay in a small boat, went to the open sea to get in touch with the fleet, and agreed to launch an attack on the Spanish defenders on San Juan Island at dawn on the 11th.

At dawn on the 11th, Liu Buyun commanded the two ships Dengyun and Tayun to take the lead in launching a fierce attack on the Morro Fortress at the mouth of the bay of San Juan Island. Because Liu Buyun was only making a small fuss before, testing the firepower and troop configuration of the Spanish fortress, and at the same time paralyzing the Spanish fortress defenders, making them think that the artillery fire of the Dengyun-class battleships could not destroy the fortress guns, so the Spanish defenders only strengthened the defense near the fortress guns, and did not transfer the position of the fortress guns. As a result, after an hour of heavy bombardment on the morning of the 11th, most of the artillery on the fortress was destroyed in one fell swoop, and the defensive walls around the gun emplacements were also blown to pieces, which was difficult to repair in a short time, and caused a large number of Spanish defenders to be killed and wounded.

After two hours of naval shelling, the 320-mm coastal defense guns, 280-mm coastal defense guns, and 240-mm coastal defense guns on the Moro fortress were all destroyed, and only six 152-mm coastal defense guns remained, and eight 105-mm cannons remained.

A thunderous attack instantly destroyed the fortress's heavy firepower, and the Spaniards were no longer able to threaten the Ascending and Treading Clouds.

At the same time, Duan Qirui commanded the artillery regiment to the saint? The fortress of Fort Cristobal launched a heavy shelling, and 24 150-mm howitzers bombarded the city walls incessantly, and after twenty minutes they collapsed the fortress. A section of the ramparts of the fortress to the northeast of Fort Cristobal Fortress.

Feng Guozhang then sent a regiment of troops along the two bridges connecting San Juan Island and the main island to San Juan. Castel Cristobal launched an attack, focusing on the direction of the collapsed walls.

Originally, the Spanish defenders swore that they could hold out for a month, but less than an hour after the battle began, the commander of the fortress abandoned the city with his men and fled, all the way back to the fortress of Morro.

The expeditionary force quickly captured St. ? Fort Cristóbal, while capturing La Fortaleza Palace, the seat of the Puerto Rican Governor's Palace, and then besieging Fort Morro.

Over the next three days, the expeditionary force transported artillery regiments to the island and violently bombarded the fortress of Morro. At the same time, on the sea, Liu Buyun also commanded the battleship to shell the Spanish fortress. However, the walls of the Morro Fortress are 6.1 meters thick and 42.7 meters high, thick and high, and they are made of hard granite boulders from Puerto Rico's Tower Hill, which have survived heavy shelling, but have remained strong.

Because the Moro Fortress is a star-shaped fortress, and the foundation of the entire fortress is a hill, even if the Spanish fortress defenders do not have the ability to counterattack artillery, but the structure inside is complicated, and the expeditionary force lacks the experience of attacking large and strong fortresses, so there is no way to take the remnants of the Spanish army for a while.

So, Feng Guozhang decided to besiege but not attack, trapping the defenders in the fortress, but soon he received news from the locals that the supplies in the fortress were enough to last for three months.

It took three months to wait, but Feng Guozhang didn't have that surname, so he asked Duan Qirui to discuss countermeasures.

"I have a solution?"

"If you have a way, just say it!"

Duan Qirui hesitated for a moment, then said, "Don't they have three months' worth of grain?" If we were able to consume their food, then they would have held out for less than three months. ”

Feng Guozhang asked, "What kind of consumption method?" ”

Duan Qirui walked to the window, opened the curtains, pointed to the people on the street, and said, "We might as well take these foreigners and let them consume the food of the Spaniards." ”

Feng Guozhang suddenly rejoiced: "Gao Jian! ”

Duan Qirui smiled: "Not necessarily! If the Spanish defenders don't let them in, we can't do anything about it! ”

Feng Guozhang said: "Let's put the heavy machine guns on the rack, if the Spanish defenders don't let them in, we will surprise them!" ”

Duan Qirui hurriedly said: "Never! ”

Feng Guozhang laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm talking about fun!" ”

Duan Qirui suddenly wiped a cold sweat.

Over the next three days, Feng ordered the expeditionary force to drive all Spanish civilians from San Juan to San Juan Island, where barbed wire and machine guns were set up around it. The Spaniards were warned to shoot on the spot if they dared to leave San Juan.

Tens of thousands of Spaniards were stranded on the island, without food and water, and soon the fortress of Morro opened the gates to give them food and water, and in less than three days, the fortress of Morro was in a hurry with its own food and water.

It was only then that the Governor of Puerto Rico, Cairnjis, understood that he had been fooled, but it was already too late. As a last resort, the Governor of Cairengis chose to surrender.

On January 19, 1898, the Spanish Governor of Puerto Rico, Cairnjis, formally surrendered to Feng Guozhang, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force took over Fort Morro and completed the military occupation of Puerto Rico.

At the same time, the US Army also began to attack the island of Cuba. Spain originally stationed more than 200,000 troops in Cuba and other places. Cuban rebels in M. Gomez? He? Under Báez's leadership, large swathes of the country have been liberated, creating a favorable situation. On December 30, nearly 17,000 troops of the U.S. Fifth Army, under the cover of naval fire, prepared to attack Havana, but considering that the Spanish fleet might reinforce the Caribbean Sea, it was important to attack the harbor city of Santiago de first.

So the U.S. military chose the landing site in San Diego de Bay and landed smoothly east of the bay. By this time, the Cuban rebels had also liberated most of the country and besieged Santiago. After talks with the Cuban rebels, the U.S. military began to fight in coordination. On January 12, U.S. troops arrived on the outskirts of Guantánamo. On July 1, it launched a fierce attack on the commanding heights of the eastern part of the city, Mount Elcane. Theodore? Roosevelt's Volunteers fought valiantly and fiercely captured Monte San Juan, as did Elcane. The Western Army launched a counteroffensive on January 23, and the two sides engaged in a tug-of-war, and the American Army finally repelled the counterattack of the Western Army. U.S. casualties amounted to 1,700.

On February 3, 1898, when Severa led the Spanish reinforcement fleet to the Caribbean Sea quietly, he found that Puerto Rico had fallen, and the Cuban port of Santiago de had also fallen.

(To be continued)