"General Robson, what do you think of the current situation in Cuba?" Scrooge asked.

Robson has now reached the rank of major general in the U.S. military, but he is not young anymore, and if there is no war, well, it is estimated that he will have to retire at this rank. If Robson, who had been told many years ago that he was a down-and-out captain, would have fainted with joy and satisfaction one day when he had two shining stars on his shoulders.

However, the human heart is always strange, he is never satisfied, whether it is money, power, fame, greatness or even love or anything can not really satisfy a person. One cannot stop, and when a man has really obtained what he has been seeking, the happiness of satisfaction can only be stored for a moment, and then the feeling of boredom will immediately spring up in his heart, no matter how intoxicating the goal has been. It's like Volensky, when he really got Anna 61 Karenina, it was not ecstasy that welled up in his heart, but the words "nothing but so".

Robson did the same when he actually did. After the general, he found that the two stars did not satisfy him at all. However, he also knew that his confidant could have two stars, and that was the result of Scrooge's operation.

Nowadays, the army is completely idle and bored, so Robson likes to run to Blackwater when he is fine, firstly to see his past colleagues, to connect with feelings, and secondly, to guide his daughter. Relying on him, her daughter already has the salary of an executive. But Robson knew that there were many people who were jealous of her daughter's place. So even if it's a girl, he has to teach her some real skills. But I didn't expect to meet Scrooge here.

"Mr. MacDonald, you know, to make a judgment, I have to have enough information, or I'll just be slapping my head and talking nonsense. Well, Mr. MacDonald, you also said that any decision made without an analysis of the intelligence is a hooligan. Major General Robson replied.

"Well," Scrooge said, turning to Robson's daughter, "Gianna, you didn't show General Robson all that relevant information?" ”

"Boss, this is a company secret, how dare I show it to others." Gianna replied.

"Hehe, General Robson is no one else, he is the elder of our company, although his people seem to be no longer in the company, but I have always regarded him as a member of the company. Well, there's nothing you need to keep your father secret, at least as far as you can reach. Scrooge said with a smile.

"That's good." Gianna said. At the same time, she stood up, walked to a cabinet, looked for it, found a few copies and handed them to Robson.

Robson lowered his head and looked at the information carefully for a while, and then said: "Although the specific situation still needs to be studied, I think General Campos must be having a hard time now." Well, Mr. MacDonald, you see, he has lost the entire river fleet, and it is impossible to rebuild it in a short time, so not only can he no longer use the river for resupply, but even his land supply line has become very dangerous because it has a large section of the river almost parallel to it. Look here, Mr. MacDonald, and here," Robson said, pointing his finger across the map, "and from these places it's easy to attack the transport lines, and it's easy to retreat, even with the supplies that come with guns. And the intelligence I saw mentioned that the Cubans were carrying out such an attack, so I guess General Campos's supplies may not be able to support it for long. ”

"So what do you think he might do?" Scrooge asked.

"There must be no retreat." "If the river is still in his hands, there's a chance to retreat." Of course, if that's the case, there is no need to retreat at all. But now that the river is in the hands of the Cubans, it is too dangerous to retreat, and even according to the most optimistic estimates, I think it is inevitable to lose a third of the troops and almost all the artillery and baggage. Such a retreat, that would be simply suicide. ”

"If it's you? How are you going to command? Scrooge asked.

"A desperate onslaught, trying to take Bayamo. Take him and the crisis will be solved. Well, looking at the description of the positions of the Cubans, in spite of the onslaught of casualties, with the strength of General Campos, he still has a good chance of capturing Bayamo. He was in such a difficult situation at this time, if I were him, I would definitely take such a risk. ”

"And if you're defending against this attack, what are you going to do?"

"It's hard, it's hard to hold the hard top. After all, the Cubans are still not strong enough unless they pull the black water up. Robson shook his head.

"The black water can't go directly to it right now." Scrooge shook his head.

"Well, then we will have to abandon the city when necessary. Then it is estimated that it will be difficult for the Spaniards to continue the attack. And without the Bayamo hub, it will be difficult for the Cubans to have the strength to fight back, well. It may be that there will really be negotiations. Robson said.

"Now is not the time to negotiate. We have to let the Spaniards lose badly and let his weakness be completely exposed. In this way, the people and the government can see that they are nothing more than sheep in wolf's clothing. Then the government will really dare to make up its mind to go to war and expel them from the Americas. Well, General Robson, if we do declare war on Spain in the future, maybe you will have one more star on your shoulder...... Ah, I suddenly remembered something from history. Scrooge said.

"What's the matter?" Robson asked.

"Historically, the situation of Emperor Napoleon and Marshal Kutuzov in Moscow seems to be a bit like this." Scrooge said.

"yes, that's a great idea!" Robson slammed his right hand into a hammer on the palm of his left hand, "Let those Spaniards attack first, let them pay enough price in the attack, kill and wound a lot of people, and consume a large number of supplies, and then abandon the city." Before leaving, a torch burned the whole Bayamo. In this way, even if Campos entered the city, he would not get anything, he would have to retreat, and he would have to retreat with more wounded and fewer supplies, and I am even sure that when the time comes, if he can run out of the city, he will already be deadly......"

……

"Mr. President, our friend sent us a Jianyì." Commander Gómez handed a telegram to Mr. Céspedes, the first president of the newly established "Republic of Cuba".

"What's wrong? Wouldn't you like to discuss it yourself? I don't know much about military matters. President Cespedes said.

"Well, our friends expect the Spaniards to take a desperate onslaught, and they build yì we abandon Bayamo." Gomez replied.

"If that happens, it's not impossible to retreat. On military matters, I respect your views. "Cespedes hasn't gotten it yet.

"President, our friend means that while we retreat, we will burn the whole of Bayamo with one fire." Gomez said.

"Why is that? To do so would be too great a sacrifice for the citizens. President Céspedes' eyes widened. Gomez said no more, he took out a map, spread it out on President Cespedes's desk, and began to explain to the president what might happen and what was the purpose of doing so.

"Mr. President, if the same situation really arises as expected, we have studied it together, and we all feel that we are sure that we will bury all the 20,000 troops of the Spaniards here, and at that time there will be no more forces on the whole island of Cuba that can stop us, and we may even take Havana in one fell swoop. Mr. President, such sacrifices are great, but it is possible for us to win complete freedom and independence through this battle. Gomez said eagerly.

"If I agree, Gomez, you sue me, how sure are you that the Spaniards will be wiped out completely?" President Céspedes asked, staring into Gomez's eyes.

"There is no certainty on the battlefield, Mr. President. But I think we have at least a 60 percent chance of them being wiped out here. Even if the situation is bad, I can make them throw away all their cannons and baggage, and half of them will die on the way to escape. Gomez thought for a moment and replied to him.

"Well, you go outside the office and think about it for another thirty minutes." President Céspedes said, "Thirty minutes later you come in and tell me what you think." ”

"Yes, Mr. President." Gomez stood up and walked out.

Ten minutes later, Gomez walked into President Céspedes' office again.

"Have you figured it out?" President Céspedes asked.

"Yes, Mr. President, I figured it out." Gomez replied, "I'm more confident in the plan now!" ”

"Since our general sees it this way. So let's do it. There are still some people in the city, and there are still a lot of supplies, which must be evacuated as much as possible, and preparations for arson must also be done...... Military matters are all up to you. President Cespedes said.

……

"We'll launch a general offensive early tomorrow morning. The reasons for this are clear to you. General Campos said, "Tomorrow the artillery will not save any more ammunition, and will shoot as much as they need." Even if all the shells are blown up tomorrow day! For tomorrow we will not be victorious, and we will die without a place to be buried. ”