The sale of guns to the Chinese rebels went very smoothly until the last step.

The first batch of 400 rifles and ammunition boarded a Mexican-flagged ship and swaggered into the port of Santiago, which was still under Spanish control.

This time, in addition to Chen Jianqiu himself, there was also his wife Camilla.

When he returned to New York, he told Camilla about it.

Without saying a word, the Puerto Rican beauty began to pack her belongings and prepare to go on the trip with her husband.

"I'm familiar there." Camila said lightly as she packed her luggage.

Her violet eyes winked at Chen Jianqiu a few times, so that Chen Jianqiu couldn't find any reason to refuse.

Regarding this matter, the happiest is the son of the two, Chen Pengkun.

He thought that his parents were not there, and that only the little Astor godfather who was obedient to him was left in New York.

I can be lawless.

Who knows that Chen Jianqiu does not play cards according to common sense.

Someone sent the little master directly to Hawaii and handed it over to Sean, and at the same time attached a letter to him to discipline him strictly.

Chen Jianqiu also brought forty elite members of the Longxiang group, disguised as crew members, to escort the munition to its destination.

The arsenal box was stuffed into a pile of potatoes, as is customary.

No one wants to open a pile of potatoes that are about to stink from the sun.

What's more, underneath the first layer of potatoes, there is an envelope stuffed with Cuban pesos.

Mr. Chen hired Santos, a Mexican who had been doing business in Cuba for many years, to handle the matter.

The guns and ammunition were unloaded and dragged to a warehouse that Santos had already found, ready to be loaded into wagons and shipped out of the city the next day.

Then, unsurprisingly, there was an accident.

Lai Gubei couldn't find where his father's troops were.

According to the original plan, after arriving at the port of San Diego, Lai Gubei would go to the streets with the members of the rebel underground in the city to obtain the latest address of the Chinese rebel army.

But when Chen Jianqiu and Lai Gubei came to a Chinese-style pharmacy along the crooked street, they found that the door of the pharmacy was closed, and there was even a seal on it.

"W-what's going on?" Lai Gubei stood in front of the door of the pharmacy and looked around.

He considered whether to go up and knock on the door.

But his shoulders were quickly hugged by Chen Jianqiu.

The latter lowered the brim of his hat, grinned and pointed to a Spanish-style church next to the pharmacy, and commented:

"The roof of this church is really beautiful, tsk, this line, tsk, this material!"

Chen Jianqiu commented while communicating with Lai Gubei, who was at a loss, as if he was a tourist from other places.

"Let's get closer." He dragged the young man and unhurriedly into an alley next to the church.

"Mr. Chen, we."

Lai Gubei's body was not under his control, he was taken away by Chen Jianqiu, his feet were just walking subconsciously, a little unclear, and he wanted to ask for an understanding.

"Be natural, don't look around, talk about how you want." Chen Jianqiu quickened his pace and whispered to him, "We are being targeted. ”

Lai Gubei experienced this, and suddenly became nervous, so he had to follow Chen Jianqiu back and forth in the nearby alley.

The streets of this city are quite distinctive, that is, none of them are due south and north, but crooked, and the direction is quite still sexual.

However, it is also very beneficial for getting rid of stalkers.

After turning around and he couldn't remember how many laps, Chen Jianqiu's footsteps finally stopped in front of a Tuscan-style building with orange tiles and white walls.

Lai Gubei was still nervous and didn't dare to look back.

But Chen Jianqiu was already unhurried and took out a cigar and lit it for himself:

"The man has been thrown off." He took a puff on his cigar and said, "That pharmacy is now a set, your underground stronghold should be gone, and as for your comrades-in-arms, they are most likely in the prison cells of the colonial government." ”

The north side of Lai Gu is like ashes.

"We also have alternate points of contact, at the sugar cane trading market, their"

His words were immediately interrupted by Chen Jianqiu.

The latter, sipping a cigar in his mouth, glanced at him, and said unceremoniously:

"Young man, let me tell you the first thing to do in the underground, which is to never easily disclose the name, location, etc., of the person who connects to a third person."

He stared straight at Lai Gubei:

"This habit of yours will kill them."

Chen Jianqiu was faintly worried.

If the level of the intelligence personnel of the Chinese rebel army is like Lai Gubei, I am afraid that the entire old bottom will be turned upside down by the Spaniards.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, I was in a hurry just now." Lai Gubei quickly realized that his behavior was too reckless and apologized.

"Alternate points of contact don't contact them for the time being." Chen Jianqiu smoked a cigar, leaned his back against the white pillar, thought for a while and said, "Let me think about whether there is any new way." ”

The two walked down the alley to the hotel where they were staying.

"Our troops shouldn't be too far from here, because my father was tasked with pinning down the Spanish army here."

On the way, Lai Gubei whispered to Chen Jianqiu.

"Before I left, I made a promise with my father that he would wait for my gear near San Diego."

Chen Jianqiu listened and nodded as he walked.

They passed by a newsstand.

Chen Jianqiu bought a copy of each of the newspapers on the newsstand.

The newspapers are in Spanish.

The Spanish that Chen Jianqiu knew was limited to a few simple or crude greetings.

For example, "Good morning, baby!" And "Grass you ma's".

The former was taught to him by Camilla, and the latter was taught by Camilla after dealing with the previous gang of Mexican-American bandits for a long time.

At this level, it is natural that you can't read these newspapers.

Chen Jianqiu rolled them up, held them in his hand, and stuffed the part that he couldn't take directly to Lai Gubei.

The two men quickly returned to the hotel.

This hotel, the largest in the port of San Diego, is close to the port, right next to the warehouse where they store their guns.

Chen Jianqiu asked Lai Gubei to rest first, climbed up to the second floor by himself, and returned to his room.

At this time, Camilla was packing the luggage of the two.

Clothing, but also weapons.

"How? Is it still going well? ”

Camila took three modified grenades out of the box and placed them in another box as if they were soap.

Chen Jianqiu shook his head.

He told Camilla in detail.

"It's the newspaper for the past two days, see if it can help me find something useful." Chen Jianqiu threw the newspapers he bought on the bed and spread them out one by one.

Camila put down what she was doing, straightened her skirt, sat down on the edge of the bed, and began to quickly retrieve the contents of the newspaper.

Sure enough, she quickly found some useful information.

"The leader of the defenders of Santiago is called Francis, with the rank of colonel, and according to the information disclosed in the newspapers, the number of Spanish troops stationed here is about 20,000."

Camila said as she flipped through the newspaper.

"However, according to Colonel Francis, the 20,000 men are not to defend the city, but to take the initiative to take the initiative to clean up the 'rebels who don't know what to do.'"

Chen Jianqiu raised his eyebrows:

"All of this can be seen in the newspapers?"

"Uh-huh." Camilla nodded, and her slender fingers pointed to a piece of news in the newspaper and began to read:

"Colonel Francis tells the rebels who are trying to attack the city: if you surrender, it's still too late, if you're still delusional, I'm sorry, I've found you, you scum, wait to hell!"

"'I've found you'?" Chen Jianqiu thought about this sentence for a moment.

It seems that his guess is still reasonable,

Exclusion of intimidation.

Colonel Francis was not yet trying to drive the rebels out of this way.

He was eager to directly engage in the main battle, and then beat the rebel army to the bitter end.

Whether it was the defection of the people of the pharmacy that was terminated, the specific address of the rebel army was provided; Or did the colonel get the address by some other means.

In short, the Spaniards knew the address, at least the colonel did.

So, just get the colonel's mouth on it.

Chen Jianqiu was prepared for this matter.

He walked over to the bed and took out two of what appeared to be documents from the compartment of the box.

"Press card for the famous New York World." Chen Jianqiu said with a grin.

Camila took it and took a closer look.

The ordinary cardboard, which can no longer be ordinary, has the name of the New York World printed on it, and its unique pattern is impressive.

However, the name field is currently blank and needs to be filled in by hand.

"What did Nigo do?" Camila glanced at Chen Jianqiu and asked.

Chen Jianqiu shook his head:

"These two books are really real."

"I was having dinner with Pulitzer Jr. at Astor Jr.'s house, and when he heard that I was going to Cuba, he immediately pulled out two blank press cards from his clothes."

"Did he send you directly?" Camila was a little puzzled.

"Yes, not only did he give him a press card, but he also said that in Cuba, I was his reporter, and I also talked to him about his salary."

Chen Jianqiu said with a grin.

"He was disappointed that none of the famous journalists he had brought with him wanted to come to Cuba."

"I drank too much when I left, and I still remember what he said to me at the time: you give me pictures, I'll give you war."

Camila found a pen from the dresser table and put her name on her press card.

"Camila, Cuban correspondent for Le Monde la Monde." Camilla showed her husband her named press card, "Mr. Chen, you should be honest with me as a follower." ”

"Yes." Chen Jianqiu smiled and saluted Camilla.

In general, the top commander of a city's army is not easy to make appointments, because these people are often afraid that they will say something they should not say in interviews and chats.

But this Colonel Francis of Spain is an exception.

He was very keen to exaggerate his achievements to the outside world, and he was often outspoken about many things.

Because he looked down on the Cuban rebels at all, especially the Chinese volunteers near Santiago.

So, as a former bullfighter, Colonel Francis felt that it was only a matter of time before he could clean up these people.

At that time, Spain and the United States had not completely torn their faces.

The New York World is also a very well-known newspaper in the Americas.

But in the end, the reason why he decided to take the interview was to listen to his subordinates describe in detail the shocking appearance of the female reporter who requested the interview.

What "successful man" can turn down a female journalist?

The interview was arranged in the colonel's office in the middle of San Diego.

Not surprisingly, in front of Camilla, the colonel is showing off his abilities hard, like a male peacock in heat showing off the hair on his butt on the opening screen.

"We'll be able to clean up the rebels near San Diego soon." "They are mainly Chinese, and according to our latest information, these rats have emerged from the Maestra Mountains," the colonel swore solemnly. ”

"And where exactly are they?" Camilla smiled at the colonel, "Is it convenient for you to reveal?" ”

Colonel Francis's half-soul was almost lost.

"I'll tell you, you know, don't write in the newspaper." The colonel winked "playfully" at Camilla, "In Saji, a small fishing village. ”

Captain Lai Hua put his hands behind his back and looked at the empty village in front of him, which had been reduced to ruins.

Surrounded by ruins, most of the houses had burned down, and the remains of the buildings were scattered on the winding road.

The road has been ruined, and it is impossible to tell what it was as it was;

The scorched earth stretched out to the outside of the village, and there was no green patch in the fields that should have appeared at this time of year, but instead there was a barren field, which looked particularly dazzling in the reflection of the remnant sun.

It used to be a small fishing village.

Lai Hua has been here more than once with his team.

It was peaceful and calm.

But their new adversary, the new governor "The Butcher" Viller, in order to prevent the rebels from gaining troops and supplies, forcibly concentrated the inhabitants of those villages near cities and towns where Spanish troops lived.

Naturally, the lives of these Cuban inhabitants who have lost their land are extremely miserable.

Tens of thousands of people died of starvation.

But the "butcher" doesn't care.

He would rather leave the rebels with a scorched earth than simply end Spanish rule here.

The current situation of the rebel army is very bad.

As a Chinese soldier who followed General Maceo from the first Cuban War of Independence, he witnessed the hardships of the Cuban War of Independence in the past 30 years.

From the "Ten Years' War" to the "Little War" to the current "Second Cuban War of Independence".

From solidarity to internal division, to renewed hope, until now

Lai Hua vaguely remembers.

When he joined the rebels with a group of Chinese laborers working on the plantations with firewood knives and axes, he was still a young man in his twenties.

Now I have gray temples.

What he is most worried about now is his son.

(End of chapter)