America 1881: Legend of the West.

"Where's our horse?"

Roosevelt stood on the beach, looking at his beloved horse "Anthony" swimming towards him, feeling a little lost.

Anthony was the only one on board the troopship.

This was Roosevelt's prerogative as commander; others did not have such good luck.

However, because the place chosen to land was a shoal, the transport ship had no way to dock and had to ferry it across by boat.

There were not enough boats to carry people, let alone horses.

So Anthony was pushed into the sea with a "plop" and was swimming towards the coast alone.

"This is not a problem, Mr. Roosevelt. Your army still has a horse, but our army doesn't even have a horse." Chen Jianqiu, standing next to Roosevelt, said.

He came with a detachment of soldiers to clear the landing site for the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Brigade.

But in fact, the Spaniards on this beach had long been pushed back to the vicinity of Santiago, or in other words, the Spanish defenders in the entire southwest were forced back to the vicinity of Santiago and Guantanamo.

"Thank you very much for coming, Chen. I heard you were doing well in Cuba." Roosevelt turned to Chen Jianqiu and found that the latter was wearing a thin gray cloth shirt.

"Well, it's just so so, because the order I received was to support the local rebel army, and I didn't receive any other tasks subsequently." Chen Jianqiu said.

Roosevelt nodded, took out a piece of paper from his clothes, and handed it to Chen Jianqiu's hand.

"I just have new orders for you," Roosevelt said.

Chen Jianqiu picked up the paper and took a look:
The 2nd Volunteer Cavalry Brigade is hereby ordered to sever the communication between Guantánamo and Santiago at all costs.

The signature is Commander-in-Chief Shafter.

Chen Jianqiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Is the U.S. military headquarters so late-minded? I have almost opened up the entire south.

Xu Ajiu was leading a troop to sweep in the direction of Havana.

Just two "big gift packages" were left waiting for the US military to open them themselves.

"What about you?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"Let's wait here for our equipment, and then attack San Diego." Roosevelt's eyes flashed with excitement, "The headquarters has wasted too much time, and I can't wait!"

Chen Jianqiu glanced at the somewhat embarrassed American soldiers on the beach.

The soldiers wore thick wool uniforms and cowhide hats, and were sweating profusely.

These military uniforms were temporarily obtained from military supplies.

These people have no idea what the climate is like in Cuba now.

This operation is comparable to giving soldiers only summer clothes when attacking Moscow in winter.

"Hey, old friend, let me give you a suggestion." Chen Jianqiu turned to Roosevelt and said, "It's best to be careful in the jungle here. Although we and the guerrillas have cleared out many Spaniards, the direction leading to Santiago is still dangerous."

"The local guerrillas will give you some guidance and hope to give you some help." Chen Jianqiu pointed to a group of people behind him and said.

"You'd better pay attention. If there are special birdsong, these friends are reporting to you, indicating that there may be a Spanish ambush nearby."

"Thank you, my friend, but we will quickly defeat the Spaniards and let them go back!" Roosevelt was full of confidence. "I also wish you can successfully complete the mission. The glory belongs to every American soldier who can stand here. !”

Chen Jianqiu knew that this old friend was a strong-willed and energetic person, but he did have little practical experience.

He just regarded these difficulties as trivial setbacks.

"Uh, okay, I wish you good luck." Chen Jianqiu patted Roosevelt on the shoulder.

To be honest, there was an impulse in his heart.

If he had known that the U.S. Army was so stubborn right now, he would have simply led his troops and took the opportunity to go north and stab Washington.

However, this idea finally stayed in Chen Jianqiu's mind.

Today's United States is a country with extremely strong war potential, and it cannot be solved by simply capturing the capital.

It’s not like the White House hasn’t been burned anyway.

After Chen Jianqiu left with his troops, Roosevelt and his landing troops assembled on the beach while waiting for their equipment.

They waited until the afternoon, from high tide to low tide, but never saw the shadow of their equipment.

Roosevelt was not a good-tempered person. His self-restraint prevented him from swearing, but his face was terrifyingly gloomy.

Seeing that the sun was setting, Roosevelt had to let the soldiers camp near the coast.

The survival supplies the soldiers carried with them were limited.

They didn't even have a tent.

A group of people played wilderness survival on the beach.

They looked everywhere for dry wood and something to make a fire with.

I still had the jerky and biscuits I brought with me, but many of them were soaked by the sea water.

Some even fell into the sea when they came ashore.

These people began to use their own initiative to find food near the coast.

This night was a disaster for the animals on Cuba's beaches.

Thousands of hungry soldiers rushed to the sea collectively and plundered everything they could see, touch and eat.

Roosevelt ate briefly and fell asleep next to the campfire.

Then he had a night he would never forget.

Various unnamed insects flew out of the jungle and grass.

Roosevelt, who was so knowledgeable, couldn't pronounce their names.

But they have one thing in common, that is, they suck blood.

A bug crawled down Roosevelt's collar and into his clothes.

Roosevelt, who was still asleep, sat up suddenly.

Because he felt the intruder scurrying through the space between his skin and his clothes.

Roosevelt instantly got up from the ground, took off his clothes and shook desperately.

That damn bug flew to nowhere.

Roosevelt stripped naked and put on his clothes again.

He looked around and saw many soldiers doing the same thing as him.

I basically couldn't sleep in the second half of the night.

Roosevelt, still frightened, sat by the campfire until dawn.

Many soldiers were bitten with bruises on their noses and faces, and had big bumps on their bodies.

This is the first gift that the island nation of Cuba has given these soldiers.

The sun has risen.

Roosevelt received both good news and bad news.

The good news is they saw horses.

A cavalry troop came in their direction along the coast.

This is a transport team.

The equipment and supplies that Roosevelt had been longing for arrived.

The bad news is that these horses are pack horses, and none of their war horses have arrived.

And after counting the supplies, Roosevelt discovered that only part of the stuff had arrived.

The transport troops had mistakenly landed at the wrong place.

They transported the horses and equipment to different places.

Fortunately, Chen Jianqiu and the guerrillas basically cleared the coast for them.

Otherwise all these things will fall into the hands of the Spanish.

Roosevelt asked his soldiers to quickly collect equipment and supplies.

He had already wasted a day and a night, which was intolerable to him.

But his team stayed there until noon before reorganizing.

They simply had lunch before setting off. The lunch was canned beef brought by the transport team.

However, unlike the world-class supply of materials that the US military later provided, these canned meats at this time were all purchased temporarily by the Army Department.

The sanitary conditions in slaughterhouses that provided meat for canning in 19th century America can only be described as disastrous.

Flies were flying everywhere and blood was flowing everywhere, not to mention sick pigs and rotten meat.

Coupled with poor storage during transportation and the bad climate in Cuba.

You can imagine how these cans taste.

But the hungry American soldiers couldn't care less.

They simply heated it up over fire and ate it whole.

The horseless cavalry brigade soldiers resumed their advance towards Santiago.

Cuban Chinese guerrillas entered the jungle ahead of them.

After Chen Jianqiu led his troops back to Cuba, his prestige among the Chinese rebels grew with one great victory after another.

As agreed, these guerrillas would provide reconnaissance and surveillance for Roosevelt and his soldiers.

Roosevelt and the soldiers of the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Brigade soon followed.

At first, everything seemed calm, except that the road was indeed not easy to walk on.

Roosevelt, the only one riding a horse, also chose to dismount, leading the horse and moving forward with his soldiers.

"Mr. Roosevelt, I never thought that I would have the chance to fight side by side with you in a foreign country." An old cowboy in his sixties who was walking side by side with Roosevelt exclaimed.

The old cowboy was from Hyenatown, North Dakota, where Roosevelt served as sheriff in the West.

He once worked for Roosevelt's ranch.

The composition of this team is extremely complex, including cowboys, police officers, and some veterans who participated in the Civil War.

"It is an honor to me, sir." Roosevelt did not have the airs of an officer at all.

He suddenly noticed that the old cowboy was limping a little, so he asked:

"What happened to your leg, Mr. Horst?"

The old cowboy was a little embarrassed:
"It was my first time on a boat and I didn't have much experience. I accidentally sprained my ankle when I was getting off the boat."

He then waved to Roosevelt:

"But it's okay, Mr. Roosevelt. It should be healed soon and won't affect us from kicking those Spanish asses!"

Roosevelt pointed to the horse beside him:

"Mr. Horst, you should mount your horse and ride for a while. We are still some distance away from Santiago. You should mount your horse and ride for a while. It won't affect your ability to kill the enemy when the time comes!"

The old cowboy was a little embarrassed, and waved his hands again and again to say no.

But at Roosevelt's insistence, he finally got on the horse.

The team continued to move forward.

The jungles of Cuba are lush and green.

This is a paradise for many small reptiles.

Chameleons and lizards sat quietly on the branches, watching the team passing below them with caution.

There are no roads in the jungle.

But for an army, this is not a problem.

There were two local guerrillas acting as guides for them, but the only problem was that they did not speak the same language very well and had to rely entirely on body language to communicate.

Suddenly, some strange bird calls came rhythmically from the woods ahead.

"This bird's call feels so special." said old cowboy Horst, looking at the dense trees ahead.

"Many of the birds here are not found in the United States, such as the Cuban Trogon, which can hop between trees like a rambling. So it's not surprising." The well-read Roosevelt was somewhat disapproving.

However, the two guerrilla guides suddenly became nervous after hearing the bird's cry.

They made a stop gesture to the team that was still advancing, then ran to Roosevelt, danced and spoke in the local dialect.

Roosevelt suddenly remembered what Chen Jianqiu said to him before he left.

He has always believed in what Chen Jianqiu said.

But this time, he was a little hesitant.

They have already wasted too much time on the beach. If they delay any further, they will miss the opportunity to fight.

Besides, he had not seen a single Spanish soldier since he landed.

So, is there really an ambush of Spanish soldiers ahead?
However, while Roosevelt was still thinking.

There was a gunshot.

The old cowboy Horst, who was riding on his horse, suddenly froze.

A blood flower bloomed from his chest.

The old cowboy was hit by a bullet and fell off his horse.

Immediately afterwards, gunshots rang out.

"There is an ambush! Hide!" Roosevelt took out his gun belatedly, half-crouched down, and gave orders to the soldiers behind him.

He glanced at the old cowboy lying on the ground in front of him.

Blood flowed out of his wound continuously.

The cowboy was gasping for breath, probably because his lung was punctured. There was a high probability that he would not survive in such a place.

In fact, when ambushing in a dense jungle, the bullet hit rate is generally not very high.

But it's different when you're on a horse.

A particularly prominent target is too easy to be hit, not to mention that the person on horseback is obviously an officer and will be the first target to be killed.

Roosevelt thumped his fist on the ground in frustration.

He knew that if the person riding the horse just now was not the old cowboy, but him.

The one lying there now is me.

The old cowboy died for him!

Roosevelt was now an excellent sheriff, police chief, politician, and historian, but by no means an experienced battlefield commander.

There is no room for hesitation on the battlefield. If you hesitate, you will be defeated!
After briefly calming down, Roosevelt began to organize a counterattack against the Spanish who were ambushing ahead.

Judging from the sound of gunfire, the number of ambushers was not large.

The guerrillas locked the position of the ambushers for them and cooperated with them to sneak towards the enemy in the dark.

After paying the price of more than twenty casualties, the soldiers of the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Brigade finally completed the elimination of the ambushers.

They killed most of the Spanish soldiers and captured a few alive.

But at this time, Roosevelt discovered a new problem.

No one in his team knew the local language, or Spanish!
He originally wanted to extract some useful information from these prisoners.

But unfortunately, the results were minimal.

The interrogation process was so awkward that it almost ended with the captive looking bewildered.

Roosevelt had no choice but to order his soldiers to continue advancing towards Santiago.

Along the way, they continued to be attacked by the Spanish.

After the first failure, Roosevelt increased his vigilance and cooperated with the guerrillas to clean up the ambushed Spanish soldiers.

The number of soldiers killed in battle is also decreasing.

Everything seems to be moving in a good direction.

But after a few more days, Roosevelt soon discovered that being ambushed seemed to be the least of the problems he had encountered along the way.

The bad weather in Cuba, the bites of unknown mosquitoes, and the spoiled canned meat combined to bring a disaster to his soldiers.

Disease, transformed into the god of death, began to take the lives of Americans.