Chapter 219 Time of the US-Philippine War
"I'm just worried about you!" Anne was flirting with Sheffield as if no one was around. The guests in the distance saw this scene and responded with kind smiles, as if they were blessing this couple who were immersed in love.
"What are you worried about? I am different from the businessmen in the Philippines. You should know that." Sheffield laughed. Although they are both businessmen, the only similarity between the two sides is their profession. The Philippine rebels represent the national capitalists of the Philippines. What does Sheffield represent? The highest stage of capitalism, monopoly imperialism.
The former local national capitalists are the most capable of reflecting the weakness of capitalism. They are slightly rich and cautious. What are they? They represent the other side of monopoly imperialism. Sheffield has no weakness. He only has the cruelest side of capitalism. The two are incomparable.
People with a certain amount of wealth don’t want the social order to get out of control. This means their property will be damaged, or even their lives will be in danger. So this group of people prefer gradual reforms. The current leader of the Philippine resistance army is from this group of people. As an imperialist, he is afraid of these people who can be harvested at any time?
Until the end of the cocktail party, there was no news of the expeditionary soldiers in the eastern suburbs being ambushed, which made Sheffield a little dissatisfied. In just a few months, the American Expeditionary Force had become so lax? Although the US military has never been known for its military discipline, this was a bit too much.
Until everyone dispersed, Sheffield was ready to lead Anne to carry the burden forward, but nothing happened. This was too disappointing. With such an army, Sheffield himself did not feel safe. How could he protect his own industry? He used his tax money to support such a bunch of good-for-nothings?
It was not until the next morning that the military paid attention to a platoon of soldiers who had not returned home on Christmas Eve. They had no choice but to pay attention, because the bodies had been found. The company commander of the unit thought that these soldiers were doing something that men knew how to do on Christmas Eve, such as looking for women.
He was not shocked until the bodies were discovered. He led his company to the ambush site and looked for traces nearby. He then reported the matter to higher-ups one level at a time, which alerted the expeditionary force's top brass in Manila.
"What? Our soldiers were ambushed. Who ambushed them?" General MacArthur shouted angrily. How dare these natives take the first action against the great American army? This was simply an insult.
This scene happened to be seen by Sheffield who was a guest. Sheffield was very embarrassed and couldn't explain clearly what was going on in his mind. It might be similar to the motive of some murderers returning to the crime scene. Anyway, he was now a guest at the expeditionary force's headquarters.
MacArthur snatched the bullet and shell brought by the commander and observed them carefully, trying to judge what happened from this aspect, but MacArthur found that he seemed to have no impression of this kind of firearm.
"Have you found anything?" Sheffield acted indignant, without any tension of a murderer. He clenched his fists, as if he also felt MacArthur's humiliation.
He wanted to remind this ignorant general, who was no different from the average civilian, that he couldn't study other countries' weapons when he had nothing to do? You know, Japan was dissatisfied with the United States' annexation of Hawaii, so it was considered an imaginary enemy. How could a general not even have this much knowledge?
Finally, Sheffield couldn't hold it in any longer and said, "Such rare bullets and shells, once we determine who often uses this weapon, we can determine who attacked our soldiers."
"That's right!" MacArthur nodded vigorously, but he did not forget to put his troops on combat readiness. Investigating the truth of the matter was just a necessary procedure, and he already suspected who had done it.
The final investigation results came out, and after some local people pointed out, this kind of bullet was very similar to that of a Japanese rifle.
The Type 22 Murata rifle was a rifle developed by Japan. It was designed by Major General Murayama, a firearms and artillery expert of the Satsuma Domain Army, based on the French rifle. It was also the first domestically produced standard firearm in Japan after the Meiji Restoration.
The Japanese have always been good at transformation but not at invention. The appearance, size and internal structure of this gun are almost the same as those of the French Chasper rifle, but the shape of the chamber is changed to a cone, and two exhaust holes are opened in the chamber, which creates a unique bullet.
"It has been confirmed that it was a group of people using Japanese rifles who attacked our soldiers. They must be the natives of the Philippines!" MacArthur took the latest investigation results and loudly stated in front of George Dewey and his superior Commander Merritt that he would teach these natives a lesson.
"Japanese rifles?" General Merritt made his own judgment when he heard it. Before the arrival of the American Expeditionary Force, the Philippine rebels stepped up fundraising to purchase arms. In just a few months, they raised 200,000 pesos in donations from the people. At the same time, they signed an agreement with Japan to purchase 100,000 guns and 150 cannons.
This matter was not a secret to a general of General Merritt's level. The Filipino rebels dared to go to war with the Spaniards, and Japan's secret support must have played a huge role.
Sheffield nodded frequently, finally getting to the point, as to why his private army had Japanese rifles. Although money can't buy everything in the world, it can buy most of them, so what's the difficulty for him to get some rifles?
More than a dozen middle and senior military generals almost unanimously believe that this is the fact caused by the Philippine rebels. The facts are not important. What is important is that they have already determined that this was done by the Philippine rebels.
Just as everyone was discussing whether to take the initiative to attack the Philippine rebels in the eastern suburbs, an officer came in and reported, "The Philippine Provisional Government sent someone to express their sadness over the attack on the expeditionary soldiers and is willing to cooperate with the investigation."
This scene completely angered the first and second class people in the United States. The other party's actions at this time clearly showed that they did not take their military generals seriously. Even George Dewey, who had some doubts about this, was angered.
The assistance from the Philippine Provisional Government surprised Sheffield greatly. His wisdom and bravery really needed a pig opponent to compare, but this was too lucky. No, it was obviously his foresight that led to this result, but it had nothing to do with others. All the glory belonged to Sheffield United Company.
The reaction of the Philippine Provisional Government was not important. What was important was that the military leaders in Manila hoped that the attack was committed by the Filipinos. A little evidence was enough. There was no need for in-depth communication and investigation. George Dewey almost immediately reported the attack on the expeditionary soldiers to the federal government.
Almost at the same time, Sheffield leaked the news to the newspapers and media he controlled via radio. The federal government needs the support of public opinion, and the United States is a democratic country.
The story of a farmer and a snake soon made the front page headlines of major newspapers. In this story, the American Expeditionary Force came to the Philippines like angels and helped the Filipinos defeat the evil Spanish colonists. During the several months they spent with the Filipinos, they were deeply loved by the local people.
However, some Filipino dignitaries who were afraid of losing their rights were hostile and blindly xenophobic towards the well-intentioned American Expeditionary Force, which helped them drive out the Spanish colonists. Our simple soldiers were unprepared for this, which led to this tragedy.
The final editorial is that the United States of America has the obligation and the right to lead the backward indigenous people into a modern civilized society. This is the unshirkable obligation of the United States of America. Because under the rule of such an ungrateful group of people, the lives of the Filipino civilians are like hell.
"I killed your husband, slept with your wife, and beat your son. All this is for your own good!" Sheffield used very straightforward language to summarize the meaning of these newspapers. In any shameless field, who dares to say that the United States is a beginner? However, although it is very shameless, some of these newspapers are his own, so everything he said is correct.
"If the Filipinos hadn't attacked our soldiers, the newspapers wouldn't have said that." Anne pouted, walked slowly to Sheffield with the coffee, and said softly, "Drink it, the temperature is just right, I've tasted it."
"My dear, you are right!" Sheffield gulped down his coffee and said with a smile, "Even now, the Filipinos still want to clarify the misunderstanding. These rebels, as long as the military makes an effort, they will definitely be wiped out."
These so-called Filipino national bourgeoisie, when faced with monopoly imperialism, completely exposed the weakness of the bourgeoisie to imperialism. Both sides are at different stages of capitalism, and once they collided, it really became a dimensionality reduction attack. The Philippine Provisional Government showed such a loss of direction that even the instigator could not stand it anymore.
On the contrary, the military had already prepared for war before receiving a decision from the federal government. All troops were on standby and could be deployed to the battlefield at the command of a single order.
On the day the federal government called back, the expeditionary force command ordered a war against the provisional government of the Philippines. Spain was a thing of the past, and the US-Philippines War officially broke out. The artillery of the US Expeditionary Force immediately launched an artillery attack on the Philippine positions in the eastern suburbs! At the same time, various troops left Manila and attacked the positions of the Philippine rebels. The provisional government of the Philippines had always endured humiliation and was ultimately not accepted by US imperialism. Now they have to bear the consequences.
Faced with the sudden attack of the American Expeditionary Force, the Philippine rebels, officers could not find their soldiers, and soldiers could not find their officers! The entire barracks was in chaos, and the commander even asked the interim government whether to resist.
(End of this chapter)
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