Chapter 537: American Response

On the second day after the Philippines declared independence, the United States immediately held a press conference, announcing President Wilson's tough attitude and expressing its willingness to fight all resistance forces.

Of course, the United States did not describe the crisis in the Philippines as a war. The US government said that this was a rebellion by some people in the Philippines, an unrecognized anti-government armed revolution, not a so-called war.

In order to protect Americans in the Philippines, the United States announced in a high-profile manner that it would use the fleet in the Philippines to protect the safety of Americans and mobilize two divisions to the Philippines to quell the rebellion.

Why use the fleet in the Philippines to protect Americans in the Philippines instead of mobilizing a stronger army from the mainland?

This question is also easy to understand.

Although the performance of warships has been greatly improved, the United States mainland is separated from the Philippines by the entire Pacific Ocean, with a straight-line distance of more than 11,000 kilometers, and the fastest arrival time is about a month.

By the time the US fleet arrives in the Philippines, the Americans in the Philippines have long been driven to an unknown place, not to mention fulfilling President Wilson's promise to protect Americans.

Therefore, the only fleet that the United States could urgently mobilize and quickly arrive in the Philippines to perform tasks was the Philippine squadron.

Although it was only a small fleet, it was still no problem to deal with the Philippines, which had no navy at all.

The outbreak of the Philippine War of Independence quickly attracted the attention of many European and American media. Because it involved the United States, a great power, the news of this war was very hot in Europe, and the heat suppressed the war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire for a while.

The British immediately understood that this was the work of Australasia, because Britain and Australasia had exchanged their opinions as early as a year ago.

Australasia used the decision to support the British in the World Alliance in exchange for the British support for Australasia's actions in the Philippines.

As for the French, although Australasia did not obtain the consent of the French before the action, the relationship between France and the United States was not very good. Moreover, the French had already interfered in the Russian Civil War and supported Greece's war against the Ottoman Empire with the British. They were already busy and naturally had no idea of ​​intervening in the war in the Philippines.

This also led to the fact that the Americans' open protests did not receive support from any country. Even though the independence of the Philippines seemed to be full of doubts, no country was willing to stand up and support the Americans because of the Americans' bad reputation.

It is worth mentioning that the Americans' allies, the island countries, did not choose to support the Americans. Perhaps because the Americans did not support them in the previous naval meeting, the islanders also remained silent in this incident.

Arthur was still very satisfied with Manuel's actions. He was able to quickly control the Senate and the government, and did not cause too much unrest in the Philippines, which proved that Manuel's reputation in the Philippines was still very useful.

As for the retaliation of the Americans' protests, Arthur did not care too much.

Although the Americans claimed to use two divisions to quell the rebellion in the Philippines in public, the armed forces of the Philippines were not without growth.

Moreover, the United States mainland is too far away from the Philippines. Such a long combat distance will greatly increase the cost of the United States' operations.

If the Americans want to continue to fight with the Philippines, Arthur agrees with both hands. Because Australasia can quickly support the Philippines, but it takes more than two months for the Americans to go back and forth. The time and cost of the cylinder are very high, and it can even directly delay the Americans' sight.

Using a small Philippines to delay the Americans, so that the Americans are not prepared and rush into the economic crisis, this deal can be said to be very cost-effective.

Although Australasia also needs to provide certain assistance to the Philippines, it does not cost too much money because of the relatively close distance.

What's more, the British are still on guard against the Americans. If there is such a good opportunity to delay the Americans, I believe the British will not miss it.

Australasia and Britain join forces to assist the Philippines. Can the Americans really bear it?

I'm afraid not.

Even if the Americans turn the table over and use a large-scale navy to crush, the fleets of Australasia and the British are not vegetarians.

Even if the British Indian Ocean Fleet and the Australasia Navy join forces, they can fight against all the American navies.

Do Americans dare to turn against Australasia and Britain directly? This is a question, and I think President Wilson will think carefully.

After all, President Wilson's term of office was less than a year. If some of the measures taken in this last year caused the United States to fall into an irreparable situation, President Wilson would become a sinner in the United States, which was something that politicians who valued their reputation very much did not want to see.

President Wilson's tough speech soon appeared in newspapers in Europe and the United States, and spread to the Philippines over time.

Although he controlled the situation in the Philippines, Manuel was still worried about the current situation.

In order to reassure the Filipinos and to make them willing to go to the first front against the US, Arthur waved his hand and approved a total of 100,000 rifles, 100 machine guns, 100 artillery pieces, and the corresponding ammunition needed for these weapons to be transported to the Philippine port.

The weapons and equipment for the Filipinos had been prepared long ago. They were shipped from New Guinea and arrived in the Philippines in a few days.

With this new batch of more weapons and equipment, Manuel's worries were relieved a little, and his attention was immediately focused on expanding his armaments.

Because they knew that the next American revenge would be the most difficult problem, Manuel and several other people also united together and decided to unite closely during the War of Independence and not let the Americans take advantage of the loopholes.

It was also because of this that after the three people discussed the distribution of this batch of weapons and equipment, a more fair method was adopted.

There were a total of 100,000 rifles, Manuel took 40,000, and the remaining 60,000 rifles were evenly distributed between the two.

Other weapons and equipment were also distributed to all armies at a ratio of 4:3:3, and the army was urgently expanded.

With this batch of weapons and equipment, the total size of the Philippine independent army can be expanded to more than 150,000.

With 50,000 people trained for a year and 100,000 new recruits, the overall combat effectiveness is not very strong, but it can barely be said.

With advance preparation, it is not impossible to defeat two divisions of Americans.

What's more, Arthur's aid this time includes hundreds of machine guns and artillery, which undoubtedly enhances the defense capabilities of the Philippine army.

In World War I, it has been proved that heavy weapons such as machine guns play a vital role in defensive battles. If the Americans are not prepared, it will be enough to make them drink a pot.

In order to better use this batch of machine guns and artillery, Arthur sent a small team of instructors to help the Philippine army better control these heavy weapons.

Of course, because it takes at least a week to go to the Philippines, the Philippine army has only three weeks at most to study.

Before the arrival of the US army, the Australasian army needs to evacuate, and the Americans cannot let them know that the Philippines is supported by Australasian for the time being.

In order to better hide itself, the weapons and equipment that Australasia provided to the Philippines were either British or German weapons. In short, there were no weapons and equipment of Australasia itself.

As long as there were no special weapons of Australasia, it would be impossible to tell which country was behind the Philippines just by relying on those British and German weapons.

The Australasia military factory had production lines for British and German weapons, so there was no need to worry about logistics.

Although President Wilson announced that he would send at least two divisions to suppress the rebellion in the eyes of many media, the speed of the Americans' actions surprised all countries.

First, the US military was called up. Although only two divisions were needed, it took more than a week for these two divisions to gather and board the transport ship.

By the time the US military boarded the fleet and left the mainland, it was more than a week later in early August.

At this time, the Filipinos had received weapons support from Australasia, and under the guidance of a small number of Australasia instructors, they were undergoing intensive military training.

The slow movement of the Americans bought time for Australasia. It was originally expected that the Filipinos would only have three weeks to learn how to operate machine guns and artillery. Now another week has been added, which will allow the Philippine army to operate heavy weapons more skillfully.

In order to express his support for the Philippines, Arthur quietly transported a batch of food supplies to the Philippines, including some medical supplies without any labels, to help the Filipinos better fight against the United States.

Of course, under the instigation of John, the head of intelligence in the Philippines, Manuel and the other two signed a loan agreement, borrowing 20 million Australian dollars from Australasia in the name of the Philippine Senate, and agreed to repay it within ten years.

All the weapons, equipment and resources that Australasia assisted the Philippines were actually purchased cheaply by the Philippine Senate with this loan.

Although it was an interest-free loan, Arthur was not optimistic that the Philippine government could repay 20 million Australian dollars within ten years.

Moreover, even if the Philippine government was able to repay, Arthur would make it incapable.

Compared with the 20 million Australian dollars, controlling an obedient country with a population of tens of millions is what Arthur would like to see.

With the establishment of the Philippine government in the future, further controlling the situation in the Philippines is what Arthur has to do now, and it is also urgent.

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