Chapter 516 Suburban Meeting:
In an inconspicuous house on the outskirts of Manila, Philippines, a meeting that could determine the fate of the Philippines was being held.
There were actually very few people attending this meeting. Apart from John, the intelligence officer from Australasia, there were only the leaders of the three major independent forces in the Philippines, Manuel, the leader of the Philippine Independent Revolutionary Army, and Wa, the leader of the Philippine Free Army. Leader, Sandro, leader of the Philippine Legion of Independence.
Those who can become the leader of the Philippine independent forces and are contacted by Australasian intelligence personnel have an obvious characteristic, that is, they have a good reputation among the Philippine revolutionary forces or political circles.
Walid, the leader of the Philippine Free Army, comes from the political arena and is the deputy president of the Philippine Senate. He is also one of Manuel's main competitors in Philippine politics.
Sandro, the leader of the Philippine Legion of Independence, like Manuel, was born in the Philippine revolutionary forces and was also supported by the revolutionary forces.
It can be said that these three people combined have a huge influence on the Philippine revolutionary forces and the political arena, and can also determine the direction of the entire Philippine local forces.
If there were no Americans, these three people would definitely be the three biggest powerful people in the Philippines.
But unfortunately, the current Philippines is the Philippines of the Americans, and the three Manuels only have some reputation among the local forces and are not valued and respected by the Americans.
"Everyone, I believe you already know each other, so there is no need to introduce yourself too much. What I want to say is that it is a good opportunity for the Philippines at the moment. Looking at the entire world, all the victorious countries are in a state of being overwhelmed. The Philippines is independent at this time without much interference from other countries." John, Australasia's intelligence chief in the Philippines, clapped his hands, looked at the three Manuels, and said with a smile.
Manuel looked around. Although he and the other two people were friends before, their relationship now was a bit awkward.
"Mr. John, how much support can Australasia provide us? And after we launch the War of Independence, can Australasia quickly support us internationally?" Manuel stood up first and put forward his own question The problem.
Regardless of the number of U.S. troops stationed in the Philippines, judging from the combined strength of the Philippines and the United States, it is almost impossible to win the Philippine War of Independence on its own.
This also means that how much assistance Australasia can provide is related to whether the Philippine War of Independence can proceed smoothly and whether the Americans can be successfully defeated.
At the same time, Australasia's international support is also important. It would be a good thing for the Philippines if the Americans could be forced to make concessions through diplomacy, or if some of the Americans' power could be contained.
The other two people also nodded. They are all smart people, and they are also concerned about the issue of whether the War of Independence can be won.
"First of all, about the intensity of the assistance." John smiled and said: "The batch includes 50,000 rifles, 30 machine guns, 25 artillery pieces, 5 million rounds of ammunition, 150,000 rounds of machine gun bullets and 15,000 rounds of artillery shells Weapons and equipment are about to arrive in Manila, which is also our sincerity in Australasia. With this batch of equipment, I believe you will be able to deal with the US garrison in the Philippines well, and quickly take control of the entire Philippines after the War of Independence is launched."
Because of the arms trade with Russia, Australasia's military industrial enterprises are still in a state of continuous production day and night.
It is easy to establish a batch of weapons and equipment for the Philippine revolution, and most of the weapons and equipment for the Philippines are second-hand equipment that has been eliminated by the Australasian army, making it even easier to raise.
After hearing what John said about the amount of weapons and equipment assistance, both Manuel and the other two were quite satisfied.
Even after all calculations, the American troops stationed in the Philippines were less than 3,000. The weapons and equipment provided by Australasia to the Philippines can arm an army of 50,000 people.
Even relying on numerical superiority, the 3,000 American garrison can be easily eliminated. After all, Australasia has also provided assistance with machine guns and artillery. The Philippine army does not lag behind the American garrison much in terms of weapons and equipment.
However, Manuel looked at the other two people and felt a little worried in his heart, that was about the distribution of this batch of weapons and equipment.
This batch of weapons and equipment is very important to the Philippine revolutionary forces and can greatly improve the military strength of any force.
This also represents a problem. No force is willing to give up this batch of weapons and equipment. After all, this can reshape its own strength and give it an advantage over other forces from the beginning.
Just imagine, if Manuel can obtain most of this batch of weapons and equipment, the other two forces will no longer pose a threat to Manuel, and Manuel will be able to successfully gain a say in the future Philippine government.
But the problem is, Australasia obviously won't let that happen. The reason why he did not mention the distribution of this batch of weapons and equipment was that he also wanted to see conflicts among the three forces in the Philippines, which would have an impact on the future unity of the Philippines.
It was obvious that the other two people were also aware of this problem. They flashed tacit understanding between each other and had their own ideas about this batch of weapons and equipment.
"As for supporting you internationally, don't worry. We have obtained the support of Britain and France. The World Alliance will recognize the Philippine War of Independence as soon as possible and express solidarity. With the support of the World Alliance, I believe that the Americans will not make reckless decisions. action." John continued to say with a smile.
The three Manuels have naturally heard of the famous name of the World Alliance.
When the influenza epidemic was severe, the World Alliance forced the United States to admit its guilt and paid a large amount of compensation to all member countries of the World Alliance.
Manuel and the others still believed John's words. As long as Australasia can gain the support of Britain and France, it is equivalent to gaining the support of the entire world alliance.
With the entire world alliance on its back, even the powerful United States has to give in and retreat. You must know that the World Alliance is not just a few countries, but the most powerful powers at present, plus more than a dozen small and medium-sized European countries, its scale far exceeds the previous Allied Powers, and it is simply not something that any country can resist alone.
If we can obtain the support of the World Alliance, it will be of great help to the Philippine War of Independence.
Obviously, John's words made the three Manuels very satisfied, and their expectations for winning the Philippine War of Independence were much greater.
"Mr. John, when will that batch of weapons and equipment arrive at the earliest?" Sandro, the leader of the Philippine Independent Legion, asked expectantly.
At present, the armed forces of the three are still very weak, and Manuel, the strongest, only controls an independent revolutionary army of about 2,000 people.
With the weapons and equipment of these 50,000 rifles, the military strength of the three men must be expanded to at least 10,000 people. Therefore, it is also necessary to expand the size of the army in a timely manner.
But the expansion of the army must also be supported by corresponding weapons and equipment. We can't let the recruited soldiers go to training with wooden sticks and kitchen knives.
Let’s not talk about whether such training is effective, but it seems that it will make one’s army weaker in terms of momentum.
"This batch of weapons and equipment left yesterday and will be transported to Manila within a week. You can prepare for the recruitment of manpower now. Before your manpower recruitment is completed, the weapons and equipment will be smoothly transported to your hands. John said with a smile.
The expansion of the armed forces of the three people was carried out without the knowledge of the Americans, so they were destined not to make a big splash.
This also caused the expansion of the three-person armed force to take longer. Even if it was only expanded to a scale of ten thousand people, it would take at least several months, and they would also need to find a more secretive training venue.
Fortunately, the Americans' control over the Philippines is not that strong. It is still easy to find a relatively empty and uninhabited venue for training in the huge Philippines.
It is a pity that there are no satellites in this era. If the Americans want to discover the whereabouts of these troops, they must either send a large number of reconnaissance aircraft to search day and night, or they can only rely on luck to find them.
As long as the information is kept secret and the Americans are not alerted, it is basically impossible for the Americans to discover it.
"How should we deal with the US fleet in the Philippines? Mr. John." Walid, leader of the Philippine Free Army, raised his own question.
Compared with the US fleet in the Philippines, the US army garrison is a very easy solution.
But how to solve the US fleet in the Philippines is a very thorny problem.
Although most of the warships deployed by the Americans in the Philippines are small and medium-sized warships, they are even some obsolete products that are not needed by the US Navy.
But the problem is that the Philippines' local strength does not have any navy at all, which means that it is impossible to pose any threat to the American fleet.
On the contrary, the American fleet can cause huge damage to the Philippine coast. This is an unsolvable problem for the current Philippine revolutionary forces.
"As long as you can successfully eliminate the American garrison, we will use the American fleet to solve the problem for you." John said with a smile: "His Majesty the King is very concerned about the situation in the Philippines. The Australasian fleet can be dispatched at any time to help the Philippines, which is being bullied. Neighboring country."
It was still very useful to use Arthur's name. Walid had no doubts at all, and he obviously believed what John said that Arthur was concerned about the situation in the Philippines.
In fact, this is normal. Australasia acted like this in the Philippines. As the monarch of Australasia, it is impossible for Arthur to be unaware of it.
Even thinking deeper, Australasia's actions in the Philippines may have been ordered by Arthur.
This is also the power possessed by a real monarch. It can easily change a country's diplomatic strategy, and it is even easier to control a small Philippines.
Manuel was visibly relieved when he heard John's answer. The American fleet is the most difficult to solve. If Australasia can come out, this also means that the most difficult part of the War of Independence has been solved in advance.
As for the next retaliation of the Americans, with the endorsement of Australasia and the World Alliance, whether the American reinforcements can land in the Philippines is a question, and other issues do not need to be considered too much.
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(End of chapter)