Chapter 43: Chapter 42: Battle of Dominguez

On the 15^th of December, the year 1897

Near Dominguez, Las Tunas, Cuba

“General, our main army is already ready for the attack. Both flanks of the Spanish forces have already been pressured by our two diversionary brigades.”

General Gomez then looks toward the detailed map of the place he was in now. He was able to catch the Spanish troops off-guard three days ago and was able to encircle them in the forest where they were encamping as they approached the city of Las Tunas. The Spanish forces were able to immediately entrench themselves but in exchange were fully encircled by the Cuban revolutionaries.

With more than 6,000 men, he outnumbered the 4,000 Spanish troops by half of its size. But still, even with such overwhelming numerical superiority over the Spanish troops, he didn’t immediately attack them because the men had just suffered a defeat from this Spanish force. He needs to ensure that his men are psychologically and physically ready for the final assault.

The Spanish soldiers entrenched themselves on a small hill that can see the surrounding regions giving them an advantage in the battle as they were just holding and defending their positions. But one advantage of the Cuban revolutionaries is that their force is equipped with twenty-one artilleries that can bombard the Spanish static positions, the Spanish forces didn’t have any artilleries and heavy weaponry with them because of their fast advance. They had left behind some units who have heavy weaponries and artilleries and were blocked by a smaller group of Cuban revolutionaries to buy time until the men under General Gomez defeat the 4,000 advanced troops.

They can just blow the Spanish forces into smithereens, and that’s what the Cuban revolutionaries had done for the three days they were encircling the Spanish forces. General Gomez knows that the Spanish forces are exhausted and fatigued from the constant shelling and small raids and skirmishes that his forces had undertaken in these three days.

“Captain, order to men to prepare, we would launch a full attack tomorrow morning before the sun would fully rise. Tell the cooks to prepare the finest meal tonight so that our men would be motivated and prepared.”

“Yes, General.”

The captain that is with General Gomez immediately went outside the large room where the General is temporarily residing and planning the operations. The General temporarily “borrowed” the mansion from a rich landowner near the battlefield so he can personally oversee and manage the attack.

The General while writing his report to President Gonzalo decides to stop writing and goes out to personally check how the soldiers are doing. He stands up from where he is sitting and walks toward the exit of the mansion.

He sees his men are lively and active while they’re in the camp. Some are even dancing and singing merrily like they were in the festive season, which contrasts with what is happening away from the camp where there are smoke and destruction that fills the surrounding area. Using his binoculars, he can see from the distance that the Spanish forces on the hill are starting to rest from the fatigue and exhaustion of fighting or being on guard the whole day. Only in the night do most men of both sides can at least partially rest while some will remain on sentry duties.

He feels anguish and uncomfortable with the fact that many of these young men would die tomorrow. Is independence truly worth dying for these young men to sacrifice their lives for a dauntless task?

The folly of old men is the pain of the young, General Gomez thought. These young men would pay the price of such actions. The dreams of many of these young men would be destroyed for the dreams of the few.

** ** **

It is still early in the morning. The Sun barely shines upon the lands and darkness still reigns supreme. But the 4,000 men under the command of General Gomez are already prepared for their assault against the entrenched Spanish forces. They were all well-rested for the entire yesterday as the other 2,000 men have pressured and bombarded the Spanish troops to make them weary and tired for this day.

The four thousand men are divided into three groups – the main group which will attack the center of the Spanish defense consisted of 2,000 men, while two groups of 1000 men each would attack each side of the Spanish defense. The offensive starts with the barrage of artillery on the Spanish forces which renders their defensive position useless at the start of the offensive.

The Spanish commander realizes that the incoming attack is real and not a bluff that the Cubans have done for the previous days. Swarms of men are charging from below the hill shouting their war cries as they approach the Spanish lines. The Spanish soldiers are starting to strengthen their position but they could not fire back at the Cubans as the artillery is still continuing to shell their positions.

Below the hill, it is a 100-meter field of only grass with no trees and bushes that can cover anyone, which is where would the Spanish would start their counter-attack. They wait until the Cuban revolutionaries are in the area so they could shoot and kill them in clear sight.

“Men fire at will.”

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The Spanish commander orders his men to start shooting the Cubans when they have reached the grass fields. The Cubans are shocked when the Spanish start firing back against them, for the entire time, the Spanish soldiers only hide in their trenches and any shelter they could find to protect them from the artillery shells that are raining upon them.

The short moment when the Cubans are surprised came to bite them, and a lot of Cubans are shot by the Spanish soldiers. Men drop like flies, as the Spanish forces are very accurate in their shooting. Wails and cries of the wounded fill the battlefield as more men are being shot by the Spanish soldiers. Casualties are mounting on both sides as Cubans also start firing back against the Spanish and the supporting artilleries have been able to spot their position more accurately because of the shooting.

Slowly but surely the Cuban revolutionaries are able to reach the first line of defense of the Spanish forces. They shoot the enemies that are near to them, some are at point-blank range.

“Kill them all…”

“For the Kingdom of Spain!”

“Independence or death!”

“Freedom”

“For Honor”

Both sides shout as they started to fight in gruesome hand-to-hand combat. The battlefield had become a bloodbath as both sides try to wrestle control in the defensive line. The Spanish soldiers are all well-trained men but due to the fatigue and weariness, the fight between the two sides is even. The Cuban revolutionaries are brimming with vigor and morale as they fought against the Spanish forces. Some are even filled with wrath and vengeance against the Spanish soldiers who occupied Cuba for centuries.

The Spanish commander is horrified at what he is witnessing. Blood and cries fill the entire battlefield as the soldiers resorted to any means possible to kill their foes. Some even use stones to smash the head of their enemies. It is so gruesome that he vomits as the battlefield becomes more gruesome and gruesome. Where are the honor and glory on the battlefield?

The aide of the Spanish commander immediately approached him to ask for an order, the aide shouts in front of him as he realizes that the commander is dazed and out of his mind. The commander then regains his clarity and grasp that he needs to give an order or else everything would collapse. He immediately orders his remaining reserves to support the men in the front.

He orders that they need to push the enemy back from the defensive line and gain the initiative back on the battlefield. Everyone under his command is a regular soldier while the enemy is just a mix of peasants and ordinary men, so he believes that they can regain the upper hand on the battlefield.

But he was shocked to witness that among the enemy ranks, there are a group of men wearing gray uniforms and armed with the same weapons as his soldiers. Those men are the personal guard of General Gomez.

General Gomez deploys his men when he sees that the Cuban soldiers are now able to reach the enemy lines. He wants to break the deadlock and make breach the enemy lines to destroy their morale. And his own personal guards can achieve such a goal even if they were few in number.

His personal guards immediately defeated the enemies and breach the first line of defense of the Spanish. They immediately advance to the second and final line of defense where the Spanish commander is present. Their goal is to capture the Spanish commander to force the enemy to surrender.

“Kill those bastards first! Don’t let them reach here.”

The Spanish commander immediately commands his guard details to shoot and kill the approaching Cuban soldiers. He can’t afford to be captured and killed for he knows everything would collapse and the dishonor and shame that he would have if that would ever happen.

Both sides are racing against time, the Cubans to defeat the Spanish before the reinforcement comes and the Spanish to defeat the Cubans before their supplies are all depleted.

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