Chapter 45: Chapter 44: Battle of Dominguez (3)

Dominguez, Las Tunas, Cuba

“General, the Spaniards are launching an attack on our left flank. The men attacking that operational area collapse facing a concentrated counter-attack by the Spanish regulars General.”

General Gomez immediately looks at the map and analyzes what the Spanish army is trying to do. He didn’t expect that the Spanish still has the strength to launch an attack on the flanks even if they were pressured on all sides.

“How many Spanish troops are in the attack?”

“About four to five hundred men General.”

He looks at the map and sees that the thousand Cuban soldiers in the area are very dispersed while others are in an offensive that they were all caught off-guard by an unexpected attack. He discerns that the Spanish troops are trying to break the encirclement and retreat back north to join the rest of the Spanish army.

That would be a disaster if they fail to totally destroy the enemy here for the soldier’s morale would lower and may affect the entire revolution. What the Cubans needed now is an overwhelming victory in a pitch battle to increase the morale of the all revolutionaries across Cuba. If they could prove that they could defeat the Spanish in an open battle, foreign countries may support them, especially the United States of America as time passed has slowly decreased their support due to pressure from Germany and Spain.

“The Spanish are trying to break and escape our encirclement. Gather every available man you can find and try to stop them from escaping.”

“Yes, General!”

One of his men immediately leaves the area to assemble any ragtag men that he can gather. He scours any squads that can be used to reinforce the left flank in their encirclement. He even gathers those who are slightly wounded or injured men in the camp triage, as long the man can pick and shoot his weapon.

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“Commander we have successfully pierced the enemy and we have secured a path for a retreat. We must leave Commander before the rebels can mount an attack and close the gap.”

“Okay… lead the way.”

The Spanish commander immediately rides on his own horse mount and orders some of his men to collect only the important and personal things he had brought in the campaign. The Spanish soldiers also started their fighting retreat through the gap as they know that the battle is lost and that more time wasted meant more casualties pile up in their ranks. The wounded are immediately loaded in the wagons to not abandon anyone of the men.

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In the midst of the retreat, shells of the Cuban cannons hit a lot of the retreating Spanish soldiers as they become closer to each other. Every time a cannon shell hit a group of retreating Spanish soldiers. Limbs, intestines, and other human parts spray around the area. Soldiers lost arms and limbs as they were hit and cries of pain and help are heard.

The Spanish Commander can only steel his heart to continue to retreat back north. The gap is barely holding as the Cuban rebels try to close the gap and trap the men back. The Cuban rebels become more violent and brutal as they want to deal a killing blow to all the Spanish soldiers. Some Spanish soldiers who are wounded and surrendered on the battlefield are shot on the spot by the Cubans revolutionaries even if General Gomez commands them not to.

“Faster men faster. The faster that we can leave this godforsaken place the better.”

The Spanish Commander continues to rally his men to move faster so that the rearguard can also start to retreat. The Spanish cavalry is waiting together with the Spanish commander for everyone can leave so that they could charge and cover the retreat of the rearguard. The Spanish Commander is waiting before he would order his cavalry to charge. He wants to order in the most optimal and ideal scenario so that the maximum effect would be achieved.

“Commander, the cavalry is ready to charge.”

“Wait for my command.”

The Spanish Commander looks towards the battlefield. A lot of dead bodies are spread across the field, most are Cubans but there are also a lot of Spanish dead soldiers. What hurts the most is the death of a lot of experienced officers and NCOs in this battle that would hurt the Spanish army. The officers with him have the most experienced in facing and fighting on the Cuban island and its tropical weather.

The officers and soldiers that have just arrived from different parts of the Kingdom of Spain need to be acclimatized to the weather so there would be fewer casualties due to the environment and weather during the campaign. The officers under his command have stayed and served for months while others for years on the island and they were already familiar with the weather and their body can withstand the effects.

The rearguard of the Spanish army is fighting fiercely against the strong Cuban rebels' attack around their line. Some even had no ammunition left in their guns and used the weapon as a club or spear to fight the Cuban rebels. Hand-to-hand combat has already become a norm on the battlefields as it would be easier to fight the enemy using the rifle as a club or spear than reloading the rifles which use an awful amount of time. Especially for the Cuban rebels who had outdated weapons in their ranks, it is a nightmare to fight a shooting contest against an army with more modern weapons. That’s why they prefer to fire once and charge close to the Spanish forces to negate such an advantage. The Spanish have also run out of ammunition because of days of being under siege with no supplies coming in.

As time passes, more and more Spanish soldiers were able to retreat successfully due to the valorous cover of the rearguard troops. They withstand and hold the line from the waves after waves of Cuban rebels’ attacks that some positions were held only by a handful of troops. Some are even manned by only one or two men left as the rest are all killed or heavily wounded in the fight.

General Gomez is even shocked by the fanatical defense of the rearguards that if the Spanish soldiers have fought with such vigor then they would be the ones who would be retreating from the battlefield. The fear of being captured has become so ingrained in the minds of the Spanish soldiers that they prefer to die fighting than surrender only to be killed.

That’s why General Gomez disagree with General Diaz's methods as these alienated a lot of people and would force a stronger resistance from the enemies. The method of instilling fear in the Spanish soldiers has come to backfire seeing an increase in fanatical and stubborn defense in the face of Cuban attacks.

The future battles would become more and more hellish, General Gomez thinks in his mind. Worrying what might future would hold for his beloved motherland. Did they have done the right thing to fight for independence or liberty or are they just these foolish dreams of some people that dragged a lot of people into this quagmire?