America 1881: Legend of the West

If Chen Jianqiu was selling goods on both sides and the business was booming, McKinley was worrying about how to deal with Cuba.

Although the battle was won, how to deal with the aftermath became a problem.

According to the "Taylor Resolution" passed by Congress before the war, the U.S. government will guarantee Cuba's independence after the war and will not establish permanent rule or annex the island.

In other words, on the surface, this war was only to help the Cuban people overthrow the brutal rule of the Spanish government.

This resolution provided legitimacy for the United States to send troops to Cuba and gained support from public opinion.

But after really driving the Spanish out, how could those in power, including McKinley, be willing to hand over the results of the war to others.

So much money was spent, so many people died, and then they said with dignity, "We are just here to liberate you."

This is not in line with America's style and interests.

What if a democratically elected government was formed in Cuba?

This seems to be the normal route.

Let’s not talk about whether this country has a democratically elected base. What if the elected government is a bastard?

Indeed, Cubans and Americans fought side by side during the war.

But that was a time of war, and the enemy of the enemy was a friend; now that the enemy has fallen, who can guarantee that Cubans can accept the dictates of Americans?

"I don't think you need to worry about these issues at all. We still have troops stationed in Cuba."

Hanna was somewhat unimpressed after the president expressed his confusion to him.

"But the garrison will eventually be withdrawn. What troops do we have over there?" McKinley turned his head and asked Root, the new Secretary of War.

"Second Independent Cavalry Brigade, Mr. President," Root replied.

"The Second Independent Cavalry Brigade? How come I have no impression at all?" McKinley looked confused.

He participated in the command and planning of the entire Spanish-American War.

The temporary headquarters of the war was in the basement of the White House.

Although Mr. President is not so detailed as to be involved in every decision of the war, he still knows the basic information about the troops participating in the war.

He really couldn't remember the Second Independent Cavalry Brigade.

"It was the original Second Volunteer Cavalry Brigade. It used to be mainly Chinese, with some blacks and whites." Root added, "Their performance in Cuba was outstanding."

McKinley frowned.

"Who is their commander? Is it still Chen Jianqiu?"

It is really dangerous to put a Chinese-dominated force overseas without checks and balances!

Rutte obviously saw the president's worries and quickly said:

"Mr. President, you don't have to worry about this. We have considered everything you can consider."

"First of all, the commander of that unit, Mr. Chen, has been honorably retired," he said.

"Retire?" McKinley was a little confused.

"Well, yes, like Mr. Roosevelt, after the war was over, he retired and turned over command to the War Department."

"In recognition of his contribution, we promoted his original rank of lieutenant colonel to colonel. This should be impressive to you."

"Ah, yes, I remembered it. But I didn't expect him to retire directly."

McKinley remembered something like this.

"He is a businessman by profession, Your Excellency the President." Root said helplessly. "Personally, I think that compared with those plutocrats hiding in the country, Mr. Chen's courage to go to the front line in person really makes me admire him."

"Besides, he paid for it at his own expense." Hanna added, "It didn't cost the U.S. government a penny."

McKinley didn't know what to say.

"Second, we reorganized that force, and half of the Chinese soldiers were withdrawn back to the country and returned to the militia in New Mexico and Oklahoma."

"We incorporated some other soldiers into this team to dilute the proportion of Chinese soldiers, but in order to prevent friction, they are still in separate formations."

Root continued speaking methodically, and McKinley nodded repeatedly.

"Third, as I just said, this force is temporarily under the orders of the War Department, but it will not be in the future."

"Oh?" McKinley didn't understand.

Root began to talk.

"According to convention, the commander-in-chief of the army does not have any command authority over the entire army during non-war periods. During peacetime, the troops obey orders from the various directors of the Ministry of War."

"Since we didn't have many conventional troops before, there was no problem with this arrangement."

"But as times change, this model is obviously no longer suitable."

"We need to expand abroad in the future, so we need more permanent soldiers. The command system should also be reorganized."

"According to the original plan, a general staff headquarters with officers as the main body will be established as the highest command system of the U.S. military! This is also one of the contents of my military reform this time!"

McKinley had actually seen the military reform plan proposed by Root.

But he just flipped through a few pages and put them on the corner of the table.

The plan is really too thick.

The president intends to take his time after dealing with a bunch of difficult things at hand.

After Root's thunderous bombardment, McKinley finally understood one thing.

Cuba's military garrison is within control.

"Let them choose, what will happen if they choose." Hanna looked confident.

Seeing Hanna's confidence, McKinley's uneasiness subsided a lot.

The last time he saw Hanna like this was during his own election.

In fact, Hanna's initial reaction to the issue of the new Cuban government was the same as McKinley's.

He even felt that he should directly support a military government to come to power to control Cuba.

But Hanna never had a reliable candidate.

The only reason to blame is that the U.S. government made its decision too late and did not have enough time to train agents.

Under such circumstances, he decided to find Chen Jianqiu.

Not only because the two of them are basically bound together by a community of interests, but also because the latter has always been able to think of solutions to problems.

When in doubt, ask Jianqiu.

Chen Jianqiu happened to have just returned from selling arms in the UK. As soon as he arrived in New York, Hanna rushed to his house without stopping.

The old man told Chen Jianqiu about his worries about Cuba. He was worried that if it was not handled well, it would affect the governance of the Republican Party and wipe out the gains made in the Spanish-American War.

Chen Jianqiu is boxing in the garden.

His movements became slower and slower as he struck, but he could move from move to move with ease.

The strength is retracted and released, it is perfect and just right.

Accompanied by a sound of friction between clothes, Chen Jianqiu closed his posture and stood on the spot like a pine tree.

He took the towel offered by the servant.

When he was boxing just now, there wasn't a drop of sweat on Chen Jianqiu's body. Only now did it seep out from his forehead.

While wiping his sweat, he walked up to Hanna.

"Mr. Hanna, why did the Cubans revolt and drive the Spanish out?" Chen Jianqiu wiped his hands with a towel, "Let's go inside and talk."

He made a "please" gesture.

The two people sat down in the living room.

"The Spanish were too greedy to plunder, and the Cuban people were overwhelmed, and finally decided to fight for freedom." Hanna said unhurriedly.

"Is the United States planning to do this?" Chen Jianqiu asked again.

Hannah shook her head.

"Although Cuba has many resources, they are not worthy of what the United States has to do."

"Then why are we still fighting the Spanish-American War?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

Hanna thought for a moment: "We cannot tolerate the presence of European forces at our doorstep. This is our bottom line."

"That's right." Chen Jianqiu picked up his tea on the coffee table and took a sip. "For the United States, it doesn't matter whether Cuba is independent or not. It is more important that Cuba is not European."

"Taking a step back, if the federation really wants to control Cuba, you don't have to worry."

"After years of war, Cuba is destitute and the people's lives are miserable. As long as the federal government is willing to allocate funds to support Cuba's construction, then I think the Cuban people have no reason to harbor ill will towards the United States."

Chen Jianqiu's eloquent words sounded very reasonable, but in fact they contained private information.

But Hanna didn't care too much.

So, with federal approval, Cuba began holding the country's first-ever democratic elections.