Bayan o Sarili: A Luna survives TL

[DumbersTC]

June 2, 1899

General Antonio Luna is at his headquarters in Bayambang, Pangansinan when he received the first two telegrams, one telling him to join a counterattack against the Americans holed up in San Fernando, Pampanga and another one from President Aquinaldo, telling him to come to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, the new capital of the Philippine revolutionary government, for the formation of a new cabinet. He was excited by this news as his ambition of becoming the Prime Minister of the government is going to become a reality.

Then just as he is about to depart to Nueva Ecija, A third telegram was sent to him[1]. This one from a snitch warning him about a conspiracy to kill him in Cabanatuan. Luna himself was dumbfounded by this telegram. He have been earlier been warned about an assasination attempt by his brother Joaquin and though he took precautionary measures like by ordering many officers to be disciplined, arrested, or disarmed, he took the warning about an attempt on his life for granted. Like his brother's warning before, Luna decided that the third telegram to be just an exaggeration but he will take a cavalry escort of at least 50 men for protection just in case the plot to kill him turn out to be true and he set off for Cabanatuan.

[1]IOTL, there were originally 4 telegrams sent to Antonio Luna but only two of those were received by him. This is the start of the POD

 

[DumbersTC]

June 4, 1899

The journey to Cabanatuan from Bayambang, Pangasinan went off without any hitch[2] and while on his way there, Luna received yet another telegram. This one from the same snitch who warned him about the assassination attempt waiting there. The telegram told him that President Aguinaldo have went to Bamban, Tarlac and it also revealed President Aguinaldo's involvement in the conspiracy to kill him. Luna, who have previously thought that the third telegram to be an exaggeration, have now finally realized that he was being tricked and decided to not to continue towards Cabanatuan and instead head back straight to Bayambang, Pangasinan to confront Aguinaldo.


[2]IOTL, there was a transportation problem where the two carriages on the train he is riding on had broke down, forcing him to shed his cavalry escorts and carry on the journey with only two officers at his side.

 

[DumbersTC]

June 6-7, 1899

General Antonio Luna finally returned back to Bayambang, preparing for the eventual American landing which would occur there. the general planned a series of defensive trenches stretching from Caloocan to Angeles, Pampanga called the Luna Defense Line where he would fight a series of delaying battles until the Filipino forces were finished with the construction of a guerilla base deep in the mountains.

The Americans eventually landed on Pangasinan on the seventh of June and as expected, they faced heavy resistance from the fully entrenched Filipinos, the Americans eventually managed to break through thanks to naval support. But Luna and his men managed to retreat back towards Tarlac.

End of Chapter 1.

 

[Namayan]

June 6-7, 1899

General Antonio Luna finally returned back to Bayambang, preparing for the eventual American landing which would occur there. the general planned a series of defensive trenches stretching from Caloocan to Angeles, Pampanga called the Luna Defense Line where he would fight a series of delaying battles until the Filipino forces were finished with the construction of a guerilla base deep in the mountains.

The Americans eventually landed on Pangasinan on the seventh of June and as expected, they faced heavy resistance from the fully entrenched Filipinos, the Americans eventually managed to break through thanks to naval support. But Luna and his men managed to retreat back towards Tarlac.

End of Chapter 1.

isnt this too early? if my memory is correct, otl usa only moved to bayambang in november.

hows southern luzon doing?

Zapote river battle result same as otl? or different in favor of whom?

 

[DumbersTC]

isnt this too early? if my memory is correct, otl usa only moved to bayambang in november.

hows southern luzon doing?

Zapote river battle result same as otl? or different in favor of whom?

Oops, didn't know about that one, i will make changes.

Southern Luzon campaign is still not going well.

The Battle of Zapote river still result in American victory.

 

[Namayan]

Southern Luzon campaign is still not going well.

The Battle of Zapote river still result in American victory.

This should be fine.

I find it alarming that either the Southern front was either really good, or the Northern front of the Filipinos were really bad. In OTL, even after battle of Zapote River, the southern defense lines of Filipinos was very hard to push. Gen Trias was still in Cavite, Malvar was trying to retake Calamba Laguna thru a siege up until Dec 1899. While at the same time(Dec 1899) Aguinaldo was in Tirad pass or at least Gregorio Del Pilar was. Southern front was only pushed 50 km since the battle of Manila(feb 1899/8months) while the northern front was pushed 380kms from Manila.

Disunity probably played a part of the Northern fronts faster defensive line collapse.

 

[DumbersTC]

August 1899

Though Aguinaldo claims that he is not responsible for ordering the assassination attempt on Luna, In reality, he is privately angry about the failure of the assassination attempt on Antonio Luna. He was fearful that he is after the Presidency and therefore a threat to his power. Not to mention, the snitch exposed his role in the conspiracy to kill him. Aguinaldo is shocked when he realizes that the snitch who outed him was none other than General Pantaleon Garcia, who he had verbally ordered to conduct Luna's assassination but fell sick. Pantaleon Garcia, though a loyalist to Aguinaldo, has a profound respect for Luna's command ability and military prowess, not to mention he was also a proud patriot for his country.

Through Luna's command, the Filipino forces switches their tactics from conventional, set piece battles to guerrilla warfare and American casualties begin to ramp up as they are experiencing difficulties in fighting back against the now-elusive Filipinos[3]. Though the war is not going well for the Filipinos, they are determined to give the Americans hell for every inch of soil they occupy. the Filipinos are willing to give up their lives for the country they loved so dearly. For the Americans, pacifying the Philippines will be a long, bumpy road.

[3] Emilio Aguinaldo eventually switches to guerrilla-based warfare after experience disastrous defeats after defeats, but with Luna alive ITTL, I would see guerrilla warfare being implemented earlier than OTL.

 

[Namayan]

August 1899

Though Aguinaldo claims that he is not responsible for ordering the assassination attempt on Luna, In reality, he is privately angry about the failure of the assassination attempt on Antonio Luna. He was fearful that he is after the Presidency and therefore a threat to his power. Not to mention, the snitch exposed his role in the conspiracy to kill him. Aguinaldo is shocked when he realizes that the snitch who outed him was none other than General Pantaleon Garcia, who he had verbally ordered to conduct Luna's assassination but fell sick. Pantaleon Garcia, though a loyalist to Aguinaldo, has a profound respect for Luna's command ability and military prowess, not to mention he was also a proud patriot for his country.

Through Luna's command, the Filipino forces switches their tactics from conventional, set piece battles to guerrilla warfare and American casualties begin to ramp up as they are experiencing difficulties in fighting back against the now-elusive Filipinos[3]. Though the war is not going well for the Filipinos, they are determined to give the Americans hell for every inch of soil they occupy. the Filipinos are willing to give up their lives for the country they loved so dearly. For the Americans, pacifying the Philippines will be a long, bumpy road.

[3] Emilio Aguinaldo eventually switches to guerrilla-based warfare after experience disastrous defeats after defeats, but with Luna alive ITTL, I would see guerrilla warfare being implemented earlier than OTL.

Luna's guerilla warfare will only happen if all his defensive lines collapsed. The more time to construct the mountain base the better. Or even better yet, standstill defensive line that would resemble the trench line in WW1.

Did all his defensive lines collapsed in your timeline?

Defensive lines were are series of trench per town. So essentially used correctly, the offense of the USA would be slow or stops.

I believe the other problem that you need to solve is logistics. Both in the present location and future in the mountain base. These include food, ammunition, weapons, etc.

The other one is training. The more you delay, the more time Philippines can train a larger professional army or at least a trained army. It is the primary reason why US casualties are low every battle vs Philippine casualties. Very few Filipinos knows how to aim a rifle.

Even in Guerrilla warfare, its better to have a trained army than an army who doesnt know what they are doing or what to expect. e.g. Sniping requires skill and training. Even in a bolo fight, hand to hand combat, an untrained peasant fighting a professional USA soldier is bound to lose.

 

[DumbersTC]

Luna's guerilla warfare will only happen if all his defensive lines collapsed. The more time to construct the mountain base the better. Or even better yet, standstill defensive line that would resemble the trench line in WW1.

Did all his defensive lines collapsed in your timeline?

Defensive lines were are series of trench per town. So essentially used correctly, the offense of the USA would be slow or stops.

I believe the other problem that you need to solve is logistics. Both in the present location and future in the mountain base. These include food, ammunition, weapons, etc.

The other one is training. The more you delay, the more time Philippines can train a larger professional army or at least a trained army. It is the primary reason why US casualties are low every battle vs Philippine casualties. Very few Filipinos knows how to aim a rifle.

Even in Guerrilla warfare, its better to have a trained army than an army who doesnt know what they are doing or what to expect. e.g. Sniping requires skill and training. Even in a bolo fight, hand to hand combat, an untrained peasant fighting a professional USA soldier is bound to lose.

Thanks for the critiques there. TBH, I'm not much of an expert when it comes to the Philippine-American war and military tactics.

To answer one of your questions. Luna's defensive lines still haven't collapsed yet.