Freedom Fighters

36. Counteroffensive

August 1958
Sierra Maestra, Cuba

Soon after the surrender of Battalion 18, Fidel led the victorious rebels to rush to the aid of the heavily outnumbered columns of Rául Castro and Che Guevara. Using the terrain to their advantage, they outfought and defeated the Cuban army forces once again. 

General Eulogio Cantillo brokered a truce with Fidel Castro before ordering a general retreat from the Sierra Maestra mountains. It was a crippling blow for Batista's regime. Many soldiers, captured by the Movement, chose to join them instead of being released back to the army.

Fidel Castro announced the momentous victory on Radio Rebelde, the radio station operated by the Movement. 

"We have proven that the dictatorship can be beaten!" he charged his words with a revolutionary fire. "People of Cuba. I, Fidel Castro, am calling for a revolution across the country. We shall topple the dictatorship! From the Sierra Maestra mountains we shall descend and achieve victory!"

In the weeks that followed, hundreds of peasants and deserters from the Cuban army came to the Sierra Maestra, swelling the ranks of the Movement. 

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Dario grinned as his eyes scanned through the host of familiar faces at the grand table. 

Che Guevara, smoking a cigar, wearing his trademark beret. Huber Matos, who had grown a rather thick moustache, sitting alert with blue beady eyes in rapt attention. His best friend, Camilo Cienfuegos, who had on an enormous smile underneath a ridiculous broad-brimmed hat. Rául Castro, with disquieting and blinking dark eyes, and pursed lips. Fidel Castro, standing at the head of the table, gazing upon the gathering with pride. Celia Sánchez sat beside him, tough and sinewy, but she also gave off an aura of saintly devotion and care. Her superb efforts managing the supply lines that sustained the Movement earned her a nickname amongst her comrades, "The Godmother of the Sierra Maestra". 

Of course, sitting beside Dario would be the love of his life, Juanita Castro, brimming with radiant energy. She seemed to have grown more beautiful in her absence. Whenever she chanced a look at him, Dario would turn crimson immediately, much to her playful delight.

There was a new face at the table.. Well, not exactly new for Dario who had seen him face to face at the desperate battle at the shore a month ago. A bony, stern-looking man by the name of José Quevedo, a new addition as a column commander, and the ex-Commanding Officer of Battalion 18. The Movement had grown so much in strength that Fidel had to appoint two new men to serve as column commanders. Huber Matos was the first choice.

His old classmate José Quevedo agreed to defect to the Movement after Fidel talked to him, convincing him that the rebel cause was the just one and that rebel victory was inevitable. Quevedo took charge of a column containing other defectors after helping Fidel convince many soldiers to defect with him.

Fidel Castro had called all of them here to meet in this quaint farmhouse to discuss plans for the future. He spread a map of Cuba out on the table, before addressing the room.

"My comrades, and my friends," Fidel started the meeting as his clear voice echoed from the corners of the bare room. "It is a pleasure to see of you here today. I cannot seem to recall the last time I have all of you in the same room. Firstly, let me introduce all of you to our new column commander, José Quevedo, who was a battalion commander with the Cuban army. He has defected to our cause."

Everyone clapped warmly to welcome Quevedo, who nodded in acknowledgement, allowing himself to smile at the applause.

"I have called of you here today to announce our plans for our counteroffensive against Batista. For more than a year, we have been building our strength here in the Sierra Maestra, and fought countless battles against Batista's forces who sought to destroy us. That shall not happen anymore. Today is the day that we shall start to fight back."