CUBA: Less Than Total War

In the week that was supposed to open Fidel Castro's battle for Cuba, his ragged rebel army showed clearly enough what it could and could not do against the well-armed troops of Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Disorder spread through Oriente province as five rebel columns, totaling about a thousand men, roamed almost at will, blockading highways, cutting overhead wires, hacking down telephone poles. But when Castro dared close with the army in battle, the rebels were slaughtered.

Clumsiness v. Caution. One raiding force of rebels staged a clumsy daylight attack outside Manzanillo, planning to lure Batista's armor out from the big city...