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other supplies would be waiting in Niquero. So would about 50 men ready to join Castro’s group. Farther to the east, in the city of Santiago de Cuba, supporters had received instructions from Castro to begin an armed uprising on the 30th. That would occupy government forces while Castro’s men went ashore, got organized, and swung into action. The regime would quickly find itself battling rebels on two fronts, and if all went well, many ordinary Cubans who opposed Batista would be inspired to join the revolution. Castro, however, miscalculated how long it would take for the overloaded and underpowered Granma to complete the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) voyage from Tuxpan to Niquero. The yacht was still at sea on November 30, when revolutionary cells attacked a government office, the police station, and the army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Fighting continued through December 1, before government forces got the upper hand. The Cuban military was on alert, and on December 2, a reconnaissance aircraft spotted the Granma in the waters off southeastern Cuba. A patrol boat soon appeared on the hori- zon, and the yacht made for safety in a mangrove swamp. Though all 82 revolutionaries managed to scramble ashore, they couldn’t unload critical supplies and weapons. And, because they were about 15 miles (24 km) south of the target landing zone, the men and equipment waiting at Niquero would be of no help. Slowly and laboriously, the revolutionaries moved inland. With little food or water, they grew more exhausted by the day. On the afternoon of December 5, Castro’s men rested at the

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Cuba Under the Castros