Chapter 516 A Disaster

Chapter 516 A Disaster

There was a purgatory-like scene inside the military camp, while outside the military camp Stephen Carney was furious. He obviously didn't understand why his army was attacked by surprise. Major General Carter and his men were clearly in front of him, and he built the camp to be airtight.

In addition, there was something scandalous that made the embarrassed general even more angry. What was the garrison under his command doing? Why haven't those damned attackers been eliminated yet?

In fact, what Carney didn't know was that his patrol team responded very quickly, but the enemy's elite hunters had already laid an ambush on the road in advance, and it was really difficult to organize a counterattack and charge in the dark. easy.

The Austrian side did not have many people, but the victory was due to the sufficient amount of throwing weapons and rockets equipped. In addition, the well-prepared hunters had planted explosives on the opponent's possible attack route. Both sides suffered as soon as they came into contact with the US military. A very heavy loss.

This made the officers of the patrol suddenly fall into the illusion that "the main force of the Austrians has arrived." Naturally, they did not want to die by washing their necks stupidly, but hesitation would obviously amplify their fear.

The American soldiers enjoyed the torment of the rain of fire, and their inner fears were infinitely amplified.

Soon some people could not withstand the pressure and began to run away, and it was not easy to escape from the busy officers in the dark.

When the officers discovered that their men were decreasing, it was too late to order the soldiers to charge.

Only a few soldiers seemed to obey the orders of their superiors. Then as a burst of gunfire rang out, they ran back, and some even lay on the ground pretending to be dead.

An officer still wanted to maintain military prestige, so he chose to shoot deserters as a warning to others. However, he forgot that many of these so-called soldiers were outlaws.

Sure enough, after the officer shot a deserter, a bayonet stabbed him in the stomach.

"Hurry up, you country bumpkins." The officer's eyes widened with an expression of disbelief, and then several more bayonets were stabbed into his stomach.

After the American soldiers stabbed their commander to death, they did not disperse in a hurry, but ran away while shouting.

"Sir, the Austrian stabbed him to death. Run! The enemy is coming!"

This actually angered an Austrian chasseur battalion commander who could understand English, and he cursed loudly.

"Come back here! Who asked you to rush in? Keep it safe for me!"

The battalion commander checked for a long time but found no shortage of soldiers under his banner. He thought to himself, "Could it be that the other side is charging with all their might?"

The cry of the American troops who were defeated had no other impact on the Austrian side except that a few officers who knew English were still stunned and suspicious.

But this news could not be worse for those unlucky people who had just escaped from the fire.

A frustrated attack soon turned into a rout.

Although Stephen Carney actually sent his surviving men to take over the troops as soon as he escaped from the fire, those officers who tried to prevent the rout were all shot dead without exception.

A large number of defeated soldiers fled together with their comrades who were still unaware of the situation. No one knew where they were fleeing to.

Stephen Carney finally had no choice but to personally lead the Guards and his gathered troops to stop the rout.

He thought that as the commander of the First Army of the United States, he was fully capable of turning the tide. After all, every soldier should know him as a general.

But the reality was that Stephen Carney and his troops were blocking the path of the rout, and someone fired before the two sides could talk to each other.

Carney's horse was frightened and raised its front hooves high to throw the guy away. His troops started to counterattack without receiving orders.

The battle scene is very chaotic, and the reloading speed of muzzle-loading guns is slow, but as long as there are enough, it can also have the effect of "one after another" gunfire.

It's just that under the darkness of night and the indistinguishability between friend and foe, these remaining American soldiers are unable to fill accurately.

Although neither side wanted to come forward and fight to the death, with the help of the spreading fire, a bayonet battle began.

The two parties launched a desperate fight for the same goal of "survival". If you can stab it with a bayonet, stab it into the opponent's body. If it's stuck in the bone, use your fist or teeth. In short, use all your strength and do everything you can to survive.

After a night of fighting, Stephen Carney's troops achieved the final "victory" and survived to the end.

However, when the sun rose again the next morning, they discovered that those who fought with them yesterday were actually their comrades, and the camp no longer existed, with stinking corpses scattered all over the ground.

With a bandage on his head, Carney stared blankly at the sad scene in front of him. He had suffered too much in this battle.

More than 7,000 soldiers were killed or missing in action, and 80% of the supplies they carried were lost. Fortunately, he built the general arsenal outside the camp, and those precious artillery pieces are still alive.

In fact, the main purpose of the Austrian attack was to destroy the opponent's arsenal, but due to insufficient effective intelligence, the target was not found. Otherwise, the effect of the fire storm would have been more severe, and there might have been more enemies who met God in advance.

The number of people who died in the rocket attack and subsequent fires last night was about a thousand. In the melee caused by the rout, another about fifteen hundred people were killed, and the rest are missing.

In fact, it is not surprising that there were so many deserters, because it was dark at the time, coupled with the chaos caused by the fireworks display and the fires they produced, it was easy for people to fall into fear and be unable to extricate themselves.

What's more, the physical and mental exhaustion caused by trekking through mountains and rivers has stretched many soldiers' spirits to the limit, so it is only a matter of time before a big rout occurs.

There were also some lucky people who were not killed, but their hearts were broken. These guys were the culprits of the melee last night.

As for the number of Austrians who participated in the sneak attack, where they came from, and when the ambush was set up, the US military was at a loss.

Many of Lieutenant General Stephen Carney's officers were defeated in last night's attack. At this time, these survivors were staring at a relatively intact map in a daze.

So far, the First Army of the Federal Army's knowledge of the Austrian Army in California is limited to the information that the opponent has been here for many years and its approximate strength, and that it possesses artillery, rockets and a small number of light warships.

The specific troop deployment, command style, tactical literacy, etc. were not known at all, which made some US military officers begin to doubt whether they could win this war.

However, Lieutenant General Stephen Carney did not fall into this kind of thinking at this time, and he had no doubt that the United States would be the ultimate victor.

He knows the entire war plan of the United States clearly, and he also knows how terrifying the mobilization ability of the US military is.

What's on Stephen Carney's mind now is how this defeat could be covered up.

Yes, this defeat is very likely to affect his career. Zachary Taylor in the Whig Party is his competitor, and the latter performed well in the battle to defend the Rio Grande.

Not to mention that one of them was born in the sky and the other was born underground. Compared with the other, Carney’s resume is far inferior. If he hadn’t been appreciated by Andrew Jackson for massacring several Indian villages, he would It is impossible to sit in such a high position at this time.

"Write to President John Tyler and tell him that there are at least 100,000 Austrian troops in California. We have been deceived! Please send troops to support the country immediately. We will hold our ground here. Long live America! The Star-Spangled Banner will never fall!"