Chapter 519 Burn!
Vice Admiral Robert Stockton is standing on the bow deck of the ship with great ambition. Although this expedition encountered some twists and turns, it was generally smooth.
Especially since he had just received great news - that adventurous fellow John Charlie Fremont had prepared everything in San Diego.
The letter was sent in advance. In order not to lose its direction on the vast sea, Fremont's men chose to send the letter to a port on the path that their fleet must pass through.
The actual situation was that because there was no telegraph system at the time, the fleet basically relied on receiving information at the port for communication.
"What a good guy! He has completed a task that others cannot complete. All we have to do now is to send the Marines ashore and wait for the fruits of victory."
Robert Stockton expressed sincere admiration, and the adjutant Montier Cabacchi on the side also echoed.
"Yes! Captain Fremont's courage is admirable. He is a hero of the United States! Those gentlemen in Congress should give him a Purple Heart Medal!"
“He truly deserves the highest honor of the Purple Heart, Fremont has done his job and now it’s up to us.
Go tell the Marine Corps boys that we are the most elite force in the United States of America and we can only succeed but not fail! "
Lieutenant General Robert Stockton was actually not worried at all because he was telling the truth and all of his men were real regular troops.
Rather than the kind of militia that was temporarily recruited or lacked training, there were many mercenaries who had participated in battles in South America and top students from West Point Military Academy.
Thanks to the current propaganda in the United States, both high-level officials and the public are very optimistic about the U.S.-Mexico war.
Therefore, some well-connected wealthy people and politicians began to arrange their family members to join the army to gain gold. After all, the names of war heroes sounded particularly loud, and at the same time they were so close to the people.
At that time, many politicians portrayed themselves as tough guys, and political parties also liked to support politicians with military backgrounds to come to power. After all, these guys were relatively simple-minded and easy to control.
With the support of these wealthy people and politicians, the Marine Corps will naturally receive more resources.
Coupled with sophisticated equipment and nearly perfect tactics, and now with the cooperation of the locals, he really couldn't imagine the possibility of losing.
In addition, according to Robert Stockton's estimation, the main force of the Austrians should be fighting Stephen Carney of the First Army of the Federal Army.
As long as he lands in San Diego and then advances steadily, he can sweep the rear of California and completely lose hope of resisting.
At that time, the lieutenant general's dream of "going straight to the Yellow Dragon" will be realized and the "golden mountain" of San Francisco will be captured in one fell swoop.
However, according to the intelligence sent by Fremont, the actual number of Austrian troops seemed to far exceed the White House's estimate. It should be around 30,000 to 40,000, and the other side was mobilizing local immigrants to form a militia.
According to the most pessimistic estimates, the opponent's military strength will expand to 60,000 to 70,000 within three months.
Moreover, the Austrian side carried a large amount of black powder in some of the requisitioned ships, and the purpose was most likely to use these civilian ships to destroy our warships.
This news really shocked Lieutenant General Stockton. Although it was a bit unbelievable, he also gave up the idea of forcibly attacking the opponent's heavily defended city.
The Austrians have been operating in California for many years. If those forts are equipped with large-caliber coastal defense guns, and those self-destructing ships launch sneak attacks in the bay, wouldn't their fleet fall into a trap?
First land in San Diego to replenish supplies, and then join up with Fremont's troops. At that time, whether it is to advance by land and water to take San Francisco, or to attack the San Gabriel Fortress with Stephen Carney's First Army, it will be a matter of course. , so there is absolutely no need to take risks now.
With this in mind, the fleet led by Vice Admiral Stockton accelerated towards San Diego after completing its supplies.
On the other hand, under Fremont's own direction, his troops captured San Diego and the Stars and Stripes were raised at City Hall.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but he had a bad feeling. However, in order to boost morale, Fremont fulfilled his promise and allowed members of the rebel army to loot.
He has a more important thing to do than manage those scum, which is to organize defense.
Fremont knew that San Diego could not afford to lose, and the other party was also very aware of it, so he believed that there would be a fierce battle soon.
On the Eastern Front battlefield, at Camp Rio Grande, General Zachary Taylor, as the commander, had decided to move out because there were too many deaths from yellow fever.
But the damn Mexicans are like flies. They send cavalry to harass the U.S. supply lines every day, and he has to send people to drive them away.
Fortunately, the other side never made any big moves, and President John Tyler promised to send another 80,000 new troops. By then, our own military camp in the Rio Grande would have gathered 160,000 people.
But Zachary Taylor was worried that the disease would spread further among the military. He hired many doctors and used many kinds of drugs, but they had no effect.
As a superbug second only to plague and smallpox in human history, yellow fever was almost untreatable until the advent of a vaccine.
A lot of futility led people like Zachary Taylor to believe in the legend of the Indian Curse.
In the Albuquerque Fortress, Diego, wearing a mask, herded all the sick and wounded soldiers into a room. There were constant moaning and wailing sounds coming from inside, and some people even sensed something was wrong and smashed the door desperately to escape.
But the first black general in Mexican history had no mercy in his eyes, not even his own brother.
"Burn." Several black soldiers looked at each other, as if they wanted the general to reconsider.
Diego stepped forward, grabbed the torch, and personally lit the straw piled outside the house. The fire broke out immediately, and screams, wailing, and curses kept coming from inside.
Then the black general kicked his guard captain to the ground hard, and when the latter was about to get up, he was stepped on the neck again.
"Didn't you hear the President's order?" Diego roared, and the force on his feet became a little heavier. Guard Captain Diego shouted hoarsely, breathing hard.
"Bonebreaker, the president is gone!" Bonebreaker was Diego's name when he was a slave in the manor.
"With the president gone, don't we need to obey the orders? Diego, are you afraid of death?!" Diego roared with bloodshot eyes.
"I'm not afraid of death! Our brothers are not afraid of death either. Why don't you let them pick up their guns and fight the enemy? Don't you even give them the last dignity?" Diego shouted with the same red eyes.
The surrounding soldiers also lowered their heads and clenched their fists. yes! They are not afraid of death, but they don’t want to be burned to death by their own people like this!
"We must defend here, and your foolish actions will only expose the fact that we are weak! Mr. President said that anyone infected must be purified by flames, otherwise more people will be infected. Maca, Ba Ka is also in it! They are my brothers and sisters."
At this point, the sinister-looking black man squatted on the ground, covering his face and crying bitterly.