Chapter 554 Another failure
The tug-of-war on the Rio Grande continued. Zachary Taylor withdrew more than a dozen brigade commanders in succession, but the siege still showed no improvement.
In desperation, he had no choice but to use his trump card. A reward of US$10,000 for tips on breaking the city.
Then the U.S. military staged various suicidal charges under the city of Albuquerque, and the U.S. troops all over the mountains and plains launched a storming attack on this last fortress in northern Mexico.
The artillery has been ringing non-stop since early morning, which is as oppressive as a death knell. Soon the gaps in the wall became larger and larger.
The defenders had finished shooting their shotguns long ago. They could only collect iron nails and broken pieces of iron and put them into the barrel. However, they still had no problem killing enemies close at hand under the huge barrel pressure.
Loading, aiming, shooting, cleaning the barrel, and reloading, every soldier is mechanically repeating the same actions, and these actions have long been engraved in their bones.
It can be said that they are the most skilled in the tactics of the entire Mexican army, because they know nothing but fighting and killing. This is their life skill.
Although Diego was a general, he had given up command at this time and picked up his rifle to join the battle. He just kept roaring like a wild beast, and the other black soldiers and the mixed-race white people who were treated as abandoned sons were also roaring, as if they wanted to pour all their anger on the enemy.
(At that time, it was not the Indians who had the lowest social status in Mexico, but the mixed-race whites who were looked down upon by both groups at the same time.)
This time, in addition to ladders, the US military also brought many sandbags. These sandbags and corpses soon piled up a gentle slope under the city wall.
Soon the ladder was filled with people. Some Mexican soldiers wanted to push the ladder down, but they couldn't move it even with all their strength. Instead, they were unfortunately hit by the enemy soldiers below and fell off the tower.
In fact, the ladder is much heavier than people think, usually more than 100 kilograms. Adding the weight of a person may weigh a thousand kilograms. Even a strong man cannot push it down for a while, unless a special city guard is used. Equipment, which the Mexicans apparently don’t have.
At first, the gentle slope at the gap in the city wall was a bit steep, but as the number of corpses and sandbags continued to increase, it became increasingly gentle and suitable for attack.
The Mexicans defending the city were not fools. They aimed their last few cannons at the gap to cover the gap.
But even so, they could not stop the large-scale charge of the US military, and they were still attacked by the opponent.
Zachary Taylor saw the soldiers had scaled the walls and opened a bottle of champagne.
"Gentlemen! Today, we are here to raise a toast together to pay tribute to the victory of the United States! May this powerful and brave country remain invincible and invincible.
May the people of the United States have a bright future and a peaceful and prosperous life. Let us work hard for America's future together! "
"Here's to the great America!"
"To the future President!" In fact, some of his subordinates had already guessed Zachary Taylor's thoughts, otherwise no boss would have said such a formal toast.
Zachary Taylor smiled and said nothing, but that smile said it all.
However, the bloody battle at the top of the city has just begun.
In fact, at all times and in all countries, except for the Japanese, few armies would eject bullets from the chamber when bayoneting. On the contrary, the famous Russian general believed that soldiers who did not leave a bullet before bayoneting were stupid pigs.
Therefore, some black soldiers tried to take advantage of their physical strength and use cold weapons to defeat the crowd of American soldiers who rushed in. This was a miscalculation.
However, after the only bullet was fired, the weakness of the US military became apparent. Many people did not know how to fight with bayonets, or did not carry bayonets.
They could only temporarily turn the gun upside down and use the butt to hit each other. At this time, they arrived at the home court of the black army. Diego and his guards almost all had two revolvers each.
Revolvers are very useful in this kind of close-quarters hand-to-hand combat. The US military does not have such advanced weapons except for officers, and it is impossible for those officers to lead the charge.
Diego was not in a hurry to empty the bullets. In addition to two new revolvers, he also had a custom-made steel knife from the Austrian Empire, which weighed more than six kilograms.
Six kilograms does not sound very heavy, but in fact, the weight of an officer's sword in this era usually did not exceed 1.5 kilograms, and the weight of an ordinary samurai sword (fighting sword) did not exceed 1.2 kilograms.
But for a muscular man who is over 210cm tall and can strangle a puma with his arms, a six kilogram knife is just right.
With the sword in hand, Diego slashed an American soldier in two with his gun diagonally. The splattering blood and the enemy's cries of fear stimulated this humanoid Gundam to kill even more crazily.
As soon as an American soldier climbed up the city wall, his arm was cut off with a knife, and his head was hit with another knife. The splattered blood gave the other soldiers waiting for the city a bloody blow, and the fallen body killed another unlucky guy. Smashed to the ground.
Soon the first batch of American soldiers in the city were slaughtered, but the officers did not want to give up and immediately led the supervising team to drive back the siege troops.
The US military once again rushed towards the gap in the city wall. This time the Mexican army defending the city rolled the powder barrel directly down the slope, knocking down several US soldiers who were unable to dodge on the way.
At this time, the officer supervising the battle under the city discovered the powder keg.
"It's a powder keg!"
Then there was only a "boom", and a large number of American soldiers were blown up to the west.
Then more barrels rolled out, and the officers and the supervisory team fled back to their own positions as if lifeless. Naturally, the ordinary soldiers of the US Army were not to be outdone and joined the running team.
In fact, among the barrels thrown out by the Mexican army later, only a few were explosive barrels filled with gunpowder, and the vast majority were empty beer barrels. However, the US military's massive attack was repelled anyway.
Zachary Taylor saw the U.S. troops on the front line being defeated like an ebbing tide, and he was so angry that he threw the cup again.
"If we fall like this again, we will have to blow on the bottle. That would be ungentlemanly." A staff officer complained in a low voice.
"Fortress Albuquerque is finished! Those Mexicans are about to collapse. Hurry up and let them gather their troops and charge again!"
Zachary Taylor roared hysterically, but the officers in the command post took no action. Because everyone knows that although the black legions in the city suffered heavy losses, the US military who failed to siege the city paid a greater price.
Moreover, if you want to gather the defeated troops in a short period of time, it is impossible to organize another siege.
Because these U.S. troops actually belong to different legions, many soldiers only know their brigade commanders or even regimental commanders. The only people who can mobilize them are the commanders of the units directly under them.
In addition, the US military also has a large number of militiamen and local troops. Their organization is so chaotic that the officers who sent them can't explain clearly.
In this way, Zachary Taylor had to swallow the bitter fruit of failed siege again. At the same time, a huge army was approaching the Rio Grande barracks.