1850 American Gold Baron

At the urging of the President and the War Department, supplies that were in short supply for the Eastern Front troops were quickly transported by rail to the San Antonio train station.

Longstreet, who was in charge of munitions, was already waiting happily at the San Antonio train station with his men.

After the train arrived at the station and stopped, he couldn't wait to start counting the supplies.

He carefully checked whether the arriving military supplies were consistent with what was on the list, for fear of missing even a pair of boots.

Commander-in-Chief Jackson also arrived at the train station.

Jackson mainly came to inspect the 25 light and heavy artillery pieces.

Even though all the artillery promised by the North was in place, the Southern Army's artillery was not sufficient either.

Jackson decided to use these artillery together. He gathered all the light artillery, that is, field artillery, and reluctantly organized it into an artillery regiment.

The remaining five 24-pound heavy guns were organized into a heavy artillery battery. These siege heavy guns will be mainly used to attack Mexican military fortresses and hard cities.

What surprised Liang Yao was that although Robert E. Lee himself did not participate in this battle, he asked his two sons to participate in the battle.

Whether Jackson's move was driven by a blind eye or based on family status may only be known after the war is over.

Jackson single-handedly controlled the deployment of military supplies and did not allow Liang Yao to intervene. In fact, he was neglecting Liang Yao, the deputy commander-in-chief, and did not want Liang Yao, an outsider, to command their own troops in the south.

"Sir Bell, you remembered wrong! It's 500 pairs of boots! 600 blankets! 1,000 kettles! 400 rifles!"

Bell rolled his eyes at the loquacious colonel, loaded up supplies with a dozen Texas soldiers, and returned to the Texas regiment's camp, cursing.

The relationship between Liang Yao and the generals of the Confederate Army was relatively harmonious, but not so harmonious that the colonels and generals of the Confederate Army could treat him as one of their own.

Robert E. Lee's eldest son, Custis, graduated first from West Point two years ago and was already a captain.

He could put forward plans and suggestions for the Confederate army's operations. As for whether these plans and suggestions could be adopted, Jackson had to make the final decision.

Jackson named Custis for the important position of commander of the heavy artillery company.

Because of Longstreet's big and round figure, these senior southern officers preferred to call him Big Bucket. Compared with Longstreet's somewhat unpronounceable name, the nickname Big Bucket is much easier to pronounce.

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"I've come to help you in times of need." Liang Yao said with a smile.

Liang Yao also followed Bell to the camp of the Texas Regiment.

"What are you doing here? Do you think I'm the butt of enough jokes?" Bell said angrily.

"Sir Bell, if you can get the approval slip from General Jackson, don't say 100, even 1,000 will be fine." Listerit said with a smile.

Liang Yao could hear Bell's familiar loud voice from far away: "Hey! Big wine barrel! Texas regiment! Texas regiment needs 800 pairs of boots! 800 blankets! 1100 kettles! 500 rifles!

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Jackson, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, was very polite to Liang Yao on the surface, but he was not polite to Liang Yao at all where he should be.

Obviously, Bell, who wanted to fish in troubled waters, did not succeed. He knew the supplies allocated to each regiment very well, even though the current environment was very noisy.

"My old man, you are different from us. You have a son-in-law who runs an arsenal. Please stop robbing us poor fellows of these rags." A colonel squeezed Bell out of the team and teased.

This is reasonable, and even more so what Liang Yao expected. Because he would not let the southern commander dictate to his western brigade.

Although the supplies promised by the North have been gradually delivered to San Antonio, the supplies in their hands are only adequate and cannot be said to be sufficient.

The leader of the Texas Regiment, Liang Yaozhun's father-in-law, was also collecting military supplies at the entrance of the military supplies warehouse.

"As long as you ask your son-in-law, don't ask for 100 guns. I think your son-in-law can afford even 100 cannons."

It is not an exaggeration for Bell to say that he was a polished commander. The actual army that Liang Yao could command was not in Texas, but in the Western Brigade in San Diego.

It was precisely because of this that Liang Yao came to see Bell.

"Then give us 100 more rifles! Our regiment doesn't have enough rifles! You can't let my Texas boys who love the South fight with Mexicans with fire sticks, right?" Bell remained unyielding and wanted to fire more guns.

Given the current state of affairs of the federal government, subsequent military supplies will certainly not be given generously to the Confederate Army.

"Come on, that guy is stingier than you." Bell couldn't help but complain.

The shortage of supplies will definitely affect the course of the war.

"Even if I am poor, at least I still have a thousand people at my disposal."

Especially the fact that Custis was able to graduate with first place from West Point Military Academy made Southerners think that this guy was very proud of the South.

Although what Bell said is a bit unpleasant, it is true.

After all, the Crimean War is almost over, and there is not much time left for them.

After the supplies were counted and put into storage, officers from various regiments, militia groups, and volunteers, large and small, rushed to the entrance of the munitions warehouse in San Antonio to wait and prepare to divide the supplies.

The surrounding senior officers of the Southern Army burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"A gift in need? You are just a mere commander now, and you only have one company at your disposal. What kind of help can you give me?" Bell said disdainfully.

He was nominally the deputy commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front troops, but in fact the generals of the Southern Army did not buy his account.

However, Robert E. Lee's two sons were both young and relatively inexperienced at this time, and the two southern generals who would later become generals were still little-known lieutenants at this time.

It was not that Liang Yao doubted that these martial-minded southerners could not even defeat the Mexicans, but that he wanted a quick victory and did not want to engage in a protracted tug-of-war.

However, the senior military officers in the South almost all supported Jackson's decision. First of all, Custis was Robert E. Lee's beloved son, and they were willing to believe that a tiger father has no dog son.

In order to ensure the subsequent combat capability of the troops, Jackson was very strict in the distribution of munitions.

Even if they are given, they are delayed and cannot be given in time.

They say they are receiving military supplies, but in fact these so-called aristocratic gentlemen in the south are no different from hawkers haggling in the vegetable market. Each one speaks louder than the last, for fear of being missed.

As for Robert E. Lee's second son Fitzhugh, who had just graduated from Harvard University, since he had just served in the army, Jackson only made Fitzhugh a second lieutenant in the Second Cavalry and did not entrust him with any important tasks.

Secondly, Custis’s military school performance and service resume are all very good, so good that no one can fault him.

Liang Yao currently only has one security company around him. Even if the Mexicans try to pull him apart, it is unrealistic to rely on one company to open the transportation line between Texas and California.

And if he wanted to gain greater influence in the Southern Army, and even influence the Southern Army's decision-making, so that the Southern Army could cooperate with the Western Brigade to achieve a quick victory, he had to open up the communication line between California and Texas.

As long as the communication line between California and Texas is opened, he can use military supplies as a bargaining chip to enhance his voice in the Southern Army.

Bell's Texas Regiment was the only regiment among the Confederate Army regiments that Liang Yao had any hope of being able to use for Liang Yao before the Gade line of communication was opened.

A company cannot open the communication line between California and Texas, but a regiment may be able to.