Wild North America 1846

In the secret camp

"Great job, guys, I'm proud of your outstanding performance, hahahaha..."

Richard stood in the middle of a clearing in the dense forest and laughed to the sky. Dozens of officers stood in a circle around him, and everyone was in high spirits.

The hearty victory this morning gave the armored cavalry of the Tang Dynasty full confidence, greatly inspired their fighting spirit, and forged an even stronger combat effectiveness in the blood and fire.

The army of the Tang Dynasty quickly matured in the baptism of war.

Major Gao Shiheng, deputy commander of the San Francisco Cuirassier Regiment, stepped forward in amusement, clasped his fists and saluted, and said, "Your Majesty, I think it would be better for the remaining brave men to pursue the poor bandits, and take advantage of the fact that the U.S. military has suffered heavy losses, and give him a cruel blow."

It completely destroyed the US military’s will to fight.”

"We second the proposal."

"Your Majesty, please issue an order. We will burn Gui Lao's military camp to the ground today, take the enemy's heads and offer them to the soldiers. Only then will we be able to demonstrate our king's illustrious martial arts."

All the officers were in high spirits. This victory made them confident, and they all took the initiative to challenge.

"Don't let the victory get to your head. The Yankees won't be defeated so easily. You should proceed with caution." Richard shook his head, and Tou Tou poured a basin of cold water on the officers.

Seeing the dissatisfied looks on some people's faces, he slowly explained: "The current total strength comparison between the enemy and ourselves is still dominated by the US military. This cannot be blindly optimistic.

If the battlefield is opened head-on, the US military also has 32 Napoleonic cannons to assist it. Both infantry and artillery have an overwhelming advantage. The cavalry strength is not inferior to our army.

If you fight hard, you will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

Even if you win one or two victories, it will not be beneficial to the overall battle situation and is not the best strategy.

The advantage of time is on our side. As long as we can delay the US military's march south and minimize our losses, we will have achieved the ultimate goal.

A light cavalry brigade of our army went out to the east to cut off the US transportation line. Two cavalry squadrons were attached to the 1st and 2nd Denver Infantry Regiments. In addition, about 70 cavalry were lost in the early morning battle, and the available cavalry strength was less than 1,000.

people.

How can such a force defeat the US military in a frontal battlefield?"

Speaking of which

Richard's expression turned stern, and he glanced at the officers, only to see that they all lowered their heads in shame and no longer blindly asked for battle.

Richard secretly praised in his heart;

It is a good thing that the morale of the officers under his command is high, but due to their lack of experience, they will inevitably become depressed once they win a battle and become depressed once they lose a battle. Their moods fluctuate violently, which makes them appear immature.

The army of the Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty was a new army, and its officers were generally inexperienced. They needed to be tempered repeatedly in wars before they could be tempered into steel.

Although the upper limit of these officers is not high, they are more loyal and reliable, can listen to criticism, and can still achieve something with a lot of experience.

Richard's expression immediately softened, which made all the officers feel that the pressure on them was greatly reduced.

The impression of His Majesty the King's invincible power was deeply rooted in everyone's hearts. The sharp look in his eyes really sent chills down people's spines, making them feel too cowardly to speak out.

Richard said in a gentle tone;

"The top priority is to step up the military training of the 1st and 2nd Denver Regiments. In a week, I will drag them onto the battlefield to see blood.

Therefore, when the rest of you are not on military missions, you should go to the training camp more often and urge these soldiers to train strictly and not to slack off.

The current main task is undertaken by the light cavalry brigade, which continues to attack in squadrons or brigade in turns, constantly harassing the U.S. troops, mainly at night, making them uneasy day and night.

There have been no combat missions for these three days, and the troops have fully rested and recuperated.

Well... let's do this.

Captain Zheng Xiaoqi came out..."

"My humble duty is here." Captain Zheng Xiaoqi immediately stood up, bowed and clasped his fists in salute and replied.

"I order you to lead the 3rd Ranger Battalion of our headquarters and escort the excess horses, carts and sick and wounded back to Rio Rancho Fort tomorrow. And pass on our military order: order the rear to quickly select 1,500 elite soldiers and start cavalry training without any mistakes.

"

"I humble my duty and obey my orders."

"Well, let's make preparations separately. Unload all the supplies on the four-wheeled carriage, only carry some fodder on the way home, and evacuate the wounded and sick for treatment. Let's get started now."

Richard waved his hand, and the officers clasped their fists and saluted before dispersing. They were busy arranging the troops, unloading goods, or giving orders to attack, and took turns harassing the American troops.

As expected

After suffering heavy losses in the early morning, the US military was afraid of repeating the same mistakes. After hurriedly cleaning up, they simply buried the dead before breaking out of camp at two o'clock in the afternoon and heading towards Denver.

After a journey of more than 60 kilometers, the U.S. military did not arrive at the outskirts of Denver until about 1 a.m., exhausted and exhausted. They chose an empty river bend to set up camp in a carriage formation and camped on the spot.

this night

Encountered several harassments by the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, more than twenty carriages were set on fire with rockets. Gunfire rang out sporadically all night long, and stopped in the early morning.

Poor American troops have been exhausted physically and mentally these past few days. They don't even have a tent set up. Each soldier is just sleeping on the grass wrapped in a blanket and holding a gun. When he hears the sound of gunfire, he gets up to be on guard, and then faces the dark outside randomly.

Fire a gun to vent your anger.

The cavalry of the Tang Kingdom burned Denver on July 11, severely attacked the U.S. Army on July 12, and harassed the U.S. troops from July 13 to 15, often at night, scaring the U.S. troops so much that they could not sleep at night.

Everyone has seen the tragic situation in Denver. What was once a prosperous town of ten thousand people has been replaced by charred ruins in the blink of an eye. The ashes of burned vegetation are as thick as a palm.

At night, when the wind blows from the Gobi Desert, it raises the falling gray rain of vegetation, which is as miserable as the call of the dead.

As soon as the U.S. military camp woke up overnight, it was covered with a thick layer of black ash. The soldiers' faces and bodies were covered in ash. It was unclear whether it was vegetation ash or ashes, but it was quite seeping.

But there is no way

In order to camp close to the water source, the US military could only choose this open river bend not far from Denver, and arranged a large number of manpower to cut down trees, and worked hard to build a camp with a perimeter of about 1,600 meters to be used as a military camp.

Between the camp and the river, two wooden fences were used to form a large horse pen, which was used to corral a total of more than 2,600 mules and horses.

July 16

U.S. Army General Frank Gilhoury sent a cavalry regiment of 700 cavalry and a musketeer regiment of more than a thousand men to escort more than 460 four-wheeled carriages eastward, with the goal of Kansas City, 860 kilometers away.

All the four-wheeled carriages on this trip returned empty, carrying only part of the fodder. The soldiers of the Detroit Fusiliers all rode in the carriages, traveling very fast along the way.

The news spread back to the Tang Kingdom Cavalry's secret valley camp more than 50 kilometers north of Denver, causing an uproar.

Many officers couldn't help but asked for a fight, but Richard rejected it with a calm expression. He said confidently;

"Don't worry, wait until they return with full supplies. I want to see what good things the Americans will send. We will rely on them for future supplies."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone immediately burst out laughing, and they immediately understood His Majesty the King's plan.

I have to say, he is really much smarter than everyone present.

The U.S. military's logistical supplies were in short supply, and the Tang Kingdom's army, which was hidden in a secret valley base, also had limited supplies. The soldiers often hunted gazelles and bison in the surrounding areas to supplement their food needs.

However, because this is a long and narrow valley oasis, the area is not large, and there are large areas of desolate plateaus, Gobis, and deserts around it. Therefore, it is rare to see bison herds. There are only some American bighorn sheep herds, which are probably groups of twenty or thirty.

Look.

Not long after, it was basically wiped out.

Maintaining supplies for an army of more than 4,300 men (including captured white coachmen) was no easy task.

To this end, on July 13, Richard ordered Zheng Xiaoqi's Third Ranger Battalion to escort 700 four-wheeled heavy-duty carriages, more than 1,600 horses, more than 110 wounded people and a thousand white prisoners who also served as carriage drivers.

On the road back south, the target is the town of Rio Nanqiao, 700 kilometers away (the secret camp is located more than 50 kilometers south of Denver, closer to the south).

Counting the days, it's almost time to arrive.

The reason for this

In order to reduce the pressure on the logistics supply of the secret camp in the valley, the light cavalry restored the configuration of one person and two horses, and the heavy cavalry restored the configuration of one person and three horses. All excess horses were sent back to the rear to reduce the logistics pressure.

Even so, the supplies left now are only enough for 10 days.

Just like what General Frank Gilhouri was thinking, Richard placed all his hopes on the batch of supplies that the US military was about to deliver.

After all, the Tang Kingdom's logistical strength was weak and it was difficult to supply long-term expeditions more than 700 kilometers away, so it became a last resort to surrender to the enemy.

In Richard’s plan;

A military plan for a long-distance attack on Kansas City was also considered, but in the end it had to be abandoned due to insufficient troops and too much danger.

Through recent battles, the number of cavalry in Richard's hands has been reduced to less than 1,300. He did not dare to risk going deep without destroying General Frank Gilhoury's troops.

Once the Denver Division of the U.S. Army makes a desperate move south and storms the southern towns with a desperate force, it is possible to continuously attack Fortress Rio Rancho and Fortress Gallup, thereby gaining a precious respite.

Such serious consequences cannot be borne by the fragile Tang Dynasty. Even if the possibility is less than 10%, Richard cannot take the risk.

The less than 1,300 cavalry in his hands are the last mobile combat force in the entire kingdom and must not be wasted in fights with the US military.

In the final analysis, the capital in hand is still too little.

Richard's judgment has been verified. As expected, the American General Frank urgently recruited the coachmen and carpenters who accompanied the army into the army to make up for the losses in the previous battle.

If he hadn't wiped out Denver's scourge, the U.S. military might now be even more powerful than before. If one point of blood is taken away, two points of blood will be replaced, and two points of blood taken away will be replaced with four points of blood, turning it into a monster that can never be defeated. That would be too much.

Oops.