Wild North America 1846

Hugo Oasis

U.S. military forward base

The large tent at the Western Expeditionary Army headquarters was filled with dozens of middle- and senior-level commanders from the U.S. Army. The lowest military rank was an army lieutenant colonel, and the rank was as high as the chief military officer of the Fusiliers Corps.

A high-level military operations meeting is being held here, involving up to 34,000 major commanders of US military forces. Standing in front of a large map of the Colorado Plateau and talking eloquently is Colonel Cache-Lewis of the US General Staff Headquarters, who is introducing the enemy and us to the generals and officers present.

situation.

"...

In view of the above difficulties

Our army does not know much about Denver Castle, Taoyuan Castle and other military defense systems on the Colorado Plateau. It will be until the army penetrates deeper that the veil cast by the Orientals can be unveiled.

Our first priority right now is here... the Red Rock Valley.

Strictly speaking

This is the Gobi Desert with mountainous terrain on one side and desert terrain on the other. The enemy built trenches, defensive walls and barbed wire fences here, and mixed artillery positions and heavy machine gun positions to form a tight defense line.

Behind this valley line

The Tang Kingdom built simple defensive bunkers and barbed wire positions that stretched for more than ten kilometers, and had a strong cavalry regiment to respond, which was a serious obstacle to our army's progress.

If the infantry crosses the desert on foot, they will surely suffer a fatal blow from the fierce cavalry of the Tang Kingdom. In the field without the cover of artillery and other heavy weapons, the situation is not optimistic.

According to a careful assessment by the Army General Staff Headquarters, the number of Tang Kingdom cavalry entrenched on the Gobi Desert behind the Red Rock Valley is no less than ten thousand, making them an extremely powerful mobile assault force.

It is an extremely irrational choice to rush across the desert and attack behind enemy lines.

Therefore, it is the only and correct choice to attack and occupy the Red Rock Valley, open the marching channel to Denver Castle, and facilitate the steady rolling advancement of our heavy army group.

In this battle, we will combine the Second Corps of our Western Expedition Army, with a total of more than 34,000 men (including more than 5,700 cavalry, more than 190 artillery pieces, and more than 2,000 artillery troops), to carry out a high-intensity and non-stop attack on the enemy..."

Colonel Coffey-Lewis stood at the top and chattered about the battle plan and the deployment of troops on both sides. The officers sitting below began to discuss in low voices.

Like hundreds of mosquitoes "buzzing", the officers said everything, some were arrogant, some were cautious, some were scrupulous, some were passionate...

There are all kinds of expressions, and this clearly reflects the different opinions and tendencies in the US military camp.

Those proud generals in the US military who were drawn from the battlefields of southern Mexico and the officers of the newly formed Musketeers were eager to give it a try. They had never experienced the suffering of the cavalry of the Tang Kingdom and often had a very high opinion of themselves.

in American society

There is a serious tendency of white supremacy. It is common to exaggerate, flatter and beautify the achievements of the US military. It is a routine operation of the American public opinion circles to discredit, belittle and demonize the army of the Tang Dynasty. It is these unobjective news reports that will not only

Misleads most of the American people and will seriously mislead many white commanders.

There is a common argument among the American Western Expedition;

That is, the cavalry of the Tang Kingdom is indeed powerful, which has been proven through countless battles, but the infantry...hehehe, they are just chickens and dogs.

This view is not only held by grassroots officers of the US military, but also has a strong market among middle- and senior-level officers. It can be said to be the mainstream view.

Take inventory carefully

Almost all the glorious victories of the Tang Dynasty so far were achieved by the cavalry regiments. The performance of the musketeers was rare. The only outstanding battle was the "Battle of Berlinton" in the second Western Expedition.

During this battle, the American army, which was almost out of ammunition and food and in constant panic, fled eastward. At Burlington, it encountered a joint encirclement and suppression by the cavalry and infantry of the Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty. As expected, it was beaten to the point of collapse...

this battle

Seriously speaking, it was a tired division of the US military. After encountering the cavalry and infantry of the Tang Dynasty for many days, they were delayed, pursued, and harassed in turns. They ran out of food and grass, and finally lost unfortunately.

It was precisely because of various factors that led to the disastrous defeat of the "Battle of Burlington" that a considerable number of strong talkers in the US military refused to admit that the infantry of the Tang Kingdom had combat effectiveness comparable to that of the US military, believing that they were just taking advantage and could not represent

What?

Indeed, the Infantry Corps of the Tang Kingdom did not have any outstanding achievements.

After the military meeting was held for a while, the officers in the big tent were whispering to each other even more brazenly. Many of them were farmers, some were businessmen or capitalists with status, some were lawyers, and some were before they became majors, lieutenant colonels or colonels in the US military.

Philadelphia high society playboy...

just two years ago

In order to restrain the power of dictatorship and warlords and establish an American alliance with democracy, freedom and power checks and balances, Congress is extremely stingy with military funding and supervises it very strictly.

The Union of America only has an army of more than 8,700 people nationwide. The Continental Army General Staff Headquarters has a total of 23 officers, of which there are only 6 officers above the school level. The entire Continental Army has only four generals, including one naval general.

Two years later, the number of U.S. troops rapidly expanded to 150,000. Many upper-class American celebrities had no choice but to join the military and volunteer to serve in the military, and were awarded different military ranks.

From this, we can see how weak the U.S. military command force is today.

Compared with European military powers, its military command capabilities can be described as "amateur" and "rookie".

At first, the discipline at the meeting was okay, but later on, this important military meeting became more lively than a vegetable market. Someone actually put his finger in his mouth and blew a whistle.

Colonel Duffy-Lewis had to shout at the top of his lungs, but very few officers listened attentively.

Sitting in the front row were Lieutenant General Arthur Temple, Commander-in-Chief of the Third Western Expedition (former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Continental Army), Lieutenant General Bob Weingraub, Deputy Commander, and Major General Schneider, Commander of the U.S. Second Corps, all had expressions on their faces.

It doesn’t look good, but there’s nothing you can do about it.

"General Schneider, today is May 9th, and I hope to formally launch the Battle of Red Rock Valley no later than May 15th. You still have almost a week, man, and President Polk has done his best to prepare enough supplies for us,

Now it depends on our performance." Lieutenant General Arthur Temple sat in his position, stretched his neck and said to General Schneider.

Lieutenant General Arthur Temple did not severely reprimand the venue for such disorderly conduct, because sitting here were many prominent figures in the upper class of the United States, some were born to large plantation owners, some came from influential political families, and some

Others are famous lawyers who join the army.

The forces behind these officers in the tent are not represented by the military ranks on their shoulders. They are very involved.

Upon hearing the Commander-in-Chief's request, Major General Schneider, commander of the U.S. Second Corps, showed a look of embarrassment. He was a veteran general who had participated in the Mexican War and had repeatedly made meritorious deeds. He had been promoted from colonel to colonel to brigadier general and major general. He was

A capable general in the U.S. Continental Army.

Major General Schneider frowned, considered it, and answered carefully;

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, the staff team of the Second Corps is still in Detroit. There is insufficient artillery and ammunition, and there are still many difficulties in launching an attack in a hurry. I hope it can be postponed for one to two weeks, so that we will be more fully prepared for the attack."

"No...this war has cost too much money. The White House sends telegrams every day to urge us. The headquarters is under great pressure. We need to act as soon as possible to let the congressmen on Capitol Hill know that the heroic troops are bleeding and dying on the front lines.

, instead of sitting on the porch in the sun.”

"Then... we can only launch a tentative attack, hoping to find out the Easterners' troop deployment and firepower configuration through actual combat, and create conditions for a large-scale attack."

"Yes, we need the 2nd Corps to take action as soon as possible. Everyone is watching this war."

"I understand, Your Excellency, Commander, the Second Corps will resolutely obey the order." Major General Schneider's expression softened.

The three magic weapons used by the US military to launch wars so far are artillery bombardment, volley strikes, and cavalry attacks.

Among them, artillery occupies an important position in the attack.

In previous battles against the Mexican army, the U.S. military's fierce artillery strikes always took the lead, inflicted heavy damage on the enemy, frightened the enemy, and provided favorable support for the U.S. musketeers who subsequently attacked.

It's not nice to say something nice

The US military bullies the Mexican army because its equipment is backward. The Spanish antique artillery it equips has a short range, low power, and a small number. It is overwhelmed by the Americans.

Artillery led the charge, followed by infantry volleys, and finally cavalry charge.

These three axes of the US military have been tried and tested repeatedly, thus forming a rigid and fixed approach to attack.

As for what kind of flexible tactics?

The Americans said they didn't want to play, so they just acted recklessly and pushed through with their strength.

May 15

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, on the Gobi Desert to the east of the Red Rock Valley, a dense and orderly formation of US troops could not be seen at a glance, with swords and guns unsheathed, containing murderous intent.

In the Red Rock Valley about 6 to 7 kilometers away, Major General Schneider, riding on a tall horse, was observing the valley defenses not far away with a dry monocular brass telescope.

After a while, he put down the telescope in his hand and frowned deeply.

Through the telescope, we can see that behind the defense line in the Red Rock Valley, there are two to three thousand Tang Kingdom soldiers lined up faintly, loaded with guns and ammunition, and ready to stand ready.

When the U.S. troops came to the front of the valley, the troops of the Tang Kingdom did not take the initiative to fight. Instead, they stayed on the defense line composed of parapets, trenches, and barbed wire, loaded with live ammunition and fully armed, waiting for the U.S. troops to attack.

this situation

General Schneider cursed inwardly as he watched;

These despicable Eastern pagans have absolutely no sense of gentlemanly spirit in a fair fight, and are unwilling to fight head-on with open weapons, so they actually behave like cowards.

Wouldn't doing this just make people laugh?

The thoughts in my heart are all the same, the U.S. military is now on the line and has to take action.

The US military stopped 6 to 7 kilometers away, leaving enough space for the musketeers of the Tang Dynasty to fight. Unfortunately, it backfired and they didn't take the bait at all.

The attitude of the army of the Tang Kingdom on the opposite side has been very clear, that is, they will not go out to fight in the field.

If you have the ability, come and attack!

"Order to stay in line, play music, and advance the entire army!" Major General Schneider did not wait wishfully and decisively issued an attack order.

In an instant

The military music of "God Bless America" ​​sounded, and the neatly lined up American soldiers carried their guns and stepped on the drums of the loud military music, slowly advancing towards the Red Rock Valley.

More than 40 minutes later

The US offensive force stopped about 1.8 kilometers away from Hongyan Mountain. The commanders immediately issued the order for artillery to prepare for bombardment, preparing to repeat the same tactics.

More than seventy Napoleon 6-pound, 9-pound and 12-pound cannons pulled by horses quickly appeared in front of the US military queue. The artillerymen were busy checking the direction, cleaning the gun barrels, and preparing to launch a fierce bombardment against the enemy in front of them.

The hit accuracy of today's retractable artillery is very impressive and can only be used for probability shooting.

The solid shells equipped with Napoleon's cannon had limited damage capabilities and were suitable for attacking solid targets, such as the stone defensive breastworks of the Tang Dynasty today.

What frightened the infantry was shotgun shells, commonly known as "explosive shells". The shell fragments exploded in large numbers.

Just as the U.S. artillery was preparing in a hurry, a loud and high-pitched sound of suona sounded from the direction of the Hongyan Valley. About forty artillery pieces appeared on the defensive position, with their black muzzles pointing directly at the neat formation of the U.S. military.

The defenders of the Tang Dynasty showed sharp counterattacks, which made Major General Schneider's face darken, and the difficulty of conquering the Red Rock Valley increased to another level.

"A full-scale bombardment will begin in 5 minutes."

"As you command, General."

Five minutes later, "Boom, boom, boom..."

A series of thick smoke rose into the sky, and the artillery on the US military position roared, pouring more than seventy shells over and hitting the area around the red rock valley defensive wall intensively.

The rumble of cannons resounded throughout the world.

Not to be outdone, the defenders of the Tang Kingdom in the Hongyan Valley immediately launched a fierce counterattack, hitting dozens of cannonballs back, causing smoke and dust to fill the beach next door.

The tumbling solid artillery shells made more than a dozen bloody alleys in the U.S. military queue. They would die if they were rubbed and injured if they touched. The damage was extremely severe.

This round of shelling alone caused no fewer than 35 US military casualties.

On the other hand, the defenders of the Tang Kingdom were bombarded by almost twice as much artillery firepower as the US military, and suffered no more than 6 casualties.

The main reason is that the defenders of the Tang Kingdom hid behind the solid stone parapets and got the best defense, which the attacking US military could not do anyway.

Of the more than 70 artillery shells fired by the US military in the first round, less than 1/10 actually landed on the defensive parapet. The other shells were either too high and flew over the defensive parapet and landed in the rear, exploding large amounts of smoke and dust.

Either the angle was lowered and it fell within tens of meters of the front edge of the defensive parapet, or it was driven into the trench, leaving nothing but smoke and dust.

Even if the cannonball hit the defensive parapet, most of the power of the solid cannonball was absorbed by the defensive parapet. It was just that the splashed stones flew and injured a few unlucky people.

The advantages and disadvantages of both sides in the battle are clear at a glance.