Wild North America 1846

After 3:30 pm, escaping from the scorching midday sun, the fierce battle started again.

"Ready to launch!"

"Boom boom boom..."

The bronze 6-pound Napoleon cannon roared, and amidst the violent explosions, it fired oval cast-iron shells, instantly hitting the houses high up. The smoke and dust from the explosion filled the air, and the walls collapsed.

Several Mexican gunmen wearing cowboy hats who had been shooting at the house just now were crushed in the rubble, and they didn't know whether they were alive or dead;

On the artillery position

The thick smoke emitted by the black powder has formed into a mist, which is so strong that it makes people sick. After the artillery fire, they immediately picked up a long brush to clean the barrel from the front in preparation for the next round of artillery firing.

Amidst the sound of military drums, the marching American Union soldiers attacked along the dirt road of the street under the cover of artillery fire, with a look of fear on everyone's face.

"Aim and shoot."

"Pah, pah, pah, pah..."

At the command of the commander, the defenders of the Tang Kingdom raised their muskets in unison behind the barricades and fired a dense volley of guns. Most of their bodies were covered by the barricades, with only a small part above the chest exposed.

The hot bullets whizzed in, hitting the American soldiers in the front row with blood splattering on them. Seven or eight soldiers were knocked down in a row, like dogs gnawing at them, making the queue uneven.

Along with the uproar and screams from the U.S. military queue, the U.S. soldiers who were knocked to the ground also howled loudly in pain. Facing death, the panic could not be concealed, and the scene was chaotic.

"Stand still, soldiers move forward to take up positions and prepare to fight back." The US frontline commander also looked miserable.

He stood at the very edge of the first row, facing the death blow of the defenders' bullets. The opponent was hiding behind a solid barricade, while the American soldiers were completely exposed to the muzzle of the gun without any protection, and they endured it forcefully.

With massacre.

The huge psychological gap and the constant threat of death made the U.S. military commander's lips tremble; "Put your gun level..."

Before he could finish his words, "Pah, pah, pah, pah, pah..." the volley of gunshots like exploding beans rang out again, and the hot bullets penetrated the chest of the US military commander, cutting off all the rest of his words, and his body

He fell limply to the ground and died.

The U.S. military's counterattacks sounded sporadic, but compared to the dense and deadly dispatch of the defenders on the opposite side, the U.S. military's counterattacks seemed sparse and weak. Many bullets hit the barricades, except for drilling a hole in the board or breaking a piece.

Small stone chips rarely achieve killing effects.

"emission!"

The gunfire rumbled again, roaring and hitting the barricade. The bombed barricade was filled with smoke and dust, and the flying stones and sawdust injured several soldiers. They squatted on the ground with blood on their heads, and were quickly replaced.

The defenders of the Tang Kingdom in Rio Rancho had no means of counterattacking the artillery, so they could only endure the constant bombardment of the artillery. They killed and injured one group after another, holding on to the barricade position in blood.

Most of the casualties of the defenders were caused by artillery bombardment.

During the line-up attack, the U.S. soldiers could only withstand the baptism of bullets with their bodies. The attacks were repelled, and the attacks were repelled again. The number of casualties increased rapidly. The U.S. attacking soldiers endured a massacre almost unilaterally.

Both sides hurt each other and fought fiercely until dusk.

The town of Rio Rancho is shrouded in the atmosphere of a tragic war. The houses and barricades that have been repeatedly bombarded by artillery are in dilapidated condition. There are fallen corpses and shocking large pools of blood everywhere.

On the street where the US military attacked, there were more than 130 corpses lying in various directions. The large black and red blood stained the street, making it look like a slaughterhouse in hell.

Colonel Stephen Carney's angry eyes were bloodshot, and his heart ached as he looked at the corpses of soldiers on the street. The attack on this day alone resulted in the loss of nearly 200 people, of which more than 150 were killed in action.

If we add in the loss of more than 30 people from the vanguard in the past few days, the losses of the West Route Army have reached more than 230 people. For an army with a total of only more than 1,700 people, the casualties are more than 15%, and they have to stop fighting and rest.

If the fight continues, the entire army will collapse.

Colonel Stephen Carney was an experienced officer. He could sense that the hearts of the troops were shaking. After suffering repeated serious defeats, morale was at an unprecedented low and the fight was temporarily unable to continue.

Therefore, he had to order a suspension of the attack and raise a white flag to ask for the battlefield to be cleared, and the defenders agreed.

In early summer in New Mexico, the temperature difference between day and night is large. The hottest temperature at noon reaches 35-6 degrees Celsius, while it is only about 10 degrees Celsius in the morning and evening. You must wrap yourself in a blanket to sleep.

In this kind of horrible weather, the body will swell and smell after being left for a day, so it must be disposed of as soon as possible.

Facing the well-defended town of Rio Rancho, Colonel Stephen Carney knew what the crux was, but he was unable to do anything.

The army's legal 6-pound artillery was too weak. The oval iron shells weighed about 2.6 kilograms, about the same size as a man's fist. They could not break through the defenders' defensive positions and cause a lot of damage to them.

mid 19th century

The 6-pound gun is almost the smallest field gun in the Army. There are 9-pound, 12-pound, 20-pound, 30-pound, 45-pound and 60-pound caliber guns above it. Navy sailing warships generally use medium and large-caliber guns above 20 pounds.

The largest ones can reach 60 pounds or 80 pounds. The army's ultra-large-caliber artillery specially used to guard ports can even reach 100 pounds, 150 pounds, 200 pounds or even 300 pounds. The Parrot cannon is a proper heavy weapon of war.

But the seven small cannons in front of us are not satisfactory at attacking solid targets.

If he had two 12-pounders in hand, Colonel Stephen Carney was confident that he could capture this damn town in an hour without incurring such heavy casualties.

But it's too late to say anything now. We don't have powerful weapons in our hands, so we can only use human lives to pile up. No matter what, we must capture the town of Rio Rancho and gain a stable and reliable foothold.

As long as the town is occupied, it means that the US military has advanced more than 1,300 kilometers westward and gained a bridgehead for the attack. This is a reason enough to explain the heavy casualties.

After occupying the town of Rio Rancho, the Western Route Army could receive a steady stream of supplies from the rear, including personnel and powerful artillery, and then use a crushing force to push through the small towns guarded by the enemy and uproot them one by one.

, heading west and finally arriving at the beach in Los Angeles.

Otherwise, they would have to either retreat more than 700 kilometers north to Denver, or more than 1,300 kilometers east to Kansas City, which would mean the complete failure of the Western Expedition.

This highlights the importance of capturing the town of Rio Rancho. It's just a matter of how many casualties there are, right?

Given the sheer size of the American Federation, Colonel Stephen Carney has every reason to believe;

The small Tang Dynasty was just trying to block the car, and all resistance was in vain.

From a military perspective, this is the point of occupying the town of Rio Rancho no matter what the cost.

What troubled Colonel Stephen Carney the most was that these garrison troops were unable to advance and fought tooth and nail.

Although the defensive line of Rio Rancho Town was bombarded to pieces, it only took one night to restore the defensive line to its original state. However, the Western Route Army did not carry many artillery shells and could not afford such a squandering!

in small town

The losses in this day's battle were quickly calculated. The Tang Kingdom's advance cavalry squadron suffered a total of 43 casualties, including 19 killed and 24 wounded.

The Mexican gunmen who accompanied the battle suffered 13 casualties, including 5 killed and 8 wounded.

Captain James Kahn led his men to a 1:4 victory, which was undoubtedly a huge victory.

The town has stocked enough food for three months, and there are 12 horses that can be killed and eaten (the remaining more than 300 horses have all been sent back to Gallup Town with the evacuees to avoid consuming too much food and grass)

Meat, he was ordered to stick to it.

James Kahn led people to inspect a circle of defensive positions, then went to check on the injured, arranged night vigilance, reinforced the defensive lines and other matters, and then he was able to return to the house and take a breather.

There was a large vat filled with water in the room. James Kahn picked up the bowl and scooped it full. He drank it in one gulp with his head raised and said, "Gudong, Gudong". He touched the water stains on his chin with his hand. He felt very energetic.

He shouted: "God, the weather is so hot. I feel alive again."

Lieutenant Lu Zhiran nodded in agreement, took the bowl in his hand, scooped out a bowl of cool water from the big vat and poured it down, feeling that all the depression in his body was gone; "When the battle was at its fiercest, sweat and

The smoke of gunpowder blinded the eyes of the soldiers, and everyone continued to fight by instinct. At that time, perhaps death was not the worst outcome."

"We have lost 57 people, and our combat effectiveness has been reduced by 1/3. The army that bore the brunt has suffered the greatest losses. If this situation continues, I'm afraid those Mexicans will get into chaos first, and we won't be able to hold on for long." James -

Kahn said with a solemn expression.

The advance squadron has a total of 157 soldiers. Today, it lost 47 people in one day. In addition to the nearly 20 people lost in the battles in the past few days, the number of casualties has accounted for nearly half.

Except for the seriously wounded, most lightly wounded soldiers were still able to continue fighting.

The excellent obedience and tenacity of the Chinese soldiers were fully demonstrated in difficult moments. The troops showed no signs of mutiny or disintegration, but silently endured the temper of the war and persisted through gritted teeth.

Comparison

Those Mexican gunmen who volunteered to join the war and shouted loud slogans were much more unbearable. Although they suffered much lighter casualties, many of them had been frightened by the fierce offensive of the US military and hid in the rear to avoid the battle.

Many people even advocated surrender, which created a lot of panic atmosphere.

"James, what do you mean?"

"I think we did a good job and did a lot of damage to the Americans. I don't know how many artillery shells they brought, but I can be sure that today's high-intensity attack will not last for two days. We must grit our teeth and persevere.

Come down." James Kahn had a ruthless look in his eyes and continued through gritted teeth; "Maybe... we should take decisive action to eliminate and imprison some of the demagogic Mexicans, and integrate all the remaining people into combat.

force."

Speaking of which

He raised his head and looked at Lieutenant Lu Zhiran, and continued word for word; "I know that these Mexican gunmen are all volunteers, and they participated in the battle against the Yankees with enthusiasm. But they have no discipline, no organization, and they will not touch the Americans."

When it comes to high-intensity battles, they are frightened out of their wits, and panic spreads everywhere, which will greatly disrupt the morale and morale of the troops. Although it is a bit intolerable to attack them, I can't care less at such a dangerous moment."

"Sir James, we brothers don't know if we can get out alive? It's impossible to surrender to the ghost guy anyway. Just tell me what you want to do. I support you." Lu Zhiran only hesitated briefly before agreeing decisively.

The Chinese were helpless in this wild North American wasteland, surrounded by tall-nosed, dark-eyed ghosts and Mexicans wearing big straw hats, and felt a deep sense of crisis.

The intense pressure brought about by this environment made the Chinese more united, and their cohesion was unprecedentedly high. Even if they fought until the last moment of their lives, they would not surrender to the ghosts.

James Kahn was overjoyed to receive the support of Squadron Leader Lu Zhiran, so he leaned over to discuss with him in a low voice...