Chapter 505: War Begins (Part 2)

Although the Mexican border patrol put up a desperate resistance, the 2,000 men could only sit and wait for death in the face of tens of thousands of American troops who had already prepared for battle.

It would take at least several days for the scouts sent out to deliver the message to reach the nearest Mexican military camp for help, and it would take one to two months to reach the capital, Mexico City.

On the other side, the American generals were told that there was at least $100 million worth of gold waiting for them in California.

So the Americans advanced very quickly, sending only a small number of old and weak soldiers to besiege the strongholds and barracks they encountered along the way.

Of course, most of these Mexican soldiers were really not up to the task, and almost all of them chose to surrender before fighting.

Being a prisoner of war is not a glorious thing, but it is indeed commonplace for Mexican soldiers. After all, the number of civil wars in their country is so many that these soldiers can't count them.

However, the Americans do not intend to accept these guys into their army, but they will not let them go like Napoleon did.

The fate of these Mexicans can be roughly divided into two types. One is to follow the US troops and be driven as livestock, and the other is to be sold to local American immigrants as slaves.

However, the price of these Mexican whites or mixed-race children is not as high as that of black slaves, usually only about 30 US dollars.

It took less than a month for the US troops advancing along the 37° north latitude to reach the California area.

What is even more amazing is the reaction speed of the Mexican army. They are still defending against possible attacks from Texas nearly a month after the war.

The French side strictly adhered to the principle of Louis Philippe to keep his troops in place, and only Guizot wanted to try to take advantage of the opportunity to get a share.

But he soon realized one thing, that is, both the United States and Mexico were strictly guarding against France. Only this time Guizot thought that Louis Philippe was right, and it was really not suitable to join this war at this time.

Although the focus of the US military's attack was California controlled by Austria, after all, the invasion was a territory belonging to Mexico, so Tasan Anna decided to lead his troops north to "recover lost territory."

The two sides fought fiercely on the Grande River. The Mexican army was seven times larger than the American troops stationed there. As a result, Tasan Anna remembered the tragedy before and refused to send superior forces to attack. Instead, he chose to engage in artillery battles with the enemy.

However, the American troops at this time were no longer the same as before. They abandoned the previous small-caliber artillery and old cast iron cannons and chose expensive but efficient bronze cannons.

In fact, the quality of bronze cannons at that time was much better than cast iron cannons, and could even compete with Austrian steel cannons. The US military purchased 98 6-pound bronze cannons in 1838, and then purchased large quantities every year. By 1844, the number of bronze cannons in the US military had reached nearly 350.

The Mexican army used all antiques made by Austria and Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. These old cast iron cannons were as dangerous to their own people as to the enemy, because they were very easy to explode, especially when firing continuously.

The US troops stationed on the Grande River were equipped with nearly 80 bronze cannons, which quickly suppressed the Mexican army with 150 cannons.

Artillery battles are very cruel. Bronze cannons have better ductility and can add more gunpowder, so the shells can be fired faster and have a higher hit rate.

So they have an advantage in artillery battles. At the same time, Tasan Anna did not allow cavalry and infantry to charge, which greatly hit the morale of the Mexican army.

This kind of battle is especially a torture for those hot-blooded Indian soldiers. They are not afraid of death, but they are not used to being slaughtered like this.

It is gratifying that the Mexican army successfully eliminated several US military supply delivery teams, and the latter's pistol cavalry was defeated by the light cavalry in a short encounter.

However, this cannot be blamed on the pistol cavalry. After all, as attackers, the Mexicans have two cavalry divisions, while the US military transport team has at most one or two companies.

But these victories are still not enough to encourage and prevent a pessimistic mood from spreading in the army. Tasan Anna realized that this would not work.

So he remembered what his idol did in 1812. At night, the Mexican army left enough campfires and quietly evacuated the battlefield.

The bright bonfire became the culprit to cover up the truth. At this time, yellow fever had broken out in the US military camp.

Because mosquitoes are too active in summer, and most of the soldiers who went to Mexico this time were "northerners", they had no resistance to this virus, so a large number of soldiers soon lost their combat effectiveness.

Yellow fever is caused by yellow fever virus, an acute infectious disease mainly transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. This disease has a very high mortality rate and strong infectiousness. Even today, there is no special treatment, and prevention is the main way to deal with this virus.

Historically, this death god took the lives of nearly 10,000 Americans during the Mexican-American War. At this time, the number of US soldiers was greater and the sanitary conditions were worse; and the choice to camp by the river was in summer, which greatly increased the risk of infection with this virus.

When the Americans found that the Mexicans had withdrawn the next day, the US general and his adjutant hugged each other to celebrate their survival, and announced that they had won the battle on the Grande River.

Although there were still thousands of bodies of US military transport teams on the road not far away that had not been collected, the withdrawal of the Mexican army was the best proof.

At the same time, Tasan Anna declared himself the winner because he had blocked the Americans in the barracks for a week, destroyed several US military transport teams, and seized several flags, so Mexico was the real winner.

Both sides felt good about themselves, but the war did not escalate further. First of all, the purpose of the US pioneers led by General Taylor was to defend the supply line.

The Mexican side naturally knew the severity of yellow fever, and those mosquitoes did not only bite the Americans.

Tasan Anna was anxiously waiting for enough mosquito nets and doctors to be delivered to the front line, otherwise he knew what would happen next; after all, this virus had broken out in the Mexican military camp more than once or twice.

On the other hand, the first batch of American soldiers who arrived in California were stunned by the richness of the land. In fact, after years of operation by Austria, this place has become a rich "oasis".

In fact, the land in California is very fertile and very suitable for agricultural production. On the one hand, Austria could not live by killing bison and eating beef every day, which was a primitive way of gathering hunters. In addition, there were more "laborers" on hand, so it started agricultural planting.

Of course, the strategy of emphasizing agriculture in California was also instructed by Franz. After all, he knew that this place would be one of the most important granaries in the United States in the future.

This is naturally also a consideration of the sustainable development strategy, because the non-renewable gold mines will be exhausted sooner or later.

At this time, the first batch of American soldiers entering the California area have become underground miners, and they can finally see the beloved gold.

It's just that they need to take it out by hand and then hand it over to others. This situation is so cruel.