Chapter 506 "The Promised Land"
The U.S. military was able to cross the Rocky Mountains along the river valley in a month, then enter the Death Valley through the desert, bypass the Nevada Mountains, and reach the "promised land" of the U.S. government.
This was thanks to the fact that almost everyone was riding two horses, but the speed of marching had already reached the limit for people and horses.
It was inevitable that these U.S. vanguards were out of touch with the baggage and artillery units behind them. They found that California was full of fertile fields and herds, which stimulated the beastly nature of these people.
The Indian villages and aboriginal forts living on the outermost periphery became the first targets of the beasts. The Indians naturally knew what kind of guys the Americans were, so they put up a desperate resistance and sent people to ask for help from the Austrian army in Los Angeles.
The local Hispanics still had a glimmer of luck, thinking that they were white and could negotiate with the Americans on an equal footing.
The U.S. military was naturally welcome to negotiate, but once they came, they couldn't leave. The Americans tricked the doors of one fort after another into opening and looted them.
The American troops who had traveled thousands of miles to reach California no longer had much humanity. They were like a group of wild beasts, killing, burning, robbing, and turning everything they could get into ruins.
But the good days of the Americans did not last long, because the Indians and Spanish natives in California were also accustomed to bloody storms.
Soon these indigenous peoples caused heavy losses to the US military, and the Austrian army, which had been waiting for an opportunity, also began to act.
John Sina was a businessman who always liked to maximize his interests, such as now.
Only after those indigenous peoples were beaten by the "democratic" and "free" America could they understand what "justice" was.
Every country will publicize the rationality and legitimacy of its rule over the colonies, and Austria is no exception. Franz even developed a set of theories specifically for this purpose, including holiness, justice and redemption, among which justice is the name.
As the highest-ranking civil servant in California, John Sina would naturally engrave Franz's theory in his bones, and he needed to remind himself to act according to this principle at all times.
Now is a good time to uphold justice. After all, the Americans are actually coming for the gold mines, but Austria will never give up the gold, so the two sides must be in a situation of life and death.
Archduke Karl Ferdinand is a ruthless defense machine. He has been studying the direction and means of possible invasion by the enemy for so many years in California. He is fully prepared at both ends of the north and south.
Now, with just one order, the encirclement can be tightened to eliminate these reckless enemies. But he also has his own concerns, that is, the threat from the sea.
Because of transportation problems, the simplest and most reasonable way to transport gold from California back to Austria is not by land, but by sea, first to Costa Rica or Nicaragua, then by land and then across the Atlantic Ocean back to Austria.
Therefore, all the important cities in California are built along the coast. If a fleet comes along the coastline, Austria will not be able to fight back at this time.
Archduke Karl Ferdinand did consult his brother who was a naval marshal, and even hired artillery experts and shipbuilders, but the so-called coastal defense was still in vain.
Due to the lack of heavy artillery, the so-called artillery platform could not play its role at all. As for shipbuilding, it was much more difficult than building artillery.
First of all, a dry dock frightened Archduke Karl Ferdinand. What was surprising was not only the cost, but also the required hours and manpower, which was too luxurious for California at that time.
In fact, there were only two dry docks in Austria, one in Venice and one in Trieste.
However, the deep-water ports in California did have the potential to build dry docks, but it was still too luxurious and not worth the loss.
Back to the book, the pioneers of the US army, who were still holding the M1795 Springfield rifle, faced the Austrian army equipped with the M1841 muzzle-loading rifle and using Minié bullets.
Not only that, the US military was also out of touch with the subsequent baggage troops. They had no artillery support, while Austria was equipped with a large number of cavalry guns and anti-infantry rockets.
The Austrian army first locked the position of the US vanguard through a large amount of intelligence. The latter mistook a Spanish native fortress group for a city and was besieging it.
In fact, due to the lack of heavy firepower, the soldiers could only attack the indigenous people hiding in the buildings with huge casualties.
This is certainly not the style of the US military, and it is even more impossible for these cowboys who yearn for freedom to accept it.
In fact, the US military has several times more troops than the indigenous people in the dock. Although the opponent has the advantage of terrain, they only have some old-fashioned flintlock rifles.
In order to maintain its rule, Austria has restricted the combat power of the local indigenous people. They cannot have any war weapons or stockpile more than 60 kilograms of black powder.
The US military is actually sure to win this battle, but there will always be casualties in war. The question is who will be the scapegoat. The previous wave of charge has proved that the opponent's shooting skills are not bad.
If you force the attack, the casualties will be very heavy.
In fact, if you start to argue with each other without even trying once, it is not an army at all.
"Damn Austrians! Can't they just hand over everything and die quietly?" Colonel Abbott cursed.
"William, do you dare to come with me?" Colonel Dardo said jokingly.
"I've already lost sixteen people in the attack just now! Why should I let my people go? If you like me, I'll take less of them!"
Colonel Abbott didn't want to sacrifice his men anymore. Originally, his own people died the most when crossing the desert, so now he has the least say.
If you add the brothers you have in your hands, I'm afraid those guys won't even be able to share the soup with you.
Colonel Abbott had this idea, and so did other US military officers. After all, everyone wants to eat meat, but no one wants to lose their front teeth.
As a result, more than 4,000 American troops were in a stalemate with the aborigines in Wubao. What they didn't know was that the brother troops on the other side of the mountain had been wiped out by the Austrian army and the native Indians, and even they themselves became someone else's prey.
In fact, the U.S. military lacks intelligence on Austria, and they always believe that it is impossible for the Austrian army, which has only more than 10,000 people, to split up its forces.
After all, neither side knew the other's strength, but they were wrong. The Austrian side did a good job in intelligence work, and the aboriginal people in California were their informants.
When the U.S. military discovered a large number of Austrian troops suddenly coming out from behind and exchanged fire with them, they realized that the ones being surrounded were not regular Austrian troops at all.