Chapter 514: Wrapping Oneself in a Cocoon

Across the ocean, Washington

A ray of sunlight shines through the window onto the desk of the White House owner. The tenth president of the United States sits quietly at the desk, and the desk in front of him is piled with documents marked in eye-catching red.

John Tyler is no longer young, and his white hair and deep wrinkles on his face are the best proof.

The outbreak of the Mexican-American War even made him neglect his newlywed wife. Fortunately, his wife came to visit him every night, but although it relieved his mental pressure, he often felt that his body was hollowed out.

Back to the subject, the development of the war is still as planned so far. The advancement of the north and south lines is smooth. The Mexicans were beaten and abandoned their armor and armor. They could not take care of each other. The several attacks they launched were also repelled by the US military. Now they can only stay in the fortress.

Especially on the southern line, the US military not only controlled the coastline, but also easily obtained the navy built by the Mexicans at a high price.

Once Mexico's maritime supply line was interrupted, it would be completely unable to confront the United States with its own strength. Although this offended the Austrian Empire, it also basically cut off its possibility of assisting Mexico.

Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, commander of the Second US Expeditionary Force in Mexico, easily captured Veracruz (a port city) and found a large amount of supplies at the port, which would ease the logistical pressure of his own troops to a certain extent.

After all, he had 50,000 troops under his command at this time, but the 50,000 expeditionary troops were still at a disadvantage facing the 100,000 Mexican garrison troops. However, the commander was not worried at all, because the population advantage of the United States was emerging at this time.

Before the war, the federal army had only 130,000 people, but it had expanded to 230,000 people at this time, and this number would continue to increase with the passage of time.

You must know that at this time, the United States has a population of more than 20 million, and there are countless poor people who can't survive, cowboys who are not afraid of death, and vagrants. In addition, John Tyler promoted to these generals that the mobilization limit of the United States can reach 500,000 people.

Of course, what really makes them feel at ease is not these reinforcements that are about to arrive, but the careful layout of the United States over the years.

First, the separatist forces in southern Mexico will launch a rebellion. At the same time, the Mexican political opposition Joaquin de Herrera and General José Apte del Car announced that Tassan Anna had committed treason, and the former was inaugurated as the new president in St. Louis.

This was of course a trick of the Americans. Joaquin de Herrera and José Apte del Car were simply puppets of the former, with the purpose of attacking Mexico and also to shut up the great powers.

Although this move was despicable and shameless, it was directly effective. More than half of the 100,000 defenders left at home by Tassan Anna instantly rebelled.

He also tried to attack the Grande River Fortress several times, but all ended in failure. At this time, his retreat was cut off and he was in a desperate situation.

He was now facing a difficult choice, that is, Mexico City was in danger. If he did not return to help, once the opponent took the capital, it would directly lead to a sharp turn for the worse, and the soldiers would have no fighting spirit and the generals would have no fighting spirit, because many of their families were still there.

In fact, this was originally because Tasan Anna wanted to bring his brothers together to enjoy the good life, and at the same time, he came up with this method to more firmly control his troops. But at this time, he was trapped in his own cocoon and became his death warrant.

There will be a lot of troubles in returning for help, and he may even become the eternal sinner of Mexico. Because at this time, Tasan Anna's main force is still in the Albuquerque Fortress, which can also deter the French and Americans.

But once these soldiers leave, will the enemy take advantage of the opportunity to seize these territories belonging to their country? Will they pursue the victory?

The future is unknown, Tasan Anna is still waiting for news, but this kind of waiting will be extremely difficult.

In fact, the French intelligence department is not weak, so they learned about the fire in the rear of Mexico very early.

Guys like Guizot who take advantage of every opportunity will naturally not miss such a good opportunity. Excited, he immediately called the generals of the Texas colony to discuss how to quickly seize the Mexican territory.

At the same time, he also asked Paris for help, hoping that Louis Philippe would change his opinion, approve the war plan, and send some reinforcements.

But the Mexicans' inaction made the French suspicious, and what confused them even more was that the United States suddenly stopped moving.

This was even more strange. The French even began to suspect that the Americans were going to attack from behind, so the plan to attack Fort Albuquerque had to be postponed again and again.

Fort Albuquerque was the largest fortress in northern Mexico at that time. It controlled the two largest routes. Once it was lost, the enemy could go down the river and take over a large area of ​​land in southern New Mexico (now Arizona and New Mexico in the United States).

In fact, the American adventurers who were unwilling to be lonely did not really want to make trouble, but yellow fever was rampant in the Grande River military camp. In the extreme lack of doctors, medicines and mosquito nets, the sick soldiers could only wait to die, and the whole camp was filled with a pessimistic atmosphere.

Coupled with the atrocities committed by the US military against Mexican villages and towns in the early stages of the war, such as massacres, genocide, burning churches, and doing dirty things under the statues, some Mexicans cursed them for a bad death.

Some sick soldiers thought of the enemy's curse when they were dying, and began to talk nonsense with a high fever.

So the legend of Indian voodoo spread in the military camp. It is well known that ignorance and fear are the breeding grounds of superstition.

These Americans generally had low cultural quality, and the high mortality rate of yellow fever made the US soldiers believe in the rumors of Indian voodoo, so much so that they burned everything related to the Indians nearby and prayed every day that they could return home safely.

Seeing that the soldiers were in such a crazy state, the officers naturally could not turn a blind eye, and some people stepped forward to stop this absurd behavior.

But within a few days, those officers who walked out of the barracks to drive the soldiers away fell ill, and now the senior officers of the army, including General Zachary Taylor, commander of the US Third Army, did not curse.

The US First Army, which was responsible for the attack on California, suffered huge losses. They never expected that the vanguard would be wiped out, and they did not expect the Austrians to take the initiative to attack.

Obviously, after a long journey, these elite US troops were exhausted, and even many of the pack horses they brought had died of exhaustion, and the subsequent supplies were intermittent.

(The Mexican army's harassment of the U.S. military's logistics supply troops in the early stages of the war had a certain effect.)

The actual establishment of the U.S. First Army should be 50,000 people, but due to the empty salaries and the losses of the vanguard and on the road, there are only more than 30,000 people left at this time.

According to intelligence, the total strength of the Austrian Empire in California is about 10,000, so at this time, the commander of the First Army, Stephen Kearney, did not think that he had the ability to launch a large-scale raid on his troops.

But he still felt a little uneasy because he had not received any news from the vanguard, so he sent another 10,000 troops as an outpost, and all of this was seen by the Austrian scouts.