Chapter 516 A Disaster

The scene inside the military camp was like purgatory, and outside the military camp Stephen Carney was furious. He obviously didn't understand why his army was attacked. There was obviously Major General Carter and his men in front, and he had built the camp airtight.

In addition, there was another scandal that made the embarrassed general even more angry, that is, what was his garrison doing? Why hadn't those damn attackers been eliminated?

In fact, what Carney didn't know was that his patrol team still reacted very quickly, but the enemy's elite hunters had already ambushed on the road in advance, and it was really not easy to organize a counterattack and charge in the dark.

The Austrian side did not have many people, but they had enough throwing weapons and rockets, and the hunters who had been prepared had buried explosives on the route where the other side might attack. As soon as the two sides came into contact, the US military suffered very heavy losses.

This made the officers of the patrol team suddenly fall into the illusion that "the main force of the Austrians has arrived". They naturally did not want to wash their necks and die foolishly, but hesitation would obviously magnify the fear.

The American soldiers enjoyed the torment of the rain of fire, and the fear in their hearts was infinitely magnified.

Soon some people could not withstand the pressure and began to escape, and it was too easy to slip away from those busy officers in the night.

When the officers found that their men were constantly decreasing, it was too late to order the soldiers to charge.

Only a small number of soldiers seemed to obey the orders of their superiors, and then with a burst of gunfire, they ran back, and some even lay on the ground pretending to be dead.

One officer wanted to maintain the military prestige, so he chose to shoot the deserters to set an example, but he forgot that many of these so-called soldiers were outlaws.

Sure enough, after the officer shot a deserter, a bayonet stabbed into his stomach.

"You bunch of... country bumpkins... hurry up." The officer's eyes widened in disbelief, and then several bayonets stabbed into his stomach.

After stabbing their superiors to death, the American soldiers did not disperse, but ran while shouting.

"The superior was stabbed to death by the Austrians, run! The enemy is coming!"

This angered an Austrian chasseur battalion commander who could understand English, and he cursed.

"Come back! Who told you to charge! Guard me!"

The battalion commander checked for a long time and did not find any shortage of soldiers under his command, thinking "Could it be that the enemy is charging desperately?"

The shouts of the American fleeing soldiers had no other impact on the Austrian side, except for a few officers who knew English and were still suspicious.

But this news was the worst news for those unlucky people who had just escaped from the fire.

Soon a frustrated attack turned into a great retreat.

Although Stephen Carney actually sent his surviving men to take over the troops as soon as he escaped from the fire, all the officers who tried to stop the fleeing soldiers were killed without exception.

A large number of fleeing soldiers fled with their comrades who were still confused, and no one knew where they were going.

Stephen Carney could only lead the guards and his gathered troops to stop the fleeing soldiers in person.

He thought that as the commander of the First Army of the United States, he was fully capable of turning the tide. After all, every soldier should know him as a general.

But the reality was that Stephen Carney and his troops blocked the way of the fleeing soldiers, and someone opened fire before the two sides spoke.

Carney's horse was frightened and raised its front hooves high to throw this guy out directly, and his troops started to counterattack without receiving any orders.

The battle scene was very chaotic, and the muzzle-loading rifles were slow to load, but as long as there were enough of them, the sound of gunfire could also be achieved.

However, due to the darkness and the inability to distinguish between friend and foe, these remaining American soldiers could not accurately load the weapons.

Although neither side wanted to fight to the death, a bayonet battle began as the fire continued to spread.

The two sides fought desperately for the same goal of "survival". If they could stab with a bayonet, they would stab into the other party's body. If they were stuck in the bones, they would use their fists or teeth. In short, they would do their best and try their best to survive.

After a night of fighting, Stephen Carney's troops won the final "victory" and they survived to the end.

However, when the sun rose again the next morning, they found that the people they fought with yesterday were actually their comrades, and the camp no longer existed, with stinking corpses all over the ground.

Carney, with a bandage on his head, stared blankly at the sad scene in front of him. He suffered too much in this battle.

More than 7,000 soldiers were killed or missing, and 80% of the supplies they carried were lost. Fortunately, he built the arsenal outside the camp, and those precious artillery were still alive.

In fact, the main purpose of the Austrian attack was to destroy the opponent's arsenal, but due to insufficient effective intelligence, the target was not found, otherwise the effect of the firestorm would be more severe, and the enemies who saw God in advance would probably be more.

Last night, the number of people who died in the rocket attack and the subsequent fire was about 1,000, and about 1,500 people died in the melee caused by the fleeing soldiers, and the rest were missing.

In fact, it is not surprising that there are so many deserters, because it was dark at the time, and the chaos caused by the fireworks display and the fire it produced could easily make people fall into fear and unable to extricate themselves.

Besides, due to the physical and mental exhaustion brought by the previous trekking, many soldiers were stretched to their limits, so it was only a matter of time before a rout occurred.

Some lucky ones were not killed, but their hearts had already collapsed. These guys were the culprits of the melee last night.

The U.S. military was at a loss as to how many Austrians participated in the sneak attack, where they came from, when they set up the ambush, and other key nodes.

Many officers under Lieutenant General Stephen Carney were injured in the attack last night. At this time, these survivors were staring at a relatively intact map in a daze.

So far, the First Army of the Federal Army's understanding of the Austrian Army in California is limited to the fact that the other side has been entrenched here for many years and the approximate strength of the troops, and has cannons, rockets and a small number of light warships.

However, the specific deployment of troops, command style, tactical literacy, etc. are all unknown, which makes some U.S. military officers begin to doubt whether they can win this war.

However, Lieutenant General Stephen Carney did not fall into such thinking at this time, and he had no doubt that the United States would be the final winner.

He knew the entire war plan of the United States very well, and he knew how terrible the mobilization ability of the US military was.

Stephen Carney was now thinking about how to cover up this defeat.

Yes, this defeat is very likely to affect his career. Zachary Taylor in the Whig Party is his competitor, and the latter performed well in the battle to defend the Grande River.

Not to mention that the two of them came from different backgrounds, one in the sky and the other in the ground. Compared with the other, Carney's resume is far inferior. If he had not been appreciated by Andrew Jackson for massacring several Indian villages, he would not have been able to sit in such a high position at this time.

"Write to President John Tyler and tell him that the Austrian army in California has at least 100,000 people. We have been deceived! Request the country to send troops to support immediately. We will hold our ground here. Long live America! The Star-Spangled Banner will never fall!"