Chapter 519 Burn!

Vice Admiral Robert Stockton was standing on the deck of the bow with great confidence. Although this expedition encountered some twists and turns, it was generally smooth.

Especially he just got a great piece of good news - John Charles Fremont, the adventurous guy, had prepared everything in San Diego.

The letter was sent in advance. In order not to lose the direction in the vast ocean, Fremont's men chose to send the letter to the port on the way that his fleet must pass.

The actual situation was that there was no telegraph system at the time, and the fleet basically relied on receiving information at the port for communication.

"What a good guy! He completed a task that others could not complete. All we have to do now is to send the Marines ashore and wait for the fruits of victory."

Robert Stockton exclaimed sincerely, and his adjutant Montreuil Kabachi also echoed.

"Yes! Captain Fremont's courage is admirable. He is a hero of the United States! The gentlemen in Congress should give him a Purple Heart!"

"He really deserves the highest honor of the Purple Heart. Fremont has completed his mission. Now it's our turn.

Go tell the Marines that we are the most elite troops in the United States. We can only succeed and not fail!"

Lieutenant General Robert Stockton was actually not worried at all, because he was telling the truth. All his men were real regular soldiers.

Rather than the kind of temporary recruitment or poorly trained militia, there were many mercenaries who had fought in South America and top students from West Point Military Academy.

Thanks to the current propaganda in the United States, both the top leaders and the people are very optimistic about the US-Mexico War.

So some wealthy people and politicians with connections began to arrange their family children into the army to gild themselves. After all, the title of war hero sounds particularly loud and at the same time so close to the people.

At that time, many politicians portrayed themselves as tough guys, and political parties also liked to support politicians with military backgrounds to come to power. After all, these guys were relatively simple-minded and easy to control.

With the support of these rich people and politicians, the Marines naturally received more resources.

Coupled with excellent equipment and nearly perfect tactics, and now with the cooperation of the locals, he really couldn't think of losing.

In addition, according to Robert Stockton's estimate, the main force of the Austrians should be fighting Stephen Kearney of the First Army of the Federal Army.

As long as he landed in San Diego and then steadily advanced, he could sweep the rear of California and make it completely lose hope of resistance.

At that time, the lieutenant general's dream of "going straight to Huanglong" could be realized, and San Francisco, the "gold mountain", could be captured in one fell swoop.

However, according to the intelligence sent by Fremont, the actual number of Austrian troops seemed to be far more than the White House's estimate, which should be around 30,000 to 40,000, and the other side was mobilizing local immigrants to form a militia.

According to the most pessimistic estimate, the enemy's force will expand to 60,000 to 70,000 within three months.

In addition, the Austrian side loaded a large amount of black gunpowder in some of the requisitioned ships, and the purpose is very likely to use these civilian ships to destroy our warships.

This news really scared Lieutenant General Stockton. Although it was a bit unbelievable, he also gave up the idea of ​​forcibly attacking the enemy's heavily defended city.

The Austrians have been operating in California for many years. What if those artillery platforms are equipped with large-caliber coastal defense guns, and those self-destructing ships launch sneak attacks in the bay, then wouldn't their fleet be caught in a trap?

First land in San Diego to replenish supplies, and then meet with Fremont's troops. At that time, whether it is to take San Francisco directly by land and sea, or to attack Fort San Gabriel together with Stephen Kearney's First Army, it will be a natural thing, so there is no need to take risks now.

With this in mind, the fleet led by Lieutenant General Stockton accelerated to San Diego after completing the supply.

On the other hand, under Fremont's own direction, his troops captured San Diego, and the Stars and Stripes were raised at the city hall.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but he had a bad feeling. However, in order to boost morale, Fremont still fulfilled his promise and allowed the members of the insurgents to plunder.

He had more important things to do than managing those scum, that is, organizing defense.

Fremont knew that San Diego could not be lost, and the other side naturally knew it very well, so he believed that a fierce battle would happen soon.

On the Eastern Front, at the Grande River Camp, General Zachary Taylor, the commander-in-chief, had decided to move out because there were too many deaths from yellow fever.

But the damn Mexicans were like flies, sending cavalry to harass the US military supply lines every day, and he had to send people to drive them away.

Fortunately, the other side never made any big moves, and President John Tyler promised to send another 80,000 new soldiers. By that time, the Grande River's own camp would gather 160,000 people.

But Zachary Taylor was worried that the disease would spread further in the army. He hired many doctors and used many kinds of medicine, but there was no effect.

As a superbug second only to plague and smallpox in human history, yellow fever was almost untreatable before the advent of vaccines.

A lot of efforts were in vain, which made people like Zachary Taylor begin to believe in the legend of the Indian curse.

Inside the Albuquerque Fortress, Diego, wearing a mask, drove all the sick wounded soldiers into a room. There were constant groans and wailing sounds coming from inside, and some people even felt something was wrong and smashed the door desperately to escape.

But there was no mercy in the eyes of the first black general in Mexican history, even his younger brother was among them.

"Burn." Several black soldiers looked at each other, and they seemed to want the general to reconsider.

Diego walked up and grabbed the torch and personally lit the straw piled outside the house. The fire immediately jumped up, and there were constant screams, wails, and curses inside.

Then the black general kicked his guard captain to the ground with one foot, and the latter was stepped on the neck just as he was about to get up.

"Didn't you hear the president's order?" Diego roared, and the strength on his feet increased a few points. Guard captain Diego panted hard and shouted hoarsely.

"Bonebreaker, the president is gone!" Bonebreaker was Diego's name when he was a slave in the manor.

"Now that the president is gone, do we not need to obey orders? Diego, are you afraid of death?!" Diego roared with bloodshot eyes.

"I'm not afraid of death! Our brothers are not afraid of death either. Why don't you let them pick up guns and fight the enemy? Don't even give them the last dignity?" Diego also shouted loudly with red eyes.

The soldiers around also lowered their heads and clenched their fists. Yes! They are not afraid of death, but they don't want to be burned to death by their own people in such a cowardly way!

"We must defend this place, and your reckless actions will only expose the fact that we are weak! Mr. President said that anyone infected must be purified by fire, otherwise more people will be infected. Maca and Baka are also in it! They are my brother and sister."

At this point, the black man who looked like a fierce devil squatted on the ground and covered his face and cried.