Chapter 525: Battle of Escondido Village (Part 2)

Outside the village of Escondido, the harassment of the Austrian cavalry greatly weakened the U.S. military's firepower and troop superiority in the village.

The billowing black smoke rising in the direction of San Diego is even more frightening to the US military. After all, no matter what era the army is, once it runs out of logistical supplies, it will become a chicken and a dog. This is an almost unchangeable law.

As an excellent commander, Robert Stockton naturally knew what this meant, so he immediately ordered the storming of Escondido Village. Only in this way could victory be achieved at the negotiation table.

However, Robert Stockton still overestimated his troops. After the Austrian troops in the village of Escondido discovered that the American firepower had weakened, they immediately began to organize a counterattack.

The elite troops of the Austrian army are concentrated on the east side where the US military's defense is relatively weak. Bullying the weak with the strong is not a clever method, it is just a conventional warfare idea.

However, actual use on the battlefield requires strong discipline and execution, which is naturally inseparable from daily training, education, and the commander's personal ability.

In fact, the ideological education of the army in this era was very backward. All the content was summed up in two words: "obedience", and the methods adopted were sticks, whips, and torture.

Ludwig von Benedek was the supreme commander of Escondido Village at this time. He was not of noble origin. His father was a doctor and his mother was the daughter of a shoemaker.

So although Benedek graduated from the Maria Theresa Military Academy in 1822, historically he was only a colonel until 1848 during the Italian War.

The Maria Theresa Military Academy was basically the Austrian version of Whampoa Military Academy, providing the empire with a large number of senior officers.

Although Ludwig von Benedek served as Moltke's background in the historical Austro-Prussian War, he even almost became the scapegoat after the defeat of the war.

But I have to say that he was actually one of the more outstanding among the "younger" generation of generals in the Austrian Empire, and there were many reasons for his failure.

For example, as the person in charge of the Italian side, he has limited understanding of the northern battlefield, his position is too low to command the arrogant and capable generals under his command, his concept of artillery and infantry is backward, his opponent is too outstanding and has strong military technology, etc...

Just after the creation of the California Military District Archduke Carl Ferdinand complained about the lack of good officers at his command, and Field Marshal Radetzky recommended Ludwig von Benedek to the War Ministry.

However, Count Latour, the Minister of War at the time, attached great importance to family background. He believed that Benedek was neither a noble nor a Hungarian and his loyalty could not be guaranteed, so he refused to reward him for promotion.

Then Franz thought of a compromise and asked Ludwig von Benedek to go to California to become a colonel.

Count Latour personally valued Archduke Franz's opinion very much. He was deeply influenced by Rauscher, the old magician, and he readily agreed without ever seeing Franz as an ordinary person.

Later, Archduke Carl Ferdinand felt that Benedek was indeed an excellent soldier. In fact, in a sense, the two had similar concepts and both were defensive generals.

As a result, the former promoted the latter to his adjutant and part-time chief of staff, which greatly improved the latter's status and eventually became the commander of Escondido Village at this time.

As an outstanding general, he has keen insight and intuition, as well as excellent organizational skills.

On the other hand, the command of the US military at this time was extremely chaotic. There were only brigadier generals and 1 Lieutenant General Stockton, who naturally knew his weakness.

As a result, each of them was responsible for their own area, which seemed to be in order, but in fact, after the war started, the arrangement was completely messed up.

Due to the huge gap in the quality of the soldiers on both sides, and the fact that the Austrian army occupied superior terrain, the US military suffered heavy casualties, but it could still rely on high morale to maintain it at first.

However, as the attack failed to take place for a long time, and the reserve team was delayed in arriving, and some of the troops responsible for the siege were even transferred away, some keen officers have discovered that something is wrong.

So they began to retreat. The officers' emotions were easily transmitted to the soldiers.

Coupled with the tenacity of the Austrian army, the US military units began to "humility" among themselves. The result of this "humility" was that the already loose siege network was full of loopholes, and it also strengthened Benedek's determination.

The U.S. Army, which was slowly advancing on the east side, suddenly discovered that the Austrian army's gunfire had stopped. Just when everyone was confused, a U.S. Army Brigadier General suddenly laughed.

"Haha! The Austrians are out of bullets! Capture that royal prince! That's such a huge fortune! American soldiers! Here's your chance to realize the American dream! Get rich today!"

As soon as the American soldiers heard this, they immediately rushed forward like chicken blood. But what greeted them was not gold or banknotes, but bright fireworks.

Suddenly a large number of rockets were fired from the ruins of the village, and dense explosions continued to sound. The US military, which had been full of momentum just now, was instantly beaten into shriveled eggplants, leaving only corpses on the ground and the dying bodies of those who were shot. Screams.

The Austrian troops began to walk out of the ruins, and the American troops hiding in the corner became even more confused.

"Are you going to surrender?"

Soon the Austrian soldiers formed a line and advanced towards the American army. At the front were several sparse rows of skirmishers.

The U.S. military had a serious shortage of artillery at this time. In addition, the east side was its weak link, and there were problems with the training quality of the U.S. military.

They poured all their firepower on the skirmish line. The Austrian skirmishers did not lose much, but the Austrian brigade had already approached the American front.

"Raise your guns!"

The Austrian soldiers raised their gun muzzles.

"Aim!"

"Shoot!"

The American soldiers, who had no formation at all, did not suffer much loss under the volley, but the pressure was too great.

The American soldiers were unwilling to go out and fight, they hoped to use the bunkers to fight back like the Austrian army did before.

However, the latter did not continue to choose to shoot at the American soldiers hiding behind the bunkers, but chose to charge with bayonets.

Then, to the surprise of the commanders of both sides, the US army collapsed almost immediately, and a few elite soldiers also collapsed after being involved in close combat.

In fact, Benedek was just testing, and his main force had not come up yet. The US military felt that the Austrian army's behavior was tantamount to suicide, and both sides should fall into a continuous war of attrition.

As a result, the U.S. military had no bayonet training, coupled with the morale and poor military discipline that was on the verge of collapse, so many soldiers did not even want to resist with a shot.

They just wanted to leave this hellhole immediately. They came for gold and survival, not to die.

At this time, the discipline and training advantages of the Austrian army were reflected. Even if it was such a suicidal charge, these Austrian soldiers who had crossed the ocean would execute it without hesitation.

As one side gained strength while the other lost strength, a sudden rout swept the U.S. military.