Chapter 540 Duke Xiang of Song in North America

After the cavalry left, the officers asked for battle. Tasan Anna turned to his army and said.

"Do you know what we're going to do?"

The soldiers chanted "Push the Americans overboard!".

"Good! Ambitious! But the Yankees came to our land and occupied our homes, took away our food, and ruined our women.

What’s even more hateful is that there are still people leading the way for these shameless invaders. We want to take back what belongs to us! "Tasan Anna paused briefly, and then shouted again.

"What do we do now!?"

"Grab money, grain, and women!"

"Okay! It's time for us to perform, let's go!"

Outside Veracruz, the wolf-like Mexican army easily broke through the US defense line. Due to the interruption of communications, the entire US military's command system was in chaos, and the so-called defense was ineffective.

Winfield, who was in the manor, couldn't contact his troops at all, so he could only throw those exquisite porcelain in Tasang Anna's manor.

"Report! Brigadier General John requests reinforcements!"

"Report! Colonel Dutch requests reinforcements!"

"Report! Colonel Thomas has surrendered and the fortress of Kal has fallen."

For a time, news about the Mexican army was everywhere, and the US military had fallen into complete passivity. What is even more frightening than this is that a large number of messengers from the headquarters are missing. Winfield is unable to command his troops at all.

At the rate Mexico was advancing, he would have to swim back to the United States in one day.

At this time, most of the "young heroes" invited by Winfield were rushing to board the ship, preparing to escape from this "land of honor."

Of course, some people tried to fight for honor, but naturally they were drowned by the Mexican army's human wave tactics.

On the other hand, after Grant discovered that the number of Mexican troops was far greater than imagined, he immediately chose to retreat and took over a battalion without officers. He successfully blocked the advance of a Mexican army by relying on the superior terrain.

However, Grant's efforts were of little help to the overall situation, and due to the lack of friendly assistance, his position soon became an isolated island, and it was only a matter of time before it was overwhelmed by the Mexicans.

In fact, due to the example of the cavalry and the temptation of robbery, the morale of the Mexican army exploded at this time.

And Tasan Anna was a loyal believer of Napoleon. Coupled with long-term exchanges with Austrian officers, he felt that it was just justice to stick the cannon on the enemy's face.

In fact, the so-called communication between the Austrian military observers and Tasan Anna was more like a joke at the wine table.

But the latter obviously took it seriously, but due to its strong prestige and influence in the Mexican army, it turned this joke into a reality.

Due to the long-distance forced march, Tasang Anna lacked heavy artillery, but even a three-pounder cannon's direct fire within dozens of meters was extremely terrifying.

The morale of the US military, which was already low, became even worse after being shot in the face. The US military also seemed very inexperienced when they were defeated. Instead of surrendering, they chose to flee in all directions, which gave the other side an excuse to continue killing.

In fact, in the Western wars at this time, as long as one side surrendered, the other side rarely continued to kill. Even the Jacobins during the French Revolution needed a symbolic trial to deal with the royal party.

Although North America was a wild land at this time, the minimum rules still had to be followed. Especially for someone like Tasan Anna, who wanted to be the Napoleon of North America, honor was even greater than his life.

However, the US military chose to escape, which is not a bad move, because what the Mexican army is best at is chasing the rebels, which is the so-called "catching the rabbit."

Seeing the fleeing U.S. troops, the Mexican army was as crazy as a hound that smelled the smell of blood. In order to better appreciate his victory, Tasan Anna decided to go to the front line in person, which boosted the morale of the Mexican army.

The battle was almost one-sided, with the U.S. military retreating steadily.

At this time, the old general Winfield and a group of young officers were also fighting for the ship to return home. Arguments and curses were heard in the port, and from time to time there were gunshots and the sound of falling into the water.

Those young gentlemen who usually respected Winfield were eager to kick this "old gangster" off the trestle.

The crowded crowds and chaotic order are very similar to the Spring Festival travel scenes in later generations.

They were so beautiful when they came, but they were so embarrassed when they escaped.

In particular, the fate of those spiritual Americans was even more miserable. Even if they escaped on the ship, they would be thrown into the sea by the American soldiers. The docks were full of crying women.

The order in the city was equally bad. Some American soldiers took advantage of the chaos to break into the homes of local civilians, plunder property, commit violence and kill innocent people. There was a doomsday-like scene everywhere.

At this time, Tasan Anna suddenly thought of a problem. It seemed that winning by himself was not honorable enough. He should organize the battle head-on like Napoleon to be a real victory.

So he ordered the attack to stop and sent an envoy to invite the U.S. military for a "frontal confrontation."

When the Mexican army's envoy arrived in front of Winfield, he could hardly believe his ears.

"Our army will give you three days. You can regroup and prepare for war, you can surrender, or you can flee back home."

After the Mexican army envoy finished reading, he walked away, leaving a group of US military officers messy in the wind.

That's right, the Mexican army chose to cease fire when they had an absolute advantage. This was great news for the US military and Winfield.

Three days was enough for them to regroup and to withdraw most of their officers and non-commissioned officers with backgrounds back to the United States.

However, as a famous general, Winfield would naturally not choose the latter. He chose to reorganize the team in two days and launch a surprise attack at dawn on the third day.

The Mexican army, which was not prepared at all, was still washing and cooking, and Tasan Anna himself had not even gotten up yet. As a result, a big defeat returned all the previously occupied positions to the US military.

Winfield and Tasan Anna were back on the same starting line again. The latter, who was forced to retreat, could only curse "Americans have no martial ethics!"

At the same time, in the US Grande River Barracks, Zachary Taylor could no longer suppress the news of the spread of plague in the army.

A large number of soldiers suffering from yellow fever became corpses within a few days or more than ten days because they did not receive timely care.

The terrible thing about yellow fever is its extremely high infection efficiency and terrifying mortality rate.

In history, in 1762, the British army invaded Cuba, and as a result, 8,000 of the 15,000 soldiers died of yellow fever. In 1793, one-fifth of the population of Philadelphia (the largest city in the United States at that time) died of yellow fever.

In 1800, someone brought yellow fever to southern Spain. According to statistics, at least 60,000 people died of the disease, and the actual number may be two to three times this number.

In 1843, a small town in Panama broke out with yellow fever, and 430 of the 720 residents died within a month.

A large number of American soldiers' bodies were not buried in time. Although they did not turn into zombies, they produced a new plague. The Grande River military camp was like a poison pot at this time.

The sanitation conditions and health concepts of the 19th century could not prevent the spread of such diseases. Some doctors were still bleeding soldiers, but they suddenly began to bleed from their mouths and noses and eventually fell in a pool of blood.

Because yellow fever destroys the body's coagulation function and is accompanied by high fever and convulsions, the death of the patients is often extremely miserable.

In addition, the patient often has bloodshot eyes or blood oozing out of the eyes, ears, mouth, nose and other sensory organs before the disease occurs. Of course, there will also be precursors such as hematuria and bloody stool.

Therefore, this terrifying and strange disease has caused great psychological pressure on US soldiers.