Chapter 63: Battle of San Jacinto

April 21, 1836.

San Jacinto, Texas, USA.

Historically, in San Jacinto, the Texas Army led by American settler Sam Houston defeated the Mexican Army of Tasan Anna in just 18 minutes with a small force.

In this battle, Sam Houston attacked the Mexican Army of 3,000 with 800 troops, causing the Mexican Army to lose more than 700 people, and only 11 of his own men were killed. It can be said that he was a happy man in North America, except that Zhang Babai and Sun Shiwan were replaced by Sam Houston and Tasan Anna.

Perhaps it was a historical coincidence that after the Battle of the Alamo, Tasan Anna completely cleared the remaining forces of the Texas Army around San Antonio and decided to go north.

This day happened to be April 21, 1836.

Tassan Anna received reinforcements from Mexico, and the total force has reached 12,000 people, but 4,000 troops need to be left in San Antonio to prevent being cut off.

A Comanche tribe was bribed by the Americans, and Tassan Anna sent a 2,000-man army to teach them a lesson they will never forget.

At the same time, according to intelligence, an American team is besieging Fort Marion.

Any officer can see that this is definitely a tactic of the Americans to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Gabrentz and Stadion both think that they should abandon Fort Marion and go north directly to besiege Austin.

In this way, whether the Americans are really fighting or pretending to fight, they have to go back to Austin.

Because once Austin falls, the Americans' retreat will be completely cut off, and there will only be one fortress left in the north, Dallas.

In this way, the initiative of the war is in the hands of the Mexican side. At that time, whether to besiege the point to attack the reinforcements or to increase troops to besiege, it will not be up to the Americans.

After listening to the advice of the two generals, Tasan Anna decided to send the main force to Marion to relieve the siege, and he led his troops to find a place to camp first.

First, the weather was too hot, and second, Archduke Franz Karl suggested: build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle.

Franz was not in Mexico, and his understanding of military affairs may not be very deep, but he only knew this period of history, and he firmly believed that this raid was a conspiracy.

In fact, it was the Mexicans who betrayed Tasan Anna. There were many factions in Mexico. Some people were dissatisfied with Tasan Anna, so they revealed Tasan Anna's battle plan to Sam Houston and used a false intelligence to lead away Tasan Anna's 3,000 main forces.

At this time, Tasan Anna was only accompanied by 2,500 Mexican soldiers, 200 temporarily recruited Texans, and 300 black soldiers.

Tasan Anna followed Franz's advice and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, but he still hated black slaves. Three hundred black soldiers were only given 150 guns and some cold weapons.

But the black soldiers had no complaints and still worshipped Tasan Anna as a savior.

Sam Houston led 800 Texas soldiers to ambush next to Tasan Anna's camp. He was waiting for a signal. The person who sold him the intelligence promised to burn the bridge to cut off Tasan Anna's retreat.

"Mr. Houston, will we die?" asked the new recruit Jimmy.

Jimmy was a young Texas volunteer. He was originally a horse herder. One day, several American fellows ran to his farm and said that the Mexicans would take away all his horses and confiscate his land. Jimmy was very angry and joined the Texas Army with a gun despite his mother's obstruction.

Jimmy had killed people. There were some Indians who always wandered around his ranch and claimed that his land belonged to the Indians.

So Jimmy's father hired some cowboys to wipe out the Indian tribe.

Jimmy was also there. When he saw an old Indian trying to jump into the river to escape, he pulled the trigger and the old man fell to the riverside. Jimmy's hunting dog excitedly rushed forward to bite the prey.

Jimmy's father saw Jimmy knock down an Indian with a gun and excitedly handed Jimmy a knife.

"Jimmy, use this to peel off his scalp, like a man."

Jimmy took his father's knife and grabbed the Indian's hair.

Jimmy's father made a pair of boots for Jimmy with Jimmy's spoils and gave it to Jimmy as a birthday present.

But Jimmy's hands couldn't stop shaking when he went to the battlefield for the first time.

Houston looked at the new recruit whose beard had not yet grown, smiled, and kissed the child's forehead.

"Everyone has to die, but it won't be us who die today. Don't worry, child, God is with us."

"Are the ancestors of Mexicans all criminals and Indians? Mr. Houston." Jimmy asked.

"No, but there are indeed many mixed-race people in Mexico."

"What about those black slaves?" Jimmy pointed to the black troops at the edge of the camp.

"They are our property, which was taken away by the shameless Mexican dictator. We Texans are fighting to protect our property and our freedom."

Suddenly, a fire broke out on the bridge, and there was a riot in Tasan Anna's camp. The soldiers were at a loss. Some were fighting the fire, and some were running around aimlessly.

Tasan Anna was making out with his mistress, Miss Jenny, in his tent. He had been in the Mexican army for many years and was used to this mess. He just yelled to the adjutant outside.

"Camare, go see what's going on? Shut them up!"

Gabrentz and Stadion wanted to stop the chaos, but their Spanish was poor, and the Mexican soldiers didn't listen to orders at all. At this time, they saw Camare.

"General Camare, you're here just in time. Let them stop and put out the fire. Otherwise, the bridge will be burned and it will be difficult to supply the army."

Camare nodded. He understood the importance of the bridge and pulled out his pistol.

"Bang! Bang!"

"Stop!" Camare's words were not finished yet, and there was a gunshot, and a bullet hit Camare.

Camare covered his chest in disbelief, and the soldiers around him looked at each other. At this time, more bullets were fired, and several Mexican soldiers who were still standing were knocked down.

A shell exploded in the air, and the scattered bullets brought a bloody storm in the camp.

The fallen soldiers smashed the campfire and soon ignited the surrounding tents, and the Mexican army became more chaotic.

Houston seized the opportunity, knowing that he would go down in history in this battle.

"For freedom! For our land! Charge!"

Houston's Texas Army was unstoppable and soon broke through the Mexican Army's defense line. They were less than 200 meters away from Tasan Anna's tent.

While the Mexican Army was fleeing, a group of black soldiers blocked Houston's Texas Army with their flesh and blood.

Most of these black soldiers were liberated slaves. They had only undergone simple training, and many of them even used rifles as magic and fired randomly.

However, these black soldiers resisted the Texas Army's surprise attack with amazing courage.

Houston knew that the opportunity to end the war was right in front of him, and he had to do it at all costs.

"Brothers! Tasan Anna is in front, follow me!"

The black slaves on the opposite side kept roaring and rushed towards the Texas Army.

The black soldiers launched a desperate charge, which delayed the Texas Army's pace and bought time for Gabrentz and Stadion to reorganize their troops.

Faced with the Mexican Army that began to counterattack, Houston had no choice but to retreat.

At this time, a man hugged his thigh. It was Jimmy whose foot was injured.

"Mr. Houston, please, save me."

Houston looked at Jimmy who was lying on the ground, and then looked at the Mexican Army that was surrounding him. He hit Jimmy in the face with the butt of a gun and fled with his troops.

Historically, Houston captured Tasan Anna at the cost of eleven people, thus ending the Texas War and laying the foundation for the United States' psychological advantage over Mexico for a hundred years.

However, three hundred black soldiers changed history with their lives.

In this battle, the Texas Army lost less than two hundred people, causing nearly a thousand casualties in the Mexican Army, and burned countless Mexican supplies. The black soldiers paid a huge price, with only twenty-three people surviving from three companies.