Chapter 468: Shame
In the wilderness of Tamaulispa, Mexico. gnaw
The Arkansas regiment, which was singing songs and rushing their fellow Mexicans all the way south, was unaware of the mobilization of the Mexican army.
After sacking a small village called Hidalgo, more than a thousand soldiers of the Arkansas Regiment continued their march southward under the command of their regiment leader, Colonel Christopher.
Their target is Victoria City in the southeast!
Many Arkansans have begun to fantasize about taking over Victoria and becoming rich overnight.
This was their motivation to go to war.
Soon, the increasingly loud sound of horse hooves interrupted the fantasy of these old Arkansas buddies.
Mexican cavalry slowly appeared on the distant skyline. gnaw
Dozens of cavalry, hundreds of cavalry, two to three hundred cavalry, five to six hundred cavalry, up to thousands of cavalry
More and more Mexican cavalry appeared in the Arkansans' sight.
"We are surrounded by Mexican cavalry!"
Upon seeing this, Colonel Christopher immediately pulled out the Colt revolver from his waist and directed the Arkansans to line up and fight back.
The cavalry is an elite symbol in any country, including countries like Mexico.
The veterans of the Arkansas regiment scolded their helpless recruits.
"Damn it! You new recruit, do you want to die?!"
"Why are you so dazed?! Quickly stand in line for me!"
"Where's the gun?! Where's your gun?!"
"Reload, reload now! Damn it, are you going to use the fire stick in your hand to deal with the Mexican cavalry?!"
For infantry, especially new recruits in the infantry, the shock and fear brought to them by encountering thousands of cavalry in the wilderness is obvious.
The veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time can still maintain their sanity. Facing the cavalry's collapse, there is only one way to die.
Their only way to survive was to line up against the Mexican cavalry and wait for the arrival of friendly forces. gnaw
It's a pity that there are so few veterans of the Arkansas Regiment.
On average, each veteran was required to lead at least five new recruits, which was the lowest ratio of veterans among almost all the southern armies that participated in the war.
This kind of troop configuration is acceptable for low-intensity downwind battles, but it will be difficult to make a difference once a strong enemy is encountered.
The new recruits in the Arkansas regiment quickly lost control. Their desire to survive outweighed their fear of the veterans.
Many new soldiers fled northward before engaging the enemy.
After the veterans forcibly killed more than a dozen deserters, the Arkansas regiment managed to regain its formation with the efforts of the veterans, formed a loose and crooked line like a squirming earthworm, and reluctantly attacked the Mexican cavalry. Sporadic shooting responded.
The soldiers of the Arkansas regiment were mainly equipped with old muskets, and their counterattack did not cause much losses to the Mexican cavalry. gnaw
When they were only forty or fifty yards away, the Mexicans took out their rifles and shot at the hurried Arkansas soldiers.
Immediately, these Mexicans took out their sabers, mounted their horses and brandished their sabers, and came straight towards the Americans.
Mexican teenager Gonzalez took the lead and set his sights on Christopher, who was wearing a double-breasted gray fur coat.
Christopher's clean double-breasted coat and colonel's badge on his shoulders stood out among a group of grizzled Arkansas soldiers wearing tattered short jackets.
Christopher quickly noticed the young Mexican officer rushing toward him. He pointed the muzzle of his gun at Gonzalez, continuously pulled the trigger and pressed the hammer.
Facing Christopher's gun, Gonzalez nimbly buried his head on the horse's neck, deftly dodged Christopher's shot, and then continued to rush towards Christopher.
After three consecutive shots missed, Christopher pulled the trigger again. gnaw
Only this time, what reached Christopher's ears was not the deafening sound of gunfire, but the crisp sound of metal collision.
Unconsciously, he had emptied the bullet in the cylinder.
When Christopher saw this, he threw away his pistol and was about to draw his sword to fight. He saw a white light flashing in front of his eyes and then lost consciousness.
After completing the first round of attacks, the Mexican cavalry did not hesitate to fight, but quickly retreated to make room for the following infantry.
After the Mexican cavalry withdrew, the Mexican soldiers who had been lying in wait for a long time appeared in front of the two wings of the Arkansas regiment, as if growing out of the ground.
As for the road heading north, it was blocked by Mexican cavalry.
The Mexican army is determined to eat them. gnaw
At this time, even many veterans of the Arkansas regiment fell into despair. Their commander died in battle. Facing the Mexican army with three or four times their own number and cavalry, unless a miracle happened, they would die.
Miracle
If they did not go deep alone and kept a certain marching distance from the Virginia regiment behind them, there might be a miracle, and maybe the Virginia regiment would have enough time to rescue them.
It's a pity that they are far away from the main force now, so there won't be any miracles.
Now that I think about it, their idea of rushing ahead and trying to take the first place in Victoria City was very ridiculous.
This is not about grabbing the first prize. This is clearly about rushing to death.
After a brief resistance, facing the heavy encirclement of the Mexican army, the remnants of the Arkansas regiment chose to surrender to the Mexicans with a white flag and surrendered their military flag. gnaw
The news first reached Victoria City.
In the Governor's Palace in Victoria City, Mexican President Santa Ana was dressed in military uniform. He was pacing back and forth restlessly.
Santa Anna sometimes talked to himself, sometimes prayed to God, asking God to bless Mexico and hope that Gonzalez would return victorious.
"We won!"
When the battle report from the front reached the Governor's Palace in Victoria City, Santa Anna danced with joy regardless of his image as the president of a country.
The Mexican teenager Gonzalez became famous for this battle.
The whole country of Mexico was excited.
Since the first Mexican-American War, Mexico has been defeated more than won.
Even if there are a few victories occasionally, they are only small victories that cannot be put on the table.
In this ambush, the Mexican army actually wiped out a regiment of the US army and captured the opponent's flag.
This is a great victory that has never been seen in Mexican history, and it is an unprecedented victory!
The morale of the Mexican army, which was originally low, was greatly boosted.
The Americans are just like this, and it is not impossible to fight.
But it is a different scene to the south of the US military.
After learning that the Arkansas regiment was completely wiped out, General Jackson, the commander of the Southern Army, once suspected that there was something wrong with his hearing. After confirming that there was no problem with his hearing, he repeatedly asked about the reliability of the news.
After confirming the authenticity of the news, Jackson was stunned on the spot and could not react for a long time.
Soon, the news that the Arkansas regiment was completely wiped out spread from Mexico to Texas, and from Texas to the southern states, to Washington, and to the northern free states.
This news quickly caused an uproar in the United States.
The northern free states were not enthusiastic about this war. The Southern Army suffered a setback in Mexico, a regiment was completely wiped out, and the military flag was taken away by the Mexicans.
Such a big handle will naturally not be let go by the anti-war factions.
The "Ten Wins and Ten Losses Theory", which was originally widely circulated among the people and had many supporters, was also taken out by the anti-war factions and repeatedly whipped and slapped in the face.
The argument in the article that America has ten wins and Mexico has ten losses was changed by the anti-war faction to America has ten losses and Mexico has ten wins to mock the war factions in the South.
There were even voices in Congress calling for a timely stop loss, an apology to Mexico and a ceasefire as soon as possible.
Faced with this discordant and abrupt situation, Fillmore could only forcefully suppress these opposing voices in Congress.
He was one of the initiators of the declaration of war on Mexico. If he stopped the war at this time, it would be a major failure in his political career, and his resignation was inevitable.
Moreover, it was impossible for a war machine that had been started with great difficulty to stop just because of a mechanical failure.
A ceasefire in an indecent way would only intensify domestic conflicts. This was contrary to Fillmore's original intention of starting the war.
Based on this alone, Fillmore would never allow a hasty ceasefire.
Ceasefire now? Is it a joke?
Fillmore could temporarily suppress the anti-war voices in Congress, but there was one voice that Fillmore could not avoid no matter what.
That was to disband the Arkansas Regiment and change its commander.
Secretary of War Scott asked to personally command the next battle.
Fillmore accepted the proposal to disband the Arkansas Regiment.
After all, the Arkansas Regiment lost too disgracefully, and even the military flag was surrendered by the Mexicans. A unit whose military flag could be taken away by the enemy naturally had no need to exist.
However, in order to appease the emotions of the South, Fillmore still kept a hand. As long as the military flag could be taken back, the Arkansas Regiment would be allowed to rebuild.
As for the request to change the commander, Fillmore did not agree. Although he had no military background, he also knew that changing the commander on the battlefield was a taboo.
What's more, Scott was a Northern general. Letting a Northern general command an army composed entirely of Southerners would only make the army more and more chaotic.
Moreover, Jackson only suffered a defeat, a defeat that was observed by the whole country with a magnifying glass and whose consequences were infinitely magnified.
If the public opinion had not deliberately exaggerated this defeat, this defeat would at best be a tactical failure. It was not even a defeat at the battle level.
Fillmore was still clear-headed, and the initiative on the Mexican battlefield was still in the hands of the United States.
Considering the brilliant achievements Jackson had made in the Mexican battlefield before, Fillmore had no reason to change the commander.
Even though Fillmore sternly rejected Scott's request for a change of commander, the War Department, which was composed of northerners, remained unyielding.
The attitude of the War Department was very tough, requiring Jackson to be responsible for the defeat. Jackson could continue to serve as commander, but the commander-in-chief of the war against Mexico must be replaced.
This time, the candidates for the commander-in-chief given by the War Department were Robert Lee, a southern general who had a good impression on northerners, and Liang Yao, a famous general in California.
Fillmore could not stand the pressure and sent a telegram to the front, asking Liang Yao if he was interested in serving as the commander-in-chief to coordinate the operations on the east and west fronts.
The intense reaction of Washington to this defeat was beyond Liang Yao's expectations.
Liang Yao realized that due to the irreconcilable contradictions in the United States, the tolerance for failure in the country would only decrease.
After receiving the telegram, the pressure came to Liang Yao.