As the morning sun slowly rises, a long, cold sleepless night finally ends. Pershing and his staff ate their breakfast with red eyes, and no one spoke.

On the night that had just passed, the Zapatista peasant rebels had changed their previous tactics of small-scale raids and harassment, and had actually dispatched more than 10 units of more than 100 men to attack the blockade lines, transport convoys, and supply points of the US Expeditionary Force; a total of four convoys were ambushed in one night, and another outpost was attacked, killing or seriously wounding more than 300 officers and men, and the amount of looted and burned materials was even more incalculable.

It was undoubtedly a bitter night for Pershing and his expeditionary force, and although the balance of power between the two sides remained wide, it was undoubtedly the greatest challenge the expeditionary force had faced since entering Mexico.

To this end, Pershing and his command mobilized 34 infantry regiments and 57 cavalry patrols overnight to strengthen vigilance and patrol, and exchanged fire with two peasant army units south of Morelos.

In the second half of the night, the previously extremely active peasant army finally fell silent, and the American troops were able to take this opportunity to readjust their deployment, but just before dawn, a checkpoint on the northern cordon of Morelos was touched, and 25 officers and soldiers were spared, which made General Pershing suddenly thunderous, and he immediately ordered nearby troops to conduct a close search of the area, vowing to put the group of Mexicans who did not know whether they were alive or dead.

However, until dawn, a large-scale ground search operation had not progressed. Before breakfast, Pershing hung up a telephone call to the commander of the air wing in stern terms, asking him to use all his reconnaissance forces to conduct a large-scale search of the area north of Morelos, report to the command as soon as he found any traces of the peasant army, and dispatch fighters, bombers, and airships to carry out air strikes on the peasant army.

On that very morning, the 7th National Guard Regiment in Arkansas, which had just completed its training, received an order to be sent northwest of Mexico City to participate in a search operation targeting a peasant army guerrilla unit that had ambushed a U.S. convoy last night.

The command to assemble was immediately sounded at the station of the 7th National Guard Regiment. While the soldiers were ready and standing in line on the playground as fast as they could, their commander, General George Patton, had been waiting there for a long time. This time, though, instead of roaring to vent his frustration, he squinted at the soldiers who were gradually beginning to be reborn.

"I'm glad to see you look like a soldier!" "But you remember for me, that you must never forget your beliefs!" ”

"Go ahead!"

The soldiers shouted in unison.

"Good, get in the car! Let's go kick the ass of the Mexican gangs! ”

With that, Patton was the first to board the car at the front. Although the U.S. Army does not currently have an armored division or mechanized division, it relies on strong economic and industrial strength. The army still has a fairly high degree of mechanization in logistics and transportation, trucks have long replaced horse-drawn carriages as the main means of transportation, and cavalry is still the elite of the army units, but the infantry on the road is not slower than the cavalry on the road.

By the afternoon, with the exception of the two trucks that broke down on the road and the more than 50 soldiers on board, Patton's remaining 1,500 soldiers had arrived at the designated location,—— a town 10 miles from where the convoy had been ambushed last night, and home to more than 200 families, most of them native Mexicans.

"What are we doing here?" Barton looked at the deserted town with some bewilderment, with the exception of two roads, and the town was surrounded by cropland and wilderness.

"Major. At 6 or 7 o'clock in the morning, someone saw a peasant army passing by on the west side of the town! Command orders your regiment to search the area within 6 miles of the town! ”

An army lieutenant who had arrived here before explained the situation to Patton.

"Are you sure that guy is not mistaken?" Barton asked, skeptical.

The lieutenant nodded. That's the information they bought with the Mexicans for $500, and everyone would rather believe it to be true.

Barton looked at his watch, but he was still in a bad mood:

"Bullshit. Why didn't that guy report us earlier! What time is it? The Mexicans are afraid that they have long fled a long time ago! ”

"Major, there is no way for the bandits to cross the blockade after dawn without being detected by us, and we believe that there is no good place for them to go further north! So, they must be hiding in a wooded area right now and waiting for it to get dark, so they can grab some food from the surrounding villages and towns! The lieutenant said proudly, "Huh! They must be hungry like a pack of rats by now! ”

"Alright then, Lieutenant, I hope your speculation isn't a thousand and one nights story!"

Patton turned and shouted to several of his battalion commanders:

"Listen, an ominous group of Mexican guerrillas is suspected of hiding in the nearby woods. We've got to get them out and beat them up! From now on, the 1st Battalion will be in charge of the 1st Battalion to the west, the 2nd Battalion to the north, the 3rd Battalion to the east, and within 6 miles! If you haven't found it for more than 6 miles, then go back to the town the way you came, and the regimental headquarters and I will be waiting for you here! ”

After receiving the order, the battalion commanders gathered their troops to deliver the order.

Watching the troops leave the town in batches, Barton was a little at a loss. It was at this time. A regimental cavalry company also arrived in the town.

"Hey, four legs run slower than four wheels, are you really cavalry?" Patton, who was born in cavalry, asked them mockingly.

The cavalry company commander shrugged, "Sorry, Mr. Major, you know, our men and horses need to rest halfway!" ”

Barton crossed his waist and looked at the guy with a blank face.

"Ah, rest! Alright then, you come down and rest, and I'll walk the horses for you! ”

"What? Less ...... Hey...... Ah......h

After dragging the cavalry company commander off his horse, Patton quickly turned on his horse, and then shouted to the cavalry behind:

"Hey, boys, let's go see if we can spot the bandits!"

The poor cavalry company commander could only watch as Patton pulled his men away, "This...... Who are the bandits? ”

When another American plane flew overhead, the peasant soldiers hiding in the woods were all depressed, because of these hateful, crazy planes, they had not traveled many miles since dawn. If it continues like this. The plan to arrive in the port of Tampico by tomorrow evening may be in ruins.

Several company commanders approached Rommel, "General, we have to figure out a way!" In our usual experience, the Americans will definitely buy intelligence on our whereabouts from the locals, and we can only get rid of the tracking of the Americans by walking non-stop! ”

After Gehart had translated the company commanders' opinions, Rommel nodded, then pulled out and unfolded his specially made map of Mexico, pointed to the predetermined route, and said:

"But the next thing we're going to go is the plains. It's really hard to get away from the detection of American planes! ”

I don't know if they can read it, but the company commanders are focused on the map.

After a long while, one of the company commanders muttered a great deal of the truth, and only after he had finished it all did Jehart repeat it to Rommel:

"Usually the guerrillas do not operate on the plains, because this is an area controlled by government forces, and there are American planes patrolling on a sunny day! However, our men used to travel from Morelos to Puerto Madero disguised as government troops, and they were not detected all the way, because the local security team of the government also wore big hats and coarse cloth clothes. As long as we are in a neat line on the road. Just wave and say hello when you see an American plane! ”

"Are you sure you can?" Rommel looked at the company commander in great surprise.

The company commander told him: "There is only such a precedent, and more than once!" ”

After thinking about it for a while, Rommel decided to take a risk.

Thereupon. A Mexican "local security squad" of more than 200 people swaggered down the road to the eastern coast. When the American planes spotted them and lowered their altitude to look at them, they waved and cheered enthusiastically at the planes, and the American pilots on the planes did not realize that the tall guys in the middle of the line with big hats were Germans.

In this way, Rommel's 23rd battalion moved towards the port at a faster pace again.

Just as Rommel was rejoicing in his camouflage tactics, the soldiers in charge of the guard behind him suddenly reported that a cavalry was rapidly approaching.

"Don't panic, everybody, keep marching, but be ready to fight! The Germans listened well, the tall ones bowed as much as they could, and the machine guns and submachine guns lowered as much as they could! ”

Rommel ordered decisively. Then he walked from the front of the line to the center of the line, pressed his hat down, and then took out the holster and loaded the Luger 08, and pressed the right hand holding the gun to his body.

After a while, a group of less than 100 U.S. cavalry troops appeared in people's sight, wearing flat felt hats, large cloaks, sabers on their waists, and long riding boots, which looked no different from the cavalry of the American Civil War from a distance, except for the "Patton sword" and the revolver on their waists. Their attire and tactics were not much different from the cavalry of that period.

While the cavalry units of European countries have long been auxiliary, the two major military powers in the Pacific region, the United States and Japan, still maintain regiments of combat cavalry in their army sequences. This is not because the top brass of both countries ignore the experience of European warfare, but more often than not, they believe that the same branch of the army can play a very different role in different regions, and that the temperament, bravery and mobility of the cavalry cannot be replaced by other arms.

As they were about to pass by the infantry procession, the American cavalry did not intend to slow down, and the crisp sound of horses' hooves getting closer and closer made everyone in the group lift their hearts, and those with pistols quietly loaded their bullets.

Some Mexicans at the back of the line looked behind them in feigned curiosity, but no one spoke, and no one left the line.

The arrogant American cavalry glanced at the Mexican soldiers with disdain, and indeed, they were no different from ordinary Mexican local security forces, both in appearance and attire.

At the head of the cavalry queue was George Patton, who led the regimental cavalry company out for a ride, and similarly, he did not take these local Mexican troops seriously, if it were not for their incompetence, he would not have come to this place to "suppress the bandits".

Seeing that it was close to noon, the cavalry had already shouted that they were hungry, in fact, Patton was not sure about finding the peasant army in this vicinity, whether to return empty-handed or continue to advance, he was also a little swaying in his heart at this time, so he rode his horse to stop in front of this Mexican team, and the cavalry behind him also stopped, but the cavalry did not mean to dismount, and their hands still held the reins.

The Mexican infantry team came to a halt because of someone in the way, and some of the men at the front looked up at Patton.

"Hey, how far is this from the Santa Maria River?" Barton shouted in his distinctive voice.

Because he spoke American, the Mexicans in the group looked at him with strange expressions, which almost annoyed Patton, but fortunately an American cavalryman in the back immediately translated the question to the Mexicans in Spanish.

"About 5 miles!" A Mexican standing in the first row replied in a slightly trembling tone.

At this time, the palms of many people in the team holding guns were already sweating slightly, and the people with rifles on their backs were ready to unload their guns and shoot at any time. The Germans in the center hide their faces under wide Mexican straw hats, lest the Americans see through them.

For the first time since he was born, Rommel had a feeling of extreme embarrassment, how could he not realize that the American major in front of him would meet him on the battlefield in the future, and he would be a difficult opponent.

The Spanish-literate American cavalryman relayed the Mexican's answer to his regimental commander.

Barton turned his head and looked ahead, "Alright, we'll turn around when we get to the Santa Maria River!" ”

Immediately afterwards, Barton rode his horse and continued to run forward, and his cavalry quickly followed, at which point all the people in the group let out a deep sigh.

In this way, Patton missed his prey and avoided a very close exchange of fire with a numerically superior opponent. Rommel, as for his troops, soon turned east at the next fork in the road, and soon after they were out of the control of the American forces. Walking freely in the fields, everyone's mood is much more relaxed.

That night, Rommel and his 23rd Battalion spent the night in a farmstead, 60 miles from Port Tampico, owned by an old acquaintance of the guerrillas, so that Rommel and his men were able to feast on their meals.

On this night, the Zapatista Peasant Army continued to attack the American army with a force of more than 100 men, but because the American army was on increased alert in most positions, the peasant army did not achieve as much as the previous night, and only caused the American army to experience another sleepless night.