At this time, the U.S. military had not yet lost all their strength, and they still had relatively strong combat capabilities in their hands. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info at the moment in El Paso is commanding Bradley, who has returned from the Southern California Peninsula.

Despite the failure in southern California, Washington still believes that Bradley, who has experience in large-scale combat with the Ming army, is the best choice for the commander of the US front-line troops at this moment. After all, other commanders may not be as good as Bradley who lost the battle.

As a matter of fact, the top brass of the US military are people who understand and know the situation they are facing. Although Bradley was defeated, the main reason for his defeat was his overall strength, and Bradley's command did not make any obvious command errors when fighting in Southern California.

Washington's order to Bradley was to hold out in El Paso for at least three months. Of course, this order was an order that neither Washington nor Bradley himself knew would be impossible. No army in this world could hold out for three months under the attack of the Ming army's huge mechanized corps. Even the Ming army himself couldn't do it.

Therefore, the telegram that Washington sent to Bradley privately asked him to persist as much as he could, and to delay the Ming offensive for a while longer. The longer the better.

The U.S. forces in El Paso, as well as throughout the Rio Grande Valley, had twenty-one infantry divisions and six armored divisions, as well as a large number of officers and men of auxiliary combat units. The total number of people is close to 600,000.

This is already all the field forces that the US military has been able to collect in the immediate area. In fact, there are still a large number of National Guards in the vicinity, but these troops are either holding on to important locations and cannot be mobilized, or they are not willing to come at all.

Although it may seem like there are a lot of defenders, Bradley actually has a lot to hold onto. From Socorro to Las Cruz, to El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley, the first line is his defensive zone. It's so large that it encompasses almost half of New Mexico and part of Texas.

Such a large area is obviously impossible to resist with only 600,000 troops. Bradley would not have been willing to come if it weren't for the fact that there were still a large number of National Guards stationed here and there, and that he had only focused on the Rio Grande Valley. In fact, even now he has reluctantly come here to take over the command.

Bradley, who had played against the Ming Army in Southern California, knew how good his opponent could be. The strength of the two sides is almost the same, and even when their own side still occupies this advantage, they have not been able to defeat the Ming army, and now they are at a disadvantage in all aspects, can they still turn the tables?

Although he has no bottom in his heart, Bradley, as a soldier, has no other choice.

By the time the Ming army besieged Tucson, Bradley had already taken over the command of the troops. He refused orders from all quarters to send troops to the rescue of Tucson. Because he knew that such an order was given purely for free. Even if he were to go out with all his troops, he would not be able to save Tucson, but he would most likely put himself in it.

It must be said that Bradley did have experience after fighting the Ming army. By the time the Ming army encircled the defenders and finally captured Tucson, Bradley had already begun a massive plan of fortification along the Rio Grande.

Bradley knew very well that the only place he really needed to guard was on the Grant Valley line. As for the rest of the place, there is no need to defend at all, and it is impossible to divide the troops to defend it. Therefore, he concentrated the forces at hand and arranged layers of defensive formations in the Rio Grande Valley, preparing to resist the Ming army in stages and in turn.

Bradley didn't think about holding on here. He just tried his best to maximize the terrain advantage, and then threw the troops in his hand into the battlefield in turn to fight the Ming army for hard attrition, and he ran out until he was finished. I have to say that this is indeed the most suitable tactic for the US military to use now.

After entering New Mexico, the forward troops of the Ming Army's Southern Front Attack Group attacked in all directions, sweeping almost the entire state of New Mexico. However, the main army of the American army stationed in the Rio Grande Valley watched motionlessly as the Ming army raged throughout New Mexico, and had no intention of attacking at all.

Bradley's troops were all regulars, and without the local National Guard, it didn't have much of an impact on the morale of the military. And in the face of accusations from all sides, Bradley simply did not hear them. And if the accusation is against Washington, he will make it clear that if he cannot command the army according to his wishes, then the commander should be replaced.

No regular army could do anything about changing commanders in battle, and none would be done by senior officials in Washington. Therefore, even if the Ming forward troops exhausted their means, they were not able to seduce the defenders in the Rio Grande Valley.

Not only that, Bradley was desperately asking for reinforcements from the rear. Whether it is the officers and soldiers or all kinds of supplies, he has a strong need, and when he comes, he will be thrown into the layers of defense like a turtle shell. Bradley's meaning is very clear, let's compare consumption.

In late March, the Ming army officially launched an attack on a number of American positions in the Grant Valley. Signature artillery bombardment and air support bombarded U.S. positions in ruins. Then tanks, armored vehicles, and tracked personnel carriers that covered the ground rumbled past to engage in fierce battles with the defenders.

Under normal circumstances, the Ming army would successfully defeat the defenders and seize the position, but the American counterattack not far away would soon come. The same armored forces fought in tandem with large groups of infantry. After the Ming army defeated the counterattack forces of the American army and successfully occupied the position. In fact, a whole day has passed.

Looking at the long and winding valley of the Rio Grande on the map, the commanders of the Ming army all frowned. With such a style of play, there is such a strong defense line every more than ten kilometers, when will the Ming army break through? And there were minefields everywhere between the lines, and all roads were destroyed. It takes a long time to clear minefields alone.

You must know that Zhang Cheng has arranged combat time for all the troops. If you don't arrive at the designated area within the specified time, you will be held responsible.

There is certainly no problem for the ordinary officers and soldiers, but it is difficult for the officers, especially the senior officers. Not only may they be dismissed from their duties, but they may even cause damage to their own troops. And this is something that is unacceptable to officers who value honor.

"A new direction of attack must be found!"

Many experienced officers began to lie on the map in search of new directions.

A few hours later, the officers of the Ming army found a new direction of operation. Behind Waltz City in Mexico is a vast expanse of desert.

The desert is huge and inhospitable, and there are no human beings living in it. However, if the Ming army could penetrate hundreds of kilometers deep into this huge desert, they would be able to rush into Texas in the Shaft region at the other end of the desert!

After rushing out of Shaffert, the Ming army will pounce directly on Fort Stockton, which is dozens of kilometers away. It was Bradley's logistics base and the last of his Rio Grande Valley defensive lines.

This line of attack was perfect to bypass the main American forces and their fortified positions in the Grant Valley. It could even enclose it all in this huge valley.

However, the difficulty is also obvious, that is, the need to cross hundreds of kilometers of deserts on a large scale. The natural environment there is very harsh and inaccessible. The most important point is that there is very little water to speak of.

Humans can go a day or even days without eating. But even if you don't drink water for a day, your mouth will be dry and uncomfortable. If it grows a little longer, it will start to dehydrate and even die.

This is the main reason why this huge desert is uninhabited and has no defenders, and why the Americans divided such a large area for Mexicans when they divided the border with Mexicans.

It's just that there is no place that cannot be visited for the soldiers, and there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome. The soldiers have been fighting on the death line for a long time, and what can be counted as a mere desert!

If you want to carry out a large-scale outflanking operation in a large-scale battle of this scale, it is definitely not possible to send out a small number of troops. Logistical replenishment will become a huge problem. After all, the greater the number of officers and soldiers, the requirements for logistical supplies simply increase geometrically.

In the end, the Ming army drew out three armored divisions and four mechanized infantry divisions to form a raid corps. They will enter the desert from the Arena region and rush southeast towards Texas. Once in Shafter they reach Shafter they will turn north-east and head straight to Fort Stockton. As a result, the heavy group of US troops deployed in the Rio Grande Valley area was completely surrounded.

This is a large-scale battle plan. Although all the mechanical vehicles of the Ming army were tested in the desert before mass production. But no one thought of having these vehicles travel more than 500 kilometers through the desert! It is unknown how many of these assault forces will eventually make it to their destination.

In addition to the troops, it is also a fatal thing to supply so many troops.

There were no lines of communication in the desert for the Ming army to use. There is either scorching sand or a desolate Gobi, and the only means of transportation is trucks. But with the performance of trucks in this era, to supply a force of more than 100,000 people on hundreds of kilometers of road, the amount of logistical support personnel and strength required is simply astronomical.

In the end, the Ming army decided to use airships on a large scale! (To be continued.) )