July 1, 1846

Richard led a cavalry force of more than 900 men to the town of Gallup, where he joined up with the Forward Army and the old Karn's troops, bringing the strength of the town to more than 2,130 men, an unprecedented strength.

After two days of rest

The telegraph line, which had been worked on day and night, was also erected in the town of Gallup, which allowed Richard to keep abreast of the situation in the kingdom and mobilize the strength of the whole country to fight a head-to-head battle with the Yankees.

Today, in San Francisco, the Tang Kingdom retains more than 500 garrisons. In Sacramento, more than 220 garrisons remained. In Los Angeles, there are 10 British instructors and 1,600 new recruits in training.

The local garrisons in these important towns effectively maintained the rule of the Tang Kingdom and were the military force that King Richard relied on the most.

Logistical aspects

A series of enterprises such as cement factories, textile mills, weaving mills, garment factories, hydraulic oil mills, hydraulic mills, hydraulic sawmills, weapons manufacturing plants, flour mills, etc., have been put into production one after another.

The steel plant is under construction step by step, and batches of Chinese laborers have arrived one after another, which has become the cornerstone of the stability of the Tang Kingdom, showing a thriving development scene.

The tents and quilts produced by the Grape Valley Garment Factory have begun to supply the army in a steady stream, and there is still room to sell canvas cargo pants to gold prospectors at high prices, which are widely welcomed.

A pair of durable, sand-worthy canvas jeans that can store gold costs two ounces of gold for almost $40.

The cost is only $1.3, which equates to 30 times the windfall profit.

The Type 1846 cavalry revolver produced by the Colt Arms Company was continuously delivered to the front line at a rate of 180 units in four days, and the cavalry units were equipped as soon as possible.

After more than half a month, it has been equipped with four batches of a total of 720 Type 1846 cavalry revolver muskets, plus the number of previous equipment, has ensured that more than 1,300 cavalry on the front line have one hand, which has greatly enhanced the density of combat firepower.

July 4th

Richard led a large army from the town of Gallup to the east again, and after a two-day long journey, he arrived at the town of Riorancho, completely relieved the siege of the town, and surrounded the rest of the American expedition to the west with about 880 men.

Day 2 after arrival

At about 9:00 a.m., Richard led a group of entourages to the side of the US military camp, only 1.5 kilometers away, holding a brass monocular to observe carefully, swaggering to evaluate the defensive earthen wall built by the US military.

These days

Colonel Stephen Carney, commander of the U.S. Army's Western Expeditionary Force, listened to the advice of his subordinate, Major Jamie Collins, and mobilized all U.S. officers and soldiers to build fortress-style barracks to prepare for long-term entrenchment.

On the oasis of Rio Rancho Town, due to the drought and lack of water on the Gobi Desert, the climate is hot, and most of the sparse grass and trees are distributed along the Shenghuang River, with three or five trees scattered and no woods.

According to local conditions, the U.S. military built an earthen wall.

It is to mix the mud soaked in glutinous rice water with thatch into adobes, expose them to the sun, and then build these adobes one by one, glue them with damp soil in the middle, and form a solid earthen wall after drying.

The earthen wall is about 1.5~2 feet thick, which can withstand bullets and artillery bombardment under 6 pounds, and even if it is damaged, it is easy to repair.

In just eight or nine days, the U.S. military built an earthen wall in the shape of a "冂" character of about 1,000 meters long, and the vacated side was facing the bank of the Shenghuang River, mainly for the convenience of drinking water for war horses.

In such a hot climate, without sufficient clean water, it would be extremely difficult for the large number of mules and horses in the US military camp to survive, let alone fight.

"How? The U.S. military's response seems to be very appropriate, and you can talk about what you think. Richard put down the monocular in his hand and asked calmly.

Major Dai Changfu frowned and looked at the U.S. military barracks and said; "The ghosts have learned the essence of our Rio Rancho defense, and they have now built a strong fortification, and have placed seven Napoleonic cannons on the ground, intent on letting us attack. It's a dog biting a hedgehog – there's no way to get out of it! ”

"What is the metaphor of nonsense?" Major Gao Shiheng, deputy commander of the San Francisco Cuirassiers Regiment, gave him a blank look, then pointed to the American barracks and said; "King Qi, Weichen thought that the depth of the US military camp was not enough, and he could use rockets to attack first, ignite the flammable tents and forage yards of the US army, cause internal chaos, and wait for an opportunity to attack."

"What do you think, old Karn?"

According to the observation of the defenders in the town, the U.S. military will have a batch of horse-drawn carriages carrying supplies every 3~4 days, and the most recent one was three days ago. I think this batch of supplies is hiding somewhere in the Gobi stall, and it needs to be found and seized. ”

"Well, that's a good suggestion, is there?"

Lieutenant Colonel Mike Rabiot, commander of the cavalry, hesitated, bowed, and saluted; "Qijuan Wang, Weichen thinks that the US army's defense camp is too long, and it is inevitable that there will be something that cannot be taken into account. When attacking, you can adopt a frontal feint, break through the two flanks, and take advantage of the superiority of our army's forces to win the battle. ”

"Hmm...... This is also a viable option. Richard nodded noncommittally, except for cutting off the logistics and transportation lines, the other proposals were basically not feasible.

The so-called method of rocket attack is actually not very effective.

This is because the arrows of rockets are wrapped with strips of flammable oilcloth, which weigh much heavier than ordinary arrows, and therefore have a much shorter range.

At best, rockets can only shoot fifty or sixty meters away, and occasionally one or two arrows can be shot 70 meters away, which can only be regarded as luck.

Didn't the commander of the U.S. military know the power of the fire attack?

Flammable hay piles and tents, all of which are located deep in the barracks, are the key to first-class protection, which is originally military common sense, and it is difficult to attack at leisure.

Behind the U.S. earthen wall barracks is an open space for assembly and combat, and further inside are the earthen houses under construction, and further into the U.S. army's tent area and hay piles, where can rockets shoot so far?

As for the strong attack, it is even more undesirable, bringing together the defenders of Rio Rancho Town, Richard has less than 2,400 troops in his hands, which is almost all he can come up with, and it is impossible to fight the Americans.

Richard didn't expect these officers under his command to come up with a brilliant idea of "burning Bowangpo".

The elder Karn was an experienced Prussian knight, but he was better at head-to-head combat, and the idea of a night attack on the American cavalry camp was basically the pinnacle of his life.

Although Mike Rabiot was born in the cuirassiers regiment of the French Emperor Napoleon across Europe, he was only a junior officer of mediocre ability, and it was okay to fight according to the instructions in a regular manner, and it would be too much to expect any clever schemes.

You have to do it yourself.

Upon his return to the town of Rio Rancho, Richard immediately sent out his three cavalry brigades (lacking two cavalry squads) to the north to search for a convoy of horses to supply the American troops.

Richard and his troops arrived very suddenly, without any warning beforehand, and yesterday they rushed up and surrounded the American camp.

Those convoys of horses that were supplying the American army were caught off guard, and they should hide in a remote location or behind sand dunes in the Gobi Desert in the north, and if they searched carefully, they should have gained something.

After receiving the order

More than 500 cavalry of three cavalry brigades immediately set out, and as ordered to search and advance northeastward, as far as 248 kilometers away, in the Wagenmande area, where there was an oasis of a valley surrounded by dark red stone mountains.

Richard estimated;

The U.S. military should establish a supply transfer station in the Wagenmande Valley to provide logistics for the wagons transporting supplies.

If the prediction is true, then this material transfer station must be destroyed to create problems for the US military's logistics and transportation lines.

The siege and defense of Rio Rancho began on June 11 and lasted three and a half weeks until July 5, when Richard led a large army to encircle the American camp.

No matter how slow the U.S. military is to react, the corresponding reinforcements should also arrive one after another.

Richard was determined to deal with the enemy before the arrival of large reinforcements from the United States, so as to avoid further trouble between the two sides.

At this time, Richard didn't know that the total number of US reinforcements was as high as more than 7,600 people, and such a huge lineup was almost double what he expected.

The army is about to be overwhelmed, and the situation is becoming more and more unfavorable.