Across the ocean, Washington

A ray of sunlight shines through the window on the White House owner's desk, where the 10th president of the United States sits silently, a desk piled high with documents marked in striking red.

John Taylor is no longer young, as evidenced by his full head of gray hair and wrinkles that penetrate deep into his face.

The outbreak of the Mexican-American War even made him snub his new wife, but fortunately, his wife came to visit him every night, but although it relieved the mental pressure, he often felt that his body was hollowed out.

To get back to business, so far the development of the war is still in the plan, the north and south fronts are advancing smoothly, the Mexicans have been beaten to the point that they have lost their armor, they can't take care of each other, and several attacks launched have been repelled by the American army, and now they can only hide in the fortress.

In particular, the U.S. military on the southern front not only controlled the coastline, but also effortlessly obtained a navy built by the Mexicans.

Once Mexico's sea supply lines were cut off, it was completely unable to confront the United States with its own strength, and although this offended the Austrian Empire, it also basically cut off the possibility of its assistance to Mexico.

Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, commander of the 2nd U.S. Expeditionary Force in Mexico, easily captured Veracruz (the port city) and found a large amount of supplies in the port, which would relieve the logistical pressure on his troops to a certain extent.

After all, he had an army of 50,000 at this time, but the 50,000 expeditionary force was still at a disadvantage in the face of 100,000 Mexican troops left behind, but the commander was not worried at all, because at this time the population advantage of the United States was emerging.

The Federation army had only 130,000 before the war, but by this time it had swelled to 230,000, and that number would increase over time.

You must know that the United States at this time has a population of more than 20 million, and there are countless poor people who can't survive, cowboys and homeless people who are not afraid of death, and John Taylor's mobilization ceiling for these generals to promote the United States can reach 500,000.

Of course, what really gives it peace of mind is not these upcoming reinforcements, but the careful layout of the United States over the years.

First, the separatist forces in southern Mexico will rebel. At the same time, the Mexican political opposition, General Joaquín de Herrera, and José Apte Delca, who announced his inauguration as the new president in the city of San Luis, declared treason.

This is of course all a trick of the Americans, and Joaquín de Herrera and José Apte Delca are simply puppets of the former, with the aim of striking at Mexico and at the same time to gag the mouths of the great powers.

Although this trick was despicable and shameless, it was directly effective, and more than half of the 100,000 defenders who Tasan Anna had left at home rebelled in an instant.

He also tried several times to attack the Rio Grande Fortress, but all of them failed, and the back road was cut off and he was in a desperate situation.

He is now faced with a difficult choice, that is, Mexico City is in danger, if he does not return to help, once the opponent takes the capital, it will directly lead to a sharp turn in the tide of the war, and the soldiers will not have the will to fight, because many of their families are still there.

In fact, this was originally a solution that Tasan Anna came up with because he wanted to bring his brothers together and to have a firmer grasp of his troops. But at this time, he cocooned himself and became his talisman.

Returning aid will also be a lot of trouble, and you may even become a sinner for the ages in Mexico. Because at this time, the main force of Tasan Anna was still in the Albuquerque fortress, and it could also play a role in deterring the French and Americans.

But once these soldiers leave, will the enemy take advantage of the situation and take these territories that belong to their own country? Will they take advantage of the victory to pursue?

The future is unknown, and Tasan Anna is still waiting for news, but this wait will be extremely difficult.

In fact, the French intelligence services were not weak, so they learned about the fire in the rear of Mexico very early.

Naturally, a guy like Guizo would not let go of such a great opportunity, and he was excited to immediately call the generals of the Texas colonies to discuss how to quickly seize the territory of the Mexicans.

At the same time, he asked Paris for help, hoping that Louis Philippe would change his mind, approve the war plan, and send some reinforcements.

But the Mexicans' immobility made the French side suspicious, and what made them even more confused was that the American side suddenly stopped moving.

This is even more strange, the French at this time even began to wonder if the Americans were going to attack from behind, so the plan to attack the Albuquerque fortress had to be postponed again and again.

Fort Albuquerque was the largest fort in northern Mexico at this time, holding two of the largest shipping routes, and if lost, the enemy could go down the river to take over large swaths of southern New Mexico (present-day Arizona and New Mexico in the United States).

In fact, it was not that the American adventurers who were not willing to be lonely did not want to do something, but that the yellow fever was rampant in the Rio Grande barracks, and the soldiers who got sick could only wait to die in the extreme lack of doctors' medicines and mosquito nets, and the whole camp was filled with a pessimistic atmosphere.

Coupled with the atrocities committed by the U.S. military against Mexican villages and towns in the early days of the war, such as massacring villages, exterminating people, burning churches, and doing dirty things under holy idols, some Mexicans cursed that they would not die a good death.

Some of the sick soldiers, when they were dying, thought of the enemy's curse, and began to babble with a high fever.

Thus the legend of the voodoo of the Indians spread in the barracks, and it is well known that ignorance and fear are breeding grounds for superstition.

The low level of education of these Americans, combined with the high mortality rate of yellow fever, convinced the American soldiers of the rumors of Indian voodoo so much that they burned everything associated with the Indians in the vicinity and prayed daily that they would return home safely.

Seeing that the soldiers were in such a state of madness, the officers naturally could not turn a blind eye, and some people stepped in to stop this absurd behavior.

Within a few days, however, the officers who had come out of the barracks to drive away the soldiers had fallen ill, and the top brass of the troops, including the commander of the U.S. Third Army, Admiral Zachary Taylor, had fallen silent.

The U.S. First Army, which was in charge of the attack on California, suffered heavy losses, and they never expected that the vanguard would be wiped out, let alone that the Austrians would take the initiative.

Obviously, after a long journey, these elite American troops are exhausted, and even many of the pack horses they bring are exhausted, and the follow-up supplies are also intermittent.

(In the early days of the war, the Mexican army's harassment of U.S. logistical supply units had some effect.) ）

The actual strength of the First Army of the United States should have been 50,000 men, but after eating empty salaries and losing money on the way, there were still more than 30,000 people left at this time.

According to intelligence, the total strength of the Austrian Empire in California was around 10,000, so the commander of the First Army, Stephen Carney, did not think that he was capable of launching a large-scale surprise attack on his own troops.

However, he felt a little uneasy when he had not received news from the vanguard, so he sent another force of 10,000 men as an outpost, and all this was seen by the Austrian scouts.

(End of chapter)