Vice Admiral Robert Stockton was standing on the bow deck of the ship, and the expedition had encountered some twists and turns, but was generally going well.

Especially since he just got the great news that John Charlie Fremont's adventurous guy has everything ready in San Diego.

The letter was sent in advance, and in order not to lose its way on the vast sea, Fremont's men chose to deliver the letter to the port on the way through which their fleet must pass.

In fact, due to the lack of a telegraph system at that time, the fleet basically relied on receiving information in the port for communication.

"What a good guy! He has accomplished what no one else can do, and all we have to do now is send the Marines ashore and sit back and wait for the fruits of victory. ”

Robert Stockton exclaimed sincerely, and the adjutant next to him, Montrier Kabach, echoed him.

"Yes! Captain Fremont's courage is admirable, he is a hero of the United States! The Congressional gangsters should give it a Purple Heart! ”

"He does deserve the highest honor of the Order of the Purple Heart, and Fremont has done his job, and now it's up to us.

Go and tell the Marines that we are the most elite troops in the United States of America, and we can only succeed and not fail! ”

Lieutenant General Robert Stockton was not really worried at all, because he was telling the truth, and all his men were real regulars.

Rather than the kind of improvised or poorly trained militias, including mercenaries who fought in South America and top students from the West Point Military Academy.

Because the propaganda in the United States is very good at the moment, both the top level and the public are very optimistic about the US-Mexico War.

Therefore, some well-known rich and politicians began to arrange their family children into the army to gild, after all, the name of war heroes sounded particularly loud, and at the same time it was so close to the people.

At that time, many politicians portrayed themselves as tough guys, and political parties also liked to support politicians with military backgrounds to come to power, after all, these guys were relatively simple-minded and easy to control.

With the support of these wealthy and politicians, the Marines naturally get more skewed resources.

Coupled with sophisticated equipment and near-perfect tactics, and now with the cooperation of the locals, he really couldn't imagine the possibility of losing.

In addition, according to Robert Stockton's estimates, the main forces of the Austrians were supposed to be engaged in battle with Stephen Carney of the First Army of the Federal Army.

All he had to do was land in San Diego and make steady progress to sweep the rear of California and make it lose all hope of resisting.

When the time comes, the lieutenant general's dream of "smashing the Yellow Dragon" will be realized, and he will win the "golden mountain" of San Francisco in one fell swoop.

However, according to the information sent by Fremont, the actual number of Austrian troops seems to be far more than the White House's estimate, which should be around 30,000 to 40,000, and the other side is mobilizing local immigrants to form a militia.

According to the most pessimistic estimates, the opponent's forces will be expanded to 60,000 to 70,000 within three months.

Moreover, the Austrian side loaded a large amount of black powder in some of the requisitioned ships, and the purpose was very likely to use these civilian ships to destroy our warships.

This news really startled Lieutenant General Stockton, and although it was a little incredulous, he also dismissed the idea of forcibly attacking the opponent's heavily defended city.

The Austrians had been operating in California for many years, and if those batteries were equipped with large-caliber shore defense guns, and those self-exploding ships launched a sneak attack in the bay, wouldn't their own fleet be caught in the net?

Landing at San Diego to replenish supplies, then joining Fremont's forces, and then taking San Francisco by land and water, or storming the fortress of San Gabriel with Stephen Carney's First Army, was a matter of course, so there was no need to take the risk now.

With this in mind, the fleet led by Vice Admiral Stockton sped off towards San Diego after completing its replenishment.

On the other hand, under Fremont's self-directed and self-directed performance, his men captured San Diego and raised the Star-Spangled Banner at City Hall.

Everything seemed to be going well, but he had a bad premonition. However, in order to boost morale, Fremont kept his promise and allowed the members of the rebel army to plunder.

He has more important things to do than manage those scumbags, and that is to organize defense.

Fremont knew that San Diego could not afford to lose, and the other side knew it too, so he believed that a fierce battle would soon occur.

On the Eastern Front, at Rio Grande Barracks, General Zachary Taylor, as the commander-in-chief, had decided to move out because there were so many dead from yellow fever.

But the damned Mexican, like a fly, sent cavalry every day to harass the American supply lines, and he had to send someone to drive them away.

Fortunately, there was no major move, and President John Taylor promised to send another 80,000 new soldiers, and by that time the Rio Grande had 160,000 men in his camp.

But Zachary Taylor feared that the disease would spread further among the army, so he hired many doctors and used many medicines, but to no avail.

As the second largest superbug in human history after plague and smallpox, yellow fever was virtually inexplicable until the advent of vaccines.

A great deal of effort was in vain, and people like Zachary Taylor began to believe in the legend of the curse of the Indians.

Inside the Albuquerque Fortress, Diego, wearing a mask, herded all the sick wounded soldiers into a room. There were constant moans and wails coming from inside, and some people sensed that something was wrong and desperately slammed the door to escape.

But the first black general in Mexican history showed no mercy in his eyes, even his own brother.

"Burn." Several black soldiers looked at each other, as if they wanted His Excellency the General to think again.

Diego stepped forward to grab the torch and lit the straw piled up outside the house himself. The fire burst into flames, screaming, wailing, and cursing from within.

Then the black general kicked his own guard captain to the ground, and the latter was about to get up and was kicked in the neck again.

"Didn't you hear the President's order?" Diego roared, the force on his feet increasing a little more, and Diego, the captain of the guard, shouted hoarsely as he gasped with difficulty.

"Bone crusher, the president is gone!" The Bone Crusher was Diego's name when he was a slave on the manor.

"When the president is gone, don't orders need to be obeyed? Diego, are you afraid of death?! Diego's eyes were bloodshot and growled.

"I'm not afraid of death! Our brothers are not afraid of death either, why don't you let them pick up guns and fight with the enemy? Don't even give them the last dignity? Diego shouted loudly, too, with red eyes.

The surrounding soldiers also lowered their heads and clenched their fists. Be! They are not afraid of death, but they don't want to be burned to death by their own people like this!

"We must hold on here, and your indiscretion will only expose the fact that we are weak! Mr. President has said that anyone who is infected must be purified by the flames or there will be many more infected. Maca and Baka are also inside! They are my brother and sister."

Speaking of which, the big black man who was like a fierce god squatted on the ground and hid his face and cried bitterly.

(End of chapter)