The Austrian naval fleet set sail again, this time not to the port of Veracruz, which was controlled by the Americans, but to the port of Altamira in central Mexico.

The Port of Altamira is far inferior to the Port of Veracruz in terms of throughput and infrastructure.

But it was the last major port on the East Coast that was still in Mexican hands.

At this time, in the White House, John Taylor looked much older than before the war, and he did not have the appearance of the old man who was determined to be thousands of miles away.

The Austrian army in California was too strong, and Zachary Taylor of the Rio Grande was so incompetent that he was stumped by a little yellow fever, and Winfield and the damned Mexicans were a bunch of stupid pigs.

The bomb planted by Franz began to show its power, and John Taylor tried to remedy it, but after dozens of attempts, he found that he could not suppress it unless a dictatorship was established.

Either trample on the Constitution or sell America to the bankers.

However, to do so would not only betray one's own ideals, but also make the United States the enemy of the whole.

So he decided to take a gamble.

In fact, Stonewall Jackson and Robert Lee, the "God of War", who later shined in the American Civil War, were working part-time to repair fences for widows and changing drains for forts as sappers.

Thomas Jonathan Jackson lost his father at the age of two and his mother at the age of seven, and lived on his uncle's farm, attending only four years of elementary school.

However, because of his outstanding performance in the police force at Fort Clark, he was recommended by the local councillor at the age of 20 to enter the West Point Military Academy.

(Saved a councillor twice, cracked a kidnapping case against a councillor's family, and dismantled a gang.) ）

Jackson's background and experience made him show a completely different temperament from his contemporaries, which left a deep impression on the US Secretary of War at the time.

He was sent to the most difficult artillery major, but Jackson was a sheriff from the country, and his classmates looked down on the savage and vulgar hillbilly.

Jackson's country accent, beard and misspelling are always the right thing to laugh at these gentlemen.

Jackson, however, continued to go his own way, even declining funding from congressmen and the secretary of war, earning a living by building a wall on a nearby farm.

In the early days of the war, Jackson also wanted to fight for the United States.

However, at the beginning of the war, everyone felt that the Mexican-American War was just a game of military exploits, so it was impossible for him to join it without power or power.

The school rejected Jackson's request to join the war on the grounds that he had not completed his studies.

Jackson himself didn't think it was a big deal, the teachers had gone to fight the Mexican-American War, and he could only continue to help people build walls to earn living expenses.

However, due to the fact that the war was not going well at this time, John Taylor issued a presidential mandate for these cadets to enlist in the army. When his classmates were discharged from the army, Jackson brought his own rations and horses to the Rio Grande Barracks to serve as an artillery second lieutenant.

"Don't neglect the future."

—Maxim on the Lee family crest.

Robert Lee is completely different from Jackson, his family has a glorious history, his ancestors fought in the American Revolutionary War, served as a general, and served as a congressman.

After graduating from high school, Robert Lee successfully entered West Point, and then graduated second in the school.

However, his life came to an abrupt end, and from 1829 onwards, Robert Lee's life can only be described in two words.

Because his father was very anti-war, he quarreled with Madison (the fourth president of the United States) in Congress, then openly opposed James Monroe (the fifth president of the United States), and even almost duel with Andrew Jackson (the seventh president of the United States), who was known for his toughness.

Finally, he launched an anti-war uprising in Baltimore, and then was imprisoned in Baltimore Jail with eleven other leaders of the anti-war faction.

In the last moments of his life, Henry Lee (Robert Lee's father) was lynched.

One of the twelve was beheaded and dumped at the prison gates, while the remaining eleven were brutally abused.

According to the description of others:

The mob cut off Henry Lee's nose and vital point with a scythe, and he showed amazing strength and courage by glaring at the men as he was brutalized.

The thugs then burned his eyes with hot oil and broke his hands and one of his legs.

Eventually, all the mobs thought Henry Lee was dead and dumped his body in the street.

But Henry Lee did not die, but lived for another three years before leaving the "land he loved so much."

Henry Lee's death was not the end, and Robert Lee, as his son, was naturally saddled with huge debts.

The transition from the Chosen Son to the Son of Destiny made Robert Lee depressed for a time.

Whatever he did was not appreciated by others, no matter how good he did, he was criticized, and his hard work and conscientiousness were seen as a sign of incompetence.

This caused Robert Lee to fall into self-doubt for a while, and finally came out of the shadows under the persuasion of the old servant at home.

(Turner, the old servant, was a black slave, who knew literature and military affairs, and belonged to Robert Lee's enlightenment teacher and butler.) ）

In addition, Robert Lee was not a die-hard supporter of slavery, as her mother-in-law and mother had freed slaves, taught them to read and write, and even held religious gatherings for them.

These actions were illegal in the United States at the time, but Robert Lee actually acquiesced to this fact.

Robert Lee in 1844 was still doing some dead work in Fort Lafayette and his battalion, mending stone cracks, painting walls, and laying new drains every day.

As a man, at the age of 35, he has achieved nothing and has six children to support. I finally got a chance to serve as an examiner at West Point, and the Mexican-American War broke out again.

Robert Lee also wanted to go to war, but was met with merciless ridicule.

"We're going to fight, not to fix gutters."

The U.S. War Department rejected Robert Lee's application, not knowing that the captain would be one of the greatest generals in American history.

Also due to the tight fighting, Robert Lee and his engineering company were tasked with supporting the Rio Grande front.

Temporary Command of the Rio Grande Barracks.

William Tecusay Sherman, the master of terror in the future Civil War, slammed his military cap to the ground, and he had already discovered that the main Mexican force across the river had fled.

"Damn! Albuquerque Fortress has long been left with only a group of blacks. Why not attack! That group of blacks is not sick, they must have a cure, rather than let the soldiers all die of illness in the barracks, it is better to fight with them! ”

The soldiers on the side knew that no one dared to persuade the lieutenant's temper, and they even thought that it was good to do this now, anyway, they were paid, and the number of Mexican cavalry was getting smaller and smaller, and it was almost impossible to see it.

In fact, today Sherman came to report to the command again that the main force of the Mexicans had been transferred, but his rank was so low that he was not even qualified to meet with the staff officers.

In the most recent raids, Sherman discovered that the number of cavalry sent by the Mexicans to harass them was dwindling, and that there were even black soldiers inside.

The blacks knew at a glance that they were novices, which proved that the defenders of Albuquerque Fortress were out of troops.

(End of chapter)