IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 136
## Chapter 136
**The Mexican-American War (9)**
April 29, 1846, night.
A vast tent city stretched across the plains near Memphis.
So many tents were visible in every direction that it indirectly revealed the size and supply level of the Mexican Imperial Army.
Isaac and Dequan were tired of walking, but they couldn’t sleep when they were facing the enemy.
‘We will win.’
His Imperial Highness said so, so it would surely happen. Thinking that way, he eventually fell asleep.
April 30, morning.
The sound of the military band spread, and the morning of the Imperial Army began. The Mexican Imperial Army quickly packed up their tents and began preparing for battle.
The unit Isaac belonged to was moving east. The size of the army was such that they were planning to fight in a wide area.
“···We can’t even see the city anymore?”
“We can’t just charge into that.”
This time, it was clear that the Americans had also prepared properly. The defensive line formed in a straight line south of the city had many defensive structures, including a wall and artillery batteries.
The defenses near the front of the city, that is, the area adjacent to the river, seemed the strongest, and the number of defensive structures decreased as they went east.
“The fleet is going to have a hard time.”
As soon as Isaac said that, a sound came from the riverbank, signaling the start of the battle.
Boom! Boom!
“···It started right away.”
The Imperial fleet had started the battle first.
***
The terrain of the Mississippi River southwest of Memphis was a bit unusual. A landform called President’s Island protruded, with the river flowing around it. This area was suitable for blocking the enemy fleet because the width of the river narrowed.
This landform was called an island, but it was connected to the mainland, so strictly speaking, it was a peninsula. That was also a factor that made defense more advantageous.
“They’ve prepared well.”
“Yes, they’ve plastered the fortress with buildings like a city.”
Brick fortresses lined the west bank of the river and the east side of President’s Island. Seeing the large number of cannons positioned in each fortress, Admiral Castillo gave up on entering.
“If we go in there, our fleet won’t survive.”
They were cannons capable of damaging even ironclad ships. Ships other than ironclads wouldn’t last long.
If they were cannons fixed to the riverbank, they could be attacked by the ironclad ship taking the brunt of the attack while other ships provided supporting fire, but cannons on top of the fortresses could attack ships other than the ironclad, going over them.
“The Libertador is to lead on the left, the Cuauhtémoc is to lead on the right! The rest will provide supporting fire from the rear! We will advance slowly, destroying the fortresses from the beginning!”
“Yes!”
Boom! Boom!
The Mexican Imperial fleet, with two steel ironclads at the forefront, began to cut through the defensive line.
“Tell the army. The fleet will not be able to provide support.”
“Yes!”
Thus, the most important weapon of the Mexican Imperial Army was blocked.
***
“Advance!”
Bang! Boom! Bang!
Weeeeeee-
“Aaaaaah!”
Amidst the barrage of American artillery fire, Isaac ran like crazy.
The Mexican Imperial Army had fired first.
They were the steel cannons that the Mexican Imperial Army had prepared with great ambition. These steel cannons had a much longer range than conventional cannons, making the Americans’ efforts to build artillery batteries on the flat ground look ridiculous, but their number was woefully small.
Since they were made of solid steel, the cost was incredibly high, and steel was prioritized for producing machine guns, so they couldn’t produce many.
Although they were fired at first, the Americans held their ground without flinching, knowing that there were very few cannons with such a range.
“There’s no cover!”
The area near Memphis was a plain. It was difficult to find rocks or trees, let alone hills or forests. They had been cleared for farming.
“Scatter as much as possible!”
The Mexican Imperial Army had anticipated this situation, so they extended their front line eastward and scattered their troops as much as possible.
In a normal rotation, this would have lowered the density of the battle line, making it easy to break through and surround the troops, but now, the attackers and defenders were clearly separated.
The defensive walls and artillery batteries that the Americans had painstakingly built were quite useful. The breastworks made of wood and earth, built throughout the battlefield, were sufficient to block bullets or reduce their power.
The artillery batteries were simply mounds of earth with cannons placed on top, but in an area without hills, even that was a blessing.
Boom!
“···They’re barely hitting the cannons.”
The American command was overlooking the battlefield from a high point of the fortress. They didn’t have time to build a proper fortress with proper defenses, and they had built it for command advantage.
“Yes, it seems the enemy is charging in a scattered formation···.”
“It’s as expected. We knew from the beginning that they wouldn’t form a battle line.”
“Should we deploy the cavalry as planned?”
No matter how much weapons developed and the status of cavalry declined, scattered infantry like that were practically food for cavalry.
“Yes. And have the artillery focus on the enemy artillery batteries that come within range, rather than the enemy infantry.”
“Yes!”
The Mexican long-range cannons, which were presumed to be newly developed, were a minority. Most of the cannons had a similar range to the cannons that the Americans had ambitiously prepared.
Weeeeeee-
Bang!
Some of the artillerymen, who had just unloaded the cannons they had brought in and were preparing to load them, were blown apart.
“Don’t panic! Load quickly and take revenge! Target those artillery batteries that are clearly visible!”
“Yes!”
Similar things were happening all over the battlefield.
Boom! Bang!
The American artillery, which had fired one more time before the Mexican artillery was ready, was ready.
Weeeeeee-
Bang!
“Aaaagh!”
The sound of screams echoed as the cannon broke and shrapnel hit, but they couldn’t stop preparing.
“Continue loading! Move the wounded to the rear!”
As the Americans were preparing for their third strike, the Mexican artillery, which had finished preparing, began to emerge.
“Loading complete!”
“Fire all at once!”
“Fire!”
Bang! Boom boom boom boom!
Amidst the fierce battle between the artillery batteries, American cavalry units charged from various locations. They were there to catch the Mexican Imperial infantry who were charging recklessly in a scattered formation.
The Mexican Imperial cavalry didn’t just sit there. They charged immediately when they saw the American cavalry.
Doodoodoooodoodoo-
As tens of thousands of cavalrymen started to pick up speed, the battlefield began to rumble.
“Fire!”
Tatatatatatat!
The Mexican Imperial cavalry fired first with the Eduardo Carbine, a cavalry modification of the Eduardo Rifle, and the American cavalry responded with their rifles.
The United States Army cavalry and the Mexican Imperial cavalry, after exchanging fire at medium range, collided head-on in the middle of the battlefield.
Both cavalry units now drew their pistols rather than cold weapons in close combat.
Tatatatatatat!
They were pistols called revolvers in America and revolvers in Mexico.
Heeheeheehee-
“Gah!”
The battle between the cavalry units quickly turned into a melee.
Horses fell from being hit by bullets, riders were trampled, and they tripped over them and were trampled again.
Dust rose thick in the middle of the battlefield, and those who had run out of pistols finally drew their cold weapons.
“Wait, those bastards have two revolvers each!”
“What? This is bullshit···.”
Bang!
The American cavalry had also been issued revolvers, one per man. The usefulness of revolvers capable of rapid fire in close combat had already been proven several times, so they had been issued to everyone, even if it meant stretching their resources a bit.
But those Mexican Imperial cavalrymen all had two revolvers each. They were naturally pre-loaded, and as the American cavalry drew their cold weapons, the Mexican cavalry started firing with new revolvers.
Bang! Tatatatat!
Clang! Swoosh!
The convenience and lethality of revolvers were overwhelming, but in cases like this, where they were fighting so close, cold weapons were still threatening.
There was no way a revolver could block a steel saber swung by an American soldier. The Mexican cavalry had no choice but to draw their cold weapons as well.
The battle between the artillery batteries and the cavalry units raged on.
Meanwhile, the Mexican infantry had safely approached the range where they could fire.
Huff-huff-huff-
Their breath was catching in their throats from running for their lives, but their hands moved.
“Huff-those… idiots… huff, they’re still firing in a line.”
Click-Bang-
The Mexican infantry had no cover, while the American infantry had cover, albeit made of earth and wood. But the American infantry were in formation, while the Mexican Imperial infantry were firing in a scattered formation.
Click-Bang-
The sound of bolt-action rifles firing, reloading, and firing again echoed repeatedly throughout the battlefield.
The American rifles, which were made to imitate the Mexican rifles, were also bolt-action, but they couldn’t afford to give them to all 150,000 soldiers, so about one third of the infantry were armed with old muskets.
On this battlefield, where it was hard enough to run with just a rifle, some people were running while pulling carts.
Boom!
“This way! Get out of the way!”
Weeeeeee
Bang!
A shell landed, and the earth kicked up by its force rained down like rain.
“Sir! The machine gun is destroyed!”
“Damn it! We haven’t even fired a single shot! Run! You’re riflemen now!”
The American artillerymen weren’t fools either, so they targeted those pulling carts while engaging the enemy artillery.
Some soldiers died, some machine guns were destroyed, and some were both, but some also arrived safely.
“Gah-huff-Prepare the machine gun!”
The squad leader, who had personally pulled the cart, gasped for breath and shouted the order.
“One, two!”
The squad members, taking the machine gun out of the cart, secured the machine gun’s legs to the ground and began loading.
“Ready!”
“Fire immediately!”
“Fire!”
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-
Huff-huff-
They were already exhausted from running, and it was a manual machine gun, so they had to turn the lever.
Fortunately, this VA-45 wasn’t sensitive to the speed of turning the lever. It was an improvement on the biggest drawback of the prototype VA-43.
“Swap!”
Three soldiers were assigned to each machine gun. One turned the lever, one loaded the ammunition, and one aimed.
Of course, the one turning the lever was the most physically demanding, so they rotated constantly to conserve their strength.
Soon, the sound of machine guns began to be added to the battlefield.
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-
Aaaaagh-
Gah-huh-
The barrage of bullets from multiple machine guns easily penetrated the makeshift defenses prepared by the Americans, but their lethality was greatly reduced, and the Americans held on by adding wooden planks to their preparations.
“Hold on! Fill the ranks!”
There were heavy casualties, but as soon as someone died, someone new filled their place.
Isaac, who had been lying on the ground and firing like crazy, had no bullets left in the leather pouch he had brought with him, so he instinctively searched his pants pockets, but found nothing.
“Huh-huh? My bullets, I’m out of bullets!”
“Me, me too!”
It wasn’t just Isaac. He had been so focused on the battle that he hadn’t noticed, but the sound of gunfire and the sound of horses’ hooves had begun to fade at some point.
The only constant sound was the sound of cannons. That was because they could be resupplied immediately.
The Mexican Imperial Army ran out of bullets and, even as it got dark, they couldn’t push back the American defensive line.
Beep-
“Order to retreat! Retreat!”
Turning your back on the enemy with their guns pointed at you was dangerous, but it was also dark and they couldn’t see well anyway.
Many people walked, then ran, then walked again, but the Americans, who had been resisting fiercely, seemed to have entered a lull as well, and didn’t pursue them.
The artillery didn’t retreat either. It just so happened to be a night with weak moonlight. There was no reason to waste shells when they couldn’t even see.
As night fell, the battlefield fell silent, and the only sound was the pained groans of the wounded.
Thus, the first day of the Battle of Memphis ended.