IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 140
**Chapter 140**
**The Mexican-American War (13)**
Zachary Taylor poured all his resources into the initial battle.
It was the opposite of the usual tactics of conducting a reconnaissance battle to gauge the enemy’s strength.
An overwhelming human wave tactic was deployed, and the US army of 220,000 launched a full-scale offensive on the Mexican Empire’s Memphis defense line.
“Charge! Don’t waste the sacrifice of your comrades!”
“Don’t stop! If you stop, you’ll just be machine gun fodder!”
The officers shouted to charge, regardless, according to the operational plan. The US army suffered heavy casualties, to the point that the barbed wire prepared by the Mexican Empire was covered in corpses, but they managed to push the front line to the edge of the defense line.
It went according to Zachary Taylor’s intention, until the Mexican Empire’s army retreated.
“The Mexicans are retreating!”
The US soldiers were also filled with rage. They could finally attack those annoying guys who had been hiding in the trenches and attacking unilaterally. They pointed their guns at the Mexican Empire’s army that was leaving the trenches.
That brief moment of complacency became poison.
*Boom boom boom!*
The Mexican Empire’s army bombarded the retreating troops.
“Don’t shoot! Keep running until you reach the trenches!”
“Damn it!”
The multiple layers of defense lines were designed to effectively protect the retreating troops.
By the time the US soldiers reached the trenches, the Mexican Empire’s army had already moved to the second defense line.
The Mexican Empire’s army continued to attack the US soldiers who hadn’t reached the trenches yet, and the casualties increased.
*Bang! Tatatatat! Tat! *
*Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-*
*Roar!*
“Fuck…”
A US soldier fell just five steps from the trench. The US soldiers in the trench could only watch with pity, unable to do anything.
The US soldiers, who had entered the trenches after paying a huge price, realized a shocking fact.
“There are… no bodies.”
The US soldiers hadn’t just been running blindly. They had also fired whenever they had a chance while running, and the artillery behind them had also bombarded them. But there were no bodies.
“Didn’t they take them? It seems like they must have, considering that there’s not a single rifle, not even a can of food, left besides the machine guns.”
“No, there aren’t absolutely no bodies.”
He pointed to a place where there were corpses of Mexican Empire soldiers who had been blown up with the machine guns. The Mexican Empire’s army hadn’t taken the bodies with them as they retreated. They didn’t have that kind of time.
“And… there’s just not enough blood.”
The inside of the trench was a completely different world from the outside. Outside the trench, there were bodies everywhere, and the blood that flowed from them stained the earth red. On the other hand, the inside of the trench was clean.
“…”
“…”
The Mexican Empire’s army had killed tens of thousands of US soldiers, while the US had hardly killed any Mexican Empire soldiers. They had killed quite a few of the retreating enemy, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to the price the US had paid.
“Ugh…”
“Aaaaagh!”
While many US soldiers fell silent, realizing the terrifying reality, only the groans of the wounded echoed. As the night deepened, the madness of the battlefield subsided, and many soldiers trembled in fear.
The next day.
The Mexican Empire’s army, which had left the barbed wire area open for retreat, had closed it tightly overnight. It was even wider than the hellish barbed wire area from yesterday. The soldiers were terrified, but the battle continued.
“Charge!”
The US soldiers, who had been given enough rest and fed well, began the battle around noon.
*Boom!*
Bombarded as soon as they left the trenches.
They hesitated for a moment, but someone pushed them from behind.
“Charge!”
It was an officer.
He was holding a revolver. He didn’t point the revolver at him or shout that he would kill him if he didn’t go out immediately, but there was nowhere to escape once he was in the trench. Even if he tried to escape to the rear, he was within the enemy’s range.
“Aaaaagh!”
As he left the trench, half-mad, he saw machine guns. Several machine guns were already firing.
*Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump-*
Only 10 seconds into the run. Did he suddenly gain superpowers right before he died? He seemed to have hallucinations, as if he could see bullets flying.
“Cough!”
The battle was completely different from yesterday.
The US army wasn’t advancing.
It was a completely different situation from yesterday, when they were helplessly pushed back by the overwhelming human wave tactics of the huge army.
Today, the US army had fewer troops because of the huge casualties yesterday, and their morale was low, but the Mexican Empire’s army’s defense was stronger than yesterday. There were almost no casualties, and the second defense line was denser than the first. They were much more accustomed to trench warfare than the first day, and they knew that even if they were pushed back, they had a place to retreat to, and if they retreated calmly according to orders, there wouldn’t be much damage. Their morale was bound to be high.
It was the moment when the true value of trench warfare was demonstrated. The strong defensive power of trench warfare didn’t come from a single line of trenches, but from a multi-layered trench system designed to support each other. One line of defense could be broken through, but the attacking force had to endure heavy casualties for that one line, while the defending force suffered ridiculously little damage.
“If they get close, you can pull out your pistols!”
“Yes!”
As the US army’s explosive power decreased, the Mexican Empire’s army didn’t give up an inch of the trenches, even when the enemy approached. They had just managed to reach it, but they didn’t have the strength to push back the entire trench.
James Polk’s only hope, the ‘counterattack’ operation, began to fall into hell.
***
“The Mexican Empire’s army is preparing to land in Washington D.C.!”
“Patriots, defend your homeland!”
As news spread throughout the northeast that the capital, Washington D.C., was under attack, militias began to form at a rapid pace. It was the US militia that had been formed from over 400,000 people across the country during the War of 1812.
The people in the north, who had agreed to the war but hadn’t been very proactive so far, completely changed their lukewarm attitude when the enemy was right at their doorstep. The fire was at their feet.
North of Washington D.C. was Baltimore, north of Baltimore was Philadelphia, and north of Philadelphia was New York.
“This is the limit!”
*Boom boom boom!*
The garrison of Fort Washington on the Potomac River did their best. It was just that the enemy was too strong. The enemy’s steel ironclads boasted the defensive power of a fortress on the sea.
No, they were even stronger than the actual fort, which was made of stone.
The Mexican Empire’s fleet, with two steel ironclads in the lead, bombarded the fort with dozens of Monitor ships behind them. The disadvantage of Monitor ships, which have a low freeboard, became an advantage this time, as they could hide under the protection of the ironclads, and the fort couldn’t target the Monitor ships.
*Bang!*
*Whirring*
*Bang!*
It was a meaningless shot. But they had to keep firing. It was the only way to make the huge Mexican Empire’s fleet pretend to care about the fort. That tearful effort was now over.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
“Join the militia and block the landing!”
The United States was expanding to the south and west, and many people had moved with the US expansion, but half of the US population still lived in the area that was once the Thirteen Colonies.
The five days that the heroes of Fort Washington had bought. In that short time, a huge number of militias had gathered. The northeastern states were connected by rail.
They were not trained regular soldiers, they didn’t have proper military supplies, and they were just a large number of militias, but they thought they could stop the landing. It’s also common sense that the landing side is tactically at a huge disadvantage. But that was when they still had properly built coastal defense facilities.
*Boom boom boom boom boom!*
*Boom boom boom boom boom!*
The Mexican Empire’s armored frigates unleashed hundreds of small-caliber cannons in sequence.
“This… This isn’t right! Retreat! They’re not going to land!”
“Let’s retreat!”
The Mexican Empire’s fleet didn’t tolerate the US militia daring to attempt to defend the landing. They bombarded them with ships of the line, frigates, armored frigates, ironclads, Monitor ships, and other small ships, and the US army had no choice but to give up defending the landing.
“Commence landing!”
As the US army retreated, the Mexican Empire’s army began to land. They mobilized all the transports they could, but they couldn’t transport the 60,000-strong Third Corps and the 80,000-strong Fourth Corps at once.
It took over two weeks just to transport troops and supplies.
*Bang!*
“Washington… again…”
The fleet wasn’t idle during that time. The main cannons of the ironclads and Monitor ships had a considerable range, and they were destroying buildings in Washington.
“Just hold on a little longer. Patriots are gathering from all over the country, so let’s get our revenge properly when they start their advance.”
“Yes.”
The militia began to swell like crazy, and the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, began supplying weapons directly to the Northern Army. Even if their numbers were large, if they entered the city, it would be a fight we could handle. That’s what I thought.
It was a ridiculous idea, of course. If a US army officer fighting in Memphis had seen this, he would have shouted, with a heart filled with blood, that they should at least dig trenches at this time, but the militia didn’t know what a trench was, and they wasted precious time.
“The Mexican Empire’s army has launched an attack!”
“Finally!”
The Mexican Empire’s army finally began its advance.
“They’re coming!… Hmm?”
The Mexican Empire didn’t enter Washington D.C. directly.
“Those… those guys!”
*Boom boom boom!*
They began to fire cannons. Buildings in Washington D.C. began to be destroyed. The Mexican Empire advanced, stopped, fired cannons, and advanced again.
“Shouldn’t we go fight now?”
“…Go and get hit by cannons?”
“…”
Washington D.C., which had been chosen as the capital and construction had begun as a planned city since the late 18th century, had already been burned by the British in 1814. At that time, it was easy to burn because there were many wooden buildings, but Washington D.C., which had been painstakingly restored, also had many stone buildings that had been built at great expense.
“…Ugh.”
“No! The Supreme Court!”
The Mexican Empire didn’t intend to engage in urban warfare, and the militia, with its small number of cannons, was too powerless. The Mexican Empire’s army was firing cannons with glee, as if they had an endless supply of shells.
“Don’t hit the Capitol, you bastards!”
“Let’s go out and fight now!”
“Then you’ll be the vanguard.”
The generals of the United States Federal Army were all in the border region or Mississippi, and the highest-ranking officer in the garrison was a lieutenant colonel. There was no officer with the authority to command the entire militia, which had already exceeded 100,000. The militia itself was more of a gathering of individuals from all over the country, rather than being organized by someone.
While the militia’s command was not organized, the Mexican Empire’s army was targeting the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and then the presidential residence.
*Boom! Boom!*
It was the sound of American pride being shattered.
“It’s too late to save the presidential residence. How about we preserve our troops, retreat, and bring in a proper general?”
“That’s probably best.”
Someone’s suggestion was met with approval from most of the militia. They knew the power of the Mexican Empire’s army well, so they were afraid to fight right away. Just looking at the number of cannons aimed at the city, it was crazy to fight in their current state.
Tens of thousands of patriots had gathered to save Washington D.C., the capital of the United States, but they could only watch their capital be destroyed without being able to fight properly.
The Mexican Empire’s army in the eastern United States, which had destroyed Washington D.C., began to prepare to advance north.