On this morning, just after training and training, the 7 th Arkansas National Guard was ordered to be sent to the northwest of Mexico City to participate in a search operation. The goal was to ambush a peasant guerrilla in the US military convoy last night.
The password immediately sounded at the station of the 7th National Guard. When the soldiers were all dressed up and lined up in the playground as soon as possible, their commander, General George Barton, had been waiting there for a long time. But this time, instead of growling and venting his dissatisfaction, he squinted at these gradually transformed soldiers.
"I’m glad to see you like soldiers!" Barton shouted, "but remember for me that you should never forget your beliefs!" "
"Go ahead!"
The soldiers shouted together.
"Very good car! Let’s kick the ass of Mexican gangs! "
After all, Barton took the lead in boarding the front car. Although there is no armored division and mechanized division in the Sixth Army of the United States at present, with its strong economic and industrial strength, the Sixth Army still has a high degree of mechanization in logistics and transportation. Trucks have already replaced carriages as the main means of transportation. Cavalry is still the elite of the Sixth Army, but infantry by truck is not slower than cavalry on the road.
At noon, except for two trucks that broke down on the road and more than 5o soldiers, Barton’s other 15oo soldiers had arrived at the designated place-it was a small town that was 10 miles away from the place where the motorcade was laid down last night, with more than 2oo residents, most of whom were Mexicans.
"What are we doing here?" Barton looked puzzled at this deserted town. Except for two roads, the town was surrounded by farmland and wilderness.
"Major, at 6 or 7 o’clock in the morning, someone saw a group of peasant troops passing by in the west of town! The headquarters ordered your regiment to search the six-mile area around the town! "
Arrived here before a 6-army lieutenant explained the situation here to Barton.
"Are you sure that guy is not mistaken?" Barton asked with a face of doubt.
The sixth army lieutenant nodded, but they bought information from Mexicans for $ 5oo. Some people prefer to believe it is true.
Barton looked at his watch but he was still in a bad mood.
"Shit that guy how don’t report to us earlier! What time is it now? Mexicans may have fled long ago! "
"Major, after dawn, there is no way for the gangs to cross the blockade without being seen by us now, and we believe that there is no good place for them to continue northward! So they must be hiding in some Woods now, waiting for dark to grab some food from the surrounding villages and towns! " The lieutenant was very proud and said, "Hum! They must be as hungry as a group of mice now! "
"Well, then, Lieutenant, I hope you’re guessing it’s not a one thousand nights story!"
Barton turned toward his several battalion commander shouted.
"listen up, everyone. A Mexican guerrilla with an ominous number is suspected of hiding in the nearby Woods. We must find them out and beat them up! From now on, Battalion 1 goes west, Battalion 2 goes north, Battalion 3 goes east, and the range of 6 miles belongs to us! If there is no news after 6 miles, then return to this town by the same way. The regiment headquarters and I will wait for you here! "
After receiving the order, the battalion commanders lined up in succession to reach the order
Looking at the troops leaving the town in batches, Barton was somewhat at a loss. At this time, the regiment cavalry company also arrived in this town.
"Hey, four legs run slower than four wheels. Are you really cavalry?" Cavalry from Barton sarcastically asked them.
The cavalry company commander shrugged. "I’m sorry, Mr. Major. You know we both need to rest in the middle!" "
Barton fork wear a waist looked at the guy who didn’t care.
"Ah, rest! Well, you rest and I’ll walk the horse for you! "
"What? Less wan … Feed … Ah … "
After dragging the cavalry company commander from the horse, Barton quickly turned over the horse and shouted to the cavalry behind him
"Hey guys, let’s go and see if we can trace the bandits!"
Poor cavalry company commander can watch Barton pull others away. "This … who is the gangster!"
When another American plane flew overhead, the peasants’ soldiers hiding in the Woods were all depressed. Because of these hateful and crazy planes, they haven’t walked a few miles since dawn. If we continue like this, the plan to get to Tampico Port before evening will probably be ruined.
Several company commanders gathered around Rommel. "General, we have to do something! We have always experienced that Americans will definitely buy information about our whereabouts from local people. We have to keep walking to get rid of American tracking! "
After Gerhardt translated the opinions of the company commanders, Rommel nodded and then took out and showed his special map of Mexico, pointing to the scheduled route and saying
"But it’s very difficult for us to escape the reconnaissance of American planes in the plain!"
I don’t know if they can read it, but the company commanders all set their eyes on the map
After a long time, one of the company commanders muttered a lot, and Gerhardt didn’t repeat it to Rommel until his department finished.
"Usually guerrillas are not active in the plains because this is an area controlled by government forces and there are American planes patrolling in sunny days! However, our people used to pretend to be government troops and went all the way from morelos to madero Port. Because the local security team of the government also wore big hats and coarse clothes, we were asked to line up neatly on the road and wave hello when we saw the American plane! "
"Are you sure?" Rommel looked at the company commander very unexpectedly.
The company commander told him that "there has been such a precedent and more than once!"
After thinking for a while, Rommel decided to take a chance.
So a Mexican "local security team" composed of more than 200 people swaggered along the road leading to the east coast. When American planes showed them and lowered their altitude to see them, they waved and cheered enthusiastically at those planes, but the American pilots of the planes would not be Germans at all.
As a result, Rommel’s 23 rd Battalion’s progress to the port has been accelerated again
Just as Rommel rejoiced in his camouflage tactics, the soldiers behind him who were in charge of warning suddenly reported that a cavalry was approaching.
"Don’t panic, keep marching but be ready to fight! The Germans listened to the height and tried to lower the machine guns and submachine guns as low as possible! "
Rommel decisively ordered and then walked from the front of the team to the center of the team to press the cap, then took out the Luger O chamber in the holster and put the right hand of the gun against the body.
In a short time, a group of American cavalry troops with less than 100 people appeared in people’s sight. They wore flat felt hats, big tents, combat knives and long riding boots. From a distance, they were different from the cavalry in the American Civil War. In fact, except for the Barton sword and the revolver, they were not much different from the cavalry in that period in terms of costume and tactics.
When the cavalry units of European countries have already become auxiliary arms, the United States and Japan, the two major military powers in the Pacific region, still maintain a group of combat cavalry in their six-army sequence. This is not because the high-level officials of the two countries regard the experience of the European war, but more often they believe that the same arms can swing completely differently in different regions, and the cavalry temperament, courage and mobility are replaced by other arms laws.
When we were about to pass by this infantry team, those American cavalry didn’t intend to slow down, and the horseshoes were getting closer and closer, which made everyone in the team feel happy. People with pistols quietly loaded their guns.
At the end of the line, some Mexicans pretended to be curious and looked back, but no one spoke and no one left the queue.
The arrogant American cavalry disdained to glance at this group of Mexican soldiers. No matter their appearance or costume, they are no different from ordinary Mexican local security forces
Walking at the front of the cavalry queue is George Barton, who led the regiment cavalry out for a ride. Similarly, he didn’t take these Mexican local troops seriously, and he wouldn’t have come to this place to "suppress bandits" himself if they hadn’t been able to.
Seeing that it was near noon, the cavalry had already shouted that they were hungry. In fact, Barton was not sure whether to find the peasant army near here, but he returned it and moved on. His heart was also a little shaken at this time, so he rode in front of the Mexican team and the cavalry stopped behind him, but the cavalry didn’t mean to be a horse. Both hands were still holding the reins.
Because someone was in the way, the Mexican infantry team stopped. Some people at the front looked up at Barton.
"Hey, how far is it from here to the Santa Maria River?" Barton shouted in his unique voice
Because he said that the Mexicans in the American-English team looked at him with strange expressions, which almost annoyed Barton. Fortunately, an American cavalry behind him immediately translated the question to the Mexicans in Spanish for him.
"About 5 miles!" A Mexican in the first row replied in a slightly trembling voice.
At this time, many people in the team were sweating slightly holding the gunman’s heart, and those carrying rifles were ready to unload their guns at any time. During the shooting, the Germans hid their faces in the wide Mexican straw hats for fear of being seen by the Americans.
For the first time since his birth, Rommel felt extremely embarrassed. Why didn’t he realize that the American major in front of him would meet him on the battlefield in the future and was still a difficult opponent?