War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Several Mexican soldiers drove the prisoners to the gates of the Alamo.

These prisoners were very cooperative. After all, they had just experienced the hellish pursuit. They wanted to survive, so they shouted hard.

"Colonel Travis and brothers from Alamo, we are Colonel Manin's men. We were ambushed by the Mexican army. No one will come to your aid. Surrender quickly!"

Colonel Travis and Bowie in the city both knew that if the prisoners in front of them were allowed to continue shouting, the Alamo defenders would collapse, because some people were wavering now. After all, no one wanted to make a hopeless struggle.

Now all they could do was silence these poor men forever. Colonel Travis took a drag on his cigar and placed it on the fuse of the cannon.

But at this time, Crockett stopped Travis.

"What are you doing? I know these people, they are Colonel Maning's men."

"They are traitors!"

Travis pushed Crockett away and lit the fuse.

With a loud "boom", the prisoners who came to persuade them to surrender shut their mouths forever.

Seeing such behavior made Tasang Anna very angry. It was clear that he had exhausted all his kindness, but they dared to reject his kindness!

It's not just Tasan Anna who is angry. Even Gablenz and Stadion are also angry. They even kill their own people. These people are simply crazy. It seems that they can't do what Archbishop Rauscher asked them to do. finished.

At this time, the letter from Archduke "Franz Karl" arrived again.

Hearing the name Franz Karl, Tasan Anna's brows relaxed slightly.

There was only one sentence in the letter.

"The next priority is to attack the city, and the highest priority is to attack the heart."

Tasan Anna laughed after reading the letter. He handed the letter to Gablenz and Stadion and praised Archduke Franz Karl as a genius.

Both Gablenz and Stadion knew that Archduke Franz Karl's brain was not very good, but they both accepted the letter curiously.

Gablenz and Stadion, who read the letter, seemed to understand something.

This time, Tasan Anna's messengers came to the Alamo again.

"General Tasan Anna orders you to remove the old, weak, women and children in the city. The general swears to God to ensure their safety. After the civilians are evacuated, a full-scale bombardment of the Alamo will be carried out."

This time Travis did not hesitate. He didn’t know if this was a Mexican conspiracy, but if the other side really attacked the city in full force, the Alamo would probably be a river of blood. As a soldier, his honor prevented him from letting the old, weak, women and children , to be buried with myself.

James Bowie agreed with Travis, after all, fighting is between men.

However, Crockett had a different opinion. He believed that as long as the old, weak, women and children were still there, the Mexicans would not dare to conduct a comprehensive bombardment. If they did, Tasan Anna would have to be responsible for the bombardment of civilians.

In the end, the military's sense of honor made Travis reject Crockett's opinion.

This was the second time Travis had offended Crockett, which made the U.S. congressman very unhappy.

Two hours later, the old, weak, women and children had left the Alamo, and Tasan Anna sent his most capable assistant to escort those people to San Antonio.

The sixteen-pounder gun was also ready, and at the same time, accompanied by the loud sound of the trumpet, the bombardment began.

This time the bombardment was much more accurate than the previous bombardment, because Gablenz and Stadion took advantage of the departure of the old, weak, women and children to adjust the firing angle and gun position to ensure that the artillery could hit as soon as possible.

The power of the sixteen-pound siege artillery was huge. The first shot destroyed the tower on the south side. The collapsed tower directly buried the garrison team stationed near it.

But before the defenders of the Alamo could rescue the people buried under the rubble, shells began to roar one after another.

Inside the Alamo Fortress, gravel was flying and fire was everywhere. Many people were injured by the gravel hit by the shells. Travis wanted to organize an artillery counterattack, but the opponent's firepower was too strong and he could not raise his head at all.

The Mexican army's small-caliber artillery has been replaced with incendiary bombs. In this era, incendiary bombs are a type of grenades filled with flammable substances such as grease. They ignite surrounding objects through explosion, and are very inefficient.

But it is more lethal than firing solid iron bullets and can make the defenders exhausted.

The power of the sixteen-pounder cannon is astonishing. Each shot can cause large-scale collapse. The power is not comparable to that of the three-pounder cannon.

The shelling of the sixteen-pounder gun directly hit the fortress wall, causing a large-scale collapse. Even horses, let alone infantry, could easily pass through such a large gap.

Bowie immediately organized people to block the gap with caravans and furniture, but the Mexicans had no intention of attacking.

"Damn it, do the Mexicans have endless artillery shells? Do they want to bury us with heavy artillery?"

Crockett passed by with a bucket.

"Stop complaining and put out the fire first, otherwise you will be choked to death if you don't burn to death."

The bombardment lasted for 2 hours. The Mexican army stopped the bombardment, not because they ran out of shells or because they were preparing to attack the city, but because the barrels of the guns were overheated and would explode if fired further.

Crockett found his old servant in the ruins.

"John, you old guy, I knew you were still alive."

The old servant slowly opened his eyes, spat out a pile of crumbs, and looked at his master with tears in his eyes.

"Mr. Crockett, I can't move my legs..."

Crockett didn't care about his frayed hands, but comforted John.

"Don't worry, when I get back to Tennessee, I will find the best doctor and I will definitely cure you."

But Crockett didn't find the old servant's legs.

"Mr. Crockett, go home, the mistress is still waiting for you."

The old servant, whose consciousness was about to disappear, used his last strength to push Crockett away. At the same time, the broken wall on the side could no longer support it and collapsed, hitting Crockett's position heavily.

"No! John! Damn it! I'm going to fight those Mexicans!"

In the Alamo Fortress, many soldiers who had lost relatives and friends roared.

"Yes! If you go out and fight! You'll end up dead anyway!"

“Show them the courage of the Western cowboy!”

"Kill them and take revenge!"

"revenge!"

Bowie's leg was penetrated by a shrapnel, but he also thought that instead of waiting to die here, it would be better to rush out and kill him.

But Travis stopped them because he saw that the Mexican troops around him had been staying in the fortifications and it would be suicidal to rush out now.

"That's enough. Go back to your posts. If you go out, you will commit suicide. General Houston will come to save us."

"Where is General Houston! Where are the reinforcements?" a soldier shouted angrily.

"We were abandoned!"

"We are outcasts!"

"I want to go home!"

Travis fired his gun into the air.

"That's enough. Tasan Anna is a dictator and a barbarian. You will die if you go out. Didn't you see that red flag? As long as the Mexicans raise that red flag, it means they will not accept any prisoners. Believe me, General Houston will definitely come to save us.”

The thing about the Mexican red flag is a rumor. The Mexicans not only have red flags, but also green and white ones, which are the colors of the Mexican flag.

In the afternoon the Mexicans continued their shelling but did not launch an attack.

Tasan Anna was not in a hurry because he knew that he could capture the Alamo at any time now.

The Alamo defenders could not bear this situation of being passively beaten. At night, Crockett organized more than twenty desperadoes to prepare to destroy the Mexican artillery position, at least to destroy the sixteen-pound cannon.

However, the Mexicans were well prepared. After a firefight, Crockett and several fellow Tennesseeans fled back to the Alamo in embarrassment.

The Mexicans did not pursue, not because of their high military literacy, but because they did not know how many people there were on the other side.

Due to malnutrition, many Mexican soldiers suffered from night blindness, so there were hundreds of people fighting with more than 20 people, and in the end only a dozen people were killed.

When Crockett returned to the Alamo, Colonel Travis was already in uniform.

"Do you know what you are doing? You should be court-martialed or even I could shoot you right now."

"Colonel Travis, Crockett is doing it for everyone's benefit. The Mexican cannons are too powerful. Fifty of our people died in the shelling during the day. Almost no part of the front wall is intact. If this continues, we will There’s not even any shelter from the wind.”

"Don't think that because you are a U.S. congressman, I don't dare to shoot you. This is Texas!"

This sentence made Crockett and the volunteers from the United States very unhappy.

On March 10, 1836, the bombardment continued.

Tasan Anna invited Gablenz and Stadion to have lunch together on the hillside, watching the Alamo covered in artillery fire as they ate.

"This artillery is really powerful. If our Mexican army was equipped with all this kind of artillery, we would no longer be afraid of the Americans."

Garblenz and Stadion complained in their hearts, "If any army takes dozens of these things on the road, the marching speed will probably be slower than a turtle crawling."

The two just smiled and did not answer, because they did not refuse any opportunity to make money.

But what the two of them didn't expect was.

"I would like to hire you two as my military advisers. You can choose your official position and salary. As the president of Mexico, as long as it is within my scope of authority, I will definitely meet your requirements."

Just as Gablenz and Stadion were about to speak, they were interrupted by Tasan Anna.

"I tell you, Mexico has the largest silver mine in the world, which is unique. You will definitely say that those silver mines are not in the hands of the Mexican government.

Yes, but as long as this war is over, I will return home with an army to destroy those who oppose me.

I would like to be a friend of Archduke Franz Karl. I will make Mexico a member of the civilized world and the most loyal ally of the Austrian Empire.

The commanding ability of the two men far exceeds that of any of my subordinates. Even I am ashamed of myself. I think the two of them are not military observers, but real generals. "

Tasan Anna's last sentence directly pointed out the identity of Gablenz and Stadion. They knew very well that if they refused Tasan Anna's "good intentions", they might encounter an "accident" halfway.

Gablenz and Stadion still had a doubt in their minds, why Tasan Anna admired the Archduke who was not very bright-minded so much.

"We need to write a letter to Archduke Franz Karl and we need to get his approval."

"No problem. I believe in Archduke Franz Karl. He will definitely recognize me as his friend."

Tasan Anna felt in his heart that he, the North American Napoleon, had surpassed the real Napoleon because he chose to join forces with "Archduke Karl".

Just imagine if Napoleon and Archduke Karl had joined forces, who would have been able to fight in Europe.

Inside the Alamo City, shelling destroyed the last building in the Alamo Fortress, the mill windmill fell and destroyed the stables, and the panicked horses caused continued chaos.

When counting the casualties, it was discovered that there were only 75 Alamo defenders left, and all of them were wounded, just cleaning the battlefield silently.

Travis and Bowie got into an argument at the makeshift command post.

At this time, the Mexicans sent two doctors under white flags to treat the wounded soldiers out of humanitarianism.

Travis could not refuse this humanitarian act, but what he didn't know was that the real identities of the two doctors were actually Catholic priests. The purpose of their trip was to persuade the wounded soldiers to convert to Catholicism, or to teach Tasan Anna surrendered in exchange for a chance to leave the battlefield safely.

When a person is about to die, no straw is good, let alone a doctor.

The Catholic doctors' persuasion moved the hearts of many wounded soldiers, especially those who were seriously injured.

But Travis couldn't accept that these Catholics had shaken his military morale, so they shot and killed a doctor and drove the remaining doctors out of the Alamo.

Doctors and priests have a very high social status in Mexico. When a Catholic doctor was wrapped in white cloth and carried out on a stretcher, the Mexican army burst into unprecedented anger.

They may not have known why they were fighting before, but now they feel they should kill all the thugs in the Alamo Fortress.

Soldiers and officers continued to come to Tasan Anna to ask for battle, but Tasan Anna was very happy because he knew that the confidence of the Alamo defenders had collapsed.

Sure enough, at night, a gun battle broke out inside the Alamo Fortress.

Crockett was elected leader by the Tennessee volunteers and wounded soldiers and launched a surprise attack on Travis' men. Bowie was locked in the dungeon of the fortress.

By the end of the battle, fewer than 50 men remained at the Alamo, Crockett surrendered to Tasan Anna, Bowie was captured, and Travis died in the rebellion.

The Battle of the Alamo ended with a major victory for the Mexican army, and the Alamo's capture by their own people became the biggest scandal of the Battle of Texas.

Crockett was a U.S. Congressman, so Tasan Anna was very polite to him, and asked doctors to treat Crockett and the prisoners, and sent a large number of reporters to interview Crockett and the prisoners.

Of course, these reporters would only record evidence that was favorable to Mexico. The news reached Washington, and Andrew Jackson angrily slammed the newspaper on the coffee table.

"Remember, the shame of the Alamo! They are the shame of the United States! Faced with the siege of the Mexicans, they actually killed each other in order to surrender. They are simply useless!"

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The next chapter begins, returning to Austria.