1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 693 Encounter on a narrow road

The Mexican militia searched the ruins of Norton for a whole day, until dusk when soldiers found five survivors in a cellar.

The five survivors found were all women and children, three of whom were children under the age of six. The remaining two were a little girl of about twelve or thirteen years old, and the other was a widow wearing black mourning clothes.

They looked like they hadn't eaten for some time and were in a bad mental state.

Hawke and Zhang Zhaoyu were very happy to learn that they had found the survivors, and ordered them to be treated well and provided with clean drinks and food.

Unable to get any valuable information from three children under the age of six, Hawke and Zhang Zhaoyu focused on girls aged twelve or thirteen and widows, hoping to get some information about the Northern Federal Army from them.

After asking questions intermittently for nearly an hour, Zhang Zhaoyu finally got some results. They learned that the little girl's name was Liz and the widow's name was Sarah, and they were both residents of Norton Town.

Liz was in a bad state and kept muttering in a daze that there were a lot of horses. But when Zhang Zhaoyu patiently and gently asked her how many horses she saw, Liz kept repeating hundreds and thousands, and could not provide a relatively accurate number.

As an adult widow, Sarah provided relatively more information. She told Zhang Zhaoyu and Hawke that after the artillery fire, the Yankee cavalry entered the town, followed by the infantry.

As for how many Yankees had entered the town, she had been hiding at home and had no idea, but she was sure that there were a lot of them. In addition to the Yankee soldiers speaking with a Maine accent, she also heard many Yankee soldiers on the streets speaking other European languages ​​such as French, Dutch, and Prussian, and there were quite a few of them.

Zhang Zhaoyu opened his notebook and added a new line of words on the page recording the Northern Federal Army's number: European mercenary troops, with organized artillery and cavalry troops accompanying them. He then ordered his men to send the five survivors to Pratt for proper placement, and to bring back the enemy information they had just obtained.

"An elite Yankee volunteer brigade plus an unknown European mercenary force, General Hawke, we are in big trouble." Zhang Zhaoyu looked solemn.

"General Ames, we have found the prey. Let the boys from Maine get ready for the hunting!" Brannan, who had just entered Nebraska territory, sent the scouts away. He was as excited as a Kansas hound who had just smelled a white-tailed deer.

"Damn it, we almost missed them!"

"Oh? Are they the regular troops of the Westerners?" Ames's face lit up when he heard that.

He was rubbing his hands in anticipation, as excited as Brannan.

It had been more than a month since they left Omaha, and they finally had the opportunity to fight a real war with the Yankee troops!

The war situation is now very unfavorable to the Federation. Whether on the Eastern Front or the Western Front, the Federation Army's performance is very poor. They urgently need a real victory to wash away the shame.

If Ames could win this battle, he would not only win the favor of President Lincoln, but also the annoying voices in the army who questioned whether he was able to rise to the rank of brigadier general through McClellan's personal relationship would disappear.

"Unfortunately, no. This is a force mainly composed of white people, with more than two thousand people. According to the information I have, they should be a militia brigade, most likely a Mexican militia brigade." Brannan seemed to be very familiar with the organization of the Western Army and spoke about it like he knew it by heart.

"They are in the town of Norton, about 50 miles away from us."

The enemy had more than 2,000 men, and they were militia. Seven thousand versus more than 2,000. They had just looted Norton Town, had sufficient supplies, and were in high spirits. Ames felt that this was a sure win!

"Joshua! Give the order, the entire Maine Brigade will march south!" Ames gave the order to turn around and march without hesitation. On the evening of July 1861, 7, the wilderness of northern Kansas was extremely hot. The hot wind blew up waves of dry dust. The grassland was silent, with only the occasional cries of small animals in the distance.

The Mexican militia brigade, which turned northeast and was preparing to join the two regiments of the 103rd Brigade, unexpectedly encountered the main force of the Northern Union Army in North Kansas.

What Hawke and Zhang Zhaoyu were most worried about happened.

The tired Mexican militia soldiers learned from scouts that there were a large number of Northern Union troops ahead, and chaos inevitably broke out in the marching team.

"Keep your formation!" Hawk's eyes were as sharp as a hawk as he scanned his soldiers.

The Chinese officers in the team severely reprimanded the deserting Mexican soldiers and tried their best to keep the team together.

"The Yankees have a large number of cavalry. We are surrounded by prairie. If you want to live, listen to my orders!" Zhang Zhaoyu glared at the Mexican soldiers who were ready to move. After observing the surrounding terrain, he quickly issued orders and began to organize a defense line.

"Everyone! Dig shelters along the low hill below, and the infantry will protect the artillery! The reconnaissance company will keep up the reconnaissance, monitor the enemy's movements, and report at any time!"

He decided to rely closely on the low earthen hills at his feet. The Western Army soldiers quickly built a simple position behind rocks, bushes and irregular terrain before it became completely dark.

Under the command of their Chinese officers, the soldiers in the front row searched everywhere for stones, preparing to build a waist-high stone wall.

The enemy was strong and we were weak, so Hawke and Zhang Zhaoyu could only pin all their hopes on defense.

Zhang Zhaoyu was not exaggerating just now to scare these Mexican militiamen. They had no cover around them. Once the team dispersed in such an open terrain, this force composed mainly of infantry would be shot one by one by the Yankee cavalry like hunting white-tailed deer on the Great Plains.

The Union infantry, four or five kilometers away from them, lined up in an orderly manner. The Union artillery slowly pulled their artillery forward, and the Union cavalry was divided into two groups, quickly approaching their positions. With the advantage in numbers and firepower, they dispersed the Western scouts and prepared to conduct close reconnaissance and interfere with the Western infantry's construction of fortifications.

The Northern Army was so well-trained, with its various arms coordinating well and being so highly organized that Zhang Zhaoyu once doubted whether this was still the Northern Army he had imagined.

"Artillery battalion! Fire to disperse the enemy cavalry!" Zhang Zhaoyu ordered his artillery to fire back at the Northern Army cavalry.

The artillery they brought was the regular artillery that Hawke had requested from Liang Yao. The artillerymen's reaction was obviously faster than that of the Mexican infantry. They had already set up the 6-pound Sacramento field gun and fired in an orderly manner to disperse the Union cavalry and buy the infantry a precious breathing space.

Seeing that the Yankee cavalry were dispersed by their brothers in the artillery battalion, and even two unlucky Yankee cavalry were directly hit by artillery shells, the Western Army infantry burst into cheers, and the low morale finally recovered.

It seems that with these reliable artillery brothers supporting us, we can still fight against the odds.

(End of this chapter)