1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 713 Leave no one behind

Peng Dashun was right in his guess. One of the two regiments of the 103rd Brigade did get lost in the vast wilderness of northern Kansas.

As for the remaining regiment, the 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, it did not get lost, but because Peng Dashun and Zhu Yidian chased the Northern Army's detachment too hastily, this detachment was in a panic and had difficulty in determining its retreat route. The 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade passed by this detachment several times.

It was not until Xiao Yi, commander of the 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, abandoned the machine gun and artillery companies, discarded unnecessary baggage, and moved forward lightly that he, under the guidance of scouts, successfully intercepted this Northern Army detachment near Manhattan Village and repelled the attack of the Maine Brigade.

"Chase! Chase quickly! Chase and beat them!"

After repelling the attack of the Maine Brigade, Xiao Yi did not intend to hold his ground, but instead ordered a pursuit.

"Commander, we only have one infantry regiment, and the enemy's number is several times ours. Are you sure you want to chase them?" Letting one regiment chase two enemy brigades, Deputy Commander Tang Yuan once thought that Xiao Yi had a problem with his brain.

It would be fine if the enemy was just some miscellaneous Yankee soldiers, but the intelligence had clearly shown that the Northern Army they were blocking was the elite Northern Army that had wiped out the Mexican militia brigade, not miscellaneous soldiers.

"If it's real, pretend it's fake, and if it's fake, pretend it's real." Xiao Yi said decisively, "It's precisely because we only have one regiment that we have to take the initiative to attack! We have to give him the illusion that we have more than one regiment and there are other troops behind us!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yi rode on his mount, led the entire infantry of the 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade in launching a counterattack against the Maine Brigade.

With the assistance of the First Mercenary Regiment, the Maine Brigade fought and retreated, and only stabilized its position after nightfall.

Northern Army camp.

The generals of the 1st Mercenary Regiment and the Maine Brigade were worried.

"We only have enough rations to last us for two days, and we have very little ammunition left. Now we are blocked by the Western Army in front of us, and pursued by the Western Army in the rear." Colonel Joshua of the Maine Brigade briefly introduced to everyone the current situation they were facing.

"The Yankee troops behind us have been chasing us for more than half a month, and they are chasing us harder than hounds!" Grant took a sip of gin to quench his thirst.

The 12st Mercenary Regiment and the Maine Brigade were already marching very fast. In order to increase the marching speed, Brannan even ordered the abandonment of the precious -pound Armstrong heavy artillery.

But they still couldn't shake off the pursuers behind them.

Now, they had not shaken off the Yankee's pursuers. Another Yankee army appeared in front of them to intercept them, causing them to be attacked from both sides and unable to move forward or backward.

"How many Yankee troops are there blocking us ahead?" Ames, the commander of the Maine Brigade, looked at Joshua with a frown.

"It looked like there was only one regiment, but they fought fiercely. The two regiments we sent were repelled by them! They even chased us until dark!" Joshua said with lingering fear.

"The enemy must be the regular regiment of the Western Army!"

The Maine Brigade was the elite of the elite in the Omaha Legion. Two of its regiments were chased and beaten by one of the enemy regiments in a field battle. Based on this, Joshua judged that the enemy must be a unit among the three regular infantry brigades of the Western Army, rather than a militia unit.

"If a regiment dares to chase and fight so many of us, there must be other troops behind them." Ames took a breath and continued after a while.

"Manhattan Village is a small village on the Kansas River. There must be boats there. We can take the boat to Topeka. As long as we get to Topeka, we will be safe."

Topeka was a large Union military stronghold on the Kansas River, garrisoned by half a regiment of regular troops and two regiments of militia. It was the second largest Union stronghold in the Kansas region after Kansas City.

Topeka is about 80 kilometers away from Manhattan Village. If they take a boat downstream from Manhattan Village, they can reach Topeka in less than half a day.

As long as they reached Topeka, they would not only be completely safe, but they would also be able to regain supplies, launch a counterattack against the two Western Army units pursuing them, and even destroy them all.

There was nothing wrong with Ames' idea, the biggest problem was that there was no ship!

Manhattan Village is a riverside village and originally had ships. However, the last time they arrived at Manhattan Village, all of the ships were either sunk or burned, leaving not a single one behind.

Now I think I was really shooting myself in the foot.

"Sir, have you forgotten? We destroyed all the ships in Manhattan Village." Joshua reminded Ames softly.

Ames then rubbed his forehead and suddenly realized that it seemed to be true.

"Damn it, I should have known not to destroy those ships." Ames was extremely upset about the ship that destroyed Manhattan two months ago.

There were Westerners chasing us from both sides and without any boats, so we could only look at the river and sigh. What should we do?

However, Brannan and Grant from the First Mercenary Group were relatively calm.

After consultation, the two men finally decided to continue eastward, break through the blockade of the Western Army's regular troops, and head to Topeka.

"Drop all encumbrances, including the 6-pounder Armstrong, and march as fast as possible to Topeka."

The distance is more than 80 kilometers. As long as they walk faster, they can reach Topeka in one day.

As for hoping that the Topeka garrison would send troops to support them, Brannan and Grant were well aware of the character of these second-line federal troops and had no illusions about the local garrison at all.

Brannan and Grant also had other ideas. They didn't need to run faster than the Western Army, they just had to run faster than the Maine Brigade.

As long as they could march faster than the Maine Brigade, the Maine Brigade would have to cover the rear for their 1st Mercenary Regiment.

Of course, the prerequisite is that they can break through the defensive positions of the Western Army in front.

"Brannan, Grant, are you two crazy? There may be reinforcements behind the Western Army in front." Ames was surprised at the decision of Brannan and Grant. "If we stay where we are or march in other directions, we may be entangled by the damn Westerners. There is only hope if we go east!" Brannan ignored Ames.

"I've read Sun Tzu's Art of War. The Western Army's attack on us during the day was just bluffing. Maybe they only have one regiment."

The First Mercenary Regiment was a private army and was not affiliated with the War Department. Although Ames was a brigadier general and had a higher rank than everyone present, he could not command Brannan, let alone the First Mercenary Regiment.

Brannan continued to do as he pleased, ordering the soldiers of the First Mercenary Regiment to abandon all unnecessary belongings and march eastward along the Kansas River.

As for the life or death of the Maine Brigade, he didn't care. The mercenaries of the First Mercenary Group didn't care either.

The 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade tried desperately to block the First Mercenary Regiment from retreating eastwards, but they were outnumbered and the hastily formed defense line was broken through by the more powerful First Mercenary Regiment.

Fortunately, the First Mercenary Regiment had run out of ammunition and food, and had no intention of fighting, so they just rushed eastward. The casualties of the 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade were still within an acceptable range.

The Maine Brigade, which realized the situation later, was not so lucky. It was tightly entangled by the two Guangxi regiments and the 103rd Brigade.

The Guangxi Regiment, which had also run out of ammunition, even engaged in a bloody hand-to-hand fight with the Maine Brigade.

In the end, the Maine Brigade fled back to Topeka in a panic, leaving behind more than a thousand corpses and more than three hundred prisoners on the banks of the Kansas River.

"Colonel Xiao, what should we do with these prisoners?" Peng Dashun, covered in blood and with wounds on his arms, found Xiao Yi, the commander of the 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, with bandages wrapped around his body.

The Guangxi Regiment is still a militia regiment in name only. The commander of the militia regiment has the rank of lieutenant colonel, which is one level lower than the commander of the standing regiment.

Xiao Yi is now the highest-ranking senior officer among the three regiments and enjoys the highest decision-making power.

"The president said that he doesn't want to keep any captives from the mercenary group and the Maine Brigade." Xiao Yi said very resolutely, "Execute them all on the spot!"

"No! Please." A prisoner of the Maine Brigade who could understand Chinese suddenly knelt on the ground and begged for mercy from Xiao Yi on horseback, "Please don't, I'm just an ordinary grocery store owner in Ellsworth, and I have six younger brothers and sisters at home."

The frightened Maine Brigade prisoner who knelt in the mud tried to reach Xiao Yi's boots with trembling fingertips, but was hit by the horse's tail and his face was covered with blood foam.

"We...we are willing to reform. Please let us go, let us go back to Maine, and give us a chance to start a new life. I swear to God that I will never join the army again!"

"My wife just gave birth to twins!"

"I have a gold pocket watch here! It's worth at least fifty dollars! It's yours now!"

"I'm a farmer! I can train horses! I can help you rob the Yankee supply team!"

Although the other prisoners of the Maine Brigade could not understand Chinese, they were able to understand body language and facial expressions. They quickly understood what orders the Western Army colonel riding on the white horse had just issued, and they all knelt down and begged for mercy.

Some prisoners turned out all the valuables in their pockets in the hope of saving their lives, while others revealed their occupations, expressing their willingness to serve the Western Army and trying their best to prove their worth.

Xiao Yi used his saber to lift the chin of the Maine Brigade prisoner who could speak Chinese, and stabbed him in the neck fiercely: "Little bastard, when you set fire to Norton and shot lead into the bodies of our Mexican brothers, you never thought that you also had brothers and sisters."

Xiao Yi is a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, but what these Mainers did in North Kansas made it difficult for him to have a good impression of them. He still carried out the orders from his superiors very firmly.

"These valuable things will be ours after we kill you. We don't need you to give them to us." Zhu Yidian also drew out the goose-feather knife with blood still on it and began to chop the prisoners of the Maine Brigade.

For a moment, there were gunshots and bayonet fighting on the Kansas River, and all the Maine Brigade prisoners were executed on the spot.

These Maine executioners were not forgiven and were duly punished.

"Colonel, we have found the body of General Hawke."

A soldier from the 103rd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade identified the dead body as a general of the Western Army rather than the Union Army by the uniform on the body.

The generals of the Western Army generally liked to wear the general uniforms issued by the Army Department. Therefore, although Hawke's epaulettes had been removed, the soldier still recognized that he was wearing the general uniform of the Western Army.

Xiao Yi rode his horse hurriedly to the body and recognized that the deceased was Brigadier General William Hawke of the Mexican Militia Brigade. Hawke's body was still fresh and showed no signs of decay, indicating that Hawke was executed before the enemy broke through and escaped.

"Cut some wood to make a coffin and carry General Hawke's body back to the Omaha camp." Xiao Yi dismounted and closed Hawke's eyes. "General Hawke, sooner or later we will kill all the bastards from the mercenary group and the Maine Brigade."

"Colonel Xiao, aren't you going to continue chasing the Northern Army? Many of them have escaped." Peng Dashun still felt that the killing was not enough.

"Topeka is further east. We don't have many troops and we don't have heavy artillery. We can't take Topeka. Let's go back to Omaha camp first." Xiao Yi stayed sober and didn't get carried away.

As the Union's second largest stronghold in Kansas, Topeka must have stockpiled a large amount of ammunition.

Xiao Yi also found out from the firearms seized from the fallen soldiers of the mercenary group that the mercenary group was well-equipped, with Walter rifles and new Lee Enfield rifles imported from Britain. There was even an unknown 6-pound field gun with performance similar to the Sacramento gun.

The strength of their three regiments could barely hold out against the Maine Brigade and the mercenary regiment that had run out of ammunition and food, but the situation would be different once they replenished their ammunition.

Xiao Yi decided to quit while he was ahead and return to the Omaha camp first.

(End of this chapter)