. "What? Your troops were defeated by just a few hundred bandits? Oh, God!"

Surprised, angry and contemptuous expressions appeared in turn on General Pershing's face, but the army colonel standing in front of him could only answer submissively:

"That's true, General! I'm sorry! They not only have fierce firepower, but also have mortars..."

Pershing rudely interrupted his explanation, "Shut up! You incompetent coward, coward! 1,600 regular army soldiers were beaten to death by hundreds of bandits under your leadership! Tell me, Colonel Kyle, where is your dignity? What is your confidence? What is your honor?"

"But general, they are indeed not very good than ordinary bandits..."

"roll!"

Pan Xing no longer wants to listen. You should know that he does not easily say this rude word, but in this case he really can't find a better way to vent his anger.

The colonel, covered in mud and injured his right arm, had to leave Pershing's office in shame. Although it was not entirely his fault to be ambushed, and the soldiers' escape under the fierce attacks of the other party were not something he could stop, but his future in the military was basically over.

"It's outrageous!" Pan Xing walked to the sand table angrily, and the group of staff members surrounded him all looked at him with horror.

"Hmph! This group of wastes! Even if hundreds of German soldiers ambush them, they would not lose so miserably. They are so thorough. Don't forget that we control the sea and the sky!" Pershing searched on the sand table angrily, then grabbed a small red flag from a staff officer next to him and inserted it into the place where the colonel and his troops were ambushed just now.

"I'm going to search for the nearby areas with all my might. I want to see what kind of unique bandits are there!"

"Yes!" Taking this opportunity, the staff members took the Wen Zi and left the war room one after another, so as not to cause trouble to the fire in the city gate.

When more than a dozen US planes and two airships arrived at the site of the accident and launched tight air piping, Rommel and his troops had already left the battlefield and didn't even collect spoils. In fact, they didn't need to obtain supplies from the US soldiers now. First, they all replaced them with better German weapons, and the US military's ammunition and German rifles did not match. Second, they had already established a secret warehouse in a wood near the St. Mary River, and went to the secret warehouse near the Port of Tampico every week or half a month to transport ammunition and supplies. In this way, Rommel's flying battalion could fight outside the US blockade for a longer period of time.

In addition, Rommel also contacted the base through the German merchant in the port of Tampico, and the Zapata command affirmed their way of combat. He authorized Rommel to decide on its own time and method of combat operations.

As for establishing arms transfer stations in the name of German merchants, it seems a bit rash, but Mexico has now become a mixed area of ​​forces between various parties. The Carranza regime is the nominal Mexican government, but it has been defeated by the coalition forces of Zapata and Villa several times without any power to fight back. Now the intervention of the U.S. and German forces has greatly weakened the government's control over various places.

Regarding the indisputable fact that the German government supports the Zapata peasant army, the Carranza regime, on the one hand, was worried that Zapata's strength would be strong enough to subvert itself, and on the other hand, it hoped to use the power of the German government to restrain the US government so that the Americans would not continue to cut more land from Mexico. In such a contradictory situation, they had to turn a blind eye to those German merchants. The US government naturally hated this behavior of German merchants. However, the last time he dealt with several German merchants engaged in secret arms business in Port Veracruz, which attracted the German government to "protect overseas Chinese". The powerful German task force made the US Navy nervous for a long time, and the Japanese also made a fuss. This lesson made the US government and the Expeditionary Force much more cautious in dealing with German merchants.

After nightfall, the southeast coast of the Gulf of Mexico has become a frequent place for German submarines and rapid transport ships to frequently appear. Almost every week, three or four German submarines transport supplies to the eastern coast of Mexico. They either sneak into small and medium-sized ports with people to be picked up, or wait for the receiving ships outside the sea and unload directly at sea. Rapid transport ships with speeds up to above the Knife Festival have also become powerful tools for legal smuggling.

Two weeks later, a series of German "mercenaries" who had just arrived in Mexico through ocean submarines directly joined Rommel's troops after arriving at the port of Tampico. At this time, Rommel's subordinates had reached nearly 400. The so-called 23rd Battalion finally matched the battalion's organization in terms of number, and the combat effectiveness of the troops was incomparable to the moment they were just formed.

With a steady stream of material and ammunition support, Rommel's combat method is no longer limited to ambush wars for the purpose of obtaining supplies. In the first two weeks of December, he dispersed his troops into platoons to harass him, and attacked dozens of American mines, plantations, factory warehouses in the states of Guanajuato and San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and killed and injured more than 100 American capitalists and their guards. For a time, American businessmen, factory owners and expatriates in central Mexico were in danger. Many began to sell their industries and move back to the United States, while others invested in forming civil defense teams or asked the Mexican government to send troops to protect them. In short, everyone knew that a group of extremely tough "super bandits" appeared in central Mexico.

In view of the pressure at home and abroad, the US Expeditionary Force had to dispatch a large number of troops from southern Mexico to appease the American expatriates. Although such a move made the bandits no longer as unscrupulous as before, it reduced the strength of the peasant army in Morelos State. On the other hand, it also gave Rommel's troops the opportunity to continue ambushing a small group of US troops.

"Bastard! Villain! Shameless!"

Patton pulled out all the words in his stomach that could curse people, but this was not enough to calm the anger in his chest. In front of him, the railway tracks, platforms, and houses were all blown up, bloodstains, corpses and scattered flyers were everywhere.

This is a relatively important hub of the US-owned railway in central Mexico. Not only does it have a medium-sized station, but a small team of American soldiers are responsible for protection. However, just one night before, the group of bandits suddenly attacked the place, killing and injuring more than 20 Americans, but also blasted the rails and platforms. According to the preliminary estimates of technicians, it would be impossible for this place to resume traffic in less than two weeks.

Several US planes flew from the south and conducted a large-scale search nearby, but they were still as fruitless as usual. The group of peasant soldiers seemed to have stealth ability. They came and went without a trace, attacked fiercely, and retreated quickly. Patton and his troops had participated in the search and pursuit several times in a row, but returned in vain again and again.

"Go forward to all directions in the company, be sure to search the nearby hills and woods thoroughly before dark!" Patton gave the order angrily, but finally suppressed his anger and reminded his subordinates: "Be sure to go back here before dark! I don't look like I saw my person ambushed by the other party in the dark!"

On a hill less than 3 miles away, Rommel used his telescope to observe the every move of the US military at the station.

"Very good, we came to search in batches! Everyone is ready for battle. Set a big pocket for them! Remember, don't have the spoils, evacuate immediately after the battle!"

Looking at the woods where Rommel is located, the soldiers are ready to go.

Before dark, Patton indeed lost one of his company, which was the first defeat he suffered after coming to Mexico. He lost no room for anything to do. At this time, he didn't even know what his opponent's name was. However, he vowed to make the other commander pay a heavy price for what he is today, and swear with his reputation as George and Patton.

As Christmas approaches, the U.S. Expeditionary Force Command is always shrouded in a depressing atmosphere. No one is busy with Christmas food and programs. The complex army mobilization and logistics have left the staff members with no time to say a few extra words all day long. Despite the secret cooperation of the Mexican government, the Expeditionary Force has never been able to do anything about the bandits in the Santa Maria River area. In Pershing's words, the peasant army commander is even more cunning than the foxes in the mountains.

The general of the Iron Hammer did not expect that it was this "crawling little fox" who completely changed his destiny.

December 24, Christmas Eve.

In a US barracks in Queretaro, Mexico, the Christmas bonfire party of the 11th National Guard Regiment in Mississippi was in full swing. Suddenly, several barracks storing ammunition exploded violently, followed by a dozen mortar shells falling into the middle of the crowd gathered by the bonfires to celebrate. The soldiers of the 11th National Guard Regiment picked up their guns to find and eliminate the attackers. Just as they were rushing out of the campground, a sound of machine guns like fried beans sounded in front of them, and many US soldiers who had no time to lie down were immediately swept down by dense bullets.

However, in order to prevent the other party's shelling from causing greater casualties, the American officers inside forced the soldiers to attack the other party's simple positions in this situation. It was this wrong decision that killed more American soldiers. By the time the Mexican peasant army withdrew, a total of 865 National Guard soldiers were killed, and more than 400 were injured. The casualty rate of the entire regiment exceeded 80%. As soon as the news came out, the United States was shocked and saddened by the incident called "Christmas Crying Night".

After the "Christmas Crying Night", the U.S. government and the Expeditionary Force took a series of emergency remedial measures. The injured soldiers were sent to the nearest field hospital for full treatment. The dead were soon transported back to the country. The main officers of the regiment who made major mistakes were subsequently suspended for investigation. General Pershing, who sent such a militia-level force to the dangerous area, was also questioned by the government, military leaders and the people. Just three days later, Brigadier General Pershing was removed from his post as commander of the Expeditionary Force, and General Frederick Finston, the commander of the US Southern Military Region, was appointed as the new Expeditionary Force commander.

Finston and Pershing were both disciples of Arthur MacArthur. They participated in the US-Philippines War and the 1914 occupation of Veracruz, Mexico. They were both famous combatants in the US Army.

Given the poor performance of the National Guards in Mexico, General Finston's first thing after taking office was to send these well-equipped but poorly trained National Guards back to the United States. Although Patton was a formal officer of the US Army and the troops he led had good performance in previous operations, he had no choice but to join the troops on the return to the local army with the troops at Veracruz. The new task given to him by the Army Department was to stay in Arkansas to assist in the training of the National Guard. At this point, Pershing and Patton's trip to Mexico both ended.

After sending away more than 40,000 National Guard soldiers, Finston did not weaken the encirclement and suppression of the Zapata peasant army due to the reduction of troops. Instead, he adopted another strategy: he bought information about Zapata's whereabouts from the Mexicans at any cost, and organized several commandos composed of elite regular troops to capture the king first in order to capture the thief.

However, it was not just Rommel who was cunning. After the last camp was raided by Patton's troops, Zapata and his command became very cautious. When there was any disturbance within a radius of twenty miles, they immediately moved to the hidden mountainous areas. In addition, Morelos was originally a mountainous area, and the US military returned in failure for several consecutive "decapitation operations". Instead, the peasant army launched a new anti-clearance operation. Several battalion-level troops followed Rommel's 23rd Battalion's imitation of Rommel's 23rd Battalion broke through the US blockade and entered the outside line to fight, and continuously obtained the German government's arms and material assistance from the coast. At the same time, the German government also reached a secret agreement with the Villa peasant army in northern Mexico, and German arms supplies began to be provided to the Mexican, who was a real bandit. Soon after, Villa repeatedly attacked American border cities, killing and injuring several Americans, and once again caused panic on the US border.

In March 1917, General Finston, the commander of the US Expeditionary Force, suddenly fell down during a combat meeting and was rushed to a field hospital, but died of myocardial infarction. This accident had an immeasurable impact on the US government and the Department of the Army. A week later, Peyton Mage, who was also a ruling, took over as commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force, but the first thing the general did after he arrived in Mexico was to prepare for the return of the Expeditionary Force.

On April 2, 1917, on the day after April Fools' Day, the US government announced the withdrawal of troops from Mexico.

After the US Expeditionary Force was forced to evacuate from Mexico due to domestic and foreign political and foreign political pressure and repeated failures in military operations, the "Senior Advisory Group" and "Mercenary Group" sent by Germany did not return to Germany in this regard. Many German soldiers, including the "guerrilla general" Rommel, continued to stay in Mexico to assist the Zapata peasant army in training soldiers, reorganizing the army, and support Zapata on the road to seizing power by force.

In June 1917, Zapata and Villa held a meeting outside Mexico City. The two sides agreed to form a joint revolutionary party and revolutionary army, and signed a series of aid agreements with special representatives sent by the German government.

On September 9, 1917, after more than three months of active preparation, the United Revolutionary Party issued the "Mexican Revolutionary Declaration", and then officially declared war on the Carranza regime, and the Mexican civil war broke out.
Chapter completed!