Chapter 503 - Attack from both sides
When the French army completely blew up the St. Paul Fortress, George and McCain were enjoying a leisurely lunch. The decision to send nearly three regiments of U.S. Marines into the fortress to resist the French army was a decision made by George and McCain together. In the face of such a big disadvantage, in order to delay the advance of the French army as much as possible, George and McCain carefully planned this strategy. However, what they didn't expect at all was that the French army completely shattered their plan so simply.
When a violent explosion occurred in Fort St. Paul, even the temporary headquarters of McCain and George shook violently. And shook all the delicious lunch that the two were enjoying to the ground.
"Damn it, where is the cannon shooting that made such a big commotion." McCain cursed. He was annoyed that his favorite foie gras had been knocked to the floor. Although the United States is now at war with France, his love for French food cannot be changed.
"General, this doesn't seem to be a cannon shot. We only have less than 20 cannons left, even if we fire a volley, it won't make such a big noise." George said with a frown.
"Could it be French?" McCain asked suspiciously.
George still shook his head: "It doesn't look like it. Even the 305mm naval gun of the French Navy wouldn't make such a big noise."
Both of them were full of doubts in their minds, and they didn't know what happened.
At this moment, a low-ranking officer ran in hastily: "General, something is wrong." The low-ranking officer said with a terrified face.
"What's the panic? Could it be that the French called? What happened just now? Why did you make such a big commotion? Could it be that our ammunition depot was attacked by the French?" McCain was a little displeased. Yue asked.
"Neither, General. Something happened to Fort St. Paul," said the junior officer.
"What?" Both McCain and George stood up from their chairs in surprise. "Tell me, what happened to St. Paul's Fortress?" George asked very anxiously. After all, in the fortress, there are nearly half of his current troops. How can this not make him nervous?
"It's almost the end of St. Paul's Fortress." The junior officer said with pain on his face. In the fortress, there were not only his comrades in arms, but also countless friends, but now they all died in the fortress, which made him hate the French very much, but more mourning.
"What's going on?" George shouted excitedly, clutching the collar of the junior officer.
"The French blew up the St. Paul Fortress, and none of the brothers inside could escape. The St. Paul Fortress has now become a ruin." The junior officer said.
"What?" George felt dizzy, and sat down on the chair very weakly. Those are thousands of elite marines, half of his strength, but now they are gone, how can he accept it?
McCain, on the other hand, fared much better, equally shocked but much calmer. It may be that his US 7th Fleet has learned from the past, which has increased his resistance a lot.
"Is it true that no one survived?" McCain asked.
"Despicable Frenchman!" George suddenly stood up and cursed: "Come on, gather troops for me, I'm going to avenge my soldiers." George shouted very excitedly. At such a time, the anger in his heart can only be extinguished with blood, and the French army who killed his soldiers is undoubtedly the object of his revenge. He has now completely forgotten that this decision was made entirely by him and McCain. If they hadn't made such a decision, thousands of U.S. Marines might not have died. However, this is war, and war has its laws, and if there is war, there must be death.
"That's enough, George, calm down. You are gathering troops to attack the French now, just to die. Do you think you can compete with the French army with just a few thousand people?" At this time, McKay En yelled. Although he also hated the French army very much and wished to kill them all, he had to stop George. Because the strength of St. Paul's defenders has already been greatly damaged, if the thousands of soldiers in George's hands are lost, the consequences will be even worse.
"General, I want to avenge my soldiers." George said with red eyes, tears welling in his eyes.
"George, listen to me. Now you have to calm down. With our current strength, if we go to the French army to take revenge, it will be a dead end. Not only will we not be able to take revenge, but we will also involve ourselves in it. Sao Paulo's defense will also be greatly affected." McCain persuaded.
"General, what should we do now?" George finally calmed down.
"There is no other way now. We must immediately withdraw to St. Paul City." McCain said with a livid face.
"Retreat?" George was puzzled.
"Yes, retreat. I think the French should be preparing to attack again now. There is no danger here at all. If you stay here, you will definitely be defeated by the French in the end. It is better to withdraw to Sao Paulo and rely on the fortifications Contend against the French. The city of St. Paul is beyond the range of the French navy, and when they do not have the naval artillery support, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced." George analyzed.
"General, but in that case, what about the battleships of the Seventh Fleet?" George asked. One very important reason why they stick to the St. Paul Fortress is to guard the military port of the US 7th Fleet. If they retreat now, it will be tantamount to exposing the general port to the French. People can withdraw, but warships cannot.
"Let all the sailors go ashore and blow up all the battleships." McCain ordered with a cold face, a trace of pain flashed in his eyes. After all, the 7th Fleet is his entire effort. It also includes his most beloved "Apostle", but now he wants to bury the 7th Fleet with his own hands.
"General, you should think about it again." George persuaded, he was very clear about McCain's feelings for the 7th Fleet.
"Stop talking, let's execute the order." McCain said firmly. This is the current situation. If they do not destroy all the warships of the US 7th Fleet, then the remaining warships of the 7th Fleet are likely to be captured by the French. After all, now that the French fleet has surrounded the Port of Sao Paulo, the US 7th Fleet has nowhere to escape. With McCain's character, even if he destroys the battleships, he will not leave them to the French. Another advantage of blowing up the battleship is that the sunken battleship will block the general port, making it impossible for the French fleet to use the military port in a short period of time, and it can be regarded as supporting them in disguise to resist the French army's attack on St.
"Okay then." George nodded. Immediately left the temporary headquarters and sent people to deal with the 7th Fleet. These must be carried out as soon as possible, because no one of them can tell when France will start to attack.
Hearing the news that the warship was going to be sunk, all the officers and soldiers of the US 7th Fleet could not accept it, but this was an order from McCain. Although they could not accept it, they still had to execute it. Half an hour later, all the surviving warships of the US 7th Fleet, including the 'Apostle', were bombed and sunk, and the main waterway of the entire St. Paul Naval Port was also blocked~www.mtlnovel.com~ is occupied by the French army Once here, it would be impossible to use this military port without spending two or three months to clear the waterway. The civilian port of Sao Paulo is not suitable for berthing large warships.
After the bombing and sinking of the battleship, the remaining nearly 2,000 people in the US 7th Fleet all took up rifles and converted from sailors to infantry. After dealing with these matters, McCain and George immediately ordered the troops to retreat to Sao Paulo. After all, there are less than 10,000 of them now. If they encounter an attack from the French army, they will be unable to resist at all.
In the afternoon, the French army launched an attack. But what puzzled them was that the U.S. military collapsed without a fight. Moreover, Kirkbride felt even more helpless when it was discovered that the St. Paul Naval Port was also blocked by bombed and sunk warships. There was no choice but to order the transport ship to land at a civilian port and start loading and unloading supplies, while the warship continued to berth at sea.
In the evening of that day, the vanguard of the 1st Division of the French Marine Corps hit the city of St. Paul, but because the US army was well prepared, they did not attack rashly.
In the afternoon of the same day, the 1st Infantry Division of the 2nd Iberian Army finally arrived 4 days after the battle started. They camped 10 kilometers west of Sao Paulo and immediately contacted the 1st Marine Corps Division, preparing to attack at the same time. Take action and attack the city of Sao Paulo on both sides so that the battle can be ended as soon as possible.