Chapter 44: The All-Star Defenders of the Alamo

Goliad, Old John's Bar.

William Travis pushed open the cypress leaf spring door of the bar, and the pungent smell of alcohol and choking smoke rushed towards him, mixed with the smell of foot odor and cheap perfume.

These soldiers were having fun with prostitutes, and the crowd twisted together wildly to the cheerful music.

The soldiers put the prostitutes on their shoulders, and the bold prostitutes didn't care about the spring light that was suddenly exposed. Everyone was still immersed in the joy of victory. Now Goliad, San Antonio, and even Texas belonged to them.

Just three months ago, they wiped out a 40-man Mexican garrison and successfully captured Goliad.

But now Tasan Anna is about to arrive with an 8,000-man Mexican army. If the remnants and newly recruited black slaves and Indians collected along the way are counted, the total number may not be less than 10,000.

William Travis is now upset, and he wants to find the volunteer commander James Bowie immediately.

William Travis was looking inside while avoiding drunks and prostitutes who might bump into him at any time. The wet floor under his feet was covered with oil and rum, which almost made him slip.

William Travis shouted, "Colonel James Bowie, are you here? I am Colonel William Travis, I need to talk to you."

But no one answered, and William Travis was angry and took out the pistol from his waist and fired two shots at the ceiling.

"Bang! Bang!" The two gunshots stopped the noisy crowd, but the ring candlestick with candles hanging on the roof fell down and knocked down a drunkard immediately.

"Take him away. Who is James Bowie?"

A dwarf raised his hand, and William Travis asked with some confusion.

"Are you James Bowie?"

The dwarf shook his head quickly and answered.

"Colonel Bowie is upstairs, but I think he doesn't want you to disturb him."

William Travis was a little annoyed.

"I am Colonel William Travis, the highest military commander here, and I want to see him now."

The dwarf shrugged and pointed to the second floor.

William Travis walked to the room on the second floor angrily, kicked the door open, and found that Colonel Bowie was doing something unspeakable, so he had to close the door again and wait outside.

About 3 minutes later, Colonel Bowie opened the door.

"Colonel William Travis, I'm sorry for the long wait."

"Not long, just three minutes."

Both parties smiled awkwardly, but the relationship was brought closer unconsciously.

"Let's go to another room to talk and let her rest for a while." Colonel Bowie suggested.

James Bowie is more famous for the knife he invented than for himself. A Bowie knife with an upturned tip and a guard is called the Bowie knife in later generations, which is the American military knife we ​​usually see most often.

James Bowie and William Travis came to the kitchen, and Bowie picked up two cups and handed one to Travis.

"Have a drink first. You can't talk if you're thirsty."

Then Bowie opened a bottle of rum and poured a glass for Travis and himself.

Travis pushed the glass away and said.

"I don't drink. Those people outside can't fight at all. And I have bad news to tell you. No one will come to rescue us. Tasan Anna brought 10,000 people, and we only have two colonels and 200 soldiers."

"Oh, I heard about it. What about 10,000 people?" Bowie drank the wine in the glass nonchalantly.

"We lack enough soldiers and weapons. There are only three antique cannons left by Mexicans."

"Believe me, Travis, the Mexican cannons will not be better than ours." Bowie said with a smile, because he knew that the Mexicans were still using the Spanish antiques.

"But my people, plus your volunteers, are only 200 people. How can we fight against Tasang Anna's army?"

"I'm not afraid of death, but if I die, I will let the Mexicans know that I am not easy to mess with. I will tear a piece of meat from them and eat it with butter."

James Bowie did not lie. He was indeed not afraid of death. Everyone who met him praised him as a real cowboy and a desperado.

"But I don't want to die meaninglessly."

"Then give me your command, sir. Now those big guys are studying the establishment of the country, and we have to stop Tasang Anna. It's that simple."

Bowie went to get Travis's wine glass again, but Travis snatched it away.

"I'm not afraid of death either, but I want to say that Texas cannot do without San Antonio. History will prove that I am right."

Travis drank the wine and coughed it out.

"Not bad, a tough guy, haha!"

"Bowie, I have a request?" Travis hesitated.

"Speak like a man."

"I want you to keep silent. I want to tell the soldiers that General Houston is on his way with 2,000 reinforcements. I'm afraid those cowards will run away. Our mission is to buy enough time for the big guys."

Bowie hesitated and nodded.

"Okay, I won't expose you. But if someone wants to leave, it's their freedom, and you can't stop them."

"It's up to you. I don't think Houston would be so stupid as to give up San Antonio. You and I both know how important San Antonio is to Texas. As long as Tassan Anna occupies San Antonio, he will be invincible."

However, in history, Tassan Anna underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly after the Battle of the Alamo. He was eventually attacked by the militia led by the settler businessman Houston, which resulted in all his efforts being wasted. In the end, Tassan Anna himself was nailed to the pillar of shame forever.

A day later, the legendary American David Crockett arrived at Goliad with 20 Tennessee volunteers.

In the legend, David Crockett could tear apart wolves with his bare hands, fight brown bears, repel the attack of 300 Indian warriors alone, and single-handedly thwarted the British conspiracy to assassinate the US president.

Such a legendary figure is also the only American officer who surrendered to Tassan Anna in the Battle of the Alamo.

Historically, the twenty Tennessee volunteers led by David Crockett were the last reinforcements to arrive at the Alamo.

But in fact, there was a 400-man force stationed just a dozen kilometers away from the Alamo, led by Colonel Manin.

But this group of people neither assisted Travis at the Alamo nor obeyed Houston's orders to leave San Antonio and join Houston's main force.

These people watched the demise of the Alamo defenders and then became Tasan Anna's punching bag.

Their only role in history was to make Tasan Anna bear the infamy of killing prisoners.

A volunteer force of one thousand people just set out from Boston, but they will not arrive until two months later.

Sorry, there was a problem with the system just now, so the draft was sent directly.