America 1881: Legend of the West

The first to fall ill were those who ate spoiled canned beef.

Halfway through, the group began to vomit and have diarrhea.

Soon some of them collapsed and could no longer stand up. They collapsed on the roadside gasping for air while cursing the canned supplier.

These people lost their combat effectiveness and were naturally counted as sick, and then were carried away on stretchers by the support personnel who came from behind.

At first, only a small number of people experienced symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

But Roosevelt soon discovered that there were more and more such people.

Some of them didn't even touch the damn cans.

As time goes by, the symptoms of these people begin to become more varied.

For example, some of them have started to have fever, pain all over, dizziness, feeling weak in their limbs, unable to walk, and unable to stand up again after sitting down for a rest.

Roosevelt originally thought it was just a common heatstroke or something, and he would just take a rest. After resting, he continued to follow the team.

But he soon realized he was wrong.

Soon after, some of those who experience these symptoms quickly move on to the next stage.

They begin to suffer from physical bleeding and shock, and will soon die from heart failure if they do not receive timely treatment.

The soldiers began to fall one by one.

He had to set up camp in a jungle clearing sixty kilometers away from the Santiago front line.

Roosevelt inspected the barracks.

He frowned as he looked at the sick soldiers lying or leaning under the trees.

If the non-combat attrition continues like this, there will be no need to fight the war. Let alone destroying the Spaniards, whether he can return to the United States alive with most of the people is a question.

"Damn it, we have to think of something." Roosevelt put his hands on his hips and looked around at the soldiers around him.

He wondered whether he should write to Army Headquarters to explain the situation he was facing.

While Roosevelt was still thinking about how to write this letter, one of his soldiers who was once a postman trotted over.

"Sir, there is an old woman wearing a strange robe and a group of people who want to see you." The soldier said.

"Strange robe? Old woman?" Roosevelt was confused.

But before he could think of how to reply, he saw a group of people dressed really strangely walking towards him.

The leader was short in stature, wearing a very light gray robe, and a mask on his face, with only two eyes exposed.

However, one can vaguely tell that she is a woman from her body shape and long hair.

However, her whole body was wrapped tightly.

Roosevelt suddenly had the illusion that he had arrived in Saudi Arabia.

The woman walked quickly to Roosevelt:

"You are Mr. Roosevelt, right?"

Roosevelt nodded.

When he got closer, he could see clearly that the woman's hair was gray and her voice was a little old, like a nun from a certain monastery.

"May I ask you are?"

Roosevelt searched his memory, but he really couldn't remember knowing such an old woman.

"My name is Theresa Romney. I am a military doctor who participated in the Civil War. I have been asked by Mr. Chen to help you!" said the old woman behind the mask.

Upon hearing Chen Jianqiu's name, Roosevelt was overjoyed.

"Thank God! You came just in time!" He said happily.

Teresa has been training medical talents for Chen Jianqiu since she started training militiamen in Roswell.

This time, she took these medical talents to form the medical detachment of the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.

However, as the Spaniard's resistance became weaker and weaker, there were even fewer injuries in the team.

Chen Jianqiu heard that Roosevelt's troops had been circling in the jungle, and suddenly remembered something, so he asked Theresa to come for a run.

"Take me to see the patient," Teresa said to Roosevelt.

Without saying a word, Roosevelt led the group to the seriously ill soldier.

Teresa just glanced at their symptoms.

In addition to fever and bleeding, these people's eyes and skin are as yellow as "copper men".

"They are infected with yellow fever." Teresa said simply. "This is an infectious disease with a high mortality rate."

When he heard it was an infectious disease, Roosevelt was dumbfounded.

"When we first arrived in Cuba, there were several cases like this. We didn't know what caused it at first, but Mr. Chen reminded us that it might be mosquitoes or some blood-sucking bugs," Teresa said.

Roosevelt's mind suddenly flashed back to the scene where he and his soldiers were bitten by unknown mosquitoes last night.

He suddenly felt that his body started to itch.

He put his hand into his clothes and touched it.

"Well, not everyone who is bitten will get it." Theresa looked at Roosevelt's actions and had to add, "We only discovered this later."

Roosevelt realized his gaffe.

He adjusted his glasses:

"So how did you solve this problem later?"

Teresa shrugged:

"Mr. Chen asked us to bring mosquito nets, so the disease did not cause us much trouble."

Chen Jianqiu didn't put on the mosquito net intentionally, but in his impression it should be a standard equipment for summer camping.

In addition, a cotton mill in Virginia just delivered a batch of goods to Sanjiang Bank as loan interest, so I took it with me by the way.

Roosevelt was stunned.

Not to mention the mosquito nets, even the tents were built after a lot of hard work, which is not enough.

If the tent is really big enough, it can at least block some mosquitoes!

"Then what should we do?" Roosevelt frowned.

"My advice to you is to leave this jungle as soon as possible and go to a more open place, farther away from water sources." Teresa said with sympathy.

"What about my patients?" Roosevelt looked at the dying soldiers with some heartache.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Roosevelt, as far as we know, there is no cure."

Teresa sighed, pointed to the patients, and then crossed herself on her chest.

"These children can only find a ship to transport them back and then resign themselves to their fate."

Roosevelt knew that he had no other choice, so he had to go back to his tent and write a letter to the Logistics Department.

Leaving aside those who are sick and dying and those who still have half a breath left.

Those lying on the hospital bed will not recover for a while.

Even if the disease is cured, there is no fighting ability.

This disease caused him to lose hundreds of soldiers and corresponding combat effectiveness. This was simply worse than losing a battle!

Teresa and her medical team looked after the patients and waited for the troop ship to arrive.

The still healthy soldiers, led by Roosevelt, continued to advance toward Santiago.

At a place called Las Guamasi, they finally encountered a large-scale Spanish soldier.

This group of Spanish soldiers was led by Spanish Brigadier General Lu Bing. They gathered many soldiers who had been cleared by Chen Jianqiu and the rebel army, numbering as many as 1,500 people.

Roosevelt at least got some good news.

That was General Joseph Wheeler's main force, which, after a few days' delay, followed.

They did have horses, but basically in this hellish place like Cuba, they all chose to dismount and fight in the end.

Since the designations of the 1st Cavalry Brigade and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade were both occupied, the unit led by the general was named the 3rd Cavalry Brigade.

After discussion, the two sides decided that the intact 3rd Cavalry Brigade would carry out the main attack along the main road, while the somewhat weakened "Rough Cavalry" (the nickname of the 1st Cavalry Brigade) would attack along the trails west of the main road.

Both sides began to advance simultaneously.

Roosevelt had thought the battle would be a head-to-head battle, and he was full of confidence in the battle.

Because General Wheeler not only brought fresh troops, he also brought two Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns.

But what they didn't expect was that the Spanish soldiers also had two Maxims.

Not only that, they also have two 75MM Knub Mountain Cannons.

At the same time, because some people in Roosevelt's army still used black powder firearms, Spanish soldiers might find their position every time they fired!

All Spanish soldiers have been equipped with Mauser smokeless powder rifles, which do not look so obvious in the jungle.

As a result, Roosevelt and the Army once again fell into a bitter battle.

However, Chen Jianqiu did not know about this and had no intention of getting involved.

Because he showed up at Guantánamo.