stationed further out of the city of Laredo, left first on a different highway due east to the Calderón armies.
The weather was blustery and overcast, the winds from the south, and rain squalls hit from behind as Manuel led his mobile army of 25,000 men north on I-35. His 3,000 vehicles, mostly jeeps and civilian cars, and Mexican military troop carriers pulling the fuel tankers, covered both sides of the highway northwards for twenty miles, and they managed a good speed of ten miles an hour. His vehicles included three old Mack U.S. army trucks pulling fuel tankers, captured from the U.S. National Guard base in Laredo.
Alberto’s army of 25,000 men was crammed into 2,000 mostly slower military and civilian trucks of all sizes. He had found several dozen old trucks with flatbed trailers, and the hundreds of vehicles started the journey an hour after Manuel’s group disappeared over the horizon.
Pedro’s much larger army was next and was due to leave immediately after Alberto’s last vehicles left. He only had 40 percent of his 60,000 men in vehicles and most of his men had to walk.
All three armies had several hundred men on horseback who rode out a couple of miles on each side of the highway in case of surprise flanking attacks. They were also there to ransack farms, ordered to leave any civilians or farmers alive, but take any food, fuel, vehicles or horses they could find.
The last army of 25,000 was to leave the next day on foot under the command of Pedro’s second-in-command, leaving the last 15,000 men to guard Laredo and search every inch of the town for food and any vehicles with fuel. Manuel had decided to leave a relay radio station every fifty miles along the road, on a hilltop. They had several extra radios, ransacked from the Mexican army, and would need communications if and when attacked by American soldiers.
For three hours Manuel and his army surged forward covering 20 miles an hour. The highway was clear with many crashed or non-working vehicles neatly moved and placed on the sides of the two stretches of asphalt. They saw no one and it was as if they were the only people on earth.
Manuel thought that they certainly weren’t expected yet and they could get into San Antonio in a surprise attack. He had a list of military installations he needed to engage and could not understand the American logic; one military base covered nearly the whole city. There were two Air Force bases and an Army Base, Fort Houston.
He wasn’t worried, he had a big army and it seemed he wasn’t expected. He decided just to take one at a time.
It was impossible to hide so many men from prying eyes but there was no need to stop and regroup. His three armies were moving and within six hours his group reached the outskirts of San Antonio. Manuel wanted to attack the first base at dawn to get a foothold in the city. He found two small municipal airports on his map and he decided to aim for Castroville Municipal Airport; Alberto would overnight at the Devine Municipal Airport several miles further out of the city and directly on I-35.
To get to the Castroville airport, Manuel’s men needed to leave the Interstate, and he picked a couple of side roads to get his large number of vehicles through. This took time and he arrived just before dark.
If the people who had lived down these small roads were still there, they would have seen hundreds upon hundreds of vehicles, much like rush hour traffic, moving on the narrow roads in front of their rural houses.
There were no people to be seen. Manuel thought he saw a person watching them here and there, and he had seen several men drive or ride up to their group of men on horseback and get in line to help the cause.
Now that they had reached the limits of rural living, he could see what the men who had travelled overland to join his army had told him back in Laredo.
There were no houses without damage. Most were broken down blackened ruins where once families lived. There were
The weather was blustery and overcast, the winds from the south, and rain squalls hit from behind as Manuel led his mobile army of 25,000 men north on I-35. His 3,000 vehicles, mostly jeeps and civilian cars, and Mexican military troop carriers pulling the fuel tankers, covered both sides of the highway northwards for twenty miles, and they managed a good speed of ten miles an hour. His vehicles included three old Mack U.S. army trucks pulling fuel tankers, captured from the U.S. National Guard base in Laredo.
Alberto’s army of 25,000 men was crammed into 2,000 mostly slower military and civilian trucks of all sizes. He had found several dozen old trucks with flatbed trailers, and the hundreds of vehicles started the journey an hour after Manuel’s group disappeared over the horizon.
Pedro’s much larger army was next and was due to leave immediately after Alberto’s last vehicles left. He only had 40 percent of his 60,000 men in vehicles and most of his men had to walk.
All three armies had several hundred men on horseback who rode out a couple of miles on each side of the highway in case of surprise flanking attacks. They were also there to ransack farms, ordered to leave any civilians or farmers alive, but take any food, fuel, vehicles or horses they could find.
The last army of 25,000 was to leave the next day on foot under the command of Pedro’s second-in-command, leaving the last 15,000 men to guard Laredo and search every inch of the town for food and any vehicles with fuel. Manuel had decided to leave a relay radio station every fifty miles along the road, on a hilltop. They had several extra radios, ransacked from the Mexican army, and would need communications if and when attacked by American soldiers.
For three hours Manuel and his army surged forward covering 20 miles an hour. The highway was clear with many crashed or non-working vehicles neatly moved and placed on the sides of the two stretches of asphalt. They saw no one and it was as if they were the only people on earth.
Manuel thought that they certainly weren’t expected yet and they could get into San Antonio in a surprise attack. He had a list of military installations he needed to engage and could not understand the American logic; one military base covered nearly the whole city. There were two Air Force bases and an Army Base, Fort Houston.
He wasn’t worried, he had a big army and it seemed he wasn’t expected. He decided just to take one at a time.
It was impossible to hide so many men from prying eyes but there was no need to stop and regroup. His three armies were moving and within six hours his group reached the outskirts of San Antonio. Manuel wanted to attack the first base at dawn to get a foothold in the city. He found two small municipal airports on his map and he decided to aim for Castroville Municipal Airport; Alberto would overnight at the Devine Municipal Airport several miles further out of the city and directly on I-35.
To get to the Castroville airport, Manuel’s men needed to leave the Interstate, and he picked a couple of side roads to get his large number of vehicles through. This took time and he arrived just before dark.
If the people who had lived down these small roads were still there, they would have seen hundreds upon hundreds of vehicles, much like rush hour traffic, moving on the narrow roads in front of their rural houses.
There were no people to be seen. Manuel thought he saw a person watching them here and there, and he had seen several men drive or ride up to their group of men on horseback and get in line to help the cause.
Now that they had reached the limits of rural living, he could see what the men who had travelled overland to join his army had told him back in Laredo.
There were no houses without damage. Most were broken down blackened ruins where once families lived. There were
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