The cavalry charge against the city ended much like the Qing Army's battle at Bali River all those years ago.
The Mexican cavalry bravely charged toward the walls of the Alamo, then had no choice but to dismount and trade fire with the defenders above. After twenty minutes of fighting, the Mexicans had lost 114 men and were forced to flee in disarray.
Including the eleven messengers lost earlier and the twenty-five soldiers killed the day before, the Mexican army's casualties had reached 150.
The Alamo defenders' losses, by contrast, were almost negligible. There were many popular legends about the casualties in this battle, some claiming absurd exchange rates of one to thirty or even one to forty. Even American history books claimed that before the battle ended, each Alamo defender had killed at least ten Mexicans.
Though Franz doubted the Mexican army could have paid such a heavy price, he had still made preparations for both possibilities: experienced military observers (military advisers) and a heavy siege cannon.
But Santa Anna's performance had exceeded anything Franz could have imagined. The two Austrian army observers were stunned as well.
"General Santa Anna, cavalry are not suited to siege warfare," Stadion warned.
Santa Anna realized he had made a mistake, but to save face, he chose to ignore Stadion's words.
"Mr. Stadion, watch closely and see the courage of the Mexican army! Infantry, advance!"
Then another catastrophe unfolded. To the rhythmic beat of drums, Mexican soldiers in green jackets and white trousers marched toward the Alamo in orderly ranks.
A cannonball flew into their formation, first knocking the head off the man at the front, then carving a trail of blood through the ranks.
The second cannonball struck the ground and bounced. One soldier tried to fend it off with his arms, and both were snapped off and sent flying into the air.
The Alamo defenders had only three cannons, but that was more than enough to compound the Mexican army's disadvantage. When the Mexican soldiers had closed to within three hundred yards, the defenders opened fire, and men began dropping one after another.
The Texans used Kentucky Rifles. Though they had been designed in the previous century, they were rifles—that is, they had rifled barrels.
The Kentucky Rifle had a much longer range than the smoothbore muskets of its time, and its accuracy was beyond comparison.
Just as Stadion and Gablenz were about to urge Santa Anna to call off the attack, the Mexican ranks broke.
After all, no one wanted to march to their death. The Mexican army contained large numbers of Native Americans and locally born whites. They were poorly treated, and while the war was going well, they could make a little off the spoils. But as soon as things went badly, they wanted to run.
Once the first soldier fled, the number of deserters multiplied geometrically.
In the end, Santa Anna had no choice but to send cavalry to stop the fleeing First Infantry Regiment. After a brief uproar, a headcount revealed that the Mexican army had lost more than two hundred soldiers.
Santa Anna had lost face, so he ordered the First Infantry Regiment's colonel executed. The unfortunate colonel went to meet God.
Meanwhile, the Alamo defenders—Bowie and David Crockett—were already preparing a victory banquet to celebrate driving off Santa Anna.
Many thought the Mexicans were even less troublesome than the Native Americans, and the entire fortress was filled with a festive mood.
Travis, however, could not bring himself to celebrate. Before the siege began, a group of sentries had reported spotting a gigantic cannon, four to five meters long and requiring ten horses to pull it.
If the sentries were telling the truth, it was most likely a sixteen-pounder or a twenty-four-pounder.
Such cannons were not even in the United States' Continental Army arsenal; they were found only in Europe. The US Navy did have some, but they were mounted on gunboats.
Santa Anna cared a great deal about his reputation, but he did not want to keep sacrificing his men for nothing. They were the foundation of his rule, after all, and this was only the first battle.
"Mr. Gablenz, Mr. Stadion, do you have any good suggestions? You know, we Mexicans are all brave men. We rarely encounter opponents who hide inside a tortoise shell."
From the battle they had just witnessed, the two men had already assessed the strength of each side.
The Alamo defenders had better weapons. Even with the Austrian flintlocks supplied to the Mexican army, the two sides' accuracy was nowhere near comparable.
The Mexican army had the advantage in numbers, but lacked both training and courage.
If the troops had been European, they would likely have reached the walls in the battle just fought. A few hundred more casualties would have been enough to take the Alamo.
Yet the Mexican army had broken just as it neared the walls. As the saying went, a journey of a hundred miles was only half complete at the ninety-mile mark. Their attack had achieved nothing and only bolstered the enemy's morale.
"I suggest dividing the besieging forces into two groups to harass the enemy continuously and wait for the siege cannon to arrive before attacking," Gablenz said.
"Agreed. The enemy's morale is high. If we attack now, we'll surely suffer heavy losses. But our army must win a battle to raise its morale," Stadion said.
Santa Anna thought their reasoning sound. At the same time, he was curious: if they were to hold their ground and wait for the cannon, where would this victory come from?
"How are we supposed to win a battle?"
"General, there's another rebel force nearby," Stadion said, pointing to a small town on the map, a dozen or so kilometers from the Alamo.
"But, Mr. Stadion, there are six hundred men there." Santa Anna found it incomprehensible. He could not even handle two hundred men right now. Wouldn't six hundred be enough to choke him?
"But they have no walls, Your Excellency," Stadion replied.
Santa Anna hesitated over whether to follow this advice. The small town had no walls, but it did have buildings. If they had to fight street by street, his troops would still suffer heavy losses.
Gablenz saw what was troubling Santa Anna.
"Your Excellency, according to your sentries, most of the townspeople have already fled. Those remaining are desperate men. We can burn the town down, and once those desperadoes flee into the open plains, your cavalry can easily crush them."
Santa Anna understood Gablenz's meaning. He admired the young man more and more. Ruthless!
Gablenz was indeed a ruthless man. During the Italian War, his unit had been ambushed, and his attackers had taken one of his eyes.
Gablenz had killed his attacker on the spot, then led his troops in a breakout. Only after they reached safety had he collapsed and passed out.
Santa Anna therefore left half his troops to continue besieging the Alamo and led his main cavalry force off to reap a harvest.
Mexican troops were all too familiar with killing and arson. They did the same thing in their own country all the time.
Maning was still asleep when one of his subordinates woke him. He did not even have time to put on his boots.
Flames lit up the night. Crowds milled about in chaos, and cries of agony and women's weeping rose from all around.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know. Someone set a fire. It's spreading too fast, and the wells have been blocked. We can only evacuate the town for now."
Firefighting measures in this era were very primitive, and the Texas region was extremely dry. Large fires were common.
"Damn it!"
Maning escaped the town with some of his men. Near dawn, a large cavalry force appeared on the distant horizon.
Maning and his men thought Houston's main force had arrived. They waved their arms excitedly, until they saw the Mexican flags.
A massacre began.
Before you continue