Northdale, Florida, the United States of America (OTL's Madison, Florida)
June 22nd, 1834
Major General Nathaniel Napoleon Bonapart ducked his head as cannonballs whizzed above. As he had expected, the Spanish and French were lacking explosive shells and were using regular shots instead. That served him just fine, as he and his men were tucked behind various earthworks and trenches while waiting for their enemies to push. Overnight, the "Harvey Brown's Regiment" (which was quickly becoming one of the most reliable and well-known regiments in the entire United States Army) built up fortifications on a small hill near the small town of Northdale overnight, just like before the Battle of Bunker Hill. While General Bonapart and his men were busy, a partisan attack just a kilometer west of the town kept the Alliance forces in the area occupied. As a result, when morning dawned, the invaders were shocked to see the famed Harvey Brown's Regiment (with a very distinct regimental flag of an alligator chewing on a musket) was camped right outside of Northdale by themselves. And even more surprisingly, General Bonapart, the commander of all the American forces in Florida, was among the group. Of course, the American general was present in "Fort Northdale" because he wanted the Spanish and French to take the seemingly irresistible bait (destroying one of the most successful American regiments and killing the commanding American officer in Florida). Not only that, but he also wanted to see the new weapons that ARPA had created in action.
It was a weapon that was going to revolutionize warfare. He was absolutely certain of it. It was basically a new type of artillery, but for close range.
Of course, bringing those weapons along meant that the regiment was unable to lug any artillery guns (to his greatest disappointment). So all General Bonapart could do was wait and hope that the opposing commanding officer would attack the American position. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Harvey Brown's Regiment were waiting in the trenches as well. The trenches were designed a bit differently than before, to account for the new weapons. There was an emphasis on earth pillboxes, with steps to make certain parts of the trenches more elevated compared to the other parts. There were also boxes of ammunition for the new weapons secured safely within the pillboxes, with each box containing dozens of magazines. General Bonapart unconsciously grinned as he glanced at the boxes. He wasn't anxious because he was afraid of the course of the battle. No, he was anxious for the battle to truly "begin."
He had learned plenty of things during his time at Westpoint, but one of the most important lessons he learned was, "Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If his forces are united, separate them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected. " A quote from Sun Tzu's Art of War, it was a very simple, yet noteworthy piece of advice. Thus, he had formulated a very comprehensive strategy to take over Northdale and wipe out the opposition. The enemy had not seen the weapons yet, as he was the first to receive them (with the Army usually giving his units better equipment due to their smaller numbers). As such, even with the Harvey Brown's Regiment's superior rifles, the regiment only numbered at two thousand men. Meanwhile, the defenders of Riverdale and the surrounding villages consisted of eight thousand men. While they had inferior weaponry, they had artillery and greater numbers on their side. He had already sent out a messenger earlier on horseback, making it seem as though he was requesting reinforcements from the other units. This was to hasten the opposing commander's resolve to make a decision quickly.
His plan also accounted for the possibility that the guns failed or ineffective. Despite the logistical constraints of Florida, there were two American regiments, along with the feared Gurkhas, waiting in the jungle for his signal. All of them were given enough quinine and other medications to survive the various jungle diseases that were prevalent in the area. Once he fired his flare gun, they would descend from the north (where the jungle was the thickest) and seize the town. Of course, this was also another reason why he wanted the enemy to attack him instead of the other way around; if they attacked, then the town was open for the other American regiments to take. And if the town was seized, then the regiments could swing around and flank the enemy with a classic anvil and hammer tactic. Additionally, to the east, a cavalry regiment was also waiting to assist the Harvey Brown's Regiment and to evacuate the major general out of Fort Northdale should the situation turn against him.
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It was possible that the enemy expected such a move, as he had used it plenty of times before. After all, it was suspicious that he was here with only a few troops. As such, he had his second in command, Major General Jared Oliver, lead an attack with the majority of the American forces in Florida in the town of Hsve just a week prior. The units were slowly moving north from the town, which was fifty kilometers south of Northdale. Thus, General Bonapart was making it seem like he was holding out for the reinforcements from the south to arrive and acting as though he was unaware of the fact that the main bulk of the American forces in Florida were still kilometers away (which was true to some extent, as he only instructed General Oliver to move his forces as slowly as possible). While Alliance soldiers rarely strayed into the jungle (which usually resulted in them being maimed or outright killed by awaiting partisans), a number of them patrolled and scouted the main roads for major troop movements. The opposing commander was most likely taking his time to double-check if there were any reinforcements suddenly arriving from the south and ensuring that General Bonapart was truly by himself and alone.
All in all, it was an elaborate trap. Now he just needed for the trap to be sprung.
"General!" One of his sharpshooters shouted, "They're on the move!"
General Bonapart carefully peeked out one of the pillbox's openings with his binoculars and spotted a large group of soldiers moving towards his position. The artillery barrage continued as the enemy began its advance on Forth Northdale.
"Prepare the guns!"
Seventy-five soldiers quickly wheeled in the fifteen Gatling guns into the pillboxes. After removing the wheels off the Gatling guns and fixing them onto metal stands, the pre-assigned "Gatling crews" were placed on each Gatling gun, with a total of six members on each gun (three to operate the gun itself and the other three acting as reserves). With a maximum range of nearly 1000 meters, the Gatling guns could decimate the enemy before the infantry could even fire (as the Pelissier rifles had an effective range of 500 meters). However, General Bonapart had specifically instructed the men to allow the enemy to come into the Pelissier rifles' firing range before firing upon the enemy. He wanted to inflict as many casualties as possible and win the battle handily.
"4th Company, ensure that the earthworks and pillboxes in the west are intact and secure. That area was hit by multiple shots. 5th Company, we have a large group heading to our south. Reinforce the area," General Bonapart barked as the troops around him moved into position, "Lieutenant Band! Are you absolutely certain that the mines are functioning and in place?"
"As certain as I can be, sir!"
"Good. Now let's send them to hell and save those pour souls in Tallahassee."
At five hundred meters, just outside of the effective firing range of the rifled muskets that the French and Spanish soldiers carried, the Gatling guns and the Pelissier rifles opened fire. To the enemy officer's credit, he had committed most of his forces to the south and north of Fort Northdale, as those areas seemed the "weakest." Overall, he had six thousand men at his disposal and he committed only a thousand of them for a direct assault in the "center" of the American position. However, General Bonapart expected such a maneuver and committed most of his Gatling guns to the north and the south. The general himself watched the Gatling guns fire on their first-ever targets from the south. As he had expected, it was an absolute massacre. Hundreds of soldiers were cut down in the span of several seconds and the carnage only continued as the Gatling gun fired 400 rounds a minute. Shells continuously fell onto the floor of the pillboxes as the crew reloaded the magazine of the guns with precision and efficiency.
Within ten minutes, the battle was over. Over four thousand Spanish and French soldiers were dead. And only two Americans were injured. The attackers failed to even reach the "mine zone" set one hundred meters in front of the American fortifications. Most of them were dead before they made it within two hundred meters. The commanding American general fired his flare gun only towards the end of the battle, as he was awed by the devastation caused by the Gatling guns.
Strangely, General Bonapart felt an odd feeling rising his chest as he saw the number of dead French soldiers on the ground. But he quickly waved it off and watched his soldiers celebrate the stunning victory.