บท 386: Pecos River Skirmish - 01

— New Mexico - Pecos River —

The air crackled with tension at the New Mexico border, a volatile mix of anticipation and dread clinging to the dry desert air. The Pecos River, usually a ribbon of turquoise life, formed a stark line of division. On the far bank, the Confederacy's brazen expansion had stretched its territory like a hungry beast, swallowing everything in its path.

Across the river, the US Army stood defiant. A network of trenches snaked across the landscape, their jagged teeth lined with sandbags. Bunkers squatted like watchful sentries, their gun slits aimed directly at the encroaching enemy. Soldiers, faces grim under their weathered helmets, clutched their rifles, eyes constantly scanning the horizon for the glint of movement on the opposite shore.