IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 128
**Chapter 128**
**The Mexican-American War (1)**
As the winter of 1845 turned into 1846, the situation in Ireland was nothing short of hell.
With autumn drawing to a close, those who couldn’t bear the hunger were stuffing anything they could wear or chew into their mouths.
Even seaweed, which they wouldn’t even think of eating in normal times, no matter how poor they were, was completely eaten up.
Children were showing signs of severe malnutrition, their bellies swollen.
“Let’s unload the cargo quickly.”
“Yes!”
The staff moved quickly at Reginald Greenfield’s command.
He was personally leading the relief efforts, following the Crown Prince’s order to mobilize all resources in response to the unprecedented famine.
“Ugh… I’m going to retire after this and move to Mexico.”
“Come on, you’re not that old.”
Liam Murphy, his close friend and the top official in the Irish region, chided him as Reginald complained.
“Both you and I are over fifty, it’s time for retirement.”
“Well, I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
It had been 18 years since he started in 1828.
“I’ve made enough money, and I’m getting tired. The owner of our company said he’d build us a nice house in Mexico when we retire, so I’m starting to think about retirement.”
Reginald, who had been a detective in his youth, had a wife and children in his forties.
‘Honestly, I thought I’d die on some crime scene.’
Liam Murphy thought so. They had been friends back then, but his friend had walked a different path than him, who had worked diligently.
The sudden appearance of someone called the Mexican Crown Prince completely changed their lives. Somehow, they became deeply entangled with the Mexican Empire, providing cover identities for intelligence agents.
“Do you speak Spanish?”
“Of course. I learned it a long time ago, and I even hired tutors for my wife and children.”
“Oh, you’re prepared as always.”
“¿No eres así también? (Aren’t you the same?)”
“por supuesto (Of course).”
They exchanged jokes in Spanish, then started helping the staff.
Some of the staff had been working for the immigration company from the beginning, but some were new arrivals from Mexico.
“We’re doing relief work, but we also need to keep promoting immigration. We are an immigration company after all.”
“Yes, but if we give them food like this, won’t it reduce the need for immigration?”
“Not really. The potato blight isn’t going to disappear this year, and most people have eaten even their seed potatoes out of hunger.”
There had been a lot of immigration from Ireland to the Mexican Empire even before the famine. Ireland was a poor and difficult place to live, even without the famine.
‘But that was a certain group of people.’
Even if the situation in Ireland was bad, the choice of immigration had never been mainstream. It took courage to leave behind not only possessions but also home, relatives, and friends. Even if they had to live on potatoes and buttermilk all year round, the number of emigrants was small compared to the total population.
‘Now things have changed. The pain has reached a tipping point.’
This disaster, this famine, drove even ordinary people to emigrate.
“If this continues, 1 million in 5 years. It might really be possible.”
Liam Murphy said, having visited all the villages. The number of emigrants, 1 million in 5 years, was a figure that seemed impossible, but it was the target set by the Crown Prince, the owner of the company.
“Yeah. At first, I thought it was an absurd number, but it’s more than possible.”
“It’s amazing how you could predict this.”
“Don’t be silly. Can a commoner understand the thoughts of a genius?”
Ships arrived at the harbor every day in Ireland. They carried grain and took emigrants away.
***
The Mexican Empire received the official declaration of war from the United States on January 19th, six days after the United States decided to go to war.
The Mexican Imperial Congress, as if prepared, resolved to go to war and read the declaration of war. In reality, they were fully prepared.
The ambassador to the United States returned to Mexico by ship with the declaration of war, while they also sent someone to the border city with a telegraph network, already informing them of the outbreak of war three days earlier.
The Foreign Minister officially read the declaration of war.
“The Mexican Empire, with a heavy heart, declares war in response to the unjust declaration of war by the United States against our sovereign nation. This declaration is a necessary measure to defend the principles of humanity and justice, which have been severely violated by the United States government against our territory, our people, and our nation.
First, let it be clear. The claim spread by the US government that Mexico systematically aided the escape of American slaves is baseless and is merely an attempt to justify its aggressive policies and military actions against our country. This claim is a deliberate distortion of the actual situation, intended to justify the United States’ reckless and unjustifiable invasion of Mexican territory.
The incident where Lieutenant Lucas and his reconnaissance squad, with 10 civilian slave hunters, illegally entered Mexican territory and fired first despite warnings from the Mexican border guards, is a clear violation of international law and the sovereignty of the Mexican Empire. This aggressive action clearly demonstrates that the United States is prepared to go to any lengths in pursuit of its expansionist and imperialist goals.
The responsibility for the current hostilities lies squarely with the United States. The actions of the US government, which clearly violate national sovereignty and disregard human life, have forced us into a situation where we have no choice but to exercise our right to self-defense. The Mexican Empire enters this war with the solemn duty to protect our citizens and uphold the principles of justice and righteousness.
Finally, we urge the American people to reflect on the moral implications of a war that supports slavery and territorial aggression. We hope that reason and humanity will prevail, that hostilities between the two countries will cease, and peace will be restored. However, Mexico must remember that we are prepared to defend our sovereignty and the rights of our people by any means necessary.”
As the two countries formally exchanged declarations of war, Colombia was taken aback.
They knew the relationship between the two countries was not good, but they didn’t expect things to move so quickly. All they had heard was a notification about a possible war about half a year ago.
Colombia even received the news on January 20th, a week after the United States decided to go to war.
“What, they declared war without even telling us!”
President Mosquera of Nueva Granada barely suppressed the urge to vomit.
‘Pedro Eran, that crazy old man.’
He had quietly retired and bought a huge farm, so he must have been bribed by the United States.
“So, automatic participation in the war?”
“Yes, Your Excellency. That’s what the treaty says.”
“Sigh…”
President Mosquera felt a pain in the back of his head and lit a cigarette.
Huu-
“There’s no choice but to participate, right?”
Even though the treaty stipulated automatic participation, Mexico had only declared war on the United States. Since Nueva Granada had remained silent, it meant they wouldn’t provoke them first. It was dishonorable, but breaking the treaty wasn’t completely impossible. However, the aide shook his head.
“As a formal military ally, not participating would be considered a huge disgrace. There would be retaliation, both diplomatically and economically.”
“How can they declare war without even telling us, a formal military ally?”
There was nothing to be changed by getting angry at the aide.
The sudden war crisis ignited public sentiment, and intense debates raged in the Congress, but the conclusion was that there was no way to avoid participating in the war.
They should have run away when they sensed something was wrong. Now that the war had broken out, not participating meant the downfall of Nueva Granada.
Not the downfall of the economy, but the downfall of trust. Betraying an alliance would make everyone in the international community, not just the United States, question Nueva Granada’s reliability and sense of responsibility.
The US ambassador and former President Eran urged a honorable decision, and the Congress ultimately decided to go to war.
January 25, 1846.
Nueva Granada decided to go to war with the Mexican Empire and delivered a declaration of war.
The response to the declaration of war was, of course, a declaration of war, and Nueva Granada was inevitably drawn into the war. It was a disaster created by the greed and complacency of the previous leader.
Unlike Colombia, which was in chaos, Mexico’s ally, Prussia, was peaceful.
It was partly because it was a matter on a distant continent, but their alliance had already hinted that war would break out when James Polk became President of the United States. A month ago, they had even informed them that war was certain to break out, so they should prepare.
Prussia, which had already prepared, quickly decided to go to war and delivered a declaration of war.
Prussia, as a honorable ally, communicated its plan to send support troops to help in the war in any way possible, but Mexico’s request was to “stand by.”
“Stand by? Do they not need us?”
“No, considering they asked us to prepare, it doesn’t seem like they don’t need us.”
“Hmm… Let’s follow their request for now.”
***
Bang! Tata Tang!
Gunshots could be heard from afar. It was the new recruits undergoing training.
This is Ciudad Trinidad, where the city of Dallas used to be in the past life. It will be the key city of East Texas, with many railway lines connecting to it.
It’s not a fully developed city yet, with only temporary buildings except for the train station, but troops and supplies are being transported from all over the Mexican Empire.
It’s quite close to the US border, but I, as the Commander-in-Chief, plan to direct the war from the Supreme Command established here.
“What about the movements of the US army?”
“We’ve confirmed that they’ve finally started gathering troops in the eastern US.”
The military intelligence agent, who had unusually appeared at the Supreme Command meeting, answered.
“I see. General Antonio.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Prepare for deployment by this weekend, as planned.”
“It will be done.”
It was about his 1st Army Corps. The 1st Army Corps was tasked with securing key positions and forming a front line through rapid advancement as the vanguard.
Many people call me a genius, but I don’t have the genius strategic and tactical abilities of someone like Napoleon. Yet, I was confident of victory.
‘From 1822 to 1845. I prepared for 23 years.’
The results of that preparation were right here in this tent.
Fernando, the Chief of Staff and the right-hand man of my father, led the staff officers as they actively discussed and reviewed strategies.
“If we can just control the Mississippi River…”
“Cooperation with the navy…”
They had adopted the Prussian staff system. I had also been to military academy, but it couldn’t compare to those who had spent their entire lives in the army, for 4 years.
What I could do was not to create ingenious strategies and tactics, but to create ‘favorable conditions,’ and I succeeded.
‘No need to waste time.’
In my past life, the US mobilized 70,000 troops, and Mexico mobilized 80,000, but I mobilized 300,000 troops from the very beginning, only for the army. In my past life, the US only mobilized 70,000 troops because Mexico was weak, so they didn’t need to mobilize more. The US doesn’t even know it, but their national power is already on par with the European powers. In fact, the American Civil War in 1861 showed their tremendous potential, mobilizing almost a million troops combined from the North and South.
I’ve been preparing for war for 23 years, so I don’t want to be a stupid villain who loses by giving the enemy unnecessary time. It’s best to end the war quickly. I’d like to mobilize more, but the Empire’s economy can’t handle it anymore. Once the immigrants start arriving in large numbers, I’ll implement a second draft.
January 24, 1846.
The Mexican Empire had only been informed of the declaration of war for 5 days, but the new recruits of the 1st Army Corps, who had been deployed first after the draft order was issued two months ago, had completed their basic training.
“Advance!”
“Advance!!”
At my command, the fully equipped army corps of 80,000 men deployed.
This was the beginning of the Mexican-American War.
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