IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 138
**Chapter 138**
**The Mexican-American War (11)**
The Mexican Empire’s 3rd Army Corps, stationed in Colombia, marched south relentlessly.
Their target was Bogotá, the capital of Nueva Granada.
“Are those the pathetic troops we encountered at the border, all of them?”
While the enemy’s strength was estimated to be around 20,000 at the time, there were hardly any actual battles, and they captured a lot of surrendering prisoners instead.
The Mexican Imperial Army’s casualties were less than 500, including both dead and wounded. The troops were so weak, even the officers were dumbfounded.
Huff-huff-
The army was climbing the mountain range.
“Huff-. I’m more scared of this climb than the Nueva Granada army.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Bogotá, the capital of Nueva Granada, was located in a high altitude, similar to Mexico City in the Mexican Empire, reaching an altitude of 2.6 km.
The country itself is very close to the equator, so it’s hot, but the “Sabana de Bogotá,” a vast plateau in the Andes Mountains, is an excellent location for the capital.
The plateau’s temperate climate is suitable for habitation, with relatively constant temperatures throughout the year.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a steep climb, and the road leading to the capital was paved, allowing even horses to ascend, but it was a difficult journey for both horses and people.
The distance from Panama to Bogotá is quite long even in a straight line, but it took even longer due to the mountain range.
Mid-June.
After a long struggle, the Mexican Imperial Army, having climbed the mountain range, stood before the capital of Nueva Granada.
“Well, they’re not giving up on the advantages of this mountain range, at least.”
“Isn’t their force too small for them to not be giving up?”
The Nueva Granada army had established a defensive line on the high ground in front of the capital, but their numbers were ridiculously small.
“It doesn’t seem like they even have 20,000.”
“They say the population is only 2 million, even though the territory is vast.”
“2 million? It’s smaller than I thought. But even so, how can they not have support from the provinces when the enemy army is right at the doorstep of the capital?”
While the population was incredibly small compared to its vast territory, they were still on the verge of being attacked. If it were Mexico, patriots from all over the country would have gathered to fight to the death. Wouldn’t that be the right thing to do as a citizen? The Mexican Imperial Army officer thought so.
But the reality of Nueva Granada was different. After independence, they had once dreamed of unifying South America under the leadership of Simón Bolívar, but ultimately failed.
“Even the people here use the names Colombia and Nueva Granada interchangeably. It shows how weak their identity is.”
Simón Bolívar failed to create a national identity that would unite people with diverse regional, social, and economic conditions across a vast territory, and he was more concerned with maintaining his power.
‘National identity (Identidad nacional), an intangible value that cannot be seen or touched, is the key element in maintaining a nation.’
Without national identity, which refers to an individual’s identity or sense of belonging to a nation, patriotism cannot exist. That’s why “Gran Colombia,” the name given by Simón Bolívar in 1819, taken from the name of Christopher Columbus, disappeared into history, and it became Ecuador, Nueva Granada, and Venezuela.
The Mexican Imperial Army crushed the last remaining Nueva Granada defense force, which was only a handful.
“They didn’t even fire ten cannonballs.”
“Damn it. How much trouble did we go through to bring these here?”
The cannons and machine guns they had brought up the mountain with great difficulty finally got to show their worth, but the Nueva Granada army, like in the previous battle, began to crumble within an hour of the battle’s start.
It was no surprise, as they had forcibly conscripted the citizens of the capital and didn’t even train them.
Thus, Bogotá, the capital of Nueva Granada, was conquered.
***
Victory after victory!
The news of victories, coming continuously from land, sea, America, and Colombia, excited the people of the Mexican Empire, but that was all.
“Well, we believed we’d easily win against America and Colombia, didn’t we?”
“Of course. The Crown Prince is leading the front lines.”
It was a completely different reaction from the time of the war with France, when even the people and the members of Congress were terrified.
The people knew America’s external perception, not its actual weight. Externally, America was not even considered a great power, let alone a superpower. In contrast, the Mexican Empire, although it fought only at sea, had won a war against France, which was considered among the top 2 or 3 powers in the world.
On top of that, the genius Crown Prince, who had never failed and never lost, was leading the army, so few people thought they would lose.
In reality, the 1st and 2nd Army Corps had captured Memphis and were trying to fortify it, the navy had blockaded all US ports, and the 3rd Army Corps was steadily conquering Colombia, so the battle situation was very favorable. But I was worried about this atmosphere in the Mexican Empire.
“This is a bit worrying.”
Diego pondered for a moment, trying to understand my thoughts.
“Is it because they’re taking it for granted?”
“Yes. Not only the general public, but even the media and intellectuals are taking it for granted. How dangerous this is.”
I felt a deep sense of crisis. Something I had ignored for a long time had surfaced.
“Something similar happened in the navy.”
“You’re talking about Admiral Castillo.”
His report, written after experiencing a crisis due to arrogance, had caused a stir in the navy for a while. The powerful fleet of the Mexican Empire and the far weaker American fleet. Trusting the overwhelming difference between the two, he confessed his mistake of adopting a reckless tactic of pushing forward ‘without any worries.’
“Having no worries is dangerous. It’s not just about the navy or this war. The people’s support for the royal family, along with the power of the Imperialists, has grown steadily, and they’ve now taken over the majority in Congress. Imagine if everyone ‘without any worries’ blindly follows my words.”
“That’s…”
Diego’s face became as serious as mine.
“I always tell you to tell me if there’s something I haven’t considered, or if you have any questions about my instructions.”
“Yes, you wanted me to think for myself.”
It didn’t matter that I didn’t actually possess superhuman abilities, and it was only because of my knowledge of the future that I appeared that way.
What mattered was how people believed. Now, signs were emerging everywhere that many in the Mexican Empire believed that everything would be fine as long as they believed in me.
“You and I are both 40 now.”
“…”
I was worried about my aftermath, and Diego knew it, so he remained silent. It was a problem I couldn’t solve right away, so I changed the subject.
“Huu. Let’s solve this problem gradually, but for now, we should focus on current issues. We have a lot of work piled up, you know. What about the dynamite issue?”
Although I’m in Ciudad Trinidad as a commander, I can’t just do military work. I still had to handle the countless things I had started.
“They say they haven’t found a way to produce it safely yet.”
From a civil engineer’s perspective, it was something he really wanted to create, but the conditions hadn’t been right until now. There weren’t even any chemical experts in Mexico until I brought them in from outside, and there was no environment to handle dangerous chemicals.
I brought in several chemical experts from various European countries to my company, and built a laboratory in the university, using the know-how I gained through that, I built an even safer laboratory in the research institute of my chemical company, ‘Gaítan.’
Following my orders, they developed nitroglycerin and ‘explosive powder’ that could be made by absorbing nitroglycerin into kieselguhr, but I decided to use the brand name ‘dynamite,’ which I was familiar with.
“Is that so? It’s okay if it takes a little longer, but tell them not to rush and be careful about safety.”
It’s about handling nitroglycerin, a highly unstable compound. I knew that Alfred Nobel’s factory, which invented dynamite in the original timeline, had many workers die due to nitroglycerin explosions, so instead of attempting mass production right away, I was conducting research to ensure safe production.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I discussed various current issues with Diego and reviewed the situation of the war, which was nearing its end.
“Your Highness, the 3rd Army Corps in Colombia has confirmed that they can conquer Bogotá by the end of June, so we’re planning to launch a landing operation using the 3rd and 4th Army Corps in July.”
It was a report from Fernando, the Chief of Staff.
I nodded and asked.
“Have you decided on the target?”
The general framework of blocking the Mississippi River, blockading ports, and launching a landing operation in the northeast was planned before the war. However, they were still debating which city on the northeast coast to target, and they were conducting detailed investigations while blockading the ports.
It seemed they had finally made a decision, coinciding with the completion of the 4th Army Corps’ preparations.
New York, the largest city and port in the United States, and Washington D.C., the capital of the United States.
Each city had its own advantages and disadvantages. Targeting New York would inflict a greater economic blow on the United States, but its coastal defenses were so strong that it would be a burden. Washington D.C., being the capital, had great symbolic significance and weaker coastal defenses compared to New York, but it would inflict little economic damage.
“Yes, Washington D.C.”
I nodded at his words.
“Go ahead and execute it.”
“Yes!”
Even if they captured Washington D.C. while President James Polk was not in the capital, it wouldn’t end the war, but attacking New York would require us to be prepared to lose a significant part of our fleet.
It was dangerous to lose more ships now that the UK was showing signs of meddling.
***
“Mr. President!”
Secretary William Marcy protested strongly, but President James Polk refused to budge.
“You want to replace the commander! He’s a war hero of our United States and a highly respected commander within the military.”
He was referring to General Winfield Scott.
It wasn’t about blaming him for the defeat. President James Polk knew that many conditions were unfavorable. The problem lay elsewhere.
“You say it’s difficult to retake Memphis, that’s practically saying we’ve lost the war, so give up. Do you think it’s acceptable for a general of the United States to say such a thing?”
It was true that the situation had become very unfavorable, but many factories had finally been converted into weapons factories, and trade that had been blocked by the blockade was resuming through Canada. Now was the time to counterattack, but how could he say such weak words?
It was an unacceptable statement for President James Polk. The voices of the anti-war faction were growing louder, but the American people still didn’t think they had completely lost. If that’s the case, it’s the duty of a soldier to fight to the death.
“General Scott suggested that instead of attacking the defensive line that the Mexican Empire is creating in Memphis, we should cooperate with the local residents in the territories they’ve captured and engage in guerrilla warfare.”
The Mexican Imperial Army was receiving supplies through the Mississippi River, but they were also building a wide-ranging supply network on land to supplement their supplies.
The calculation was that continuously harassing their land supply network and the supply lines traveling through the Mississippi River would put considerable pressure on the Mexican Imperial Army.
“How are we going to win the war doing that? In the end, we have to retake Memphis and New Orleans to breathe. The supplies the British are providing aren’t free. They’re selling them exorbitantly, for crying out loud. We can’t sustain this indefinitely.”
“But if we try to break through the defensive line in Memphis, we could suffer even greater casualties than in the previous battles.”
In fact, most generals were convinced. Those vicious Mexicans were building defensive lines composed of barbed wire, trenches, and machine guns, and they were building them not one, but multiple layers.
They only realized after scouting the scene from a distance that they should have done the same, but it was too late.
“I heard those Mexicans haven’t done much additional conscription. They’re very complacent. Plus, they’re allocating a lot of troops to managing occupied territories, so they have fewer troops defending Memphis than before.”
President James Polk wasn’t trying to convince Secretary William Marcy. He was talking to himself.
“We have 200,000 troops, far more than them. And we’re supplying them with guns, bullets, cannons, and other military supplies, all brand new from the factories. You’re not saying that we can’t win even with this, are you?”
“…”
Seeing President James Polk’s frantic gaze, Secretary William Marcy resigned himself to his fate. Even if he voiced his opposition here, only the person sitting in the position of Secretary of War would change, not the operation.
Thus, the ‘counterattack’ operation of the United States Army began to prepare.