IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 144
**Chapter 144**
**The Mexican-American War (17)**
“Those pirates, what else can you expect? I didn’t expect anything from them anyway.”
Bill, holding a newspaper with the news of Britain’s withdrawal from mediation, said so, but his heart was actually burning with anger.
“Another beer here!”
After President James K. Polk announced that Britain had agreed to mediate, many Americans had put their faith in British mediation.
“The British Empire, when they were flexing their muscles, but now they’re scared of those Mexican mongrels.”
“Tell me about it.”
Bill, who had been downing beer after beer, complained to his friend.
“If only my knees weren’t…”
“We’re old geezers, we wouldn’t be of much help anyway. But at this rate, we’ll be conscripted too.”
The war situation was dire.
The Mexican Imperial Army in the west had reached St. Louis, a gateway city to the upper Mississippi River, and was preparing to attack.
The United States knew that the Mexican Imperial Army was advancing north and had to prepare defenses, but they were suffering from a lack of troops and supplies.
The officers who received orders to stop the Mexican Imperial Army at St. Louis at any cost sighed at the bleak reality.
“The aftereffects of the Battle of Memphis just won’t go away.”
“Even those who are physically healthy, their minds… aren’t good.”
Even excluding the wounded, there were 100,000 men who were physically healthy or had only minor injuries, but a significant number of them had mental problems and refused to fight.
“Even with 100,000 new recruits, our actual fighting force would be around 150,000.”
Supplies were also ridiculously scarce.
Of all the military supplies, the most important was of course weapons. But since the Mexican Imperial Army landed in the east, most of the production from the Springfield Armory had been taken to the east, and the Western Front Army, which had lost a tremendous amount of weapons in the Second Battle of Memphis, was running short of even outdated rifles.
“It’s not like they’re going to give us a mass supply of barbed wire like the Mexicans use, so how the hell are we supposed to stop them…”
With such words openly being spoken among the officers, the Mexican Imperial Army was right at their doorstep.
***
In the east, fierce battles continued, fought with blood and iron.
The militia commanded by Winfield Scott seemed to be successfully defending against the Mexican Imperial Army south of Philadelphia, but in reality, it was just a huge number of militiamen throwing their lives away to hold the line.
The militiamen defended the trenches, sacrificing their lives, and they were steadily inflicting casualties on the Mexican Imperial Army.
Boom!
A cannonball from the Mexican Imperial Army pierced Henry’s chest as he was about to fire his last shot.
“No!”
Alex, his younger brother, who had been crouching down and loading his rifle, witnessed the gruesome sight.
Hic–hic–
“Bro, bro!”
Henry, with a gaping hole in his chest, died without a final word.
General Winfield Scott, who had come to the battlefield today and witnessed the tragedy of a brother, shut his eyes tightly.
They were seeing good results from their trench tactics, which they had stubbornly refused to abandon after failing once, but the lack of cannons, the shortage of officers, and the untrained soldiers were things that couldn’t be overcome with half-hearted trench tactics.
Tactically, they should have abandoned the defense long ago, but they couldn’t.
“Philadelphia, at least.”
Philadelphia itself was a very important city economically and politically, but if they lost here, the next target would be New York, the largest and most important city in the United States.
The president, as well as the militiamen, didn’t want to retreat.
The result was this blood-red trench.
The blood of the soldiers stained the dirt of the trench everywhere, and it was now harder to find its original color.
“Ugh, ahhhhh!”
The soldier who had lost his brother was screaming and firing his gun, and the general envisioned a terrible future.
“Hey, hey! Tell someone to calm that soldier down!”
Winfield Scott sent his two precious aides, but the general was in the rear, and the soldier who had suffered the tragedy was in the front lines. There was a shortage of officers, and orders were slow to be delivered.
The tragedy continued.
***
“We’ll meet the peace conditions as much as possible, so please stop the fighting.”
“Yes. I’ve been ordered to negotiate with the utmost cooperation. So please.”
Ambassador John Slidell, who had met for the first time in a long time, was more subdued than before. It must be because Ambassador Pakenham of Britain was no longer there.
“A cooperative attitude… Well, alright. But in return, please withdraw from the defensive lines at St. Louis and Philadelphia. Don’t reinforce them anymore.”
“That…”
“If we stop fighting, wouldn’t we be the ones on the offensive side who are unilaterally losing? Even if we don’t touch the defensive lines directly, they’ll be preparing in the rear, so this is a huge concession on our part.”
It wasn’t entirely true. We Mexicans weren’t losing anything at all, and we were minimizing the effects of the war by pouring in Irish immigrants, who were in short supply, to the areas where manpower was needed. In short, our economy was doing well.
But that wasn’t the case for the United States. The American economy was plummeting, and if we didn’t push harder and maintained this situation for just one year, they would be in ruins.
Ambassador John Slidell pondered for a long time before finally speaking up.
“···Alright. We’ll do that. We’ll stop fighting while negotiations are ongoing, but we won’t touch the defensive lines either.”
“Good.”
Formal negotiations began.
There were two main issues: slavery and territory.
“The abolition of slavery is a matter for each state to decide. If the federal government were to step in and abolish it, we don’t know how the Southern states would react. The abolition of slavery wouldn’t bring any real benefit to Mexico, so please concede on the slavery issue.”
‘There are real benefits, though…’
It was undeniable that my modern-day human rights consciousness and conscience were involved in demanding the abolition of slavery. But it wasn’t true that there were no real benefits.
First, the abolition of slavery is a means of diverting the attention of the American people. The conflict between the North and the South over the abolition of slavery is something that can never be easily resolved. Especially since this war can be said to have been caused by the escape of slaves, it’s perfect for shifting the blame.
Second, if slavery is abolished, we can expect a huge number of them to move to the Mexican Empire. It’s true that it’s much better for black people to live in Mexico than in the United States, and we’ve successfully created that image for American blacks.
Third, the fact that the imperial family has taken a stand against slavery is a real benefit in itself. It may not be of much help right now, but it will be helpful later.
For those reasons, I refused.
“No. We can negotiate about the territory, but we can’t concede on the abolition of slavery.”
“Ahem. Don’t be so firm… Well, let’s talk about the territorial issue first.”
Ambassador John Slidell tried very hard after that, but the United States had lost its negotiating power, and there was nothing he could do.
***
October 1846.
“Look, look! They’re saying we can keep half of the western territory?”
Bill, meeting his friend, didn’t even say hello, and immediately showed him the newspaper article he had brought.
“Hmm, how did this newspaper get hold of the ongoing negotiations?”
His friend muttered suspiciously as he read the article.
He pointed to one part of the article.
“Wait, it says ‘Abolition of slavery is non-negotiable.’ Did you see that?”
“Uh… No?”
“This is bad. Those Dixie guys are going to go crazy, aren’t they?”
For the people in the North, who had even had nightmares of losing all of the land west of the Mississippi River to the Mexican Empire, this was a good deal. Since Britain had withdrawn from the negotiations, if Mexico pushed all the way, there would be no answer for the United States.
The problem was the abolition of slavery.
“The country’s safety is at stake, if they have any sense…”
“No. You’re still naive. Do you think those Dixie guys care about that? Those Dixie guys would argue for a fight to the death, even if it meant total ruin.”
Those words were true. The Southerners’ attitude was tough.
“What right do those Mexican bastards have to tell us to abolish slavery?”
“If the federal government accepts this…”
“Nonsense. Do you know how many slaves there are out of the 8.5 million people in the South? It’s 2.8 million, not 28,000 or 280,000, but 2.8 million. Did we get these slaves for free from the federal government? No. We bought each and every one of them for a huge sum of money. Are you going to tell us to just give up that kind of private property?”
The Southern man’s voice, loud enough for everyone to hear, was met with cheers from all over.
“That’s right!”
“Right!”
The fact that there were 2.8 million black slaves was the result of the temporary census conducted last year, in 1845.
Demanding the emancipation of slaves was not just a matter of losing the money they had paid for the slaves.
Almost all Southern plantations relied on slave labor. Without them, the plantations couldn’t function, so it was like giving the Southern plantations a death sentence economically.
If the Southern plantations went bankrupt, the countless white employees working there would also go bankrupt. In effect, it was asking the South to sacrifice itself for the United States, and since the United States was only the North and the South, it was asking the South to sacrifice itself for the North.
“But if St. Louis is breached, it’s the Great Lakes, and if Philadelphia is breached, it’s New York. Will the federal government hold out even then?”
The cheers of the crowd disappeared. They knew the importance of the Great Lakes industrial region and New York City. Everyone seemed to be looking at him.
The man was secretly flustered, but he didn’t show it and spoke forcefully.
“If we accept this, we’ll have to secede from the Union.”
***
October 22.
As the US government’s deliberations dragged on, the Crown Prince of the Mexican Empire informed them that if they didn’t respond within two weeks, they would resume fighting.
“Those bastards.”
“What a crazy thing to say.”
Everyone who read the newspaper cursed. Surprisingly, it wasn’t directed at the Mexican Empire.
The headline of the newspaper was as follows:
[Governor of South Carolina Says He Will Have No Choice But to Secede from the Union If Slavery Is Forced to Be Abolished]
The sentence, which was quite long for a headline, immediately caught the attention of Northern readers.
One man was shaking with anger.
“Those, those, unrealistic bastards. Don’t they know that if they lose New York and the Great Lakes, it’s all over?”
Those who were curious about why he was so angry also cursed after seeing the headline, which was quite a sight.
“Who’s saying this kind of traitorous nonsense?”
Most people with insight had expected it, but the people in the North, who had seen the Southern sentiment firsthand, were furious.
The country was on the verge of collapse. But they couldn’t give up those slaves, so they caused this mess? That was the North’s thinking.
“Those Dixie bastards, they’re fighting in the North, so it’s not their business, is it?”
In the North, there were those who had lost their homes or were on the verge of losing them,
“Who the hell do they think they are, seceding from the Union?”
There were federalists who supported a strong federal government,
“This war was caused by the federal government trying to protect those disgusting slave owners’ slaves in the first place, wasn’t it? This is what happened because of that, so they should take responsibility.”
There were also those who simply wanted to find someone to blame.
Even during the war, or rather, because of the war, newspapers were more active than ever. Articles representing the views of the angry people in the North were pouring out, and the public opinion contained in those articles flowed into the South as well.
Of course, the Southerners’ reaction wasn’t good.
“Didn’t the Yankees also agree to the war?”
“Of course. It’s obvious if you look at President James K. Polk’s approval rating.”
In terms of white population alone, the free states in the North were more than twice as many as the slave states in the South. It means that it’s structurally impossible for the South to elect a president on its own.
The fact that James K. Polk, who was an expansionist through and through, was elected with an overwhelming majority means that he had the support of the entire United States. But how dare they say that this war was caused by the greed of those immoral Southern slave owners?
“It’s outrageous.”
“And calling us traitors. Who was it who let things get this bad in the first place by not properly participating in the war? They didn’t even volunteer, and they were busy trying to avoid conscription.”
“That’s right! Didn’t all those who participated in the Battle of New Orleans and the First Battle of Memphis were Southerners? They were watching from the sidelines, saying it wasn’t their business, and then when Mexico landed in the northeast, they suddenly became ‘patriots’ and joined the militia. It’s disgusting.”
This was a story from the early days of the war. When the Mexican Imperial Army attacked at an incredible speed, 90% of those who volunteered to defend were Southerners.
“Thinking about it now, if they had supported this much from the beginning, wouldn’t we have defended New Orleans? I don’t know who’s calling who selfish and traitorous. They’re disgusting hypocrites.”
From the Southerners’ point of view, blaming the South for the cause of the war and calling those who didn’t give up slavery traitors was nothing but hypocrisy on the part of the Yankees.
“This is not the time to fight among ourselves! We’re at war, and the Mexicans will be attacking again soon! Let’s stop fighting and reconcile!”
Someone argued that, but neither the North nor the South conceded. They couldn’t concede. Slavery was as important to the Southerners as New York and the Great Lakes were to the Northerners.
Even without such logical reasons, the emotion of hatred was highly contagious.
The conflict between the North and the South, between the federalists and the anti-federalists, which had been brewing beneath the surface of American society for a long time, had come to the surface through the catalyst of war.
[Virginia and Georgia also say they will… (continued)]
As if someone was fanning the flames, public opinion was rising quickly and strongly.
Southern states followed suit, declaring that they would secede from the Union if slavery was abolished.
Faced with the unprecedented situation of national division during a war, President James K. Polk couldn’t make a decision, and time made the decision for him.
The Mexican Imperial Army, which had replenished its troops and supplies during the truce, resumed its attack.