IBTCPOTME Novel - Chapter 157
**Chapter 157**
< South and North (11) >
“It feels like just yesterday we saw their faces, but they’re already graduating. Time sure flies, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s truly fast. But it was a truly meaningful time.”
Park Gyu-su answered on behalf of the group.
They were the first group of students to come to Mexico in February 1843. Now, after four years and a few months, they were all ready to graduate and return home.
“Yes. I’ve heard good reports about how hard everyone worked.”
It wouldn’t have been easy to keep up with university education after only a year of learning Spanish. The Filipinos who already knew Spanish were one thing, but the rest of them had persevered and worked hard until the very end.
Three Koreans, three Japanese, five Filipinos, and one Chinese.
I asked the total of 12 students,
“What did you learn over the past four years?”
This is why I specifically called them to meet.
Park Gyu-su answered first.
“I learned many things, but… if I had to choose one, I felt a sense of crisis, Your Majesty.”
It was a short answer, but the other 11 students nodded in agreement.
“I feel the same way. I witnessed firsthand in university where the strength of the West comes from.”
That was the answer of the Chinese student.
“A sense of crisis… Yes, that’s normal.”
I could feel that sense of crisis from their attire. When they first arrived, they had been wearing traditional clothing from their respective countries, but now they were wearing Western clothes.
The suits Ramon designed, somewhere between the aristocratic attire of this era and modern suits, had quickly become popular after I started wearing them, especially among young people like university students.
“You guys will have it a little easier. I hear Garcia is doing well.”
“Yes, thank you for your concern.”
That was what I said to the Filipino students.
Unlike the three East Asian countries, which still have a long way to go, the Philippine Republic, which gained independence from Spain with the support of the Mexican Empire, is undergoing intensive reforms under the leadership of President Jose Garcia.
“I believe you will all do well when you return to your home countries.”
If they felt a sense of crisis, there was no need for me to tell them every detail. My subordinates will take care of the details.
‘If they feel a sense of crisis, they will inevitably have a desire for reform. And if that’s the case, they won’t be able to refuse our Mexican Empire’s support.’
I slowly read Park Gyu-su’s expression.
The eyes of someone with a mission.
Why did he sell his family’s property and bring so many juniors with him? It was partly to show his juniors a new world and new knowledge, but it was also to form a power base.
It wasn’t just Park Gyu-su.
The number of Japanese and Filipino students increased rapidly every year. Only the number of Chinese students increased slightly, probably because they went to Europe, like I said before.
‘Korea, Japan, and the Philippines can be considered within our Mexican Empire’s sphere of influence, but China is not.’
They will form pro-Mexican factions, and I will support them.
It’s not to make their countries our Mexican Empire’s full colonies.
We are already trading through the opening treaties, and to make them colonies and extract more profit than we are now, we would have to suppress massive resistance, spend a lot of money to build infrastructure in their countries and develop resources, but if we had that kind of money and manpower, it would be better to develop our Mexican Empire’s territory.
‘We don’t lack territory or resources.’
There’s no need to waste our energy just to color the map.
We can let them do the difficult and expensive work of reform and industrialization themselves, and we can maintain our influence so they will be on our side in times of need, and just trade with them.
‘And all of this is a process of building know-how.’
If we can build up know-how and successfully achieve the rebellion and independence of existing colonies, it will be good for the colonists who yearn for independence, and our Mexican Empire will also have strategic advantages, so it’s a win-win situation.
***
Summer 1847.
“What is the government doing? Are they going to just let those rebel bastards run wild?”
The US government, after considering various factors, decided it could attack the Confederate States of America in the South in June 1848, but that wasn’t the case for the people.
As summer arrived, almost all slave owners had joined the Confederate States of America, but in the border states, conflict and discontent were escalating.
“We don’t even have slaves, what is this…”
“Exactly. We’re being dragged into this because of those Eastern slave owners!”
In Virginia, which had joined the American Federation early on, conflicts erupted almost every day.
The eastern part of Virginia, being slave owners, was heavily dependent on slaves, like typical Southern slave owners, but the western part was not.
The western part of Virginia had very little economic dependence on slavery and was strongly federalist. But their opinions were ignored, and the state government seceded from the federation and joined the Confederate States of America, so they were bound to be dissatisfied.
“Damn it. We’re going to declare independence too! You guys are saying you declared independence because you were dissatisfied with the United States, right? We’re dissatisfied with Virginia, that’s all!”
The incident finally happened.
The northwestern half of Virginia declared independence and claimed they would rejoin the federation.
“Crazy talk! Virginia is one nation!”
“Rebellion!”
Of course, the Virginia state government was furious.
“Who’s going to decide that we don’t want to?
“Oppressors!”
A tense atmosphere gripped all of Virginia between the two factions.
It wasn’t just Virginia.
While there were many residents in Virginia who opposed secession from the federation and joining the Confederate States of America, as the state government had forced it through, there were also cases of the opposite.
Kentucky and Missouri.
Both were slave states, with over 200,000 and 100,000 slaves respectively, and there were quite a few plantations that depended on them, but there were even more citizens who didn’t, and the federalist faction, which didn’t want the federation to split, was strong.
They couldn’t force the secession from the federation and joining the Confederate States of America, which most of the population opposed, and it was pointless. If they did, the state government would be overthrown immediately. But staying in the United States meant abolishing slavery.
Bang!
“You bastards! Take them if you can!”
The United States forced the abolition of slavery through amending the Constitution, but the plantation owners resisted fiercely.
“Stop! We are here to enforce the legitimate laws of the United States! If you resist any further, you will only become criminals, so disarm immediately!”
“Shut up! If you’re going to steal private property, at least pay for it! Do you know how much we paid for them?”
Bang!
The plantation owner fired a warning shot into the air.
Similar incidents were unfolding across Missouri and Kentucky.
Some plantation owners surrendered their slaves, but they were few, and most plantation owners resisted those trying to enforce the law with all their might.
But the federation wasn’t moving the federal army, so those enforcing the law were in a difficult situation.
“We should just mobilize the state militia and wipe them all out.”
“That’ll be a civil war right away.”
They had mobilized all their employees, and for a single plantation, they had over 50 troops. If they hurt not one or two, but all those people, they would be lighting the fuse of gunpowder.
“Ugh, what are those federation guys doing? They should handle this at the federal level.”
“Even if the federation handles it, wouldn’t it still be a civil war?”
“…That’s true.”
Even though the northern and southern governments weren’t directly moving their armies, the conflict between the residents didn’t disappear.
Just like during the war, militias began to form in various places. It wasn’t difficult to get guns in the United States, and the self-defense culture of protecting one’s own family was common.
It was only a matter of time before the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions clashed.
***
“The first thing they built in the South… It wasn’t guns, but a barbed wire factory?”
“Yes, it’s relatively easy to make, and it’s very effective, so I think that’s why.”
I slapped my knee after hearing the report from the military intelligence agency. The Southerners, on the defensive, are actively trying to use what they learned from the last war.
“It’s going to be a complete dogfight. But how can they do trench warfare without machine guns?”
Many people mistakenly think that if you just dig trenches, you’re invincible, but with the technology of this era, it’s not easy to even attempt trench warfare.
Our Mexican Empire spent a lot of money and used more cannons and Gatling guns to crush them, but in reality, it’s fair to say that even with Gatling guns, you can’t really do proper trench warfare.
In fact, there were many cases in the last war where trenches were breached, or even broken through, and that’s natural. It’s because the weapons still lack stopping power.
Even though our Mexican Empire has a weapons system that is a generation ahead of the modern era, compared to the Great Powers of World War I, it’s embarrassing to even compare them.
But they’re going to do trench warfare without Gatling guns?
“They apparently had some captured machine guns, and they’re providing them to the French Republic and building a machine gun factory together.”
I had ordered them to recover as many machine guns as possible, except for rifles, but it seems they left some behind after all.
“France?”
“Yes. They contacted England first, but they were uncooperative, so they quickly switched to France.”
“Well, England will support the North, so it’s natural that they were uncooperative. France doesn’t really need to do that.”
“Yes, that’s right. France doesn’t want to support either side, and they’re trying to take advantage of this opportunity by trading with both sides.”
“They’re building it in the United States? There’s no reason for France to do that.”
“They’ve decided to switch the cotton they used to sell to England to France. They’re building a gun factory as a condition.”
“…That’s bold. Both sides.”
The French Republic has quickly recovered its former glory. It’s because they have a basic size that hasn’t gone anywhere, and the ruling power is governing the country steadily.
‘We supported them, but the revolution was too successful.’
Louis Blanc and his comrades, who had socialist tendencies, became the main players in the revolution and monopolized the presidency and key positions.
Being socialists, they were pro-worker, so they received overwhelming support from the people, and naturally, they entered parliament in large numbers. As a result, the bourgeois and conservative forces were not as powerful as they were in the original timeline, which ironically became a cure for the conflicts in French society.
‘This is going to be a headache.’
I want to delay the United States’ recovery, but that doesn’t mean I want more Americans to die. It’s the opposite.
I think the Civil War itself is almost inevitable, but I hope the number of casualties will be as low as possible.
The Civil War in the original timeline lasted four years, but unlike the original timeline, our Mexican Empire’s wounds haven’t healed yet, and it’s unclear how long it will take for the North, which has even lost its navy, to finish off the South, which is trying to do trench warfare. How many people will die in the meantime?
“If this is the case… We’ll have to intervene. Get ready to execute the plan we prepared at the right time.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The Mexican Empire will decide when the Civil War ends.