I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 137



Only Noblemtl

Mexican-American War (10)

“To disband the battle line, that is dishonorable···”

match-

Lieutenant General Winfield Scott patted the officer on the head for talking about honor.

“What? Honor?”

“Soldiers on the battlefield are being torn apart, honor? Thirty thousand people died, fifteen thousand in one day, honor?”

Although he was an officer who had reached the rank of colonel, he had no choice but to bow his head in the face of the wrath of Winfield Scott, his senior and a war hero.

“Is there anyone who will talk about honor again?”

“···”

No one had the courage to open their mouths in front of Winfield Scott, who asked questions as if he would slap them in the face if they opened their mouths.

“Thank goodness. Starting tomorrow, we will be deploying those who haven’t even completed their training period. If there are still those who talk about honor, I was going to make them stand at the forefront of the battle lines and command with honor.”

“···”

In this era, the line infantry was not only a tactic, but also a symbol of military discipline and courage. It was an honorable act to stand firm on the battlefield where bullets and shells were raining down, and to fill the spot and maintain the line even when the people in front were dying.

Even Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, who was now not at all strangely called a veteran, did not understand at first why the Mexicans scattered as if they did not care about battle formations and why concealment was the most important thing.

He thought it was not only stupid, but also dishonorable. But he was the commander of the United States Army and the person in charge of this battle. Faced with that grave responsibility, he had no choice but to admit it.

“Starting tomorrow, let’s not form battle formations and try to remain hidden as much as possible.”

The casualties in two days are thirty thousand. Even so, the soldiers who were deployed until today were trained. Those who did not even receive three weeks of brief training were waiting in the reserves.

And so the third day of battle dawned.

The Mexican Empire was taken aback by the changed tactics of the United States Army.

Artillery units exchanged fire, cavalry units fought each other, and soldiers fired machine guns and rifles alike, but those who openly formed battle lines and volunteered to be cannon fodder had disappeared.

Like the Mexican Empire, there were those who spread out across the battlefield, taking cover or fire from a crouching position, or, if there was no cover, firing from a prone position.

Every time they fired, the gunpowder smoke spread thickly, making it virtually impossible for the concealment to be effective, but the situation was different from yesterday, when it seemed as if they were blatantly asking to be killed.

“Changing tactics in just two days···.”

“The US military also has the ability to learn.”

“It’s not just some changes, but seeing that everything has changed, it must have been an order from above.”

In a conservative organization like the military, there was only one person who could make such a change overnight.

It was pushed by the top commander.

“···I thought I could push through today, but now that I look at it, it’s going to be hard.”

The effect of the changed tactics was outstanding.

The casualties of soldiers being torn apart by rifles and machine guns were greatly reduced.

“3,000 dead, 5,000 injured···.”

“All other conditions being equal, just disbanding the formation would change this much···.”

Although casualties were still enormous, it was a relief compared to yesterday when there were five thousand casualties in one day.

The battle dragged on.

The Mexican fleet was still eroding the fort by the fifth day, while the Americans continued to reinforce their forces.

On the surface it seemed that way.

“Gun failure! Gun failure!”

“Oh my god, again? Fix it quickly!”

The rifles used by the US military were superficially similar in performance to those used by the Mexican Empire. The Springfield Model 1842 was a close copy of the ER-38, and the Springfield Model 1844 was a close copy of the ER-42.

The problem was that it broke down frequently. It was a serious problem that the rifle, which was like a soldier’s lifeline on the battlefield, broke down frequently.

“It’s breaking down faster and faster. Please replace it. This is unusable.”

In peacetime, such a demand would have been ignored, but this was wartime, and lives were at stake.

“···Would you even use this?”

The officer held out a flintlock musket. The soldier accepted it.

“Yes. I think I’d feel better if I used this.”

The firepower of the American army, which was already inferior to that of the Mexican army, gradually declined. This was partly due to the increasing proportion of muskets, but there were other problems as well.

“Oh, they are the ones who haven’t even started training yet.”

“Don’t make me say it twice. Deploy.”

After a month, three weeks, two weeks, and even a week, the situation was such that newly conscripted soldiers were given guns and sent straight into battle.

The mortality rate, which had been dropping, was skyrocketing again.

Day 6.

The US military tried its best to block it, but eventually they reached their limit.

“···You ran out of bullets?”

“Yes, we are short on everything, not just bullets. The cannons are almost all broken, and the cavalry is at its limit.”

Even though there were 60,000 casualties, people could have been replenished. The government continued to send troops. However, it was impossible to replenish supplies that were not there.

“The forts on the Mississippi River have been almost completely destroyed. From tomorrow, they will begin firing their main guns at us in earnest.”

The Mexican Empire’s fleet destroyed the entire defense line.

“···Prepare to retreat.”

***

“Wow!”

“The enemy is retreating!”

“Ugh. Those damn guys.”

As the American forces retreated, the Mexican Empire entered Memphis, taking control of what could be called the logistics hub of the middle Mississippi River.

The soldiers enjoyed a long-awaited rest.

“Now that the battle is over, I want medical supplies delivered as quickly as possible.”

Lieutenant General Antonio said.

“yes!”

The Mexican Empire’s army was fighting, supplied by the Mississippi River.

Unlike the United States, which is still transitioning to a wartime system, Mexico has been drastically increasing its production of military supplies and even stockpiling them for quite some time.

This was the reason why the Mexican Empire’s army was able to maintain its firepower, unlike the United States, which was losing strength with each passing day.

On the first day, the Mexican Empire suffered 7,000 casualties, but the number dropped day by day, and on the sixth day, there were less than 2,000 casualties, and out of a total of 30,000 casualties, the number of deaths was just over 10,000.

“Make arrangements to have the seriously injured people shipped to the mainland.”

“yes!”

***

[Battle of Memphis Defeat!]

[The Mexican Empire Takes Control of America’s Aorta!]

News that Memphis had fallen to Mexican hands spread quickly.

“No, weren’t you setting up a defense line in Memphis?”

“What are you going to do if you can’t even defend yourself? You have to at least hold out so you can prepare and counterattack!”

All major ports are closed, including New York Harbor, Boston Harbor, Philadelphia Harbor, Baltimore Harbor, and Charleston Harbor.

In this situation, blocking the Mississippi River meant that America’s logistics were completely paralyzed, which meant immediate economic collapse.

[The Arrogance of Manifest Destiny]

In the North, the anti-war movement began to raise its head again. It was calling for reconciliation, even now. It was not a popular argument, but it began to grow in size as the possibility of defeat gradually increased.

Most of them were in favor of the war, but as the war, which they had expected to end somewhere in the South, grew in scale, logistics became paralyzed, and the government began to show signs of enforcing forced conscription, they changed their minds.

This was surprising news to European diplomats who had been watching the war, which had grown in scale beyond their expectations.

Despite the outbreak of war, instead of withdrawing their embassies, they became more active and collected information. There was no need to worry since the conflagration of war was still far from reaching the northeast.

“Our military experts said we could hold out in Memphis for at least two months, but that was completely out of the question.”

“Haha, we said something similar in our home country. I think America’s capabilities are below expectations.”

He was a diplomat for Britain and France.

“That too, and the Mexican Empire’s capabilities may be greater than expected.”

He was a Russian diplomat.

These were words that reflected the positions of Britain, which hoped the war would last a long time, France, which still had ill feelings toward Mexico, and Russia, which hoped that whoever won would join them in keeping Britain in check.

“Well, there’s still a lot of territory left, so there’s no need to jump to conclusions. I heard they’re converting the factories on the Great Lakes side into military supply factories. That means there’s a good chance they’ll counterattack.”

When the British ambassador said so, the French ambassador also agreed.

“That’s right. Only a small part of the South has been occupied. The agriculture of the American South is mostly cash crops, and food is produced in abundance in the East and North, so there’s nothing we can’t endure.”

“Well, the ports are blocked, and water transport through the Mississippi is blocked, so how can that be done now? There’s no way to get the raw materials in.”

Even if the industrial zone is intact, products cannot be produced without raw materials. The Russian ambassador was pointing out an obvious fact.

“Ahem···.”

“···”

Unlike the French ambassador who was coughing, the British ambassador’s mouth was twitching, but he held it back.

***

Mid-May.

A letter from the British ambassador to the United States shook the British Parliament.

“You lost in 7 days?”

“Who said at least two months?”

There were many former military officers in the Congress, and it was they who had made such predictions.

“Ahem, ahem···.”

The letter, which contained detailed information about the outcome of the battle, even included his judgment as a local diplomat that if he was going to intervene, he had to do so quickly.

It was a proposal that gave strength to the Conservative Party’s proposal to provide indirect help to the side that was losing.

“We must support you immediately! If we fall behind any longer, America may lose its will to fight!”

The continued confrontation between the United States and Mexico was something that the Liberal Party members also wanted, and opinions quickly came together for the first time in a long time.

“That’s right. Many said that the US would hold Memphis for at least two months. But in reality, it didn’t even last a week. So this war, which was said to last at least two years, is likely to end in less than half a year. As the local diplomat said, we need to intervene now.”

It was not that I wanted to go to war. There were many people who opposed such a radical claim, not only in the Liberal Party but also in the Conservative Party.

To have any significant impact on a war of this scale, an army of at least 50,000 men and half the British fleet would have to be mobilized.

Even for Britain, which placed great importance on prestige and hegemony, most people thought that it was unreasonable to suggest that Britain participate in this war while delaying its “world management” when it was enjoying the benefits of swallowing up India.

“You can think of it as continuing the trade you were doing, but increasing the range of items and taking a detour to Canada.”

“It’s May, so we might be able to send it straight to the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence.”

The St. Lawrence River, which connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, is frozen over from December to April, making it difficult for ships to navigate, but from May onwards it can become a fairly good trade route.

It was much more cumbersome than going through a major port like New York, but since it was going through Canadian territory, there was nothing Mexico could do to stop it.

“I guess I’ll have to pay a certain amount later. But I’ll get a lot of interest on it, so it’s not a bad thing.”

While thousands of people were starving to death in neighboring Ireland, Britain decided to export food to America.

Because Ireland doesn’t have money and America does. The plan was to sell everything except weapons, including food and raw materials needed for industry, on a deferred basis.

A British trading ship loaded with food and supplies passed over a Mexican relief ship heading for Ireland.