I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 143



Only Noblemtl

Mexican-American War (16)

“Let’s go!”

The city of Baltimore was not destroyed like Washington, D.C. Winfield Scott withdrew his troops as soon as the city began to be destroyed in earnest, and the Mexican Empire entered Baltimore.

They received additional troops and supplies through the port of Baltimore and marched north.

September 15, 1846.

Philadelphia, Northeastern United States.

The great army of the Mexican Empire is closing in.

Henry, stationed in the trenches, patted his trembling brother on the shoulder. The brothers were citizens of Philadelphia.

“I prepared harder this time.”

“Yeah. The number of troops has also increased significantly.”

The two comforted each other and waited for the battle to begin.

After the Mexican Empire captured Baltimore, the militia grew like crazy, reaching over 200,000 men. They dug not one but three lines of trenches, and if these three lines of first defense were breached, there was another line further back.

“Coming!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

It was the Mexican Empire army that began to pour down artillery fire without fail.

“Don’t bow down! Stop the enemy’s charge!”

It was as he said. The Mexican Empire’s infantry began to charge, and the militia began to fire their guns, as they had done before.

Tata tata tang! Tata tata tang!

Ugh!

The battlefield was different in many ways than before, but there were also many things that remained the same.

There were still no barbed wire fences or other obstacles, and the number of military rifles and cannons, let alone machine guns, was extremely small. There were no officers to command the soldiers, so General Winfield Scott, an old man, had to lead the troops in the field.

Wedge-

“Hey! Get out of here!”

“uh?”

Crunch!

A shell aimed right in front of the trench ricocheted off and hit the face of the soldier who was shooting. Fear grew in the hearts of those who saw that horrible sight.

However, the trench defenses were not completely destroyed. Unlike the previous time, when they were breached in half a day, the battle began to drag on.

“We held out for three days at the first line of defense.”

“Yes, General. The number of casualties is lower than before. On the other hand, the number of enemy casualties has increased.”

The adjutant reported as such, but the expression on Winfield Scott’s face as he held the paper did not brighten.

‘I like seeing the exchange rate of 2:1···.’

Of course, it was true that there had been considerable improvement. If you think about previous battles, there were many battles where the exchange rate went beyond 3:1 and approached 4:1.

The problem was that the Mexican Empire was acting tough and even started conscription again, as if they had no intention of ending the war.

‘If the Great Lakes are hit… Even if Britain provides raw materials through the St. Lawrence River, it’s the end.’

As he feared, the Mexican Empire’s forces in the west were rapidly advancing north. As time went on, the battle became more favorable for the Mexican Empire.

The Crown Prince of the Mexican Empire knew it well.

The crown prince, who had come to the negotiating table for the first time in a long time, made a bombshell statement.

“Let’s abolish that barbaric institution of slavery.”

“what!”

“Your Majesty, instead of negotiating, you are adding more conditions!”

Ambassador Slidell and Ambassador Pakenham were terrified. Ambassador Pakenham calmed down and said,

“Are you not willing to negotiate?”

“Hasn’t the situation changed? We have conquered over 400km of territory in the west, advancing north along the Mississippi River, and in the east, the conquest of Philadelphia is proceeding very smoothly.”

“majesty!”

Ambassador Pakenham realized that the Crown Prince was not at all frightened by the British threat. The efforts of the past two weeks had been in vain. But he could not give up now. The interests and prestige of his country, as well as his promise to the United States, depended on his negotiating skills.

While he was gathering his words, the crown prince spoke first.

“Did you decide to get the Oregon Territory?”

It was a secret agreement. The Crown Prince could not possibly know about it. This was a leading question to lure them. Ambassador Pakenham thought so.

Those frighteningly cold eyes were searching Ambassador Pakenham’s expression. The Ambassador managed to maintain a poker face with a momentary display of superhuman patience, but Ambassador Slidell did not.

The Crown Prince’s gaze shifted to the side after checking Ambassador Pakenham’s expression, and he checked Ambassador Slidell’s expression. His face was noticeably agitated.

Ambassador Pakenham also saw the scene and expected the Crown Prince to have made up his mind, but he responded calmly.

“Your Majesty, Oregon is a matter between two countries, Great Britain and the United States.”

“That is not necessarily the case. Oregon is also west of the Mississippi River. Whatever promise we made is invalid. We will have to negotiate anew with the Mexican Empire.”

He was not talking to America. The Crown Prince dared to tell the British Empire to spit out the promised territory.

Ambassador Pakenham, who had maintained his composure throughout the tense atmosphere of the negotiations, also spoke angrily at the Crown Prince’s demand.

“Your Majesty! Are you really trying to cross the line? Think wisely!”

“You said last week, ‘Britain is prepared to take all necessary measures to protect its interests.’ Then I will say to you that our Mexican Empire is also prepared to take all necessary measures to protect its interests.”

The confrontation between the two sides was reaching a cliff edge. I thought that if things continued this way, a real war might break out.

Ambassador John Slidell of the United States secretly hoped for such a development, but Ambassador Richard Pakenham of the United Kingdom did not. He had received clear instructions that war was absolutely forbidden.

“···”

Silence followed. Ambassador Pakenham had to choose his words carefully.

The crown prince said with a slight smile.

“Before we talk any further, let’s communicate more with the home country. Then you will know what I mean.”

Knock knock-

With those words, the crown prince left the conference room.

***

The British Parliament had no separate flea market.

Shocking news arrived in the midst of a war of nerves with the Mexican Empire.

“It is said that the Mexican Empire’s grand fleet passed through the Strait of Dover and crossed over to Prussia!”

“A, a grand fleet?”

“I just watched it happen!”

“What if we just wait and see? Are you going to attack an ally?”

It was shocking news. Why would they suddenly send a fleet to their ally, Prussia?

It was a threat.

The Kingdom of Prussia had entered the war on the side of the Mexican Empire and was preparing troops. Britain had already received information that Prussia was preparing troops.

I thought they were going to send it to North America, but now that I look at it, it looks like they’re preparing to hit London if the time comes.

It was a move that sent a chill down the spines of even the most powerful members of the British Empire.

“The Mexican Empire has finally gone mad!”

“This is the opportunity to break that sky-high nose!”

Some lawmakers simply reacted emotionally, while others seriously argued for war.

“This threat is a challenge and a blackmail to our British Empire. Once we begin to give in to those uppity Mexicans, the prestige of our British Empire will fall to the ground and our hegemony will be threatened! Let’s go to war before America gives up the war! I will personally command the army!”

It was Arthur Wellesley.

‘I was halfway giving up.’

It was the last chance to catch the monster named Jeronimo Iturbide. But when he seriously advocated war, the atmosphere became ambiguous.

“But it’s really too early to go to war…”

At that point, more than 50% of the Mexican Empire’s fleet had been gathered in Prussia. This was a force greater than the combined strength of Britain’s Home Fleet and the next closest fleet, the North Sea Fleet.

Unlike Mexico, whose entire fleet was in the Caribbean region except for a portion of the Pacific, Britain’s fleet was truly spread around the world.

To defeat the Mexican fleet, Britain would have to muster half of its fleet spread around the world.

“Bringing in a fleet will put the brakes on colonial activities. Are you willing to accept such enormous losses?”

“That’s right. Even if we go to war, it would only benefit the United States. Are we going to war with the Mexican Empire just to get a North American colony, and an uninhabited territory at that?”

Liberal Party lawmakers immediately expressed their opposition.

“What guarantee is there that Mexico will not attack us if we do not attack the Mexican Empire? There is a large army waiting for Prussia, with a fleet of over eighty ships, which has been prepared for several months. Even our British Empire could face great disaster if we let our guard down like this.”

“A preemptive strike by Mexico? That’s ridiculous!”

“That’s right. The situation is like this now, but the Mexican Empire has always been cooperative with the British Empire. The trade between the two countries is enormous, so what benefit does Mexico have to launch a preemptive attack on the British Empire?”

Before the war, the United States and the Mexican Empire were each other’s best trading partners. Both were rapidly industrializing emerging powers, and their proximity made them ideal trading partners.

Britain was the next trading partner. With trade with the United States cut off, Britain was Mexico’s largest trading partner. So the argument that Mexico could not act recklessly was persuasive.

‘These cowardly kids···.’

Arthur Wellesley wanted to shout at these cowards who were always looking for excuses not to go to war. But if he did, he would end up being called a lunatic.

Someone entered the silent parliament. He seemed to be an aide to a Liberal Party member and approached my host and whispered something.

“···”

“···Gentlemen. Another important piece of news has arrived. News of the secret food exports is spreading to the home country and Ireland.”

Britain was a food importer.

The fact that more than 90% of the Irish live solely on potatoes is because the English swept away other grains.

Ireland, which became poor because of them and lived only on potatoes, is now suffering from a great famine and many people are starving to death. In the midst of all this, how can they export food instead of providing food aid?

“Damn it… That’s why I told you to keep your mouth shut.”

“Have you confirmed where it came from?”

“No, it has not been confirmed yet.”

“···Those guys who have been quiet for a while are going to cause trouble again.”

After the Act of Union in 1800 brought Ireland together, resistance to Irish independence continued. In the 1920s there was the Catholic Emancipation Movement led by Daniel O’Connell, and in the 1930s and 1940s there was the emergence of nationalists who advocated a more hard-line approach.

It was a group called the Young Irelanders. They would be burning with hatred for Britain at this news.

“Ireland needs to do a better job of regulating itself, but I am more concerned about the reaction of its citizens.”

As one Conservative MP put it, it was news that would make even citizens back home angry.

It wasn’t that the people at home were worried about the Irish.

The fact that Britain was a food importer and had to exploit Ireland meant that there was a food shortage within Britain itself, as the farms on the mainland could not support Britain’s explosive population growth.

The lower classes in Britain were still barely able to eat one meal a day, and many were starving to death. And yet they were exporting food.

Of course, the British government also had its own ideas, so it purchased additional products from other countries that still had stable agricultural product prices and exported them to the United States.

But just as the MPs had feared, the people at home were angry with their government, and the Irish were more than angry; they were hating it. Anti-government demonstrations began to take place across Ireland and in London.

“Let’s just let the Mexican thing slide.”

“Yes. We are busy enough with colonial administration, and the situation in Russia and the Ottoman Empire is also a headache. We should pay more attention to those.”

In Britain, where even household chores are difficult to keep in check, much has already been done.

A war with the Mexican Empire, which was ready to strike back at the back of the head as if it would really go to war, was too much of a burden even for the British Empire.

Even those Conservative MPs who had briefly supported the war turned their backs, and what Arthur Wellesley had thought was his last chance was lost.

Britain relayed the situation and orders to Ambassador Richard Pakenham in Mexico City.

Thus the last lifeline of America was snapped.