I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 170



Only Noblemtl

“Prepare to move all troops and supplies now. We must leave Veracruz City within a week.”

The words that General Santa Anna spoke after calling all the officers together were shocking.

As the crowd stood in shock, Colonel Moreno, the most senior member of the group, spoke.

“I don’t understand why you would leave this city of Veracruz, our only base. Could you explain it to me a little more?”

Veracruz is the largest port city in the Mexican Empire and the second largest city after the capital in terms of economic scale and population. Should we give up and leave such a place?

Santa Anna, who had expected such a bewildering reaction, asked calmly, smoking a cigarette.

“Colonel. What do you think will happen if we continue like this?”

A central army of 180,000 men surrounded the entire state of Veracruz. They were slowly closing in on those trying to enter the state, tightly controlling them.

They could not even defend themselves. With a force of less than 30,000 men, they could not even attempt to block the entire state of Veracruz, which was a whopping 70,000 square kilometers, the size of a small country.

As the colonel was choosing his words, Santa Anna spoke again.

“Eventually, we will have to fight a defensive battle here in Veracruz City. Even if it is a trench warfare, it is impossible to defend 180,000 with only 28,000. If we resist when there is no chance of winning, won’t it just result in more innocent people dying?”

Santa Anna soberly assessed their situation. His words were so blunt that the officers felt their breath catch in their throats.

“But I see hope. I see patriots who somehow managed to find a way to join us despite the Mexican Empire’s ironclad blockade of the entire province of Veracruz. They are our hope.”

Even though he did not recruit heavily, Santa Anna’s army grew to 28,000 men. The power of religious faith and the anger and resentment of those whose vested rights were violated were that strong.

“The problem is that the number of people joining us is rapidly decreasing. There is only one way to overcome this situation. While the stupid Central Army has scattered their troops under the pretext of blockade, we must break through at once, attempt guerrilla warfare, and receive as many troops as possible from as wide an area as possible. That is the only way we can win.”

Only then did the officers understand Santa Anna’s argument.

“But shouldn’t we also leave some troops in Veracruz? It’s the only port city we have.”

“Forget Veracruz. The port is already blockaded, and even if it weren’t for that, Britain and Austria wouldn’t invest more in us. Rather, if we get out of here and show them some chance of winning, they’ll be more likely to invest.”

Santa Anna’s gambling instincts made him the worst gambler in the casino, but here and now, combined with his strategic ability, it helped him find a breakthrough.

“We can win. Those who planned with me were caught before they could even rise up because they were stupid, but even the intelligence agency and the central army could not have arrested all those landowners and priests at once. The arrest operation is probably still underway. From now on, we will get out of Veracruz, help them, and make them join us. When our forces grow, the British will see us again, and with their support, we will really be able to fight.”

General Santa Anna had a plan even in this unfavorable situation. Even Colonel Moreno, who had doubts for a moment, and Major Diaz, who had been a little disappointed in Santa Anna, began to trust him again.

“If you understand, prepare the operation immediately.”

“yes!”

The officers’ loud answers resonated through Santa Anna’s mansion.

“Oh, by the way, it could be dangerous while moving, so Leandro and his family should be put in a carriage and thoroughly ‘protected.’”

“Yes, I understand, General.”

***

May 26, 1848.

Urgent news arrived almost every day at the 2nd Corps temporary operations headquarters set up at the entrance to Veracruz state.

“It is said that Santa Anna left Veracruz with his army.”

“What? That can’t be. Check again!”

“It’s true! The Navy has also confirmed that the troops have withdrawn.”

As I was checking the information, the following information came in.

“North! They say Santa Anna is headed north!”

“North? Why of all places···.”

The encirclement was at its weakest point. An ominous feeling began to creep into the staff’s heads.

As expected, ominous news was transmitted by telegraph from the division surrounding the north.

“The 6th Division has started the battle! The enemy force is 28,000 strong!”

“Damn it. That’s another 3,000 more. The divisions in the north should go to support as quickly as possible.”

The 6th Division had 8,000 men. Even if they were the central army, it would have been difficult to overcome this difference in numbers. Furthermore, Santa Anna’s army was well-armed and even received supplies from Britain and Austria, so it was difficult to see a big difference in armament.

“Santa Anta’s forces have broken through the defense line! The 6th Division has fallen back with catastrophic losses.”

“···I guess so.”

Lieutenant General Romero blamed himself. While the First Corps was arresting rebels throughout central Mexico, he was given the important task of commanding the punitive force to punish Santa Anna. As commander of the Second Corps, he and his staff had not anticipated Santa Anna’s moves.

Despite having fought in several wars, they never imagined that Santa Anna would abandon the city of Veracruz.

The city of Veracruz is the second most important city after the capital. Santa Anna’s army, which had Veracruz, was the force that occupied the second largest city in Mexico, but after abandoning it, they became nothing more than 28,000 wanderers.

‘I heard you’ve never been in a war, so how is this decision possible…’

Lieutenant General Romero, who was a year younger than Santa Anna, had a disdain for his impudent senior who had started a mutiny. This was because, for various reasons, he had never participated in a war.

I was completely taken advantage of by that person.

Moreover, the northernmost part of Veracruz was the port of Tampico. It was only recently that the port of Veracruz was blocked and dispersed to Tampico.

“Commander, it appears that Santa Anna’s army will soon arrive at Tampico. We must take action.”

The staff informed me.

“Contact Tampico immediately and tell them to send their merchant ships away. Contact the Navy as well.”

“yes!”

The unfortunate incident did not stop trade with Britain or the Austrian Empire. With the civil war raging in the United States, Britain was Mexico’s largest trading partner. The Austrian Empire was not as big, but it was still one of the top five.

If Santa Anna’s army had taken Tampico, the worst could have happened – and almost certainly would have happened – when supplies were once again cut off. The weak local forces guarding Tampico were no match for Santa Anna’s army.

“Damn it. I heard there was already a trade hitch···.”

Even though he was a soldier, he couldn’t help but worry. After consulting with his staff for a while, Lieutenant General Romero revised the operation.

“The division in the south will march rapidly to take the city of Veracruz and reopen trade, while the remaining divisions will be quickly redeployed by rail.”

The plan to surround and encircle the entire state of Veracruz was completely foiled by Santa Anna’s move.

‘Should we have attacked Veracruz right away? But if we hadn’t blocked it…’

The rebels grew to ten thousand in just over a month. This was the reason why they blocked it. If they had not blocked it, it would have grown to at least seven or eight thousand more. That was the number of rebels they caught at the border. If they had known there was no blockade, they might have been more emboldened and tried more.

The blockade itself was right. The problem was speed. They were occupying Veracruz state by blocking the roads as meticulously as possible, assuming that the rebels would hunker down and prepare for trench warfare, and that was the problem.

after-

Lieutenant General Romero briefly smoked a Cuban cigar to clear his head of the dizzying thoughts. The situation had not changed much, even though he had been defeated once. Santa Anna’s rebels had escaped the encirclement, but had lost ground, and the punitive force was still overwhelming.

“I was able to escape with a little bit of wit, but I will have to personally show you that all of that is meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.”

***

Santa Anna’s army had been doing quite well so far.

They broke through the siege that surrounded the entire state of Veracruz and advanced directly to Tampico.

The plan was to replenish supplies and reinforce troops in Tampico.

“The garrison of Tampico is no match for us! Attack!”

The city of Tampico had a strong coastal defense system, with a shipyard and a port, but its rear defenses were weak. The quality of its men, weapons, and training were all inferior to those of Santa Anna’s rebels.

Santa Anna’s troops broke through the city’s defenses and captured Tampico in one day, but they found nothing they wanted.

“They emptied the trading ships and warehouses.”

“Since they have brains, they must have taken that much action. We still have enough supplies, so let’s recruit troops.”

“yes!”

Wherever they went, there were those who joined them. After leaving Tampico, Santa Anna’s army traveled throughout Tamaulipas, taking Leandro Iturbide and his family with them.

By early June, the rebel force had grown to 32,000 men, but Santa Anna was anxious. The number joining was lower than he had expected.

“It was hard to get here. They had already surrounded the state of Tamaulipas.”

The major heard the new recruits chatting with the soldiers, and it was something he couldn’t ignore.

“Hey! Is that true?”

“yes.”

“I should let the general know about this.”

The major reported to Santa Anna with a serious expression. Santa Anna understood the situation as soon as he heard those words.

“The railroad troops. They didn’t chase us and immediately redeployed their troops.”

The central army once again laid siege, using two infrastructures that the rebels could not use: the telegraph and the railroad. They used the telegraph to take out all the locomotives and cut part of the railroad before Santa Anna’s army could reach them.

This was beyond Santa Anna’s expectations. He had expected them to come in a hurry to protect Tampico, which could be called the main port. He had planned to use guerrilla tactics against the pursuing divisions, but the enemy commander, unfazed, relocated all his units to the railroad.

Santa Anna felt a sense of crisis for a moment.

‘This time, they won’t tighten the siege as leisurely as before.’

“Get ready to move immediately!”

General Santa Anna quickly gave orders to move his troops, but as he had expected, the Mexican Empire’s punitive forces did not relax their siege any further.

“General! General!”

One of the scouts jumped down from his horse, sweating profusely. He ran quickly before General Santa Anna and bowed down.

“What’s going on?”

Santa Anna asked in a low voice.

“General, we’re in trouble! We’ve detected Imperial forces 20 kilometers ahead of our front line. We estimate they’re two divisions in size.”

Santa Anna’s eyebrows furrowed. But the scouts’ reports did not stop there. This time, it was a different scout.

“General, from behind too…”

“Back?”

“Yes… Enemy units have been detected in the rear of our forces. Their numbers appear to be similar to those of the enemy at the front.”

Santa Anna bit his lip.

His small struggles became meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.

The final moment approached sooner than expected.