I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire - Chapter 70



Only Noblemtl

Conquest of the Comanche (4)

Even when the band of Potznakwahipu failed to raid, it was not a problem for the entire tribe. Rather, they were often laughed at.

‘I never thought things would get this bad in just three months.’

As the looting was stopped, food shortages rapidly worsened, and not just for his band.

“It is said that the band led by Chief Mupiskupu also failed to plunder and over 300 people were killed.”

One of the warriors brought news of another band. It was like this these days.

“They said that the Mexican Empire cavalry came chasing them again this time?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the same pattern.”

The Comanche’s main attacks were east and south, toward Texas and Mexico. The California settlements were concentrated in the west, so they were too far away to go.

Mupitzkupu’s band has announced that they are heading towards California, and northwest at that.

It was my first time going there, but it was blocked.

“···It’s completely blocked.”

The Mexicans seemed determined to completely blockade the Comanche tribe.

‘How many troops did you bring?’

The Puhiwukwassuu were terrified of the might of the Mexican Empire, which bordered their tribal territory by dozens of villages.

Not a single one of those villages has been breached in the past three months.

Even the villages that were so small that they would not normally be considered targets of plunder knew about their plunder and prepared for it, and their garrison force was sufficient.

As the garrison resists by bringing cannons and shooting them, the cavalry will soon appear.

Clank-

Puhiwick and Suu were fiddling with a pistol that the men called a ‘revolver’.

Even in a situation where they were being hunted unilaterally, such excellent warriors were able to counterattack and kill several of them. They recovered the corpses of their comrades and their weapons, but luckily, they picked up one that had fallen on the ground.

Drrrrrr-

I thought to myself as I spun the empty cylinder around, having fired all six shots before the Mexican Imperial cavalryman died.

‘How long can I endure this?’

We have to find a way out somehow. That’s the role of the chief.

While he was pondering, the tribe became tumultuous.

“what’s the matter?”

“The warriors who were captured by the Mexican Empire have returned!”

There were many warriors who went out to raid and were trapped in a blockaded village and couldn’t escape. They hung on until the end as if they were going to take revenge on the grudge they had earned.

Puhiwick and Suu were listening to their story.

“How on earth did you escape?”

People were curious and were asking various questions. Where did the words come from? Had the boundaries become loose?

The returning warrior said.

“···I didn’t escape. They let me go.”

Groan groan-

“You released them? Why? And the others?”

“The others are still being held captive… and the reason they released me was to convey the offer of surrender.”

The roar grew louder at those words. Puhiwikwasuu, who had been listening to the story, stepped forward.

“Tell me more.”

“He said that if they surrendered, only the warriors would be punished and the rest would be given land to live on. He also promised that the warriors would not be put to death.”

As he continued to speak, the mood among the tribesmen became more tense. The one who was released seemed to sense this as well, and added in confusion.

“I, I don’t agree with this kind of proposal either! I just relayed what they said because they asked me to elaborate!”

Puhiwik and Suu didn’t care about such explanations and asked what they were curious about.

“Did you check how many troops they have?”

Puhiwik and Suu tried to find out as much as possible about the situation in Mexico, but were unable to obtain any useful information.

All the prisoners were locked up in a prison cell, told to deliver a few words to someone who could speak the Comanche language, and then sent out of the village with a horse.

“···There’s nothing we can do. Let’s rest now.”

The tribesmen were very negative about the offer brought by the freed warrior.

“You want us to live by farming?”

The Comanche before the introduction of horses and the Comanche with horses had completely different ways of life.

Having become nomads, they were no longer able to farm or even gather food, and now the only way for the Comanche tribe to survive was through raiding and hunting.

They had become accustomed to a life where the fruits of their labor, whether foraging or farming, were taken away by force. To be asked to do so now was nothing short of an insult.

“That’s crazy. It just makes looting a little harder, but they have no way of catching us.”

The tribesmen were negative, but Puhiwik and Sioux thought a little differently.

‘If we continue like this, there is no future.’

But that doesn’t mean we can win. So should we surrender? Or should we leave for the United States?

It was a matter of life and death for the band he led.

A week passed while he was unable to make a decision.

A warrior from another band came looking for me.

“The Mexicans are gathering their troops! We have confirmed that they have thousands of troops!”

“Thousands? Even so, it’ll only be enough to dodge a little.”

The warrior who heard the news together said so. Puhiwikwasuu also agreed with what he said.

“It would be good for us if they came into our territory. I guess they gained momentum after blocking them a few times.”

“I guess I can finally show them the bitter taste.”

The warriors spoke proudly. It was a strategy that always worked. Even an army composed entirely of cavalry could not catch the Comanche.

If the chase is prolonged, supplies will start to run low. That’s when it all started. You can target the supply lines, take a detour and pillage the weakly defended villages, or just hang on to the ones who are exhausted and turning back.

This is something that was actually experienced not only by the Mexican Empire, but also by many tribes, including the Texans and the Apache.

The suffocating atmosphere that had lasted for the past three months began to show signs of easing, and the warriors began to smile as the messenger spoke.

“This time, it might be a little different. The direction they’re moving in…”

The messenger mumbled.

The un-warrior appearance of Comanche, who values ​​manliness above all else.

The destination of the Mexican Empire bastards that Puhiwukwasuu had pressed him for was shocking.

“···I guess we should call a meeting of the entire tribe.”

“Yes, I was going to tell you that.”

The Comanche tribe of 40,000 people is divided into several bands.

A general meeting is called only when the fate of the entire tribe is at stake, such as during war.

“Let’s leave right away.”

***

The extensive reconnaissance operations and the linkage with the electric telegraph system worked well for my operation.

Rapid information acquisition led to rapid information transmission and rapid troop movement.

‘I guess I’ll have to build a cannery soon.’

Although there were some regrettable points, the looting itself was successfully prevented. The Comanche cavalry’s movements were captured in real time, and the villages in that direction were put on alert and moved their troops.

The cavalry continued their reconnaissance until the very end, and when they identified a village as a target for raiding, they gathered the cavalry nearby and attacked the Comanche cavalry.

“They must be mistaken in thinking that our defenders number 50,000 men.”

The commander, who was looking at the operational situation with me, said.

“If the Comanche had mobilized their forces and carried out simultaneous raids, they might have been caught.”

Even if we say that there were 10,000 troops, if they were divided into 30 villages, there would only be 300 people. With that number, it would have been difficult to stop the looting, and they may have noticed the weakness in our strategy.

“They wouldn’t be so crazy to deploy their forces in such a dangerous manner. They don’t have a unified command structure.”

“That’s true.”

Although many bands of the Comanche tribe share information with one another, no unified command structure develops until a “war chief” emerges, elected by the tribal council in times of crisis.

“We will gradually become more dependent on the buffalo herd.”

Regardless of whether it is the Old World or the New World, the food supply of nomads is mainly through hunting, pillaging, herding, and trade.

This proportion varied depending on the environment, climate, and resources available to them in the area they lived in; the Comanche tribe relied heavily on raiding and hunting, with relatively little on ranching and trade.

This was because the harvest of plunder was abundant, as preparations for plunder had been relatively weak up to that point, and there was a natural element in the form of buffalo herds.

“So you’re saying it’s time to move on to the next step?”

“okay.”

The decline of the Comanche tribe throughout history was due to military conflicts caused by America’s westward expansion policy, but also to a severe decline in the buffalo population.

As Americans expanded westward, they hunted buffalo indiscriminately, leading to their extinction.

The decline in buffalo numbers meant doom for the Comanche tribe, since they no longer had the power to obtain food through raiding.

‘There’s no need to kill all the buffalo like in the US. If we just control the area, we’ll just die of thirst.’

This is the Comanche tribe’s weakness.

Buffalo herds tend to travel in large groups, so they do not need to control large territories.

“Gather the cavalry.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A week later.

A total of 7,000 cavalry were assembled, including 5,000 cavalry from the Central Army and cavalry from the California, Chihuahua, and Texas territories.

Infantry, artillery, and 1,000 cavalry for reconnaissance were left behind, in case the Comanche tried to bypass them and raid them.

“Go forward!”

“Let’s go!”

The departure of the assembled 7,000-strong cavalry raised a huge cloud of dust.

“Your Majesty, I will make sure to chase away the scouts.”

“Do so.”

As we entered Comanche territory, enemy scouts began to appear more frequently.

The Comanche scouts, shocked and terrified, fled as some of our cavalry charged toward them.

As I was checking the scene, the long-awaited news arrived.

“Your Majesty! I have located the buffalo herd. They are about 60 miles from here… no, about 95 kilometers away.”

“Okay, let’s head that way.”

As we approached the area where the buffalo herd was, we could hear the ground rumbling.

Doo doo doo doo doo-

Everyone’s attention was focused on the sound coming from afar.

Across the vast plain, in the distance, a huge herd of buffalo was moving leisurely, and the grand scale and majesty of its appearance overwhelmed everyone.

As my eyes were drawn to the majestic sight, I discovered something new.

“There’s a Comanche tribe out there hunting buffalo.”

“I’ll clean it up right away.”

“Yes. Now this herd of buffalo is ours.”

Having lost both their plunder and their buffalo, the Comanche were left with only one option: