I Became The Crown Prince Of The Mexican Empire Novel - Chapter 170
**Chapter 170**
**< Secularization (7) >**
“Prepare to move all troops and supplies right now. We need to leave Veracruz City within a week.”
Santa Anna’s words, uttered after summoning all the officers, were shocking.
As the audience was stunned, Colonel Moreno, the most senior officer, spoke up.
“Veracruz City is our only base. Why would we leave? I don’t understand. Could you explain it further?”
Veracruz City is the largest port city in the Mexican Empire, and it’s the second largest city in terms of economic size and population, after the capital. Why would they abandon it and leave?
Santa Anna, anticipating that bewildered reaction, calmly lit a cigar and asked.
“Colonel. What do you think will happen if we stay here as we are?”
The Central Army, numbering 180,000, had surrounded the entire Veracruz province. They were tightly controlling those who wanted to enter Veracruz province, slowly tightening their grip.
They couldn’t defend. They didn’t have enough troops, less than 30,000, to even attempt to defend the entire Veracruz province. The area of Veracruz province was 70,000 square kilometers, a size comparable to a small country.
As the colonel was choosing his words, Santa Anna spoke again.
“Eventually, we’ll have to fight a defensive battle here in Veracruz City. Even with trench warfare, it’s impossible to defend 180,000 with just 18,000. Resisting without a chance of winning is just going to kill innocent people.”
Santa Anna coldly diagnosed the situation they were in. His blunt words made the officers feel suffocated.
“But I’ve seen hope. Even though the Mexican Empire has completely sealed off Veracruz, I’ve seen patriots who have somehow found a way to join us. They are our hope.”
Despite not forcibly conscripting, Santa Anna’s army had grown to 28,000. The power of faith, and the anger and resentment of those whose privileges had been violated, was that strong.
“The problem is that the number of people joining us is also decreasing rapidly. There’s only one way to break this situation. Right now, the stupid Central Army bastards are scattering their troops while trying to seal us off. We need to break through at a single point, engage in guerrilla warfare, and receive as many troops as possible in as wide an area as possible. That’s the only way we have a chance.”
Only then did the officers understand Santa Anna’s argument.
“But shouldn’t we leave some troops in Veracruz City? It’s the only port city we have.”
“Forget Veracruz. The port is already sealed off, and even if it wasn’t, Britain and Austria won’t invest in us anymore. On the contrary, we need to get out of here and show them a chance of winning, so they’ll be more likely to invest.”
Santa Anna’s gambler’s instinct would have made him the worst gambler in a casino, but here, it combined with his strategic ability to help him find a way out.
“We can win. Those who plotted with me were caught before they could even attempt a rebellion, but even with the intelligence agency and the Central Army, they couldn’t arrest all those landowners and priests at once. They must be in the middle of arrest operations right now. From now on, we’re going to get out of Veracruz, help them, and have them join us. If our forces grow, Britain will look at us again, and with their support, we’ll really have a chance to fight.”
General Santa Anna had a plan, even in this unfavorable situation. Colonel Moreno, who had questioned him for a moment, and Major Diaz, who had been a bit disappointed in Santa Anna, began to trust him again.
“If you understand, prepare for the operation right away.”
“Yes!”
The officers’ loud replies echoed through Santa Anna’s mansion.
“Oh, by the way, it might be dangerous while we’re moving, so make sure you put Leandro and his family in a carriage and ‘protect’ them thoroughly.”
“Yes, I understand. General.”
***
May 26, 1848.
Urgent news was arriving at the temporary operational headquarters of the Second Corps, which had been set up at the entrance of Veracruz province, almost every day.
“Santa Anna… is said to have left Veracruz with his army.”
“What? No way. Double check!”
“It’s true! The navy confirmed that the army has left.”
As soon as the information was confirmed, the next information came in.
“North! Santa Anna is said to be heading north!”
“North? Why…”
It was the weakest part of the siege. A bad feeling began to creep into the minds of the staff.
Sure enough, ominous news came from the division that surrounded the north, traveling by telegraph.
“The Sixth Division has started a battle! The enemy’s troop size is 28,000!”
“Damn it. Did they increase by 3,000? Have the divisions in the north go to support them as quickly as possible.”
The Sixth Division was 18,000 strong. Even with the Central Army, it was difficult to overcome that kind of numerical difference. Moreover, Santa Anna’s army was well-armed and even received supplies from Britain and Austria, so it was difficult to say that there was a big difference in armament.
“Santa Anna’s army has broken through the defense line! The Sixth Division has retreated with devastating losses.”
“…Finally.”
Lieutenant General Romero blamed himself. He was the one who had been given the important responsibility of being the commander-in-chief of the suppression force to suppress Santa Anna, while the First Corps was arresting rebels in the central region of Mexico. He, as the commander of the Second Corps, and the corps staff, hadn’t anticipated Santa Anna’s movements.
Even though they had experienced several wars, they couldn’t imagine that Santa Anna would abandon Veracruz City.
Veracruz City is a city that could be called the second most important city after the capital. Santa Anna’s army, which had Veracruz City, was the force that had occupied the second city in Mexico, but after abandoning it, they were just 28,000 wanderers.
‘I heard he never participated in a war, so how could he make such a decision…’
Lieutenant General Romero, one year younger than Santa Anna, had a disdainful attitude towards his audacious senior, Santa Anna, who had started a rebellion. This was because he had never participated in a war for various reasons.
He had been completely defeated by that man.
Moreover, north of Veracruz province was the port of Tampico. It wasn’t long ago that they had sealed off Veracruz harbor and dispersed the troops to Tampico.
“General, Santa Anna’s army is expected to reach Tampico soon. We need to take action.”
The staff informed him.
“Contact Tampico right now and tell them to send out the merchant ships. Contact the navy too.”
“Yes!”
They couldn’t stop trading with Britain or the Austrian Empire because of an unfortunate incident. Britain was the Mexican Empire’s largest trading partner, as a fierce civil war was raging in the United States. The Austrian Empire wasn’t at that level, but it was still among the top five.
If Santa Anna’s army occupied Tampico, they could face the worst-case scenario of supplies being resupplied. No, it was almost certain to happen. The weak local army defending Tampico couldn’t withstand Santa Anna’s army.
“Damn it. I heard there were already problems with trade…”
He couldn’t help but worry, even though he was a soldier. After consulting briefly with his staff, Lieutenant General Romero revised the operation.
“The division in the south will march quickly to take over Veracruz City and resume trade. The rest of the divisions will quickly reposition using the railway.”
The plan to surround and tighten the siege of Veracruz was completely ruined by Santa Anna’s one move.
‘Should we have attacked Veracruz City right away? But if we hadn’t sealed it off…’
The rebels had increased by 10,000 in just over a month. They had sealed it off because they were wary of this phenomenon. If they hadn’t sealed it off, they would have increased by at least 7,000 to 8,000. That was the number of rebels they had captured at the provincial border. If they had known that the seal was off, they might have been more courageous, and more people would have tried.
The seal itself was right. The problem was the speed. They had been occupying Veracruz province, blocking the roads as carefully as possible, assuming that the rebels would hunker down and prepare for trench warfare, but that was the problem.
*Whew-*
Lieutenant General Romero lit a Cuban cigar and shook off the thoughts that were clouding his mind. He had been tricked once, but the situation hadn’t changed much. Santa Anna’s rebels had escaped the siege, but they had lost their base, and the suppression force’s army was still overwhelming.
“He managed to get away with a little trickery, but we’ll have to show him that all of that is meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.”
***
Santa Anna’s army had been doing pretty well so far.
They broke through the siege that surrounded the entire Veracruz province and advanced directly to Tampico.
They planned to resupply and reinforce their troops in Tampico.
“The Tampico garrison is no match for us! Attack!”
Tampico City had a shipyard and an expanded port, so its coastal defenses were strong, but its rear defenses were weak. Their troops, weapons, and training were all inferior to Santa Anna’s rebels.
Santa Anna’s army broke through the city’s defenses in a day and occupied Tampico City. But they couldn’t find what they wanted.
“They’ve emptied all the merchant ships and warehouses.”
“They’re not stupid, so they must have taken those precautions. We still have enough supplies, so let’s recruit troops.”
“Yes!”
People were joining them wherever they went. Santa Anna’s army, after leaving Tampico, took Leandro Iturbide and his family with them and toured the entire Tamaulipas province.
By early June, the number of rebels had reached 32,000, but Santa Anna was uneasy. The number of people joining them was less than he expected.
“It was hard to get here. They’ve already surrounded Tamaulipas province.”
The major heard the new recruits chatting with the soldiers, and it was something he couldn’t ignore.
“Hey! Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“We need to tell the general.”
The major informed Santa Anna with a serious expression. As soon as Santa Anna heard that, he understood the situation.
“The railway. They didn’t chase us, they immediately repositioned their troops.”
The Central Army had used two infrastructure facilities that the rebels couldn’t use, the telegraph network and the railway network, to once again create a siege. They used the telegraph network to remove all the locomotives before Santa Anna’s army arrived and cut off part of the railway.
This was something Santa Anna hadn’t anticipated. He thought they would rush to defend Tampico, a major port. He had planned to use guerrilla tactics against the divisions chasing him, but the enemy commander didn’t panic and repositioned all his troops by rail.
Santa Anna felt a sense of crisis.
‘This time, they won’t tighten the siege slowly like before.’
“Prepare to move immediately!”
General Santa Anna quickly gave the order to move his army. But as he expected, the Mexican Empire’s suppression force didn’t tighten the siege slowly anymore.
“General! General!”
A scout jumped off his horse, sweating profusely. He rushed in front of General Santa Anna and bowed.
“What is it?”
Santa Anna asked in a low voice.
“General, it’s a big problem! We’ve spotted an imperial army unit 20 kilometers ahead of our front line. It’s estimated to be the size of two divisions.”
Santa Anna’s eyebrows furrowed. But the scouts’ reports didn’t stop there. This time, it was a different scout.
“General, from behind…”
“Behind?”
“Yes… An enemy unit has been spotted behind our rear. The number of troops seems to be similar to the enemy in front.”
Santa Anna clenched his jaw.
His small struggles were meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.
The final moment was coming, faster than he expected.
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