War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

In Mexico City

Vice President Ruvel, who is sitting in the capital, cannot be said to be a military strategist or a politician, but a messenger under Tasan Anna.

Although he has a high and powerful position, he has neither political vision nor military literacy. His only advantage is that he has great personal admiration and loyalty to his boss.

Therefore, Jose Apter, who had experienced hundreds of battles, did not take this "corporal" seriously. However, he paid a heavy price for his pride and underestimation of the enemy. He attacked the city for several weeks and suffered more than 10,000 casualties. However, Didn't even touch the city wall.

This is naturally due to the city defense system that Tasan Anna spent a lot of money to build - a three-layer city wall plus an artificial slope made of sand and gravel.

Moreover, Austria was responsible for building the city walls of Mexico City, and no corners were cut on the materials used. In particular, several turrets used reinforced concrete structures for the first time.

This gave the Mexican government forces an advantage in the confrontation with the rebels, whose light artillery was completely unable to shake this new type of fortress.

Not to mention that the rebels were using old antiques (3-pound and 4-pound guns) left over from the Spanish during the Napoleonic period. Even the largest-caliber field gun in the European War at this time (12 pounds, about 76mm) could not cause effective damage.

(In fact, even the 75mm cannon from World War II cannot effectively damage reinforced concrete structures.)

Of course, if you try to bring in a siege gun of more than 24 pounds or the British 68-pound battleship main gun, no matter how strong the reinforced concrete is, it will be no different from an ordinary masonry structure. Once it is hit, it will immediately break like a wooden board. crack.

Jose Apter actually tried using Congreve rockets, but these large "fireworks" were only particularly effective against wooden buildings. They were fine for burning cities, but not for destroying them.

Back to the main story, in fact, it was not Ruvel who was in charge of commanding the city defense at this time, but the employees of the Omer United Development Company.

Many of them are retired officers and are very familiar with the battlefield. Moreover, the intensity of the U.S.-Mexico War is not worth mentioning compared with the life-and-death European battlefields.

These former soldiers actually have different views on this war. Some people think that as long as they stick to it, Tasan Anna will return to help sooner or later, because this is his hometown and he cannot give up.

This view is shared by most people, and they also feel that their country will not sit idly by and ignore what is happening in the Americas.

You must know that Austria has an army of 3,000 people in Central America. Of course, some people have raised objections, because intelligence coming from all directions shows that Mexico has fallen into full-scale civil strife, and civil wars are fighting everywhere in the country.

And from the size of the rebels outside the city, it can be concluded that Jose Apter has gambled all his wealth this time, and will never give up until he takes Mexico City.

Therefore, some people proposed a breakout. After all, the rebels had not yet carried out a real siege. At least the west and north directions were empty.

However, this proposal met with strong opposition, not to mention that Mexico City is a high city, a deep pool, and has sufficient ammunition supplies; even without these favorable conditions, it is better to stand firm than to run around like a headless fly.

After all, news between the capital and the outside world is now transmitted through carrier pigeons. No one knows what is going on outside, and there is nowhere they can go once they leave here.

Instead of running around like headless flies, it is better to wait for help. After all, they pay huge profits to Vienna and the Mexican government every year.

Moreover, the first batch of aid from Austria to Mexico included a large number of weapons and medical personnel, which showed that the empire did not intend to give up here.

The OMO United Development Company has a very good reputation in Mexico, and is also backed by the government of Tasan Anna. In many cases, its credibility is even stronger than that of the Mexican government. Therefore, taking over the city defense did not arouse the resentment of the locals. On the contrary, it made them feel at ease. Some.

After all, those soldiers and civilians know better than anyone what kind of virtues the Mexican army and officials have. After being besieged for a month, there was no chaos in the city. On the contrary, due to military control, the gangsters and nobles had to restrain themselves, and it seemed orderly.

Outside the city, the rebel camp

The ground was full of garbage and filth, and the stench permeated the entire military camp, just like a camping site that had not been cleaned before.

It was obviously noon, but there were still many soldiers sleeping on the ground. These people didn't even have a quilt.

The tragic casualties and low morale caused by multiple failed sieges filled the soldiers' faces with frustration and exhaustion.

Sighs and groans arose one after another, and on the other side it was a noisy scene. Due to the lack of food and medicine, many soldiers fought for the limited supplies, insulted each other, and even fought.

At the same time, weapons, flags, and siege engines were thrown aside without any order. Discipline in the military camp could not be maintained, and idle soldiers gathered together to play cards or act without authorization.

And the officers didn't bother to care. As long as those guys didn't leave the military camp and become deserters, they would turn a blind eye.

Jose Apter was so drunk in the headquarters that he tore the map hanging on the wall to pieces, and other officers were also thinking about their future.

Joaquín de Herrera promised a lot to his supporters, but now not only the previous promises cannot be fulfilled, but even food and medicine are not enough.

If no more supplies arrive, their strong men will be able to tear them to pieces without Ruvel fighting out of the city after a while.

The helpless Jose Apter was even more depressed. He originally thought that he would be very impressive after being promoted from general to marshal, but he was sent by Joaquín de Herrera to "recover the lost ground."

Now that he was bruised and bloody, the "president" and the Americans were watching the show and ignoring him. He was getting more and more angry as he thought about it.

"Budamare (the Mexican version of the mother-in-law)! These damn cursed maggots, if you don't send me supplies, I will take you to wash away their hometown!"

The officers at the command center immediately became energetic, knowing that the city of San Luis was Joaquin de Herrera's hometown.

This city was founded on silver mines, and there were many wealthy businessmen in it. But there was no decent city defense, only an inspection team supported by Joaquín de Herrera.

Unlike Mexico City, where the city is high and the water is deep, human lives are needed to fill it.

As a result, the officers came up with suggestions one after another, and all of them were so full of ideas that they couldn't stop. After all, everyone wanted to make a fortune when they became rebels.

Jose Apte's tricks (eyes) immediately brightened up. He felt that he could do what Tasang Anna could do and Joaquín de Herrera do for the position of president.

What's more, at this time, the subordinates were united and taking St. Louis was like picking something out of a bag.

By then all the gold and silver in the city will be his, as well as the beautiful Miss Fantasia Irma (Joaquín de Herrera’s lover)

And it can be seen from the attitude of the Americans that they will never stand up for Joaquin de Herrera.

As long as he can win the city of St. Louis, then he will be the new president of Mexico and can also get the support of the United States. Why not?

Without any hesitation, Jose Apter ordered the army to prepare to set off, targeting St. Louis!