Chapter 467: Mexican Teenager

This war is a bad thing for the Mexican people, but it may not be a bad thing for Mexican President Santa Anna. 睊

After the Mexican-American War, Mexico, which had suffered a great loss of national strength, fell into a long-term economic downturn.

Except for some iron ore states that made a few miners rich by selling iron ore to California.

The economic situation in Mexico can be described as miserable.

At the end of the first Mexican-American War in 1848, the United States paid Mexico 10 million US dollars in compensation.

If the Mexican authorities can use this 10 million US dollars to develop the economy and carry out industrialization.

After losing a large area of ​​territory, although Mexico has no possibility of becoming a great power, it may not have no hope of becoming a regional power.

You know, more than 40 years ago, when Mexico just gained independence, the situation was much better than the diplomatic situation faced by the United States when it just gained independence. 睊

And at that time, in terms of economic volume, Mexico was larger than the United States, in terms of effective control of territory, the two countries were also on par, and in terms of standing army, the number of Mexican troops was also much higher than that of the US military.

The Mexican elite also have an advantage that the American elite envy, that is, the Mexican elite can obtain the recognition of the European aristocracy through the Spanish royal family, become a member of the European quasi-upper class and integrate into their circle.

Unfortunately, all these have become a thing of the past, and there is no if in history.

Mexico is a typical Latin American country that started with a big bomb and played a good hand of cards badly.

The unstable political situation, frequent political struggles and internal frictions in the upper class have exhausted the vitality of this very potential country.

Even the $10 million consolation compensation for the loss of two-thirds of the territory was divided up by the greedy large plantation owners, landlords and comprador politicians in the country.

From 1846 to 1856, the railway mileage in the United States almost doubled, and steel production also increased by three quarters.

And Mexico is still the Mexico of ten years ago, or even worse.

The gap between the two countries has widened further.

In view of the bad domestic situation, Santa Anna, a controversial president in Mexican history, has also come to the forefront.

The voices in Mexico demanding Santa Anna's resignation have continued to grow.

Even the military, Santa Anna's base, has erupted in uprisings against Santa Anna.

The invasion of the United States is a big challenge for Santa Anna, but also a big opportunity.

If Santa Anna can repel the invading US troops in this war, he can not only wash away the shame of being captured by the German general Houston in Texas ten years ago and forced to sign an armistice.

He can also prolong his political career that has come to an end, continue to survive, and even become a national hero of Mexico.

For the US military's second invasion, Santa Anna is particularly concerned this time, and he even pays out of his own pocket to reward the army.

It took the Southern Army a full week after occupying Monterrey before it reorganized and continued to move south.

Due to the excessive success in the early stages of the war, the Southern Army generals did not take the Mexican army seriously.

Any Confederate army unit was eager to meet the Mexican army. Now these Mexican soldiers were simply walking military merits in their eyes.

Jackson strictly ordered the regiments to march in an orderly manner according to the predetermined marching plan.

But these troops from the southern states did not execute Jackson's order well. 睊

According to the predetermined plan, the elite Virginia Regiment was the first to take the lead.

The Virginia Regiment was the most experienced and best-equipped unit in the Confederate Army.

This unit was the predecessor of the Virginia Corps, which later frightened the Northern Army.

However, three days after the departure, the troops at the forefront of the army turned out to be the Arkansas troops with mixed clothes and guns, and even the uniforms and colors were not uniform.

The reason why the Arkansas people wanted to be the vanguard was also shocking.

When attacking Nuevo Laredo, the first to enter Nuevo Laredo and get the first soup were the North Carolina troops.

When attacking Monterrey, the first to enter Monterrey were the Virginia troops.睊

The first troops to enter Reynosa were from South Carolina.

In short, in all previous sieges, the Arkansans were the last to enter the city.

After they entered the city, the valuables in the city had long been looted by the friendly troops who entered the city first, and the Arkansans could only follow behind to pick up scraps.

This time, the Arkansans did not want to eat the leftovers of others. They wanted to take Victoria City, the capital of Tamaulispa, Mexico, and drink the first soup of Victoria City.

What they didn't know was that due to the delay of the Southern Army in Torreon.

At this time, the main force of Mexico had already entered Victoria City, a must-pass place for the Southern Army to go south. 睊

The Mexican reconnaissance troops also quickly detected this risky and ragtag army.

To be honest, the Mexicans did not know much about the organization and flags of the Southern Army. Their method of distinguishing whether a unit was a ragtag unit was also very simple and crude, that is, to observe whether their uniforms and weapons were unified.

The Mexican army commander in Victoria City was President Santa Anna.

In order to boost morale, Santa Anna moved his headquarters from San Luis Potosi to Victoria City, a city closer to the front line.

After learning that a small number of Confederate troops had advanced alone, Santa Anna decided to seize this opportunity to catch the Confederates off guard.

Since the beginning of the war, the Mexican army has been defeated in succession, without even a small victory.

Both the Southern Army on the eastern front and the Western Brigade on the western front can be said to be in a no-man's land. 睊

The morale of the Mexican army can be said to be extremely low.

Santa Anna needs a victory to boost the morale of the Mexican army.

"Gonzalez! I give you a cavalry regiment and two infantry regiments. Can you eat up this group of damn American soldiers in one bite?!"

Santa Anna's eyes swept over every middle and senior Mexican officer.

Finally, his eyes fell on a young major who was only 22 years old in the corner.

Soon, Santa Anna's resolution was opposed by many officers.

There are many reasons for opposition, such as Gonzalez is just a small major. If Santa Anna hadn't named him personally, Gonzalez would not even be qualified to stand here for a meeting. 睊

Another reason is that Gonzalez is too young. Letting a 22-year-old young man command three regiments, and one regiment is a cavalry regiment, this is unprecedented in Mexico's military history.

Of course, the most fatal reason is that Gonzales is restless. He joined the revolutionary organization when he was ten years old. He was once a member of the opposition, and the object of his opposition was the Santa Anna government.

"Quiet!"

Faced with the opposition voices one after another, Santa Anna knocked on the table to keep the Mexican generals present quiet.

Santa Anna cast an expectant look at Gonzales. Santa Anna certainly knew about Gonzales' past.

But Santa Anna had his own considerations.

Although Gonzales was only 22 years old, he was a veteran with a service age of more than 10 years.

When Gonzales was 12 or 13 years old, he joined the volunteer army and directly participated in the Mexican-American War at that time, and made contributions.

The American army, especially the American army in the South, is the old rival of the Mexican army.

Many of the so-called battle-hardened and experienced Mexican officers present were defeated by the US military.

Even if they were to face a group of American soldiers with an absolute advantage, it was hard to guarantee that these senior officers would not have psychological trauma.

Gonzalez was different. He was young, energetic, and had never lost to the US military.

Santa Ana wanted a complete annihilation battle to boost morale, so he thought Gonzalez was the most suitable candidate.

Santa Ana ignored all objections and entrusted Gonzalez with an important task regardless of his past experience, which made Gonzalez feel very much.

Gonzalez just saluted Santa Ana solemnly: "Mr. President, Gonzalez promises to complete the mission!"

"Very good, go."

Santa Ana nodded with satisfaction.