Chapter 46: Chapter 45: The New Battle of Alamo (Part 1) Sorry for the previous nonsense

Due to Franz's preemptive strike, international public opinion has already tilted heavily in favor of Mexico.

At the same time, out of consideration for their own interests, Britain and France have decided to support Mexico, characterizing the Texas uprising as a rebellion that disrupts national order.

U.S. President Andrew Jackson is very eager to send troops to Texas; after all, warfare is his specialty, and fighting against capitalists and politicians all day is simply too exhausting.

However, Congress opposes this, partly because international pressure is currently too great, and partly because this war is considered a Mexican civil war, in which the United States has no right to intervene.

Consequently, Andrew Jackson has been forced to adopt a policy of "neutrality," declaring that the United States will not send troops to aid Texas.

Nevertheless, he has turned a blind eye to local officials openly supporting Texas, and the checkpoints along the U.S.-Mexico border have become virtually non-existent, allowing volunteers from all over the United States to pour in.

Furthermore, he has allowed Texans to exchange cotton for necessities such as food, weapons, and uniforms, while also permitting officers and soldiers to retire early to join the Texan volunteer forces in their individual capacities.

The Second Bank of the United States has secretly approved a loan of $2 million.

In contrast, Mexico's Vice President, Robles, is already overwhelmed with trouble. Although they received a batch of weapons from Austria, Tusan Anna requires more soldiers and more supplies, which has added insult to injury for Mexico's already deficit-ridden finances.

Although the bill for imposing special taxes has passed, Robles knows in his heart that if it weren't for the full support of the Church, Mexico would likely have already disintegrated.

After gaining independence, Mexico inherited the mess left behind by Spain. Federalists had severely weakened the Mexican government's rule, and excessive local power had left the central government quite powerless.

Following the instructions in that letter, Robles sought loans from European banks, but only the French responded to them.

The French have substantial funds, but their demanded returns are also staggering.

If Mexico cannot repay the debt quickly, the nation may face bankruptcy.

Unable to make a decisive move, Robles could only scrape together whatever funds he could find; even without recruiting new soldiers, this money would only last for three months.

Goliad, Old John's Tavern.

David Crockett brought bad news: the Comanche had reached an agreement with Tusan Anna. The Comanche had obtained weapons and would fight for Tusan Anna.

In reality, the Comanche were not raiding caravans for Tusan Anna's sake, but merely to retaliate against American immigrants and improve their own lives.

However, after studying the situation, Travis and Bowie agreed that they were short on manpower and should abandon Goliad to retreat to the Alamo.

Thus, the unassuming mission station known as the Alamo became the center of this storm.

While the garrison at the Alamo was urgently reinforcing its fortifications, Tusan Anna was still lost in his world of pleasure.

Tusan Anna was a man who knew how to enjoy life; even when on campaign, he brought his mistress along.

His mistress, Jenny, was a native-born white woman of just sixteen, possessing a natural, wild beauty.

The two military observers sent by the Austrian Empire this time were not a typical "paid sightseeing tour."

Instead, they were two genuine generals carefully selected by Count Thurn. Naturally, they were not old, appearing indeed like recent graduates of military academies.

However, these two were soon worshipped by the Mexican generals. In a Mexico where military science was backward, these two military observers acted directly as teachers to the Mexican officer corps.

Every small-scale skirmish became a military drill.

The Mexican generals' current understanding of Austrian military tactics was: "Bomb, bomb, bomb with the cannons; when the enemy runs, charge, charge, charge with the cavalry."

In a previous battle, dozens of American settlers had hidden in their houses and refused to surrender.

Then, the two military observers ordered the artillery to bombard them for half an hour. Finally, the settlers were forced to flee their ruined homes, only to have their heads cut off by the cavalry who had been waiting for them.

The Mexican generals were very much in favor of this method of fighting without losing a single soldier.

This was because desertion had always been a major problem in the Mexican army.

Every campaign saw nearly 30% desertion, especially after the soldiers were paid.

Fortunately, Tusan Anna was personally leading the troops this time, and he had scavenged a great deal of property from American immigrants who refused to submit to Mexico along the way; otherwise, there might have been fewer than 6,000 men left between Mexico City and here.

Historically, Tusan Anna left Mexico City with 8,000 men, and had fewer than 6,000 left before reaching the Alamo.

It proved that for an army without faith, the best way to increase cohesion was through material rewards.

February 28, 1836.

Tusan Anna's army had besieged the Alamo for five days, but he was in no hurry to attack.

Tusan Anna had not expected the war to proceed so smoothly, and he had fallen in love with public speaking; he gathered the citizens of San Antonio to continue his oratory.

Although Tusan Anna's subordinates were sick of hearing it, the liberated Black slaves and Indian laborers were quite excited, which caused a split among the American immigrant groups.

Next came the main event: these American immigrants could consider joining Mexico, or they could leave Mexico with their property.

Joining Mexico required paying arrears in taxes, releasing Black slaves, hiring Mexicans, and so on. However, those who chose to leave were not allowed to take their weapons; they would be attacked by Indians or bandits on the road, and their property would ultimately fall into Tusan Anna's hands.

March 5, 1836.

Tusan Anna finally remembered the 200 armed American immigrants in the Alamo, and he decided to demonstrate his art of command to the two Austrian military observers.

Of course, Tusan Anna himself was very much in agreement with the Austrian artillery tactics.

Thus, he found a hillside outside the range of the Alamo garrison's cannons and invited the two Austrian army observers for afternoon tea.

In those days of warfare, while soldiers fought desperately, it was standard practice for commanders to drink tea.

Tusan Anna even introduced his mistress, Jenny, to the two army observers.

On one side was black tea and Mexican tortillas; on the other side was the roar of cannon fire.

However, after an afternoon of artillery combat, the result was utterly shocking.

The Mexican army had over thirty cannons, while the Alamo garrison had only three. After an afternoon of exchanging fire and hundreds of shells, the result was 25 Mexican casualties, while the Alamo garrison had no fatalities, only about a dozen lightly wounded.

Tusan Anna was furious upon receiving the news.

"Are your shells made of mud? Why haven't even the walls been collapsed? Why!"

In truth, the Alamo garrison had long since reinforced the walls and hung wooden planks on them to reduce the impact of the shells.

But the primary issue was that the Mexican cannons lacked power and had poor accuracy.

Most of the Mexican artillerymen had received no professional training, and they were using antiques from the Spanish colonial era.

This resulted in a severe lack of range, and these men did not dare to perform close-range firing when they were bombarding civilian residences.

Consequently, less than one-third of those hundreds of shells actually hit the walls, and the power of the three-pounders was so insufficient that the walls of the Alamo remained standing.

Tusan Anna had a sixteen-pound siege gun, but the weight of such a thing meant it could not keep up with the main force in a short amount of time.