New Han Dynasty 1834

Chapter 119 The Final Victories and Future Threats of the American Campaign

Wu Kang led his army on a continuous march northeast.

Whenever they encountered a large river, they would search upstream and downstream along the riverbed.

Find all settlements on both sides of the river, whether they are inhabited by the Shi people or white settlers, and conquer them all and plunder all their food and livestock.

If the inhabitants were white, they would be killed or driven away by auxiliary soldiers.

According to previously obtained intelligence, the immigrants to Texas mainly came from the United States, and they all came from the north and east.

As Wu Kang's army marched from southwest to northeast, they should have encountered more and more settlements and immigrants.

However, Wu Kang soon discovered that while there were indeed more and more settlements in the east, the population was decreasing.

When the army approached Houston, the settlements they encountered were completely deserted.

Upon entering Houston, I found it to be a completely deserted city; the city, which was not large to begin with, was now devoid of any human presence.

Wu Kang wasn't sure if his plan had succeeded in scaring away the Texas immigrants.

Or perhaps they were already planning to escape, and it's even uncertain whether this is a good thing.

When all residents are evacuated, they will definitely take everything they can, and if they have time, they will destroy the remaining things.

This can actually be considered a kind of clear-field tactic.

Houston is nearly 200 kilometers from the eastern border of Texas, nearly 500 kilometers from the northeastern border, and nearly 1,000 kilometers from the northwestern border.

If nothing unexpected happens, most of the white settlements in this vast area should have already been cleared out.

Continuing forward from here, it will be very difficult to find supplies locally, and the supply lines extending from the rear will also come to an end.

We must be extra careful with our next actions.

Wu Kang led his troops to rest in Houston for three days before starting to plan subsequent combat operations.

The army no longer operates in a concentrated manner, but instead disperses and disperses.

Small groups of cavalry were dispatched to investigate the situation in the eastern and northeastern border regions.

Find out the situation of other settlements within this area, and gather the available food and livestock.

These small groups of cavalry quickly reaped their rewards; the settlements in eastern and northern Texas were indeed cleared out.

The vast majority of immigrants have retreated beyond the Texas border and entered the territory of the United States.

The United States has made preparations, deploying a large number of militia patrols on the opposite bank of the river on the border, seemingly ready to fight the Han army at any time.

After understanding the general situation, Wu Kang dispersed the Imperial Guards to take over vacant settlements in the outlying areas.

Although logistical supplies were already tight, Wu Kang still had to send troops to these peripheral areas, otherwise the United States would be more likely to notice the supply shortage.

To ensure that the militia, along with their auxiliary troops, could work separately, the first priority was to continuously supply food and military provisions.

Then, they continued to build roads and bridges, repairing roads to and from the Mexican interior and connecting roads to the edge of Texas, in order to improve the efficiency of goods transportation as much as possible.

Then they began to repair and level the farmland around the settlement, in preparation for growing food there.

Militiamen and auxiliary soldiers with fishing and hunting experience were selected and sent out separately to hunt, fish, and gather wild vegetables and fruits to supplement the food supply for the small settlements.

The climate in eastern Texas is similar to that in northern Zhejiang, making it suitable for growing native crops such as rice.

At the same time, most of the area is an undeveloped wilderness, and the resources of wild flora and fauna on land and in the water are still very rich.

There are more bison roaming the North American prairie than people, and the rivers still have extremely dense populations of fish and shrimp.

It was impossible to rely on hunting and fishing to supply large armies, but soldiers dispersed to small settlements usually did not lack food.

In addition, the logistical lines that were still barely maintained allowed Wu Kang's army to maintain a presence in Texas.

If we can survive here for more than half a year and harvest the first season's crops, we will be able to establish a firm foothold.

Texas was the final destination of this military operation. After Wu Kang basically controlled the Texas region, the mission of this operation was successfully completed.

If the army continues its advance, it will enter the United States' homeland, which could very likely trigger a new, protracted, and large-scale war.

Before the Military Council of the Americas established firm control over Mexico and prepared to begin a new round of large-scale war.

The key point is that Wu Kang is not prepared to start a new war on an empty stomach until he has obtained sufficient food and military supplies in the Texas region.

However, Wu Kang also knew that even if he did not take the initiative to continue the attack, the potential threat would still always exist.

The United States and its former Texas immigrants certainly won't completely abandon this land.

They will definitely try every means to harass the Han immigrants and regain control of this land. Wu Kang knows that he still has a lot to do in the future.

Just in case, Wu Kang immediately arranged for a group of communications soldiers to ride horses to Mexico to report on the battle situation.

He also went to Veracruz to check on the operations of the Southeastern Route Army.

After capturing Veracruz, will it be possible to find transport ships, or quickly build some simple coastal sailing vessels to transport food and military supplies by sea?

The Southern Route Army in this operation was also divided into eastern and western routes.

The initial objective of the Southeastern Route Army was to recapture the port of Veracruz from the French, with the ultimate goal of recovering the Yucatan Peninsula, which had declared independence.

The forces involved consisted of 5,000 Imperial Guards, 5,000 Han Chinese militia, and 50,000 Mexican auxiliary troops.

As a general in the American Army, Li Anbang personally commanded this army to depart from Mexico City and proceed directly to Puerto Veracruz along the traditional cobblestone roads.

During the six months that the Han army swept across the Mexican interior, a large number of Mexican whites, blacks, and mixed-race individuals became refugees and fled to Veracruz in droves.

Veracruz is a port for those leaving Mexico for the Americas and Europe, and it also has routes connecting it to the heart of Mexico, so far more refugees flee to this port than to the Texas region.

More than 200,000 people quickly gathered around this not-so-large city.

Some refugees are watching the situation and praying that the giants will not continue their advance towards the east coast, but many more are anxiously waiting for boats, hoping to escape Mexico as soon as possible and head to Cuba or even Spain.

However, all the refugees were worried about food, and the food stored in Veracruz and the surrounding area was far from enough for so many refugees.

Therefore, over the past six months, refugees have been constantly arriving and departing.

The luckiest refugees have already left by boat, while the more fortunate ones are migrating along the coastline in search of food wherever they can find it.

Unfortunate refugees have already disappeared in the chaos, and may even have become food for other refugees.

The war between Mexicans and Francois had long since ceased.

The troops led by former Mexican President Santa Anna have entered the city and are stationed there. Every now and then, they complain to the officers of France about the terror of the Han Chinese and the natives, and then have heated discussions about how to deal with the Han Chinese attack.

However, when they heard that the Han imperial guards had led countless natives to the outskirts of the city, Santa Anna immediately followed General Frans and evacuated by ship, fleeing directly to Europe.

The actions of the Han Chinese and the indigenous people on the plateau have created an extremely terrifying deterrent force.

According to Mexican refugees, the Han Imperial Guard was the real army of demons, and the natives they drove away were little devils.

As long as the two sides engage in battle, and neither side can withstand the attack of the Great Han Demon King's army, there will only be one outcome.

A mad demon would wipe out all white and black people in a city.

Santa Anna may seem impulsive, but he is actually a very shrewd person.

Faced with the current situation, Anna is not prepared to stay in Veracruz, but rather to flee to Europe for help.

Anna wanted to portray the Great Han as a demon and persuade Christian countries such as Spain, France, and Britain, along with the United States and South American countries, to join forces to eliminate the Great Han's power in the Americas.

Even if I can't persuade them to join the war directly, I should be able to get them to provide some support so that I can establish a Mexican government-in-exile.

The purpose of this exiled government was twofold: first, to help them maintain their claims to Mexico and the Americas; and second, to organize and train a fighting force to find an opportunity to undermine the Han dynasty's rule over Mexico.

As for Francis's army, their immediate objective in coming to Mexico was to secure the same trade privileges as Britain.

Now that Mexico itself is finished, Britain's privileges are naturally finished as well, so there is no point in France's army staying here any longer.

The Francois did not intend to accompany the Mexicans in directly confronting the giants.

Based on past experience, the Han Chinese do not carefully distinguish between the ethnicities of white people and often treat them equally.

What if their own army and immigrants were wiped out by the madmen and their frenzied native inhabitants? That would be a disaster.

Even if you want to support someone, you can only do it secretly, by finding an agent to do it. Santa Anna would be a good choice.

Santa Anna's plan and the Francois's idea were a perfect match.

So when Franz's officers heard that the Han army was about to arrive, and more importantly, that it was coming with countless native servants, they decisively took Santa Anna back to Europe.

Franz's army and Santa Anna had fled, but the more than 100,000 refugees on the outskirts of the city had nowhere to go.

Li Anbang deployed a large number of scouts to observe the current situation in Veracruz from multiple directions, mainly to roughly estimate the scale of the refugees outside the city.

Then, the 50,000 native auxiliary troops were dispersed and attacked simultaneously from multiple directions from Veracruz Port.

These refugees were truly a disorganized bunch, and even if they wanted to find someone to surrender to the Han, they couldn't immediately find a suitable representative.

Therefore, they could not surrender en masse, and could only deploy a sufficient number of troops to directly attack, capture, and drive them away.

They captured young and middle-aged men and women to work as laborers, and drove the old, weak, sick, and disabled into the sea to fend for themselves.

In modern times, this would be a humanitarian crisis, but in the nineteenth century, it was nothing.

After three days of continuous fighting, the auxiliary troops of the Southern Route Army finally captured more than 50,000 able-bodied men and women, while the remaining 60,000 were all driven into the sea.

The Han army also took over the port of Veracruz during this process.

They soon discovered that there were no useful ships at the dock; the useful ships had already fled with the refugees and would not be left for the Han army to seize.

Puerto Veracruz is the most important port on Mexico's east coast.

The port faces the Gulf of Mexico and connects to the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and the Americas and the Caribbean Sea between North and South America. The dangers here are many, far greater than those in Acapulco and San Blas on the Pacific coast.

In addition to the possibility that European and American countries might use proxies to launch attacks, they also have to face pirates in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Li Anbang arranged for 1,000 Han imperial guards and 1,000 Han militiamen to command 10,000 indigenous auxiliary soldiers and control 20,000 white men and women to work around the port.

They reinforced city walls and fortifications, collected materials to build simple near-shore vessels, and patrolled and transported supplies near the coastline.

In addition, 1,000 militiamen and 10,000 indigenous auxiliary soldiers were assigned to escort another 30,000 white prisoners and to turn back and repair the road to the interior of the plateau, continuing to transport food and military supplies from Mexico City.

Although these prisoners were turned into slave laborers, at least they were able to survive and would not slowly perish in the tragedy of cannibalism.

Li Anbang led 4,000 imperial guards, 3,000 militiamen, and 30,000 indigenous auxiliary troops to the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Yucatan Peninsula is not Texas; its white immigrant population is still predominantly Hispanic, and its political structure is similar to that of other parts of Mexico.

The key point is that this place is closer to the core area of ​​Mexico, which allows Li Anbang to quickly obtain enough supplies.

The Han army advanced toward the Yucatan Peninsula. The white immigrants there either fled to Central and South America, surrendered directly to the Han army, or were quickly defeated and killed by the local auxiliary troops.

The Northeast Army quickly took control of key towns on the Yucatan Peninsula.

The final Southwestern Route Army's objective was to conquer Nicaragua and other Central American countries that had declared independence.

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were briefly members of Mexico after Mexico gained independence.

Later, it seceded from Mexico and established the Federal Republic of Central America, but in recent years it has gradually seceded from the federation and gained independence again.

It can be said that it inherited the typical political ecology of the Spanish Americas.

The Southwestern Army was the only army on the west coast that boarded ships directly from Acapulco and was sent to Central America by the Beiyang Fleet.

The political landscape in Central America is not much different from that in other parts of Mexico. The key difference is that the Han army has naval transport and supplies, so it can fight with full force.

When news of the arrival of the Han army spread, the white people here immediately fled to South America.

Compared to other places, the white people here are relatively lucky; their culture is the same as that of other South American countries, so they can integrate directly into it.

The Eastern Han Dynasty's American military command's southeastern Mexican army continued its advance, successively taking over most of the major towns in Central America.

By the end of the fifth year of the Hanchang era, Mexico's actions in all four areas had come to an end.

The Great Han American Military Command took over the largest territory Mexico had ever possessed after independence, namely the portion of the former Viceroyalty of New Spain on the American continent.

The Governor-General of New Spain governed all territories including Mexico, the Philippines, Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico.

Now, apart from islands like Cuba, Haiti, and Puerto Rico in the Atlantic Ocean, all other places have been occupied by the Han army.

Li Anbang also ordered the release of the British and French envoys stationed in Mexico, instructing them to return to their respective countries with the Han's claims to all currently occupied territories.

Li Anbang also began writing a summary report for the emperor and the governor's office, to be carried back by the fleet the following year.

While the four armies of the Mexican side of the American military began their operations, Guan Tianpei had already led his sailing fleet back to his homeland in the summer.

The sailing fleet took away Bustamante and other high-ranking Mexican officials, along with the surrender document they had signed.

They were to travel to the Han mainland to complete the formal ceremonial process of surrendering and becoming part of the Han dynasty.

Furthermore, 60% of the silver and silver coins captured during the war will be sent to the mint of the Great Han Dynasty to be melted down and manufactured into Great Han silver coins.

In addition, a total of more than 80,000 white prisoners will be sent to the Philippines to work as miners, with the key goal of reducing the white population in Mexico and the west coast of North America.

When the Mexican-American War ended, the more than four-year-long American campaign also came to a temporary close.

South of Alaska in North America, west of the Rocky Mountain watershed, and north of Panama, this exceptionally vast region, with a total area of ​​approximately six million square kilometers, could be considered part of the Han Dynasty's territory.

(This is roughly the extent of the land controlled by the Han Dynasty in the Americas after the American campaign.)

This land is incredibly vast, but most of it is still undeveloped and primitive, with the majority of the population concentrated on the Mexican Plateau.

Even including the wild indigenous people living in the mountains and forests, the total population is estimated to be less than ten million, which is less than the population of Shandong Province at that time.

one third.

One of the main challenges for the future is how to effectively control these lands in the long term.

This obviously requires a continuous flow of massive numbers of people from Japan, which places extremely high demands on ocean shipping capabilities.

Currently, the transport capacity of all sailing ships can only transport about 100,000 immigrants to the Americas each year. To continue to expand the scale of immigration, we can only rely on steamships.

Secondly, it serves to resist harassment and interference from all interested countries and forces.

This obviously includes Americans and Texans who evacuated to America, as well as Britons who will likely provide support.

There are also figures like Santa Anna, who are in exile in Europe, as well as France, Spain, and other Latin American or Christian countries that may provide support.

They cannot simply give up these lands; they will certainly use every means to interfere whenever the opportunity arises.

We also need to consider the pirates active in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Currently, the Great Han has no organized naval force off the coast of Mexico, which is within the Atlantic Ocean.

Even pirates can pose a significant threat to the coastline.