Gilded Shield and Gold-Plated Shield

President Hidalgo exclaimed in surprise, "We borrow money from him, and the money just circulates in our hands and is immediately returned, while they get 150,000 in interest for nothing. Then we have to give them 30% of the money we borrow from elsewhere, and then we have to pay back that 30% plus interest? Hey, this is too much..."

"Your Excellency, you've misunderstood. When I said '30/70,' I meant they would take 70% and we would take 30%!" the clever man quickly corrected.

"Huh?!" President Hidalgo exclaimed in surprise. "They didn't do anything, so why are they taking so much!"

"Because, Your Excellency, if I may be frank, no government in the world recognizes your government yet. So no one will lend you money. If your government were already recognized by the whole world and not facing the danger of national extinction, then your government could easily borrow money at such an interest rate. But now, you can't borrow money because you don't cooperate with them."

Think about it: if you fail, everything the Mexico own will be gone, and it will all belong to the Spain again. What a huge loss that would be! And if you succeed, yes, your country will be burdened with a lot of debt, but without that, your country might not even be able to continue existing. It's like a person suffering from a serious illness, with only one cure—if they don't take it, they will die; but if they take this medicine, their skin will turn as black as a black person's. So, will they take it or not? Becoming black is better than becoming a corpse.

We can do the math. We're about five million francs short, which would be enough to buy weapons, train soldiers, and defeat the Spanish Expeditionary Force. So, we only need to borrow seventeen million francs. The annual interest would be only two million five hundred and fifty thousand francs. Even if we pay it off in ten years, the interest rate would only be about 8.5 times. Go directly to those banks and see which one would lend money to your government at that rate. Besides, those damned Spain plunder far more wealth from Mexico every year than that. So, my president, what are you hesitating for?"

However, President Hidalgo remained somewhat hesitant, stating that he needed to think about the matter more carefully.

However, Hidalgo soon could no longer hesitate, because he received reliable intelligence that the Spain expeditionary force was ready to set off, numbering as many as 30,000, and all equipped with the latest weapons, namely rifled guns, rifled cannons, revolvers, and Little Melon.

President Hidalgo knew that the current Mexico army was no match for such an expeditionary force, so he had to borrow money immediately to expand the army in order to deal with the Spain who were coming to sweep through Mexico.

Moreover, given the size of the Spanish Expeditionary Force, a loan of only five million francs seemed insufficient. Therefore, President Hidalgo made a bold decision: go all in and lend them thirty-five million francs in one go, overwhelming the Spain with money. As for the future, without the present, where would the future be?

Soon after, the Louisiana Development Bank announced a loan agreement with the Mexican Republic, under which the Louisiana Development Bank would provide the Mexican Republic with a loan of two million francs.

Almost everyone knew about the relationship between the Louisiana Development Bank and the Military-Industrial Complex, and they were also aware of the Military-Industrial Complex's relationship with the France government. Therefore, the Louisiana Development Bank's move was naturally seen by many as a veiled statement from France. If the France truly sided with the Mexico, few would believe that the Spain could still hold onto Mexico.

As a result, the number of banks willing to provide loans to the Hidalgo government suddenly increased. The Mexican Republican Government easily obtained 35 million francs in loans from various banks. According to the previous agreement, these loans were split 30/70. A large portion of the loan quickly flowed into the vaults of the Louisiana Development Bank, while the remaining portion was also essentially sent to the Louisiana Development Bank's vaults and converted into various goods, which were then delivered to the "Mexico government."

With supplies in hand, President Hidalgo immediately felt more confident and began to reorganize the army using financial resources. In addition, learning from the painful experience of the previous victory, President Hidalgo also brought in many France instructors for his army from Louisiana.

A little over a month later, the Spain fleet arrived in Cuba. The soldiers disembarked in Havana to rest and prepare for the upcoming battle, while the reorganized "Mexico government forces" seized this last opportunity to intensify their training in preparation for the imminent war.

The Spanish Expeditionary Force rested in Cuba for a week before boarding ships again, crossing the Gulf of Mexico, and landing in Veracruz.

In Veracruz, the expeditionary force was warmly welcomed by the Spain Governor-General of Mexico, Gomez, and other truly loyal Spain patriots (most of whom were from the peninsula). At a reception, General Franco, the expeditionary commander, assured everyone that he and his "loyal and brave soldiers" would surely restore order to Mexico and completely eliminate the rebels.

The expeditionary force stayed in Veracruz for another week to prepare supplies, planning to launch an attack on Mexico City. A week later, the 30,000-strong expeditionary force left Veracruz and began marching towards Mexico City. General Franco believed that with his well-trained soldiers (although the training level of Spain soldiers was among the worst in Europe, compared to the militias of North America, General Franco felt that his soldiers were definitely well-trained), advanced weaponry, and his years of learning the most advanced France military tactics, he should be able to defeat this rabble relatively easily.

However, when he led his army toward Mexico City and saw the rebels, his confidence was dealt a severe blow.

"Damn it! This is the rebels' position? This... this is the damn rebels?!" General Franco's eyes widened in fury. "Trenches, barbed wire, minefields... where did they learn Joseph Defense techniques from? Damn France, this must be France conspiracy!"

Upon seeing the "Joseph Defense," General Franco felt a chill run down his spine. Although the France army had recently demonstrated how to break through the Joseph Defense in a short time, that was the France army; Franco's expeditionary force did not possess such capabilities.

However, General Franco realized that the "Joseph Defense" had a drawback: it was extremely expensive. Therefore, in the military circles of various Europe countries, this defense had another nickname: the "Gilded Shield." The lower-spec, scaled-down versions of the "Joseph Defense" produced by slightly poorer countries were often jokingly referred to as "Gold-Plated Shield" or even "Brass Shield."

"Perhaps this is a 'Gold-Plated Shield' or even a 'Brass Shield.' Just because it looks like one doesn't mean it's a 'Gilded Shield.' We'll have to test it to find out its true quality. But even if it's a 'Gold-Plated Shield' or a 'Brass Shield,' it's not necessarily much easier to break..." General Franco thought to himself.