The Consequences of Refusing to Buy, Buy, Buy

General Franco glanced at the opposite positions from afar. Because the high ground was under enemy control, he couldn't see the full picture of the "rebel" positions, but what he did see was already quite frustrating.

"Whether it's Gilded Shield, Gold-Plated Shield, or even Brass Shield, we'll only know after fighting," General Franco thought to himself. But now was certainly not the time to attack. First of all, everyone had been marching for a long time and needed to rest, right?

Franco then arranged for his troops to set up camp and rest, while he himself led a troop of cavalry out again to observe the "rebels'" fortifications. He only retreated with his men when the rebels also sent out their cavalry.

Back at the camp, Franco summoned several officers, studied the matter carefully, and then gathered them together to discuss and finalize the battle plan for the next day.

Early the next morning, the Spanish Expeditionary Force began a probing attack on the "rebels'" defensive positions.

First came the artillery barrage. The expeditionary force possessed thirty muzzle-loading rifled cannons and more than twenty six-pound bronze cannons brought from Veracruz. The fighting was quite lively, with lots of clanging and banging.

After two hours of intermittent artillery fire, the Spanish Expeditionary Force infantry began to advance in skirmish formation.

Their first challenge was dealing with minefields. The France had offered them rocket-propelled mine-clearing equipment before the Spanish Expeditionary Force set out. However, after studying it, the Spain determined that the equipment was only useful in siege warfare, specifically in attacking the "Joseph Defense."

The Spain knew the "rebels" definitely had landmines—after all, landmines were common items in Louisiana's arms shops. They were so common that you could easily find large quantities of boar scare kits marked "This side faces the pigs" in any arms shop. However, the Spain assumed the "rebels" would use landmines in an Ireland style, not the "Joseph Defense" style. After all, in their view, how could "rebels" dare to stand up to the regular army of the Kingdom of Spain? Although the Spain army was widely admired in Europe, they thought, "We might not be able to beat the France, but surely we can beat you mudskippers?"

Furthermore, the France were asking for far too much. It's just a rocket with a soft tube stuffed with explosives at the back, yet they're charging such a high price! One set of these could cost as much as twenty conscripts. In that case, it would be cheaper to solve the problem using artificial intelligence. Besides, the Spain have things even cheaper than conscripts.

So the Spain rejected the France sales pitch. However, as it turns out, when the France try to sell you a weapon, never think you won't need it. Even if you don't normally need it, if you don't buy it, an abnormal situation will inevitably arise that forces you to use it.

Since there were no rocket-propelled mine-clearing devices, manual mine clearance was the only option. Well, if it were the Britain, they would simply send mercenaries charging forward; of course, the Britain would secretly remove the minefield markers beforehand, or inform the enemy that the mines had already been cleared. If it were the Prussia, well, they would simply send conscripts to charge. As for the Spain, when they set out from Veracruz, they conscripted a group of black slaves to transport supplies...

So after losing a number of slaves, General Franco immediately made his first basic judgment based on the density of mines in the minefield: the position in front of him, if not Gilded Shield, was definitely Gold-Plated Shield.

"Damn France, making money from both sides!" By this time, the Spain already knew about the Louisiana Development Bank lending money to the "Mexican Republican Government." Although they weren't aware of the shady dealings involved, there was no doubt that the rebels had gotten money from the France and then used it to buy France weapons to fight against the royal army. Considering that their own soldiers were also armed with France weapons—these France were becoming increasingly depraved and shameless.

"I've never heard of the Bonaparte Family having Jewish ancestry. How come they've become more Jewish than the Jews themselves!" General Franco couldn't help but complain.

Now that it was clear the fortified position was not just a facade of a "Brass Shield," the first rapid attack plan was naturally rejected. While Spain soldiers were also relatively insignificant—in continental Europe, their deaths were hardly a big deal—the situation was different here. The transportation costs from Europe were substantial. These costs made the Spain soldiers much more valuable, making them less likely to be killed so easily. There's a proverb in a certain Eastern power. "Things are more valuable away from home, people are less valuable away from home." However, if people are treated less like people and more like commodities with a price, then they do become more valuable after leaving their homeland.

Since the first approach of rushing in is not feasible, we can only use the second approach, which is to take it slow and methodical.

"Foolish rebels! Do you think the 'Joseph Defense' is so effective? You probably don't understand why in Europe, the 'Joseph Defense' is also called the 'Gilded Shield.' That's because this method of warfare is essentially throwing money at people!" General Franco thought. "Of course, there are only two ways to attack the 'Joseph Defense': either throw money or throw lives. But in any case, whether it's throwing money or throwing lives, can Spain really lose to the rebels?"

To weaken the lethality of the "Joseph Defense," the most common tactic is tunneling. This involves digging trenches to reach the enemy's trenches and then engaging in close-quarters melee to end the battle.

This was time-consuming, and once the trenches of both sides drew close, the "Bonaparte's Little Melon" would inflict considerable casualties on both sides. However, General Franco believed he should have the upper hand in this "Little Melon Grand War" because they had copied the "Little Melon Launcher." Among those who purchased the "Bonaparte's Little Melon"Little Melon for civilian purposes, few were willing to buy something that, while significantly increasing the "Little Melon's" throwing range, also greatly reduced its accuracy.

For the next while, the battlefield was temporarily calm. The Spain were digging, and the Mexico were preparing. Because the Black population had suffered too many losses, the digging had to be done by the soldiers themselves. However, Mexico City is located on a plateau, at an altitude of over two thousand meters, although not extremely high. Normally, this altitude wouldn't have a significant impact, but once heavy physical labor began, those from lower altitudes immediately felt extremely fatigued. As a result, the digging efficiency dropped sharply. By nightfall, the trenches dug by the Spain were still quite a distance from the Mexico trenches.

As night fell, the Spain dared not light torches to continue digging. Visibility was poor at night, and the rebels might sneak up and throw Little Melon into any light source. Therefore, they retreated to their camp and planned to return at dawn the next day to continue digging.

The next day, as the Spain, carrying hoes and shovels, moved forward along the trenches they had dug the day before, preparing to continue digging, the sound of landmines exploding suddenly rang out in the trenches— the Mexico had sneaked in the previous night and planted landmines in the trenches.

So half a day was wasted on mine clearance. As it was getting dark again, the two sides were still not close enough to greet each other with "Little Melon."

This time, the Spain learned their lesson; before returning to their camp, they planted numerous landmines in the trenches. Then, that night, they heard continuous explosions coming from the other side of the trenches...

After two days of this commotion, by noon on the third day, the two sides had finally come close enough to greet each other with Little Melon. The Mexico were the first to launch an attack with Little Melon, which also shows that the Spain were not the Little Melon Launcher.

After scattering "Little Melon" for a while, under the cover of the smoke from the explosions, the Spain jumped out of their trenches and charged toward the Mexico trenches that were just inches away. The Mexico immediately detonated the "pig-faced" bombs set up in front of their trenches, knocking down a large number of Spain in one go, but more Spain still rushed in.

"It's in the bag!" General Franco, who was watching the battle through his binoculars, said to himself. "Charge!"

In General Franco's view, the rebels were a rabble. How could these guys possibly resist the royal army in close-quarters combat, which requires the most courage and organization? If they could really hold out, I'd eat my binoculars to show them!

However, in the blink of an eye, he saw the Spain royal army running out of the rebel trenches in a panic, desperately trying to escape, while the rebels chased after them, firing at the fleeing Spain soldiers with short guns. Almost every time they fired, a soldier of the royal army would fall to the ground.

"Damn the France! Trench guns! They... they actually sold trench guns to those traitors!" General Franco's face turned ashen.

Like their rocket-propelled mine-clearing equipment, the France also recommended their "trench guns" to the Spain. The Spain, similarly, thought they were too expensive and, since they didn't encounter trench warfare in the area, wouldn't find them very useful, so they didn't buy them. It seems that whatever the France try to sell you, whether you need it or not, you should definitely buy it!