The Ambition of the French

The American immigrant separatist forces in Texas, referred to as the Separatist Army, was the new definition given to the Texas rebellion in the newspapers, and it was quickly accepted by media outlets around the world.

Guizot and Thiers, two heavyweights of French politics, both believed that this was a golden opportunity for France to return to North America.

After all, Mexico was too poor to pay back the interest; by leveraging the debt issue, they could seize the chance to demand Texas from Mexico, using the Gulf of Mexico as a base to build a second France—a dream that was not out of reach.

They did not consider this a delusion, and they were well aware that Mexico's national strength was simply insufficient to support the military operations of Santa Anna.

In a country as vast as Mexico, the annual fiscal revenue was only 18 million pesos, less than one-tenth of France's.

According to French estimates, Mexico's funds would be exhausted in three months at most, and that was assuming Mexico did not increase its military expenditures.

Meanwhile, intelligence indicated that the Texas Separatist Army had already received support from the United States.

The training level and weaponry of the Mexicans were extremely backward; as long as a small group of organized American troops entered Texas, they could crush the Mexicans.

Regarding anti-Americanism, although the British were the loudest, it was impossible for them to send troops directly to Texas, so the two sides of the war would sooner or later become the United States and Mexico.

Since the national strength of the United States was far greater than that of Mexico, the failure of the Mexicans was only a matter of time.

If the Mexicans did not want to accept the fate of defeat, they would have no choice but to borrow from France, and France was very willing to help these poor people.

After all, everyone was a brother in the Catholic Church, and could the name of France as the "filial son of the Catholic Church" be earned for nothing?

As for after the war ended, they would use the debt issue as an excuse to demand Texas from Mexico.

In this way, Mexico would pay off its debts and gain the protection of France, which could be described as killing two birds with one stone.

After all, as long as France was in Texas, the United States would be unable to continue its westward expansion, and the Mexicans would be able to sleep soundly.

As Thiers and Guizot were still daydreaming about France's bright future in North America, a cabinet clerk on duty woke them up.

"Mr. Rothschild and his associates are here."

To accomplish their good deeds, France needed the most professional bankers.

On a plain north of San Antonio, a massacre was taking place.

The two sides of the battle were Santa Anna's 1,500 Mexican cavalrymen and the 270 remnants of Colonel Maning's Separatist Army.

The outcome had been sealed from the moment the battle began.

Because Maning and his soldiers had not initially realized that the opposition were Mexicans, they had mistaken them for reinforcements from Houston.

By the time the cavalry charged to within a hundred meters, it was already too late to organize the soldiers into a hollow square formation or to flee.

At that moment, Maning gave up on thinking and let the cavalry crush his troops like dry wood.

The scattered deserters could not escape the pursuit of the cavalry, and the battle ended quickly.

Santa Anna thoroughly enjoyed the scene of the cavalry hunting down the routed soldiers; he loved the feeling of blood splashing everywhere and shouted excitedly.

"Kill them all! Good lads, God is with us!"

Gablenz and Stadion, however, had no interest in such a one-sided slaughter, and Santa Anna's adjutant reminded him.

"The two military observers are still here; we should observe the etiquette of gentlemen."

This brought Santa Anna to his senses; if he continued to slaughter like this, he would surely be branded a barbarian, so he hurriedly gave the order.

"Do not harm those who surrender! Quick! Stop them! No more killing!"

Several officers spurred their horses and charged out, for the soldiers had already been blinded by bloodlust—no matter who it was, anyone would be excited while chasing rabbits on horseback.

By the time the officers stopped the frenzied cavalry, only a dozen or so members of the Separatist Army remained, including Colonel Maning, who had already given up on thinking.

Colonel Maning stood dazed on the spot, and because he was wearing an officer's uniform, the cavalrymen simply ignored him; it was the fleeing soldiers and volunteers who had incited the ferocity of the cavalry.

A Mexican general quickly ran to the front of Santa Anna's horse, took off his hat, and saluted.

"General, it is your victory, a great victory. We have captured 17 people, including a colonel who appears to be their commander, as well as three hundred rifles."

Colonel Maning was the highest-ranking officer captured by the Mexican army since the start of the war.

Santa Anna was very smug and intended to humiliate this Separatist officer, but he was greatly disappointed; the man before him seemed to have lost his mind.

The battle in the direction of the small town had also ended, and Santa Anna ordered his men to put out the fires, gather the displaced refugees, and then dump the blame for the arson entirely on the Separatist Army.

The hundreds of residents of the town looked at their homes turned into ruins, many of them weeping uncontrollably; no one cared about Santa Anna's scapegoating speech.

"General, you should show your mercy." In truth, Gablenz already wanted to curse; how did this man become the ruler of Mexico? Did he have no political talent at all?

In fact, Santa Anna was the first person in the Americas to shell the presidential palace, and he pioneered the "House-Demolition School"—as the name suggests, it meant blowing up the presidential palace during every coup, forcing the president to repeatedly build himself a new home. This school of thought spread widely, and all of Latin America were its followers.

Dictators who came to power through military coups often had very limited political means.

However, because there were Austrian military observers nearby, he had to restrain himself somewhat.

To maintain the image of the Mexican army, Santa Anna ordered his soldiers to build temporary tents for the town's residents and shared a portion of the military rations he had scavenged with the town's soldiers and civilians.

Santa Anna's actions won over some hearts, but it infuriated the quartermaster, because the military supplies from the rear had been delayed, and the only reason the Mexican army could eat and drink well was that they had seized the property of those rioters who had betrayed Mexico.

Now that Santa Anna refused to let his troops loot in order to maintain his image, and with the Alamo proving difficult to capture, while Goliad had food and supplies but no money, things were becoming very difficult.

On March 9, 1836, the sixteen-pound heavy siege artillery that Santa Anna had been waiting for finally arrived.

Santa Anna was ecstatic and shouted, "I am going to kill all those Yankees."

This made Gablenz and Stadion feel that he was beyond saving, because killing all those Yankees was completely meaningless and would only turn those people into heroes.

Franz was certainly aware of this; he had long since instructed Archbishop Rauscher to do everything in his power to ensure the defenders of the Alamo surrendered.

Before Gablenz and Stadion arrived in Mexico, they were both told to ensure as many Texans as possible surrendered, especially the defenders of San Antonio (the current defenders of the Alamo).

Stadion spoke first, "General, you should first send those prisoners to persuade the defenders of the Alamo to surrender. If the other side yields, unnecessary bloodshed can be avoided, and it will further enhance your prestige."

Santa Anna immediately realized he had lost his composure. He was the Napoleon of North America, after all; how could he fail to balance severity with mercy?

"Let those prisoners go and tell the defenders of the Alamo to surrender."