Chapter Four: The Battle of the New Alamo (Part One)

Thanks to Franz’s preemptive strike, the current international public opinion has overwhelmingly tilted in favor of Mexico.

Meanwhile, Britain and France, considering their own national interests, decided to voice their support for Mexico, classifying the uprising in Texas as a rebellion that disrupted national order.

U.S. President Andrew Jackson desperately wanted to dispatch troops to Texas; after all, warfare was his true calling, and battling capitalists and politicians day in and day out was simply too exhausting.

However, Congress opposed the move. First, the pressure from international public opinion was currently too immense; second, this conflict was classified as a Mexican civil war, leaving the United States with no legitimate right to intervene.

Consequently, Andrew Jackson was forced to adopt a "neutral" policy, officially declaring that the United States would not send troops to aid Texas.

Nevertheless, he turned a blind eye to local officials openly supporting Texas, and the checkpoints along the U.S.-Mexican border became mere decorations as volunteers from all across the United States flooded in.

He also permitted Texans to trade cotton for essential supplies such as grain, weapons, and military uniforms, while allowing officers and soldiers to take early retirement so they could join the volunteer forces aiding Texas in an individual capacity.

The Second Bank of the United States secretly approved a loan of two million dollars...

In stark contrast, Rouville, the Vice President of Mexico, was at his wit's end. Although a batch of weapons had been secured from Austria, Santa Anna demanded more soldiers and more supplies, which only further exacerbated Mexico’s already deficit-ridden treasury.

Although the bill for a special additional tax had been passed, Rouville knew very well in his heart that were it not for the full and unreserved support of the Church, Mexico would likely have already fallen apart at the seams.

Following its independence, Mexico had inherited the colossal mess left behind by Spain. Federalism had severely undermined the ruling authority of the Mexican government, and local powers wielded excessive influence, leaving the central government profoundly weak and impotent.

Acting upon the instructions contained in that mysterious letter, Rouville sought loans from European banks, but only the French responded.

The French possessed abundant capital, but the returns they demanded were equally staggering.

If Mexico failed to rapidly pay off its debts, the nation would likely face imminent bankruptcy.

Unable to make a firm decision, Rouville could only scrape together whatever meager funds he could find here and there. Even without recruiting new soldiers, these funds would barely sustain them for three months.

Goliad, Old John’s Tavern.

Davy Crockett brought back some grave news: the Comanches had reached an agreement with Santa Anna; they had received weapons and would now fight on Santa Anna's behalf.

In reality, the Comanche raids on merchant caravans were not motivated by loyalty to Santa Anna, but rather driven by a desire for revenge against American immigrants and a quest to improve their own livelihood.

However, after careful deliberation, Travis and Bowie unanimously concluded that their forces were insufficient, and that they should abandon Goliad and fall back to defend the Alamo.

Thus, the unassuming mission station of the Alamo became the absolute center of this gathering storm.

While the defenders of the Alamo were frantically reinforcing their fortifications, Santa Anna was still luxuriating in the comfort of his private paradise.

Santa Anna was a man who thoroughly knew how to enjoy life, bringing his mistress along with him even on military campaigns.

His mistress, Jenny, was a sixteen-year-old criollo whose youth radiated an innate, wild beauty.

The two military observers dispatched by the Austrian Empire on this occasion were not the typical leisure tourists funded at public expense.

Rather, they were two genuine generals meticulously selected by Count Tural—both quite young, indeed resembling recent graduates from a military academy.

Yet, these two men were soon revered almost like deities by the Mexican generals. In a Mexico where military science lagged far behind, these two military observers directly stepped into the role of instructors for the Mexican commanders.

Every small-scale skirmish was treated as a tactical exercise.

The Mexican generals' current understanding of Austrian military tactics could be summarized as: artillery bombardment, bombardment, bombardment... followed by the enemy fleeing, and then cavalry charging, charging, charging...

During a previous battle, several dozen American homesteaders barricaded themselves inside a house and refused to surrender.

Thereupon, the two military observers ordered the artillery to bombard the structure for half an hour. Ultimately, the homesteaders were forced to flee the building, which had been reduced to rubble, only to be promptly cut down by the cavalry that had been waiting patiently for quite some time.

The Mexican generals heartily approved of this bloodless approach.

For the Mexican army, desertion had always been a massive headache.

Nearly thirty percent of the troops deserted during every campaign, particularly right after military pay was distributed.

Fortunately, this time Santa Anna was personally leading the troops, and along the way they had plundered considerable property from American immigrants who refused to submit to Mexico. Otherwise, the force numbering over six thousand upon reaching this point might have dwindled to next to nothing from Mexico City onward.

Historically, Santa Anna had departed Mexico City with eight thousand men, only to see their numbers drop below six thousand before ever reaching the Alamo.

History proved that for an army devoid of ideological conviction, the most effective method to boost cohesion remained material rewards.

February 28, 1836.

Santa Anna’s army had besieged the Alamo for five days, yet Santa Anna was in no particular rush to launch an assault.

After all, Santa Anna had never expected the campaign to progress so smoothly, and moreover, he had fallen in love with speechmaking. He gathered the citizens of San Antonio together to continue delivering his grand addresses.

Though his subordinates were practically growing calluses in their ears from listening, the liberated black slaves and Indian laborers remained deeply thrilled, causing divisions to sprout within the American immigrant community.

Next came the main event: these American immigrants were given the choice to either swear allegiance to Mexico or depart, taking their property with them.

Those who chose to join Mexico were required to pay overdue taxes, free their slaves, and employ Mexicans, among other conditions. Conversely, those who chose to leave were strictly forbidden from taking weapons with them, ensuring they would be ambushed by Indians or bandits along the road, and their belongings would ultimately fall into Santa Anna’s hands anyway.

March 5, 1836.

Santa Anna finally remembered the two hundred armed American immigrants holed up inside the Alamo, and he decided to demonstrate his commanding artistry to the two Austrian military observers.

Naturally, Santa Anna himself held great faith in artillery tactics.

Consequently, he selected a hillside safely out of range of the Alamo defenders' cannons and invited the two Austrian army observers to join him for afternoon tea.

In warfare of that era, soldiers fought desperately while commanders drank tea—this was simply standard operating procedure.

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

On one side lay black tea and Mexican tacos; on the other raged a thunderous storm of artillery fire...

Yet, after an entire afternoon of cannon fire, the result proved utterly shocking.

The Mexican army possessed over thirty cannons, while the Alamo defenders had merely three. Both sides exchanged fire throughout the afternoon, discharging hundreds of artillery shells. The outcome? Twenty-five casualties on the Mexican side, while among the Alamo defenders, aside from a dozen men with minor injuries, not a single person was killed.

Upon receiving the report, Santa Anna flew into a furious rage.

"Are your cannonballs made of mud? Why haven't you even managed to collapse the city walls? Explain this to me!"

In truth, the defenders of the Alamo had long since reinforced their walls and hung wooden planks across them to absorb and mitigate the destructive impact of the cannonballs.

However, the primary issue lay in the fact that the Mexican artillery possessed insufficient firepower and abysmal shooting accuracy.

The vast majority of Mexican artillerymen had received no professional training whatsoever, and they were utilizing antiquated relics left over from the Spanish colonial era.

This resulted in a severe lack of firing range for the artillery, while these men dared not employ close-range direct fire as they had when bombarding civilian houses.

Consequently, fewer than one-third of those several hundred cannonballs actually struck the walls, and the inadequate power of the three-pounder guns meant the Alamo's ramparts remained standing tall and unyielding.

Santa Anna did possess a sixteen-pound siege gun, but its sheer weight meant it was physically incapable of keeping pace with the main army within a short timeframe.