Chapter 1509: Thank Goodness We Still Have the Great Soviet Union

Mexico City, the Grand Royal Palace.

This was originally the royal palace of the Aztecs; later it was seized by the Spaniards, razed to the ground, and on its foundations the Governor-General's Palace of New Spain was built. Still later, the Governor-General's Palace of New Spain was rebuilt into the royal palace of the Kingdom of New Spain.

Although it was a royal palace expanded from a colonial Governor-General's residence, the Grand Royal Palace of Mexico City far surpassed the royal palace in Madrid both in area and in the opulence of its architecture.

The royal palace of the present Kingdom of New Spain, and Mexico City where it stood, now both had a touch of the air of a great power. Madrid, the capital of the mother country Spain, and the royal palace in Madrid, could not compare with them — the wealth possessed by New Spain was far greater than that of Spain proper!

In the age of Philip IV, because the king was deficient in intellect and his "hand" was not so long, New Spain had long remained in a state of "semi-loss of control." Great quantities of wealth were illegally seized by the local nobility and by high-ranking clergy sent out by the Roman Curia.

According to the later investigation by Don Juan José, in customs duties alone New Spain lost roughly 90% — of every ten merchant ships sailing to New Spain, nine were actually smuggling vessels.

As for how much gold and silver the officials managing the gold and silver mines across New Spain actually stuffed into their own pockets, and how much tax those fabulously wealthy estates evaded — truly only God could ever get to the bottom of it!

But ever since Don Juan José assumed the regency of the Kingdom of New Spain, the situation had gradually improved, and the fiscal revenue of the Kingdom of New Spain had grown higher and higher. By 1670 and after, it had increased five or six times compared with before Don Juan José took office. Moreover, the Catholic population of the Kingdom of New Spain had also grown markedly.

If judged solely by population, tax revenue, army numbers, and the territory actually controlled, the present Kingdom of New Spain was absolutely the foremost power in the Americas, its strength even surpassing that of Spain proper.

But the United States of Xinzhou, founded by Chinese immigrants and occupying most of the western coastline of North America to the north of New Spain, had always been a thorn in Don Juan José's heart.

There were simply too many Chinese, pouring endlessly across the Pacific, so that the population of the United States of Xinzhou grew year after year, and the growth was enough to make one's heart pound with alarm.

According to figures published by the parliamentary government of the United States of Xinzhou itself, the "national" population of that country was about to break through one million!

Moreover, because the number of Han (East Asian) women kept increasing, the birth rate of the United States of Xinzhou was also climbing steadily.

If New Spain allowed this situation to continue, in a few more decades at most the United States of Xinzhou would be able to win without fighting, by means of "wombs" and immigration.

It was precisely for this reason that Don Juan José regarded the United States of Xinzhou as a thorn in his eye and a spike in his flesh. For all those years he had never given up the idea of utterly destroying the United States of Xinzhou, or at least crushing it.

And New Spain, growing daily stronger under his governance, had also given him the confidence to fight again. The intervention of King Louis XIV of France, in turn, let Don Juan José see the hope of victory.

But his hopes were ultimately too beautiful, and truly too difficult to realize.

In the conference room of the Grand Royal Palace in Mexico City, the assembled high officials of the Kingdom of New Spain and the senior generals sent by France and Holland all sat in solemn silence, each staring blankly at a briefing laid out on the conference table.

And Don Juan José stood with his back to them, gazing motionlessly at a huge map hung on the wall.

Outside the window was the palace square, bright with sunshine, and the sky was cloudless for ten thousand li. The sunlight streamed into the conference room, yet under the oppressive atmosphere it all turned gloomy.

That briefing was the urgent report sent to the Regent in Mexico City by the landing fleet of the New Spain navy that had fled back to Acapulco. The report stated that the combined fleet of France, Holland, and Spain had been ambushed by the combined Ming-Xinzhou (United States) fleet in the battle to raid Golden Gate Bay; except for a small number of mortar ships that escaped because they had not entered the harbor, all the remaining ships had gone and never returned.

Not counting fireships, in that battle the combined fleet of the three nations lost at least 67 warships of various types, and the officers and men lost exceeded 8,000!

This was not even the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was that the scale of the combined Ming-Xinzhou fleet in Golden Gate Bay was so vast as to be unimaginable, very likely reaching 150 warships of various types!

This was truly too terrible, and it also meant that the diversionary strategy of France, Holland, Shun, and Portugal in the Indian Ocean had completely collapsed. The focus of the Great Ming Empire's development had always been the Americas! More precisely, it was the Kingdom of New Spain — attacking New France would not require so many warships!

The Chinese must intend to push southward along the western coast of the Americas, all the way down to South America.

Now that the combined fleet of the three nations had been destroyed, along this Pacific coast there remained only one ship of the line belonging to France, Holland, and Spain (New Spain) — that one ship of the line undergoing repairs at Acapulco because of an accident. Having lost command of the sea, what could New Spain use to defend such an immense coastline?

Don Juan José kept his hands clasped behind his back and said nothing; the pressure in the conference room sank lower and lower. François II de Créquy, chevalier, born of the renowned French house of Créquy and created Marquis de Marines, sat there and felt an atmosphere of impending catastrophe and approaching doomsday.

This marquis, not yet fifty and at the peak of his military career, did not think the situation was as dire as all that.

In his view, the navy's crushing defeat had not completely reversed the balance of strength on the New World battlefield — the advantage still belonged to France and its allies.

What France and its allies had lost now was merely the opportunity to destroy the United States of Xinzhou — without question, that country would long endure on the western coast of the North American continent!

But under present circumstances, the living space the United States of Xinzhou could effectively use was only the strip along the western coast.

Moving south or moving east would be no easy matter.

If they wanted to move south, they would have to assault one fortress after another that the Kingdom of New Spain had painstakingly built up, and they would also have to endure the losses caused by various tropical diseases.

If they moved east, the Great Suzu Alliance on the Great Plains had already firmly sided with France — this matter was probably the greatest success the Kingdom of France had achieved in North America.

With the support of these North American natives, France and New Spain could strike at the United States of Xinzhou in the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains.

This was in fact an enormous and extremely crucial advantage. With the support of the Great Soviet Union, the Franco-Spanish forces penetrating deep into the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains would not need to worry about food shortages, so long as their numbers were not absurdly large.

"Your Highness the Regent," the Marquis de Marines finally could not help speaking, "defeat at sea does not mean the loss of all initiative... On land, mainly in the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, we still hold the advantage!

Because the Great Soviet Union still stands on our side! With their support, we can launch offensives in the Great Plains and the eastern part of the Rocky Mountains. The enemy can only wring their hands helplessly and take a passive beating!"

The Marquis de Marines's words were of course reasonable, but Don Juan José still could not feel at ease.

"But, Marquis," he asked, "can you tell me why the Ming dynasty and the United States of Xinzhou would send men into the Great Plains to be beaten? Now that they already have the advantage at sea, why would they risk pushing eastward on the continent?"

"Because of gold!" the Marquis de Marines said with a laugh. "Your Highness the Regent, what do you think of this reason — that we have discovered a great gold mine at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains?"

Don Juan José nodded. "That is indeed a reason... Is there really a gold mine there?"

"I do not know," the Marquis de Marines merely shrugged. "Fabricating a lie to deceive them will be enough... As long as they push eastward in force, our advantage can be fully brought into play, and victory will surely be ours!"

(End of Chapter)