Chapter 1520: This Is the King of Jiaqing's Great Gamble!

Mexico City, the Grand Palace.

Don Juan José had already been standing for hours before the huge map hung in his office, from afternoon until dark. One of his secretaries held a candlestick to light it for him, so that the finest military mind in present-day Spain could find a way to defeat the enemy from the map before him.

How painful it was to think of it! How mighty had Spain been in the days of divine favor? She wore the crowns of two continents, was the empire on which the sun never set, mistress of both land and sea. At sea she had the Invincible Armada, on land the Spanish tercio; fine generals and famous marshals, if not as many as clouds or as vast as the sea, still came in droves.

And now look — only Don Juan José was left struggling to hold things together. From the European continent all the way to the New World, in an empire so vast, he seemed to be the only one left who could fight.

And even this Don Juan José who could fight had no particularly brilliant record to his name.

Don Juan José had no idea that his own secretary was already doubting his military ability — his military ability was beyond doubt. In fact, for the invasion that Sonora Province might suffer, he had long since made the correct dispositions.

Relying on Count Iturbide's three or four hundred knights, there was no way to defeat the Japanese of the Jiaqing Kingdom — those knights were all mixed Indian and European blood, had never seen blood and slaughter on a European battlefield, and at most had fought Indians in New Spain. And not even the Apaches to the north, but only suppressing those corn-planting Indians.

As for the militia those knights conscripted from among the Indian serfs, they had essentially no fighting strength. They had joined the army only so they could do less farm work and still eat their fill.

But Don Juan José, with his outstanding military talent, had still worked out a very simple response plan for the somewhat simple-minded Count Iturbide: burn the towns where grain was stored, then take the whites and mixed-blood whites and flee to the port of Guaymas. That was all.

There were strong fortifications there, and naval support could be obtained at any time. Even if the navy could not support them, the fortress at Guaymas could hold out for a month or two without problem, and by then victory would be certain.

Because the Japanese coming from afar could not possibly haul heavy artillery over such a distance to Guaymas. Dragging them along, they could not move fast. From San Diego to Guaymas, would that not take three or four months? What would they eat? Gnaw on cacti in the Sonoran Desert?

So the correct plan had long ago been given to Count Iturbide, yet this fool, upon learning that the Jiaqing Kingdom's army had invaded, without a second thought led all 300 knights he could muster north to meet them in battle.

And worse still, that idiot count had been lured into an ambush by the Jiaqing Kingdom's red lancers. Of the 300 knights plus himself — 301 men in all — 295 were killed, including himself, and in the end only six escaped back.

With that, the entire province of Sonora was completely paralyzed. Not only was there no military force left capable of confronting the invading enemy head-on, but the administrative capacity to organize retreats and burn towns and vital supplies was also lost. Under the feudal system, military and administration were essentially one and the same. Those inexplicably slain knights controlled several hundred estates. Count Iturbide's administrative orders had been transmitted to each estate through them. With these men dead, the administration of Sonora Province collapsed entirely.

Many estates only learned that the accursed war had descended upon them when the enemy was already at their gates, and before that, the people living there had not had the slightest mental preparation — why Sonora Province? There was nothing here but desert and cacti. What were so many Qingzhou troops charging in for? This was also what Don Juan José wanted to figure out at this moment!

They clearly held command of the sea, and they also had a great fleet, right there in Golden Gate Bay. So why not use the great fleet to transport the army directly to Colima, Guerrero, or Acapulco?

Would it not be much closer to advance on the Valley of Mexico from there? And advancing by water, the logistical pressure would not be so great either. With an entire fleet helping to carry provisions, there would be no problem at all.

So why did they not take the sea route?

Just as Don Juan José was utterly baffled, the office door was knocked upon, and then came the voice of De Bescora: "Your Highness the Regent, De Bescora seeks an audience."

"Come in, come in quickly!"

De Bescora was now a count as well, and had been enfeoffed in the Valley of Mexico. He had previously been sent by Don Juan José to Europe to seek reinforcements, and had reached an agreement with Louis XIV to jointly oppose the Great Ming Empire. After returning to New Spain, he had been given important office and made Minister of the Navy of the Kingdom of New Spain.

But now on the Pacific side, the Kingdom of New Spain no longer had any navy to speak of — at most it could send out a few privateers. However, since the Great Ming's great fleet was still in Golden Gate Bay, the privateers did not dare approach the coastline. And on the vast Pacific, it was not easy to happen upon a convoy worth plundering — privateers generally lay in wait near an enemy's ports or important straits, rather than wandering the open ocean. In this age, with no satellites and no radar, relying on a single telescope, searching for a target in the middle of the ocean was very difficult.

So the privateers De Bescora had sent out had achieved little. As he walked into the Regent's office, still turning over in his mind how to explain this to Don Juan José, the Regent of New Spain had already tossed him an urgent military report.

"You are an old China hand. Look at this and tell me what on earth is going on."

De Bescora took the military report and glanced at it, then drew a soft breath: "How is this possible? How could they..."

Don Juan José looked at De Bescora. "My Minister of the Navy, I need a reasonable explanation!"

"This..." De Bescora mused for a moment. "If this news is beyond doubt, then I believe the King of Jiaqing is engaged in a great gamble!"

"A great gamble?"

"Yes! Staking the very fate of the Jiaqing Kingdom!"

Don Juan José did not understand. "Why would he do such a thing?"

"Because he was a gambler to begin with!" De Bescora said. "It was precisely because he lost the Great Ming Retired Emperor's retirement money in stock speculation in Shanghai that he had to run off to the New World to try his luck.

Later he staked himself as the wager, swindled the heiress of the Shimazu family into his hands, and only then became the victor of the Battle of Floodwater Valley!"

"But this time he clearly could have chosen not to gamble!" Don Juan José said. "Was there not a safer line of advance?"

"Yes," De Bescora thought for a moment, then said, "but he... has always had a conflict of interest with the King of the United States!"

"Is he not the uncle of the King of the United States?"

"Exactly!" De Bescora said. "That is the root of the conflict... the King of Jiaqing is also qualified to ascend the throne of the United States!"

"What?" Don Juan José was taken aback. "Does the King of the United States have no sons?"

"He has, many!" De Bescora said. "But the Easterners' rules of royal succession are different from ours. For an uncle to seize his nephew's throne by force is considered legitimate in their eyes!"

"Is that so?" Don Juan José thought to himself: Would an illegitimate elder brother seizing the throne of his foolish younger brother also be considered legitimate in the eyes of the Easterners?

"As far as I know, relations between the King of the United States and the King of Jiaqing have always been rather cold," De Bescora said. "There are also rumors that the King of the United States and the King of Jiaqing's wife, Shimazu Noji, are very close...

Moreover, the Jiaqing Kingdom is in fact a colonial state founded by the Japanese... although the King of Jiaqing is a Prince of the Great Ming. And the United States is a colonial state founded by Ming people, so the relationship between Jiaqing and the United States is not as good as it appears on the surface."

Don Juan José seemed to understand somewhat. "You mean that the King of the United States was unwilling to use his navy to help the King of Jiaqing, and so he had no choice but to risk advancing by land?"

"That should be the case..." De Bescora said. "Your Highness the Regent, I believe we should concentrate our forces and first crush the Jiaqing army in the direction of Sonora!"

(End of Chapter)