Chapter 1526: The War of Three Kings — An Opportunity to Exploit

South of Fort Guarnavel, a burned-down estate now served as the headquarters of Don Juan José.

The sound of "Indian rockets" bursting in the air drifted over faintly. Don Juan José, in full armor, stood on a still-intact rooftop, holding a monocular telescope motionless as he watched distant Fort Guarnavel.

In the courtyard below the roof, a young painter was sketching on canvas with a pencil, turning Don Juan José's current heroic and extraordinary image into a masterpiece for posterity — if Don Juan José won the coming battle, this painting would be titled "Don Juan José the Victor"; if the battle was lost... oh, but of course that was impossible. Don Juan José had no such plan!

In the plans of this Regent of New Spain, the invincible New Spanish Army was certain to win. Although before the battle began he estimated that the United States would most likely not come to King Jiaqing's rescue in full force, he had still made three preparations.

If the United States did not send troops, that would of course be ideal. He would use his 20,000-strong army to methodically besiege Fort Guarnavel. Although Fort Guarnavel was a bastion fort, it had not been built solidly — it was only a "basic version" — and simply could not withstand a siege by the New Spanish army, which had already mastered parallel siege tactics.

If the United States sent troops, landing at the port of Guaymas and reinforcing the Jiaqing Kingdom troops in Fort Guarnavel from the north, then Don Juan José would pretend to lift the siege and withdraw south, leading his 20,000-strong army toward the Los Mochis mountains, about 200 li from Fort Guarnavel.

There he had deployed another 10,000 New Spanish Legion officers and men, plus more than 5,000 knights and militia gathered along the march.

Don Juan José hoped to use the 20,000 troops under his own command to lure the reinforcing United States army and the Jiaqing troops inside Fort Guarnavel to the Los Mochis mountains, and then use the favorable terrain there to deal them a crushing blow!

Don Juan José estimated that his opponents could concentrate at most 25,000 troops, while he had 35,000, and he also possessed a powerful cavalry — a very clear advantage!

If the United States sent troops to attack the two important ports of Colima and Acapulco, Don Juan José would also receive word at once. At that point he would commit all his forces and throw everything into finishing off King Jiaqing and his more than ten thousand samurai troops inside Fort Guarnavel. Then he would turn his army back to relieve Colima and Acapulco — though of course, it would not matter much if they could not be saved, because these two ports were not very close to the Valley of Mexico. Don Juan José had already placed ambush troops on the roads from Colima and Acapulco to the Valley of Mexico to delay the advance of the United States army.

Therefore the great army led by Don Juan José would have ample time to return and take up defensive positions before the United States army entered the Valley of Mexico. Afterward he could hold Mexico City and await rescue by the French army — after the previous Battle of the Flood Valley, Don Juan José had realized that Mexico City might come under attack by foreign enemies!

Therefore, once the situation had stabilized somewhat, he had allocated funds to build city walls for Mexico City. The entire project took several years and cost over a million silver pesos. It was fully completed by the end of 1670!

Relying on these walls, and on the more than one hundred thousand Catholic white and mixed-white residents within the city, Don Juan José firmly believed he could hold out until the French army arrived.

And Louis XIV, besides sending a fleet, had also deployed a good number of land forces in the New World, mainly stationed in New Rome and its surrounding areas. In early 1674, Louis XIV had also ordered the establishment of the Governorate of Louisiana around New Rome.

If the great army of the United States reached the Valley of Mexico, Don Juan José firmly believed the French army would certainly not stand by and watch him perish.

And the distance of the Valley of Mexico from both Europe and Asia also determined the feasibility of holding out and awaiting relief — though of course, a protracted war in the Valley of Mexico was the worst of all possibilities. Even so, the Kingdom of New Spain would still have the last laugh!

At the thought that he was certain to be the victor, Don Juan José's mood improved considerably. He lowered the telescope in his hand, turned his head to glance at the courtyard below, and picked out his chief of staff, Major General Diego Don de Melo, from among the group of attendants.

"Diego, how goes it? Have the scouting cavalry returned?" Don Juan José asked.

"Your Highness the Regent," loudly reported Diego Don de Melo — a veteran in his sixties, gray-haired, lean and wiry, who had fought in the Eighty Years' War, the Thirty Years' War, the Franco-Spanish War, the Anglo-Spanish War, the Portuguese-Spanish War, the Catalan War, and the Turenne War — to Don Juan José on the rooftop, "one cavalry unit has just returned. They exchanged fire with the United States' black cavalry and lost five men! Still, they discovered some useful information.

The enemy reinforcements are most likely United States troops, numbering over 10,000, with a considerable number of black cavalry. These black cavalry are all equipped with flintlock muskets, and their warhorses are also quite good, capable of formation charges — though their shock capability cannot compare with our heavy cavalry."

Don Juan José nodded, then very agilely climbed down from the rooftop. His attendants and staff officers crowded around him, waiting for this Regent of New Spain to issue orders.

Don Juan José did not give orders immediately, but instead cast a glance at the Minister of the Navy, de Bescola.

De Bescola took a large step forward, drew close to Don Juan José, and said in a low voice: "Your Highness! The King of the United States will never hand his army over to King Jiaqing, because that would strengthen King Jiaqing's prestige. He is certain to come to the front in person, so their command is bound to have problems!"

The conflict between the King of the United States and King Jiaqing was no secret! Moreover, even if there were no conflict between them, having two kings of comparable strength appear in the same camp would inevitably cause command difficulties.

After all, command by two commanders-in-chief is certainly worse than command by one; the men below would surely be at a loss. Besides, the United States army and the Jiaqing army were in fact composed of two different peoples.

De Bescola added: "All signs indicate that the King of the United States is young, impetuous, and fond of grandiose undertakings!"

Don Juan José laughed: "That is only natural. A king — and the son of a great emperor at that — how could he not be fond of grandiose undertakings? I was the same when I was young!"

"Your Highness, the King of the United States cannot compare with you," de Bescola said with a smile. "He does not have your wealth of actual combat experience."

"And the armies of the United States and the Kingdom of Jiaqing are no match for your New Spanish Legion either!" Diego Don de Melo added. "The Kingdom of Jiaqing's army is only a noble militia with fairly strong fighting power. Their strengths are night fighting and small-scale skirmishes; they have little advantage in pitched battle. The United States' army is somewhat stronger — they have very good artillery — but their overall strength still cannot compare with the New Spanish Legion. In particular, they lack powerful shock cavalry!"

The chief of staff of the New Spanish Legion was indeed an experienced military man. While helping Don Juan José train the New Spanish Legion, he had also been carefully observing his opponents.

The results of his observations showed that although the armies of the Kingdom of Jiaqing and the United States were not weak, they were only at the level of second-rate European powers. Moreover, their cavalry was relatively weak — essentially only light cavalry, with no heavy cavalry.

"Then how should we defeat them?" Don Juan José asked.

Diego Don de Melo had long since prepared a plan. Upon hearing the question, he answered loudly: "We should withdraw to the south of the Los Mochis mountains, where the terrain is complex and the forest dense, and then form our battle line facing the mountains. The advantage of this is that once we rout the enemy, it will be very difficult for them to withdraw quickly through the mountains and jungle.

In addition, our left flank should be positioned on the beach, with the shock cavalry concealed behind the infantry formation. We should try as much as possible to form our line at high tide, and then at low tide send the cavalry along the sand to make a flanking movement and attack the enemy's right flank, which rests against the beach and lacks defenses..."

(End of Chapter)