**Chapter 98**
**Aftermath of War (3)**
Dududududu-
"Kill them! Those savage bastards!"
Bang! Tatabang!
Heeheeheehing-
"Damn it. Those Yankees have finally gone mad."
Potsnakwahwiphu spat out a curse.
"It seems like they've decided to go all out."
The United States, which had been ignoring them, not even bothering with a proper subjugation attempt, had changed.
The number of cavalry was steadily increasing, and they even had six-shot pistols similar to those used by the Mexicans.
"We haven't just been playing around for the past four years."
They had just crossed the border.
The sounds of the pursuers and the pursued. The plain, where only the sounds of two groups could be heard, suddenly started to have five or six more sounds.
"Damn it! We've gone too deep! Retreat! Retreat!"
The US cavalry officer realized something was wrong as soon as he heard the sounds, but the guys he was chasing were already flanking to counterattack.
On top of that, Comanche cavalry were approaching from the left, right, and rear.
If they stayed there, they would be surrounded and killed.
"Break through! If you don't break through, you'll die!"
It was a fight that they would have normally chased away and ended, but it was a blunder to go in a little deeper, trusting in the recently replenished troops and the revolvers given to all the cavalry.
"Could those savage bastards really move so tactically?"
With the current troops and weapons, they wouldn't be afraid even if twice the number of Comanche warriors who were chasing them came. But the number of those charging at them wasn't twice as many.
"They won't move out of the way! We'll collide if we keep going!"
"Split into two groups and avoid them!"
The US troops began to retreat, splitting into two groups to avoid a collision, but the Comanche cavalry approaching from the rear also split into two.
"There's no choice! It's all or nothing! Fire your revolvers before we collide!"
The Comanche cavalry would never have charged head-on in the past, but they weren't going to move out of the way after blocking the rear. They didn't come all this way without their weapons.
Tatatatatabang!
The sound of revolvers firing frantically could be heard, and then.
Boom!
The two cavalry groups finally collided.
"Ugh!"
Those who were pierced by spears fell from their horses, and close combat began.
"Th...those savage bastards, where did they get all these iron weapons!"
There were even some with armor.
"Don't engage! Keep retreating!"
"Bu...but!"
"Shut up! It's an order! Can't you see that enemy reinforcements are coming from the left, right, and rear?"
Thanks to the US cavalry splitting into two groups first, they were able to spread out a little more. The soldiers on the right side of the left group and the left side of the right group had no choice but to collide head-on with the Comanche cavalry, but the rest could escape if they didn't fight.
The US troops abandoned some of their soldiers who had lost speed due to the head-on collision and continued to run.
"Tsk, abandoning their comrades and running away. What a ridiculous act, "No Man Left Behind" is a joke."
Potsnakwahwiphu clicked his tongue, cleaning up the abandoned US cavalry.
"Capture those you can! Confiscate all their weapons!"
It was a great harvest, even though they were disappointed that they had missed most of the Americans they could have captured.
"Gather the six-shot pistols in one place. We might be able to get bullets."
"Yes!"
The Comanche tribe, who had been chased away by the Mexican Empire five years ago, had feared that the United States might be as powerful as Mexico, but fortunately, that wasn't the case.
Their level of vigilance and defense force were pathetic, and the subjugation force sent by the US government was weak, even though they had been raided countless times.
They had many troops, but not many cavalry, they didn't move tactically, and their weapons weren't as strong as Mexico's.
The Comanche tribe, besides raiding and hunting buffalo for food, also attacked and forcibly merged with neighboring tribes, so they knew that they could mobilize a huge army if they wanted to.
That fear was becoming a reality.
"It's starting, I guess."
"Yes. They've decided to get rid of us completely."
"We won't go down easily. No, we'll win this time."
Potsnakwahwiphu said with a resolute expression.
"Of course. We've been preparing for this for a long time. We need to find out if we can get bullets for revolvers from those Mexicans."
"If you give me the bullets the Americans use, I'll make them the same. It's obvious that they're trying to use us to contain the United States."
"Yes. Let's choose a war chief."
The United States and the Comanche began to prepare for an all-out fight.
November 1840.
The beginning of the US-Comanche War.
***
"Actually, the northern territory is just a pretext."
"Pretext... what?"
Diego reacted hesitantly when I suddenly said that, staring at the map.
"Yes. I'm thinking of reorganizing the entire administrative district of the empire."
"I see. You mean you're going to include the administrative districts of central and southern Mexico, but it's been a long time since the administrative districts were solidified, so there will be opposition if you suddenly say you're going to change them, won't there?"
"There will be opposition. But look at this. Doesn't the state of "Mexico" seem too big?"
The capital state, including Mexico City, is not that big compared to the north, but its population and economic power are overwhelming.
"Well... that's true, but..."
"This "Nueva Vizcaya" state is the same. We need to reorganize it overall. The current administrative districts were decided based on terrain and historical context, but my idea is that we can create more efficient and beautiful administrative districts while considering those factors."
In fact, the state boundaries and names of this period are quite different from Mexico in my previous life. It means we can definitely change them.
However, it's inevitable that the boundaries won't be neat, because we can't completely ignore terrain or historical context.
The United States, famous for its very neat state boundaries, was able to do that because it has a lot of flatland and (by American standards) no historical context.
As proof, if you look at the eastern states that were created early in the United States, the sizes of the states are completely different, and the state boundaries are not straight.
"I think we can definitely change it... But even with the northern territory, there's still debate about how to change it. If we're going to change the center and the south, I'm worried if we'll be able to reach a conclusion."
"It's best to wrap these things up quickly. We need to be careful, but dragging it out doesn't always lead to better results."
I convened a meeting to solve this problem.
***
The Emperor's party, the landowners' party, and the Republicans, one congressman from each faction, as well as the Crown Prince, me, and the ministers of each government department, were gathered in the palace conference room.
In the center of the conference room was a huge map, the most detailed map of the terrain that we could find, a high-resolution map.
It was made specifically for today.
In the conference room where many of the Mexican Empire's bigwigs were gathered, I was the first to speak.
"Until we settle this issue, we'll be coming to this conference room every day, except for mealtimes and sleeping times."
"Yes!?"
The landowner congressman, startled by my words, unconsciously spoke out loud, but everyone else was surprised too.
"There's a huge map here showing detailed terrain, and there's also detailed information about each region, so you can make bold decisions referring to this information. Let's proceed quickly, so it doesn't take long."
We have the experts and decision-makers all in this room, so there's no need to drag it out.
"Alright, let's start with the northern territory. Of course, we're going to split it into several administrative districts."
We started with California, the largest chunk. The current state of California is truly huge.
The current California is a vast area that includes most of the previous state of California (420,000 square kilometers), Nevada (280,000 square kilometers), Utah (220,000 square kilometers), parts of Arizona (290,000 square kilometers) and Colorado (270,000 square kilometers), and finally, Baja California (Southern California), which is Mexican territory.
It's over a million square kilometers.
"Shouldn't we split it into at least four states?"
Even split into four, it's almost 300,000 square kilometers. It's bigger than the largest states in central and southern Mexico, but there's no need to make the sizes exactly the same, so it was a proposal to cut it at a reasonable point.
"I think four is not enough. I think five is appropriate, including part of the territory of New Mexico next door. The areas I've envisioned are..."
As I opened my mouth and offered my opinion, each of the ministers of the administrative departments and the congressmen began to speak, as if they all had something to say.
"The flow of the conversation is not that different from the United States and Mexico in my previous life."
It was in the direction of splitting it into the northern, central, and southern parts of the coastal region, and the territories of the previous Nevada and Arizona.
It seems like the territory of Nevada and Arizona has shrunk a little because of Central California, which didn't exist in my previous life.
We didn't even bother changing the names, because the names California, Nevada, Arizona, etc., are not English, but rather Spanish names, with roots in Spanish, given by Spanish explorers.
California is derived from a fictional place name in a Spanish novel, Nevada comes from the Spanish word "Nevada," meaning "snow-covered," and Arizona comes from the Basque word "aritz ona," meaning "good oak tree."
Someone suggested that we put the royal family's name in, but I refused, it was too embarrassing.
The meeting continued smoothly.
New Mexico was split into New Mexico and Colorado, and Texas was decided to be split into two states, West Texas and East Texas. The territory of Texas in our Mexican Empire is much smaller than modern Texas, so there was no need to split it further.
There was a little noise when deciding the center and the south, but I pushed through.
After almost a month of continuous debate, the Mexican Empire's administrative reorganization plan was complete.
***
"Is land acquisition going well?"
"Yes, Your Highness. We're buying it gradually."
"Please be careful that it doesn't leak out. If it leaks out, the land price will skyrocket, and we might not even be able to buy it."
I urged the Minister of Finance to be extra careful about security. He's been the Minister of Finance for a long time, trusted by my father, but if this leaks out, the entire plan could be shaken.
"I will pay the utmost attention to ensure that it doesn't leak out."
The reason I've carried out a major reorganization of the administrative districts, even at the cost of local power and the inconvenience of local residents, is because of this plan.
It's a plan to build a "core city" in each state, meticulously planned in the best location.
Of course, good locations are recognizable by everyone, so many areas have been developed, and some places are still barren, but the fact that we need to secure land to proceed is the same for both.
All land in the north, except for the land given to natives or immigrants, is owned by the government. Therefore, we can develop it freely, but the rest of the territory is a different story. Most of it has clear owners, so we need to buy the land.
It's a natural thing for the government to take the lead in planning and fostering cities in modern times, and it's common even in this era, but this scale of planning is the first and last.
"This is a plan where I can make the most of my advantage of majoring in civil engineering and urban planning in my previous life."
It's such a huge plan that I might not be able to complete it by the time I die, but I believe it will bring tremendous competitiveness to our Mexican Empire.
Thank you so much for the chapters
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