My answer is the third point in that it can be colonized and developed since the Island wasn't ethnic chinese at the time.
Lone Star Republic
- Thread starter Kaiser Chris
- Start date
My answer is the third point in that it can be colonized and developed since the Island wasn't ethnic chinese at the time.
You are right in many aspects, while some situations described above can happen, the United States will not turn dystopian in terms of civil rights and as you will see in later chapters, the Nassau Uprising will have many great benefits for the status of Blacks in the United States TTL. If this caused the treatment of Blacks to go absolutely down the shithole, then Atticus Harris would not be revered by the black community in 2017, which is equal in many ways to other famous black Americans such as Fredrick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, and other famous people (sadly Martin Luther King will not come to prominence in this TL due to various reasons of the Butterfly affect and alternate civil rights, he will be famous in other ways however, just not on nearly the same impact). I'll go over this extensively in Chapter 87 with a discourse on the current attitude towards slavery in the Union, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and the effects this will have on the war along with attitudes from loyalist Southerners. Let's just say for now that Civil Rights and Reconstruction will be vastly different from this.
The reason the British wanted Hong Kong is because it was a highly developed city and already a critical trade hub within the Chinese Empire with a large potential for Naval supremacy in the region. While Formosa has an equal amount of benefits in terms of military and geopolitical influence, it does not have the same connection or already standing importance within mainland China that Hong Kong does. There is also the fact that controlling one city is far easier than controlling a large island with millions of non-white natives that would take years to subjugate and waste lots of time and reosurces with assimilation, something they were already having trouble with in India. Ever since the British lost the 13 colonies in the American Revolution, their policy has been Mercantislist Imperialism. At the end of the day the Hannoverians and Parliment were more concerned for making Britain rich rather than settling large expanses of the world. The only places they actually succeeded in true settlement colonization was Australia, Canada, and New Zealand; however those three were solely due to the low Native population which made for little resistance to incoming settlers.
There will be some chances for the Mormons to prove their loyalty to Texas with Mormon troops(specifically Arizona), though most the status of Mormons within Texas isn't going to be entirely redeemed from the war. The process of Mormon integration into the Republic is mostly going to be a slow one with memories of the rebellion fading and Deseret's increasing connection to Austin along with the cooperation of the Mormon people dispelling some prejudices present. Since Joseph Romney is going to be the first Mormon President in 50 years from now, something that the United States hasn't achieved in OTL, that for one shows how far they will come. Unfortunately in regards to Joe's election, there will be some issues and attacks from his opponents on his Mormon beliefs. The main reason he will win though is due to the Great War. I won't reveal how that exactly affects Texas politics, let's just say though that Romney's far from Woodrow Wilson's idealism and that he is initially impartial to both sides.
And I'm presuming for the better, if only a little. If nothing else an African American majority state that can be pointed to to show the world won't end with equality will be great for the ATL civil rights movement and reconstruction.
Intriguing.
Woodrow Wilson was a one world government supporter. He tried to get America to join the defunct League of Nations but congress at the time said no. 25 years later Congress bought into the United Nations and fulfilled the dream Wilson had earlier.
Having a president ITTL that does not desire to involve himself with Europe will be fun to watch.
Just thought of something. What is Texan law on Polygamy?
I know that in OTL it was made illegal in the 1880s due to antimormon lobbyists and traditionalist Christians. Church headquarters in Salt Lake would repeal it in 1892. What's the fate of it in this timeline? Many outside the church thought that polygamy was Joaeph way of cheating on Emma. In reality it was used as a way to take care of the widows and fatherless as their husbands were being murdered for being Mormon. A fate of a woman in the 1800s was not pretty. For most it boiled down to three options.
1) Marriage
2) Prostitution
3) Starve
While there were exceptions to the rule these were the choices for most. If will be interesting to see Texas response to the above issue.
Having a president ITTL that does not desire to involve himself with Europe will be fun to watch.
Just thought of something. What is Texan law on Polygamy?
I know that in OTL it was made illegal in the 1880s due to antimormon lobbyists and traditionalist Christians. Church headquarters in Salt Lake would repeal it in 1892. What's the fate of it in this timeline? Many outside the church thought that polygamy was Joaeph way of cheating on Emma. In reality it was used as a way to take care of the widows and fatherless as their husbands were being murdered for being Mormon. A fate of a woman in the 1800s was not pretty. For most it boiled down to three options.
1) Marriage
2) Prostitution
3) Starve
While there were exceptions to the rule these were the choices for most. If will be interesting to see Texas response to the above issue.
Texas established its policy firmly in the aftermath of the Mormon Rebellion. While the existing polygamous marriages were permitted to stand there are to be no more. And anyone leaving such a marriage by divorce will not be allowed to reenter one. There is a loophole using 'spiritual wives', but in the eyes of the secular law these are seen as mistresses.
The Mormons enjoyed a fair bit of autonomy and Deseret was created for their benefit much like Arizona was for its Tejano majority. As such the attempted Rebellion was see as a betrayal and a degree of validation to anti Mormon prejudices. So Mormons and polygamy in particular aren't getting much sympathy in Texas right now.
I know Power Rangers will be part of TTL pop culture, but what about some of these TV shows that I've been watching on DVD lately:
Lost in Space
Gilligan's Island
Get Smart
Walker Texas Ranger
Battlestar Galactica
Police Squad
MST3K
The Nanny
Star Trek
Andromeda
Farscape
Firefly
Babylon 5
Buck Rogers
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I Dream of Jeannie
Bonanza
Also, what would the comic book industry be like? Would Texas have it's own superheroes?
Lost in Space
Gilligan's Island
Get Smart
Walker Texas Ranger
Battlestar Galactica
Police Squad
MST3K
The Nanny
Star Trek
Andromeda
Farscape
Firefly
Babylon 5
Buck Rogers
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I Dream of Jeannie
Bonanza
Also, what would the comic book industry be like? Would Texas have it's own superheroes?
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On the matter of the American film industry ITTL: OTL didn't it start in New Jersey and later shift to the West Coast? Maybe it stays in New Jersey or that region ITTL?
I just watched Baywatch today, and I was wondering if the franchise exists ITTL:
I think Florida is more stylish, but there could some major studios in that region.
Chapter 84: Seguin's Counterattack
Chapter 84 Seguin's Counterattack
"I shall do my duty to the Empire and avenge the the lives of our countrymen at Tampico. Juarez shall know learn that Napoleon is a less forgiving man than Louis Phillipe."- General Francois Achilles Bazaine 1862.
"Let us make a stand at Los Angeles. Let this city become our Alamo so that Mexico may fear the mighty Lone Star Republic for all of its existence."- Brigadier General Patrick Edward Connor 1862
"Day 84. We are still stuck in this Texan hellhole with Tuscon nowhere near in sight. I made a new friend today, his name is Senor Cactus. Senor Cactus says that I should launch a mutiny against the Major and that we shall be rewarded with tomales. Pedro the Horse asks that I bid my time and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. I shall contemplate on the matter further."- Journal of Corporal Jaime Vasquez 1862."
California: In the California Commonwealth fears had been going rampant for months since the invasion of Baja California that the Commonwealth might fall and that Monterrey or San Francisco could fall prey to sackings by the vengeful Mexican Army. In order to prevent such a scenario from occurring, Governor John B. Weller put the Commonwealth in a near state of martial law as he voluntarily let the Army take over much of the government functions to prepare for a counterattack to rid California of the Mexican menace. The Texan citizens were more than welcoming of this as they did not want their paradise to be taken away from them after a decade of hardship and rewards. Luckily for the Texans, the defeats would end soon with the Battle of Los Angeles providing a turning point for the war. Los Angeles while not as developed as San Diego or San Francisco back in the day, was a growing city with a large harbor that was increasingly becoming a focal point of trade with Latin America. If Los Angeles fell along with the loss of San Diego, then the Texas economy would be in a recession for years to come. Brigadier General Patrick Edward Connor saw to the defense of the city himself with Los Angeles over the spring of 1862 quickly turning into a fortress town reminiscent of the Russian citadel of Premyszl during the Great War. Every block within the city was fortified with numerous stockades, some explosive emplacements, artillery camps, and roadblocks all throughout. The Pacific Brigade of the Texas Marines fortified the harbor with over 2,000 ready to defend one of Texas's four critical trade posts on the Pacific. The rest of the city was fortified by 25,000 defenders who were mostly Californian recruits who were ready to avenge the defeats of San Diego and Tijuana. The most surprising observation of the Texan defense was the large Chinese presence with 10,000 Chinese men forming part of the new recruits. With a large part of Tejanos and white Texans patriotic but reluctant to pull away from their farms and businesses with the possibility of an economic spiral, Texan recruiters targeted the Chinese population with tens of thousands mostly doing cheap white collar jobs. The Chinese immigrants while having little understanding of English or Spanish, were all veterans of the Taiping rebellion and numerous other peasant conflicts in China with the immigrants not wanting to lose their new lives in California. As described by General Conner, "You can hardly have a conversation with the Chinos but they're tough bastards and they'll follow every order without question.", making the Chinese Texan a valued soldier in the eyes of Texan officers. Perhaps the most historically innovative part of the Battle of Los Angeles that would change the face of warfare to come was the usage of Barbed wire. Arizonan Pablo Corazon was a Ranch King within the Arizona Commonwealth and had over 1,000 acres of land within the Commonwealth for his cattle. However Corazon ran into an increasing problem of keeping his business alive with the increasing problem of runaway cattle that his cowboys had to wrastle in along with Apache raids which would steal the cattle away. Not wanting to lose anymore money, Corazon decided to make steel fencing with several sharped edges around it which would keep horses, cattle, and wild animals away from his property. Corazon had obtained his patent last year in November of 1861 but had trouble selling it to his fellow Texan planters. The man was on his way to travel to Chile and Argentina to sell it their, when he heard of the fortifications within Los Angeles. Corazon managed to obtain an audience with General Conner and convince him of the uses of his invention against Mexican cavalry and men. Connor was impressed by the wiring and decided to order a mile of barbed wire with the Los Angeles steel mill going hard at work in May and June to create enough barbed wire to surround the city, many Texan defenders unsure of the usages of the wiring and completely unaware of its future impact on Texas history.
A Texan Artilleryman (Left) Barbed wire emplacements in Los Angeles, with Chinese troops passing by (Right)
The Battle of Los Angeles took place on June 9th with now Major General Enrico Pena and his 6,500 men with over 5,000 tending to the defenses down South. In all strategic sense Pena should have stayed in San Diego and prepare for an assault by the Californians while awaiting for further reinforcements from down south. However Pena was metaphorically drunk on his recent victories and wanted to be the man to plant the Mexican flag at Monterrey and conquer San Francisco for President Juarez. The Mexicans were grossly unprepared for the Texan defenses with the approaching infantry columns being gunned down by artillery fire and sharpshooter platoons while finding now tangible route into the city. Pena's plans also completely fell apart with the Mexican cavalry finding themselves stuck with the never before seen Barbed wire and unable to get their horses to move forward while they were killed one by one by Texan rifles. The first wave was a total disaster with 1,134 Mexican casualties and the Mexicans scrambling and unable to build a FOB or coordinate artillery fire on the Texans. Sensing the opportunity to end the battle before things got bloody for the defenders, Connor ordered a full charge of the California 4th, 5th, and 6th divisions with the Marines spearheading a charge on the left flank and the Texan cavalry being led by Ranger Colonel Jack Hayes to bring up the rear. Under assault on all sides the Mexican forces panicked and a scene reminiscent of San Jacinto played out with many Texans shouting "Remember San Diego" and "Remember Tijuana". The Chinese battalions stood unwavering under fire and proceeded with the heaviest thrusts of the Texans, Corporal Ming Long later becoming the first the first Chinese Texan to receive the Medal of Honor with the singlehandedly capture of General Pena and his entire support staff in the command tent, preventing the destruction of several hundred pages of Mexican documents that brought valuable intelligence to the Texan Army. With Pena surrendering the Battle of Los Angeles was over with the Mexicans suffering heavy losses with 1,349 killed, 1,529 wounded, and 3,278 taken prisoner with the rest escaping. The Texans in turn suffered 561 killed, and 490 wounded. The Battle of Los Angeles at that point was the greatest military victory for the Texans with morale overturning very high throughout all of California. Three weeks later with additional forces leading to the creation of a 40,000 man army; Connor would lead the Texans down south on a crusade to liberate California from the Mexicans. The subsequent Second Battles of San Diego and Tijuana on July 17th and 20th were cakewalks as the defending Mexican garrisons surrendered with little more than an hour's fight between each of them due to being surrounded by the Texans and half of the Californian Expeditionary forces retreating to Sonora. With word coming that For Alacorn was abandoned by Mexican forces in early July, the Californian Commonwealth was officially declared to be liberated on July 23rd with the Texans reaching the Mexican border. The tide of the war was beginning to turn.
Battle of Los Angeles
Arizona: When the men under Juan Berrara's command set out to conquer Tucson with the eventual goal of conquering Deseret, they dreamed of glorious battles fought in the Wild West with themselves returning as heroes to be worshiped by the entire nation. Little did they know that they would never see even a hint of success as they would lose the war not to the mighty Texans, but to the natural environment. The Arizona Expedition, or the El Dorado Expedition as it is called within both Texas and Mexico for its similarities to the previous quests that took place in the region, is generally regarded by military historians as one of the worst planned missions in the history of warfare. The Mexican government in their haste to unify all of Texas with Mexico City, only gave the Mexican soldiers the bare necessities to survive for the journey to Tucson and never planned to formulate any large supply lines beyond a couple to Sonora as most focus was placed on other fronts. The Mexicans who were on the expedition were not even from the region such as Sonora, but were from Southern Mexico as they were reserve troops with the Sonoran men and those from neighboring states such as Sinaola going to California or Texas. This would prove to be a huge tactical error as it would make the men unprepared for the harsh conditions to come. Besides their lack of high quality supplies and men, intelligence was highly poor as there was little to no information of what was within the Arizona commonwealth with the closest maps being those dating back to 1801 with newly formed Texan towns, railways, and trade stops being scribbled in with comparison to Texan maps or information from Texan prisoners. With not even a single local to guide them, the men of the ill-fated troop set out on December 28th to go and claim glory for Mexico.
In the remaining days of winter of 1861, the El Dorado expedition wandered aimlessly among the Arizona desert to search for their targets. The Expedition was put in jeopardy on January 13th when a Texas Ranger patrol located the approaching army ninty-five miles southwest of Tucson, the Mexican soldiers unaware that they were being watched. The Rangers made their way back to Tucson with quick haste in order to alert the depleted Arizona garrison whose only defense were a little over 2,000 men with half being part of the French contingent that was located in Texas. Arizona Governor Enrique Cruz decided to take charge of the situation and form a plan to distract the Mexicans from reaching near Tucson while he dispatched telegrams and riders to Austin, Monterrey, and Salt Lake City to ask for reinforcements. Cruz dispatched ordered the Arizona department of the Rangers to launch a guerilla war against the Mexicans with hard strikes on their supplies and kill as many as they could before a proper battle could take place. Lieutenant Colonel William "Bigfoot" Wallace was head of the Arizona company and only had around 83 Rangers for the entire commonwealth to use against the Mexicans. In order to wage a true guerilla war, Wallace contacted the Navajo Nation and pleaded for their assitance. The Navajo were the second largest ethnic group in Arizona with 85,667 citizens according to the 1860 census, and they were the largest Indian tribe in terms of territory with the Navajo controlling 1/3rd of Arizona. Since joining the ICI in 1839, the Navajo had been productive citizens of Texas with Navajo guides helping trade convoys between California and Texas while providing some small labor in the Transcontinental Railroad. Upon hearing the plight of the Rangers, Navajo Chief Barboncito called upon a Great Council of the nation to decide on what course to take. The Tribal Council voted unanimously to extend aid to the Texans, for as Chief Barboncito put it, "Under Texas we are free citizens of the Republic. Under Mexico we were savages and driven from our land in pursuit of insane adventures for gold. I think it is quite clear which course to take." Over the next six months the Navajo would launch a campaign with the Rangers with hundreds of Navajo warriors launching attacks on Mexican companies and destroying any supply lines that they could reach. Over the course of the first half of 1862, 261 Mexicans were killed from the guerrilla warfare in return for 34 Ranger and Navajo deaths. Bigfoot Wallace as head of the Coalition launched a number of plans to slow the Mexicans such as putting up fake signs in Spanish that pointed towards the direction of Tucson, leading Mexican patrols into Apache territory where they would be ambushed, causing stampedes of the Mexicans horses, setting fire to trees and shrubs in their wake, etc. Beyond the loss of life the attacks were extremely effective as the Mexicans lost 1/3rd of their supplies with a further 89 Mexicans dying from heat stroke or lack of water and medicine for diseases. Multiple mutinies were launched upon Colonel Berrara with the first being a makeshift revolt by an insane corporal named Jaime Vasquez which saw the shooting of him and six other conspirators. Morale was at an all-time low and many Mexican troops were starting to go insane with mirages being quite common and one private in particular wandering 15 miles alone south while believing that he was following the cavalry. Things were at an all-time low for the Mexicans and beyond some backwards farms there was no sign of civilization in sight.
Chief Barbaconcito of the Navajo. After the war he was elected as the Western Union Governor of Arizona in 1867, also becoming the first Indian Governor within Texas. Barbaconcito served until 1875 when he was defeated by Republican Manuel Huerta. Barbaconcito would then serve until his death in 1895 as Head Chief of the Navajo Nation.
On May 25th, French Colonel Matthew Gerard led the Texan response to the Mexican invasion force with a now standing contingent of 5,300 men. 1500 of the new reinforcements had come from the Navajo while 800 had surprisingly come from the Deseret with a mostly Mormon contingent led by Major David Sanders who were part of the Deseret 1st and 2nd who were formed during the war with redemption for the Mormon Rebellion in mind. The Rangers led the way for the armed force to attack the El Dorado expedition with the Rangers keeping tabs on their movements at all times. On June 3rd the Battle of Tucson (in reality it was 35 miles Southeast) took place with the Texan force descending upon the Mexican soldiers. Upon being attacked the Mexicans put up somewhat of a defense, however when a large group of soldiers mistakenly heard Colonel Berrara order for a fight to the death (later testimonies and research point to it being an overzealous sergeant) a large mutiny of hundreds began with Berrara being killed and a massive surrender soon taking place, the men tired of marching through the desert and wanting an end to the war for them. The Battle of Tucson took a recorded 23 minutes with 39 Mexicans dead, 42 wounded, and 3,463 captured. Most of the battle simply consisted of the Texans dealing with the surrender for only 2 Texans were killed with 7 wounded. After the Battle of Tucson, Mexico would never again invade Arizona as they viewed it as a wasteland that would rather be won in a treaty than by martial conquest. A majority of the Texan forces were redeployed to California while the remaining garrison forces stayed to protect the settlements against opportunistic Apaches. The people who won the most out of the El Dorado expedition were the Navajo who gained a newfound respect from the rest of Texas for their effort and an opening of 124 Navajo who would be inducted into the Rangers.
Texas: With the efforts to retake California underway and sightings of Mexican troops in Arizona reported, Seguin had to switch tactics and delay the liberation of the Rio Grande even further than what they had already planned with a second invasion having supposed to taken place on June 15th. While in the minds of the Texans they were letting their Rio Grande brethren suffer under Mexican tyranny, they had to place higher priority on immediate survival and the prevention of a possible conquest of San Antonio or Austin. Generals Travis and Johnston were ordered to remain stationary and not to let a single Mexican soldier across the river. A reported 36 skirmishes took place from April1st to September 1st of 1862 with the Mexican Army suffering 6,321 casualties while the Texan forces suffered 3,287 casualties. Battalions formed multiple stations across the Rio Grande river with a ten mile distance between each station so that in the event of an invasion riders could gather word to Texans in a short distance away which allowed for short responses. The Texas Rangers were heavily strained during this time as they had to fulfill the role of special forces soldiers with raids into Mexican territory, scouting Mexican positions, and preparing defense of the border. With word reaching Austin of renewed Comanche attacks upon settlements in the Northwest, the Rangers were forced to dispatch a 1/4th of the Texan Commonwealth Brigade while the Texas Marines were brought in to close the gap with their being little maritime action in the war. While the Mexicans were prevented from entering into Texas fully, they had caused a large amount of damage on the Rio Grande river thanks to the efforts of the Republican Gaurd with dozens of small settlements ruined and only the cities of McCallen, Brownsville, and Laredo survived mostly intact. The tide began to turn with the construction of numerous river monitors along the river with the Texan Admiralty buying the designs from the Union and constructing 20 river monitors for patrol on the Rio Grande against Mexican attacks. With California pushing the invaders outside of their borders, plans were redrawn for a second and more sustained invasion of Coahuila that would establish a forward front from which the rest of Northern Mexico could be striked. General Johnston was also give orders to link up with the Deseret 1st, 2nd, and the Albequerque garrison with 15,000 men to retake the city of El Paso which had been the focus of multiple raids on supply lines to Deseret and Western Texas, the eventual goal to reestablish a full connection to California from the Rio Grande.
Yucatan: In the first half of 1862, the Republic of the Yucatan would stay on the defensive and form a long line that lasted dozens of miles to hold the Mexican army from reaching Merida and the Central American districts of the country. After the Battle of Cuidad del Carmen halted the Mexican offensive, reinforcements from Honduras would poor into Guatemala by the thousands while the inhabitants of the Yucatan peninsula readied large defenses in their towns for the eventuality of a Mexican invasion. Many battles in skirmishes took place in both Campeche and Guatemala with Mexican companies and battalions leading forays to the larger coastal cities, only to get ruthlessly attacked by Mayan insurgents who hit hard and left few survivors. The ethnic cleansing of Tabasco and Chiapas by the Mexican Army left both Creole and Mayan Yucatani's in pure hatred of the Mexicans with little incentive to treat them honorably in battle. Despite orders from the high commands of both sides to adhere to the laws of war, the infantry on the ground ignored such calls with close hand-to-hand fights to the death and the usage of bladed weapons such as machetes and spears in heated melee reminiscent of Cortez's conquest. Just like in the previous two wars, the Mexicans began to lose the advantage with little knowledge of the jungle terrain of the Yucatan and the general succumbing to diseases. From January 1st 1862 to July 1st, the Mexicans suffered 8,513 casualties while the Yucatan suffered 6,145 casualties. The tide would begun to turn in June when news of the California Counteroffensive and Texan invasions across the Rio Grande forced the Mexicans to stop attacks in the Yucatan and redirect resources to compensate. Morale would be lifted when the French Foreign Legion made contact and arrived in Merida on June 21st with 4,400 legionaries and around 19,000 regular forces under the command of General Francois Achile Bazaine. The French reinforcements were sent by Emperor Napoleon III who was livid at the brutality of the Mexican actions at Tampico with all of France demanding Mexican blood in revenge. The Legionnaire forces and the other members of the expedition were part of a grand plan to punish Mexico for their crimes and ensure justice for the deceased French, with possible further direct benefits in a peace. Bolstered by the addition of the French, Yucatan Command began to formulate a plan to launch a liberation of Tabsco and Chiapas, the time to retake the province being now with the training of tens of thousands of Yucatani soldiers and the defeats of the Mexicans up North. Operation Cortez would be launched on July 4th, tbe day of Yucatan independence.
The French Foreign Legion in Mexico
"I shall do my duty to the Empire and avenge the the lives of our countrymen at Tampico. Juarez shall know learn that Napoleon is a less forgiving man than Louis Phillipe."- General Francois Achilles Bazaine 1862.
"Let us make a stand at Los Angeles. Let this city become our Alamo so that Mexico may fear the mighty Lone Star Republic for all of its existence."- Brigadier General Patrick Edward Connor 1862
"Day 84. We are still stuck in this Texan hellhole with Tuscon nowhere near in sight. I made a new friend today, his name is Senor Cactus. Senor Cactus says that I should launch a mutiny against the Major and that we shall be rewarded with tomales. Pedro the Horse asks that I bid my time and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. I shall contemplate on the matter further."- Journal of Corporal Jaime Vasquez 1862."
California: In the California Commonwealth fears had been going rampant for months since the invasion of Baja California that the Commonwealth might fall and that Monterrey or San Francisco could fall prey to sackings by the vengeful Mexican Army. In order to prevent such a scenario from occurring, Governor John B. Weller put the Commonwealth in a near state of martial law as he voluntarily let the Army take over much of the government functions to prepare for a counterattack to rid California of the Mexican menace. The Texan citizens were more than welcoming of this as they did not want their paradise to be taken away from them after a decade of hardship and rewards. Luckily for the Texans, the defeats would end soon with the Battle of Los Angeles providing a turning point for the war. Los Angeles while not as developed as San Diego or San Francisco back in the day, was a growing city with a large harbor that was increasingly becoming a focal point of trade with Latin America. If Los Angeles fell along with the loss of San Diego, then the Texas economy would be in a recession for years to come. Brigadier General Patrick Edward Connor saw to the defense of the city himself with Los Angeles over the spring of 1862 quickly turning into a fortress town reminiscent of the Russian citadel of Premyszl during the Great War. Every block within the city was fortified with numerous stockades, some explosive emplacements, artillery camps, and roadblocks all throughout. The Pacific Brigade of the Texas Marines fortified the harbor with over 2,000 ready to defend one of Texas's four critical trade posts on the Pacific. The rest of the city was fortified by 25,000 defenders who were mostly Californian recruits who were ready to avenge the defeats of San Diego and Tijuana. The most surprising observation of the Texan defense was the large Chinese presence with 10,000 Chinese men forming part of the new recruits. With a large part of Tejanos and white Texans patriotic but reluctant to pull away from their farms and businesses with the possibility of an economic spiral, Texan recruiters targeted the Chinese population with tens of thousands mostly doing cheap white collar jobs. The Chinese immigrants while having little understanding of English or Spanish, were all veterans of the Taiping rebellion and numerous other peasant conflicts in China with the immigrants not wanting to lose their new lives in California. As described by General Conner, "You can hardly have a conversation with the Chinos but they're tough bastards and they'll follow every order without question.", making the Chinese Texan a valued soldier in the eyes of Texan officers. Perhaps the most historically innovative part of the Battle of Los Angeles that would change the face of warfare to come was the usage of Barbed wire. Arizonan Pablo Corazon was a Ranch King within the Arizona Commonwealth and had over 1,000 acres of land within the Commonwealth for his cattle. However Corazon ran into an increasing problem of keeping his business alive with the increasing problem of runaway cattle that his cowboys had to wrastle in along with Apache raids which would steal the cattle away. Not wanting to lose anymore money, Corazon decided to make steel fencing with several sharped edges around it which would keep horses, cattle, and wild animals away from his property. Corazon had obtained his patent last year in November of 1861 but had trouble selling it to his fellow Texan planters. The man was on his way to travel to Chile and Argentina to sell it their, when he heard of the fortifications within Los Angeles. Corazon managed to obtain an audience with General Conner and convince him of the uses of his invention against Mexican cavalry and men. Connor was impressed by the wiring and decided to order a mile of barbed wire with the Los Angeles steel mill going hard at work in May and June to create enough barbed wire to surround the city, many Texan defenders unsure of the usages of the wiring and completely unaware of its future impact on Texas history.
A Texan Artilleryman (Left) Barbed wire emplacements in Los Angeles, with Chinese troops passing by (Right)
The Battle of Los Angeles took place on June 9th with now Major General Enrico Pena and his 6,500 men with over 5,000 tending to the defenses down South. In all strategic sense Pena should have stayed in San Diego and prepare for an assault by the Californians while awaiting for further reinforcements from down south. However Pena was metaphorically drunk on his recent victories and wanted to be the man to plant the Mexican flag at Monterrey and conquer San Francisco for President Juarez. The Mexicans were grossly unprepared for the Texan defenses with the approaching infantry columns being gunned down by artillery fire and sharpshooter platoons while finding now tangible route into the city. Pena's plans also completely fell apart with the Mexican cavalry finding themselves stuck with the never before seen Barbed wire and unable to get their horses to move forward while they were killed one by one by Texan rifles. The first wave was a total disaster with 1,134 Mexican casualties and the Mexicans scrambling and unable to build a FOB or coordinate artillery fire on the Texans. Sensing the opportunity to end the battle before things got bloody for the defenders, Connor ordered a full charge of the California 4th, 5th, and 6th divisions with the Marines spearheading a charge on the left flank and the Texan cavalry being led by Ranger Colonel Jack Hayes to bring up the rear. Under assault on all sides the Mexican forces panicked and a scene reminiscent of San Jacinto played out with many Texans shouting "Remember San Diego" and "Remember Tijuana". The Chinese battalions stood unwavering under fire and proceeded with the heaviest thrusts of the Texans, Corporal Ming Long later becoming the first the first Chinese Texan to receive the Medal of Honor with the singlehandedly capture of General Pena and his entire support staff in the command tent, preventing the destruction of several hundred pages of Mexican documents that brought valuable intelligence to the Texan Army. With Pena surrendering the Battle of Los Angeles was over with the Mexicans suffering heavy losses with 1,349 killed, 1,529 wounded, and 3,278 taken prisoner with the rest escaping. The Texans in turn suffered 561 killed, and 490 wounded. The Battle of Los Angeles at that point was the greatest military victory for the Texans with morale overturning very high throughout all of California. Three weeks later with additional forces leading to the creation of a 40,000 man army; Connor would lead the Texans down south on a crusade to liberate California from the Mexicans. The subsequent Second Battles of San Diego and Tijuana on July 17th and 20th were cakewalks as the defending Mexican garrisons surrendered with little more than an hour's fight between each of them due to being surrounded by the Texans and half of the Californian Expeditionary forces retreating to Sonora. With word coming that For Alacorn was abandoned by Mexican forces in early July, the Californian Commonwealth was officially declared to be liberated on July 23rd with the Texans reaching the Mexican border. The tide of the war was beginning to turn.
Battle of Los Angeles
Arizona: When the men under Juan Berrara's command set out to conquer Tucson with the eventual goal of conquering Deseret, they dreamed of glorious battles fought in the Wild West with themselves returning as heroes to be worshiped by the entire nation. Little did they know that they would never see even a hint of success as they would lose the war not to the mighty Texans, but to the natural environment. The Arizona Expedition, or the El Dorado Expedition as it is called within both Texas and Mexico for its similarities to the previous quests that took place in the region, is generally regarded by military historians as one of the worst planned missions in the history of warfare. The Mexican government in their haste to unify all of Texas with Mexico City, only gave the Mexican soldiers the bare necessities to survive for the journey to Tucson and never planned to formulate any large supply lines beyond a couple to Sonora as most focus was placed on other fronts. The Mexicans who were on the expedition were not even from the region such as Sonora, but were from Southern Mexico as they were reserve troops with the Sonoran men and those from neighboring states such as Sinaola going to California or Texas. This would prove to be a huge tactical error as it would make the men unprepared for the harsh conditions to come. Besides their lack of high quality supplies and men, intelligence was highly poor as there was little to no information of what was within the Arizona commonwealth with the closest maps being those dating back to 1801 with newly formed Texan towns, railways, and trade stops being scribbled in with comparison to Texan maps or information from Texan prisoners. With not even a single local to guide them, the men of the ill-fated troop set out on December 28th to go and claim glory for Mexico.
In the remaining days of winter of 1861, the El Dorado expedition wandered aimlessly among the Arizona desert to search for their targets. The Expedition was put in jeopardy on January 13th when a Texas Ranger patrol located the approaching army ninty-five miles southwest of Tucson, the Mexican soldiers unaware that they were being watched. The Rangers made their way back to Tucson with quick haste in order to alert the depleted Arizona garrison whose only defense were a little over 2,000 men with half being part of the French contingent that was located in Texas. Arizona Governor Enrique Cruz decided to take charge of the situation and form a plan to distract the Mexicans from reaching near Tucson while he dispatched telegrams and riders to Austin, Monterrey, and Salt Lake City to ask for reinforcements. Cruz dispatched ordered the Arizona department of the Rangers to launch a guerilla war against the Mexicans with hard strikes on their supplies and kill as many as they could before a proper battle could take place. Lieutenant Colonel William "Bigfoot" Wallace was head of the Arizona company and only had around 83 Rangers for the entire commonwealth to use against the Mexicans. In order to wage a true guerilla war, Wallace contacted the Navajo Nation and pleaded for their assitance. The Navajo were the second largest ethnic group in Arizona with 85,667 citizens according to the 1860 census, and they were the largest Indian tribe in terms of territory with the Navajo controlling 1/3rd of Arizona. Since joining the ICI in 1839, the Navajo had been productive citizens of Texas with Navajo guides helping trade convoys between California and Texas while providing some small labor in the Transcontinental Railroad. Upon hearing the plight of the Rangers, Navajo Chief Barboncito called upon a Great Council of the nation to decide on what course to take. The Tribal Council voted unanimously to extend aid to the Texans, for as Chief Barboncito put it, "Under Texas we are free citizens of the Republic. Under Mexico we were savages and driven from our land in pursuit of insane adventures for gold. I think it is quite clear which course to take." Over the next six months the Navajo would launch a campaign with the Rangers with hundreds of Navajo warriors launching attacks on Mexican companies and destroying any supply lines that they could reach. Over the course of the first half of 1862, 261 Mexicans were killed from the guerrilla warfare in return for 34 Ranger and Navajo deaths. Bigfoot Wallace as head of the Coalition launched a number of plans to slow the Mexicans such as putting up fake signs in Spanish that pointed towards the direction of Tucson, leading Mexican patrols into Apache territory where they would be ambushed, causing stampedes of the Mexicans horses, setting fire to trees and shrubs in their wake, etc. Beyond the loss of life the attacks were extremely effective as the Mexicans lost 1/3rd of their supplies with a further 89 Mexicans dying from heat stroke or lack of water and medicine for diseases. Multiple mutinies were launched upon Colonel Berrara with the first being a makeshift revolt by an insane corporal named Jaime Vasquez which saw the shooting of him and six other conspirators. Morale was at an all-time low and many Mexican troops were starting to go insane with mirages being quite common and one private in particular wandering 15 miles alone south while believing that he was following the cavalry. Things were at an all-time low for the Mexicans and beyond some backwards farms there was no sign of civilization in sight.
Chief Barbaconcito of the Navajo. After the war he was elected as the Western Union Governor of Arizona in 1867, also becoming the first Indian Governor within Texas. Barbaconcito served until 1875 when he was defeated by Republican Manuel Huerta. Barbaconcito would then serve until his death in 1895 as Head Chief of the Navajo Nation.
On May 25th, French Colonel Matthew Gerard led the Texan response to the Mexican invasion force with a now standing contingent of 5,300 men. 1500 of the new reinforcements had come from the Navajo while 800 had surprisingly come from the Deseret with a mostly Mormon contingent led by Major David Sanders who were part of the Deseret 1st and 2nd who were formed during the war with redemption for the Mormon Rebellion in mind. The Rangers led the way for the armed force to attack the El Dorado expedition with the Rangers keeping tabs on their movements at all times. On June 3rd the Battle of Tucson (in reality it was 35 miles Southeast) took place with the Texan force descending upon the Mexican soldiers. Upon being attacked the Mexicans put up somewhat of a defense, however when a large group of soldiers mistakenly heard Colonel Berrara order for a fight to the death (later testimonies and research point to it being an overzealous sergeant) a large mutiny of hundreds began with Berrara being killed and a massive surrender soon taking place, the men tired of marching through the desert and wanting an end to the war for them. The Battle of Tucson took a recorded 23 minutes with 39 Mexicans dead, 42 wounded, and 3,463 captured. Most of the battle simply consisted of the Texans dealing with the surrender for only 2 Texans were killed with 7 wounded. After the Battle of Tucson, Mexico would never again invade Arizona as they viewed it as a wasteland that would rather be won in a treaty than by martial conquest. A majority of the Texan forces were redeployed to California while the remaining garrison forces stayed to protect the settlements against opportunistic Apaches. The people who won the most out of the El Dorado expedition were the Navajo who gained a newfound respect from the rest of Texas for their effort and an opening of 124 Navajo who would be inducted into the Rangers.
Texas: With the efforts to retake California underway and sightings of Mexican troops in Arizona reported, Seguin had to switch tactics and delay the liberation of the Rio Grande even further than what they had already planned with a second invasion having supposed to taken place on June 15th. While in the minds of the Texans they were letting their Rio Grande brethren suffer under Mexican tyranny, they had to place higher priority on immediate survival and the prevention of a possible conquest of San Antonio or Austin. Generals Travis and Johnston were ordered to remain stationary and not to let a single Mexican soldier across the river. A reported 36 skirmishes took place from April1st to September 1st of 1862 with the Mexican Army suffering 6,321 casualties while the Texan forces suffered 3,287 casualties. Battalions formed multiple stations across the Rio Grande river with a ten mile distance between each station so that in the event of an invasion riders could gather word to Texans in a short distance away which allowed for short responses. The Texas Rangers were heavily strained during this time as they had to fulfill the role of special forces soldiers with raids into Mexican territory, scouting Mexican positions, and preparing defense of the border. With word reaching Austin of renewed Comanche attacks upon settlements in the Northwest, the Rangers were forced to dispatch a 1/4th of the Texan Commonwealth Brigade while the Texas Marines were brought in to close the gap with their being little maritime action in the war. While the Mexicans were prevented from entering into Texas fully, they had caused a large amount of damage on the Rio Grande river thanks to the efforts of the Republican Gaurd with dozens of small settlements ruined and only the cities of McCallen, Brownsville, and Laredo survived mostly intact. The tide began to turn with the construction of numerous river monitors along the river with the Texan Admiralty buying the designs from the Union and constructing 20 river monitors for patrol on the Rio Grande against Mexican attacks. With California pushing the invaders outside of their borders, plans were redrawn for a second and more sustained invasion of Coahuila that would establish a forward front from which the rest of Northern Mexico could be striked. General Johnston was also give orders to link up with the Deseret 1st, 2nd, and the Albequerque garrison with 15,000 men to retake the city of El Paso which had been the focus of multiple raids on supply lines to Deseret and Western Texas, the eventual goal to reestablish a full connection to California from the Rio Grande.
Yucatan: In the first half of 1862, the Republic of the Yucatan would stay on the defensive and form a long line that lasted dozens of miles to hold the Mexican army from reaching Merida and the Central American districts of the country. After the Battle of Cuidad del Carmen halted the Mexican offensive, reinforcements from Honduras would poor into Guatemala by the thousands while the inhabitants of the Yucatan peninsula readied large defenses in their towns for the eventuality of a Mexican invasion. Many battles in skirmishes took place in both Campeche and Guatemala with Mexican companies and battalions leading forays to the larger coastal cities, only to get ruthlessly attacked by Mayan insurgents who hit hard and left few survivors. The ethnic cleansing of Tabasco and Chiapas by the Mexican Army left both Creole and Mayan Yucatani's in pure hatred of the Mexicans with little incentive to treat them honorably in battle. Despite orders from the high commands of both sides to adhere to the laws of war, the infantry on the ground ignored such calls with close hand-to-hand fights to the death and the usage of bladed weapons such as machetes and spears in heated melee reminiscent of Cortez's conquest. Just like in the previous two wars, the Mexicans began to lose the advantage with little knowledge of the jungle terrain of the Yucatan and the general succumbing to diseases. From January 1st 1862 to July 1st, the Mexicans suffered 8,513 casualties while the Yucatan suffered 6,145 casualties. The tide would begun to turn in June when news of the California Counteroffensive and Texan invasions across the Rio Grande forced the Mexicans to stop attacks in the Yucatan and redirect resources to compensate. Morale would be lifted when the French Foreign Legion made contact and arrived in Merida on June 21st with 4,400 legionaries and around 19,000 regular forces under the command of General Francois Achile Bazaine. The French reinforcements were sent by Emperor Napoleon III who was livid at the brutality of the Mexican actions at Tampico with all of France demanding Mexican blood in revenge. The Legionnaire forces and the other members of the expedition were part of a grand plan to punish Mexico for their crimes and ensure justice for the deceased French, with possible further direct benefits in a peace. Bolstered by the addition of the French, Yucatan Command began to formulate a plan to launch a liberation of Tabsco and Chiapas, the time to retake the province being now with the training of tens of thousands of Yucatani soldiers and the defeats of the Mexicans up North. Operation Cortez would be launched on July 4th, tbe day of Yucatan independence.
The French Foreign Legion in Mexico
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Of those franchises I have only seen Battlestar Galactica, The Nanny, Star Trek, and Firefly. In terms of the Pop culture updates that will come in the future, I want that to be its own thread with myself starting a TL once this reaches the 1990's called "The World of Lone Star Republic". Basically the spinoff will cover the society of this TL and the different pop culture, scientific, social, religious, and cultural differences that will take place within this world and isn't covered with the focus mostly of this story mostly being on the fate of each nation and the grand geopolitics that take place. I want the World of LSR to be a collaborative thread where anyone can submit their ideas for what they want to appear in pop culture. Numerous new franchises and works can pop up, but existing ones from our world can remain. Of our existing franchises that crossover, they will either be altered radically in story and development, be praised far superior to OTL as masterpieces, or be regarded as utterly horrible works and fail hugely in comparision to OTL. I will have final calls on the collaborative pieces, and will decide the direction of pop culture based on historical events. I would like others inputs as I am only one man and I have not been exposed to every form of entertainment that's ever existed, as evidenced by Terranova's list.
The Comic book industry will be slightly larger with American comic books being developed more similarly to Manga in that comics cover a variety of genres instead of just superheroes, with various comics getting adaptations into films and shows. Alongside DC and Marvel, there will be a third Texan comic company which I am in the midst of working on the concepts of said company. Texas will have its own superheros both within Marvel and DC, along with other superheroes in Texan comics. The Lone Ranger will technically be a Texan super hero with him becoming the Texan equivalent of Sherlock Holmes in pop culture.
I don't know. I probably won't include it as I haven't seen the film and I'm not a fan of the original Baywatch either.
Interesting developments that will have the most profound effects being cultural in that Chinese Texans will have a better chance at obtaining rights than OTL California
Heck of an update, and as always, good work. Now to get down to business it seems the tide of the war in Mexico is turning, and quite frankly I'm glad to see it. I won't make any bones about my sympathies being with the USA in this timeline, but Texas is in fact second, so glad to see them pushing Mexico out.
Hmm, this could be important down the road. Interesting hint.
Not an expedition I'd want to be a part of. Wouldn't mind owning a full book or two on it though.
I do wonder how this will end up going. It'll be to the benefit of Texas to establish a buffer between them and Mexico for the remainder of the war, and I have faith they'll do it, but how far can they drive into the old Republic of the Rio Grande, and more importantly, what happens when the guns fall silent? Hopefully we all find out soon.
No one man can know or watch everything (I get ribbed at work for that a little bit. More than surprises a co-worker I never got into Game of Thrones), but if you like old westerns I would recommend you watch Bonanza. One of my favorites, and in my opinion one of the better TV westerns of the 50's and 60's.
Disappointed the California campaign collapsed completely. Though awesome development for the Chinese immigrants.
Predictable results for the Arizona venture, and a moment of shining for the Navajo nation.
I see Texas as having major trouble in the future. The former RRG does not want liberation. The Mexicans liberated them and they looked to Mexico for years while Texas left them to rot in anarchy. This will not just be facing Mexico's improved military, the very people will be an enemy against the hated foreign invader.
Likewise for the invasions of Mexico from the South.
I can't believe Juarez actually attacked Guatamala. That left even before Santa Anna!
But yeah, Mexico may be on the ropes, but this is far from over and now the home turf advantage is shifting.
Predictable results for the Arizona venture, and a moment of shining for the Navajo nation.
I see Texas as having major trouble in the future. The former RRG does not want liberation. The Mexicans liberated them and they looked to Mexico for years while Texas left them to rot in anarchy. This will not just be facing Mexico's improved military, the very people will be an enemy against the hated foreign invader.
Likewise for the invasions of Mexico from the South.
I can't believe Juarez actually attacked Guatamala. That left even before Santa Anna!
But yeah, Mexico may be on the ropes, but this is far from over and now the home turf advantage is shifting.
Well, good luck with that. I'll be happy to help you in what ever way I can.
It's going to be very vastly different and contain much of the same at the same time. I've only got concepts going on in my head so I haven't fully predicted how the industry will change. Some things that will change is a higher popularity in the West, mainstream spread of several shows, American and Texan anime (or Neo-Anime) companies, and Miyuzaki not thinking anime was a mistake. One thing I do plan which will be radically different, is for the Big 3 in the West to be HunterxHunter, Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, and Berserk instead of Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece.
The collapsing of the California front and Arizona is actually a huge plot point about the Mexican War. It shows how Juarez is too zealous in his mission to unify all of Mexico and how Mexico's fanatical Revanchism is actually hurting its cause in the war. A far more logical thing to do would be for Mexico to take the Rio Grande as already planned, and focus all of their resources onto one front such as a grand invasion of California or the Yucatan, and keep the other nation occupied on defense. Instead Juarez is spreading his limited manpower and resources across all fronts because he wants to conquer every inch of formerly Mexican land all at once. This is why Mexico will obtain a partial and not a total victory. We'll also see the full negative consequences of Jaurez's war policies in 1863.
Chinese immigrants are going to have it far better in Texas with an important victory that I have planned in the 1940's. Since Texas is a minority-majority nation and California also has a sizeable Tejano minority, the Texas Congress cant pass a Chinese Exclusion Act or else they'll risk potential backlash from other ethnicities. Having the Chinese serve in the defense of California and Texas is going to propel them a long way in earning the respect of their fellow countrymen. This is going to be a stark constrast with the Chinese who will come to Oregon and Columbia who will be treated with the same suspicion as OTL, but won't come in large enough numbers to cause a panic.
Texas is going to face some trouble in the near future after their recent comeback and multiple victories. To Texas they'll wonder why the hell the Rio Grande will want to live under the rule of the savage and oppresive Seguin when they can have the "freedom" to live under their own country. It will not go as well as planned.
Yucatan will have an easier time with the southern invasions though as there is a sizeable Creole loyalist number in Chiapas and Tobasco.
Well Guatemala was once part of Mexico, and in Juarez's mind all must become one with the Mexican state.
Absolutely right. 1863 will be sort of the endgame for both the Civil War and the Mexican War. However while the Civil War will end decisively, the Mexican War will result in an unclear mess with tensions for decades to come.