bookandnovel Chapter 758: The Demonic Dragon
Chapter 758: The Demonic Dragon
Chapter 758: The Demonic Dragon
On the dim yellow ground, the three tracks left by the tracks stretched for hundreds of miles.
The billowing black smoke looked like the smoke signals used in ancient times to warn nomads.
This is the landship that Mexico purchased from Britain. This small landship can carry a limited number of passengers and artillery, but it has anti-magic armor, main guns, and secondary guns, so its combat effectiveness is not much weaker.
When the British sell arms abroad, they generally rarely cut back on technology. After all, they have to compete with France, Germany, and even small countries like Sweden and Belgium for the arms market.
In addition, the complex gears and pipes of the landspeeders needed to be maintained by British technicians, and fuel and shells had to be imported from Britain. The British were not at all worried that Mexico would use the landspeeders against them one day.
In the landship in the middle, the great dictator was looking at the desolate scene outside through the porthole.
The old general humbly walked up to him, bowed, and whispered: "Mr. President, the French hope to buy any one of the three landships we have."
"Is today April Fool's Day?"
Porfirio frowned and said impatiently: "Or are those self-righteous Frenchmen so full of shit that they can't even think normally?"
"Landships are not guns or artillery that can be scrapped just like that. How can we hand over such a big target to the British technicians and instructors who are keeping a close eye on it every day? Without those British guys, our soldiers wouldn't even be able to operate this thing.
Even if the French can settle all this, I am afraid that they will be intercepted by the British fleet before leaving the port of Veracruz, and then sent to the bottom of the sea with a single shot. "
He turned around and looked at his trusted general, "General Gonzalez, I hope you can put aside your military duties and come to my ship, not just to tell me this joke."
Gonzalez was rebuked by Porfirio, but he was not annoyed. He just walked forward, grabbed Porfirio's hand, and gestured: "They give this number."
Porfirio swallowed his saliva and said, "These French people are really...
Full of sincerity."
"But again, it's impossible to sell them the landspeeder."
The President was obviously tempted. He thought for a long time before saying, "The French are after the technology in the landspeeder anyway. Tell the French envoy that I allow them to send technicians to visit the British technicians when they are on break. They can even disguise themselves as my personal guards and participate in learning how to drive and maintain the technology of the Jureas. How much they can do depends on the price they offer."
General Gonzalez nodded slightly: "I understand. I will convey your will to the French envoy later."
"Ah."
Thinking that a large sum of money would be coming in soon, Porfirio couldn't help but smile again.
With this money, he was able to arm his "rural patrol" and greatly strengthen his personal authority. He was originally a liberal, but he soon realized that only despotism and power could make Mexico develop.
He walked out of the cabin and onto the deck.
Behind him were three long and narrow tracks and a mighty army holding high the Eagle Snake flag. The smoke and dust they stirred up seemed like a dim sky following closely behind them.
"Gonzalez, you should remember that I have been to Texas before."
Porfirio held onto the railing of the landspeeder, full of energy and hope. A huge ship like this was a perfect match for the desert.
"Yes, Mr. President."
Gonzalez was the steward of Porfirio's estate in Oaxaca and, like him, was of Hispanic descent with Indian ancestry.
"At that time, I was a fugitive living here with only two guards. I was almost swallowed by a hyena, and it was a Texas cowboy who saved my life."
That was when he launched an armed rebellion against former President Lerdo and was forced into exile after his failure.
Gonzalez whispered, "This is God's will. Even if that cowboy doesn't come, someone else will appear."
"Ah."
Porfirio smiled. He knew very well that Texas was not a devil's den and the person who saved his life was a young wolf. Unfortunately, they were going to fight each other this time.
"The last time I came, I was a down-and-out fugitive. This time, I came with a mighty army, as a conqueror, as the Napoleon of the Western Hemisphere."
Gonzalez hurriedly complimented him: "Your great achievements are unmatched even by Napoleon."
...
Compared with the high-spirited president of his own country, the middle-level officers who either rode on horses or in caravans, and the knights who formed their own team and were clearly distinguished from ordinary soldiers.
The low-level Mexican soldiers, who had to travel on foot under the scorching sun, had some complaints.
They marched with heavy steps and, urged and scolded by the officers, walked out in sparse and scattered formations.
The officer shouted, "Come on, Mr. President has promised! When we capture the Texan town, all the captives will be sold as indentured slaves, and their farms will be distributed to the meritorious officials of this battle."
Most of the Chinu were white people from Europe, some of whom were exiled criminals, and some of whom were debt slaves who were unable to repay their debts and had to sell themselves.
Most of them were refugees. For example, there was a famine in a certain place in Europe and the locals could not survive. They wanted to escape to the New World where "gold was everywhere", but they could not afford the cost of the ship ticket and had to sign an indenture to sell themselves.
Or they were simply abducted. There were quite a few human traffickers in Europe, and some of them even colluded with the unscrupulous local nobles. In years of disaster, the nobles not only did not have to provide relief to the victims, but could directly sell them to human traffickers and make a fortune.
The price of white indentured slaves in the slave market was much lower than that of black slaves. This was the same as the market situation in the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, only the great nobles could afford black slaves, and they were all castrated by the Saracens and could not be bred.
At this time, the number of black slaves had increased, but their prices were still higher than those of white slaves. The reason was that white indentured slaves were generally not lifelong, and they had to be given freedom after serving for a certain number of years.
Moreover, white slaves had a stronger sense of resistance and were not as hardworking as the black slaves who had been bred and selected. They could not be oppressed as unscrupulously as the black slaves, and it might even lead to protests from their mother country.
In some remote areas, the situation was not so strict. The status of many white slaves was lower than that of black slaves. Slave owners would often use loyal black overseers to deal with unruly white slaves.
A joke once said that a black man in the United States confidently accused a white man's ancestor of enslaving him. As a result, when tracing his bloodline, he found out that he was a mixed-race black man bred by the slave owner himself, and the white man was a contract servant of the slave owner.
The officers scolded the soldiers, but they couldn't help but murmur in their hearts: "Those cowardly Texans, who knows where they have gone? Are we here just to occupy this piece of wasteland?"
A Mexican soldier suddenly pointed to the sky and exclaimed: "Is that a giant eagle?"
In the sky, a small black dot quickly passed through the clouds and revealed its figure.
"Dragon, it's a dragon!"
"Damn it, hide!"
"A three-headed dragon!"
Like an eagle preying on a flock of chickens, the already disorganized marching troops of the Mexicans instantly became chaotic.
On the land ship, Porfirio sneered in front of everyone's horrified gazes: "Haha, the dragon that the British are so afraid of is actually so small, it can't even reach the level of an ancient dragon!"
Porfirio's calmness infected the officers.
"Mr. President, what should we do now?"
"Please ask Bishop Michael to come. He has brought a holy relic and can easily kill a dragon."
Porfirio remained calm in the face of danger, looking confident, commanding with all his might under his large hat brim. With a height of less than 1.7 meters, he really had a bit of the demeanor of the self-proclaimed "Napoleon of America."