I couldn't get into the background last night, so I had to release the latest chapter early in the morning. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

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June 1928, northeastern Mexico, seaside town of Lapsca.

Irish Army Captain Anto Aylews sat in a cart of oxen loaded with fruit and vegetables, looking through the baskets at the streets in the bleak white sun, the bumpy dirt roads and low houses reminded him of his boyhood. In the last decade, the face of that Irish town has changed dramatically, and people no longer have to wear shabby old clothes, and they can go out on their feet or on a cart, which is something that every Irishman is proud of.

If there was a messianic leader, the people here would be able to feel that pride years from now! Elwus thought to himself.

The cart traveled through the city to a manor on the outskirts of the city, and the brick walls made it difficult to peek inside the manor. After the door closed, there was more noise outside the car, and then someone spoke in English, and he roughly understood the meaning, and stood up with his black cap.

Two dark-skinned Mexicans moved away from the basket containing bananas and mangoes, while others gathered around to welcome Ellwus with a brisk whistle.

The English-speaking man, with white skin and blue eyes that are very different from those of the Indian race, has a high nose and a thick European upper lip mustache, and clasps his hands to his chest: "Welcome to Mexico, Dear Captain Elwoos. ”

This simple English was fully understood by Elwus, and he jumped out of the cart with his duffel bag and stretched out his hand to the only "kind" here: "You are Second Lieutenant Hoel?" ”

The other grinned, revealing his front teeth charred by smoke, and his smile was as bright as the weather here: "Second Lieutenant Mark Hoel of the Royal Spanish Army, happy to serve you." ”

After shaking hands, Elwus didn't know what to say, so he shrugged his shoulders and looked left and right: "This is a secret stronghold of the Christian Mujahideen, right?" ”

The Mexicans in big straw hats were busy unloading the weapons and ammunition mixed in the fruit and moving them into the house, few of them were young people in their twenties and thirties, most of them looked like uncles, skinny, fat, and fat, which did not match the word elite at all.

Alwus spoke Loving English with inaccurate grammar, and the high-nosed Spanish ensign, apparently not quite understanding what he meant, replied, "yes, it doesn't look bad." ”

Arriving at the other side of the ocean for the first time, there was still a lot of things for Elwoos to get used to, and he didn't care about this little episode, and followed Hoel into the largest house in the manor, and before he could put down his luggage, he met the leader of the place, a middle-aged man wearing a one-eyed patch and sitting behind a desk and writing hard.

Like the Mexicans outside, the middle-aged man was dressed as a civilian, but the bulging bullet belt that was slung cross-shouldered instantly made him domineering.

The Spaniard introduced Elvos to "This is Colonel Salcido, commander of the 20th Regiment of the Mexican Army of Christians. ”

As soon as Elwus stretched out his hand, the man stood up suddenly, not tall, even a little short, he was stocky, with an armed belt around his waist, a large revolver in a half-pack holster, which looked like a British Webley point four or five, and his mouth was actually in English, but the pronunciation and grammar were very strange.

"Captain Aylwus, we have been waiting for you for a long time, and as I welcome you, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to your Majesty the King, and hope that your assistance will enable us to win this sacred war."

When shaking hands with the other party, Elwus felt as if his hand was firmly clamped by a large iron tong, this is definitely a short man full of strength, and he may not have a chance to win when he really fights.

"It's an honor to join you." Ellwus said politely. He came to Mexico not because of his deep affection for the country, but because the Catholics here were suffering unimaginable catastrophe - Plutalco-Elias Calles, the founder of the Institutional Revolutionary Party of Mexico and an atheist, proposed a new constitution that established a more radical anti-clerical content, which later led to the passage and implementation of anti-clerical criminal laws, which gradually evolved into persecution of Catholics. After years of peaceful resistance, the Mexican people began to rebel against the Mexican government in the form of armed resistance, which led to the famous "Christian War". In 1927, the Mexican government declared the guerrillas of Catholics and their supporters to be thugs and separatists, and began a harsh crackdown on them.

Unlike previous religious conflicts, this Christian War was the suppression and even persecution of Catholics by atheists using the regime, and the actions of the Mexican government attracted the attention of the Roman Catholic See, Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical "Holy Savior", expressing sympathy for the situation of Catholics in Mexico, and Catholic countries condemned the radical policies of the Mexican government, and some countries began to secretly support the Christian army in Mexico, including Spain and Ireland, which are also Catholic countries.

The era of the Crusades has long been lost in the long river of history, and in the twentieth century, when industrial civilization awakened, there will no longer be a large group of people who will go on expeditions for religious justice, and the starting point of any military action is usually only one point, that is, profit. At the beginning of the 20 th century, Mexico's industrial economy was not developed, but its rich resources were coveted -- the industrial exploitation of coal, copper, iron, oil and other mineral deposits reached a considerable scale, the annual output of oil exceeded 2 million tons, and the production of coffee, sugar, cotton and other agricultural products was also very rich.

Geographically, Mexico is the backyard of the United States, with the United States has a land border of more than 2,000 kilometers, like the Gulf of Mexico, the north side is the more economically developed Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and other states of the United States, the southwest is Mexico's long coastline, and the northwest port of Mexico is only a stone's throw away from San Diego, Los Angeles and other important cities in the United StatesAll of them are a sharp weapon to hold the United States hostage militarily and strategically.

Skipping the chaotic backdrop of the big era, and looking back at the small estate in northeastern Mexico, the Irish officer Alwus said to the stewards here: "When will my work begin?" ”

The somewhat unscrupulous middle-aged Mexican man tilted his head sideways and asked, "What are you best at?" ”

Elwus replied solemnly, "Train the soldiers." ”

The middle-aged man and the Spanish officer who had arrived earlier glanced at each other, and both of them laughed inexplicably.

Somehow, Elwus puffed out his chest and said, "Just give me two months, and I can train a group of peasants who have never touched a gun to become qualified warriors." ”

The middle-aged Mexican man shook his head, picked up the seemingly unfinished letter from his desk, and explained in his strange accent: "Monterrey, more than 400 kilometers away, is an important stronghold of our resistance to the government army, a week ago, about 5,000 government soldiers surrounded it, the situation in Monterrey is getting worse every day, the friendly army needs us to rush to reinforcements as soon as possible, we now have less than 200 trained fighters and more than 400 new recruits who have just joined the Christian army, But we had new rifles, machine guns, and plenty of ammunition. ”

Alwus thought about it for a moment, and was about to express his initial idea, but he caught a glimpse of the second lieutenant from Spain, Hoel, giving him a look, and suddenly understood: "Is there anything I can help with, Mr. Colonel." ”

The middle-aged Mexican man seemed unaware of the quiet communication between the two European officers, and he walked to the map of Mexico hanging on the wall with his hands behind his back, looked up at the lines marked on it, and muttered to himself.

At this time, Second Lieutenant Hoel said in another jerky English: "Monterrey is too far away from us, we need to pass through the area controlled by the government army, and there is no convenient waterway to walk, if this is a war in the traditional sense, and I am the commander of the Christian army in Monterrey, then I will not hesitate to choose to break through, use the terrain to get rid of the pursuit of the government army, and join up with friendly troops in the coastal area, but the problem is that this is not a traditional war, but a battle between civilians and regular troops to defend their faith, Once they leave their familiar place, it will be difficult for them to escape from the government forces with cavalry. ”

Second Lieutenant Hoel's explanation obviously expressed the concerns of the middle-aged Mexican man, and he turned his brow tightly: "In addition to our regiment, there will be several other troops rushing to Monterrey, if we can defeat the siege of the government army, I believe that more countries will support us." ”

Elwus knew very little about Mexico before, and after being selected as one of the first volunteers, he began to make up for this knowledge, knowing that Mexico began with the revolution in 1910, experienced a decade-long political turmoil and civil war, and after entering the 20s, the state form was stabilized, and in just seven or eight years, the domestic economic situation has changed greatly, and the original revolutionary army and guerrilla units have been transformed into professional armies, and the level of training and equipment is certainly much worse than that of the armies of the great powers. The scale is also a bit shabby, but it is more than enough to deal with the spontaneous formation of the Christian army by civilians. In order to reverse this disparity in power, Spain, which once ruled Mexico and whose citizens were mostly Catholics, Ireland, a new military power in Europe, and their "big brother behind the scenes" Germany, actively contributed money, guns, and men to actively help the Mexican Christian Army fight against the Mexican government army.

Germany, Ireland, and Spain are all monarchies that are more efficient at adventuring militarily than democracies, but Mexico is far from Europe, and the current Mexican government has closer ties to the United States. In order to avoid direct U.S. intervention, aid to the MRA had to be carried out in secret, and all the volunteers came to Mexico in their personal capacities, leaving the country without connection with the national army, and the firearms and ammunition that arrived in Mexico were mostly British equipment at first. In this way, Mexican's religious warriors can only have a bright and smooth road if they survive the most rugged paths.

(End of chapter)