บท 6: Taking Over a Country
General POV.
Morales did a great job bringing enough information to capture the city. And due to the complete hegemony of the Spaniards, the cities of Spanish America were never under siege by the natives. When they were, they would not build walls but go out and exterminate all the natives. A reign of terror that help them become indisputable overlords of the land.
'This is good, but I must ensure we make it worthwhile. Tomorrow is the day of the Market. We can use that, but the village we commandeer as a base will leak if we stay here too long. After all, we are just 36 men.' Felipe understood he was against the clock. If he is to make his plan succeed, they need to do it immediately.
They will enter the city as a farmer trying to sell their things in the capital. But instead of food, he will bring muskets and pistols to make a coup d'etat.
He thinks of the economic burden that such a stupid war was making. Just giving independence to Venezuela is a no-no. No matter how much their people claim they want liberation, Felipe will never let go of the most oil reserves in the world! Aside from that, Venezuela also has a substantial concentrated deposit of Iron Ore. Colombia does not have big Iron Mines; they have an abundance of Gold, Emeralds and Coal. If he loses the Iron Mines, his plans for the future will be affected. Of course, you can be successful without raw materials, just like in Japan. Still, he does not like putting obstacles over himself just because other people want liberty or whatever they claim.
The door nocked.
"Yes?"
"Your majesty… Do you want to spend the night...?" The voice of a female was heard. She did not complete the sentence, but it was clear to both parties what she meant. Felipe recognized her; she was a waitress at a bar. Extreme beauty, wars would be fought over her.
Even though he doesn't drink, he has gone to the bar to speak to the people that gather there. After all, he has to ensure that people who can easily harm him are on his side.
"No, go away."
"…"
--
They began their travel to Caracas alongside a few mules and many carts to hide the muskets, the mules that they came with from the Orinoco Basin were also brought with them; the mules are a hybrid of a donkey and a horse, super bright, super durable and most surprisingly was that they are stupidly good swimmers.
They still had to use more lent Mules from the people in the village. They also left the wounded soldiers in the town.
So they were already undermanned and under-gunned if they were talking about taking over the capital of the rebel nation.
The moment when the forest and villas end and the city starts could be more apparent. However, it was still there. Like that, they could enter the city centre where Morales gathered intelligence next to where the Junta gets together.
All in all, the guards noticed the vast amount of men arriving at the capital.
"Gentlemen, who are you? Why so much Cargo?" The Soldier asked as he looked Felipe right in the eyes.
Felipe is the imperial crown prince, but Caracas is dozens of kilometres away from the Capital, Santa Fe, and Felipe has never been to Caracas. His portraits have yet to be sent to Caracas.
"We are the men from the southeast… a patron gave jobs after the army going south took his slaves and young men," Felipe said as he made the best accent that the people of the village they stayed spoke with.
"What patron?"
"Hey, Casablanca, what was the name of the patron? Don Miguel or Don Matias?" Felipe asked as he shrunk his face and looked back to his Soldier following the act. His acting was quite good.
"Ay! How do you forget that? Don Miguel, it's Don Miguel." Casablanca said as he looked annoyed at Felipe's "forgetfulness."
"I have never heard of him." The Soldier said.
"…" The other soldiers were not so sure, so he stayed silent.
"Who knows if your patron has taxes up today? We are at war, after all."
Felipe sighed loudly.
"My patron said that might happen. Ay, I wanted to get that money." Felipe said as he twisted his body and returned a leather pocket with clear coins.
The soldiers understood, and even though they had never seen them, one of them reached and took the bag.
"You have a good day!" The soldiers quickly moved their way.
A country with poor reserves of money to pay its police is where contraband thrives; that is how Pablo Escobar moved billions of dollars through the streets of Colombia in the 80s. This time, they did not move billions of Cocaine but sold their only hope for independence for their country.
'I hope that we have not run out of luck.' Even though the war between Paez and him would be considered unlucky, he could maintain his life. That is a vast accomplishment knowing that more than 23 thousand died.
He calmed his breathing as he looked at the central centre plaza entering his view. They have arrived.
--
"Gentlemen, I asked you here in an emergency meeting as I have gotten the news that the Army of General Paez has never reached any checkpoint they should." The member of the Junta said as he looked grim.
Closed wooden windows deafened the noises of a busy plaza outside. Still, nevertheless, the screams of a rooster would pierce the wooden windows from time to time. They didn't have a palace; they were not in Vienna or Berlin. They are in a country that just declared independence from the Spanish Empire. Their infrastructure was only meant to maintain a small government from Spain and Spain alone. There is no industrialization; they are a country of farmers, so they only needed a plaza big enough for farmers to bring their products.
"Travelling through a rare path is meant to be slow. That is probably why." Another member of the Junta said while feeling annoyed by the whole thing. After all, he has just lost an entire plantation due to the lack of man powder, and all the slaves have been shipped to the war alongside many men.
The members of the Junta are all aristocrats of the region, meaning they are stupidly rich people relative to the rest of the people. They represent the will of the ones with money, which is the only will that matters as most of the regular people are illiterate. They are not able to read or write. Then again, that would differ when gender is brought to the table; The Catholic Church states that the only duty of a woman is to serve her husband, so there is no need to read or write, much less do math; they would learn how to stitch, look good and how to cook, anything else was irrelevant. That led to a very ignorant population.
"That is the problem. Intelligence has said that the army of more than ten thousand the Colombians sent arrived through the checkpoints where General Paez and his army should have arrived." The member of the Junta said as he saw the face of the other change as he expected.
"…" no one said anything. They understood that two fronts would clash in a battle, but thinking about it made anyone fearful. Two gigantic armies would be rowing in the middle of nowhere.
"The army we sent to Santa Fe de Bogota will not meet the ones they sent. They will be facing another army meant to defend Bogota." He explained.
"Who is commanding the army that general Paez fought? Everyone knows of Paez's ability when it comes to war. I am sure he has been delayed as they need to bring back the prisoners, and they also need to attend to their wounded." A short man with quite a big belly said as he tried to make the atmosphere less tense.
They have just declared war on the newly created empire. It is like fighting right again after 3 fighting rounds against Mike Tyson. No thoroughly professional army and no fully armed army. They planned that Bogota would have to accept as a war would cost too much, but it was different. They dove right into it.
"His imperial majesty, the crown Prince Felipe Antonio Arboleda de Aragon Toro." The man said very seriously. "He is the leader with 5 commanders under his wing, no achievements under their belts."
"Then it must be a joke. No matter how large their army is, the commander is still a kid. General Paez is most likely just late." The man with the vast Belly explained.
A bunch smiled, and a bunch didn't smile.
"The crown prince is a genius. He could speak at the age of 1 and a half years. He spoke another language at age 3, did complicated math at age four and helped his father make a fortune at age 5. If anyone can take on, Paez is him." The one that spoke first explained that he had seen the crown prince standing beside the emperor as the emperor would address them. The other members of the Junta have not even been to Bogota.
"No matter how genius you are, to command in a battle, you need experience, and he has 16 if my mind doesn't fail me. That battle will be considered won." A newly promoted general said with cockiness despite being unqualified to say that.
"…" The ones that had seen the crown prince didn't say anything. They all agree that the crown prince is not normal. They agreed to it, but deep inside them; they knew they should be scared of the result of such a battle.
"Okey, let us not waste this day; I already waste my day coming here. If anything, we shall authorize more conscription to maintain the gentlemen assured and increase the security of Caracas, as even if the crown prince wins, the losses will not be light. We can deal with anything that can pass through the net of General Paez." The man with a big belly explained. He wanted to return to his house and get drunk immediately.
"Right, No?" Increasing security became their thing.
PAH!
PAH!
PAH!
The sound of Muskets in the hallway sounded and instantly made all the members get up in a panic. They were talking about increasing security.
"The crown prince?"
"That can't be. We would have heard the shot a long time ago. This looks like revolts." The Junta member said as he looked at the guards inside the room. "What are you waiting for? Get out and protect us!"
They just nodded and quickly went to the hallway after opening the doors. But just as soon as they left the room in which they were, the sound of two consecutive muskets was heard. The two of them fell to the ground as their heads were penetrated. Such a scene quickly jerked the members of the Junta that saw everything that happened.
Outside, the creams of ordinary people could be heard as they quickly left the plaza. The gun laws are incredibly tight, so all the civilians didn't have a way to defend themselves. The military arrived outside the town hall and began a standoff with the Royal soldiers.
The Royal soldiers took the strategic advantage and were prepared for a standoff. With the town hall being two stories tall, they got good protection in the many ways the extra structures support the 2nd floor.
Back in the room.
Felipe, alongside five other soldiers, entered the room already with loaded muskets while pointing. They just saw all the members of the Junta trying to open a back door, and some with their ceremonial swords out, ready to fight to their deaths.
"Good morning, ladies. You are now under arrest for the crime and sin of treason against the empire." Felipe said with a huge smile while he looked at the members of the Junta. "Now, under the title of Imperial Crown Prince, I use my rights to judge as monarch, I judge all of you guilty, and I sentence half of you to death," Felipe said as four other soldiers appeared, pointing their muskets and pistols.
Pah.
The sounds of 9 muskets were heard--A young nation's heart stopped beating.
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