• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Interesting.

Viva Mexico indeed.
 
Chapter 3 - On the March, and Before March

Late December – Early January 1835

‘Come on! We are moving out! Get your gear and fall into drill marching order!’ shouted the Sergeant. The Hidalgo Infantry Regiment had been on the march from their base in central Mexico to Tejas for 5 weeks now. José’s feet were aching and his sandals full of sweat and Mexican dust. He was fed up of marching; he thought it would never end. But, he was beginning see a change in the landscape. From the common brush land of Mexico, he was beginning to see more evidence of the desert he was to be facing in Tejas. He knew he was getting closer.

As he passed small towns or villages, he saw that most of the men had left, to join Juan Seguin and his Tejano rangers fighting for the rebels. One man had joined their regiment from a town in the region, to tell them that his brother had done just that, and that even if his brother had betrayed Mexico, he would establish the family’s reputation by fighting with the Hidalgoans. It was striking to José to find men betraying Mexico, and their families willing to fight them for reputation.

It was getting colder the further north they went. The mountains were closing in, and it was understood that Santa Anna wished to have the army marched over them, and across the Rio Grande by the end of January. It would be terrible on his feet, clad in leather sandals, and he wouldn’t be surprised if they fell off. The plan, as he was told it, was to surprise the Tejians by striking at them in the winter, as they believed that the whole Mexican army could not traverse the mountains in the middle of the 1835-36 winter. José, the Hidalgo Regiment, and the entire Mexican army were bound to prove them wrong.


Late January – Early February

José braced himself for a sudden gust of air as he turned around another corner on the mountain passes of the trek the Mexican army was undertaking. The soldiers, while protecting themselves from the bitter cold wind, and the freezing snow that lay around them, managed to keep in formation as their feet froze slowly. José had now learned that the best way to keep his feet from freezing num was to keep them moving. He kept pressing forward into snow clad ground, huddling together with his comrades for warmth at the same time.

The officers kept chanting that it would be only another two days in the mountains, and José hoped to hell and back that they were right. Another 3 days, and he thought he might just slip over a cliff and fall to his death from tiredness. He had been staring at the ground for the past hour or so, shuffling along the ground so not to trip up, to shelter his eyes from the dehydrating wind. While there was a gap in the wind, he looked up to a glorious sight. He saw at the far end of the valley (still a 5 hour march away) the lowland of Tejas and the green plains of the Rio Grande valley laid out ahead of his advancing column. José drew the cross over his chest with his hands, and praised the Virgin Mary. He had never been quite so happy in all his life. Before too long they would be in the plains of Tejas, fighting the rebels of that land. This one moment made José incredibly proud to be a Mexican, and especially to be a Mexican soldier.



These are the Moutains that José would have crossed, picture taken in March and there is still snow as we can see
 
Hm. Daring. Hannibalesque.

Will it work out though?
 
RGB said:
Hm. Daring. Hannibalesque.

Will it work out though?

Well Santa Anna achieved it ;)
 
robou said:
Well Santa Anna achieved it ;)

Well, yes, but will it turn out well once you get to the OTHER side?
 
Good imagery between his uncomfortableness physically, yet his enthusiasm for soldiery which thus far remains.
 
Good AAR! Go on and beat the Texans! Don't give up Alta California! (Hey, if I can't be British, at least I can be Mexican. :p ) Anyway, to present another guess at the beginning... Emperor Maximiliano, perhaps?
 
LordCowles said:
Anyway, to present another guess at the beginning... Emperor Maximiliano, perhaps?

So many possiblilities.....i will just keep you all guessing ;)
 
Chapter 4 - The Alamo​

José looked down on the town of San Antonio de Bejar. He could see the red plastered church, the central Plaza and various houses. In the Plaza he could clearly see people running about in madness. His first impression of the Tejians was not a good one. He almost laughed, seeing them all running around like ants. They all seemed to be converging on a little stockade about ½ a mile away from the town. This, as he had been told, was the Alamo. What little good it would do to the Tejians to run from the artillery of Santa Anna, who would pound down the walls.

José kept his step up as they descended down the hill towards the small town. The closer they got, the quicker they seemed to be walking, impetuous to be the first at the Tejians. It was not to be. By the time they had got down to the town, all the Tejian men were gone. Instead they marched into a nearly empty town, save a few locals loyal to the government. They marched into the town via two roads that joined at a fork. To make a spectacle, Santa Anna split regiments in two, and made them march down the two roads, joining up again at the fork. The result, from José’s view was amazing enough.

All the Regiments that were currently in the town, formed blocks in the Plaza, awaiting their president. They formed a channel for Santa Anna to go down, which in time he duly did, waving his hand about at the troops, who shouted back ‘Viva Santa Anna, Viva Mexico!’. After the President had taken up his quarters, the Hidalgo’s were sent to set up their batteries, facing the Alamo.

José was lifting the heavy barricades into place, when the President himself came to the battery. The President was dressed in the normal Generals uniform, but his hat was much more decorated, and José wished to himself that he would get one of those hats one day.

‘Why have you not moved these cannons forward?’ he asked the Artillery Capitan.

‘With due respect for your safety sir, Davy Crockett, the Bear Cassador, is in the Alamo’ replied the worried Captain.

‘You are scared of Crockett?’ questioned the President, in a patronising manner.

‘Sir, his rifle never misses!’ said the Captain, looking slightly disgraced. The President looked at the Captain hard, and turned quickly away, walking towards the fort. José watch aimlessly in wonder.

The President had stopped around 10 feet in front of them and pointing at the ground shouted ‘Move them here! Move the battery to here’.

‘Presidenté!’ shouted the Capitan, but it was too late. A shot rang out from the Alamo, and Santa Anna swerved slowly to the side. Obviously he had been hit. The whole battery gasped. The President came running back to the Mexican lines. One of his Epaulettes had been taken off, but he himself seemed unhurt.

‘Well what are you waiting for? Answer the Pirates!!’ shouted the President loudly.

Si el Presidenté' replied the Captain. ‘Crews, load your cannons!’ he shouted, the crews rushed to their guns and a flurry of orders was given out. José watched as the ball was slid into the barrel. He waited for the word, and then braced himself.

FUEGO!’ shouted the Captain. The 3 cannons roared into action, sending their load of lead hurtling towards the Tejians. José heard three resounding explosions, and three balls of flame and smoke coming from the fort. He began to get back to his work, the action was over.

Suddenly, 13 more explosions were heard, and José was thrown backwards as a ball fired from the Alamo tore into his battery. All the Alamo’s guns were firing at the Mexicans. A show of their will not to give in. José saw that this was not going to be easy work, as he had first thought.
 
Great chapter! I hope the glorious Mexican Army defeats the rebels! Of course, now that Santa Anna is missing an epaulette, I fear Davy Crockett's last minutes will be veeeerrryyyy painful....

Also, could you show us El Presidente's uniform?
 
LordCowles said:
Great chapter! I hope the glorious Mexican Army defeats the rebels! Of course, now that Santa Anna is missing an epaulette, I fear Davy Crockett's last minutes will be veeeerrryyyy painful....

Also, could you show us El Presidente's uniform?

indeed it will.

I do not have a drawing like the other one but i will see what i can procure
 
Nice update.

An epaulette is nothing to worry wbout. Excet perhaps in bad dreams.
 
This is the best i could do,

It is from the Film, the Alamo (2004). Very good representation of the events, and where i will be taking much of my idea of what happened at the alamo, putting aside myth and telling the truth.



not the greatest picture but the best i could do.
 
I wonder what the inspiration for that chapter could have been ;)! Well put together though, surely Jose will be able to avoid the fateful siesta at San Jacinto?
 
robou said:
This is the best i could do,

It is from the Film, the Alamo (2004). Very good representation of the events, and where i will be taking much of my idea of what happened at the alamo, putting aside myth and telling the truth.

not the greatest picture but the best i could do.

I remember some people getting upset at this movie for its portrayal of the Alamo's defenders as drunken womanizing cowboys. Personally, that's why I love them.

Here's Santa Anna full-body (three-coloured feather):

alamo11uo7.jpg
 
L'Afrique said:
I remember some people getting upset at this movie for its portrayal of the Alamo's defenders as drunken womanizing cowboys. Personally, that's why I love them.

Here's Santa Anna full-body (three-coloured feather):

alamo11uo7.jpg

I think the movie made it very clear that they were not cowboys (especially Travis). But the Drunken and Womanizing i might just about agree on, but who knows?

and thanks for the image! its a much better one
 
It’s interesting to see the Alamo fiasco from the Mexican perspective . . . The update makes me wonder if the real Mexican army realized to what extent the people stuck in the Alamo would become martyrs in the eyes of the American public . . . Anyway, a fine series of posts since last I popped in here!
 
Chapter 5 - First Battle

José jogged up the small mound, keeping his Brown Bess closely held to his chest. The small formation of 20 men was keeping together well, and was also nicely in line with the other formation moving a few metres beside them. Cassadores were jogging all around them. They were closing on a clearing between the Mexican line and the southern corner of Alamo.

They suddenly burst into an open area, with a few huts spaced in it. The Cassadores took up their positions, in a skirmish formation spread out over the area. José and the rest of the line infantry moved into position behind the Cassadores. The front two men, José and his friend Manuel, kept in line with the officer to their right. The Officer then came to a halt, still jogging as was regulations until the Sergeant took his position at the front of the line. When this had been done, the order rang out

‘Halto!’ The line stopped. ‘Left turn!’ shouted the sergeant pulling out his sword. José heard a shout in English and suddenly the wall in front of them was full of the rebels. ‘Advance arms’ José lowered his rifle to his hip, pointing it forward. ‘Men, Forward march!’ and the line began moving forward at a slow walk. The Cassadores opened fire. José saw one rebel fall, and then they fired back, not hitting anything at first, but then José also saw a Cassador get hit flat in the face but a bullet.

Again the order ‘Halto’ was given and the line stopped. ‘Preparados!’ shouted the sergeant. The Muskets were lifted to the shoulder. José heard the same orders being given out to their sister formation. When José looked up at the walls, he saw now to his horror that a cannon had been brought forward. He felt lucky his was on the back line of the formation.

‘Á Punten!’ José cocked his musket. He gulped, this was his first action, and he didn’t like it one bit. He thought he would be shot. With all that lead flying at them, one would hit him.

‘FUEGO!’ the officer shouted. José pulled the trigger and his musket answered sending a puff of smoke into José’s face. The musket then flew upwards before José could control it. He didn’t see if he had hit anything, as soon as he could, he began reloading his weapon.

He heard a shot, one of many coming from the fort, and José’s face was splattered with blood. He thought he had been hit, but he cleaned his face to see Manuel falling in front of him. He picked up his musket again and finished reloading. Another man to José’s left fell.

‘Á Punten! FUEGO!’ and another volley was sent flying towards the rebels. This time, the formation was replied to by the cannon. It sent its ball flying into a shack on the left of the formation. Three men from that side where sent flying, and many others were dazed by the explosion.

‘Men! Fall back to our lines! Fall back!’ shouted the officer, whose sergeant had been killed by a rebel bullet. José picked up one of Manuel’s arms and began dragging him back to the Mexican lines. The Cassadores covered the retreat, but it was not needed. As soon as they saw the Mexicans running, the rebels stopped shooting and began jeering. José felt depressed that his first action was a defeat, and was eager to avenge the defeat and the death of Manuel. Sergeant Fernandez, who had trained and brought José to Tejas, had also been killed in the engagement. Out of the 70 men engaged, 5 had been killed, and 16 had been badly wounded.

That night, the Presidenté himself came and visited the Hidalgoans. He said that they had done well under the circumstances, and he was sad about their loses. He felt that they should avenge their fallen comrades when the final assault came along. José felt much the same.
 
Last edited: