The British sounded the trumpet for withdrawal.

The shattered troops retreated back to the landing ships, sparse and not even filling one cabin.

And their spirits were already on the verge of collapse, with many severely wounded having parts of their limbs already carbonized, emitting mournful wails that made the crew shudder.

Boom——

Giant steel creations walked from the ruins of New Naples towards the shore.

Behind them was only half of the King’s Squad, their armor scarred and battered.

Before boarding the ship, the Iron Duke instinctively glanced back, only to hear the high-pitched howls of wolves amidst the burning ruins.

Massive werewolves slowly appeared, equally covered in wounds, blood marks mottled, their ghostly green beastly eyes reflecting a chilling glow from the embers.

"Next time, I’ll crush you all."

The Iron Duke’s icy voice was like two blades scraping against each other, then he turned without hesitation to activate the steam engine and flew towards the Sea Monarchy.

Losa, having returned to human form, supported Jeanne, who had come out of the "Holy Body" state, her breath weak to the extreme: "Are you alright?"

"No problem, I can hold on."

Jeanne barely squeezed out a smile, her pale cheeks devoid of any blood: "Fortunately, Nia is here, I should recover in the next battle, otherwise I’d rather burn myself out and give that metallic freak a fierce one."

Losa instinctively furrowed his brows, "Holy Body", such a power, everything is fine except its terrifying side-effects, equivalent to Jeanne going through another immolation.

"Let me handle it, Losa." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The judge hurriedly arrived, her face also somewhat pale. This battle required her to orchestrate the whole situation. Hundreds of pure-blooded werewolves, along with Losa, Jeanne, Prajna, all accepted her blessing, the cost of which was a heavy burden for her.

Losa handed Jeanne over to Lavinia, then saw Viviana holding Prajna.

He let out a bitter smile, always feeling that his strength was quite sufficient, yet this battle against the repeatedly weakened British was intended to be a complete victory, unexpectedly it ended in a state of exhaustion.

The Centurion Leon transformed back into human form and walked over with a concerned expression: "Mr. Losa, are you..."

"We’re not seriously harmed, just ensure our brothers’ bodies are properly put to rest. Next, give the British a solid blow, then they should be thinking about negotiating peace with us."

Just then, a melodic steam whistle from the sea echoed, the British fleet spewing black smoke slowly sailed out of view, leaving only the high-flying fleur-de-lis and Burgundy Cross Banner — the French fleet did not leave with the British.

"Leon, take two people to stay behind, if the French fleet sends an envoy, have them go to Wolf Castle to negotiate."

Losa didn’t plan to reach an agreement with the French now. The French couldn’t be relied upon, they couldn’t go to war with the British for Texas faraway, but in the peace agreement after defeating the British, the support of the French was essential to protect Texas’ interests.

Otherwise, it might end up like the Sino-French War, undefeated yet defeated.

"Alright, sir."

The Texas Wolf Race, carrying their tribesmen’s bodies, began to head north.

This battle, nearly one-third of the elite wolf race was lost, especially those elite corners, who were not weak, after multiple blessings, could completely suppress the British armored infantry, even able to exchange blows with those metallic King’s Squad.

Yet once Lavinia’s blessing ended, their strength would plummet, combined with the damage from bullets fired even by ordinary British soldiers being quite remarkable, having such losses was normal.

Considering the losses caused to the British, the cost paid for this victory was heavy, yet it was still an undeniable major victory.

But they couldn’t feel happy in any way.

...

At this moment, on the southern border of Texas, bordering Mexico.

The great dictator Porfirio was reviewing his troops.

Mexico’s political situation was quite chaotic amidst the execution of the so-called "Tyrant" Maximilian and embracing republicanism, yet Mexico did not become prosperous.

Local caudillos were seizing power, serious land mergers, the populace poor, literacy rates extremely low.

Industry was sloppy, mostly controlled by foreign capital, heavy industry nearly nonexistent, still rife with family-based handicraft workshops, and agriculture extremely backward, with many areas surviving by growing potato chips and hemp.

The supposedly gold and silver-rich chosen nation wasn’t doing as well as their neighbor, the large plantation, only reduced to a dumping ground for British and French goods.

However, it’s somewhat better than the original history where Porfirio Díaz took back tariff autonomy from the great powers, trained a new army, and did not fall into significant disadvantage during several border conflicts with the North American Colonies.

Although some land was lost, the most crucial California, an excellent gold mine area, remained in their hands.

This, to some extent, saved the government on the brink of bankruptcy, but corruption and local power divisions remained high, making it difficult to exert the nation’s full potential.

Overall, with a population nearing ten million, Mexico was still a powerful force in Central America, albeit a standout among weaker ones, with its brightest moment being the execution of the Habsburg Family’s Maximilian.

"Boss, those Texans are not easy to mess with, and what’s more, haven’t the British also set their eyes on that land? Wouldn’t we be fighting over food with the British if we moved now?"

Subordinates were hesitant to support Porfirio’s military actions abroad, given the unstable domestic political situation. The new army was the foundation for maintaining government legitimacy and suppressing local power divisions.

Porfirio retorted: "What if the British invite us to join the war?"

The Mexican government at this time was essentially a comprador government, Porfirio although attempting to introduce British and French forces for mutual checks, both sides seemed to reach some kind of agreement secretly, having struggles but seeming more like dividing Mexico’s various privileges.

Subordinates were puzzled: "Do the British really not have the means to take Texas?"

Porfirio shook his head: "The British navy is strong, but their army is mediocre, really face-to-face, my new army could easily beat the British, this Admiral George wants me to take military action against Texas and is willing to provide an interest-free loan of ten million British Pounds, besides, he also agreed we would jointly divide Texas’ land, I think this business is worth doing."

Porfirio had beautiful thoughts. Texas originally belonged to Mexico, regaining lost territory could to a certain extent improve the government’s authority.