Chapter 819: Chapter 43: Strategy for a Strong Nation

Texas had not carried out any expansion in recent years; in all the past border clashes, it had mostly followed a strategy of hiding its strength and biding its time.

"Werewolf Country" sounded scary enough to frighten off many with ill intent, but it also cut off the upper limit of Texas’s development.

Without immigrants, there were no technical talents from Europe. Even knowing that beneath the ground lay precious mineral deposits that could be the foundation of a great power, they had no way to use them, and didn’t dare bring them out for large-scale development.

Many Texas merchants had to disguise themselves as ordinary humans, fly the flag of Mexico or the North American Colonies before they could sell and transport their goods out. The few bold foreign merchants who did come often forced the purchase price of goods down very low.

If Texas hadn’t finally built a basic level of trust with some big merchants in recent years, much of its agricultural produce would have rotted in the fields.

Losa, triumphant on his return, had not even sat down to catch his breath before receiving a piece of news—the Mexican army had already crossed the border and launched an undeclared war on Texas.

In the Hall of Wolves in Wolf Castle, the Texas leadership had gathered in full.

Although they had just defeated the British, the losses were by no means light, and all among their core members.

Seeing the heavy mood, Losa was the first to speak: "Mexicans making a move was within our expectations. In my view, this doesn’t count as a threat to us, but rather an opportunity."

"Mr. Losa, those Mexicans can’t be underestimated either. Their grand dictator Porfirio’s newly formed army is very well equipped, its fighting power far from comparable to those colonial militias. And Mexico is an extremely traditional Catholic country, with deeply rooted Church Influence, possessing a large number of Knight Orders and Church forces. Their restraining effect on us is quite obvious."

"But I’m here, am I not?"

Losa’s smile instantly eased the mood of everyone present by quite a bit.

"Yes, with Mr. Losa here!"

Many among the Texas leadership couldn’t help but smile as well. Their smiles were somewhat complicated, with both relief and shame in them.

Losa went on: "If we were the ones to take the initiative and declare war on Mexico, we would inevitably fall into isolation. Morality may mean nothing to the great powers, but for a small country like Texas, already suffering from isolation, it is undoubtedly very important.

To be honest, I’m very puzzled why, over these years, you haven’t done more positive publicity for Texas in the newspapers. I imagine those profit-seeking press houses would not refuse a windfall revenue stream. Over time, even if Texas’s reputation couldn’t be completely reversed, it wouldn’t be as bad as it is now."

These words left the Texas leadership looking at one another, speechless.

If they defeated the Mexicans and annexed neighboring New Mexico along with parts of the Rio Grande River Basin, Texas would become a medium-sized country with a population of four million.

Mexico was likewise a country of immigrants. Years of internal turmoil and unrest had left its people lacking in national identity toward being Mexican. For a country that still remained at the stage of—

As long as they seized the border—

Texas would then have a chance to grow and strengthen, though it would be only a chance, nothing more. Literacy rates among Mexicans were very low, their mindset deeply influenced by Catholicism, and they lacked industrial workers.

Many regions still retained the look of the Middle Ages.

In fact, Losa believed the real opportunity for Texas’s development lay in the First World War.

Once a war of that intensity broke out, it would be protracted, and would be a huge test of both sides’ war potential and material reserves.

If Texas could take on the light and heavy industry relocated from the two opposing camps, and do what Japan did in the original history—providing large quantities of light and heavy industrial goods for the belligerents, while seizing markets that neither side had the bandwidth to care about, and even absorbing some immigrants fleeing the flames of war—

He didn’t dare imagine too much, but securing the status of a regional hegemon that firmly pressed Mexico down, and that even the great powers at its doorstep wouldn’t dare lightly provoke, was still quite guaranteed.

Of course, this all depended on Juliano handling matters properly.

Thinking of this, the way Losa looked at Juliano changed again.

"Clan Leader Juliano, I hope I can have a good talk with you about Texas’s future development."

His tone was very courteous. Juliano had done quite well these years, but after all, he had risen from being the head of a gang, and his vision was limited.

Now that he had become the president of a small country with a million people, that was already a remarkable leap for him. To be frank, the fact that Juliano had been able to carry out Losa’s previous suggestions, instead of turning Texas into—

Moreover, an agricultural country like Texas was still relatively easy to keep united: it had not yet given rise to many factory owners and plantation owners. When such a human upper class eventually emerged, it would definitely come into fierce conflict with the Wolf Race as the ruling class.

"Nia, you come with us."

Losa hoped that the next time he made a combat record, what he would hear was "Texas, the little hegemon of Central America," and not "a colony of Britain and France."

...

That one talk lasted the whole night.

By the time Losa and Lavinia left—

"Clan Leader, what did Mr. Losa say to you?"

Juliano only then came back to himself. He carefully put away the manuscript he had taken down.

"Put this in the very bottom level of the treasure vault."

The very bottom level?

Could these sheets of paper be even more precious than the family’s few Holy Artifacts?

"What do you know, this is a Book of Heaven!"

Juliano’s tone was incomparably solemn. In his eyes, Losa, the captain of Yesterday’s Giant Ship, that great Miracle wandering the river of time, was without doubt a Prophet-like figure. This Book of Heaven was the prophecy he had made.

After all, when Losa spoke of the future’s course, he had been so firm and assured that he even made precise predictions about the time when the two camps of the Franco-Russian Treaty and the Anglo-German Alliance would go to war.

His eyeballs were bloodshot from many days and nights without sleep, but his mood was incomparably exhilarated.

...

At this very moment, the Mexican government forces had already crossed the Rio Grande River and entered the Texas border. However, the several border towns they encountered in succession were all deserted. Texas might look like a tiny sliver of a country wedged between the Thirteen Colonies and Mexico, but its territory was by no means small. A mere one million people scattered over it made the phrase "vast land, sparse population" true to the extreme.

The prophecy he had made.

After all, when Losa spoke of the future’s course, he had been so firm and assured that he even made precise predictions about the time when the two camps of the Franco-Russian Treaty and the Anglo-German Alliance would go to war.

His eyeballs were bloodshot from many days and nights without sleep, but his mood was incomparably exhilarated.

...

At this very moment, the Mexican government forces had already crossed the Rio Grande River and entered the Texas border. However, the several border towns they encountered in succession were all deserted. Texas might look like a tiny sliver of a country wedged between the Thirteen Colonies and Mexico, but its territory was by no means small. A mere one million people scattered over it made the phrase "vast land, sparse population" true to the extreme.