I couldn't get into the background operation last night, so I had to release the latest chapter early in the morning.

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In June 1928, in northeastern Mexico, the coastal town of Lapusca.

Irish Army Captain Anto Alwos sat in a large cow pull cart filled with fruits and vegetables, looking through the gaps in the basket at the streets shining under the pale sunshine. The bumpy dirt roads and low houses reminded him of his hometown in his youth. Over the past decade, the appearance of that small town in Ireland has undergone earth-shaking changes. People no longer need to wear shabby old clothes, but rely on their feet or carts to go out. This is a place that makes every Irish feel proud.

If there was a savior-like leader, the people here could feel that pride in a few years! Al Wuss thought to himself.

The cart passed through the city and came to a manor in the suburbs. The brick walls made people unable to easily peek into the situation in the manor. After the gate was closed, there were more noises outside the car, and then someone spoke in English. He roughly understood the meaning and stood up with his black baseball cap.

Two dark-skinned Mexicans moved out baskets of bananas and mangoes, and others who surrounded him welcomed Al Woos' arrival with a brisk whistle.

The man who spoke English had white skin, blue eyes, a high nose bridge, a thick European-style upper lip beard, and held his hands on his chest: "Welcome to Mexico, honored Captain Alwos."

Alwos understood this simple English completely. He jumped out of the cart with his duffel bag and reached out to the only "same" here: "Are you Lieutenant Joel?"

The other party grinned, revealing his front teeth that were smoky and yellowed, and his smile was as bright as the weather here: "Mark Joel, the second lieutenant of the Royal Spanish Army, is happy to serve you."

After shaking hands, Elwooth didn't know what to say, so he shrugged and looked around: "This is a secret stronghold for the jihadists, right?"

The Mexicans wearing big straw hats were busy unloading the weapons and ammunition mixed in fruits and moving them into the house. Among them, there were few young people in their twenties and thirties, most of them looked like uncles, thin and fat, and they had nothing to do with the word elite.

Elwooth spoke of Ai English with inaccurate grammar. The Spanish lieutenant with a high nose bridge obviously didn't understand what he meant, so he answered the question irrelevantly: "Yes, it looks good."

When he first came to the foreign land on the other side of the ocean, Al Woos had to adapt to many things. He didn't care about this little episode. He followed Hoel into the largest house in the manor. Before he could put down his luggage, he saw the leader here, a middle-aged man wearing a one-eyed mask sitting behind his desk.

Like the Mexican outside, this middle-aged man was dressed in a civilian outfit, but the bulging bullet belt instantly showed his domineering spirit.

The Spanish introduced to Alwoos: "This is Colonel Salcido, commander of the 20th Regiment of the Mexican Christian Army."

As soon as Alwos reached out his hand, the man suddenly stood up. He was not tall, and could even be said to be a little short. He was solid in shape, with an armed belt around his waist, and a large revolver inserted in the half-pack holster. It looked like the British-style Webley point four or five. The opening was actually in English, but the pronunciation and grammar were very strange.

"Captain Elwoth, we have been waiting for you for a long time. While welcoming you, I would like to express my sincere thanks to your Majesty, and hope that your aid will allow us to win this sacred war."

When shook hands with the other party, Alwos felt that his hand was tightly clamped by big iron pliers. This was definitely a short man full of strength. If he really started fighting, he would probably have a chance of winning.

"I'm honored to join you." Elwooth said politely. The reason he came to Mexico was not because of how deep he had feelings for the country, but because the Catholics here were suffering unimaginable disasters. Now Plutarco Elias Kales, who is in charge of the Mexican regime, is the founder of the Mexican Revolutionary Institution Party and an atheist. The new constitution he proposed established a more radical anti-Culturalism content, and then successively promoted the passage and implementation of the anti-Culturalism criminal law, gradually evolved into persecution of Catholics. After several years of peaceful boycott, the Mexican people began to fight against the Mexican government in the form of armed resistance, which triggered the famous "Christian War". In 1927, the Mexican government announced that the guerrillas formed by Catholics and their supporters were thugs and separatists, and began to harshly suppress them.

Unlike previous religious conflicts, this Christian war was atheists using the regime to suppress and even persecute Catholics. The behavior of the Mexican government attracted the attention of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical "Holy Savior" to express sympathy for the situation of Mexican Catholics. Catholic countries condemned the extreme policies of the Mexican government. Some countries began to secretly support the Christian army in Mexico, and Spain and Ireland, which are both Catholic countries, are among them.

The era of the Crusades has long been buried in the long river of history. In the 20th century when industrial civilization awakened, there will no longer be a large group of people working for religious justice. There is usually only one starting point for any military action, that is, interests. In the early 20th century, Mexico's industrial economy was not very developed, but its rich resources made people covet the industrialized mining of coal, copper, iron, oil and other minerals reached a considerable scale. The annual oil output exceeded 2 million tons, and the production of agricultural products such as coffee, sugar, and cotton was also very rich. The reason why this country is still in a poor and weak state is that most industrial and mining enterprises are in the hands of US and British capital, and the high profits they earn mostly flow abroad.

Geographically, Mexico is the backyard of the United States, with a land border line of more than 2,000 kilometers long with the United States, like the Gulf of Mexico in its arms. On the north side are Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and other states with relatively developed US economy. The southwest is Mexico's long coastline, and the northwest Mexico port is only a short distance from important cities such as San Diego and Los Angeles in the United States. If the camp of allies, which are in a competitive and opposing position with the United States, can gain a foothold in Mexico, whether in the period of peaceful development or the era of war, it will be a weapon to control the United States from a military strategy.

Skipping the complex and chaotic background of the era, looking back to the small manor in northeastern Mexico, Irish officer Al Woos said to the manager here: "When will my job start?"

The Mexican middle-aged man, who was somewhat bandit-like, turned his head and asked, "What are you best at?"

Al Wuss replied seriously: "Train soldiers."

The middle-aged man looked at the Spanish officer who had arrived here in advance, and both of them laughed inexplicably.

Elwooth, who was unknown, said with his chest straight: "Just give me two months, I can train a group of farmers who have never touched the gun to become qualified soldiers."

The middle-aged Mexican shook his head, picked up the letter that seemed to have not been finished on the table, and explained in his strange accent: "Montrey, more than 400 kilometers away, is an important stronghold for our resistance to government forces. A week ago, about 5,000 government soldiers surrounded it. The situation in Monterrey is deteriorating every day. Friends need us to rush to reinforce as soon as possible. We now have less than 200 trained soldiers and more than 400 recruits who have just joined the Christian army, but we have newly shipped rifles, machine guns and ample bullets."

Elwooth considered it and was about to express his initial vision, but he saw that Lieutenant Joel from Spain winked himself, and he immediately understood: "I can help me, Mr. Colonel, just give me instructions."

The middle-aged Mexican man seemed not to notice the quiet communication between the two European officers. 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, Ensign Joel said in another kind of awkward English: "Montrey is too far away from us. It needs to pass through the area controlled by the government forces in the middle, 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 choose to break through without hesitation, use the terrain to get rid of the government forces' pursuit, and meet with friendly forces in the coastal areas. But the problem is that this is not a traditional war, but a battle between civilians and regular troops in order to defend their faith. Once they leave their familiar places, it will be difficult for them to escape from the government forces with cavalry."

Second Lieutenant Joel's commentary clearly expressed the concerns of the middle-aged Mexican people. He frowned and turned around: "In addition to our regiment, there will be several other troops rushing to Monterrey. If we can defeat the siege of the government forces, I believe that more countries will support us."

Elwooth had little knowledge of Mexico before. After being elected as the first volunteer, he began to make up for this knowledge. He knew that Mexico had experienced ten years of political turmoil and civil war since the 1910 revolution, and after entering the 1920s, the country's form settled down. In just seven or eight years, the domestic economic situation had undergone a major change. The original revolutionary army and guerrillas had transformed into professional army. Although the level of training and equipment was much worse than that of the great army, and the scale was a bit shabby, it was more than enough to deal with the Christian army spontaneously formed by civilians. In order to reverse this situation of great power gap, Spain, which once ruled Mexico and had mostly Catholic citizens, Ireland, and their "big brother behind the scenes", and Germany, paid money, guns, and people, actively helped the Mexican Christian army fight against the Mexican government army.
Chapter completed!