OC-CoN 1: Wars

## Liegian Invasion of Mexico

### Prelude to the conflict

Prior to the breakout of war, Mexico and The United States were attempting to divide up and conquer the land of the many remaining Portugese and Castilian colonies. This included the entirety of the Caribbean, with the United States and Mexico agreeing to divide up the islands. Liege, at this point, was attempting to broaden its horizons and colonize. They reached out to Mexico several times prior to the complete takeover of the Caribbean, placing in a request for a colonial possession to be granted in the Lesser Antillies, or to be given free reign to invade these islands for themselves. Despite the Liegian offers, these requests to negotiate were refused by Mexico. The Mexican refusal to negotiate for any of these islands led to a buildup of tensions, which broke out into the open when the Liegians declared war in 1691, with imperialism as their *casus belli*.

### The Initial Invasion

After the declaration of war, the Liegian army, supported by their bluewater fleet, rapidly deployed a force of over 30,000 troops to the Eastern Caribbean. Although this force was dwarfed by the Mexican army in South America, the rapid invasion took the Mexicans off-guard. The Mexican navy would engage the Liegian fleet in a massive battle near Hispaniola. Although outnumbered by the Mexicans, the Liegian navy scored a key victory, led by their superior ships and admirals. This prevented the Mexican army from deploying in force to the islands, and the Liegians were able to quickly occupy all of the Mexican holdings in the Caribbean, with the exception of Trindad and Tobago.

### The Stalemate

After the successful occupation of Mexico's Caribbean holdings, the war entered a period of low-intensity. During this time, Switzerland would enter the war on the side of Liege, and would deploy forces to the occupied island of Hispaniola. During this time, no ground actions occurred, The Mexican navy would attempt to engage and destroy the combined Liegian and Swiss fleet several times during this period, however they would be unsuccessful, and would be forced to rebuild their fleet of heavy ships several times. After several years of this stalemate, Liege and Switzerland would devise a plan to finally land on the mainland Americas and force an end to the conflict.

### The Landing in South America, and the Reversal of Fortunes

The combined Swiss-Liegian army finally made its move at the beginning of the 1700s, launching a naval landing on the Mexican province of Trindad and Tobago. The Mexicans had anticipated this attack, however were unable to engage their navy prior to the landing, as it was still building up its own fleet of heavy ships after the crippling defeats earlier in the war. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago were initially defended by 35,000 Mexican troops. However, seeing the incoming army greatly outnumbered them, they were able to execute an orderly withdrawal to the mainland of South America, where several other Mexican army groups had already been gathered. After constant and consistent military success across 10 years of war, the invaders had gotten confident, and this led them to made a fatal tactical error. The combined Swiss-Liegian army of 75,000 attacked across the Colombus Channel, deploying themselves right in front of the Mexican army group concentration. Now that they were in unfavorable terrain for the attackers, and seeing the finally outnumbered their foes, a force of 87,000 Mexican regulars and mercenaries engaged the invaders in a decisive battle, taking advantage of their environment to finally defeat the marauding force and force a retreat. The battle was costly for both sides, with total casualties amounting to over 50,000, and their defeat in the battle forced the Swiss and Liegian force to attempt a retreat to Trinidad and Tobago, where they would be safely across the Columbus Channel. However, their path was blocked by the now-rebuilt Mexican navy, now consisting of 114 ships. The Liegian-Swiss navy quickly engaged their navy to allow their troops an opportunity to retreat, but the now enlarged Mexican navy was able to beat back the attacking navy and prevent the escape of their army group, which was quickly encircled and obliterated.