Holy Roman Empire

Historically, these two states joined the northern government, and 4 people still joined the southern army.But after they joined the southern government, there are now less than a thousand people who are willing to work for the northern government.

The reason is very realistic. The plantation owners are unwilling to lose their interests and fight for their own interests.

The capitalists can't do it anymore. After being lured to the southern government, they mixed with the Confederate government with peace of mind.

It is all interests that cause trouble. The plantation economy in the South hinders the development of the capitalist economy, but it does not mean that it hinders the capitalists from getting rich.

With cheap industrial raw materials and a market of more than 1000 million people, a quarter of whom have reached the middle class, it is a proper high-quality market.

The number of local capitalists in this market is very small, and the competition in the big family of the federal government is far less fierce. It is very attractive to capitalists who are not very powerful.

It is easier to make money over there, so just support that side, and capitalists will not feel guilty in front of their interests.

The public opinion reversed, the southern government hyped up that the northern government wanted to turn the south into an economic colony, and the blindly obedient people naturally supported the southern government.

Southern governments added three states and their population grew by more than 300 million, while Northern governments lost more than 300 million.With this increase and decrease, the balance of strength between the two sides has changed.

Naturally, Lincoln was unaware of these changes. He still maintained full confidence in defeating the South, but he had a headache about possible intervention from European countries.

It’s not long before the British burned the White House. Lincoln also came from that era, and now the Three Kingdoms of Faosi have been added. How can it be possible that there is no sense of fear at all?

Lincoln asked with concern: "Okay, let's put the Delaware issue aside for now. What do the Russians say, are they willing to support us?"

It is very unwise to directly confront the four countries of Britain, France, Occidental and Western Europe. Before the outbreak of a world war in Europe, the United States could not ignore the joint intervention of European countries.

If there is no barrier from the ocean, with the strength of the United States, any one of these four can be beaten to the ground.

This has been proved in the British battle to burn the White House.With only tens of thousands of British troops, the United States lost its capital. The army of the federal government is really hard to be reassured.

Secretary of State Safar replied: "The tsarist government is willing to support our unification war, but only in diplomacy. Their strength in the Americas is limited, and there is no way to give us substantial support."

Verbal support is useless, and the four countries of Britain, France, Occidental and West are almost there to help in person.Seeking help from the tsarist government naturally wanted the Russians to engage in some activities to contain one or two great powers.

Now Britain, France and Austria all border on the Russians, and it would be a great diplomatic victory for the federal government to contain any one of them.

Lincoln said unwillingly: "Could it be that we support their expansion in the Far East in exchange for a word of support?"

Now that it wants to buy the tsarist government, the federal government has too few chips.In addition to supporting each other diplomatically, in fact, the US government can provide very limited help to the tsarist government.

Now the Russians are most short of money.If the federal government has money, spending hundreds of millions of pounds to keep the Russians can make a big news, and at the same time contain the energy of Britain, France and Austria.

It's a pity that the current United States is not the rich and powerful American empire, and it simply can't spend such a huge sum of money.

The tsarist government is also the master who does not see rabbits and does not spread eagles. There are not enough benefits. Why should they help the United States to sow hatred?

Secretary of State Safar argued: "Your Excellency, this topic does not make any sense. The Russians are reforming, and now they need a stable international environment. It is impossible for them to draw millet for us."

It's not that he doesn't work hard, it's that his family background is too thin.In exchange for the verbal support of the Russians, he tried his best.

The topic ends here, the problem cannot be solved, and there is no need to talk further.

The Minister of War, Simon Cameron, rushed in and said eagerly, "Your Excellency, the front line is urgent."

President Lincoln said calmly: "Tell me, if there is any bad news, I can hold it."

Just looking at Simon Kamei's face, he knew that he must have lost another battle somewhere. It seemed that the northern army hadn't won since the outbreak of the war.

Secretary of War Simon Carmell said with a sullen face: "On May 1861, 5, the rebels attacked Cincinnati. Our army fought hard for three days and nights, and finally lost the battle because of being outnumbered. Ohio is in a hurry."

Lincoln immediately stood up, grabbed the battle report, and looked at it carefully.The vocabulary of artistic processing is directly omitted, and it can be summed up as follows:

There were 1.2 southern troops attacking Cincinnati. The federal government sent an infantry division of 3.2 people, plus 2.1 militiamen from Ohio and [-] militiamen from Indiana to defend, and finally lost the battle.

It is indeed outnumbered. After ignoring the militia troops of the two states, the federal government has only one infantry division, which is only a quarter of the enemy's strength. It is not easy to withstand three days.

Lincoln didn't care about the course of the war. He only knew that the infantry division sent by the federal government had less than one-third of its troops left. Several people were killed or captured. The militiamen in the two states also suffered heavy losses. The specific data is unknown. .

"Ohio is above the Great Lakes, and once the rebels occupy it, the federal government will be divided in two by the enemy from the land.

In any case, the War Department must find a way to keep the state.Maybe we can afford to lose militarily, but politically we do not allow us to lose a state. "

Relying on his half bucket of military common sense, Lincoln immediately made a judgment.

Minister of War Simon Cammey replied bitterly: "Yes, Your Excellency. But now we need more reinforcements, and the original plan is out of date."

This battle directly made the Ministry of War understand that the enemy is not a mob. The original plan was: the militias of the surrounding states would establish encirclement circles, and the government recruited 7.5 militias and regular troops to crush them directly.

Now that the encirclement has been torn apart, once Ohio falls, Pennsylvania next door will become a battlefield, and Pittsburgh, the steel center of the United States, will be exposed to the southern soldiers.

Even if the strength of the southern government is limited and it cannot occupy this place for a long time, as long as they wreak havoc, most of the industrial advantages of the northern government will disappear.

There is no way, the Great Lakes region is the core industrial area of ​​the United States, and I really can't afford to lose it.Ohio alone has been reduced to a battlefield, and they have already suffered heavy losses.

Lincoln replied without hesitation: "I will once again issue a national recruitment order to recruit 30 militiamen from all states to serve. But when this is needed, you still need to find a way in a short time."

The sequelae of insufficient preparation have been exposed. As long as any front loses, the federal government will not have enough troops.

Population advantage and industrial advantage are just war potential. If they cannot be transformed into military strength, then potential will always be just potential.

Minister of War Simon Cameron opened his mouth and said: "The federal government has a limited number of troops, and there are too many places to guard. In a short time, we can only order the militias from neighboring states to rush for reinforcements.

Considering that the enemy may attack from all directions and disrupt the deployment of our troops, we must have at least a mobile force of 70 to be able to extinguish this rebellion. "

The original plan only needed [-] troops to extinguish the rebellion.As a result, after the first battle, Simon Kamei became conservative.

Lincoln asked in surprise, "Need so many troops?"

Secretary of War Simon Cameron explained: "Your Excellency, according to the deployment of the enemy's forces, it will not be long before Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Erie, Iowa and other areas will be reduced to battlefield.

If a state falls, the political troubles it will bring to us are immeasurable.If there are not enough troops, it is difficult to counterattack under the condition of comprehensive defense. "

The United States is different from other countries. As long as the federal government dares to give up any state, they will have nothing to eat.Maybe under the sorrow of the rabbit and the fox, these state governments directly surrendered to the south.

Lincoln said helplessly: "Well, you are the professional in this area. If there are any problems that I need to solve, you can tell them together."

The Minister of War, Simon Cameron, said embarrassingly: "Our officer reserve is insufficient, and retired officers must be called up to serve again.

I know it's been recruited, but it's not enough.What I mean is that veterans who have been on the battlefield are recruited to serve as junior officers, and the age can be relaxed up to 55 years old. "

It is indeed a veteran. In this era when the average life expectancy is less than 55 years old, Simon Kamei is really forced to recruit veterans of this age.

High-level military officers can promote new recruits. Anyway, the demand is not large, and you can always find them if you search carefully from the Federal Army.

There is no other way for the company and platoon-level officers who are in greatest demand.Originally, the U.S. Army was small in size, and the officers above the seventh rank were from the South. After the outbreak of the Civil War, these people all left.

Now that the army has been expanded by more than ten times at one time, even if all the active veterans are promoted to officers, Simon Kamei cannot make up the number.

We can only settle for the next best thing, and recruit overage retired officers to come back to serve.

Lincoln suggested: "Has the situation gotten to this point? We can allow students from the military academy to graduate early and serve in the army."

Secretary of War Simon Cameron reminded: "Your Excellency, the first-year students in the military academy have all served in the army. As for the first-year students, they have just entered school and have not learned anything yet."

Chapter 12 The arms dealer who was cheated

The northern government was in trouble, and the southern government was not much better off.The first is the internal power struggle. The newly formed Confederate government is completely the result of compromise and balance among the states.

As a temporary grass-roots team, the executive power cannot be counted on.Most of the affairs must be established with the cooperation of the state government before they can be implemented.

Under dual leadership, chaos of all kinds is inevitable.

After the victory in the Battle of Cincinnati, it was supposed to take advantage of the victory to pursue and concentrate on destroying the industrial center of the northern government in one fell swoop, but the southern government attacked from all sides.

Attacks were successively launched on the bordering areas of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa.

The four-sided style of play seems to be powerful, and it has achieved the goal of defending against the enemy, but it also lost the opportunity to quickly end the war.

This kind of stalemate is the favorite of the great powers. Arms dealers from all over the world gather in North America, wanting to carve up this feast.

In a manor in Missouri, the owner John Casey asked with a smile, "Ficker, how's the talk going?"

Fickel said dejectedly: "Forget it, my friend. This business is impossible, and the state government wants to buy breech-loading rifles.

God, the mainstream weapon in the world now is the front-loading rifle.Besides, what's the difference between loading bullets from the front and loading from the back, aren't they all shot out? "

For this war, Fickel bought [-] pieces of artillery and [-] rifles, planning to take the opportunity to make a fortune.The artillery was naturally sold at a high price, but the rifle was not so lucky.

During the war years, everyone is the most realistic. Use whatever weapon is easy to use.There is no doubt that a breech-loading rifle that can be shot lying down is more competitive than a front-loading rifle.

The southern government was already at a disadvantage in terms of manpower. Although the historical 1:2 has risen to 2:3, they still cannot afford to die. The state government wants to reduce soldier casualties as much as possible.

John Casey shrugged and said: "Sorry, I can't help you on this issue. In normal times, it would not be difficult to persuade the state government to purchase a batch of weapons, but now is a time of war.

We have to take the opinion of the military into account, everything is about winning the war.The breech-loading rifles provided by the Austrians are really good, and I have tried them myself.

Both the rate of fire and the hit rate have been greatly improved.The only weakness is probably that the range is not far enough, but this is not a weakness.

On the battlefield, most soldiers can only have a hit rate within 200 meters, and a range of 800 meters is enough. "

Fikel complained: "Damn it, why didn't you tell me if you knew? I wasted my energy. If I knew it, I would have gone to the north. I only came here for your sake."

John Casey said without changing his face: "You didn't cause this yourself. Who told me that the weapons in his hands are the most advanced in the world?"

Fickel said dissatisfiedly: "My batch of guns is indeed the most advanced in the world, at least in front-loading guns."

John Casey said helplessly: "Well, even if that's the case, it's useless. Who told you to come late? If it was a month in the morning, the government would open the purchase of these guns.

Not anymore, it has been proven that muzzle-loading guns are being phased out.The government will not make fun of the lives of soldiers and purchase this batch of outdated equipment.

How about you modify this batch of guns, I have seen that it is not difficult to convert them into breech-loading rifles.Although the cost has increased a little, can't it all be earned back later? "

Fickle frowned, and the dissatisfaction flashed away.Refitting is easy to say, but this is not Europe, but the southern United States, and there are not many factories capable of refitting rifles.

And one of them is John Casey's arsenal.It is said to be an arsenal, but in fact it has just been rebuilt.

Before the North and South split, it was just a machinery factory.But John Casey was shrewd. As soon as the South declared independence, he ordered equipment from Europe, and recruited people from several domestic arsenals, turning the machinery factory into an arsenal.

It is naturally impossible for the temporary grass-roots team to develop new weapons.

The production capacity did not meet John Casey's expectations. Now it can only produce 3 artillery pieces, [-] rifles, and [-] rounds of ammunition every month.

It is impossible to use the full production capacity of the production line without a year or two.

Apparently it was something John Casey couldn't wait for.Who knows how long this civil war will last. Once the war is over, it will be a problem for the arsenal to survive.

The appearance of the breech-loading rifle brought a turning point to John Casey.It is undoubtedly much faster to modify a muzzle rifle than to produce a rifle.

With his connections in Missouri, he had no problem at all selling reconditioned old guns to the government for new gun prices.

However, not all guns can be modified. Some rifles are easy to modify, and some rifles are not worth the loss.

Fickel's tens of thousands of rifles are undoubtedly suitable for modification.The relationship between the two is not bad, but in the face of interests, the relationship is the most unreliable.

John Casey bought the equipment of the arsenal from Fickel, and now the feng shui is turning, and this time he is going to kill Fickel ruthlessly.

As for whether Fickel will refuse, of course he won't.As long as you think about it with your brain, you know that these guns cannot be sold in the south, and they still cannot be sold in the north.

You can't expect the Austrian arms dealers to just sell arms to the southern government and not sell arms to the northern government, right?

The breech-loading rifle is not a high-tech product, and it takes only a month to imitate it after getting the sample. If Austria does not sell it, European countries will still sell it.

Moreover, the northern government will copy itself.Now that the United States is the world's largest counterfeit country, is it not easy to copy a rifle?

After leaving the US market, it will be difficult to sell these tens of thousands of rifles.This also needs to consider the increased transportation costs. It is better to choose cooperation and earn some money.

Fickel said directly: "Okay, my friend will make a price, as long as the price is right, I will sell it to you."

As a qualified arms dealer, since he had guessed John Casey's purpose, he would naturally not choose to modify it and be cheated out of money.

John Casey quoted with a smile: "Twenty-five thousand pounds."

Hearing this number, Fikel immediately became angry, stood up and said, "Why don't you go grab it?"

John Casey comforted: "As for the fuss, my friend. In business, this obsolete weapon is now worthless.

In addition to refitting, you can only sell to indigenous tribes, so many guns are you going to sell until that year?

It is also risky for me to purchase these guns for modification. The modification takes time. If the civil war ends suddenly, it will all fall on my hands.

For the sake of my old friend, I will add another three thousand pounds, which is already the highest price.

You have to know that the southern government has just signed a huge military order with Austria. They sold 20 breech-loading rifles to the southern government at one time. "

Fickel's face changed drastically, this is undoubtedly bad news.Then he returned to normal, 20 rifles seemed a lot, but in fact, after being scattered in fourteen Confederate states, each state had an average of less than [-] rifles.

This is far from meeting everyone's needs, especially for front-line states like Missouri.

Front-loading guns are not easy to sell because the Americans have a lot in their hands.In this country where everyone owns guns, if you don't have a gun of your own, you are ashamed to say that you are an American.

Fickel bargained: "One hundred thousand pounds, this is already the lowest price in the international arms market."

After contemplating for a while, John Casey made an offer again: "[-] pounds, who made us old friends!"

"Ninety-five thousand pounds, it can't be lower."

"I'll add another two thousand pounds. It can't be higher."