1850 American Gold Tycoon

The news that the American army defeated the Japanese shogunate army and forced the Japanese shogunate army to sign the "Nagasaki Treaty" and the "US-Japan Goodwill Treaty" that was humiliating and humiliating to the country quickly spread from Japan to the Qing Dynasty across the water.

After learning the news, the Guangdong authorities first doubted the reliability of the news. It was not until Perry's American East India Fleet was resupplying in Xiangshan that Xu Guangjin sent someone to confirm the authenticity of the news to Perry.

When he learned that the news was true, Xu Guangjin was shaken up. At the same time, he was glad that he did not have a violent conflict with Liang Yao in Xiangshan.

Even Pan Zhengwei, Pan Shicheng, Wu Yuanhua and others who had just returned to Guangzhou were also very surprised.

Pan Zhengwei and Wu Yuanhua know the American army relatively well, especially the American army in California.

There is no doubt that both Pan Zhengwei and Wu Yuanhua believed that the American army had the strength to defeat the Japanese shogunate army.

But they didn't expect that Liang Yao and Perry could defeat the Tokugawa Shogunate's army so quickly and force the Tokugawa Shogunate to sign such a harsh unequal treaty.

""Tongjian of All Nations" says that the most powerful among the Western countries is England, followed by France. Among the Western countries, the United States can only be regarded as a second-rate country in terms of strength. Unexpectedly, a second-rate Western country can Defeated the Japanese shogunate so easily."

Pan Shicheng, who is familiar with "Wanguo Tongjian", said with worry.

"The Japanese country is not a weak country, its folk customs are quite fierce, and it has ended up like this. If one day the first-class Western powers like England and France go to war with our Qing Dynasty, how should we respond?"

Pan Shicheng did not want to experience another Opium War. After the first Opium War, the Pan family inevitably declined and its financial resources were greatly damaged.

If he hadn't been decisive and sent Pan Zhengwei to California to pan for gold, the Pan family's situation would have been even more difficult than it is now.

"I heard that the English are quite dissatisfied with the Jiangning Treaty and have repeatedly requested to amend the treaty. If things continue like this, and with the insatiable nature of the English, it is not impossible that a war will break out between the imperial court and the English."

Pan Zhengwei doesn't think Pan Shicheng is really alarmist. Such a possibility does exist.

Vice Admiral Kang Enze, who returned to Guangdong on Perry's smooth sailing ship, immediately reported to Guangdong Navy Admiral Hong Mingxiang what he had seen in Japan with the American fleet.

"The Japanese soldiers were very brave, but their bravery was useless in the face of guns and artillery. Colonel Liang fought very easily in the two battles in Nagasaki and Kanagawa, especially in the Battle of Kanagawa, where Colonel Liang fought with a mere two thousand troops against tens of thousands of Japanese The shogunate soldiers defeated the shogunate army in less than a day." Kang Enze said to Hong Mingxiang with a solemn expression.

"Foreign guns and cannons are really powerful. Whether it is range, rate of fire or accuracy, they are much better than our guns. Hong Junmen, I think that if we want to defend Guangdong's waters, we must have foreign guns and cannons. .

Before I said goodbye, I asked Colonel Liang. Colonel Liang said that he has an ordnance factory in California, USA, and can produce guns by himself. If we need it, we can buy guns from him. "

As a general of the Guangdong Navy, Kang Enze knows very well what kind of bird the Guangdong Navy is currently in.

If the British invaded Guangzhou again, Kang Enze believed that the Guangdong Navy's performance might not be better than the Japanese pirates' resistance to the United States this time.

"I heard that the American army suffered only a few casualties in this battle, but is it true?" Hong Mingxiang asked about the casualties of the American army.

Hong Mingxiang knew the benefits of foreign guns and cannons. Of course he also wanted foreign guns and cannons, but there were still two problems before them.

The first problem is money. The Guangdong Navy can hardly even afford military pay, let alone money to buy guns.

The second problem is the issue of the imperial court's permission. Without the imperial court's permission, a large number of foreign guns and cannons were purchased. If the imperial court investigated them, he, the admiral of the Guangdong Navy, would not be able to bear this responsibility.

"It's true." Kang Enze gave a very positive reply, "The total number of casualties in the two armies of the U.S. Navy is only a dozen. This is what I have seen with my own eyes."

"Compile what you have seen and heard about this matter into a document, and follow me to state your interests and concerns to the Lord." Hong Mingxiang said with a sigh.

"I have written this information into a document."

As he spoke, celebrity Kang Enze brought a wooden box. Inside the wooden box was the manuscript of his "Japanese Experience Record".

Hong Mingxiang opened the wooden box, took out a few pages and read them roughly, then nodded with satisfaction: "You did a good job on this errand."

A few days later, Hong Mingxiang invited Xu Guangjin to the Humen Fort to review the Humen soldiers.

Humen is the key to Guangzhou, and the soldiers on the Humen Fort are naturally the elite of the Qing army.

It's just different from the past. In the past, when Shangguan was going to have a military parade, the superiors would at least give them the news in advance so that they could prepare in advance.

But this time, the Qing troops at the Humen Fort saw two first-class officers appear at the Humen Fort without receiving any notification, which frightened the Qing troops at the Humen Fort.

Humen Fort is not a single fort, but consists of more than a dozen large and small forts such as Shajiao Fort, Dajiao Fort, Shanghengdang Island Fort, Weiyuan Fort, Jingyuan Fort, Zhenyuan Third Fort, Hengdang Fort, and Yongan Fort. The fortress group has three levels in front and back.

It was the most complete fort in the coastal areas of the Qing Dynasty. If managed properly, it could indeed protect Guangzhou.

The first thing Hong Mingxiang and Xu Guangjin inspected was the outermost Shajiao Fort.

Although there is no use of gun barrels to dry clothes on Shajiao Fort, the absence of soldiers on duty and improper ammunition storage have indeed become the norm.

According to the establishment, Shajiao Fort should have a green battalion with a total of 1,100 people responsible for garrisoning. At this time, the total number of Qing soldiers on Shajiao Fort was only about 400. It was these 400 people and half of them. A long-time smoker who can't even stand still when he smokes a cigarette and has a runny nose.

Seeing this situation, even though Hong Mingxiang and Xu Guangjin were mentally prepared, their faces were still livid with anger.

Although the Humen Fort was the strongest and most complex coastal defense fortress in the Qing Dynasty, it was still short of soldiers all year round.

In theory, that is, at full strength, the entire Humen fort group should be stationed with more than 10,000 green troops.

In fact, the number of troops stationed at Humen Fort has never reached this number.

Even when Lin Zexu was rectifying Humen's armaments, the number of soldiers stationed at the Humen Fort that could actually be put into combat was only seven or eight thousand.

After Guan Tianpei lost the Shajiao and Dajiao forts outside Humen, he personally went to the front line to take charge, which was a last resort.

If the soldiers on the front line were strong, why would the commander-in-chief risk death in battle and visit the front line in person?

"Shajiao Camp Chief Qian Liu Fang! Do you know your guilt?" Hong Mingxiang asked in a deep voice.

"You humble yourself and know your sin."

At this time, Liu Fang was still in a state of confusion. Liu Fang, who was smoking a bit, walked unsteadily and walked to Hong Mingxiang with light steps. He immediately knelt down on the ground and sniffed. Two clear noses.