1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 587 The Unfathomable General Liang

There is no airtight wall in the world. Liang Yao made great strides in the west to formalize and reorganize the western militia, established military schools, expanded warehouses in major settlements along the Pacific Railway, and hoarded military supplies and strategic materials. It was impossible to hide this from the eastern spies.

Of course, Liang Yao didn't expect to be able to completely hide this from everyone in the east.

Time waits for no one, and it is impossible for Liang Yao to make no preparations for the upcoming major changes, or to prepare at a slow pace, in order to avoid the eastern spy.

On Christmas Day 1859, Buchanan and his cabinet ministers seemed to be standing under a crumbling house that was about to crack. All the cabinet ministers looked anxious and uneasy.

They seem to be worried that the cracked house of America will collapse at any time, burying what their media generation considers the worst American government in history.

Liang Yao suddenly carried out large-scale military preparations in the western region. For the Buchanan government, which was already struggling to control the scale of the Kansas Civil War, ease the situation between the north and the south, and try to save the sluggish economic situation in the east, it was a disaster. , it rained heavily all night.

Many good media have begun to speculate on how many troops the youngest American general in the west has under his command.

Some newspapers speculated that the number was 30,000, some as 50,000, and some bold and radical newspapers speculated that Liang Yao had an army of 100,000.

Of course, some media people who are familiar with the inside story of the Liang family believe that the number of troops under Liang Yao's control is immeasurable and the strength of the Western Consortium is unfathomable.

The overseas colonial armies under the nominal and actual control of the United States also directly or indirectly obeyed Liang Yao's command.

These colonial armies included those stationed in Hawaii, those stationed in the Nagasaki Concession in Japan, those stationed in Ezo Island, Japan, and those stationed in Xiangjiang and Borneo.

Most of these colonial armies are mercenary armed forces affiliated with Liang Yao's Umbrella Company. They are out-and-out private armed forces. The equipment of these private armed forces is even better than that of most of the American standing army. It is also an armed force that cannot be underestimated.

In addition, the Umbrella Company not only has powerful land forces under its command, but also has a private fleet that once defeated the Dutch East India Company.

This private fleet is equipped with several cutting-edge Julang-class steam ironclads with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons that even the naval admirals of the United States are the envy of.

Before the Civil War, the United States' main expansion direction was on the land of the North American continent. Before Liang Yao extended his tentacles to the Pacific region, the United States had almost no overseas interests to protect.

Therefore, there is naturally no motivation to raise a powerful navy to protect overseas interests. Of course, the federal government's meager fiscal revenue and military expenditures before the Civil War could not support a powerful modern navy.

Not to mention the cutting-edge Julang-class steam ironclads with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons, the United States Navy does not even have a few sail warships with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons at this time.

Not to mention that the United States has been facing a serious brain drain problem in recent years.

Since the salary of Umbrella fleet sailors is more than twice that of United States Navy sailors, the monthly salary of ordinary sailors in the United States Navy is US$8, while the monthly salary of Umbrella fleet sailors is US$20. As for technical crew members and senior crew members such as chief engineer, navigator, gunner, first mate, second mate, etc., the salary gap is even greater.

Therefore, many retired and even active United States Navy soldiers and officers have chosen to join the Umbrella fleet. After all, joining the Umbrella fleet will not only enjoy better treatment, but also drive more advanced warships.

Even many new recruits who join the United States Navy also hold the idea of ​​gilding themselves in the United States Navy and going directly to the Umbrella Fleet to get high salaries after retirement.

The Umbrella fleet is also very happy to give these former soldiers and officers of the United States Navy the green light.

There are many rumors among American people about this mysterious fleet. It is rumored that this fleet not only defeated the powerful Dutch East India Company fleet in the war for the island of Borneo.

Even in the recent trade war between the Qing Dynasty and Britain and France, the Umbrella fleet was employed by the Qing Dynasty, and fought evenly with the British and French combined fleets at the Pearl River Estuary (a more exaggerated statement is that it defeated Britain and France. Allied fleet.)

This rumor once inspired the American people and made their blood boil.

As for whether the Umbrella fleet was ever employed by the Qing Dynasty, and whether it actually tied or even defeated the combined fleet of the British and French forces, only those who witnessed this war knew.

Of course, a small number of senior officials in the Buchanan administration also knew. After all, the United States is also the winner of this so-called trade war, and the newly acquired Xiangjiang Island was not given away by the generous British.

The United States replaced Britain as the new owner of Hong Kong Island. The Qing government also expressed its gratitude to the United States and even invited the United States to assist the Qing government in its shipping construction. The United States took this opportunity to further expand its influence in the Far East. This is the most outstanding foreign policy achievement of the Buchanan administration during its time in power. Beyond that, the Buchanan administration accomplished nothing in the diplomatic field.

Liang Yao's uncle Liang Shaoqiong was the governor of Liangjiang in the Qing Dynasty. He not only controlled the Liangjiang region, which was the richest in the Qing Dynasty and had a population even greater than that of the United States, but also controlled one of the most elite armed forces in the Qing Empire.

Many American conspirators boldly speculated that this armed force was probably one of the armed forces that Liang Yao could mobilize.

Although Buchanan believed that Liang Yao could mobilize the Qing imperial army was ridiculous, it was indeed an ironclad fact that Liang Yao controlled almost all the overseas colonial armies of the United States and owned a private fleet.

Thinking of the large western conglomerates represented by Liang Yao who control such powerful elite armed forces. Buchanan couldn't help but feel like there was a light on his back.

At this time, Buchanan had already cordially greeted his predecessor Fillmore in the most vicious terms.

The power of the Western Consortium headed by Liang Yao grew rapidly during the two terms of former President Fillmore, who had a close personal relationship with Liang Yao.

By the time he took office, the West had already become a major problem for the United States.

It's just that the West has always been very obedient to the arrangements of the federal government, and even cooperated with tariff inspections, and was not as noisy as the slave states in the South.

In addition, Buchanan himself also needed to use the power of the west to expand American influence in the Far East and eradicate the influence of the Mormon Church. Therefore, when he first took office, Buchanan did not have a strong sense of precaution against the west.

Of course, Buchanan also had his own difficulties. His ability to become president was also due to the votes of the three West Coast states. Nor could he interfere in the internal affairs of the Western region without doing anything unconstitutional in the West.

When the West suddenly showed its true face and showed its fangs in public, Buchanan was caught off guard. Buchanan and his cabinet had never considered the West before.

"A year ago, Republican Lincoln once compared the United States to a big house that is about to burst apart in his speech." Secretary of War Scott, who looked solemn, spoke first, breaking the dull and depressing atmosphere in the office.

"Now it seems that the big house of America has not only cracks between the north and south, but also a big crack between the east and west. A house with one crack can barely support it for a while, but a big house with two cracks will not survive if it is not correct If one of the cracks is repaired, this house may collapse at any time. By then we will all be buried in this house."