1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 642 Three Kingdoms Discussing Mo

"I admit that the problem in the West is as serious as the rebellion in the South, but everything has a priority. Mr. President, the situation is critical. Whether to use troops against the South or the West first, please make a decision as soon as possible." Douglas stood up and urged.

"All the volunteers and militia that have been mobilized will be used to defend the capital." After careful consideration, Lincoln made a decision, "In addition, issue a mobilization order again to mobilize and organize another 100,000 troops as quickly as possible. We have not completely torn our faces with the West, and we can contact and negotiate with them on the ownership of the central border area to buy some time."

The changes in the situation in the West disrupted Lincoln's original rhythm. Under the pressure of the rapidly deteriorating situation, Lincoln had to issue a second mobilization order in just one month.

"Mr. President, it is not difficult to mobilize 100,000 troops, but after we mobilized 75,000 soldiers, the federal finances are almost exhausted. Our current finances are only enough to maintain these mobilized soldiers." Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase looked embarrassed.

Not to mention that this was the first time in the history of the Federation that two mobilization orders were issued in a row within a month, which was a great test of the organization and mobilization capabilities of these federal bureaucrats.

The most fatal thing was that the Federation was still shrouded in the shadow of the economic crisis. The financial situation of the federal government was not optimistic. After losing the two major sources of tariff revenue in the South and the West, the finances of the federal government were even worse.

Struggling to maintain an army of about 100,000 people is already the current financial limit of the federal government. If you want to mobilize another 100,000 troops, it will never be completed even with the lowest standard supply.

"Mobilize patriots to donate! Use bank policies! Go to Wall Street to raise funds! Issue war bonds! Borrow from other countries!" Lincoln said in a very stern tone, "No matter what method you use, I want to see this 100,000 troops within two months! If you can't do it, you should step down and let the wise man do it!"

Even though Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase was an old friend of Lincoln, Lincoln didn't look good to this old friend, and seemed to have no mercy on this old friend.

"Yes, sir." Salmon Chase had to bite the bullet and take up this task.

People with simple patriotic enthusiasm don't have much money. It's not that rich people are unpatriotic, but it's very troublesome to get money from these people who don't see the rabbit and don't release the eagle.

As for borrowing from other countries, the wealthy countries in Europe are basically monarchies. The kings and prime ministers of these countries hope that the American Republic will be in chaos and then split the North American continent. It's not easy to borrow money from them. This is destined to be a hard job.

"The southern states are not a monolithic block. We can still fight for some states and regions to ease our current political and military pressures." Lincoln continued.

"The West Virginia gentry headed by Francis Pierpont was very angry about the state assembly's vote to secede from the Union. We must win over these enlightened gentry in the counties and cities of West Virginia who are sensible. Seward, you and Mr. Francis Pierpont are old friends. I think it's most appropriate for you to do this."

In terms of the attitude of winning over the swing states and regions in the South, Lincoln has always been very active and has already taken action.

Before Lincoln officially took office, he had contacted Charles Moorehead, the former governor of Kentucky, and revealed that he hoped that Kentucky could continue to remain in the big family of the Union. However, Charles Moorehead, the old fox, still took a wait-and-see attitude, not wanting to offend the North or vent his anger on the South, and did not make a clear statement.

At present, Lincoln has won Maryland, a swing state in the South, and the remaining regions and states to fight for are Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia.

Among these three places, the most critical object to fight for is undoubtedly West Virginia. If West Virginia is won, it will not only weaken the strength of Virginia, the largest state in the South, and provide an insurance for the safety of western Washington, but also prove to the outside world that the Northern Federal Government is the people's will and the only legitimate government.

"I will live up to your trust." Seward took this task very readily.

Seward didn't know much about the border areas, but he knew everything about the eastern region.

The counties and cities in the West Virginia region had no tradition of slavery, and were more closely connected to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York in terms of economy. These counties and cities were not in agreement with the Richmond authorities, and local dignitaries such as Francis Pierpont were originally loyal to the Union, so it was easy to persuade them to defect to the North.

Compared with the task Lincoln assigned to Salmon Chase, Seward's job could be said to be a good one.

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On April 13, 1861, a large multinational fleet appeared in the waters near the Port of Veracruz.

Some of the ships in this fleet flew the white flag and Union Jack of the British Royal Navy, or the flag of the Second French Empire and the flag of the Spanish Empire.

There is no doubt that this army was the British, French, and Spanish coalition forces that went to Mexico in the name of debt collection.

The Port of Veracruz is one of the few ports in the western Gulf of Mexico that can berth large ships, and it is also the first stop for the British, French, and Spanish coalition forces to arrive in Mexico.

Sven, the actual controller of the Port of Veracruz and commander of the Atlantic Fleet of the American Republic, allowed British, French and Spanish ships to dock at the Port of Veracruz for supplies at the instruction of Liang Yao.

After learning about this, the Mexican authorities protested to the American Republic, demanding that the Port of Veracruz remain neutral and not allow warships from other countries to dock.

However, the authorities of the American Republic did not take the protest of the Mexican authorities seriously and still agreed to the request of the joint fleet of Britain, France and Spain to dock for supplies.

On the one hand, these soldiers from Europe can bring rich income to the Port of Veracruz. On the other hand, the authorities of the American Republic do not want to vent their anger on the European powers at this critical moment.

Sven stood on the dock with his hands behind his back, staring at this huge fleet and thinking a lot. This was the first time Sven had the opportunity to witness the two most powerful navies in the world with his own eyes.

The construction and maintenance costs of the navy are high, the cycle is long, the personnel training is slow, and the system is complicated. It is the most testing military branch of this era and the embodiment of a country's comprehensive strength. The size and type of ships of Britain, France and Spain can also glimpse their national strength.

In terms of fleet quality, the British Empire is naturally the leader among them. Britain sent one of its ironclad ships, the Warrior, to participate in this expedition. The Warrior, with a displacement of about 10,000 tons, stands out among the many ships.

In addition to the Warrior, more than half of the British ships are powered by steam, ranging from gunboats with a displacement of 100 to 200 tons, suitable for offshore inland navigation, to frigates with a displacement of 2,000 to 3,000 tons, and battleships with a displacement of more than 4,000 to 5,000 tons. There are also other troop transports, logistics support ships and other ships. It can be said that there is everything and the system is complete.

However, the scale of the British expedition this time is relatively limited, with only one or two regiments of marines, and no heavy artillery. It seems that the British really just came to force Mexico to fulfill its debt obligations by force.

The facade of the French Navy is two Glorious-class ironclad ships with a displacement of more than 6,600 tons. The fleet system is also relatively complete, and the steamization rate is comparable to that of the British Navy. But the scale of the French army is much larger than that of the British army, especially the troop transport ships, which are several times that of the British army, and the number of people must be more than 10,000.

An army of this size, let alone fighting Mexico, would be enough to give the Confederacy and the Union a hard time even if it was placed in the north. It seems that the French are just as the president judged. They are not asking for debts, but they are really occupying and controlling Mexico under the pretext of asking for debts.

After careful observation, Sven felt that the biggest gap between the British and French navies was not in the ships, but in the quality of the crew. British crews are obviously more skilled and more comfortable in operating ships than French crews.

When his eyes fell on the seven or eight sailing warships of the Spanish fleet, Sven couldn't help but show a look of disdain.

Compared with the warships of Britain and France, the fleet of the declining Spanish empire seemed to be from the last century.