1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 651 Python Plan

A protracted war is not only a result that Liang Shaoyu does not want to see, but also a result that Liang Yao cannot accept.

Although Liang Yao has achieved certain results in the construction of the Midwest of North America, the operating time is limited after all. Once he falls into the quagmire of war, it will reach the stage of stalemate in which the country will be consumed. The current American Republic will definitely not be able to outlast the Northern Federation.

"There is absolutely no such possibility." Liang Yao decisively and resolutely told Liang Shaoyu, "You don't have to worry about military affairs, just do your immigration work with peace of mind."

If it really comes to the point of a protracted war, Liang Yao would rather shrink back in the North Platte Fortress Group and hold on, continuing to accumulate strength, rather than shed blood and compete with the Northern Federation for the Central Great Plains.

"So, I finally put my heart at ease." Liang Shaoyu nodded, feeling relieved. He continued, "Everything else can be done, but there is one thing that cannot be delayed, that is, machine tools. Machine tools are the most in short supply in the border areas. Can you ship a batch of machine tools here first? At least ship a batch of mother beds and important spare parts here first."

It's not that there is no industry in the central border areas, but Liang Yao has been focusing on supporting the military industry in North Platte, transferring part of Sacramento's military production capacity to North Platte, in order to establish a relatively complete military industry in North Platte that can meet the needs of the front line and save future military expenses on the eastern front.

In the field of civilian industry, the central border areas are relatively weak. Most of the factory machinery in the central border areas relies on the supply of the West Coast, and even mechanical parts with slightly more complicated processes and higher precision requirements cannot be manufactured.

Under the current situation where transportation capacity is allocated to military use first, civilian factories in the central border areas dare not let machines run at high loads at all. In order to protect the machines, they can only reduce production capacity. The insufficient production capacity further leads to insufficient local material supply, thus forming a vicious circle.

"I will grant you 150 train cars, but these 150 train cars can only be used to transport machine tools and mechanical parts. If I find that the people in the Immigration Bureau are partial to each other and use these train cars to transport or smuggle things that should not be brought, don't blame me for turning my face against you."

Liang Yao is not an unreasonable person. After careful consideration of Liang Shaoyu's reasonable request, he still allocated some precious transportation capacity to Liang Shaoyu, and at the same time did not forget to give Liang Shaoyu a shot of prevention.

Having personally experienced the shortage of materials in California in the early days of gold rush, Liang Yao knew very well what transportation capacity meant to the central border areas where almost all materials were scarce.

"I will personally watch these train cars, and I will be held responsible if there is any problem." Liang Shaoyu vowed to Liang Yao.

"The Pacific Railway is the lifeline of our American Republic. Have any spies from the East recently infiltrated to try to destroy the Pacific Railway?" Liang Yao finally asked about the railway security.

"Yes, since March, the railway police have arrested more than a dozen suspicious people during patrols. They are still under trial. Pinkerton is responsible for this matter." Liang Shaoyu replied.

During the conversation, Liang Yao's special train unknowingly entered the South Platte River Valley. The Platte River Valley is the most densely populated area in the central frontier area except Denver and Tianhu City.

Unlike Denver and Tianhu City, the river valley is narrow and long, and the widest part of the Platte River Valley is only eight or nine kilometers, so there are no particularly large cities in the Platte River Valley.

The local settlement form is mainly small and medium-sized rural towns. 312 large and small villages and towns are distributed along the river bank. Sailing boats with white sails and small steamers spewing black smoke are sailing on the river in an orderly manner.

Most of the flat land near the two sides of the river has been reclaimed into rice fields and vegetable gardens for growing rice and vegetables.

Rice is the most expensive staple food in the American Republic. As long as natural conditions permit, farmers in the American Republic, whether Chinese or a small number of white people from the East, generally give priority to growing rice.

"These rice fields were the first rice fields and vegetable gardens to be reclaimed two years ago. In addition to keeping some of the rice and vegetables as food, the rest were sold to the troops stationed in the Pratt Fortress Group.

The gentle slopes further out are used to grow corn, wheat, sweet potatoes and potatoes, and the steeper slopes can only grow some fruit trees."

Along the way, Liang Shaoyu talked endlessly about his work results to Liang Yao.

With West Virginia announcing its accession to the Union, the first batch of mobilized soldiers have all arrived in Washington, and the navy has completed mobilization and can be put into combat.

The situation in the East gradually tilted towards the Northern Union, which was increasingly favorable to the North.

The person in charge of the Eastern Front battlefield command was Lieutenant General Scott, the Secretary of War, the highest-ranking general in the Northern Union.

The situation reversed, and Scott was no longer satisfied with being passively trapped in a corner of Washington, but was seeking to take the initiative.

As a veteran general of the Northern Army, Scott knew what the Union Army was like, the combat effectiveness of the Southern rebels, and the quality of their generals.

Scott knew that with the current Union Army, it would not be able to achieve a quick victory over the Southern rebels on land in the short term.

He was very sure that the Northern Army's breakthrough point was at sea, not on land.

The Union Army's army did not have an absolute advantage over the Southern rebels' army, but their navy had a crushing advantage over the Southern rebels' navy.

In such a large South, the only maritime force that caught Scott's eye was a medium-sized shallow-water heavy artillery fleet controlled by the Texans.

However, the fleet built by the Texans at great expense was an absolute green-water fleet, which was only used to defend the Port of Houston and could not be used for ocean operations. Therefore, the Texan fleet could not pose a threat to the federal navy.

In the office of the War Department in Washington, the federal capital, Winfield Scott was standing in front of a table covered with maps, his eyes focused and determined.

Scott was wearing a straight blue general's uniform, and the gold thread on his shoulders shone against the setting sun. His right hand held a long feather pen steadily, and his left hand trembled slightly on the edge of the table, drawing on the spread map.

Behind Scott stood two generals, both of whom had their hands raised in the air and looked nervous. They were worried that the elderly federal veteran would fall down due to overwork. Of course, they also hoped that Scott would fall down in their hearts, after all, there was only one position for the Minister of War.

The two generals behind Scott were General Henry Halleck, who had just been promoted by Lincoln to Army Chief of Staff, and Gideon Wells, a Republican general and an important member of Lincoln's cabinet and Secretary of the Navy.

The map drawn by Scott detailed the terrain and transportation routes of the southern states, including rivers, ports and railways in the south.

Scott slowly pointed his quill pen to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast, where the sea supply lines on which the Confederacy depended for survival. Scott frowned and whispered to himself: "To win this war, we must cut off all lifelines in the South, isolate them, and prevent them from getting outside assistance and supplies."

He continued to move the pen tip northward along the Mississippi River, which meandered down like a natural barrier running through the north and south. Scott knew that the Mississippi River would be the most important part of the northern strategy.

"We need to control the Mississippi River," Scott muttered, "cut off the connection between the South and the West from the inside, divide the South and the West, gradually weaken their resistance, and defeat them one by one. I must not only cut off the connection between the South and Europe, but also the connection between the South and the West, although the two rebel forces have not yet formed an alliance."

Scott's thoughts gradually became clear, and he drew a series of blockade lines on the map, surrounding the major ports and main transportation routes in the South. Finally, his eyes fell on the map of the entire South surrounded, as if a huge python was tightly wrapped around its prey, gradually tightening.

"This is my plan, I call this plan the Python Plan." Scott finally put down the pen in his hand and looked up at the distance outside the window. It seemed that there was a python wriggling in the distant sky.

"It's hard for us to win a quick victory, but we can strangle the enemy slowly like a python, suffocating them until they completely lose the power to resist."

"Omaha is almost at the confluence of the Platte River and the main stream of the Mississippi River. Whether your plan can be successfully implemented depends on whether McClellan can stabilize the situation in the central border area." Henry Halleck pointed his finger at Omaha on the map, and then his finger slowly moved westward.

"In the past two years, Liang Yao has been immigrating in these places on a large scale, and even won the support of Indian tribes, mainly the Cheyenne tribe. The local situation is not optimistic for us."

The Platte River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, is mostly under the control of the western rebels, which is a concern for the three high-ranking northern generals present.

"Mason reported these situations to me many times two years ago. He is a competent officer." Scott couldn't help but frowned when he mentioned this. "It's a pity that if Mr. Lincoln could have become president earlier, the situation in the central frontier might not be as bad as it is today."

The previous president Buchanan was unbearable, but he was not unkind to Scott. Thinking of this, Scott subconsciously controlled himself and swallowed the three words "incompetent" back into his stomach, and changed to a relatively more euphemistic statement.

"General Mason is very dissatisfied with McClellan. I am worried that this will affect the overall situation in the central frontier." Henry Halleck said worriedly.

"I can understand Mason's dissatisfaction. I will find a way to appease him. I believe Mason is a sensible person." Scott put down the quill in his hand.

"As for McClellan, we can't say that he did anything wrong. If he gave the new soldiers to Mason, it would not be of any benefit to the defense of the Kearny Fortress Group, but would be a hindrance to Mason. If he reluctantly gave the old soldiers to Mason, it would not only weaken the defense of Omaha, but also delay the training of the second round of mobilized soldiers. In the final analysis, this is because we were not fully prepared and the mobilization came too late."