Wild North America 1846

In order to develop the economy in an all-round way, Richard is still holding back a murderous move, which is to develop rich oil resources.

throughout North America

California, New Mexico, and North Dakota within the territory of the Tang Kingdom are all rich in oil resources. Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, and Pennsylvania in the United States are also rich in oil resources.

From this point of view

Most of the territories with rich oil resources in the Tang Kingdom and the United States come from Mexico. Is this considered a lucky move to plunder the Mexican country?

Humanity has been utilizing oil for a long time. As early as 1832, the Russian brothers Vasily built the world's first oil refinery.

In 1838, the Baku Refinery used distillation technology to successfully separate heavy oil and light oil, and obtained petrochemical products such as naphtha and kerosene.

In 1845, France built its first oil refinery.

Just last year, in 1848, Britain also built its first oil refinery and actively improved its distillation reactors in the hope of obtaining more petroleum products.

Naturally, Richard was not willing to lag behind. He had already sent three geological exploration teams to conduct extensive geological exploration in California, southern New Mexico, and northwestern North Dakota. They explored local oil and gas legends and tried to develop the land belonging to the Tang Kingdom.

The 1st oil field.

California is also a place rich in oil resources. Historically, the world-famous Chevron Oil Company was located here, which is a typical example of how it developed into a giant by relying on local oil resources.

Today's world society has little demand for petroleum products, mainly in the field of kerosene lighting. However, this is an emerging industry that is developing rapidly at a rate of geometric fission and contains a potential market of tens of billions of dollars. How could the Tang Kingdom be absent?

Just one example to illustrate;

In the late Qing Dynasty, beginning in the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867), foreign oil entered the Chinese market for the first time. The record of imported foreign oil was kerosene, about 107 tons, and its main use was still for lighting.

In an era without electricity, oil lamps were an irreplaceable need in people's lives.

By the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), the late Qing government imported 240,000 tons of foreign oil annually, and the import scale rapidly expanded 2,380 times.

Products have evolved from imported kerosene to imported kerosene, gasoline, lubricants and other petroleum products, consuming at least 8 million taels of silver from the Qing government's treasury every year.

By 1923, the National Government's imports of "foreign oil" had reached 767,000 tons, consuming more than 58 million taels of silver from the national treasury...

At night, a kerosene lamp is lit. By the weak and warm light, women sew clothes, children read around the lamp, and men talk about the richness of the east and the shortcomings of the west. This is a profile of the warm life of an ordinary family, and it is also the most simple needs.

When such simple needs are amplified to a huge population, it becomes an unparalleled market.

Compared with China, Richard valued the vast European market with unlimited money potential. As a world-recognized oil-poor area, selling kerosene, naphtha, and lubricants to European countries was an unimpeded business.

profiteering business.

Its market potential, scale, and strong market growth rate are enough to make Richard envious. It is far better than the gold mining industry that currently accounts for half of the economic output of the Datang Kingdom, and is enough to support the rapid development of the industrial field of the Datang Kingdom for 100 years.

Being dragged down by three consecutive years of war, the Tang Kingdom's finances were not well-off. Although there were a large number of war seizures and aid from European countries such as the United Kingdom, the three-year war expenditure still reached a huge amount of 87 million Tang Yuan.

Relying on the huge output of the American River gold mine, the Tang Kingdom barely managed to achieve a fiscal balance, slightly exceeding it. The overall debt did not exceed 4.6 million pounds, totaling about 23 million Tang yuan.

The kingdom's finances also have a major expenditure, which is to pay the United States a land purchase fee of US$15 million. This part of the funds will be paid in seven years, totaling approximately US$21.4 million including principal and interest, with an average annual average of more than US$3 million.

Fortunately, the war is finally over, and we can take a big breather.

This year and next year

The Tang Kingdom plans to retire 22,000 cavalrymen and reduce the size of the army. The cavalry force will be supplemented with a large number of new blood to maintain the number at 16,000. The musketeers will remain at more than 9,000. Together with the coastal fortresses and forts across the country, the total size of the army will remain at 30,000.

People around.

Nearly half of the officers of the army will face retirement and go home to run their own ranches or plantations and enjoy a peaceful life without war.

The Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty had a team of professional sergeants, mainly cavalry and artillery. They were all composed of professional soldiers with rich combat experience, firm will, and strong military qualities. There were about 1,300 people in total. They were the backbone of the military at the grassroots level.

This part doesn't cut it for anyone.

peacetime

These professional sergeants will gradually enter the military academy for training. After returning, they will take over some of the functions of grassroots officers, be responsible for military training and small-scale operations, and accumulate more combat experience through anti-bandit operations.

The size of the navy has increased slightly, from more than 1,300 to nearly 4,000. It is mainly used for anti-piracy operations on Central American routes and maintaining Panama's overseas garrison to maintain a military presence in Central America.

through the above measures

Military spending will be cut by 82.7%, allowing more valuable funds to be used in national economic construction and industrial development instead of being consumed in unnecessary wars.

The Tang Kingdom's military layoff plan was based on corresponding adjustments made by the US military. After the war, the US military also carried out substantial layoffs and retirements, and supplemented some recruits to replace the old with the new.

After the reorganization of the U.S. military, the total number of Army personnel was reduced from 167,000 to 58,000, and the total number of Navy personnel was reduced from 132,000 to 55,000, while the total strength was maintained at 113,000.

Especially at Fort Hugo on the western frontier of the United States, the U.S. military always maintains a garrison of more than 20,000 troops, a reserve force of 12,000 in Kansas City, and a garrison of no less than 16,000 in Chicago. These are the three most important garrison troops of the U.S. military.

Concentrated area, accounting for more than 80% of the total strength of the U.S. Federal Continental Army.

Corresponding

The Tang Kingdom maintained a garrison of no less than 1,500 troops at the Red Rock Valley Defense Line and a 5,000-strong musketeer force at the Phoenix Fortress, which was a key area for defense against the United States.

On the Colorado Plateau, the Tang Kingdom always maintains a cavalry force of more than 8,000 people, and can mobilize more than 30,000 armed militia at any time, and its strength is not inferior to that of its opponent.

Almost all of the villages, towns and ranches on the Colorado Plateau are run by retired veterans. These people have a high degree of organizational discipline, a strong sense of regional protection, and are loyal to the king and the army. They are an important force that cannot be ignored.

After many years of management by Richard, the Colorado Plateau is now the stronghold of the kingdom's conservative forces. The newly emerging military aristocrats and fiefs scattered in the six northern states, plantations, farms, wineries and ranches run by retired soldiers have gradually formed a stable Chinese society.

Basic strength is the basic foundation of the kingdom's rule.

Although the war was over, the Tang Kingdom did not ignore its defense posture against the United States. The parapet defense line in the Hongyan Valley still existed, but 1.3 kilometers behind it, a tall and towering city wall was rising.

In the next ten years or so, the construction of the Red Rock Valley Fortress defense will not stop.

The plan is to dig a large number of caves, build numerous military fortresses, build tall city walls and fortress defense lines, and build tall city walls more than ten kilometers long along the dividing line between the Gobi Desert and the desert, extending all the way to the Phoenix Fortress...

As long as the Colorado Province is firmly held in hand to ensure safety, the safety of the vast areas of the six northern states can be guaranteed. The large group of cavalry swooping down from the plateau is a nightmare that the Americans cannot resist at all.

The closest city to the United States is Omaha, which belongs to the Province of Nebraska. It is located on the Great Plains on the banks of the Missouri River. It is only 210 kilometers away from Des Moines County to the west and about 830 kilometers from Chicago to the north.

It is only 277 kilometers away from Kansas City, takes 7 hours by train, and can be reached in a day and night by fast horse.

Two railway branches extending north from Phoenix (Denver), the Northwest Railway branch will pass through Wyoming and eventually reach Montana, connecting large areas of barren northern forests, grasslands and mountain lakes.

As the name suggests, the Northeastern Railway branch line extends northeast from Phoenix (Denver), first connecting to Peel City in South Dakota, and then continuing to extend north to inland towns in North Dakota.

This northeastern railway branch line will lead to a westward railway line in the province of Nebraska, connecting Luene, Kearny, Lincoln and other towns along the way, and finally reach Omaha.

As a border city between the United States and Tang Dynasty, Omaha is also a steel nail that penetrates deeply into the northern plains of the United States. The construction work has received great attention from Richard, who personally reviewed the city's planning and overall layout. The Kingdom's finance allocates money every year

Special funds for construction.

Its function was the northern bridgehead of the Tang Kingdom.

Omaha mainly relies on the natural dangers of the Missouri River to form a natural geographical boundary that isolates the United States from the Tang Kingdom, and is guarded by the river.

The Missouri River is one of the major rivers in the North American continent. It originates from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains near the Yellowstone region of Montana. It is formed by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers in southwestern Montana.

Its main stream is 3,725 kilometers long, and starting from Red Rock Lake, the source of the Jefferson River, it is 4,126 kilometers long. The Missouri River flows through 7 states in the midwestern United States, mainly located in the Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty, and is the main separation between the Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty and the United States.

boundary river.

From Sioux City in the Kingdom of Datang and continuing southward to Omaha, the Missouri River reaches a total length of 2,896 kilometers within the territory of the Kingdom of Datang. Counting from Red Rock Lake, the total length of the river in the territory reaches 3,322 kilometers, which is considered to be the longest river in the Kingdom of Datang.

Inland rivers are not an exaggeration either.

Continuing southward from Omaha, the river joins the Mississippi River 24 kilometers north of St. Louis, Missouri. It is a 729-kilometer stretch of the lower Missouri that belongs exclusively to the United States.

The name of the Missouri River comes from the Algonquin tribe of indigenous Indians, which means "River of the Big Canoe." The main tributaries are the Yellowstone River, the Little Missouri River, the White River, the Platte River and the Kansas River. Only the Kansas River is located in the United States. .

In today's era of backward productivity development, the Missouri River, which serves as a geographical dividing line, has become a bridgehead city on the northern border of the Tang Kingdom. It seems logical to stay along the river.

The construction and development of the city of Omaha is not only the need for the long-term peaceful development of the Tang Kingdom, but also the construction of a majestic plain city that can sufficiently restrain and deter the ambitious expansionists in the United States, which is of extraordinary significance.

On a smaller scale, it is about the northern border barrier. On a larger scale, it is related to the situation in North America and the overall relationship between the United States and Tang Dynasty.

If you can't defeat Omaha, then don't say anything.

Why is Omaha so important?

The Missouri River passes through 7 states, 5 of which are within the territory of the Tang Kingdom. Its hydrological characteristics are that the altitude differences in the basin are extremely different, and the water flow is turbulent and cannot be navigable.

From its origin in the Rocky Mountains of the Continental Divide at an altitude of more than 4,300 meters to the confluence of the Mississippi River at an altitude of more than 120 meters, the river, which is more than 3,300 kilometers long, drops dramatically by 4,200 meters.

This results in the rapid flow of water in the upper reaches of the Missouri River, many canyon turns, waterfalls and dangerous banks, and the scenery is extremely beautiful and the natural landscape is very magnificent.

Peel City, the capital of Nanda Province, is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Missouri River. The water surface near it is extremely open, like an endless lake, and is a natural geographical dividing line.

Continuing downstream from Peel City to the south, the river gradually narrows, forming a large river with a width of more than 100 meters. This is the geographical barrier between the border cities of Sioux City and Omaha.

Most of the water in the Missouri River comes from melting snow and ice and rainfall in the upper reaches of the mountains, which results in great changes in water volume;

The minimum flow rate is 120 cubic meters/second, the maximum flow rate is 25,500 cubic meters/second, and the flow rate varies by more than 200 times.

Because the water volume of rivers varies greatly, the slopes are exposed in large numbers during the dry season, while overflowing during the wet season, making erosion and siltation a major problem.

After late autumn every year, the Missouri River enters the dry season. Until March of the next year, when spring flowers bloom, the ice and snow in the upper reaches melt, forming a large amount of upstream water, which rushes down with an unstoppable force.

Due to its low terrain, the U.S. side has become an area flooded by the Missouri River, forming a large number of swamps and dotted lakes. It is a place hardest hit by natural disasters.

Fortunately, because the northern states are sparsely populated and mostly in pristine ecological condition, it has not had a significant impact on economic development for the time being.

It is the hydrological characteristics of the Missouri River that allow frontier border cities like Omaha to rely on the natural geographical conditions to defend themselves against the river.

From October to February after spring and autumn every year, it is the time period when the defenders of Omaha City focus on defense. During this period, the Missouri River enters the real dry season, the river surface narrows to the extreme, the water flow is gentle, and the water depth is shallow. War horses can carry supplies and personnel across the river, which is also a time when the US military can easily invade.

Looking at it the other way around

This is the reason why the Tang Dynasty chose the harsh winter season for its two northern campaigns to invade the interior of the United States.

At other times, it would be much more troublesome to cross the natural geographical barrier of the Missouri River.

Looking back to June 1848, when the Tang-American War entered its climax, the Northern Cavalry Corps directly abandoned Peel City in order to coordinate the home defense operations on the Colorado Plateau.

Hundreds of wooden boats prepared earlier were used to transport the cavalry and a large amount of combat supplies one by one. It took a week to reach the other side of the river, and they also traveled in a large circle of more than 700 kilometers to avoid swamps and lakes. Only then could they

Go south smoothly.