Wild North America 1846

March 11, 1855

Los Angeles

As the primary city where Chinese immigrants landed in North America and the terminus of the trans-North Pacific immigration route, it has developed rapidly over the years and has become a dazzling leading city in the southern part of the Tang Kingdom, ranking among the metropolises.

According to statistics at the end of the previous year;

The resident population of Los Angeles and surrounding towns increased from 596,000 in 1851 to 734,000 at the end of 1854, ranking second only to the capital Chang'an (San Francisco, San Francisco) with a population of over one million, ranking the second largest city in the country.

Comparison

In the early years, Taoyuan City, which was the largest city in the country, developed slowly, from a population of 376,000 at the end of 1851 to a population of 453,100 at the end of 1854. The pace of development was obviously behind the top two cities, ranking third in the country.

Chang'an City, the imperial capital of the Tang Kingdom, grew rapidly from a population of 670,000 at the end of 1851 to a population of 1.0221 million at the end of 1854. In addition to the rapid development of industry and commerce, the hugely expensive Daming Palace construction project also brought strong development momentum to the imperial capital.

The resources and talents from across the country have been brought together to create this shining pearl on the Pacific coast.

Only from the market perspective

The city of Los Angeles is prosperous, with wide and clean streets. Lush street trees and flowers decorate this beautiful coastal city. There are many high-rise buildings, and the bustling flow of people and shops along the street are no less prosperous than Chang'an City.

This is because Los Angeles has a large floating population, is the Pacific terminus of the Great Western Railway, and is a trade and export hub city in the central and eastern provinces, giving it a natural geographical advantage.

Los Angeles is bordered by the coast of San Pedro Bay and Santa Monica Bay on the east side of the vast Pacific Ocean, backed by the vast San Antonio Mountains. It is located in an open basin surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side. The open basin covers an area of ​​thousands of square meters.

kilometer.

This is a typical maritime climate, with sunshine and spring-like weather all year round. The climate is mild and pleasant. Even at the end of February when winter is about to pass, it is full of spring, with the highest temperature reaching more than 20 degrees.

Los Angeles Palace

Richard couldn't bear the loneliness, so two months earlier he had taken the queen, concubines and young princes and princesses to the Los Angeles palace for a vacation with a mild climate.

Compared with Chang'an City, which has a cold winter climate, it can be said to be a "Spring City" or "Angel City".

this day

Due to the latest intelligence received from Europe, Tsar Nicholas I died suddenly on March 2, 1855. This news shocked Europe and would have a decisive impact on the current Crimean War, so an imperial council was urgently convened to deal with it.

All the civil and military ministers who attended the imperial meeting were beaming with joy, especially Lieutenant General Dai Changfu, Chief of Army Staff, who had a smile on almost every brow.

He does have reason to be proud. The Tang Kingdom's expeditionary force descended from heaven in the Battle of Crimea and defeated the heavy Russian army group stationed in Sevastopol in one fell swoop, breaking the stalemate on the battlefield.

The brilliant achievements shocked Europe, and it was known as the "Oriental Steam Hammer".

This is a very high evaluation from the European military circles. Compared with the title of "European Steam Roller" obtained by the Tsarist Russian army after defeating Napoleon's French army, the "Eastern Steam Hammer" contains the ability to break through any solid defense and crush the Russian steel fortress to ashes.

Praise can be described as becoming famous in one battle.

The British Lord Raglan is writing to the cabinet, requesting the formation of the British Empire Foreign Legion based on the mercenary corps of the 5th to 9th Divisions of the Expeditionary Force, to accompany the British Empire in colonizing the world.

The British army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Chenaya River. If it had not been for the desperate rescue of the main French army, they would have been almost wiped out. Their overall strength was greatly reduced, and they were in urgent need of a strong new force to supplement their strength.

Therefore, they targeted the 5th to 9th Divisions of the Expeditionary Force, which had outstanding combat capabilities.

When a person is unlucky, drinking cold water will clog his teeth. If he walks too much at night, he will always encounter ghosts.

The British did all kinds of bad things, and they got their comeuppance in the battle of Sevastopol.

In the opinion of Prince Menshikov, the commander-in-chief of Tsarist Russia;

The British army has not experienced any major battles since the Napoleonic Wars. The army is poorly trained and organized, its officers are weak, and its combat effectiveness is relatively weak compared to a world-class military like France.

Therefore, all the previous campaigns launched by the Russian army focused on attacking the British army, and flanking the French army as a supplement. The focus was very prominent, so the casualties of the British Expeditionary Force have always been relatively high.

It's so damn good

After the Tang Dynasty's expeditionary force crossed the snow-torn western mountainous area and descended from the sky, delivering a fatal blow to Tsarist Russia's second-line army, Prince Menshikov, the commander-in-chief of Tsarist Russia, faced the desperate situation of annihilation of the entire army and jumped over the wall to command the remaining more than 70,000 Tsarist Russians.

The army launched a large-scale desperate breakout, and the main target of the attack once again chose British troops.

In this battle, the British Lord Raglan drove all the British soldiers who could hold a gun onto the battlefield, and finally gathered 22,000 soldiers.

As a result, they ran head-on into the main force of the Tsarist Russian breakout force who was fleeing. After the dense rain of bullets caused heavy damage to the Tsarist Russian army, the Russian army jumped over the wall and collided heavily with the main force of the British army, launching an extremely brutal hand-to-hand combat.

If the main force of the French army had desperately rescued them, the 22,000 British troops would have been completely wiped out.

Taking stock after the battle;

The 22,000 British troops suffered losses of more than 85%, with 13,700 killed on the spot and more than 5,300 injured. After the bloody battle, only more than 3,000 people were left unscathed. It can be said that they were completely defeated.

After the war, the British sick and wounded filled the military camps and wailed everywhere. Under the huge blow, Lord Raglan's hair turned gray overnight and fell ill immediately. He has not been able to get out of bed to this day.

Judging from the severe illness, it is estimated that it will be difficult to survive.

The more than 90,000 French troops lost 15%, with a total of more than 14,310 casualties, but still maintained considerable combat effectiveness.

The Ottoman army of more than 20,000 lost 4,215 people, and the Sardinian army of 15,000 lost hundreds of people, both of which were within acceptable limits.

The 62,300-strong Datang Kingdom Expeditionary Force lost 10,300 people. In addition to losing more than 2,200 people when crossing the western mountainous area, the remaining major losses were when attacking the city of Sevastopol. They encountered stubborn resistance from 13,000 Russian troops in the city, causing casualties.

Nearly 7,720 people were killed, and the rest were sporadic losses in many battles.

The heavy casualties aroused the ferocity of the expeditionary force. After breaking through the strong defensive positions of the Russian army and entering the city of Sevastopol, they bloodbathed the city.

According to incomplete statistics

There were originally more than 100,000 residents in the city of Sevastopol. After suffering an unprecedented catastrophe, there were less than 32,000 remaining residents. The city was filled with corpses, making it feel like a hell.

Mainstream newspapers in Europe wisely kept silent about what happened here, and the public opinion circles in Paris and London called it "those who assisted the Russian army in fighting have been duly punished."

The Russian newspaper angrily pointed out: "This is a heinous crime committed by the devil army from the East. They burned, killed, and looted without humanity, and completely destroyed the beautiful city of Sevastopol..."

post investigation

The opinion issued by the Army Staff Headquarters of the Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty proves that the 1st to 4th Divisions of the Expeditionary Force were not involved, and that the crimes were mainly committed by mercenaries of the 5th and 9th Divisions and some British and French soldiers.

It doesn't matter.

This was because the Allied Command tacitly allowed soldiers to loot Russian towns and cities in order to boost the soldiers' fighting enthusiasm and vent the pressure after the fierce battle.

Once it gets out of control, it can easily cause tragedy that no one wants to see.

The final decision on punishment reprimanded some senior officers, but there was no shortage of those who should be promoted. The commanders of the 1st to 4th Divisions of the Expeditionary Force were generally promoted from colonel to the rank of Army Brigadier General, and were awarded the First Class Medal of Valor.

The commanders of the 6th to 9th Divisions were promoted from lieutenant colonel to army colonel and awarded the Second Class Medal of Valor.

Lieutenant Colonel Fan Pengfei, commander of the 5th Division with outstanding performance, was promoted to Brigadier General of the Army. He was specially awarded the First Class Medal of Valor as a commendation and issued an order to the entire army.

One last thing to say

The most brutal force in the city of Sevastopol was the 5th Division, but this seemed to be ignored by everyone.

At the imperial meeting

King Richard sat high on the throne, and the civil and military ministers sat on the left and right. When he needed to speak, he stood up and walked to the middle to salute, so that he could speak freely.

The atmosphere of the discussion at the meeting was relaxed and lively. After all, the sudden death of Russian Tsar Nicholas I was a good thing for the coalition forces and might usher in an opportunity for peace.

After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Sevastopol, the Russian army was in decline on the Danube, Balkans and Caucasus battlefields. In addition, His Majesty the Tsar died suddenly, and the entire logistics and military deployment were in chaos. Losing the war was a high probability event.

.

It was impossible for the Tang Kingdom to obtain an enclave in Europe, but it won the friendship of Britain, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire, which would be of great benefit to the Tang Kingdom's future foreign trade and diplomacy. The benefits are self-evident.

Metaphor.

After all, they were allies who had fought side by side, and the Tang Kingdom had demonstrated its strong strength and was generally recognized by the European powers, and its tone of voice was also three points higher.

These days, if you don’t have the strength to speak, you won’t be strong-willed.

Although he failed to obtain direct benefits in Europe, Richard had already set his sights on his own gift, which was the island of New Guinea located north of Australia.

New Guinea is the largest island in the Pacific and the second largest island in the world, with a total area of ​​780,000 square kilometers. It is currently in an inaccessible and unclaimed state.

“Start your majesty;

The expedition ship sent by the Royal Pacific Shipping Company will announce to the world that it is the first to discover and occupy the island of New Guinea.

Later, the Royal Pacific Shipping Company will present this island to the Tang Dynasty royal family, and respectfully invites His Majesty to take it into his pocket.

In the third step, the Army General Staff Headquarters will cooperate with other departments to form an island landing expedition team to conduct a detailed exploration of the island's resources and hydrological conditions.

The last step was for the royal government to come forward to make New Guinea an exclusive royal jurisdiction and organize Chinese immigrants to carry out systematic development.

Is it possible? Please give me your Majesty’s instructions?”

"Well, let's follow this." Richard nodded with a smile that couldn't be concealed, and simply agreed.

Now the timing is very clever. The British are seeking help from the Tang Kingdom, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire. They are all allies in the same trench. The Kingdom of Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are beyond their reach. They neither care about nor care about a ship located in the Pacific Ocean.

Remote island.

Richard is going to order this gift from the king.