Wild North America 1846

Chapter 538 Returning Faction

Author: Portuguese toothless

In the Krupp Arsenal, workers are working overtime to produce new rifled artillery. This new 105mm artillery has a range of up to 3.5 kilometers due to its good airtightness, higher shooting accuracy, and the shells using imported charges have greater explosive power.

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After inspecting the busy Krupp factory, Major General Schwarz-Kopf, Director of Munitions of the Prussian Army General Staff Headquarters, hurried to Frankfurt.

There is a batch of 200,000 cow hides from South America that have just arrived in Hong Kong, which solves the current urgent raw material problem for military production.

Although the price is nearly twice as high, as long as it can continue production, all the costs are worth it.

Prussia's war machine was quietly operating at full speed. The supply of guns, ammunition, leather, clothing and food was a top priority and could not be neglected in the slightest.

Once fully mobilized

The supplies in the warehouse alone are far from enough to meet demand. We cannot let the heroic Prussian officers and soldiers go to the battlefield with spears and swords. That is a bad thing that only the gray animals of Tsarist Russia can do. The rigorous Prussian Junker military aristocrats cannot be left behind.

Pick up that person.

In terms of military preparation, there are not enough materials. For example, the 6 million canned meats currently hoarded by the Prussian army. If they really have to be free and fully rationed to the troops, they will be all gone in a week or two at most, and it will be a waste if they can't eat them all.

In Tang Yuan terms, the imported canned meat costs 8 to 9 cents per pound of canned beef, 6 and a half cents for canned pork, and 3.5 cents for canned beef offal, excluding tax, which is almost three times the price of cold fresh meat products.

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Here we should take into account the costs of tin can packaging, deep processing and other costs, which are still within a reasonable range.

The Prussian Army has successively ordered five batches of various cans totaling more than 8,500 tons, including canned meat, fish and fruits, to maintain nutritional balance of the Prussian Army and always ensure a high level of combat effectiveness.

If there is demand, we will place additional orders generously.

Experience through the Austro-Prussian War

In just one month of high-intensity war, the Prussian army finally defeated the Austrians with an aggressive and powerful offensive, allowing them to reap the benefits.

Therefore, after receiving a large loan from the Tang Empire, the Prussian army spent huge sums of money to provide soldiers with nutritional, storage-resistant, convenient and practical cans as an important means.

The train was speeding along the railway line, and the scenery along the line was receding rapidly.

On the fields in early summer

The speeding train passed through beautiful villages with German-style architecture one after another. The golden wheat fields in the fields and the green hillsides full of unknown wild flowers complemented each other, weaving a moving picture of life.

Militiamen in military training can often be seen on the roads and in the squares. Prussia is already filled with an atmosphere of preparation for war.

It is a pity that the French are ignorant of all this.

Perhaps it is due to the lack of information in today's era, or the arrogant Gauls simply do not think highly of the Prussians and still think that they are barbarians in the Black Forest. This is a common arrogant perception.

In France in the early 1870s

Because the series of victories brought about by global colonization have led to an unprecedented rise in self-confidence, from high-level politicians to ordinary people, it is generally believed that the bellicose and rude Prussians are just clowns performing poorly in front of the powerful French Legion, who can be defeated by a single blow.

Tear it to pieces.

No such confidence

French Emperor Napoleon III would not ask William I for permission to annex parts of Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt on the west bank of the Rhine to France as compensation for France's neutrality in the Austro-Prussian War.

No such confidence

The French Foreign Minister, the Duke of Grammont, would not forcefully demand a guarantee from William I; the Hohenzollern family would never get involved in the vacant Spanish throne.

Port of Frankfurt

A lot of goods were piled up in the busy port, and there were many wealthy Chinese businessmen with black hair and black eyes. Many wealthy Chinese businessmen were riding in expensive cars and swaggering through the market with their beautiful white girlfriends in their arms, attracting a lot of attention.

There is envy and dissatisfaction in the eyes, but it is undeniable that these wealthy Chinese businessmen are very rich, and they are accompanied by tough-looking gun-wielding guards, so they are not easy to mess with.

in recent years

As the trade ties between the two countries have become closer, the number of Tang people immigrating to Frankfurt has also increased. They live concentratedly in several high-end neighborhoods around Frankfurt Cathedral, forming an independent Chinese neighborhood.

Among these Tang people, in addition to some Chinese who were doing business, there were also some exchange scholars and students, foreign employees of several major multinational banks, oil companies, and telegraph offices in the Tang Empire, etc., and they were among the higher-income groups.

People in the Tang Dynasty have always been introverted, and it seems difficult to integrate into local life.

They prefer to live together as a group and take care of each other in a foreign country. The Tang Dynasty saves money in several powerful multinational banks in the Tang Empire, spends daily money in Tang Dynasty restaurants and department stores, and their children attend local Chinese schools.

I don't like and am not good at integrating into Prussian daily life.

The Tang people were different from the notorious Jews in Europe. They were extremely powerful and did not engage in loan sharking by eating people without spitting out their bones. The grain, oil, leather and transoceanic transportation businesses they handled were quite large and profitable.

In Frankfurt, the banks of the Tang Empire were strong and had an excellent reputation. There were also oil companies and telegraph offices that were extremely rich. They were all high-paying and decent jobs that the Prussians aspired to, so they had a pretty good reputation.

Transatlantic trade was almost monopolized by the Tang people and was a highly profitable industry.

There are about eight to nine thousand local Chinese in Frankfurt, and as the exchanges between the two countries continue to deepen, this number is still expanding.

The same is true for Tang people in other cities in Europe. Berlin has a Chinatown with a population of 32,000 to 35,000 people, which is called "Tangcheng". Here you can buy almost all the daily necessities that Tang people like, including oil and salt.

Sauce-vinegar tea, pickles, bean curd, even red lanterns and incense candles, almost everything is included.

However, there is a unique group among the Tang people, that is, immigrants from German states who hold passports from the Tang Empire. It is very natural for them to return home in fine clothes and integrate into the local society, and they are also widely welcomed by the Junker military nobles.

Just like

Lieutenant General James Kahn, who rose to fame during the Austro-Prussian War, has been awarded the title of viscount by King William I and serves as Lieutenant General of the First Army in Frankfurt. He is an authentic confidant of King William I.

At the headquarters of the First Army in Frankfurt

Lieutenant General James Kahn received Major General Schwarz-Kopf, Director of Munitions from Berlin. During the meeting, Colonel Lawn von Stadt, Chief of the Munitions Department of the First Army, introduced the receipt, storage and transportation of materials within the jurisdiction.

Condition.

"...

Currently, there are 35,000 cow hides, which have been intensively produced in dozens of cobbler workshops around Frankfurt in batches, and a total of 60,000 cow hides have been allocated to Mainz, Bremen, Cologne and other places for production as planned.

There are still 105,000 cowhide reserves in the warehouse, waiting for the transportation plan from the General Staff Headquarters.

these two months

Frankfurt received 43 ships of grain, oil and other bulk cargo transported through the Rhine River, including wheat..."

Lieutenant General James Kahn was sitting at the conference table, turning his gold pen absently with his hand. These supplies in the headquarters were all pass-through property and did not belong to the First Army in Frankfurt. They were transferred away with a transfer order from above.

For a meeting of this kind of logistical nature, as a military and political officer, he could just participate in the meeting and express his attention. There was no need to worry about it. It was already beyond the scope of authority of a military commander.

Lieutenant General James Kahn was minding his own business;

This group of generals who were highly employed after returning to the country were aliens in the eyes of the traditional Prussian Junker military aristocracy. They were called the "returnees" and suffered all kinds of tangible and intangible rejection.

Because of this, he gained the trust of His Majesty the King and was placed in the army to hold real power.

Really want to talk about it

Before the Prussian-Danish War, King Wilhelm I and Prime Minister Bismarck were only a minority, and their situation was not stable. The Junker military aristocrats who controlled the actual power of the army in the kingdom and the government and parliamentary opposition were powerful and could easily overthrow the rule of King Wilhelm I.

Therefore, William I said sincerely to Prime Minister Bismarck;

"If this risky move fails (referring to the fact that the Prussian-Danish War attracted the intervention of major powers, such as France), both of us will become scapegoats. You will be pushed to the Parliament Square and hanged, and I will step down sadly."

At that time

William I had few talents available, and militarily relied heavily on the Junkers military aristocracy. The royal family only had two senior generals, "Blood Prince" Karl and Crown Prince Frederic-William, and politically it relied on the support of Conservative MPs.

This group of German generals from the Tang Empire who returned with the glory of the North American War had nothing to do with the traditional Junker military aristocracy, and they solved the urgent need. They became the best helpers for William I to consolidate the royal power, and they were naturally reused.

From the perspective of the Kahn family;

Adhering to the safe approach of hedging your bets was an important reason for the decision to return to the Kingdom of Prussia.

James Kahn is the sixth in the family, the seventh, Stephen Kahn, and the eighth, Mark Kahn, all serve in the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty, as well as Mandelheim Kahn, Schlieffen Kahn and others.

It's impossible for everyone to get ahead.

Only the eldest son of the family can inherit Old Kahn's title of marquis and fief in the Tang Empire, and it is completely impossible for others.

In addition, the old Kahn died of illness early, and when he encountered a development ceiling, it was a wise move to return to the Kingdom of Prussia to serve William I. Facts have proved that this step was the right one.

"Blood Prince" Karl and Crown Prince Frederic-William, two direct descendants of the royal family, can serve as commanders of the corps, but there is a lack of a large number of middle- and high-level officers below to consolidate the military power of the two royal highnesses.

The return of the "returning faction" just filled this vacancy, and both parties were happy.

At present, the Kingdom of Prussia is facing a major war risk, which is a great opportunity for soldiers. If they perform well, they may be able to establish themselves in the Kingdom of Prussia and become a military giant!

The meeting has been ongoing

Major General Schwarz-Kopf, Director of Munitions, would always glance at Lieutenant General James Kahn intentionally or unintentionally. Seeing his wandering expression, dissatisfaction piled up in his heart, and his face became darker.

He came from a traditional Junker military aristocracy, and he originally disliked these "returners".

The "returning faction" generals occupy one more pit, while the Junker military aristocrats have one less pit. There is a fundamental conflict of interests between the two sides.