Wild North America 1846

When Richard and his party returned to Grape Valley, it was already dusk, and the fire clouds that reflected half of the sky were particularly gorgeous.

I hurriedly walked slowly along the way, but I didn't even catch up with the team of workers returning on foot. This shows how fast they walked. They completed the nearly 20 kilometers in more than three hours.

When Richard returned to the camp, the maids around him brought water and handkerchiefs to cleanse their faces, took off their weapons, changed into a loose Taoist robe, and sat in the main hall drinking tea to relieve their fatigue.

At this moment

The guard in the hall reported back: "The deputy captain of logistics, Gai Wangshan, came to report the placement of Chinese laborers and requested to be presented to the president in person."

"Pass it in."

After giving instructions in a calm tone, Richard picked up the tea cup and took a few sips, and immediately felt the fragrance lingering on his lips and teeth. After the maid refilled the tea, he waved her hand to leave.

Talking room

Gai Wangshan had already crossed the threshold and came in. He bowed deeply to Richard, who was leading him, with his hands clasped in his fists, and said loudly;

"Jiuzhi Gaiwangshan was ordered to properly resettle the first batch of overseas immigrants. Now, half of the population has been resettled in Toudaoling Village and Erdaoling Village. Sufficient fuel materials, rice and noodles are provided, and pots are being buried for cooking. All the people are at peace.

I came here to report."

"Well, arrange for more people to preach in the next two days, boil hot water for everyone to take a bath, boil all the clothes in the hot water, disinfect and sterilize properly, and also do a good job of registration."

"My subordinate understands and will make arrangements as soon as possible."

"Let it be made clear to these people that there is indeed gold sand in San Francisco, but each of them comes with a three-year employment contract. The promised wages, not less than a copper plate, will be given to them, whether in a factory or a farm

You must work conscientiously in everything you do here. Don’t think about what you have and what you don’t have, and don’t expect to leave your job and run for gold. If you are caught, you will be demoted to a hard labor prisoner. These ugly words must be told up front.”

"Understand, the humble position must be preached repeatedly until everyone knows the identity of their employees."

"Well... except for those who are willing to join the army. As long as they pass the assessment and are admitted, they will be managed according to military law from now on. Explain all these to them clearly, that's it... let's do the work."

"As ordered, I resign from my humble position."

Gai Wangshan saluted respectfully, took two steps back, then quickly turned around and left.

sitting in the lobby

Richard withdrew his gaze, lightly tapping the chair handle with his fingers, thinking about the many issues that the Tang Association was facing recently.

The Chinese immigrants transported from Central and South America will mainly focus on setting up industries in the Grape Valley in the future, reclaiming wasteland to plant grain and fruit seedlings, and raising chickens, sheep, cattle and horses, making this place a happy and happy homeland for the Chinese in the future.

Richard was not the kind of unprincipled good man who spent a lot of energy to bring them over from Central America, and then waved his hand and said, "You are free."

These Chinese immigrants were indentured laborers. Richard paid huge recruitment fees and transportation costs on the condition that according to the contract:

Chinese workers were required to work in subordinate factories and plantations for three years. After the three years, they could come and go freely.

During this period

Richard would not let the Chinese workers go to the American River to pan for gold. Even if they were to pan for gold, they would only be employees of the American River Gold Mining Company, responsible for the operation of the company's hydraulic gold mining tanks, or they would stay in the Grape Valley to create wealth for the Tang Dynasty.

, laying a solid foundation for development.

This first batch of 557 Chinese immigrants initially plans to select about 150 strong, hard-working young people to join the musketry team for training, increasing the number of musketeers from 400 to more than 500.

In addition, more than fifty soldiers with certain military foundation and ability to ride horses were selected to join the cavalry team.

As a result, the number of cavalrymen increased from more than 360 to more than 410, which was exactly the establishment of 4 squadrons.

These more than 400 cavalrymen can be used as a framework in the future to form a cuirassier regiment. As the Tang Dynasty's offensive force, they can have a good fight with the American Federal Army.

After adjustments, the armed forces under Datang Hui will further increase to more than 900 people, basically meeting current needs.

According to the intelligence of British adventurer Ronald Evanson;

The U.S.-Mexican War may break out on a certain day in the three months of May, June, and July. It may be later, it may be earlier, but it will not be delayed until August at the latest.

According to estimates from relevant parties in London;

The standing strength of the U.S. federal army is about 8,600. After the initial mobilization for the war, the number of troops that the U.S. military can devote to the war will not exceed 18,000 to 20,000, not more.

In addition to the frontal battlefield to deal with the Mexican army, the expansion of the flank battlefield (referring to the troops sent by the US military to remote western provinces such as Mexico, Arizona and California) will not invest too many troops. It is estimated that it will be between 1,200 and 1,800.

Mainly cavalry.

As for the middle and late stages of the U.S.-Mexican War, the United States once again mobilized a large number of volunteers to serve, so the number of troops that the U.S. military could invest would be endless, and its war potential would be extremely terrifying.

London predicts that the number of US troops will change according to changes in the war situation, but will not exceed 80,000 to 100,000 at most.

London judged that the final outcome of the war was that Mexico would be defeated, with less than a 10% chance of winning.

The reason is that Mexico only has a population of more than 7 million, and a large part of them are agrarian Indians. The agricultural economy is weak, violence is rampant, training is poor and combat effectiveness is weak, and officials are competing for power and profit. It is difficult to unite to deal with the Americans.

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Richard was secretly shocked by the intelligence capabilities of the British Empire. The direction of history was very different from what the British had estimated.

Sure enough, the heritage of an old colonial empire cannot be underestimated.

If history does not change

On May 13, 1846, after the Mexican-American War officially broke out, the initial number of troops sent to the West by the U.S. federal army was 1,700, which was only 100 men different from the maximum number of 1,800 troops estimated by the British.

The U.S. military was divided into three groups to march south to Mexico. The west side was led by Colonel Stephen Carney, who was responsible for conquering California and New Mexico.

The navy, led by John Snott, attacked and blockaded the Mexican coastal ports, and the main force of the US military, led by General Scott, went straight to the Mexican capital.

after the war started

The three-pronged U.S. army was overwhelmingly powerful and took advantage of the victory to move south.

From June to August 1846, with American immigrants acting as internal response, the United States successively occupied San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and other important cities.

The U.S. military declared California as a U.S. territory on August 17. On August 15, 1846, the U.S. military occupied Las Vegas and declared New Mexico a state of the United States.

That is to say

In less than three months, more than 1,700 U.S. cavalry troops led by Colonel Stephen Carney occupied 1.28 million square kilometers of land in New Mexico, Alexandria, Nevada and California. With the support of U.S. armed immigrants,

This journey is as easy as eating and drinking.

Apart from marching and marching, there was no decent battle.

The main force of the Mexican army was concentrated in Kansas and Baja California, led by President Santa Anna and his staff, and faced head-on against the main force of the US military led by General Scott.

This was the most fiercely fought battlefield in the entire U.S.-Mexican War. After several major battles, the two sides fought for more than a year. The U.S. Army's Scott Division was defeated in the Battle of Cerro Gordo and the Battle of Chubrusco.

The Mexican army arrived at the gates of the Mexican capital on May 5, 1847.

After another six months of fierce fighting, the U.S. military invaded Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, on September 14, 1847, and the war entered the final stage of negotiations.

Review this process

It is not difficult to see that facing the U.S. military equipped with front-loading rifles and cannons and possessing strong mobilization capabilities, the overall strength of the Mexican army was at a disadvantage, so it still suffered a disastrous defeat despite the struggle.

these days

In his free time at night, Richard would always repeatedly speculate on the current situation in North America, trying to find some opportunity that could make a difference and change the entire war situation.

There is not much time left for him, only 4 months.

The Yankees he faced were unprecedentedly powerful. From the perspective of the current strength of the Tang Dynasty, this was an almost unstoppable enemy.

With the influx of a large number of European immigrants, the population of the United States reached 17.06 million in 1840, and the population continues to grow rapidly every year.

By the end of 1845, the population of the United States had reached 19.71 million, just one step away from breaking through the 20 million population mark. The population was three times that of Mexico, and the total territory area was about 5.05 million square kilometers. It was an out-and-out giant in North America.

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No matter how arrogant and arrogant Richard was, he didn't dare to be confident that he could get a good deal from the Americans.

The disparity in strength was so great that what he faced was an almost unsolvable problem.

How to break the situation was a question he was thinking hard about.

Put the favorable factors on the table, which can be summarized as follows;

First, the federation has received strong support from the British. On issues such as weapons, equipment, supplies, and immigration, the British have not only provided policies, but also provided part of the inventory of supplies. This is a favorable factor.

Immigrants from the British Isles are not expected for the time being. Starting from May, more than 3,000 Chinese immigrants per month can still be guaranteed. This will continue to increase the Chinese immigrant base and supplement San Francisco (San Francisco).

valuable human resources.

As the war progresses

As long as the federation can show sufficient value, it can continue to receive support from London.

Otherwise, they will be ruthlessly abandoned.

Secondly, the establishment of an independent country is supported by London, and related matters are being prepared in full swing. Once independence is publicly declared, it will be immediately recognized by some European countries led by the United Kingdom, and it will invisibly stand on the moral high ground.

With the reputation of justice, European countries led by Britain can openly intervene in North American affairs, provide urgently needed materials including military equipment, and exert strong diplomatic pressure on the Americans.

Third, the vast and sparsely populated western wilderness, coupled with the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada Mountains and Nevada Desert that stretch north and south, will pose huge obstacles to US military operations.

Fourth, Richard also has a secret weapon in his hand, which is the genius weapons designer Mr. Samuel Colt, and this is his trump card to steal food from the Yankees.

Advanced weapons can make up for the lack of army numbers.

Richard is going to find time to have a good chat with Mr. Samuel Colt about his dream weapon:

This weapon has a rotating structure similar to that of a revolver. It can be composed of 6, 7, 8 or even 9 long barrels. It can be fired by hand rotation to fire out a continuous stream of hot bullets, thus forming a dense firepower.

That's right, due to the current heavy military pressure, Richard is preparing to develop the Gatling gun more than ten years in advance and turn it into a big killer weapon.

In the design of advanced weapons, the most difficult thing is the sudden idea, which is the prerequisite for designing an excellent weapon.

There are basically no technical difficulties in realizing this ingenious idea.

Break it down

The six or seven barrels of a Gatling gun are just a simple superposition of several rifle barrels, forming a structure that rotates around a central axis. There is no technical difficulty in realizing it.

Hand-cranked rotation is even simpler, and is commonly used in machine tools and various mechanical devices. All you need to do is choose a suitable structure that is both lightweight and durable.

Each barrel rotates to the firing position, the firing of the bullet is linked to the firing pin, the bolt retraction structure, etc., to the talented weapons designer Mr. Samuel Colt, it is like a mathematician.

Analyzing equations for high school students is an interesting and re-learning process without a high level of challenge.

If you work quickly, it will only take about ten days to build a Gatling gun by hand.