Wild North America 1846

a

May 1, 1846, about four o'clock in the afternoon

Washington, D.C

white house, oval office

President Polk signed the memorandum on mobilizing the federal army with great ambition, then put down his pen and admired it, with a satisfied smile on his lips.

This is a memorandum submitted by the Department of the Army. The standing strength of the US military is more than 8,600 people. During emergencies, volunteers can be recruited for a short period of time to expand the army.

According to the plan

During the war, the Army expanded to 30,000 people, the Marine Corps expanded to 50,000, and the United States also had a powerful naval force that was enough to overwhelm Mexico on land and sea battlefields and greatly expand its northwest and southwest borders.

And all this

All of them will be recorded in history as the great achievements of this government. The first hero to bear the brunt is President Polk of the United States. No one can erase this great glory of opening up new territories.

Just a week ago, April 25th

The U.S. military, which had repeatedly provoked, finally exchanged fire with the Mexican army. This was the new situation that President Polk and the hard-line elements in this government who enthusiastically advocated expansion expected to see. The U.S. war machine immediately started to move.

Along with the publicity, the border dispute has further ignited the anger in the hearts of the American people. Now everything is ready, all we need is the east wind.

The bill related to the war has been sent to Capitol Hill. Amid the shouts of fighting and killing, the bill will not encounter any obstacles and will be passed smoothly soon.

According to relevant congressional procedures, it is expected to be reviewed and voted on on May 9, and it is almost certain that Congress will pass the bill to go to war with Mexico.

Everything was progressing in an orderly manner according to plan. President Polk happily took out his pipe and lit it, took two deep puffs, enjoying the refreshing feeling of being surrounded by the strong tobacco aroma, and his eyes narrowed unconsciously.

At this moment

The door knocked twice and then was pushed open. White House Senior Secretary Suzanne came in holding the doorknob and said, "Mr. President, Secretary of State Mr. Slim Love said there is an emergency matter and he wants to see him immediately."

To you."

"Let him come in, Susanna, and see what good news he has for us?"

"As you wish, Mr. President." Susanna retracted her head and closed the door.

Within a few minutes

The door was opened again, and Secretary of State Slim Love, who was medium-sized and somewhat fat, pushed the door in with a document in his hand. After closing the door with his backhand, he took a few steps forward and snapped the document.

Lost it on the desk.

President Polk did not look at the document. Instead, he looked up at Secretary of State Slim Love and asked, "What's wrong? Slim, you don't look happy."

"Look, Mr. President, the British have done something evil again. On May 1st, they encouraged a western force called the Datang Society to establish the Datang Kingdom in California, covering the province of Alta California, Arizona and New Mexico.

Areas. These are all areas we plan to invade. The damn British guys clearly want to intercept them."

"Wow... It sounds bad. Can you tell me about this Tang Association? I have never heard of this name."

"Me too, Mr. President, but before I came here, I learned about it through other channels. The Tang Association is a western force established by Easterners. It has risen rapidly. I heard that more than a thousand armed men occupied St. Francis.

The important towns of Co, Sacramento and Los Angeles appear to be quite a problem."

"Orientals? Local armed forces with more than a thousand people? Hahaha..." President Polk laughed contemptuously upon hearing this.

He walked to the table and flipped through a few pages of documents at random, reading them at a glance, and then stopped and read: "Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria of Great Britain conferred the title of Duke of California, King of Tang, San Fernandez.

300 miles of its fiefdom. The Tang Kingdom has received formal diplomatic recognition from the British government, and will dispatch diplomatic envoys to the Tang Kingdom as soon as possible to take up their duties, carry out mutually beneficial trade cooperation, and enhance exchanges among expatriates..."

As he thought about it, the smile on President Volcker's face disappeared and was replaced by a solemn application.

Then he sat down and carefully read the document. After a while, he read the document from beginning to end.

After closing the last page, President Polk remained silent for a while, seeming to carefully consider the stakes involved.

This so-called Tang Association or the Tang State did not take it to his heart. It was so weak that it could be ignored and could be destroyed with a wave of his hand.

What matters is the attitude of London, the attitude of Her Majesty the Queen of the British Empire. Her Majesty Queen Victoria has been in power for 10 years since she was crowned in 1837.

Countries all over the world have appreciated the tough tactics of Her Majesty the Queen, who can be called a wise monarch. The Queen cooperated with the Whig Prime Minister William Nam, Viscount Melbourne, to implement severe suppression at home, supported the capitalist business class to expand trade, and pursued positive policies externally.

adopted a global colonial policy and launched successive wars of expansion.

President Polk knew;

Compared with the British Empire, the global hegemon in its prosperous period, the United States is nothing.

The key reason why he dared to threaten to use force to solve the Oregon problem was that Britain did not pay attention to the North American colonies. Instead, it spread pepper around the world and used very little power in the British Canadian colonies.

Britain's primary global interests are in Europe, which lies in containing the Russian Empire in Crimea. It pursues support for the Kingdom of Prussia in Europe to check and balance France's land hegemony, and implements the policy of "continental balance".

Secondly, we are concerned about the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. The British army is planning to invade Burma, attack Afghanistan, and attack the French Indian colonies. It plans to unify the entire Indian subcontinent and bring it into the colonial category.

In addition, the British established the British Channel Governor's Office in Penang Island and Malaysia in South Asia, operated the Weihaiwei Concession and the Hong Kong Island Concession in Eastern China, and suppressed local indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand.

at the same time

Britain implemented an expansion policy in South Africa and planned to strengthen its influence in Egypt, the Kingdom of Iran and the Arabian Peninsula to realize its dream of an empire on which the sun never sets.

this period

It was a period of rapid expansion of the British Empire's global colonies, which further strengthened its global hegemony. France was no longer able to compete with it and was forced to be reduced to a subordinate position.

At best, the United States can only be called the North American bully, taking advantage when Britain is not paying attention, and that's all.

A tiger is a tiger after all, and a proper attitude of reverence must be maintained.

The problem is that the U.S.-Mexico war is imminent and has to be launched.

President Polk raised his head irritably, looked at Secretary of State Slim Love, and asked in a consulting tone;

"Dear Slim, you were also present during the recent meeting with Federal Army Chief of Staff Bob Weingraub. He swore to me that the Federal Army would defeat the Mexicans with an overwhelming advantage and give us

It should be right to bring home a victory, right?”

"Yes, Mr. President, there is no doubt that our Continental Union Army is confident enough to defeat the Mexicans."

"So, what about... uh... the Tang Kingdom?"

"It's as easy as swatting a fly to death. I don't think Bob would be embarrassed to ask for special rewards. In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are invisible."

"Well, what about adding a Canadian militia or a British one?"

"Uh...that's hard to say."

"Well, it seems that our previous estimate was too optimistic. The British were not willing to lose the Oregon area. This Tang Kingdom may be a warning. This document was notified to the Ministry of War. The corresponding military preparations are carried out as planned. Now we can only go

Take it one step at a time."

President Polk signed the document, then pushed it aside with a headache, and tightened the cap of the pen and said, "Tell Bob that corresponding military actions must be restrained and don't make too big a fuss.

I don’t want to irritate the British too much, it’s not good for us.”

"I will talk to Bob personally about this, Mr. President."

"That's good, let me be quiet for a while."

"As you wish, Mr. President." Secretary of State Slim Love took the documents on the table, then bowed slightly, turned and left the Oval Office.

President Polk let out a long sigh, leaned back in his chair a little tired, and pinched his eyebrows with his fingers to relieve his mind from overthinking.

He had a premonition that the United States' westward expansion would not be smooth sailing and might experience severe tests.