The backlash brought by strong pressure, Lincoln no longer has the energy to pay attention. If there is no killing spree, it means that there is still room for maneuver, and in the future, if the southern rebellion is suppressed, it is enough to find a way to ease relations.

The worst outcome is nothing more than the loss of votes in a state. If the United States loses this war and the United States is divided into two, no matter how well he handles the relationship, he will still have to get out.

President Lincoln, who had just returned to Washington, received the bad news that Delaware next door was still silent.

"What's going on, why hasn't Delaware done it for a long time?"

No wonder Lincoln was angry, Delaware was only a nominal slave state, and in fact slavery existed in name only.

Of the more than 20,000 blacks in the state, fewer than 1,800 were slaves.

Wilmington, the most prosperous city in and around the world, is economically connected to Pennsylvania. The region of this state is very small, just over 6,000 square kilometers, and the power of plantation owners is naturally not very large.

The secretary of state in charge of coordinating Delaware turned pale, Maryland, which was difficult to solve, was handled by the president, and Delaware, which thought it was the easiest to convince, was delayed in achieving results.

"Delaware was loyal to the Union, and in the January state legislature, we had an overwhelming advantage.

But the intervention of Britain, France, Austria and Spain complicated things. The southern faction, which had been suppressed, became active with their support.

These people couldn't let Delaware go south, but they brought the state's preparations to a standstill.

In the name of opposing the civil war, they organized demonstrations of the people demanding the neutrality of the state government. Not long ago, 20,000 people gathered and occupied the state legislature. ”

Lincoln frowned and asked, "Why not suppress, I remember that the governor of Delaware was loyal to the federal government?" ”

"Journalists from many European countries appeared in Delaware, and the ministers of Britain, France, Austria and West sent a note to the state governments, expressing their close attention.

The Delaware government feared that the repression by force could have unforeseen consequences, triggering the intervention of the Great Powers. The Secretary of State replied with a grim face

This is not the first time that the four countries have interfered in the internal affairs of the United States. Without the intervention of the European powers, the southern government would not have been able to rally so many states to become independent.

In particular, Kentucky and Missouri, two populous states in the west, have historically been pulled over by the government of the North, but now they have fallen to the government of the South.

You must know that among the fourteen states of the Confederate government, Missouri ranked first in the number of whites and Kentucky in the third in terms of whites.

These two states have more whites than the six least populous states combined, and their inclusion has undoubtedly strengthened the Southern government.

Historically, these two states joined the government of the North, and forty thousand people still joined the army of the South. But after they joined the southern government, there are now less than 1,000 people willing to work for the northern government.

The reason is very real, the plantation owners are not willing to suffer and fight for their own interests.

The capitalists were not able to do it, and after being lured to the Southern government, they were content to follow the Confederate government.

It is all the interests that cause trouble, and the plantation economy in the south hinders the development of the capitalist economy, which does not mean that it hinders the capitalists from getting rich.

With cheap industrial raw materials, and a market of more than 10 million people, a quarter of whom have incomes of the middle class, a proper quality market.

The number of local capitalists in this market is very small, far less competitive than in the large family of the federal government, and it is very attractive to capitalists who are not very powerful.

It is easier to make money on that side, so they support that side, and the capitalists have no guilt on this issue.

Public opinion reversed, and the southern government hyped up the northern government's desire to turn the south into an economic colony, and the blindly obedient people naturally supported the southern government.

The Southern government increased by three states and the population grew by more than three million, while the Northern government decreased by more than three million. Under this increase and decrease, the balance of strength between the two sides has changed.

Lincoln was unaware of these changes, and he remained confident in the victory over the South, but he had a headache for possible intervention from European countries.

It has only been long since the British burned down the White House, and Lincoln has also come from that era, and now there are three countries of Franco-Austria, how can there be no fear at all?

Lincoln asked with concern, "Mr. Saffary, what do the Russians say, are they willing to support us?" ”

It would be very unwise to directly confront Britain, France, Austria and Spain, and the United States would not have been able to ignore the joint intervention of European countries before a world war broke out in Europe.

If there is no ocean barrier, with the strength of the United States, any one of these four companies can be pressed to the ground and beaten.

This has been proven in the battle in which the British burned down the White House. A mere tens of thousands of British troops made the United States lose its capital, and the federal government's troops were really unreassuring.

Foreign Minister Safar replied: "The tsarist government is willing to support our unification war, but only diplomatically, and their strength in the Americas is limited, and there is no way to give us substantial support." ”

The verbal support was useful, and the four countries of Britain, France, Austria and Spain almost went down to help in person. Seeking the help of the tsarist government naturally wanted the Russians to be able to do something to contain one or two powers.

Britain, France, and Austria now all border the Russians, and any one of them is a great diplomatic victory for the federal government.

Lincoln reluctantly said, "Do we support their expansion in the Far East in exchange for a word of support?" ”

Now if it wants to buy off the tsarist government, the federal government has too few chips in its hands. In addition to supporting each other diplomatically, the U.S. government was actually able to provide very little help to the tsarist government.

Now the Russians are most short of money. If the federal government had the money, it would spend hundreds of millions of pounds and keep the Russians in custody to make a big news while holding back the energy of Britain, France and Austria.

It's a pity that the current United States is not the American empire with deep pockets, and it can't come up with such a huge sum of money at all.

The tsarist government is also the lord of not seeing rabbits and not scattering eagles, there are not enough benefits, why should they help the United States to pull hatred?

Foreign Minister Safar defended: "Your Excellency, this topic does not make any sense. The Russians are reforming, and now they need a stable international environment, and they can't take a shot from the fire for us. ”

It's not that he doesn't work hard, it's that his family background is too thin. In exchange for verbal support from the Russians, he went to great lengths.

This is the end of the topic, the problem cannot be solved, and there is no need to continue talking.

The Minister of War, Simon Kamei, hurried in and said eagerly: "Your Excellency, the front line is urgent. ”

President Lincoln calmly said, "Say, if there's any bad news, I can hold on." ”

Just by glancing at Simon Ka's beautiful face, he knew where the battle had been defeated again, and it seemed that the northern army had not won since the outbreak of the war.

War Secretary Simon Kamei said with a gloomy face: "On May 1, 1861, the rebels launched an offensive against Cincinnati. Our army fought hard for three days and nights, and finally was defeated because of being outnumbered, and Ohio was in a hurry. ”

Lincoln immediately stood up, snatched the battle report, and looked at it carefully. The words of artistic processing are directly omitted, and it can be summed up as:

With 50,000 Southern troops attacking Cincinnati, the federal government sent a 12,000-strong infantry division, plus 32,000 militia from Ohio and 21,000 from Indiana to defend it, and finally lost.

It is indeed outnumbered, and after ignoring the militia units of the two states, the federal government has only one infantry division, only a quarter of the enemy's strength, and it is not easy to withstand it for three days.

Lincoln didn't care about the course of the war, he only knew that less than a third of the infantry divisions sent by the federal government were left, and a number of people were killed or captured, and the militias in the two states also suffered heavy losses, and the exact data is unknown.

"Ohio is above the Great Lakes, and once the rebels take possession of it, the federal government will be split in two by the enemy.

The War Department must find a way to keep the state no matter what. Militarily we may have lost something, but politically we are not allowed to lose a state. ”

Lincoln, with his military common sense of half a bucket of water, immediately made a judgment.

War Minister Simon Kamei replied with a bitter face: "Yes, Your Excellency. But now that we need more reinforcements, the original plan is no longer in order. ”

This battle directly made the War Department understand that the enemy was not a rabble, and the original plan was: the militias of the surrounding states established an encirclement, plus the government requisitioned 75,000 militiamen and regular troops, and directly rolled over the past.

Now that the encirclement has been torn apart, once Ohio falls, the neighboring state of Pennsylvania will be reduced to a battlefield, and Pittsburgh, the steel center of the United States, will be exposed to the south.

Even if the southern government is too strong to occupy it for a long time, as long as they carry out a major destruction, most of the industrial advantages of the northern government will disappear.

There is no way, the Great Lakes region is the core industrial area of the United States, and it really cannot afford to lose. Ohio alone has been reduced to a battlefield, and they have already suffered heavy losses.

Without hesitation, Lincoln replied, "I will issue a national enlistment order again, and recruit 300,000 militiamen from the states to serve." However, when it is needed, you will need to figure it out for a short time. ”

The aftermath of the lack of preparation was exposed, and as long as any of the fronts were lost, the federal government did not have enough troops in its hands.

Demographic superiority, industrial superiority is only war potential, and if it cannot be translated into military power, then potential will always be only potential.

"The Federal Government's troops are limited in number, and there are too many places to defend, so we can only order the militias from the neighboring states to rush to reinforcements in a short time," said the Minister of War, Simon Kamei.

Considering that the enemy may attack from all sides and disrupt the disposition of our forces, we need to have at least a mobile force of 700,000 to be able to put out this rebellion. ”

The original plan was to put out the rebellion with only 100,000 troops. As a result, after the battle, Simon Ka Beauty became conservative.

Surprised, Lincoln asked, "Do you need so many troops?" ”

"Your Excellency, judging by the enemy's disposition, it won't be long before Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illino, and Iowa will be reduced to battlefields," explained Secretary of War Simon Kame.

The political troubles brought to us by the fall of a state are immeasurable. If there are not enough troops, it will be difficult to counterattack in a full-fledged situation. ”

The United States is different from other countries, as long as the federal government dares to give up any state, they will not be able to eat and walk around. If you don't know how to die and the fox dies, these state governments will directly surrender to the south.

Lincoln reluctantly said, "Well, you're the best at that." If there are any other problems that I need to solve, I can also say them. ”

War Minister Simon Kamei said embarrassedly: "We have insufficient reserves of officers, and we must recruit officers who have been discharged to return to service."

I know I've been recruited, but it's not enough. I mean to recruit veterans who have been on the battlefield to serve as junior officers, and the age can be relaxed to 55 years old. ”

is indeed a veteran, in this era when the average life expectancy is less than 55 years old, recruiting veterans of this age, Simon Ka Beauty is really forced to have no choice.

High-ranking officers can be promoted, and they are not in high demand anyway, and a careful search from the Union Army can always be found.

Company and platoon-level officers, who are in the greatest demand, have no choice. The U.S. Army was originally small, and the officers above the seventh floor were from the South, and these people left after the outbreak of the Civil War.

Now the army is expanded more than ten times at one time, and even if all the active veterans are promoted to officers, Simon Kamei will not be able to make up the numbers.

The only way to do this is to recruit over-age retired officers to come back to serve.

Lincoln proposed, "Is the situation getting to this point?" We can allow students from military schools to graduate early and serve in the military. ”

War Secretary Simon Kamei reminded: "Your Excellency, the cadets of the military academy above the first year have entered the army to serve. As for the first-year students, they have just entered the school and have not yet learned anything. ”