The civil war, which lasted for a year, cost the federal government more than 200,000 casualties, and the brutal casualties made the soldiers war-weary.

It was a civil war, not an invasion. The patriotism that has been stirred up has long been exhausted in the fire of blood.

It is not only the western states that have not completed the task of conscription, but even the core states of the federal government are also facing the problem of recruitment difficulties.

So far, the total number of troops in the federal government has exceeded 1.1 million, but it is still not enough.

The warring states, or the federal states adjacent to the battlefield, give priority to their own security, and it is difficult to coordinate and cooperate on the battlefield, and it is difficult to give full play to the role of superiority in troops.

These are unsolvable problems, and state officials are elected, and voters can get them out of the way if they don't keep their states safe.

Looking at the overall situation, it is people who have no pain in their skin shouting slogans. When it comes to self-interest, whether it is capitalists, politicians, or the people, they all choose what is most beneficial to themselves.

Secretary of State Al Safar hurriedly barged into the president's office and said, "Your Excellency, the big thing is not good.

Just now, another telegram from Illinois has been sent asking for help, and they are saying that if the federal government does not send reinforcements, they will withdraw from the war. ”

Exit the war? Do not doubt that the federal states dare to be so capricious. In order not to let the homeland become ruins, it is okay to surrender, let alone just withdraw from the war?

Anyway, this is a civil war, and there is no such thing as killing them all. As long as Illinois declares its withdrawal from the war, the South will no longer attack them.

But in this case, the federal government is doomed. Now, as long as there is one who takes the lead, I am afraid it is easy to form a chain reaction.

It is true that the capitalists want markets and cheap raw materials, but only if they do not put themselves in them. If your own industry is on the front line and the enemy has come in, then compromise is not impossible.

You can't just accompany your family business for the sake of class interests, right? The federal government is unlikely to make up for these losses.

Hearing the news, Lincoln was so angry that he threw out the file in his hand and scolded: "These bastards actually threaten us!" ”

Then it was a pity to find that he had to accept the threat.

Maryland and Ohio have almost all fallen, Indiana has only a few lands left, Kansas has lost a third, and if Illinois withdraws from the war, the northern government's manpower advantage will no longer exist, and it will be strategically passive.

After a moment of silence, Lincoln slowly spoke: "I have decided to implement the Homestead Act immediately to win over the people who are eager to acquire land. ”

Secretary of State Safari said in a cold tone: "Are you sure you have already thought about it, and not on the spur of the moment?" If you take this step, you will never be able to turn back. ”

Lincoln said in a firm tone: "It's all come to this point, if I can't win this war, I'm afraid my end will be even worse!"

In that case, why not gamble? I can't think of any other way to solve the problem of insufficient troops than to enforce the Homestead Law.

Just look at the Austrians, in just one year, they have fooled more than 200,000 immigrants from us, which is almost as much as the amount of immigrants we have from Europe in a year.

Of course, we can't just do things and leave them a back door so that the dog doesn't jump off the wall. ”

Secretary of State Saffarith nodded, he and Lincoln were already tied together, and no one could escape if they were unlucky. Of course he's not the president, pull, the hatred is smaller.

Forced by the needs of the war, Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 1, 1862, and the plight of the Northern government was solved.

The Homestead Act states: "Any head of a family or a citizen of the United States who has attained the age of twenty-one years and has never participated in a rebellion may register for homestead land not exceeding 160 acres (1 acre = 0.40 hectares) after swearing-in the land was acquired for reclamation purposes and paying a fee of $10."

A registrant who has lived and cultivated the homestead for 5 years can obtain a land licence and become the owner of the homestead.

The Homestead Act also provides for a discount clause whereby a registrant may purchase a pre-emptive purchase at a price of US$1.25 per acre after six months if the registrant applies for pre-emption. ”

The previous content is mainly to win over the people who want to obtain land, although it is not explicitly stated, this is also a copy of the military merit award.

To pledge allegiance to the federal government, military service is mandatory. This also includes the people of the southern states, who want to prove that they have not betrayed the federal government, it is very simple, just go to the battlefield and fight the rebels.

The federal government's practice of using land to buy people to fight on the battlefield is undoubtedly harming the interests of interest groups that manipulate land prices.

The latter discount clause is the back door left for them. It's just that because of the time and the number of land registered per person, it increases the difficulty of operation.

The "Homestead Law", which is known as a turning point in history, has a natural effect, and the conscription point that everyone couldn't hide from is now lined up again.

……

Compared with the shortcomings of the army, the results of the federal government in the navy are much greater. Of course, there are now hundreds of ports in the Confederate government-controlled area, and with the naval strength of the federal government, it is naturally impossible to blockade them all.

Still, they did a good job, and in 1861 about 10 percent of the ships to the Confederate government were caught.

Don't think that this number is small, in fact, it is not easy to do this with the strength of the US Navy.

The Royal Navy, which was pulling the offset, was often haunted, and many times the cotton was transported, and the British fleet was staring at the Federal Navy not far away.

The question is not whether you can win the fight, but whether you can fight at all. Britain, France, and Austria have reached an agreement on intervening in the civil war in the United States, and once the war starts, it will be one against four.

All countries are short of convincing a domestic excuse for war, and in this context, it is not easy for the Federal Navy to achieve such results.

To break the blockade, the southern government also formed a navy. Because of the huge disparity in the number of warships between the two sides, the southern government secretly built ironclad ships, and at this time the northern government was also building ironclad ships.

In March 1862, the navies of the North and South fought to the death in the Hamptons, kicking off the Ironclad War.

Unfortunately, the naval artillery skills of the Americans were not very good, and the "Merrimac" of the Southern Army and the "Monette" of the Northern Army were fired at each other, and both sides achieved no results.

Against this background, at the end of May 1862 the Austrian ocean-going fleet visited the Confederate government.

Count Hummel and President Jefferson Davis had a friendly exchange and agreed to strengthen bilateral trade cooperation, mainly for the export of labor services.

On June 7, 1862, the two signed the "Labor Import Treaty", which stipulated that in the next ten years, the Southern Confederacy government would bring in three million laborers from the Austrian colonies, and the Southern government would bear all the immigration costs, and pay the Austrians 60 Aegis for each of them.

There is no doubt that this is big business. The precondition is that the Southern government wins the war before it can honor the treaty.

In order to win over Austria, the southern government also made a bloody investment.

This is decided by the fist, don't look at the Austrian ocean-going fleet only has more than 70 warships, but there are five ironclad ships in it, which is the most powerful fleet on the east coast at present.

Count Hummel proposed: "Your Excellency, I think you need a strong navy to suppress the fleet of the northern government and ensure the smooth flow of overseas trade. ”

Hummel was not the first to sell warships, the major naval powers in Europe all sold warships to the southern government, and the Confederate government also ordered a lot, but unfortunately it was far from quenching the thirst of the near.

Jefferson Davis replied with little interest: "Yes, Your Excellency, we have ordered a number of warships in Europe, but we will not be able to arrive in a short time. ”

Count Hummel smiled and said, "Your Excellency, you need to be in stock, and ordering warships is too slow. The battlefield is ever-changing, and time is of the essence.

If it is your navy that has the upper hand now, then this war may be over. As long as you block the overseas trade of the New England states, the northern government will have to compromise. ”

President Jefferson-Davis's eyes lit up, and he heard the meaning of Count Hummel's words, and asked in disbelief: "Is your country interested in selling this fleet?" ”

Count Hummel replied affirmatively: "Under normal circumstances, we would not sell active equipment, but we can make an exception for our friends. ”

After a little thought, President Jefferson Davis said cautiously: "Your Excellency, Earl, you can make an offer, we will not let our friends suffer!" ”

There was no way, even if he knew that he was going to be slaughtered, he had to bring it up. Even if the price is expensive, it is not as big as the loss of the ship intercepted by the northern government.

Ostensibly, the losses were borne by the capitalists, but in reality they were borne by the Southern government, whose blockade raised prices in the southern states and restricted the export of goods.

The most typical is that in order to ensure sufficient speed and escape the pursuit of the Northern Navy, the merchant ships have to set aside a large number of empty positions. When encountering the Northern Navy, it was often necessary to throw the ship's cargo into the sea to reduce weight and increase speed.

Count Hummel quoted: "46 million Aegis, the ocean-going fleet is sold in a package, with ammunition that can be used for three major wars, and we provide free training services." ”

This is completely a sky-high price, 46 million Aegis is about 23 million pounds, if you just calculate the cost of building ships, you can build a Royal Navy.

Of course, £23 million is certainly not enough to buy a Royal Navy, even if it is doubled. Building a Royal Navy from scratch is not enough pounds.

The Royal Navy's world dominance depends not only on warships, but also on a series of supporting facilities, a huge industrial chain, and well-trained soldiers.

None of this is something that the Southern government has, nor does the Northern government. Before the outbreak of the Civil War, the U.S. Navy numbered less than 10,000, and the Southern government's navy consisted only of retired personnel and merchant sailors.

It can be said that the quality of the officers and men of the navy of the South and the North is among the best in the world, but it is inverted.

Jefferson Davis thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, your offer is too high. Otherwise, we hire an ocean-going fleet to fight. As long as the Northern Navy is suppressed in the harbor, we will pay a commission of 46 million Aegis. ”

Hummel shook his head, he didn't dare to take such a business. Don't look at it, it is very easy to suppress the Northern Navy in the short term, but in fact, the major shipyards of the Northern Government are making dumplings, and the later it is, the larger the scale of the Northern Fleet.

If within a year, the southern government could not win the war, and the balance of power between the two sides would have changed. Even if it is by the heap of numbers, the government of the north will have an advantage.

Count on the destruction of the enemy in naval battles, or don't dream. Can't you win, can't you win? After entering the port, there is shore artillery cover, and there is nothing they can do.

Unless the Southern government was willing to hand over the Army to Austrian command, there was little hope. Big deal to land from Canada and stab back on the Great Lakes region.

It is estimated that the British don't mind being blind once, anyway, John Bull is thick-skinned and can play scoundrels.

"We're sorry, but we're a neutral country, so we can't go to war."

Jefferson Davis just rolled his eyes, which neutral country sells arms with such fanfare? In addition to not going to the battlefield in person, you have already done everything else that you can and can't do.

It's okay to think about these complaints, it's too hurtful to say them, anyway, the Austrians still support them, and they can be regarded as half allies.

"25 million Aegis, you can at least double the profit at this price."

This was estimated by Jefferson Davis on the basis of the ex-factory price of the Southern shipyards, acquiescing to the capitalists' profits, plus the cost of going to sea.

Hummel pondered for a moment and said: "Your Excellency, in business, if it is a normal time, this price is not negotiable, but now is an extraordinary period, and there is no profit of more than 2 times, even if it is a loss-making transaction." ”

……

On July 1, 1862, Austria signed an arms purchase agreement with Nicaragua, and the Vienna government sold the ocean-going fleet to the Nicaraguan government for 38 million Aegis.

When the news came, there was an uproar in the Americas, and many people were surprised, Nicaragua had the money to buy an ocean-going fleet?

Before everyone could come to their senses, on July 5, 1862, the Nicaraguan government transferred the giant fleet to the southern government for the same price.

Of course, the fact that he was able to sell at this sky-high price was the result of Count Hummel agreeing to accept half of the bonds. In order to bind Austria, the southern government also went to great lengths.

The news had not yet reached Vienna, but the shipyards in Austria were already busy.

The old does not go to the new, and since the warships are to be sold, Franz cannot make the Austrian Navy have no warships available, so it is natural to build new ships.

In the future, if you want to intervene in the American Civil War, you will still be inseparable from the navy, and overseas colonization will also be inseparable from the navy. It is estimated that by the time news of the deal reached Europe, the new warship was about to enter service again.