However, because the Southerners in the cabinet sympathized with the southern states and shirked and obstructed Buchanan's orders, Buchanan's orders were delayed and the southern states were even more brazen to secede from the Union. Even Buchanan, who was weak, was furious.

Secretary of State Lewis Cass, who was still an old friend of Buchanan, took over the topic and replied: "Mr. President, for the sake of today, we still have to find the leading South Carolina, as long as its arrogance is suppressed, the other southern states that follow it and secede from the Union will not dare to gain an inch." In the final analysis, it is better to solve the problem of Fort Sumter! ”

Kas pulled the problem to the conflict at Fort Sumter, which caused everyone a headache some time ago.

Everyone knows that Fort Sumter is the military fortress of the Union, and it is the most important property and territory belonging to the Union in South Carolina, and if Fort Sumter is occupied by the so-called independent South Carolina, the American Union will lose face, and the other southern states will surely follow suit and occupy all the property and territory of the Union throughout the South, so that they will not only break away from the Union in name on the surface, but also become independent in practice.

And, most crucially, Major Anderson, the commander of the Union forces at Fort Sumter, had written several urgent distress letters in a row, and the major newspapers rushed to report on the situation, and the whole Federation already knew that the Republic of South Carolina, which had become independent from the Union, had sent troops to surround and blockade Fort Sumter, declared Fort Sumter to be its property, and demanded that the Union troops in Fort Sumter surrender and evacuate the Republic of South Carolina. This is undoubtedly a great insult to the Federation, it is simply aggression.

Buchanan had wanted to meet with representatives of South Carolina, but Attorney General Stanton directly threatened to resign if the president met with representatives of South Carolina, making it clear that he was not a representative of the Republic, but a traitor to the Union. Secretary of State Lewis Cass also supported the claims of the attorney general. In desperation, Buchanan could only make a statement, saying that the Federation would not budge, and ordered the dispatch of 200 additional soldiers to Fort Sumter to deliver supplies.

Unfortunately, the Secretary of War was sympathetic to South Carolina's Southerners, and he directly delayed the delivery of reinforcements. This is exactly what chilled Buchanan's heart, and he immediately dismissed the Minister of War and replaced him with the current Joseph Holt.

Buchanan listened to Secretary of State Cass and looked at Secretary of War Joseph Holt. Holt said, "Mr. President, the War Department has sent reinforcements according to your orders. And, for the sake of secrecy, and in order to get to Fort Sumter as soon as possible, instead of slow warships, faster civilian ships were used to transport reinforcements and supplies to avoid being intercepted by South Carolina rebels guarding Charleston Harbor. Calculating the time, you should have arrived at Fort Sumter, and maybe the crisis at Fort Sumter has been resolved! ”

Hearing this, Buchanan's face stretched slightly. Just looked at the telegram in his hand that several southern states had seceded from the Union, and his mood was low again, and he said: "Southern states, except for Kansas, we are not worried about secession from the Union, but Texas is more reassuring." Unexpectedly, Texas was the first to follow South Carolina to secede from the Union! What the hell is Houston, the governor of Texas, doing! These days have passed, what is the reason for not finding out? ”

Attorney General Stanton hurriedly said, "Mr. President, the exact reason has not yet been found. But rumor has it that the Southern slave owners are in collusion with the Indians, and that the governor of Houston has been killed by the Indians, and they use Houston's son as a puppet to prop him up to power. I looked at the message and there was a good chance it was true. ”

"Indians? Is that the same Cherokee tribe that Houston spent as a young man? Buchanan's face was even more sorrowful: "Even the Indians have been dragged into the water, strange! Didn't the Indians always hate the Southern slave owners who wanted to take them as slaves, and how could they do that, given that the Cherokee tribe had always had a good relationship with Houston? Could it be that Texas would rather give great favors to the Indians for the sake of independence? ”

Buchanan shook his head and no longer pursued Houston's affairs, anyway, Texas had declared its independence, and he said instead: "The most important thing at the moment is to cheer people up, in addition to sending troops to reinforce Fort Sumter, but also to fight back against these slave states to secede from the Union!" Didn't Kansas send someone to Congress a while ago to approve it as the 34th state of the American Commonwealth? Congress has approved Kansas as a federal official abolitionist state, and I have signed a presidential decree to officially admit it as a member of the United States of America! Early this morning, I have had the news telegraphed to the states where the telegraph has been connected, and this important news has been published in the major newspapers of the Federation, such as The Sun, The New York Times, The World, and the Washington Evening News. ”

Attorney General Stanton hurriedly stood up and bowed, saying, "Mr. President, wise!" This is a great move! It must be a powerful blow to the morale of the rebel states of the South. ”

The Minister of War, Joseph Holt, also said with great joy: "Not bad! Mr. President, this counterattack is very timely! Not only did they deal a heavy blow to the few independent southern states, but they also had the ability to support the Union soldiers in Fort Sumter, letting them know that the Federation was the most powerful, and those few southern rebel states would eventually fail! ”

At this moment, Vice President John Cabell Breckenridge, led by someone from the president's office, hurriedly knocked on the door and entered, and when he saw several cabinet members of the northern faction sitting around, he was obviously a little surprised, and then smiled, and said, "Your Excellency, there is important news in Kansas!" ”

Except for Buchanan, the rest of the cabinet members were obviously a little hostile to the vice president who was born in the south, and Attorney General Stanton greeted him, if it weren't for his own identity, I'm afraid the old fist would have been waved, although he didn't do this, but he also said unceremoniously: "Isn't this the unsuccessful Mr. Breckenridge, what, there is major news in Kansas, is it that Congress passed the Kansas Abolition Act, and Mr. President officially signed an order to officially incorporate Kansas into a state of our American Federation?" Haha, we have known this news for a long time, and this is exactly what President Buchanan has just signed! ”

Breckenridge was stunned!

Then, as if he had thought of something very funny, he laughed out loud with Stanton, and said in a mocking and sarcastic tone, "Really? Is Kansas officially a free state of the Union? I don't know about it yet! Secretary Stanton, you say this is an order that Mr. President just issued? I don't think it's likely! Just yesterday, the Kansas Legislature officially announced that Kansas would secede from the Union and form an independent Republic of Kansas, with slavery allowed in the territory and the capital designated as the town of Topeka. The day before yesterday, they had completed a referendum in Kansas and re-elected members of the Legislature, and the Annu Nationals, united with a tribe of Indians called the Roki, defeated the Abolitionists, overturned the original constitution and resolutions, and decided to adopt slavery in Kansas. Probably because of the lack of telegraph, the news came a little late. I also just received a message from the telegraph office. ”

"What!?" Attorney General Stanton was stunned and couldn't say a word!

The Secretary of War Joseph Holt and Secretary of State Cass next to him were also shocked, their eyes widened, and Joseph Holt rushed forward and grabbed Breckenridge by the collar and shouted: "This can't be!" Breckenridge you bastard, you bullshit, you must be lying! ”

Buchanan's face also turned pale, he shook his head again and again, and muttered, "No, Breckenridge, this can't be, it's not true!" ”

Breckenridge handed the telegram to Buchanan: "My Mr. President, I also want this to be fake, but you better look at this telegram!" ”

Buchanan stretched out his trembling hand, took the telegram and glanced at it, as if struck by lightning. The telegram was sent to Washington, D.C., by the Nebraska-based Pacific Telegraph Company in two stopovers from the town of Omaha, and it coincided with the timing — it took about half a day to ride a fast horse from Kansas to the town of Omaha, east Nebraska — and it was stamped with the seal of the Pacific Telegraph Company, so it could not have been fake.

"The day before, the Kansas Pers, together with the Roki tribe of Indians, defeated the Abolitionists and took control of the Kansas Legislature. Yesterday, the Kansas State Assembly announced that Kansas officially seceded from the Union and established an independent Republic of Kansas, allowing slaves to be kept within the territory! ”

The dark letters on the telegram were all stimulating him and mocking him nakedly. Buchanan felt a hot flash on his face, followed by a sweet throat, and a mouthful of fishy and sweet warm liquid gushed out of his throat: "God, are you punishing the United States of America, punishing me Buchanan?" ”

Buchanan, who was nearly seventy years old, almost fainted in front of his eyes, and he tried his best to suppress himself, but there was still a bloodshot running from the corner of his mouth, and he quickly wiped it away.