Missouri is the best example of how the Commonwealth of America is a nation of immigrants.

During the decade from 1850 to 1860, more than 2.8 million people from Europe moved to the United States of America, most of whom moved to the Free States and the West, and about 500,000 to slave states in the Upper South. Missouri, which belonged to both the western region of this era and the slave state of the Upper South, was a vast and sparsely populated state with a large amount of land waiting to be developed, so it naturally became the main target of European immigrants.

Among these European immigrants were mainly the Irish and the Germans of northern Europe. Among the immigrants in this decade, the Irish, almost half. Of the nearly 900,000 immigrants in Missouri, 400,000 are Irish. You know, the total population of Missouri today is only 1.18 million, including 120,000 black slaves. It can be said that most of the people in Missouri, with the exception of blacks and some plantation owners, were poor European immigrants, and most of the remaining freedmen were Irish, except for nearly one-third of the Germans who worked as craftsmen and craftsmen of all kinds.

However, because they were originally farmers, they fled here because of the famine in Ireland, dragged their families with them, and could only engage in some sporadic short-term labor, living in poverty, in the United States for so many years, some of them saved a lot of money, bought dozens of acres of land in Missouri to establish their own farms, and more failed to save money, and still could only do odd jobs everywhere, or help those Irish villagers who came early, as a short-term laborer on the plantation to live hard, fantasizing that one day they could save enough money to buy dozens of acres of land, happily as a farmer.

Of course, more poor Irish farmers, not so lucky, were able to work on the farms of the wealthy Irish countrymen, and more than 100,000 Irish relied on working for breweries and vineyards founded by Germans from Northern Europe, from north of Jefferson City to west of St. Louis, along the banks of the Missouri River, the main tributary of the Mississippi River, was the new American estate of the Germans, and later became known as the "Missouri Rhineland" wine region.

The other Irish immigrants worked as laborers on the Mississippi River and the Pacific Railroad, doing the hardest and most tiring work, receiving the meager salaries, and the German immigrants who managed them were often skilled German immigrants, who came here early and received several times the salary of the Irish. As a result, the contradictions and conflicts between the Irish and the Germans in Missouri have never stopped.

Late that night, outside St. Louis, on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Missouri Governor Cliburn Jackson stared at the lower Mississippi River by moonlight, yawning incessantly, next to one of his tall, burly Irish fellows, followed by more than 100 Irish militiamen who were visibly thin and half a circle.

The reason why he stayed by the Mississippi River in the middle of the night was because last month, he was approached by this burly Irishman who claimed to be Lu Ernan, who was a member of the 'Fenian Society' and the general adviser of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood in the Americas, claiming that Ireland was engaged in a large-scale anti-British uprising and fighting for independence.

Then, Lu Ernan said that their Fenian Society and the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood have cooperated with the Chinese Empire in the East in an all-round way, everyone knows that the Chinese Empire is now powerful and has risen to become one of the world's great powers, and their Fenian Society focuses on the anti-British uprising in Ireland itself, but because Britain is the world's first power after all, in case of failure, the Irish will continue to be enslaved by the British, therefore, their Fenian Society has also prepared a back road, that is, with the help of the power of the Chinese Empire, Establish your own stronghold for the Irish in the Americas, that is, in the Midwest of the American Federation, and even an independent state!

Jackson was both surprised and suspicious. He was an Irish who had emigrated to the United States before the Great Famine, and after nearly two decades of accumulation, he is now a plantation owner with dozens of black slaves and hundreds of Irish helpers. But at the same time, he was a pure Irish nationalist. He did his best to help the Irish earn a living against the bullying of the Germans.

If what Lu Ernan said is true, the Chinese Empire is willing to help the Irish gain a foothold in the American Federation, and now is the best opportunity! If the Chinese Empire can unite with the French Empire, defeat Mexico and annex the northern part of Mexico, and turn it into their overseas colony, it will have the strength to rival France.

With the help of the Chinese Empire, taking advantage of the civil strife in the north and south of the United States and the imminent war, as the governor of Missouri, he rose up to respond, and united with the Southern Union States to take advantage of the situation to declare independence. It is quite possible that he will become the leader of the Irish in the Americas, create an independent state dominated by the Irish, and even establish a country of his own!

But why did that Chinese empire help the Irish to build a state? Since they were able to establish the so-called New Mexico Province in northern Mexico as their colony, would they also use the banner of helping the Irish and let these Irish do their best for them, but in the end they would annex Missouri?

Jackson was very suspicious of the intentions of the Chinese Empire!

Regardless, it was a great opportunity and he didn't want to miss it!

Moreover, according to what Lu Ernan said, there were also many Irish people in the Chinese Empire, and those fellow villagers served as officers at all levels, weapons experts, factory managers and skilled workers in China, and their status and treatment were very good. It is likely that the Chinese Empire really helped the Irish, so as to buy the hearts of the Irish compatriots who worked for them, so that more Irish people could work for them! This in itself is also a mutually cooperative and beneficial thing. In this way, if the Chinese Empire, which has an incomparably vast territory, really has such great strength, it can take this opportunity to occupy all the central and western regions of the United States, and in such a vast and boundless land, as long as a small piece of land is divided, such as Missouri, and settled by the Irish, in exchange for the Irish to follow him and serve him, why not do it? Even if the independent state is not allowed, even as an autonomous province of the other side, as long as it is given enough land and freedom, Jackson believes that the Irish compatriots who lack land and are facing an existential crisis will support it.

What's more, Lu Ernan said that the envoy of the Chinese Empire to the United States could discuss cooperation with him in person, and Jackson believed that the Chinese Empire was really willing to help the Irish.

The two sides agreed to meet tonight on the lower Mississippi River, outside St. Louis. The other side will send a batch of military supplies to themselves for the Missouri army. However, at that time, Jackson said that he wanted more soldiers to support him than arms.

For a long time, although there were many Irish people in Missouri, they were all distributed in the vast countryside, and there were not many people who could really help him, especially those who dared to stand up as soldiers, only three or four hundred, and these de facto militiamen, because of their lack of training, had almost no combat power. Therefore, Jackson did not dare to act rashly. After all, Missouri still has some federal troops stationed there, and there are quite a few people loyal to the Union.

Jackson was thinking nonsense when a sharp-eyed militiaman suddenly whispered, "Mr. Jackson, there's movement downstream!" ”

Lu Ernan also listened attentively and said, "There should be a ship coming against the current, listening to the movement, it seems that there are quite a few, several!" Probably our brothers, Mr. Jackson, get ready! ”

Jackson waved his hand, and the militiamen behind him were lying on the shore, nervous.

Soon after, around the corner of the lower reaches of the Mississippi River, a few rapid cuckoo sounds were heard, which was the code. Lu Ernan said happily: "Yes! It's my brothers from the 11th Infantry Division of the Captive Army! ”

Jackson looked into the night, and faintly saw several sailboats docked on the riverbank, some people on board quickly laying sampans, and groups of dark figures disembarking from the boats and standing neatly on the shore.

Lu Ernan greeted him, and Jackson had no choice but to wave his hand to let the militia behind him continue to be vigilant.

After a while, Lu Ernan led a big man over, and after Lu Ernan first talked to the big man, he said to Jackson: "Mr. Jackson, this officer is Li Xinglong, the commander of the 11th Division of the 11th Infantry Division of the Chinese Imperial Capture Army, and he was ordered by the division commander General Lin Qirong to come to our aid and help take Missouri!" ”

"Thank you, General, for coming to help!" Jackson glanced at the big man in front of him, his face was painted with strange paint, he was very close to the natives of the Indian tribes in Kansas and the Indian region, if he hadn't heard Lu Ernan talk about it in advance, he wouldn't have known that he was Chinese. And several soldiers behind the big man were all dressed like this, and it was obvious that they had already dressed up as Indian soldiers!

Jackson wanted to go up and shake hands, but he was directly ignored, and the other party was indifferent, just said something to Lu Ernan.

Lu Ernan explained: "Mr. Jackson, Captain Li doesn't understand Irish or English. What he just told me was, let's not delay, they deliberately rushed to the city at dawn, the purpose was to take direct control of the city of St. Louis tonight before the enemy could react. ”

"What? Tonight you will go straight into the city and capture St. Louis? Jackson was shocked! He was thinking of pretending to be these Chinese soldiers as warriors from the Indian tribes, first finding a place for them to settle down, and then gathering the other three hundred Irish militiamen who were loyal to him from his base in Jefferson City, and then finding an opportunity to capture St. Louis City together. He didn't expect this sturdy Chinese officer to directly say that he would capture the city of St. Louis.

You know, St. Louis is an important city in the western part of the American Union, and it is almost the largest trading port in the middle reaches of the Mississippi River. St. Louis has long been a port for the Indian fur market and the largest cattle market in the United States, and a transportation hub for the Mississippi River and the federal railroad that is being built westward. Jackson knew that although there were not many federal garrisons in St. Louis, the other side was a regular army, and there were many German militiamen loyal to the Federation who could be summoned to attack directly, which was not easy.

However, in the next moment, the burly Chinese man made a gesture into the night, and from the riverside came out of the black crowd, densely arranged in several rows, and a murderous aura rushed towards him, which made Jackson, who had always prided himself bold, shiver in the warm weather of late spring.

Although he didn't know that this was what the Oriental Chinese called the murderous spirit in the army, he also knew that this was a state that he had developed after many battlefield battles and countless trainings. An army that can have this state is undoubtedly a lion, a lion that can be invincible. But now the lion in front of him has thousands of people, wait, just now Lu Ernan introduced that this is the first step of the 11th Infantry Division, could it be that there are hundreds of troops like this?

Only then did Jackson remember what Lu Ernan had mentioned to him that the Chinese Empire in the East was very powerful. It is no wonder that France, the world's second-largest power, can cooperate with its alliance to attack and carve up Mexico, without France dominating in the slightest. With so many soldiers, maybe they can really capture St. Louis City. As long as the city of St. Louis is occupied, the capital Jefferson is in his hands, and the remaining Missouri is only Kansas City in the west. The Kansas region west of Kansas City has already declared its accession to the Confederate States in the south, and Liberty east of Kansas City has also been controlled by himself, so it is not difficult to completely control Missouri by himself or with the help of these Eastern armies.

So, Jackson immediately said: "Mr. Lu, please tell Commander Li, we can sneak all the soldiers into the city, there are two main garrisons in the city." One is the St. Louis Railroad Station in the northeast of the city, where more than 200 Union Army soldiers are stationed, and the other is the St. Louis Arsenal on the southeast side, where nearly 800 Army soldiers are stationed. I suggest that Commander Lee lead his troops to capture the St. Louis arsenal first. Although this St. Louis arsenal was garrisoned with many soldiers, it stored 60,000 smoothbore guns and gunpowder and other military equipment, and if it could be captured, if not all burned and captured, it would be a great victory. Of course, if we can capture half of our weapons and arm our Irish in Missouri, we will be able to secure control of Missouri without fail. ”

Jackson couldn't help but bring up the St. Louis Arsenal, and he had long longed for the weapons in it. Last month, his Irish attacked the U.S. arsenal in Liberty, near Kansas City, but unfortunately did not capture many weapons, so he was unable to assemble an Irish militia of more than 1,000 men.

After listening to Lu Ernan's translation, the head of the regiment Li did not say a word, nodded indifferently, and asked Jackson to send someone to lead the way and lead the soldiers into the city.

In a word, he will attack when he says it, this style and efficiency surprised Jackson. On the way into the city, compared to the Chinese army on the march, his Irish militia was simply a group of fleeing outcasts, left far behind. In the end, the head of the Li regiment couldn't see it, and directly asked Jackson to select more than a dozen Irishmen who could barely follow to lead the way. Looking at the disdainful eyes of the Chinese soldiers in the face of his own Irish militia, Jackson felt ashamed.

More than half an hour later, at the St. Louis City Arsenal, heavy gunfire and explosions suddenly rang out.

Hundreds of soldiers had just run out of the barracks outside the arsenal in a panic, and they were greeted by rows of bullets, screaming and falling to the ground, crying and more often being silent after the gunshots rang out. Nearly 1,000 people from the 1st Main Infantry Regiment of the 11th Infantry Division of the Capture Army surrounded the barracks of the federal army, and after several groups of federal soldiers who were awakened in their sleep were shot and killed, no one rushed out of the barracks. Not long after, a fire was ignited, the barracks began to burn, and dozens of Federation soldiers hiding inside raised their hands howling and wanted to surrender, but they were greeted by a dense and cold burst of gunfire.

At the same time, more than 30 well-trained soldiers climbed over the walls of the arsenal before the shots rang out, wiped out the two sentries who were napping, and opened the two iron doors of the arsenal, and 400 soldiers of the special battalion who had been prepared rushed into the arsenal to outflank the federal soldiers who were still asleep.

Missouri Governor Jackson, who was watching the game from the sidelines, was already dumbfounded. Seeing the heroic and skillful Chinese troops who raided the federal barracks and arsenals, in addition to a burst of ecstasy, he felt more uneasy and anxious. The idea that had just risen in his heart was to just use these Chinese soldiers to defeat the Union army, and wait for him to get the weapons in the arsenal to form a powerful Irish armed force and completely control Missouri, but then it was automatically shattered. With such an army in front of him, it is likely that he will not be able to get rid of the control of this Eastern Empire from now on.

The fighting in St. Louis was so loud that many of the city's residents were quickly awakened. Lu Ernan came to find Jackson, who was still worried, and asked him to quickly organize the Irish militia to control the situation in the city, and not let the people loyal to the Union organize to resist.

Jackson came to his senses and remembered that now was not the time to worry. He immediately organized more than 100 Irish militiamen under his command to rush to the St. Louis City Police Department, arrested the police chief in the name of the governor, reappointed an Irish policeman as the chief, organized all the police, and mobilized the Irish in the city to join the militia, and distributed weapons seized from the police station and barracks to the Irish to form the Irish Militia Corps in Missouri, patrolling the whole city and arresting people who were friendly to the Northern Union.

Suddenly, the phenomenon of smashing doors and storming houses appeared everywhere in St. Louis City, and the Irish militia, which had been organized one after another by German and Italian immigrants friendly to the Confederation, was fighting in the streets with muskets, iron drills, sickles, wooden sticks, and so on. However, the Irish militia, with its unified command and the support of some weapons captured by the captives, soon gained the upper hand.

These Irishmen, who usually seemed weak and deceitful, burst out with astonishing destructiveness and bloodlust in a terrifying and terrifying way, and in the end they got out of control, and some neutral people who were hiding began to suffer, and the whole city of St. Louis fell into wailing blood, and countless pro-Union citizens and German mercenaries managed to escape the Mississippi River and enter the territory of Illinois. It was not until the afternoon, under the forcible intervention of the victorious captives, that the mad Irish militia slowly calmed down. When Jackson cleaned up the mess in the city, he found that the bloodshed of the battle in St. Louis had stained half of the nearby Mississippi River red, and countless people screamed in pain and begged for God's forgiveness.

In any case, the city of St. Louis at this time had completely fallen into the hands of the Irish, or the captive army.