Sherman's army advanced along the way, destroying everything in its path, looting civilians of food and property, killing rebellious civilians, burning farmland, blowing up villages, plugging wells with lime, destroying railroads, looting and expelling town after town, and burning town after town. www.biquge.info Sherman's troops hadn't arrived yet, and the flames could be seen from a dozen miles away, and when Sherman's troops left, all that was left was charred dirt and a few lonely smoking tree poles.

On December 23, 9064, Sherman captured the famous southern port city of Savannah and sent a telegram to President Lincoln saying it was a "Christmas present" to him. But he then burned this "gift" and left nothing behind.

In early 9065, the Sherman army invaded Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, and set fire to all the homes and public facilities in the city, leaving only the University of South Carolina and the administrative buildings remaining.

After that, Sherman's army burned all the way north to Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston defenders put up a stubborn resistance, and Sherman launched a murderous shelling of Charleston with hundreds of heavy guns, killing tens of thousands of civilians. By the time Sherman captured Charleston, it was in ruins. In such a city that had been reduced to ruins, the Sherman army did not let go and lit a fire as usual. On the outskirts of Charleston, piles of black rubble manors burned by the Confederate army are still left.

"I'm just going to make all of South Carolina cry wolf! I'm just going to turn all of South Carolina into hell on earth! I want to make all South Carolinians, young and old, rich and poor, feel the pain in their hearts! My legion will destroy South Carolina soon! If they really want to declare their secession from the Federation and start a war with the Qianguo! I do what I say! "If they think I'm cruel and cruel, I'll tell them that war is war, and it's not about winning their favor!" War is hell! If they want peace, they and their loved ones should not think about quitting the Union! ”

"I just want these Southerners and their children and grandchildren to learn an unforgettable lesson, never dare to want independence again! Never dare to resort to war! That's my answer to these dog mongrels! ”

On July 20, 9074, the U.S. Congress passed the famous "Monaken Act" in American history by a narrow majority, which stipulates that the Southern Cross flag, the former Confederate flag, was declared illegal, and it is forbidden to hang it on any occasion, for any reason and in any form, it will be regarded as treason, and the "Monaken Act" also declared the Ku Klux Klan Party an illegal organization and banned it, and at the same time prohibited any abuse of blacks and colored people. In addition, Congress passed a resolution imposing the toughest martial law on South Carolina, the most powerful state of separatist forces, until the Southern separatist forces were eliminated.

On 22 July, demonstrations against the "Monaken Act" broke out in Columbia and Charleston, the capitals of South Carolina, respectively, and nearly 10,000 people marched on the streets to protest against the corruption and incompetence of the Grant administration and Grant's continued presidency of the United States, and demanded that South Carolina become independent from the federal government and declare war on the country. At the request of the population, South Carolina Governor Hampton. On the same day, Widder issued a proclamation announcing that the Monacen Act would not be accepted and that the federal government's military control over South Carolina would be null and void. As a result, as soon as the news reached Washington, Grant ordered Sherman to take drastic measures. Sherman led federal troops into South Carolina, imposing martial law throughout the state and imposing a curfew in the capital Columbia. When Sherman entered Colombia, he directly arrested the governor of the state, Hampton. Widder, who imprisoned him and a large group of the state's separatist-leaning lawmakers. In Colombia, when the federal army tried to disarm the "New Hampton Regiment" militia, the militia began to fire on the federal army, causing more than 10 federal soldiers to be killed and wounded, and more than 400 were arrested. This incident deepened the tension between the local people and the federal army, a large number of civilians took to the streets to protest, some Ku Klux Klan took the opportunity to mix among the civilians and shoot at the federal army, Sherman ordered a severe crackdown, the federal army received the order to disperse the rioters with sticks and high-pressure water cannons and cavalry, arrested more than 1,200 of them, the clash resulted in a total of 322 deaths and more than 900 injuries.

In the face of the rampant Ku Klux Klan, Sherman took harsh repressive measures, sending troops to clear the Ku Klux Klan's meeting places and lairs, and during the attack on a castle controlled by Ku Klux Klan, the federal army was thwarted by the attack, using Gatling guns and Dahlgren heavy artillery, completely destroying the castle, eliminating all the Ku Klux Klan members who were stubbornly resisting there, and also causing a large number of casualties among nearby civilians.

Under Grant's strict orders, the local government of San Francisco also took similar measures as Sherman, and while calming the incident, it also inevitably caused civilian casualties.

In view of the high casualties of the Union Army due to the rebellion of the South Carolina militia, Grant ordered the states to disband the militias and form the National Guard, which replaced the militias as the garrison forces of the states. The command of the newly created National Guard was not vested in the governors of the states, and the governors of the states lost the power to command the army and became administrative officials entirely. This measure also caused discontent in the southern states, but it was finally implemented with a strong push from Grant. Grant's measures further consolidated the power of the federal government, and enabled the US president to withdraw some of the powers limited by Congress, thus changing the situation in which China will be "one dominant power" in the US "separation of powers" system.

The series of bloody conflicts caused by the Monaken incident, which was comparable in scale to a war and nearly pushed the United States to the brink of division, was later called a "quasi-civil war" by historians.

Grant and Sherman's iron-fisted measures to "set an example" had the desired effect, not only preventing South Carolina, the most powerful separatist state, from secession, from seceding from the Union, but also severely cracking down on racist forces in the United States and maintaining the peace after the American Civil War, but also reducing the public approval rating of the second Grant administration, which was already discredited for corruption, and the popularity of Grant himself to a record low (Grant himself was nicknamed "butcher" and "bison" by the Southern people). As a direct result of the 9076 general election, when Grant sought re-election, he was not even nominated as a presidential candidate. Some historians have made this judgment: "Grant traded his personal reputation for the future peace of American society." ”

Although Grant and Sherman were not re-elected president, Sherman served as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army until 9085.

After learning that Grant had not been re-elected because of the "Monaken" incident, the Qianguo side was extremely sorry, and Lin Yizhe, then prime minister and minister of the Yamen, specially sent Grant and Sherman certificates of thanks on behalf of the Qianguo government, saying that they "did not shy away from ridicule, put an end to violence, saved beauty and society, and were very kind." He also invited Grant and Sherman to visit Qianguo at an appropriate time. Grant and Sherman wrote back letters of thanks, and Grant also visited Qianguo after leaving office, and was warmly welcomed by the officials and people of Qianguo.

Although Sherman did not go to Qianguo, because of that experience, he had a special impression of Lin Yizhe and the ancient Qianguo. After Lin Yizhe died, Sherman was very embarrassed, and after learning that Lin Yizhe also had a younger brother, especially after this younger brother was still fighting bravely in Japan, he was pleasantly surprised, and he always hoped to meet Lin Yiqing.

Now, the opportunity has finally arrived.

"What do you think of this man? Teddy? Sherman looked out at Theodore as he stood in front of the window. Roosevelt asked.

"This man is complicated, he is a military man first and a politician second." Roosevelt turned around and said to Sherman, "I've listened to his lectures at the Naval Academy, and I feel that he has a bit of Colonel Mahan's scholarly air in him. ”

"Do you think he'll agree to a game like that?" Sherman asked thoughtfully, "In his current honorable capacity...... Wouldn't it be too rude for us to do so and cause a diplomatic dispute? ”

"I'll bet you, William, he'll agree and attend in person." Theodore. Roosevelt laughed.

"Alright then, let's wait and see!" Sherman said, a pair of deep-set eyes lit up instantly.

On this day, Lin Yiqing was invited to participate in the shooting competition held by the National Rifle Association in the suburbs of Washington.

As mentioned in the invitation, the game began with a large-scale "historical situation restoration" performance, in which thousands of members of the Rifle Association dressed up as the Northern and Southern armies of the Civil War, shooting at each other, performing several famous battles of the year. These performers are all wearing military uniforms and using the weapons of the year, only to see people coming and going on the battlefield, gunshots are endless, white smoke is everywhere, and it is very lively and beautiful.

Not far away, there is a small group of people who attract the audience's attention.

These people were divided into two teams, one of them was wearing the gray military uniform of the Russians, using the Bodan-style rifles used by the Russian army, and the other team was wearing the armor of the ancient Japanese ancient scholars, wearing a katana at the waist, wearing a grimace mask on the face, and holding a Schneider rifle in their hands.

"Mr. Lin, I don't know if the scene in front of you can remind you of the scene when you commanded operations in Japan." One of the directors of the National Rifle Association, Charles Brown. Major General Denver looked at Lin Yiqing, smiled and pointed to the small group of people and asked.

"Their costumes and weapons are right, but the real combat situation is not like this." Lin Yiqing smiled and replied, "The real battle is much more brutal. ”

"What a cruel law? Are the battles you fought in larger and more intense than the Battle of Gettysburg? Major General Denver laughed disapprovingly, having personally participated in the Battle of Gettysburg and lost an eye for it, when he was an infantry regiment commander.

"The scale of the battle in which I personally participated was certainly not as large as the Battle of Gettysburg, but in terms of fierceness and cruelty, it was no less than the Battle of Gettysburg." Lin Yiqing said calmly, "I can't remember how many battles I've participated in, and I can't remember how many people died under my gun, but those experiences of blood and fire are something I can never forget." ”

"You say you can't remember how many people died under your guns, but I remember that there were thirty-two people who died under my guns." Major General Denver laughed, "How could you not remember clearly?" Or have you never been on the battlefield at all? ”

Hearing Denver's words that bordered on provocation and insult, Lin Yiqing remained silent, but several of Lin Yiqing's entourage had angry faces—they were all battle-hardened ninja warriors in the Southwest War.

"I didn't deliberately remember how many enemies I killed, I only remember killing them." Lin Yiqing smiled and pointed to a man holding a knife dressed as a Japanese samurai, "To kill an enemy, a knife or a shot is enough, Japanese samurai killing people is not a comparison like this group of clowns, this is ridiculous." ”

"In that case, would you like to try it out with me?" Denver looked at Lin Yiqing and picked up a rifle casually, "How about we compare marksmanship?" ”

Hearing Denver's words, Theodore. Roosevelt and Mahan looked at Sherman and the other old men in unison, but none of them spoke.

Denver was a famous sharpshooter in the federal army back then, and he openly challenged Lin Yiqing today, and just now he said something questioning Lin Yiqing's combat experience, making it clear that he was deliberately looking for trouble, but the old men were indifferent, and it was obvious that Denver's challenge was tacitly approved by them.

"I'm happy to accompany you." Lin Yiqing smiled slightly and nodded.

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou

Koukou )