In Lin's original historical time, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) was known as the "fourth pole of American power", with about 4 million registered members, and was the largest firearms owner organization in the United States. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe organization bills itself as "the oldest and largest civil rights advocacy organization in the United States." Although many people scoffed at this, the vast majority of Americans still agreed with this view when the organization was founded, and even more, the National Rifle Association secretly coincided with a national policy of the United States at that time.

Although the nations of the world are very different, it seems to be a universal axiom that "northerners are brave and good at fighting, and southerners are good at running the economy." Strangely, this rule has been reversed in the United States. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the economic power of the North was completely overwhelming that of the South, and the industrial output of New York State alone was equal to that of the Southern states combined. In terms of troops, the North is more than twice as large as the South. As soon as the battle began, the northern army found that it always had to pay twice or even three times the price of casualties when fighting with the southern army, and it always suffered defeats.

After the war, some officers of the Northern Army summed up that it was not because we were incompetent, but because the Southerners were too good at playing with guns -- the Southerners of the United States had a so-called "gun-wielding ranger" culture since ancient times, and the Civil War coincided with a crucial era in the history of the evolution of firearms. Realizing this, one of the veterans of the Northern Army jumped out and shouted: We want the Northerners, no, all Americans to learn to play with guns.

The man who shouted this slogan was named William. Church, a wartime military correspondent for The New York Times, was the designer of the NRA, and the American martial spirit was in his blood. His grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War and mixed with Washington, and his maternal grandfather commanded a company in the American and British Wars. After hearing and witnessing the terrible combat effectiveness of the Northern Army in the war, Church, who couldn't swallow this breath, ran around, set up a rifle club, and brought the famous Northern Army general Burnside as the first chairman of the NRA, Burnside told his old boss, Grant, then President of the United States, and immediately won the latter's strong support, Grant also joined the association himself, and later served as the chairman of the association, starting the tradition of the president of the United States becoming a member of the association.

The reason why Grant is so sorry for the NRA is because at that time, the shooting quality of individual soldiers was indeed the best measure of the army's combat effectiveness. If the national guns are well fired, it is even conducive to enhancing the international deterrent capability. Since then, the NRA has developed as a civilian paramilitary organization with the support of the U.S. government.

However, the problems caused by the National Rifle Association to the United States have also been with us since its founding: encouraging the whole people to play with guns may be beneficial to the country in wartime, but in peacetime, it does make people's hearts crist. Americans originally understood this truth.

Nine years after the founding of the National Rifle Association, New York Governor Wingate, who was also a Civil War veteran, announced that New York would no longer support the development of the NRA, citing that "the world has entered an era of peace and prosperity, and rifles are no longer necessary." In the days of relative peace in the world at the end of the century, there were more and more people who agreed with Wingate's views, and the NRA had a very hard time.

The turning point occurred at the turn of the century in the Boer War, where the Boers roaming the mountains and forests beat Britain, which was still the world hegemon at the time, with their accurate marksmanship. Such news rekindled the Americans' love for sharpshooters, and the NRA took the opportunity to bring the dead back to life. At the suggestion of the NRA, the U.S. Congress established the "National Firearms Training Promotion Committee", which is subordinate to the Department of Defense. One-third of the members of the committee are members of the NRA, which has led the committee to devote many national resources to support the NRA. A few years later, the U.S. Congress began to fund the annual NRA competition, and the relationship between the NRA and the U.S. government became even closer, and the NRA became almost an invisible military organization that provided troops for the U.S. government.

The people's enthusiasm for playing with guns is high at the cost of increasingly chaotic law and order in the United States, and with the rise of the mafia, public order in the United States has become somewhat appalling. Even the president was assassinated during a speech, and the United States finally introduced its first gun control law, the Federal Firearms Act. Although the NRA vigorously opposed the bill during its deliberations, it did not prevent the bill from taking shape. After suffering a fiasco, the NRA realized that the limelight had changed, and began to improve its out-of-hospital lobby group, embarking on the path of renewing its life by relying on connections.

If encouraging the whole people to play with guns was still a bit of a positive significance in enhancing national deterrence before World War II, then after the end of World War II, when national deterrence was monopolized by weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons, the National Rifle Association seemed to have lost its meaning of existence. However, the meaning is gone, but the organization is still there, not to mention that the NRA has deep roots at this time to the point that no one dares to mess with it.

Of course, most of the time, the National Rifle Association is still accustomed to not having such a stiff relationship with the president, and in the history of the United States, a total of eight presidents have been members of the association, which is indeed good.

It is precisely because of the history of the National Rifle Association that Lin Yiqing also wanted to take advantage of this organization with great potential, but what he didn't expect was that this organization would be sent to the door so quickly.

"Hanpeng has a plan?" Chiho Kirino looked at Lin Yiqing, as if he had guessed something, and asked.

"It's just an itchy hand." Lin Yiqing smiled.

He stood up and couldn't help but turn his gaze to the "Dan Snake" gold carved revolver given to him by US President Cleveland.

"The invitation arrived?" At the square table, William Brown, president of the National Rifle Association. Tekusai. Army General Sherman asked.

"Yes, General." The officer who delivered the letter replied respectfully, "I personally handed over the invitation letter to His Excellency General Lin Yiqing. ”

"Did he say anything?" Sherman asked again.

"General Lin Yiqing carefully read the invitation letter in front of me, and told me that he was very happy to receive such an invitation, and he asked me to tell you that he would definitely come to the competition on time, and asked me to convey my greetings to you, and he said that he was very much looking forward to meeting with you, General." The officer replied.

"Good." Sherman nodded, and the officer noticed that the gray-haired Sherman's eyes were a little dazed at the moment.

He knew that Sherman must have remembered the past of the "American Quasi-Civil War" again.

In the battle between Qianguo and Japan, the captain of the American cruiser "Monaken" Masson and the officers and men on the ship, at the instigation of Li Xiande, joined the Japanese side in the battle, but were captured by the Qianguo navy. After the news was transmitted back to the United States, various relevant "details" quickly circulated through various media, starting with the Washington parade, and the demonstrations launched by various states in the United States from the capital and then spread to the county seat and Hong Kong city, and there were also many violent acts, such as the bloody incident in San Francisco in which Americans stormed the residential area of the Qianguo, causing many people to be injured, and then the US police intervened and sheltered more than 10 wounded Qianguo, but did not arrest any Americans involved in the action. Demonstrations and riots against the Qianguo people broke out in various localities, especially in the southern states, and the US Government was worried that the situation would expand beyond control, so it had no choice but to send troops to maintain law and order.

With regard to the "Monaken" incident, unlike the ordinary American people, the attitude of the US government is very unclear. After the truth of the "Monaken" incident gradually surfaced, the attitude of the US Government became more cautious.

As far as the US Government is concerned, the truth of the "Monaken" incident has already been revealed, but due to the previous media adding fuel and vinegar and the preconceived ideas of the American people who do not know the truth, the "Monaken" incident has continued to ferment and gradually evolved into a political storm that has swept the whole country.

Amid the people's cries of "declaring war on the barbaric cadres," the Senate and House of Representatives of the US Congress also quarreled over the sky. As for the truth about the "Monaken" incident, many members of the US Congress just refused to believe it, and even thought that President Grant was committing perjury. But soon the U.S. government received a report. It is a detailed record of the incident given by officials of Fujian Province in Qianguo, and is accompanied by the testimony of personnel on British and French warships who watched the battle. It was determined that the "Monaken" fired first at the Qianguo warship, and it was not reported in the newspapers before, that they were shelled by the Qianguo people when they tried to rescue the Japanese sailors who had fallen into the water, and in this report, there was also an astonishing fact, that is, when the "Monaken" attacked the Qianguo warship, it lowered the Union flag and raised the Confederate flag, the Southern Cross flag.

This incident infuriated the Grant government.

After Grant was elected as the 18th president of the United States, the biggest national issue facing the federal government led by the former battlefield hero was how to deal with the political status of the former rebel states in the South. After the end of the American Civil War, the vast majority of Southern states were held by radical Republicans. Radical Republicans support giving blacks citizenship and suffrage. But by the late sixties, radical Republicans were beginning to lose ground in the South, and many radical Republicans were not re-elected, and they were defeated by the Democrats. And Democrats don't want to give blacks any rights at all. The first radical Republicans to lose ground in the South were in Virginia, where the changes were still peaceful. But this is not the case in other states, such as Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, where Democrats have used threats and violence to win elections. These elections are usually led by Ku Klux Klan. Soon, the Ku Klux Klan was popping up in all the Southern states, and by 9071, radical Republican members of Congress were calling for a law to eliminate the Ku Klux Klan. So a committee headed by radical Republicans was formed, which investigated and heard a lot about Ku Klux Klan's brutality in the southern states. After several debates, Congress passed a bill to rein in the Ku Klux Klan. The new law gives the president the power to declare martial law in the southern states. The bill made many Southerners hate the North even more, with South Carolina being the most opposed. Similarly, the passage of the bill angered moderates in the Republican Party, who argued that the federal government should not help radical Republicans take control of power in the South. There are moderate Republicans who disassociate themselves from President Grant and radical Republicans who call themselves liberal Republicans and form a new party. All this has brought the United States to the brink of division again.

In the eyes of the Grant administration, the captain of the "Monaken" (most of the officers and men on board were South Carolinians) flew the Confederate flag and provoked a conflict with the warships of Qianguo, which was regarded by the Grant administration as an out-and-out act of treason.

In addition, the "madman Wade", who was the governor of South Carolina at the time, went so far as to give Grant an ultimatum, stating that if the federal government turned a blind eye to the "tragedy" of the "Monaken" and refused to take strong measures against the "yellow skinned state", then South Carolina, whose highest purpose is to safeguard state rights, would declare independence, withdraw from the federal government and declare war on the "yellow skinned country" on its own! Because the federal government has failed to assert the rights of the South Carolina state, and the rights and interests of South Carolina have been harmed, they must be compensated satisfactorily, and they will do whatever it takes to achieve this end.

"Mad Weed" is Hampton. Wade, born in Charleston, was a former state legislator who formed the Hampton Regiment, served as colonel, and led the unit in the First Battle of Bull Creek, where he was promoted to brigadier general and was wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines. After being transferred to the cavalry corps, he served as General Stuart's deputy, participated in the Battle of Antitham, was wounded three times at the Battle of Gettysburg, was promoted to major general, and later became the commander of the cavalry corps of the Northern Virginia Regiment, participated in the Battle of the Heath, and became famous for his performance at the Battle of Trewilliam Station.

Wade never had the military training that a soldier should have, as his performance in the Battle of Trewilliam Station was defeated by Robert W. Ward. Describing it as "a beautiful success," General Lee later became General Lee's main cavalry commander and took part in the Petersburg Defense. During the Sherman Legion's march to South and North Carolina, he launched a series of attacks on the Sherman Legion and was promoted to lieutenant general. Later in the war, he tried to prevent Confederate President Jefferson. Davis's attempt to capture him was unsuccessful. After the war, he was a strong opponent of the North-South merger and reconstruction, and was later elected governor of South Carolina, which had the strongest independence leanings.

Grant was determined to impose martial law in South Carolina. Previously, due to the Ku Klux Klux Klan's rampant situation in South Carolina, Grant had planned to impose martial law in parts of South Carolina under the new law passed, but later abandoned it due to opposition from moderates within the Republican Party. This time he decided to send Sherman to South Carolina to enforce martial law.

When Grant asked Sherman for his opinion, Sherman's reply was resounding: "I, I don't mind burning Columbia again!" ”

When Sherman said this, the rest of the attendees couldn't help but shudder.

They all remember Sherman's unprecedented sweep in the Civil War.

Grant certainly understood what Sherman's words meant.

In the Civil War, it was Grant who gave General Sherman the famous order not only to destroy the enemy's army, but also to destroy the enemy's economic base and the enemy's inhabitants to fight. It was he Grant who explicitly demanded that Sherman carry out a devastating, reckless, and cost-effective destruction of the South.

In the fall of 9064, Sherman, who was still a major general at that time, was appointed Supreme Commander of the Western Front. He led 100,000 Union troops and 254 artillery pieces to defeat the forces of Confederate Generals Johnson and Hood, invaded Georgia, and on September 1 captured the southern city of Atlanta, which had made no resistance.

After the occupation, Sherman issued a proclamation to the local population, demanding that all militia lay down their arms and that all citizens leave the city. After that, the Northern Army was ordered to set fire to the entire city before leaving in November. At the same time, the residents of Atlanta who evacuated from the city were sternly warned that anyone who tried to put out the fire would be killed! The fire lasted for half a month. At night, the churning flames rose more than 100 meters high, burning the entire sky as if it were day, and the sky could be seen red from 20 miles away from Atlanta. During the day, a huge cloud of smoke billows up the city, making it seem like night for 200 square miles around Atlanta...... Outside the city, countless terrified and desperate Atlanta residents watched their city, their homes and their loved ones being relentlessly consumed by the flames...... The priests of Atlanta stood silently in front of the burning city, desperately facing the fiery sky, making crosses and praying incessantly to see off their city and the souls of those who had perished in the flames.

Once the most prosperous and beautiful city in the South, Atratha was wiped out in the aftermath of the Catastrophe, all in ruins, and only one street remained.

"We must remove and destroy all obstacles, kill every man, take every inch of land, confiscate every property, whenever we deem it necessary. In a word, ruthlessly destroy everything we see......"

In Sherman's opinion, the blow to ordinary people in the South must be as complete as the blow to the armed forces. From Atlanta onwards, although Sherman's Northern Army had been doing quite well, in order to completely frighten the South, he ordered his troops to burn down the houses they encountered, while killing all the livestock and those who resisted.

After burning Atlanta, Sherman's forces advanced 60 miles straight to Savannah by the sea. Almost all the places it passed through were flattened like a road roller, and everything that was on the ground was completely destroyed. (To be continued.) )