1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 123 Aid Los Angeles

With a heavy responsibility, Ge Wen arrived in the desolate town of Los Angeles on a small steamer full of food, living supplies and tools.Accompanying him was Collins, a columnist for the Daily Californian.

After landing, Ge Wen couldn't believe his eyes.

Nearly two-thirds of the buildings in Los Angeles were damaged to varying degrees, and half of the buildings were burned.

Is this what the military of a "civilized" country could do to the inhabitants of its own town in the 19th century?
Ge Wen felt that he had come to the barbaric and ignorant Middle Ages.

He was born, raised in Ohio, worked in Ohio, and is a native Ohioan.

However, he has already bought luxury houses and properties in California, and the monthly dividends of more than 8 US dollars from the United Mining Company make him not have much nostalgia for his hometown of Ohio.Ohio has left Gerwin with far more bad memories than good ones.

Just like the Europeans who immigrated to the United States and made a fortune in the United States, they do not have much nostalgia for their former homeland on the European continent, because their life in the European continent was not satisfactory.

Of course, they will also choose to return to their hometown after they have made a fortune, but their purpose of returning to their hometown is not out of nostalgia for their hometown.

It's just to show off to the folks and elders who once looked down on them. After showing off, they will still return to the United States.

Ge Wen ordered the accompanying servants to load food, living things and tools into the carriage and pull them to the unrecognizable Los Angeles Town Square.

This is also the place where the tragedy started. There are still dried bloodstains on the ground of the square, and there is still a strong smell of blood in the air. Feel very uncomfortable.

But Ge Wen still insisted on coming to the square in Los Angeles Township. Only by meeting the local residents face to face can he shorten the distance with them and let them remember that there is still a senator named Ge Wen in California.

Collins took his assistant to set up the tripod, and then he installed the camera on the tripod, and adjusted the correct exposure parameters according to the surrounding light environment.

After finishing the composition, Collins got his head into the cloth cover, and the inverted image of the collapsed church on the side of the square appeared in the viewfinder frame.

It’s just that the image in the viewfinder is blurry. The photographic equipment of this era is just in its infancy, and what you see is not what you get. This is a test of the photographer’s photography skills.

After everything was ready, Collins pressed the shutter and finished taking the first photo.

Then Collins took a few more photos near the square. When the pastor and nuns of the church saw a reporter coming to Los Angeles to investigate, they immediately surrounded them and complained to Collins about the atrocities committed by the American Army.

Pastor Wilkes of Los Angeles took Collins to a new public cemetery, pointing to the cemetery and the coffins and corpses piled up next to the cemetery to complain to Collins.

"Mr. Reporter, you must make their atrocities known to the world! A total of 345 innocent town residents were brutally murdered by them, and more than a hundred of them were still women and children who could not resist."

Sherman killed so many people that there were not enough coffins in the entire town of Los Angeles, and many corpses have not been buried yet.

No one would have thought that a small town with a population of just over [-] people would die more than [-] people in one month.

When the cholera was at its worst, no more than a dozen people died of cholera every day in Los Angeles.

"Yes! Yes! I will!"

Collins pressed the shutter with tears in his eyes and took more than a dozen photos of the cemetery in succession, ending with a few close-ups of the almost unidentifiable burnt bodies.

"You are Mr. Senator? Thank God, someone finally cares about Los Angeles."

"Sir, they have taken our brave mayor of Los Angeles!"

"All the food in my family was taken away by those villains! They didn't leave me a dime!"

"And my fishing boat! They conscripted my fishing boat, and my father was conscripted by them! Without the fishing boat, I can't go fishing! If I can't fish, I can't live! It's really sad."

"My family's house was burned down by those thugs, and now our whole family lives in a stable!"

"The food is gone. I haven't eaten a full meal for four days. I don't even have the strength to make a coffin!"

"My husband's leg was injured by them, and the wound has festered. The doctors in Los Angeles Town were also taken away by those thugs. I don't know what to do now."

In the square of Los Angeles Township, the surviving local residents complained tearfully about the atrocities committed by Sherman and others.

Their lives have been pushed to a desperate situation, and the arrival of Ge Wen made them see hope.

They also have the state government, and maybe the state government can help them through this.

Ge Wen took out his notebook and pen, and took notes seriously, he promised the residents of Los Angeles.

"As a Senator from the State of California, I will definitely bring you justice and give you justice.

I also understand your current difficulties. Los Angeles is a part of California, and the state government will not forget the suffering you have suffered. Deputy Governor Liang Yao and I have brought some food supplies to you for emergency.

In addition, we have brought some doctors to help you, of course, this is not all. "

This time, Gerwin didn't just make verbal promises to the people like he did when he was a congressman in Ohio, but provided real help to the poor Los Angeles residents.

"Oh my God, is that too good?"

"Thank you to the state government, thank you Councilor Ge Wen! Thank you Deputy Governor Liang!"

"Will the state government help us in the future?"

The residents cast expectant glances at Ge Wen and asked eagerly.

"Of course! After defeating the enemy, the state government will help you rebuild your homes. Governor Robinson and the others are already raising supplies for you. The follow-up aid will continue to arrive in Los Angeles. Not only will Los Angeles be rebuilt, but it will also be more prosperous than before! "

Ge Wen said with certainty that although the California state government has only been established for less than three months, Ge Wen feels that this young state government is far more accomplished than the state government of his hometown, Ohio.

"Now everyone line up, register here and receive the supplies you need."

After speaking, Ge Wen put away his pen and notebook.

After distributing these materials, he still has to go to Washington, and there are more important things waiting for him to do.

News of Sherman's massacre of the people of Los Angeles reached Texas first, and then quickly spread to the eastern states through a telegraph from the Houston Telegraph Office.

The whole of the United States was in an uproar, and angry crowds once again took to the streets.

This time, they were not just protesting. The marching crowd even gathered in Washington, DC, and attacked Capitol Hill.

In order to maintain order and protect the safety of Congress and the government, Washington, D.C. mobilized all security forces in the D.C. to Capitol Hill to prevent further expansion of the situation.

Gold prospectors who once boarded ships to California with shovels and gold pans now boarded ships with rifles and even cannons, claiming to go to California to fight with Californians and support Californians in defending their freedom.

The New York state government was extremely nervous about this, and the local state legislature put pressure on the state government to block the ports of New York State and prevent these crazy people from going to California.

But New York State can only blockade the state's ports, and these volunteers who threatened to support California did not give up their plans to go to California.

They gathered together and left New York State, went to New Haven and New London, Connecticut next door, and boarded a ship bound for California.

Not long after the news of the Los Angeles massacre came the news that Colonel Mason had been taken prisoner and half his regiment had been wiped out at San Francisco.

The news came on the day of Christmas, and people took to the streets to celebrate.

But they are not celebrating the grand festival of Christmas, but celebrating the defeat of the American Army.

For the first time in American history, the American people celebrated the defeat of the American army.

Members of Congress were shocked to learn that Colonel Mason's troops had been wiped out, and that Colonel Mason himself had been taken prisoner.

They still underestimated the military strength of California, and the senators of New York State are discussing the proposal to send more troops to California.

This time, many congressmen shook their heads and did not approve of sending more troops to California.

Colonel Mason's infantry regiment was already a relatively elite infantry regiment in the American Army, and it was wiped out in less than a day.

It can be seen that California is not easy to mess with.

Besides, California is not the only place in the United States that needs troops right now.

The border issue between the United States and Canada has not been perfectly resolved, and troops need to be stationed in conflict areas.

The new settlements in the Midwest required the garrison to encircle and suppress the Indians to ensure the safety of the immigrants and ensure the development of the hinterland of the Midwest.

There is also the issue of Texas increasing its troops to New Mexico. To force the Texans to retreat from New Mexico, the federal government must have a relatively large army in order to maintain a deterrent to Texas.

The U.S. Army now has only [-] infantry regiments except the California Infantry and the Texas Infantry.

Of course, if the regular army is not enough, they can also consider recruiting militia and volunteers to fight.

It's just that this time it's different from the US-Mexico War. In the US-Mexico War, everyone is fighting for the country and occupying more territories.

Therefore, the states and the people of the states will unite and respond to the government's call to fight for the country.

California is different from Mexico. She is now a state in the United States, and public opinion is now overwhelmingly on the side of California.

Many sane lawmakers were not optimistic about calling up militia and volunteer troops to fight in California.

Secretary of War Conrad solemnly stated to Congress that the War Department opposed the Civil War and would no longer consider sending any troops to California.

That's what President Fillmore meant.

(End of this chapter)