1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 655 Who is more reliable

"Yes, cotton." Davis continued to talk at the podium.

"Last year alone, we exported 12 billion pounds (about 615 tons) of raw cotton to Britain. Without our cotton, more than 000 cotton mills in Britain would not be able to operate, 2700 million mule machines and 3000 looms would become decorations, and more than 36 textile workers would be unemployed."

Davis had done some research. In 1860, more than 73% of Britain's raw cotton was imported from the American South. The second largest importer, India, the Queen's Pearl, contributed only 121 million pounds of raw cotton (about 500 tons) to the British Empire.

As one of the pillar industries of the British Empire, the cotton textile industry directly employed more than 600,000 workers in the British Empire alone. If the upstream and downstream related industries are included, it is no exaggeration to say that the cotton textile industry is the industry that provides food and clothing for millions of textile workers in the British Empire.

In 1860, the British Empire exported 3.18 million yards of cotton cloth and 11200 tons of twisted thread and yarn. The total export value set a record of 3600 million pounds.

Whether it is for the sake of maintaining domestic stability or the millions of pounds of tariff revenue, the British, who value money more than anything else, have no reason not to be concerned about their country, the world's largest cotton producing area.

Unless the British disregard the lives of hundreds of millions of farmers in British India and allow the old Indian farmers to complete the great task of replacing rice with cotton and grow 60 tons of cotton for the British Empire within one or two years.

Obviously, this is impossible to do.

This is the confidence of Davis and others. They firmly believe that European trading partners will intervene in the situation in North America.

Davis, with a surge of emotion, raised the Python Plan on the podium high up, and then threw it hard on the ground: "So this bullshit Python Plan of the Yankees is a joke! Even if they illegally detain our envoys sent to Europe, those Europeans will rush to our door when their cotton stocks run out!"

Davis's remarks elicited bursts of laughter from the Southern congressmen, and the meeting ended happily with the Southern congressmen mocking Scott's recklessness and Lincoln's lack of wisdom.

"Mr. President, urgent telegram." The meeting had just ended, and Robert Lee, who had been waiting outside the Congress for a long time, hurriedly found Davis who was still eager to meet him. "Liang Yao has arrived in North Platte. They will launch a military operation against the Northern Army within a week."

"Oh?" Davis, full of suspicion, took the message from Robert Lee. After reading it carefully, he still looked undecided. "Could he be trying to instigate a decisive battle between us and the Northern Army?"

Davis was well aware that a war between the North and the South was inevitable. In addition to actively contacting European countries across the Atlantic, Davis was also actively preparing for war.

But Davis still had his own little plan in mind, which was to hope that the Western Army and the Northern Army would engage in a battle on the Western Front to disperse the military strength of the Northern Confederation and create opportunities for them to go north and defeat the Northern Confederation.

"The situation in Richmond is getting worse. Whether Liang Yao is just putting on a show or really wants to take action against the federal troops in Fort Kearny and Omaha, we should send troops as soon as possible to eliminate the Northern Army less than 30 miles away from Richmond." Robert Lee said to Davis.

"Instead of pinning our hopes on European countries across the ocean, we should work together with the American Republic on the North American continent to squeeze the strategic space of the Northern Federation from the south and west, forcing the North to recognize the fait accompli of our independence and end the war as soon as possible."

Robert Lee believed that Davis had too high expectations for the so-called European allies, which were even a bit unrealistic. After all, no European country had yet made a clear statement of support for the Confederacy. Compared with the European countries across the ocean, Robert Lee believed that the American Republic on the North American continent was a more reliable and more worthy strategic partner.

Although Sacramento has not yet clearly expressed its willingness to form an alliance with them, the American Republic is still the only country that provides them with arms stably. Therefore, Robert Lee believes that making friends with the American Republic and cooperating in combat is a more practical option.

Robert Lee advocated sending troops as soon as possible for both public and private considerations. Publicly, he hoped to attack before the first batch of mobilized troops of the Northern Army had completed their preparations, in order to inflict maximum damage to the Northern Army.

Personally, he hoped to move the battle line northward so that his hometown of Virginia would be less affected by the war than usual.

Robert Lee had read the military survey report on the Crimean battlefield submitted to him by McClellan and others, and he also knew the destructive power of today's guns and artillery. He did not want Virginia to become the next Crimea, and he did not want Richmond to become the next Sevastopol.

"What if this is just smoke screen released by Liang Yao? Have you considered the consequences?" Davis was quite dissatisfied with Robert Lee's advice. Compared with the American Republic, which had just gained independence from the United States, Davis had higher expectations for his European partners.

"Since Liang Yao said that he would take military action against the Yankees within a week, then we will wait and see. We will wait for him for a week."

Davis was not an uninformed person. On the contrary, before he became president, Davis paid more attention to information about the West. However, Davis had learned about the West through newspapers and at most some photos. He had never been to the West in person.

Davis believed that although the West had made great progress in the past twelve years, its development time was still very limited and its strength was simply not enough to compete with the Northern Federation.

Furthermore, Davis himself was a military man. The foundation of the West was on the West Coast, while Liang Yao was going to deploy troops in the central frontier region, thousands of miles apart. It was much more difficult to deploy troops on a large scale thousands of miles away from the rear base than when the Confederate Army crossed mountains and ridges to capture California and Oregon during the Mexican-American War.

Therefore, when Davis saw Liang Yao's telegram about launching military action against the Northern Army, he was skeptical.

"Sir! A week is enough time for the Yankees to complete the reorganization of several militia regiments!" Robert Lee said anxiously when he saw Davis' attitude. "The sooner we send troops, the better it will be for us!"

Robert Lee was one of the few generals in the Confederate Army who had a relatively good understanding of the Southern, Northern, and Western Armies. He was well aware of the disparity in national strength between the North and the South. The longer the situation was delayed, the more unfavorable it would be for them. Therefore, Robert Lee hoped to send troops as soon as possible. As for the assistance from European countries, Robert Lee did not hold much hope.

Liang Yao was a man who was happy to expand his living space and had coveted the central frontier region for a long time. Robert Lee tended to believe that Liang Yao really wanted to use military force in the central frontier region, otherwise there would be no need for him to go to North Platte in person.

"Okay, Robert, go back and wait for news." Davis said impatiently.

(End of this chapter)