1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 714 Make a fortune

August 1861, 8, was a sunny day.

In the Fedlin Manor on the outskirts of Omaha, the scorching sunlight shines through the window lattices onto the cedar floor, and the air is filled with the smell of dry earth.

McClellan, commander-in-chief of the Omaha Corps of the Northern Union Army, dressed in a neat blue general's uniform and an Arkansas toothpick saber inlaid with ivory, sat in a trance on the right side of a long walnut table.

In the middle of the long table, the White Star Flag and the American Stripes were planted on the left and right.

Sitting opposite McClellan were the Western Army generals headed by Liang Yao, Kruger, Elvis, and Sutter.

The generals of the Western Army all wore gray-green general uniforms. Liang Yao's general uniform was the most exquisite, but he did not wear any insignia symbolizing his military rank.

Kruger, Elvis and Sutter wore general epaulettes with two yellow stars on their shoulders, which were the epaulettes of the rank of major general of the Western Army.

Below Sutter, the commanders of each militia brigade, headed by Strauss and Stanford, wore epaulettes with a star on their shoulders, representing their rank of brigadier general.

All the positions and strongholds on the outskirts of Omaha had been occupied by the Western Army, and the Omaha deep defense system that McClellan had painstakingly built also collapsed.

After the railroad to Des Moines and the Missouri River waterway to Kansas City were cut off, the city of Omaha was completely cut off from the outside world.

The Western Army's artillery, rockets, and even machine guns could easily penetrate the city of Omaha and cover most of the city.

Omaha is now an isolated city, an absolute dead end in military terms.

The federal troops in the city received nothing but death and fear every day.

McClellan had no choice but to surrender and buy a way out for the surviving soldiers of the Omaha Corps.

McClellan had a bitter look on his face. He lowered his head and read the surrender document written in both Chinese and English, his eyes flashing with unspeakable grief and helplessness.

This was not the ending he expected, but it was the cruel reality he had to accept.

After reading the surrender letter, McClellan's voice trembled: "The Omaha Corps can surrender, but your surrender requirements are too harsh, I cannot accept them.

We will give you all our weapons and supplies in Omaha. Please allow my soldiers to keep their horses so they can return home."

McClellan still wanted to fight for a more honorable surrender.

"General McClellan, don't you think your remarks are ridiculous? Doesn't surrender mean handing over all weapons? Do you want to surrender with your weapons?" Elvis found it a little funny. It seemed that this famous Union general lacked experience in surrender.

"As for letting your soldiers keep the horses as a means of returning home, that is nonsense. You are surrendering to us, and your government is still at war with us.

In the event of a war, there is only the exchange of prisoners, not the release of prisoners."

"We have your prisoners of war, and I can exchange them for the freedom of the officers of the Omaha Regiment."

When McClellan heard that prisoners of war could be exchanged, he rarely showed a glimmer of light.

Sartre couldn't help laughing. McClellan was so calculating that the abacus beads were about to fall on his face. "Since it's an exchange of prisoners, it should be an equal exchange. How can we exchange soldiers for officers?"

McClellan had 88 Western Army prisoners of war in his hands. Most of them were engineers and cavalrymen, mainly ordinary soldiers. The highest rank was only captain, and there was only one of them.

McClellan's idea of ​​using these 88 ordinary prisoners of war to exchange for the freedom of the Omaha Officers' Corps was too idealistic.

Furthermore, McClellan's ability to command large-scale military operations remains to be questioned, but he is indeed a good hand at training troops. Sending him back to the Northern Union directly would be tantamount to letting a tiger return to the mountains.

Before the ceasefire with the Northern Confederacy, Liang Yao would not consider letting McClellan go back.

"General McClellan, I have to remind you that you are not in a position to negotiate with me right now.

Either surrender unconditionally or go back and fight again!"

Liang Yao gradually lost patience with McClellan's bargaining.

McClellan and the senior officers of the Omaha Corps looked at each other, and after a while of whispering, McClellan had no choice but to sign his name on the surrender document.

When the last surrender document was signed, the voice of the Western Army Commander-in-Chief Kruger sounded again: "From today on, all resistance of the Omaha Corps will be terminated, and everything in Omaha will be taken over by the National Defense Army of the American Republic in the future."

That afternoon, the federal troops in Omaha surrendered their weapons one after another and walked dejectedly to the train station under the escort of Western Army soldiers.

Then they boarded the train and headed for the new accommodation prepared for them by the Western Army in Platte, Denver.

Because the city of Omaha was hit by many artillery shells and rockets, the federal troops in the city had lost the ability to organize. When the main force of the Western Army entered the city of Omaha, there were still more than 20 fires in the city that had not been extinguished.

The Western Army entering the city had to put out the fire first, giving priority to extinguishing the fire in the major warehouses in the city and rescuing supplies and personnel.

By noon the next day, thanks to the efforts of the Western Army officers and soldiers, all fires in Omaha had been put out.

By evening, the Omaha Army's quartermaster formally turned over all Union Army stores to the Western Army's quartermaster.

After reading the list of supplies submitted by the quartermaster, Ruger, who was always serious and liked to keep a straight face and maintain a serious image in front of his subordinates, couldn't help but grin and laugh.

Compared with the supplies seized in the battle of Kearny Fort Group, the supplies seized in the city of Omaha were really just a fraction.

No wonder McClellan chose to stay in Omaha and not leave, and didn't care about being called a coward.

The supplies stored in the major military warehouses in Omaha City are enough to supply the 70,000 troops of the Omaha Legion for half a year.

"President, we're rich! We're rich!"

Kruger excitedly found Liang Yao with the list of supplies and shared his joy with Liang Yao.

Liang Yao snatched the list of supplies from Kruger's arms and took a look at it, and he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

It has to be said that the Northern Federation still has a very solid financial foundation.

According to the rough count and summary by the quartermasters, the major military warehouses in Omaha have the following supplies.

Basic survival supplies:

Hard bread mixed with cornmeal: 168.64 pounds. (Bread mixed with cornmeal can prevent mold and extend its shelf life. According to the Field Ordinance of 1860 and the Field Ordinance of 1863, which was later adjusted according to actual conditions, this bread mixed with cornmeal is the most important staple food of the Northern Union Army.)

Refined flour: 15.27 bags, each weighing 100 pounds.

Corn flour: 3.18 bags.

Total dry beans: 459.76 pounds.

Coffee beans: 35.18 pounds

Sugarcane: 18.67 pounds.

Salt: 11.86 pounds.

Tobacco: 5.85 pounds.

Alcoholic beverages: Due to the wide variety and large quantity, statistics have not yet been completed.

Military equipment in stock:

Springfield Model 1842 rifle: 38510.

Standard ammunition for the Springfield rifle: 1565 million rounds.

Paper primers and detonators: 1868 million.

Bayonets: 85600.

6磅拿破仑炮：65门，对应弹药：实心弹12.14万发，霰弹6.76万发。    12磅拿破仑炮：24门，对应弹药：实心弹5.87万发，霰弹2.66万发。

12-pound Parrot guns: 12 guns, corresponding ammunition: 2.87 solid bullets and 8450 shotgun shells.

Sabres: 8650.

Clothing and camping supplies:

Woolen military uniforms: 11.54 sets.

Leather marching boots: 26.54 pairs.

Blankets: 9.58.

Type A waterproof canvas tents: 12452.

Transport and logistics supplies:

Four-wheeled freight wagons: 2450 (each with a load capacity of 1800 pounds).

Mules and horses: 24563.

Horseshoes: 89400 pairs

Railway flatbed wagons: 540.

Medical supplies:

Quinine powder: 2100 lbs.

Fu Shou Tincture: 3800 pints.

Morphine: 34500 ampoules.

Cotton Gauze Hemostatic Bandage: 426000 yards.

Amputation saws: 750.

Surgical instruments: 2512 sets.

Carbolic acid: 8400 gallons.

Medical stretchers: 1560.

Engineering materials:

Engineer shovel: 25600 pieces.

Caltrops: 840 tons.

Floating bridge components: 21 sets.

Black powder: 420 tons.

Seized equipment:

Rifles: 48601

Ammunition: 164.41 rounds.

6-pound Napoleon guns: 76.

12-pound Napoleon guns: 21.

6-pound Parrot guns: 16.

12-pound Parrot guns: 5.

"We have indeed made a fortune. With so many supplies, it would cost at least three million federal dollars to get them."

Looking at this long list, Liang Yao was overjoyed and couldn't stop smiling.

"The Lincoln administration invested heavily in Omaha."

The abundance of supplies stored in the military warehouses in Omaha shows the importance the Lincoln government attached to the city of Omaha.

In the federal government's strategic conception, the city of Omaha was the last chain that bound the Western Army from advancing eastward.

It's a pity that this chain has been broken by Liang Yao. From now on, whether he continues to move eastward, northward or southward, he can just enjoy the vast sea for fish to leap and the high sky for birds to fly.

After the destruction of the Omaha Army, there were still some federal troops and local militias in major cities across the Great Plains.

However, the remnants of the federal army hiding in major cities numbered from four to five thousand to a few hundred.

Their combat effectiveness could not be compared with that of the Omaha Corps, which had been carefully reorganized by McClellan. The remnants of these federal troops could hardly pose a substantial threat to the Western Army.

Unless Lincoln continues to send chips to the Great Plains and form an Omaha Army, the ownership of the Great Plains in the short term will no longer be in doubt.

This possibility is very small. Not to mention that Robert Lee has already arrived at the gates of Washington, the situation Lincoln has to face is much more dangerous than when he first ascended the presidency.

Just talking about the astronomical military expenditure and massive amount of supplies needed to build a large army, it would be difficult for the Lincoln government to raise them in a short period of time.

No matter how capable Salmon Chase is, he is still an excellent finance minister, not the God of Wealth.

The federal government has already lost the battle in the Great Plains region, and the biggest suspense next is how much territory Liang Yao can swallow up.

"There are still many capable people in the Lincoln government," Kruger said with emotion.

"Fillmore and Buchanan left Lincoln a mess of fiscal deficit. Despite losing the tariff revenue sources from the South and the West, the Lincoln government was able to mobilize and organize three corps in more than half a year and ensure the logistics and military supplies of the three corps. This was unimaginable during the Fillmore and Buchanan era."

Kruger had been in charge of Pratt for more than six years, and he could empathize with how difficult it was to support three large legions.

"The Secretary of the Treasury in the Lincoln government was Salmon Chase, and Chase was indeed good at raising money." Liang Yao nodded in affirmation.

To be honest, although the Northern Army fought miserably on both the eastern and western fronts, it had few achievements to show for itself.

However, the performance of the Lincoln administration was still remarkable and absolutely satisfactory.

There was indeed no shortage of capable people in the Lincoln administration's cabinet.

If the Fillmore administration during the Second Mexican-American War had had the organizational and mobilization capabilities of the Lincoln administration, he would have dared to conquer all of Mexico together with the Dixie guys in the South.

There were two main reasons for Lincoln's defeat.

One was that the Union generals were too tactful and conservative, and the Union Army fought hastily and was not well prepared.

The second reason is that Lincoln was too ambitious. Faced with the choice between the South and the West, Lincoln chose to have it all.

If the Lincoln government could have the heart to temporarily abandon one of the sides and mobilize resources to deal with the other side.

The West and the South are both struggling to hold out. The outcome is still uncertain.

Take the supplies in Omaha for example, which can only supply one corps of the Northern Union Army.

If placed in the South, it would be no problem to supply all the Confederate troops.

This is the gap in national strength between agricultural countries and industrial countries, between raw material exporting countries and manufacturing countries.

(End of this chapter)