1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 729 A crushing defeat

Wisconsin Governor Windermere stayed at the telegraph office for a whole afternoon, and by evening he still had not received a reply from Illinois.

Although it was difficult to accept psychologically, Windermere had to admit that Illinois had responded to his telegram for help in another way.

Sometimes not replying is also a kind of reply.

"We are all Republicans! Why! Why! Ridgemont! I was wrong about you! You are a coward!"

Windermere, who was out of control, roared hysterically.

At this moment, Windermere felt that he had made the wrong friends and that Richmont was not worthy of being his friend.

Not all Republicans are as generous and helpful as he is.

The Republicans were not as united as he had imagined.

Windermere was one of the earliest Republicans. The emergence of the Republican Party made him believe that this party was the most superior political party in the United States and represented the future of the country.

Looking back at those unrealistic views in the past, Windermere felt that he was a joke.

Perhaps the Republican Party is the Democratic Party and the Whig Party in their youth, and there is no essential difference between the three.

"Alexander, hurry to the train station. According to the intelligence sent back by the reconnaissance team, the Western Militia is less than 15 miles away from Madison!"

Wisconsin Secretary of State Lucius Fairchild, who had packed his bags, rode to the telegraph office on a fast horse.

Lucius Fairchild was a military man with the rank of colonel, and was also in charge of military affairs in Wisconsin.

No one knew the military affairs of Wisconsin better than him. The half-regiment of militia in Madison, which had already been frightened by the Western Army, was simply unable to defend the capital Madison.

If they didn't want to be captured by the Western Army, they could only go east to Milwaukee on the shores of Lake Michigan and make their next plans.

Seeing that Windermere had not responded, Lucius Fairchild tried to persuade him: "Alexander, do you want to be the first governor to be captured by the western barbarians?"

"Let's go."

With a sigh, Windermere, feeling hopeless, followed Fairchild to the train station and boarded the last train to Milwaukee.

Shortly after Windermere and his party left Madison by train, the dusty but spirited team set fire and camped on the northwest shore of Lake Mendota.

In 1861, Madison was not as big as it is today. The main urban area was located between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. It was a city surrounded by lakes on both sides.

This group's camping site is only eight or nine kilometers away from Madison City.

What is interesting is that the two hundred or so people camping and resting on the northwest shore of Lake Mendota were not Western Army troops, they were not even militia, but a group of old immigrants.

Wisconsinites, including officers of the state troops, had little understanding of the specifics of the Western Army.

They subconsciously assumed that the Western Army's militia, like the Strawfoot Militia in Wisconsin, had no formal uniform.

Therefore, these old western immigrants who entered Wisconsin were mistaken by Wisconsinites as Western Army militia.

This is also why Windermere, Fairchild and others received intelligence that 70,000 to 80,000 Western Army troops had entered Wisconsin.

In fact, most of these 70,000 to 80,000 people are old immigrants, not military personnel.

The Western Army's militia wore the same uniform as the regular army, and was equipped with the same equipment and gear.

The nature of the Western Army militia is actually equivalent to the regular second-line troops of the Northern Federation, and is completely different from the militia of the Northern Federation that can be summoned and dismissed at will.

"Brother, I can't see through you any more. The other immigrants are busy harvesting wheat on both sides of the Wisconsin River, but you are selling all the harvesters that you brought here with great difficulty."

Zhang Siqi handed the perfectly grilled largemouth bass to Zhang Sixian and said with some concern.

"Are we being too reckless by running ahead of the army? Twenty miles ahead is the white state capital. What if we encounter white soldiers?"

These two hundred or so old immigrants were the immigrants from Chizhou Prefecture who spoke with an Anhui accent. They were led by the two brothers Zhang Sixian and Zhang Siqi.

"I'm looking forward to meeting the white soldiers." Zhang Sixian sprinkled a handful of pepper on the largemouth black bass and took a delicious bite. "This fish is really fresh. Wisconsin is really a place with abundant resources. It would be great if it could become a state under the rule of our republic."

The grilled fish they eat now is caught directly from the lake without even using a fishing net or fishing rod.

"Second brother, do you think we can defeat the white soldiers?"

An immigrant who was a small leader of the Chizhou militia came forward and asked curiously.

"Of course I can't beat him." Zhang Sixian told the truth.

"President Liang's soldiers are the best in the world. The white soldiers are no match for President Liang's soldiers, but they can easily deal with untrained civilians like us."

Although he was once the leader of the Chizhou militia, he also risked his life on the battlefield.

But the war on the battlefield in North America and the war in his hometown are two completely different wars with different technical levels. When Zhang Sixian was in Pratt, he observed the training of the local garrison. The Pratt garrison was the strongest soldier he had ever seen in his life, which left a very deep impression on him.

He knew very well how powerful these clansmen and old brothers in the militia were, and how big the gap was between them and the regular troops.

"Since you can't defeat them, why do you hope to meet the white soldiers?" The little leader who asked the question was even more confused.

"Seeing them run away with my own eyes actually made me feel at ease. It saved me from being shot by them after I entered the city."

"If they can beat us, why are they running away?"

"Have you ever heard of a fox taking advantage of a tiger's might?"

"Second brother, what you mean is that we are the fox in front of the tiger?" After hearing what his brother said, Zhang Siqi understood.

"Even if the white soldiers see us, they will be afraid of the regular army behind us, which is what my second brother calls the tiger, so they dare not fight us at all."

"You finally got the idea." Zhang Sixian nodded with satisfaction. "The white scouts found us this morning. If they had the guts to attack us, would we have been able to get here unhindered?"

"Second brother, I still don't understand, what's so good about Madison City? Is it worth taking such a risk?" Zhang Siqi asked.

"Machinery and equipment and opportunities." Zhang Sixian said without hesitation.

"Madison is the state capital, with more factories than all the towns and villages on both sides of the Wisconsin River combined, and the machinery in the factories is worth more than the wheat in the fields.

Furthermore, if we can get into Madison before the army, we can attract the attention of the chairman and make him remember our names.

The territory we have opened up this time is so large that someone has to take care of it. As for who will take care of it, isn't it just a matter of a word from the chairman of the Immigration Committee?

The chairman is very busy, and it is difficult to make him remember us."

After five years of hard work in the West, Zhang Sixian has sorted out the food chain in the West.

Unlike the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty had plenty of people but lacked land.

There is a lot of unowned land here, but what is lacking is people.

In the West, those who open mines make more money than those who farm, those who run factories make more money than those who simply open mines, and those who engage in petrochemicals make more money than those who run factories. Going further up, there are the people who deal in banking and finance in Kingsoft and Los Angeles' financial street.

Agricultural reclamation companies can certainly make money, but this requires actually reclaiming virgin land, which takes too long, the money comes too slowly, it's tiring, and it's hard to make it big.

Banking and finance are too profound for Zhang Sixian and he cannot understand them.

To enter the petrochemical industry, one needs a lot of capital and connections, and he is not qualified.

Within the scope of his knowledge and ability, the most profitable way he could reach was to set up a factory.

However, setting up a factory also requires capital.

The $100,000 he had saved could only afford to run a small factory.

Zhang Sixian was at the forefront of this adventure because he had his eyes on the machinery and equipment of several large flour mills in Madison.

The above principle for handling property in Wisconsin is first come, first served, whoever occupies it gets it.

That's why Zhang Sixian is so active.

As long as he occupied the flour mill in Madison City, he would have the right to operate the equipment in the flour mill.

By then, whether he sells the equipment to the government by weight or takes it back to Dingbian City to set up a factory, he and his brothers will be able to realize their dream of turning their lives around.

The next morning, it was just dawn.

The Zhang brothers hurriedly put out the campfire and pounced on the almost empty city of Madison like hungry wolves.

They came to Bagua City, which is actually the Wisconsin State Capitol, the most magnificent building in the state.

The Wisconsin State Capitol is located in the center of Madison. The state government offices are also located in the state capitol, which is the heart of the entire state of Wisconsin.

Madison's eight main roads are evenly distributed with the State Capitol as the origin, radiating outwards in the shape of a Bagua.

Therefore, Chinese people also like to call Madison the City of Gossip.

Zhang Sixian and his party accepted the surrender of the remaining administrative officer in a confused manner at the state capitol. More than 200 immigrants who had not received modern formal military training openly occupied the capital of a medium-sized state with a population of 800,000.

I wonder how the northern federal government would feel when it knew that the capital of a state was easily taken over by more than 200 immigrants?

In the evening, the Los Angeles Militia Brigade responsible for attacking Madison was surprised to see the White Star flag raised on the flagpole of the Wisconsin State Capitol.

They originally thought that it would take some effort to capture Madison, after all, it was the capital of a state, but they did not expect victory to come so easily.

Perhaps this is what it means to be defeated like a landslide.

(End of this chapter)