America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Washington, D.C. is sunny and very beautiful with green grass.

President McKinley is coming out of the White House, preparing to attend a seminar on military reform.

He glanced at the sky.

Clear skies.

Mr. President instantly felt refreshed.

"Aha, what a nice day!"

The carriage had already stopped at the gate of the White House, waiting for him.

McKinley straightened his clothes, walked down the steps, and walked towards the carriage.

But just as he was about to board the carriage, his assistant suddenly walked over with a large envelope.

"Mr. President, this is for you." The assistant handed the envelope to the President.

"Who sent it?" McKinley asked, turning his head.

The assistant shook his head.

"I don't know. There's nothing signed on the envelope, sir."

McKinley had one foot in the carriage.

He suddenly wanted to laugh for no reason.

"Mike, as my assistant, you should know that there are hundreds of letters sent to me every day, and there are many psychopaths and extremists in them. How did you pick out an anonymous letter from so many letters? What about mine?"

The assistant named Mike didn't speak, just turned the envelope over.

The envelope was sealed with wax, and the McKinley stamp on it looked familiar.

Compasses and squares.

Masonic badge.

McKinley took the envelope and the letter opener from his assistant, looked around, and stooped into the carriage with the envelope.

In the carriage, McKinley opened the envelope.

A note floated from the envelope and landed at McKinley's feet.

McKinley bent down, picked up the note, and unfolded it.

Inked on it were the words:

Chen Jianqiu has occupied the port of Guantanamo and is transforming it.

The president frowned.

Guantanamo port?What does Chen Jianqiu want that place for?

That port has no advantage as a commercial port, because Cuba behind it is now poor and white, and if shipments are needed, the port of Havana in the north is even better in terms of geography and terrain.

But Guantanamo Bay is a nice haven.

It has a natural barrier between the inner and outer bays, and Kaimanera City is like a lock that can lock the enemy out.

In the previous war with the Spaniards, if it wasn't for Chen Jianqiu who took the lead in capturing the non-urban areas in southern Cuba, and surrounded the city of Caimanera at the fastest speed with absolute strength.

In addition, Roberto persuaded and the Spanish fleet was too hip.

It is hard to say whether the US fleet can enter the inner bay.

Therefore, Guantanamo is an excellent military port.

What?naval port?

Thinking of this, McKinley was suddenly taken aback by himself.

Chen Jianqiu took advantage of the fact that Cuba's own government had not yet been formed to occupy a military port, and it was still being remodeled. What does this mean?
He touched the envelope and found that there was still something inside.

The President poured out the contents of the envelope.

It's a stack of black and white photos, a bit blurry, but workers can be vaguely seen transforming the port.

McKinley silently stuffed the photo and the note into the envelope.
The carriage swayed along the way, and his heart also swayed.

From the first time he got in touch with Chen Jianqiu, McKinley felt that this person was very capable, and he could even be called turning his hands into clouds and turning his hands into rain in the southwest region.

I was able to ascend to the throne of the president, and I got his great help.

But this is also what makes McKinley afraid.

If this person is purely for his own power and wealth, then it is actually not scary.

But he didn't.

McKinley deeply understood that Chen Jianqiu was not easy to dismiss.

He wants to repeal the Huapai Act himself.

This request itself is not too much, because the status of the Chinese in the United States is no longer what it used to be.

Because of this, McKinley is now in deep worry.

After driving for a while, the carriage stopped.

"Mr. President, the Quartermaster Building has arrived." The coachman's voice came from outside.

McKinley recovered from the thought.

He resealed the envelope and stuffed it into his clothes.

As if nothing had happened, the President got out of the carriage and walked into the Quartermaster Building.

Unlike Chen Jianqiu, a frequent visitor here, McKinley seldom comes here.

Under normal circumstances, the Secretary of War would report the results of their discussions to the President, and McKinley would just say yes or no.

But regarding the military reform meeting, McKinley expressed the hope that he could participate in the whole process.

The President, without any entourage, went up to the third floor and walked into the conference room.

A group of soldiers in military uniforms sat in the conference room.

These people come from the internal agencies of the Ministry of the Army, such as the Administrative Bureau, the Technical Bureau, and the Supply Bureau, and they are all experienced military officers.

And their Minister of War, Root, was standing in front of him, whispering something to an officer.

McKinley went to the front row and sat down.

There's a vacant seat there just for him.

"Let's get started." Mr. President gestured to Root.

Assistants began distributing files to the crowd.

Root did not drag his feet, and began to talk about his military reform plan to everyone, including the president.

"Not long ago, we just went through a war."

"Although we won the war, the various problems exposed during the war are shocking."

"Our army is underprepared, trained poorly, the chain of command is disorganized, and there are serious problems with logistics, all of which are costing us more than we should have paid."

"After research and analysis, we believe that unclear rights and responsibilities are the main reason for these phenomena."

"On this point, I think we should learn from Germany and set up the General Staff and the Chief of Staff. The latter replaces the Commander-in-Chief and serves as the main military adviser to the President, exercising the Secretary of State's supervision over the military."

"The former develops the plan and ensures its implementation, providing support to the chief of staff."

McKinley rested his chin on his hand and waited quietly for Root to finish speaking. After thinking for a while, he asked:
"Then where are these staff members selected from?"

"I think these people should be experienced front-line military officers. Professionals do professional things. Only they understand the situation faced by the front-line troops best, and only they can make the most reliable plans."

McKinley nodded, motioning for Root to continue.

"Second, in order to cope with the current and future international situation, we need more troops to consolidate the interests of the United States overseas. Therefore, we propose to increase the number of conventional troops."

After listening to Root's words, the officers below all became excited.

The larger size of the federal army means more officers, which is good news for them.

But McKinley's expression remained calm:
"Then what is the army's current plan for the selection of the regular army?"

"At present, priority is given to retaining those units that performed well in the Spanish-American War, such as the Second Independent Cavalry Brigade that was integrated from the First and Second Volunteer Cavalry Brigades." Root replied, "They are currently stationed in Cuba."

"We propose to keep two to three standing divisions for training and exercises."

McKinley was lost in thought again.

If Root's plan is followed, at least 1 of the next [-] to [-] regular troops in the United States will be Chinese soldiers.

Didn't the War Department see the problem?
But Mr. President, as a qualified politician, did not ask sharp questions immediately, but waited until Root finished his plan.

Experience and intuition told him that this plan would be difficult to pass in Congress.

"Mr. President, do you have any other opinions on the military reform plan?" Root asked the President for his opinion with great respect.

The President shook his head:

"Very good, let's communicate with Congress."

After the meeting, McKinley walked out the door.

Instead of going downstairs, he went straight upstairs to the Admiralty.

The Secretary of the Navy's office was still closed, and the sick leave card was hung up, so the President walked to the office of the Deputy Secretary.

Of course, all the officers of the navy knew the President, and they all greeted him.

Since McKinley was elected, he has always given people a feeling of spring breeze.

But today his smile seemed a bit hasty.

Not long after, he came to the door of the deputy minister's office.

The door was left open, and McKinley walked right in.

The replacement for Theodore Roosevelt as Undersecretary of the Navy was a middle-aged officer, also with a moustache, named Brandon Miller.

This person studied under Mahan and served as the deputy commander of the North Pacific Fleet. It can even be said that he was from the same division as Roosevelt.

The evaluation of him in the naval industry is that his ability is indeed not comparable to that of Roosevelt, but he is quite diligent.

When McKinley walked into the office, Minister Miller was writing hard, revising the plan for the second half of the year.

Hearing someone coming in, he raised his head, seeing that it was the president, he stood up immediately.

Although not nominated by McKinley, he agreed and approved.

It cannot be denied that Miller was a member of the cabinet government, subordinate to the president.

In theory, he was also McKinley's man.

"President McKinley, why are you here?" Miller asked.

McKinley didn't answer, but closed the door to his office.

He walked to Miller's desk and asked in a low voice:

"Do you know the news that Guantanamo Bay has been occupied?"

When Miller heard this, his expression became a little weird.

He opened his mouth, but he didn't seem to organize his words well, so he closed it again.

Seeing this, McKinley took out the envelope from his clothes and pushed it from the table in front of Miller.

The stamped wax seal on the envelope had been torn off by the president, but Miller didn't pay much attention to this detail, and took out the contents of the envelope directly.

After he glanced at it twice, he actually looked happy, and said to himself:
"I didn't expect to move so fast!"

"What did you say?" McKinley didn't catch it.

"Oh, Mr. President, forgive me for not understanding what you meant at first." Miller let out a long sigh of relief, "I thought the Spaniards were calling back again."

Mr. President almost couldn't hold back.

"It seems that you know about this matter, don't you want to explain it?" He stared at the Deputy Minister of the Navy.

However, Miller looked disapproving:

"Mr. President, Mr. Chen is not occupying the port, but is doing the port renovation of Guantanamo Bay. The Ministry of the Navy has signed a contract with him. It will be used as the naval port of the Atlantic Fleet."

"Subsequent ship repair work, port logistics, transportation, etc. will all be contracted by him."

"What? Don't you guys bid for this kind of thing?" McKinley asked with suppressed anger.

Miller shrugged:

"Currently in Cuba, apart from Mr. Chen, we can't find another K[-] with this capability. How can we bid, not to mention that he still has so many labors, and we can guarantee both the construction period and quality when entrusted to him."

McKinley was unable to refute for a while.

Yes, in Cuba, there is no one who can take over this project.

The maintenance, logistics and so on in the back are considered as bonus.

He could only walk out of the office without saying a word.

When the president returned to the second floor, he happened to meet Root who was handling the matter.

"Mr. President, did you come alone? Do you want me to find a car to take you?"

He pointed to a four-wheeled vehicle parked in the backyard of the Quartermaster Building. It looked a bit like a carriage, but the wheels were fitted with rubber pneumatic tires.

"Fresh goods. The War Department has just purchased two cars. They are much more comfortable than horse-drawn carriages."

"Car?" The president was a little puzzled.

He had heard that Germany had such a thing, but the car outside the window obviously couldn't have come from Germany.

The worry in the president's mind deepened.

"Yes, I heard that the two models we got are already improved models. They are now faster than horse-drawn carriages and have a shock-absorbing design," Root said.

"Which company produced it?" McKinley asked eagerly.

"Well, Ford Company, yes, it's called Ford Company." After thinking for a while, Root replied.

McKinley breathed a sigh of relief.

Oh my god, there seems to be something in the army that wasn't produced by Chen Jianqiu.