Wild North America 1846

Chapter 167 You are so cute
The news of the disastrous defeat of the US Second Corps in the Red Rock Valley was sent back to the White House immediately. When President Polk received the news, he was completely dumbfounded. It's as ugly as a mother.

President Polk is an out-and-out fanatical expansionist. He firmly believes that the United States shoulders the sacred mission of unifying the North American continent, and is willing to dedicate everything to this end.

It was under the guidance of such a firm ideology that when he came to power, he started the US-Mexico-Tang War, burning the flames of war to the west and south of North America.

Half sea water, half flame.

The United States successfully advanced its war plan to invade Mexico in the south and obtained the spoils it wanted. It can be said that the US-Mexico War was perfect.

Looking back at the war between the United States and Tang Dynasty, this small country, which the United States looked down upon at the beginning, slapped the Yankees in the face time and time again, until the United States was bruised and swollen, and it was so painful...

Now, President Polk no longer fantasizes about the illusory goal of unifying western North America and completely destroying the Tang Kingdom, but is thinking about how to end the war with dignity and at a relatively low cost?
to be frank

The economy and society of the United States can no longer bear the consequences of the continuation of the war. The heavy war debts weigh heavily on federal government expenditures. The issue of sharing federal government expenditures has become one of the focuses of debate between the northern and southern states. Not only is it unwilling to bear huge war expenses, but its tendency to split is expanding day by day.

In a word, the coffin board was almost overwhelmed.

At present, the US federal debt burden has reached as high as 3.6 million US dollars, and the heavy loss of more than 2 people in the US Second Corps means tens of millions of US dollars in pension and disability expenses.

The loss of more than 180 artillery pieces, enough equipment to arm tens of thousands of people, the loss of countless logistical supplies, horses, carts, and the entire forward battalion are all money!

Tens of thousands of U.S. troops on the front line spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in war expenses every day, and the expenses will be multiplied several times in the outbreak of fierce battles. The price of militarism is the bottomless war swallowing gold beast.

With the current average annual national economy of US$10 billion, the United States simply cannot bear such a huge debt.

If the war ends today, the debt of the US federal government will exceed 4.5 million US dollars, which includes soldiers' pensions and disability payments, severance expenses, and so on.

If the war drags on, every additional month will increase the federal debt by 1500 to 2000 million US dollars, and this is still in the absence of major casualties.

Even if it is calculated at 4.5 million U.S. dollars, it will require 20 years of fiscal and taxation from the U.S. federal government, which is overdrafting the future.

President Polk had to admit that he lost the bet.

"Mr. President, I have also seen the latest battle report ahead. General Arthur did not bring the victory we expected. I suspect that God has no longer favored America, and we have become outcasts." White House Chief of Staff Harry Hoover pushed the door Walking in, he said with a heavy face.

President Polk sank in the chair, lifted his eyelids feebly to look at him, and said in a muffled voice;

"Now is an unprecedentedly difficult time for the American Union. I am not worried about the cavalry of the Tang Kingdom who are making trouble in the Great Lakes area, nor about the battle situation on the Colorado Plateau. What I am most worried about is that once the news of the defeat is made public, those southern reserves The slave states took the opportunity to cause trouble, and the federal government was in great danger of splitting up."

"Then you mean..."

"Immediately restart the negotiations on the peace treaty between the United States and Tang Dynasty in Ottawa. We are running out of time, and we must hold the lid of the pot that is about to explode. There is no shame in admitting defeat. After all, we have won Mexico."

"But... the lions of the Datang Kingdom opened their mouths and wanted to cut off the land of the six northwest states at once, which almost occupied a quarter of the territory of the federal government. Now they have suffered a new defeat. I don't know if their appetite will be Further expansion? God, the unimaginable greed of that mad king."

"Then we have to talk about it. Isn't the lesson from ancient and modern China and foreign countries not profound? It is a principle to fight against the outside world first. As long as the American Federation can fight against the enemy, we are not afraid of the prosperity of the Datang Kingdom. It is a pity... inside the federal government Torn apart, wanting to defeat a powerful enemy is powerless!"

"I understand, Mr. President, I will immediately urge the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send elite personnel to Ottawa to participate in the negotiation of the war treaty between the United States and Tang Dynasty."

"Also, suppress the news of the defeat for the time being, and communicate closely with the cabinet and party members first, and I will take the main responsibility for the defeat."

"Mr President……"

"That's it, Harry, I'm tired, close the door for me when I go out, I want to be alone."

"Oh, okay."

White House chief of staff Harry Hoover looked at the president with some concern, sighed secretly in his heart, turned around silently and walked out, closing the door tightly.

inside the oval office

President Polk sank deep into the chair, as if he had lost all his strength. The dreams that had supported him to walk tenaciously were completely shattered, leaving only a mess.

As the sixth president of the U.S. federal government, President Polk is a person with a high sense of responsibility and morality. He is also a great slave owner from the south, but sitting on the throne of the federal president, he strongly opposes the southern savings Separatist politics in slave states.

He's not going to pass the buck and pass the mess he made on to the next president.

Now is the time to consider the big decisions that end the war.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, the United States took the lead in making a request for peace talks. Based on the fact that the British always add insult to injury and the Tang Kingdom's unforgiving nature, it is almost doomed that the three northwestern states will be lost.

That is Montana, which ranks first in the territory of the US federal government, Wyoming, which ranks second, and Colorado, which ranks third. The total area of ​​these three states is 90 square kilometers.

If this condition of the Tang Kingdom is not met, there will be no way to talk about peace. This is almost a certainty.

It can be seen that Datang Kingdom has invested heavily in building cities on the Colorado plateau, reclaiming wasteland, building railways, roads and bridges, fully developing industry, agriculture and handicrafts, and striving to develop the local economy.

The fool also knows that this is not a temporary plan, but to occupy this territory for a long time.

Now that the war is defeated, what is there to say?
If it continues, the federal government of the United States will be torn apart. Once the Tang Dynasty joins forces with the slave-holding states in the south to split, the situation facing Washington will be even more severe and difficult.

If you are inferior to others, you must admit it, and you must stand at attention when you are beaten.

in this regard
President Polk's mentality is very correct. Now that Mexico has won the victory and ceded Texas, the northern Tijuana area and the Monterey area on the Gulf of Mexico, there are three more states in the United States, namely Texas Texas, Tijuana and Monterey.

Then if the war is lost, it is not unacceptable for the United States to cede some territories.

After all, the northwestern states of the United States have not been included in the federal system for a long time. Although they are large in area, they are located in high-latitude areas, covered with forests, mountains, and grasslands.

The biggest problem is;

The Datang Kingdom is not just Montana, Wyoming and Colorado can satisfy the appetite. After the victory of the Second Northern Front War, the arrogant Datang Kingdom is against North Dakota, South Dakota and Nelas California made territorial claims.

In other words, the Datang Kingdom has made territorial claims to the six northwestern states of the United States, and the focus of the issue is also here.

The result of the disastrous defeat in the Red Rock Valley is shocking. The American Federation must be gloomy, while the Datang Kingdom must be singing and dancing, celebrating the victory all night.

What President Polk is worried about now is that the ambitions of the Tang Dynasty will further expand, and it will make territorial claims against Minnesota and Iowa again, which will be bad.

In this case, no matter whether the United States is willing or not, it has to bite the bullet and fight this war with no hope of victory.

In the end, conflicts between the federal government broke out, and the northern and southern states were completely divided. The entire American Federation will be caught in the flames of an all-out war, and the enemy is likely to unite, which is extremely detrimental to the northern states.

If it develops to this point, the situation will be more than ten times worse than it is now, and it may be the end of the American Federation.

Thinking of this extremely frightening possibility, which has a high probability of happening, President Polk trembled with fear and could no longer control himself.

He no longer believed that the American general could bring him the desired victory, and the best result was to end all of this as soon as possible, even if he did not hesitate to cede the three northern states.

When necessary, one or two more Northwest states can be added.

But Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa must remain within the territory of the Commonwealth of America. This is President Polk's bottom line and must not be broken.

There was a deathly silence in the Oval Office. After an unknown amount of time, President Polk seemed to recover from his dead state. He took a deep breath, then sat up straight quickly, reached out and pressed the button on the desk. bell.

There were a few polite knocks on the door, and then the brass handle was turned, and a well-dressed white woman walked in and asked in a nice voice, "Mr. President, what are your orders?"

"Peggy, I need to see Admiral Taylor as soon as possible, please arrange it, thank you!"

"Oh...Okay, Mr. President, the staff office will arrange this meeting as soon as possible. Uh...Please allow me to say one more thing, your complexion is not very good, do you need me to bring you a cup of hot coffee?"

"Okay Paige, if it doesn't bother you."

"Wait a minute, coffee and snacks will be here soon, hope this makes you feel better."

"You're so sweet, Paige, if those damned soldiers are as caring as you are, I'll have nothing to worry about."

President Polk habitually took advantage of his words. Watching Peggy walk out with her fat butt twisted, she naturally felt a little better. What a strange psychological activity!
(End of this chapter)