Wild North America 1846

Chapter 178 Northern Border Barrier Omaha

In order to develop the economy in an all-round way, Li Cha is holding back a murderous move, which is to develop rich oil resources.

throughout North America

The provinces of California, New Mexico, and North Dakota within the territory of the Datang Kingdom are all rich in oil resources, and Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, and Pennsylvania in the United States also have rich oil resources.

From this point of view
Most of the territory of Datang Kingdom and the United States with rich oil resources comes from Mexico. Does this count as luck to plunder the Mexican country?
Human beings have used oil for a long time. As early as 1832, the Russian Vasily brothers established the world's first oil refinery.

In 1838, the Baku refinery successfully separated heavy oil and light oil by using distillation technology, and obtained petrochemical products such as naphtha and kerosene.

In 1845, France established its first oil refinery.

Just last year, in 1848, Britain also established its first oil refinery, and actively improved the distillation reactor in anticipation of getting more petroleum products.

Naturally, Richard is not far behind. He has sent three geological exploration teams successively to carry out extensive geological exploration in California, southern New Mexico, and northwestern North Dakota. 1st oil field.

California is also a place rich in oil resources. In the past, the world-famous Chevron Oil Company was located here, which is a typical case of developing into a giant by virtue of local oil resources.

The demand for petroleum products in today's world society is not large, mainly in the field of kerosene lighting, but this is an emerging industry that is developing rapidly at a geometric fission speed, and contains a potential market of tens of billions of dollars. How can Datang Kingdom be absent?

As an example only;
In the late Qing Dynasty, starting from the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867), foreign oil entered the Chinese market for the first time. The record of importing foreign oil was kerosene, about 107 tons, and it was mainly used for lighting.

In an era without electricity, oil lamps are an irreplaceable need for people's lives.

In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), the late Qing government imported 24 tons of foreign oil annually, and the scale of imports expanded rapidly by 2380 times.

The products have developed from importing kerosene at the beginning to importing kerosene, gasoline, lubricating oil and other petroleum products, which consume at least 800 million taels of silver from the treasury of the Qing government every year.

By 1923, the national government imported "foreign oil" as high as 76.7 tons, consuming more than 5800 million taels of silver from the treasury...

At night, a kerosene lamp is lit, and with the help of the weak and warm light, women mend clothes, children read around the lamp, and men talk about the family's shortcomings. This is the profile of the warm life of ordinary families and the simplest needs.

If such a simple demand is enlarged to a huge population size, then it is an unparalleled big market.

Compared with Huaxia Shenzhou, Li Cha pays more attention to the vast and unlimited European market. As an oil-poor area recognized by the world, selling kerosene, naphtha, and lubricating oil to European countries is simply an unimpeded task. profiteering business.

Its market potential, scale, and strong growth rate are enough to make Li Cha envious. It is far better than the gold mining industry that currently accounts for half of the economic output of the Tang Kingdom, and it is enough to support the rapid development of the industrial field of the Tang Kingdom for 100 years.

Affected by three consecutive years of war, Datang Kingdom's finances were not well-off. Although there were a large amount of war seizures and assistance from European countries such as the United Kingdom, the three-year war expenditure still reached a huge 8700 million Tang Yuan.

Relying on the huge output of the American River Gold Mine, the Datang Kingdom managed to achieve a financial balance with a slight excess. The overall debt did not exceed 460 million pounds, totaling about 2300 million Tang yuan.

There is also a large expenditure in the kingdom's finances, which is to pay the US$1500 million land purchase fee. This part of the fund is paid in seven years, with a total of about US$2140 million including principal and interest, with an annual average of more than US$300 million.

Fortunately, the war is finally over, and we can take a big breath.

this year and next year
The Datang Kingdom plans to retire 2.2 cavalry and reduce the size of the army. The cavalry will maintain a large number of new blood at 1.6, and the Musketeers will maintain more than 9000. In addition to coastal fortresses across the country, the total size of the army will remain at 3. people around.

Nearly half of the officers in the army will face retirement, go home to run their own ranches or plantations, and enjoy a peaceful life without war.

The Tang Kingdom has a professional sergeant team, especially cavalry and artillery, all of which are composed of professional soldiers with rich combat experience, firm will, and strong military qualities. The total number is about 1300. This part won't cut one person.

peacetime
These professional sergeants will enter the military academy for training one after another. After returning, they will take over the functions of some grassroots officers, be responsible for military training and small-scale operations, and accumulate more combat experience through bandit suppression operations.

The size of the navy has increased slightly, from more than 1300 to nearly 4000, which are mainly used for anti-piracy operations on Central American routes and maintaining Panama's overseas garrison and military presence in Central America.

through the above measures
Military spending will be cut by 82.7%, and more precious funds will be used for national economic construction and industrial development instead of being consumed in unnecessary wars.

Datang Kingdom's military layoff plan is based on the corresponding adjustments made by the US military. After the war, the US military also carried out substantial layoffs and retirements, and added some recruits to replace the old with the new.

After the reorganization of the U.S. Army, the total number of Army personnel has been reduced from 16.7 to 5.8, the total number of Navy personnel has been reduced from 13.2 to 5.5, and the total number of troops has remained at 11.3.

Especially in Fort Hugo, the western frontier of the United States, the U.S. military has always maintained a garrison size of more than 2, a reserve army of 1.2 in Kansas City, and a garrison of no less than 1.6 in Chicago. These are the three most important garrisons of the U.S. military Concentrated, accounting for more than 8% of the total strength of the US Federal Continental Army.

Corresponding
The Tang Kingdom maintains a garrison of no less than 1500 on the defense line of the Red Rock Valley, and maintains a musket force of 5 at the Phoenix Fortress, which is a key area for defense against the United States.

On the Colorado plateau, the Tang Kingdom has always maintained a cavalry force of more than 8000 people, and can mobilize more than 3 armed militias at any time, and its strength is not inferior to the opponent.

The villages, towns and ranches on the Colorado Plateau are almost all run by retired veterans. These people have a high degree of organizational discipline, have a strong sense of regional protection, and are loyal to the king and the army. They are an important force that cannot be ignored.

After many years of management by Richard, today’s Colorado Plateau is the base camp of the kingdom’s conservative forces. Emerging military aristocratic fiefdoms scattered in the six northern states, and plantations, farms, wineries and ranches run by retired soldiers have gradually formed a stable Chinese society. Fundamental strength is the basic disk of kingdom rule.

Although the war was over, the Tang Kingdom did not ignore its defense against the United States. The parapet defense line of the Red Rock Valley still existed, but 1.3 kilometers behind it, a tall and towering city wall was rising.

In the next ten years, the construction based on the defense of the Red Rock Valley Fortress will not stop.

The plan is to dig a large number of caves, build many military bastions, build a tall wall fortress defense line, and build a tall city wall that is more than ten kilometers long along the boundary line between the Gobi Desert and the desert, extending all the way to the Phoenix Fortress...

As long as the province of Colorado is firmly in hand to ensure safety, the safety of the vast areas of the six northern states can be guaranteed. The large cavalry swooping down from the plateau is a nightmare that the Yankees cannot resist at all.

The nearest city of the Tang Dynasty to the United States is Omaha, which belongs to the province of Nebraska. It is located on the Great Plains on the banks of the Missouri River. It is only 210 kilometers away from Des Moines County to the west, and about 830 kilometers away from Chicago. It is only 277 kilometers away from Kansas City, and it takes 7 hours by train, and one day and one night by fast horse.

Two railroad branches extending north from Phoenix (Denver), the Northwest Railroad Branch will pass through Wyoming and eventually reach Montana, linking vast expanses of barren boreal forests, meadows, and mountain lakes.

The Northeast Railroad Branch, as its name suggests, runs northeast from Phoenix (Denver), connecting first to Peel City in South Dakota, and then continuing north to the inland towns of North Dakota.

This Northeast Railway branch line in Nebraska will lead to a westbound railway line, connecting the towns of Luerni, Kearney, Lincoln and other towns along the way, and finally arriving in Omaha.

As a border city between the United States and Tang Dynasty, Omaha is also a steel nail deeply embedded in the northern plains of the United States. The construction work has been highly valued by Li Cha, who has personally reviewed the city's planning and overall layout. Special funds for construction.

Its role is to serve as the northern bridgehead of the Tang Kingdom.

Omaha mainly relies on the natural danger of the Missouri River to form a natural geographical boundary separating the United States and the Tang Kingdom, and guards by the river.

The Missouri River is one of the major rivers in the North American continent. It originates from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains near the Yellowstone region of Montana and is formed by the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers in southwestern Montana.

Its mainstream is 3725 kilometers long, and it is 4126 kilometers long from Red Rock Lake, the source of the Jefferson River.The Missouri River flows through seven states in the Midwest of North America, and is mainly located in the Tang Kingdom. It is the main boundary river between the Tang Kingdom and the United States.

From Sioux City in the Datang Kingdom to Omaha, the Missouri River has a total length of 2896 kilometers in the Datang Kingdom.If counting from Red Rock Lake, the river in the region has a total length of 3322 kilometers, which is not an exaggeration to be regarded as an inland river in the Tang Kingdom.

Continuing southward from Omaha, the river joins the Mississippi River 24 kilometers north of St. Louis, Missouri, which is about 729 kilometers from the lower Missouri River in the United States.

The name of the Missouri River comes from the Algonquin tribe of Native American Indians, which means "river of big canoes".The main tributaries are the Yellowstone River, Little Missouri River, White River, Platte River, and Kansas River, only the Kansas River is located in the United States.

In today's era of backward productivity development, the Missouri River, which acts as a geographical boundary, has become a bridgehead city on the northern border of the Tang Kingdom, and it seems logical to guard by the river.

The construction and development of the city of Omaha is not only the need for the long-term peaceful development of the Tang Kingdom, but also the construction of a majestic plain city, which has sufficient restraint and deterrent effect on the ambitious expansionists in the United States, is of great significance.

If it is small, it is the northern border barrier, and if it is large, it is related to the situation in North America as a whole, and it is related to the overall relationship between the United States and Tang Dynasty.

If you can't beat Omaha, then don't say anything.

Why is Omaha so important?

The Missouri River passes through 7 states, 5 of which are within the territory of the Tang Kingdom. Its hydrological characteristics are that the altitude difference in the basin is extremely different, and the water flow is so fast that it cannot be navigated.

From the source of the Rocky Mountains on the Continental Divide at an altitude of more than 4300 meters to the confluence of the Mississippi River at an altitude of more than 120 meters, the river, which is more than 3300 kilometers long, has a dramatic drop of 4200 meters in altitude.

This has resulted in turbulent water flow in the upper and middle reaches of the Missouri River, many canyon turns, waterfalls and dangerous banks emerge in endlessly, the scenery is too beautiful, and the natural landscape is very magnificent.

Peel City, the capital of Nanda Province, is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Missouri River. The water surface near it is extremely open, like an endless lake, which is a natural geographical boundary.

From Peel City to the south, the river gradually narrowed, forming a large river with a width of 110 to 160 meters. This is the geographical barrier between the border cities of Sioux City and Omaha.

Most of the water in the Missouri River comes from snowmelt and rainfall in the upper mountains, which causes the water volume to vary greatly;

The minimum flow rate is 120 cubic meters per second, the maximum flow rate is 25500 cubic meters per second, and the flow rate varies by more than 200 times.

Due to the huge difference in the amount of water in the river, a large number of slopes and banks are exposed during the dry season, but overflow everywhere during the wet season, making erosion and silting a major problem.

Every year after late autumn, the Missouri River enters a dry season, until the next March when the spring is warm and flowers bloom. The melting of ice and snow in the upstream area forms a large amount of upstream water, which rushes down with an unstoppable momentum.

Due to the low terrain, the US side has become an area flooded by the Missouri River, forming a large number of swamps and dots of lakes, which are the hardest hit by natural disasters.

Fortunately, because the northern states are sparsely populated and most of them are in the original ecological state, they have not had a significant impact on economic development for the time being.

It is the hydrological characteristics of the Missouri River that lead frontier cities like Omaha to rely on natural geographical conditions to guard against the river.

From October to February of the next year after spring and autumn, it is the time period for the defenders of Omaha to defend. During this period, the Missouri River enters a real dry season. The river narrows to the extreme, the water flow is gentle, and the water depth is shallow. War horses can swim across with supplies and personnel, and it is also a time period when the US military is easy to invade.

Conversely
This is the reason why Datang Kingdom's two battles on the northern front took place in the harsh winter season, and they invaded the inland of the United States on a large scale.

In other time periods, it is much more troublesome to cross the natural geographical barrier of the Missouri River.

Looking back to June 1848, the US-Tang War reached its climax, and the Northern Cavalry Corps directly abandoned Peel City in order to respond to the Colorado Plateau's homeland defense operations.

Using the hundreds of wooden boats prepared earlier to transport the cavalry and a large amount of combat supplies one after another, it took a week for all the members to reach the other side of the river, and a large circle of more than 700 kilometers was used to avoid swamps and lake-intensive areas. Go south smoothly.

(End of this chapter)