Wild North America 1846

Chapter 550
The attack intensity of the Prussian army was getting higher and higher. The artillery bombardment and the infantry attack were carried out alternately. The city of Sedan was under the siege of the army.

around 3:00 pm

Under the full-scale attack of 20 enemy troops, the French army finally couldn't hold on, raised the white flag on the tower of Sedan, and surrendered to the Prussian army in embarrassment.

In this battle, the French army suffered nearly 4 casualties, and more than 2 people were captured. Most of the elite soldiers of the Chalons Army were lost in this battle. Marshal McMahon, the commander of the army, was also seriously injured.

On the morning of September 9, Napoleon III, as the monarch of the defeated country, met with German Prime Minister Bismarck, officially signed the instrument of surrender, and presented his sword.

after the battle of sedan

Napoleon III, the French Marshal and 39 generals and 10 soldiers were all captured by the Prussian army, and 650 cannons were also captured by the Prussian army.

On September 9, Napoleon III sent a telegram to Paris: "The army has been defeated, all officers and soldiers and myself have become prisoners."

At the moment when the entire Prussian army was reveling all night, Prime Minister Bismarck said to William I worriedly; "Your Majesty, our victory came so quickly, and this is not the most ideal state. I am worried that we will face a mess of anarchy." situation."

"You mean Paris?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I am worried that the Second Empire will cease to exist." After Prime Minister Bismarck finished speaking, his eyes collided with William I.

From the eyes of the other party, he could see that William I was also deeply worried about this matter, and he couldn't help sighing heavily.

What is this all about?

Not only did Napoleon III fuck up in France, he was rash in launching the war, and he also added a lot of trouble to the Kingdom of Prussia.

Everyone knows that the foundation of the Second French Empire is extremely shaky, and now that the French emperor is trapped in the Prussian soldier camp, the Second Empire he founded may collapse suddenly.

Sure enough, one day later, after the news of the capture of the French emperor reached Paris, a bloodless revolution broke out, which easily overthrew the French Second Empire and established a new French provisional government.

under these circumstances
Since the Second French Empire had been overthrown, it made no sense for the Kingdom of Prussia to continue to detain the French Emperor Napoleon III.He is but a loner, all glory has gone with the wind, and no Frenchman will listen to his orders anymore.

If such a hot potato is left in the hand, it is really not clear if something goes wrong.

After discussing with Prime Minister Bismarck, William I allowed Napoleon III to leave the barracks with his confidants and go into exile in England.

at the same time
The Kingdom of Prussian army set off again after a rest. The third main army and Metz's first and second armies began to march towards Paris, and the next step was to besiege Paris.

North America on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean
Imperial Capital Chang'an
Emperor Li Cha couldn't help laughing while holding the latest military bulletin from Europe in his hand. He was really in a good mood. The dramatic turn of the Franco-Prussian War was so interesting.

The surrender of Napoleon III was not the end of the war, but only the beginning...

From August 8, when the French army launched a tentative attack, to September 2, when Napoleon admitted defeat and handed over his sword, and officially signed the instrument of surrender, France lost for a whole month.

This month has changed like a lantern. The French government has collapsed for two terms, and the Second French Empire has also collapsed. A new national salvation government has been established, and the violent turmoil in various parts of France has just begun.

The emperor fled to England, and the French Empire lost...

Since the era of the Frankish Kingdom after the Western Roman Empire, there have been constant wars between the Gauls and the Germans, and wars are often waged between the two countries.

There is a war almost every ten years, and the hatred between them is very deep.

After France became the hegemon of Europe under the leadership of Napoleon, the contradiction between the two countries became more prominent. The Prussians continued to expand their military power, hoping to defeat France in one fell swoop one day.

How glorious the Kingdom of Prussia is today is how shameful France is.

Some angry French nationalists vented their anger on the French nobles and soldiers' families who participated in the war on the front line. In a few areas, French nobles and their families were dragged out to hang, hacked to death or bullied to death. Even Families of some soldiers were hard-pressed to escape.

The turbulent and burning national sentiment was high, and the stirred French society boiled up, as violent as a fire cooking oil.

Napoleon III sent a telegram to Paris on September 9, informing himself and the French army of the surrender. On September 3, the Regency Council was overthrown. Queen Eugenie was forced to leave Paris, which was like a volcanic eruption, and fled to the British Isles overnight.

Prussia, which won the war, seems not to have won again. The French Second Empire Emperor who just won has collapsed. The government no longer exists and has been replaced by a new provisional government. Only the occupation of Paris is the final solution.

Therefore, the army of the Kingdom of Prussia continued to march westward, occupying the Normandy area in the northwest by the way, and then a large number of merchant ships waiting here docked and began to unload a large amount of goods from the Tang Empire.

inspired by this
The Kingdom of Prussia has also increased the dumping of industrial products in the French market, taking advantage of the convenience of the occupying army to earn more wealth through economic means, and squeezed out many local factories in France. This is a later story.

The kerosene, diesel oil, lubricating oil, toffee, white sugar, canned meat and fruit, grain products and other materials exported by the Tang Empire closely cooperated with the industrial products dumped by the Kingdom of Prussia. These smuggled goods flooded France in a short period of time. In the market, earn a lot of money.

When Emperor Li Cha was happy, he asked court courtesans to play "Eighteen Beats of Hujia".

There are very few opportunities to see the old imperialist France deflated. This is the biggest melon.

This Franco-Prussian War

Britain blatantly stood on the side of the Kingdom of Prussia, which deeply damaged the fervent patriotism of the French.

From now on
Britain has indeed established a strong enemy for France on the European continent, achieved the strategic goal of "rebalancing European power", and lost its most powerful accomplice in colonizing the world, greatly reducing its overseas deterrence.

The Anglo-French coalition forces that frequently appeared during the reign of Napoleon III have since become a swan song.

The Tang Empire was keenly aware of this change, and the international pressure from Europe was reduced by half, and the burden on Emperor Richard's shoulders was suddenly relieved.

have to admit

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom and the Army of France are the strongest combination in the world today. When a British official with such confidence said: "The majesty of the British Empire cannot be challenged", the other party could feel the pressure like a mountain.

It is different now, the French are not playing, and the Prussians are not interested in affairs outside Europe.

The British diplomacy, which is alone, is not as strong as before. It is estimated that it can only intimidate small and weak countries, and it is difficult to affect world powers like the Tang Empire.

You can't have both fish and bear's paw!

Emperor Richard walked confidently to the large hand-painted map that was as tall as a person, and looked at the vast bright yellow territory of the empire with satisfaction. After pausing for a while in the Cuban area of ​​Central America, he continued to look at the distribution of power in South American countries.

on the map
South America presents an obvious pattern of three parts of the world. On the map of South America that looks like an ice cream bucket, the lower part of the ice cream bucket belongs to the Tang Empire. The bright yellow color is connected together, which is very spectacular.

And in the wider and fatter upper part of the ice cream bucket, it is the second part of the three-point world, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and dominated by the Brazilian Empire.

The country's politics and economy have been deeply infiltrated by the Tang Empire, and the pro-Tang political forces are unprecedentedly strong. The Brazilian Customs is in the hands of the capital of the Tang Empire as one of the collaterals for huge war compensation.

Through various South American unified market treaties, the Datang Empire has tightly bound the South American Andean Governor's Palace with Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil, and Chile and Bolivia have limited participation, forming a smooth South American market.

Some countries bordering the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea on the top of the ice cream bucket are the last piece of the puzzle.

This includes Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, French and British Guiana, Suriname, Cuba and other countries and regions, which are key areas for Datang Empire to implement its next strategy.

This area belongs to the birthplace and base camp of the traditional Aztec Empire. It has a relatively large population and a history of civilization development for thousands of years. After two or three hundred years of Spanish colonization, it has been deeply rooted. It has always held a relatively hostile and alienated attitude towards the Tang Empire.

Emperor Li Cha hugged his hands, and gently rubbed the hard stubble on his chin with his right hand. His eyes lingered on the maps of these South American countries, and a series of thoughts came and went in his mind.

As an emperor with a strong desire for control, he doesn't like different voices in South America, no matter which country it is, no matter what his background is?
Looking for an opportunity, it is appropriate to use force to repair one or two thorns.

Unconsciously

Emperor Li Cha became more and more accustomed to using force to solve problems, and he tasted the sweetness from it. The speed of subtly influencing the barbarians with virtue was too slow, and the effect was too poor. It was far from the immediate effect of the war of conquest.

A South American war was fought, and the two horses of Paraguay and Uruguay were recovered, and Brazil and Argentina, two relatively powerful South American countries, were conquered.

Through the binding of various treaties after the war, it is completely foreseeable that Brazil and Argentina will be persuaded by the powerful force of the Tang Empire, just like the North and South of the United States, and obediently become a part of the unified American market.

The thrill of conquering by force is extremely strong, and it is the method used by Emperor Li Cha. This is how the mighty power is achieved.

The Datang Empire dumped a large number of industrial and agricultural products in the north and south of the United States, and the suppressed factory owners in the United States of America went bankrupt one after another. It is a clear example that they have not developed a decent-scale industry for more than 10 years after the war.

The germination of the industrial development of the Confederate States of America was cut off, and now the economic structure is dominated by slave plantations, which provide raw materials for the textile factories of the Tang Empire, and are also dumping grounds for industrial and agricultural products.

The same will be true for Brazil and Argentina in the future. In the environment of a unified market in the Americas, they only need to accept the massive dumping of industrial and agricultural products from the Datang Empire. There is no need to develop any independent industries. What do they need?
The strategic intention of Datang Empire to deepen cooperation in South America is very obvious;

It is to build the entire America into the backyard of the Datang Empire, a dumping ground for industrial and agricultural products, build a national power group headed by the Datang Empire, grant most-favored-nation treatment to American countries, and impose high tariffs on countries outside the region.

In this way, the Great American Market became the exclusive backyard of the Tang Empire.

Of course

This backyard cannot deny the entry of the British Empire's industrial products, which is the majesty of the world hegemony, but the industrial products of France and other European countries can only say sorry.

Fortunately, the Datang Empire is not afraid of fair competition for British industrial products. In areas where the British industry is strong, such as steam machinery, cotton textiles, steelmaking and shipbuilding, the industrial level of the Datang Empire is not far behind, or even surpassed, and it has seized a lot of market space. .

Compared with the traditional British industry, the industrial field of Datang Empire focuses on scientific and technological research and development, and focuses on technological iteration. In the fierce domestic market competition, a large number of competitive industrial enterprise groups have emerged, and the development speed is very fast.

Taking the cotton textile industry, a traditionally dominant industry in the UK, as an example,

The cotton textile industry is synonymous with British industry. In the first half of the 19th century, Britain sold cheap woven fabrics to the world with innovations such as the Jenny loom and hydraulic loom, accounting for more than 8% of the British industrial output value. .

The cotton trade has also become the largest trade in the world, amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

High-quality cotton from India, Egypt, and the southern United States is processed into cotton cloth by thousands of cotton mills in the UK, and then sold well in Europe and the world.

Cheap woven fabrics in the UK have greatly impacted the world cotton market, and even caused a large number of home textile workers in India and China, the birthplace of cotton, to lose their jobs. Hand-woven fabrics cannot compete with cheap machine-made fabrics.

In the early 19th century, there were more than 600 million textile workers in India. By 1850, only 280 million remained, by 1860, only 230 million, and by 1870, there were less than 200 million, showing a sharp decline.

The Manchu Qing Empire in East Asia was better. After all, it was not a complete colony like India, but a large amount of foreign cloth still hit the market, causing many handloom workers in coastal areas to lose their only livelihood, and their lives became more and more difficult.

The cotton textile industry of the Tang Empire is a rising star, growing in the 19s and rising in the 50s. It is especially famous in the world market for its continuous innovation and can compete with British cotton in all directions.

The textile industry of Datang Empire obtained textile jacquard technology from France through spies, and improved printing and dyeing technology and electric textile machinery technology with the world's leading chemical industry to produce textile products with new varieties, new patterns and extremely competitive prices, and large-scale It was sold back to Europe, sold well in Central America and Asia, and robbed many British cotton cloth markets.

In Nancashire, England, there are still thousands of enterprises using traditional water conservancy textile machines in Manchester. They are not aggressive in technological development, and they have gone bankrupt in the face of the more efficient and lower-cost textile competition of the Tang Empire.

In recent years
The proportion of the textile industry in the British industrial output value decreased rapidly, and one of the important reasons was facing the challenge of the textile industry of the Tang Empire.

(End of this chapter)