The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1895 The Road of Blood and Tears

To put it bluntly, strength is the foundation of confidence. Even Lincoln's eloquent words couldn't reverse the decline of the northern United States at that time.

The same thing happened when it came to dividing the pie; the land of Kansas was not given to the Yankees who lost the four northern states, but instead was allocated to Old Dixie.

Yankees (referring to the northern United States), old Dixie (referring to the southern United States).

The hardline stance of the U.S. federal government has naturally led to discontent among local residents, but this time the crackdown is far more intense than before.

The American troops, who had just withdrawn from the front lines, suffered a completely one-sided and overwhelming victory over the abolitionists in Kansas.

Coupled with the previous bloodshed, the US military showed no mercy at this point, leaving only devastation in the wake of the bloody massacre.

The war with the British army greatly improved the military skills of the US military, but also made them more aggressive than ever before.

However, Oregon also holds extraordinary significance at this time as the only outlet to the Pacific Ocean for the United States, with its potential and influence far exceeding that of Kansas.

Nevertheless, the American South had little interest in Oregon, as their main trading partners were Europe, not Qing China.

On the other hand, politicians in the American South did not want the conflict between the North and South to escalate further, and they wanted to maintain their small family unless absolutely necessary.

Oregon also had to shoulder the military responsibility of confronting Britain and Austria on the border, and the American South had no desire to be associated with these two powerful adversaries.

However, this division of interests between the North and South was only the beginning of a bloody and tearful journey for Americans.

The U.S. federal army regrouped, this time not to fight the British, but to drive their unfit compatriots to the West Coast.

These millions of refugees will be sent to free states in the Midwest to fill vacancies, and they will make a huge contribution to the development of the American Midwest.

However, this great migration will also bring them the same blood and tears as the Native Americans of the past.
This time, the American South only lent a small number of troops and demanded that the North provide salaries and supplies.

Faced with this demand, Lincoln had no choice but to reluctantly comply, given the North's insufficient military strength at the time. If they didn't borrow troops from the South, they might not be able to maintain order.

In those days, the ideal way to travel from the East Coast to the Midwest was by train; however, the development of railways in the United States was hampered by the war.

At that time, the railway lines were not very well-developed, and the train capacity was extremely limited, especially for long-distance transport where multiple train transfers were required.

The journey of over a thousand kilometers would have taken a week even one way, given the speed of American trains at the time.

At that time, the highest train speed was in Britain, with an average speed of 55 kilometers per hour, followed closely by the Austrian Empire with an average speed of 50 kilometers per hour.

France has overtaken Austria and the UK on some lines by reverse engineering their technologies, but its overall technology still lags behind.

Britain, on the other hand, was engaged in a one-sided technological competition with the Austrian Empire, which resulted in very impressive data.

However, Franz had no interest in this, not because he was cowardly or did not value railway technology.

However, given the technological level at the time and the objective circumstances of the Austrian Empire, high-speed trains were not suitable.

Because the Austrian Empire developed its railways earlier, many of its railway technologies and designs were relatively outdated.

If high-speed trains are to be used, a complete overhaul is necessary. At the very least, the rails must be replaced with steel rails, and the trains themselves must also be reformed, including the braking system and the carriages.

This is undoubtedly a massive undertaking, with enormous costs and minimal improvements. Simply put, it's a losing proposition.

Moreover, the Austrian Empire itself had a very complex environment, with numerous mountains, rivers, canyons, basins, and fragile karst topography, making many lines simply unsuitable for high-speed trains.

Because the technology of high-speed trains is still immature, malfunctions and accidents occur frequently, and simply pursuing speed cannot bring about stable improvement.

Furthermore, a one-size-fits-all approach could easily lead to serious corruption incidents, so Franz plans to make changes gradually, at his own pace.

The situation in the United States is rather special. Due to Franz's successful operation (rebate system), they mainly received equipment that had been phased out by the Austrian Empire, so the speed was slower, with an average speed of only about 40 kilometers per hour.

The length of railways between the East and West often exceeds 1600 kilometers, and the distance from Baltimore in the East to Oregon exceeds 4000 kilometers.

However, the biggest problem lies in the transfer process and the business strategies left by the Vanderbilt family.

Why can't a journey that takes 1.6 days be completed in 7 days? The answer is: creating demand when there is none.
As long as this strategy and structure remain unchanged, even if all the cargo containers are converted into passenger carriages, only a few thousand people can be transported at a time, which is a drop in the ocean compared to the total number of millions.

What would it be like to crammed thousands of people onto a train?

The train station platform was packed with people. The refugees didn't even have a place to sit; they had to stand and huddle together like sardines.

A mother clutched her two children's hands in a panic, because she had already lost her two children and her husband; they were all missing and might never return.

Before dawn, only a few dim kerosene lamps emitted a faint light. Every so often, a soldier patrolled. Everyone was compressed into designated horizontal lines, truly like canned food.

As the train slowly pulled in with a long whistle, some unfortunate people were pushed off the platform.

People with nowhere to escape were instantly crushed, blood splattering everywhere, but the soldiers didn't care; they kept the crowd firmly within the horizontal line.

The officer took out a crumpled piece of paper and cleared his throat.

"Listen up, numbers 1-200, first carriage! Numbers 201-400, second carriage!"

A commotion immediately arose in the crowd. They had suffered a misfortune, but they were not naive.

"Sir, this carriage only has forty seats, how could it possibly accommodate two hundred people?"

The officer was getting impatient, but the freight manager next to him just smiled.

"Please rest assured, we have removed the seats, and there is definitely enough room for all two hundred people to stand! That's how we transported the last bus."
The customers are very satisfied.

The crowd stirred again, but a gunshot brought them back to calm.

"Enough talk! Get in the car! Those who can't make it will have to prepare to hike to Oregon!"

The restless crowd quieted down again, and people squeezed into the carriage one by one. The baby cried as it was squeezed, but the soldiers remained unmoved.

They are not here to help refugees; they are just here to maintain order.

The crowd pushed and cursed, but they couldn't stop, because the soldiers weren't as nice as they made them out to be. Even if they couldn't get on, they had to, because their job was to get everyone onto the vehicle.

Even if some people were squeezed until they vomited blood and were defecating and urinating, the soldiers didn't care. They were just mechanically carrying out orders, using their rifle butts to slam those who fell behind into the gate, and then locking the gate from the outside.

"Sir, mission accomplished!"

"Very good! Go back and rest first, then prepare for the next train in eight hours."

"Yes, sir."

The woman on the train was distraught, not because she had been crammed into a freight car filled with excrement and urine, but because her eldest son had been crammed into another car. The woman cried and struggled, but to no avail; she and her only child were crammed into the car that had previously carried only livestock.

But it was a blessing in disguise. It wasn't as crowded as the other carriages. Although the smell was bad, at least she had a place to sit down and cry.

There were no lights in the carriage, and then moonlight shone through the gaps in the wooden planks onto her face.

However, it wasn't just moonlight that shone through the crack; there was also a biting night wind. She held her youngest daughter tightly in her arms, murmuring softly.

"It will get better, it will get better."

The next day, as the sun rose, the temperature in the carriage was rising rapidly. The combined body heat of two hundred people, along with the blazing sunlight, made the entire carriage feel like a sauna.

Before long, people were covered in sweat, and the men began to take off their coats, some even going shirtless.

Women also had to unbutton their skirts to allow their bodies to have more contact with the air.

Even so, their clothes were constantly soaked with sweat, and everyone was panting heavily.

As the temperature rises, the feces that were originally scattered in the carriages begin to ferment, and the unbelievable stench constantly erodes their senses.

They had to drink a lot of water because they were sweating a lot, but the water they brought was quickly drunk up, even though each family member only took a sip, since they didn't know this would happen.

"water"

A man pleaded with difficulty, but no one answered him, because everyone was thirsty and they didn't know when the water supply would stop.

If they hand over the water they have, they may end up like that man.

Someone banged on the train carriage and shouted.

"Let me out! I want to go home! I want to go home!"

But there was no response; his lips were cracked, and his head was spinning. Finally, a burly man reached out and snatched the water jug ​​from a woman's arms, intending to drink it all in one gulp.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his arm. The woman had bitten the big man's arm tightly. Without the barrier of clothing, the force of her teeth was terrifying.

The burly man kicked the woman away, but a large chunk of flesh was torn from his own arm.

It wasn't over yet, or rather, it was just the beginning. No one stopped it; more people joined the fray in this dark, enclosed space.

Here, only the most primal human instinct exists—survival.

They will do anything to survive, and anything can be done to survive.

After an unknown amount of time, the train finally stopped jolting, and as the carriage doors were opened from the outside, several corpses rolled out.

The soldiers and staff outside seemed to be used to it; they casually piled the bodies onto the wagons and drove them away.

However, the foul-smelling gas that rushed in made them nauseous for quite some time.

The officer next to him covered his mouth and said to his nephew.

"See? These despicable and filthy people didn't deserve to live in America. Their current fate is entirely God's will."

Our task is to get them out of here as soon as possible.

Look at them—filthy, violent, cruel, greedy, and base, utterly devoid of Puritan virtues.

The officer casually tossed bread into the crowd, causing another commotion, he said again.

"See? Even such a small gain is enough to make them fight and kill each other. If they stay on our land, they will be the biggest threat to our family and friends."

So we should send them far away.”

The young people were already disgusted and nauseated by the scene.

The people in the carriage were fighting for everything—food, water, even air.

The moment the carriage door opened, everyone rushed towards the entrance, greedily inhaling the fresh air like fish about to suffocate underwater.

Then buckets of food and water were put into the feeding trough.

"You have fifteen minutes to fill your supplies. Let us thank Mr. Belmont, who has given you water and food, and the right to continue living."

He will also give you land and work; may God bless him!

Of course, if the Vanderbilt family were still alive, then the people we would most likely thank would be the Vanderbilts.

The officer's pocket watch clicked softly.

"Timer begins!"

The people in the carriage struggled to squeeze out and then frantically used various utensils to scoop food and water from the troughs.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, several conscripted refugees entered the carriage and began to move out the long-dead corpses and the people who were unable to move.

"Timeout!"

The soldiers picked up their bayonets and drove the refugees back into the carriages. Actually, time wasn't that urgent, but the American soldiers' time was very valuable, and they didn't want to waste too much time on these useless guys.

After all, the salary paid by the federal government is pitifully low.
Even with such poor transportation conditions, the cost of rail transport is excessively high, and it will actually hinder the development of commodity trade in the central and western regions.

Therefore, this great migration will ultimately choose the most primitive method—walking.
However, before anything could begin, the federal army and state militias first had to gather the refugees together and then “escort” them to the Midwest.

However, no one wanted to leave the bustling East for the wild Midwest, the very place where Americans had previously settled Native Americans.

Historically, before the Homestead Act was enacted, the westward expansion in the United States had already reached its peak, with millions of acres of land being sold every year. However, the vast majority of people at that time were not doing so for land reclamation, but for gold.

Many people chose to settle in the West only after giving up their dreams of gold, since gold mining is no easy task.

Later generations often refer to Westerns as America's martial arts films, a perfect interpretation of the American Dream, pioneering spirit, individual heroism, and even the American national myth.

However, most people imagine cowboy gunmen who believe "I am justice, I am order," or chivalrous heroes who fight evil and promote good.

But in reality, the vast majority of people are just passersby who are easily killed, or negative examples in the 100 ways to die in the West, good people who are oppressed by evil people, or emergency food and money bags for others.

No one wants to leave their familiar surroundings to survive in the wilderness. They have witnessed the fate of the Native Americans, and even after arriving at their destination, they have to fight with the Native Americans to compete for living space.

Faced with an uncertain future and unknown dangers, how many people can persevere and move forward?