The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 755: There is no Gatling in the south, and there is Zhao Siye in the north (seeking monthly tickets, madly begging for monthly tickets!)
Late February 1863, outside New York.

Twelve carriages rolled over the gravel road and headed for a newly built federal army camp. Lincoln sat in the front carriage wrapped in an old woolen coat, with a military report submitted by Sherman early in the morning spread on his knees - the "Yorktown-Harrisburg Campaign" that had been fought intermittently for several months finally ended with a series of battles around the two forts and the Sahaquinas River, with a Confederate mobile corps of more than 10 people led by General Robert Lee crossing the Sahaquinas River.

Although the Northern Army lost a full 100,000 men in this series of battles, and the Southern Army lost only 70,000 at most (Sherman reported 140,000, but Lincoln gave him a 50% discount), Robert Lee's army retreated after all. So Lincoln was still very proud at this moment - the enemy retreated, and he won!

The "Battle of Yorktown-Harrisburg" was the first real victory of the Northern Army since the beginning of the American Civil War!
And this is just the beginning.

The driver pulled the reins, and John Nicholas' voice rang in Lincoln's ears: "Sir, we're here."

On the muddy playground, six twelve-pound Napoleon cannons were arranged in a semicircle, with a black iron monster in the middle. A doctor in his forties named Richard Gatling was wiping the barrels with oilcloth. Not just one barrel, but six barrels were mounted on a cast iron bracket, looking very majestic!
This six-barreled gun is the famous Gatling machine gun! It weighs three hundred pounds, and the ammunition box next to it is neatly stacked with brass bullets, shining with industrial luster in the morning light - in January this year, the Northern Federation's copper shell bullet production has exceeded 1 million rounds, absolutely the world's first!
"Look, everyone. This is a miracle of industrialization. Its appearance will save countless lives!" Richard Gatlin gripped the crank a little excitedly and said something extremely absurd.

This doctor who cured and saved lives felt that too many people were killed with muzzle-loading rifles and it was too cruel, so he invented the Gatling machine gun so that people would not kill people with muzzle-loading rifles. What a great compassion!

"Go ahead, Dr. Gatling!" President Lincoln, who was already sitting on the wooden viewing platform, waved his hand vigorously and gave the order to open fire.

"Yes, sir!" Dr. Gatlin turned the crank clockwise.

Francis Clare Baring (Baring of Barings Bank), the British Consul sitting on the viewing stand, frowned, while John Pierpont Morgan, who returned to the United States from China after the outbreak of the Civil War, took a deep puff of his cigar, and an extremely solemn expression appeared on his round baby face.

Suddenly, the barrel began to spin.

In an instant, the tranquility of the spring day was torn to pieces. Six gun barrels spewed flames, and shell casings poured onto the mud like golden rain. The pine board target a hundred yards away first burst into a honeycomb of bullet holes, and then collapsed with a loud bang. Gun smoke wrapped in sawdust rose three feet high, startling the horses pulling the carts near the viewing platform and making them neigh non-stop.

"Two hundred and forty rounds per minute!" an engineer from the Gatling factory shouted in the deafening roar. "It only takes three people to operate it - the loader! The cranker! The aimer!"

Sherman, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, walked down the wooden viewing platform, walked forward, bent down and picked up a hot shell. The bottom of the copper shell was stamped with "Springfield Arsenal 1863", and the side still had the texture of the milling cutter.

He recalled the several battles between himself and Robert Lee - if his army had 500, no, 100 of these revolvers that could fire rounds per minute, Robert Lee would have been defeated long ago!
"The South can't make this." Navy Commander-in-Chief David Farragut walked up to Sherman at some point. He pointed to the gun rack with his right hand wearing a deerskin glove: "Look at this crankshaft. It's made of steel made in the Bessemer converter. The country bumpkins in the South are still using crucibles to make steel, and the output is pitifully small."

At this time, the Gatling gun released the crank, and the last shell fell to the ground with a clang. White smoke like steam rose from the barrel, and all 500 rounds of 14.7mm brass bullets were fired. The twenty wooden targets had already turned into debris all over the ground, and the farthest bullet hole even hit the stone wall yards away.

On the other side of the viewing platform, Huang Shiren tapped a metal cigarette case with his ivory cigarette holder. In the cigarette case, there were not only cigarettes, but also a secret message sent in code. The content of the secret message translated into: Zhao Si pretended to surrender, bonds are expected to rise
He glanced at Lehman Brothers, who were applauding. The three Bavarian immigrants were Luo Yaoguo's agents, and they should have used the money from HSBC to buy a lot of bonds issued by the New York Federal Government Treasury. JP Morgan, who was farther away, was whispering with the Deputy Minister of War. Looking at his excited expression, he was probably discussing investing in the production of this revolver, wasn't he? Well, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom must also have such a killing weapon!
"Mr. Huang is also interested in killing machines?" The British consul suddenly came over.

"Your Excellency the Consul is joking." Huang Shiren took out a Havana cigar. "I am only concerned about the interest rate of the gold bonds that will be issued soon. I wonder how much the Bank of Bahrain is prepared to pay?"

As he spoke, Huang Shiren stretched out his palm and flipped it four times.
The consul's face changed slightly, and he lowered his voice and said, "Is it that high? The North seems to be winning."

Huang Shiren smiled and retracted his slap. Lincoln's speech was arranged in front of an elm forest. He deliberately stood on the left side of the Gatling gun, as if the steel barrel could provide a guarantee for his bonds, not just seeming, but really could!
"Some people say that this war is a contest between factories and plantations. But I would say that it is a decisive battle between civilization and barbarism!" Lincoln began his speech again. Although his voice was still a little hoarse, he was confident enough - he had Gatling, but the South did not!
This is called Namo Gatling!

In addition to Gatlin, Lincoln has another trump card.

"While the South was still using black slaves to pick cotton," Lincoln suddenly raised his voice, "we were using the wisdom of free people to create the future!" He slammed Gatling's gun barrel hard, "Such weapons can never be made by slave plantations in the South! Their factories don't have rolling mills, steam hammers, or millions of workers who voluntarily sacrificed their lives for freedom! Of course, they don't have the respected Mr. Richard Gatling either."

As he spoke, Lincoln pointed at Gatlin beside him and led the applause.

The applause first broke out from where the Wall Street representatives were standing. Lehman Brothers' hands were red from clapping. They knew that the front page of the New York Herald tomorrow would definitely carry the news "Gatlin's shocking demonstration, the federal government is sure to win."

At this time, Lincoln took out another Chinese envelope with two eye-catching Chinese characters "Zhao Si" written on it. He waved the envelope and said, "Gentlemen, this is a letter from Nicholas Zhao Si, the best general in the South, who trained a group of black slaves who could only pick cotton into the best soldiers. In the letter, he clearly expressed his willingness to surrender to the federal government!"

As soon as these words came out, more than half of the people on the viewing platform were stunned: Zhao Si is going to join Lincoln? Lincoln has Gatling in his left hand and Zhao Siye in his right hand. The North will definitely win this time!
After the demonstration, everyone moved to the temporary tent for lunch. Zhang Bao, who returned to New York as a California Navy captain, deliberately fell behind and took a closer look at the Gatling machine gun when no one was paying attention - what a good thing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom must get it!

"Mr. Zhang is very interested in mechanical structure?" An English voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Zhang Bao froze. He turned around and saw JP Morgan also looking at the Gatling machine gun, like a commodity to be appraised.

"Mr. Gatling said that the most ingenious part of this gun is the cam locking device." Morgan put on his glasses and carefully examined the machine gun in front of him. "I think His Royal Highness the King of Wu must be very eager to obtain its manufacturing technology, right?"

Without waiting for Zhang Bao to respond, JP Morgan said to Zhang Bao in Chinese: "You can't buy the production patent. No matter how much money you offer, the US Secretary of War will not approve it. But I have a way. I am the cousin of New York Governor Edwin Morgan. We both belong to the Morgan family of Wales."

In a corner of the tent where the luncheon was held, Huang Shiren was using a silver fork to pick at peas on a plate. Beside him stood the British Consul Baring, the representative of the Baring family, the three brothers of the Lehman family, and JS Morgan, the father of JP Morgan. Several foreigners were surrounding Huang Shiren to inquire about Zhao Si's defection to the Northern Federation, while Huang Shiren was "looking around and talking about benefits" - always leading the topic to the interest rate of gold bonds.

When several people were testing each other's cards, suddenly, the voice of US Treasury Secretary Chase came from the side: "You all are here, can you please have a moment to talk to us? Can we discuss the bond interest rate?"

At the same time, the frozen soil of the Nebraska prairie had not yet melted, and a strange army was marching eastward on the remaining snow. Nicholas Zhao Si, the Confederate general called "Missouri Devil" by federal newspapers, was riding a pure black Virginia warhorse and wearing a gray military coat.

On his left was Bell, a white woman from Atlanta wrapped in a blue tweed coat with a Mongolian scimitar on her waist; on his right was "Hezenk," commander of the First Black Brigade. Behind him followed a cavalryman carrying the flag of the First Black Brigade with the English words "Black Wall - Indestructible" embroidered crookedly on it.

At the front of the team were the "red-faced Mongolians" of the First Indian Cavalry Brigade led by Hong Yunhan. Those Mongolianized Indians carried Mississippi rifles on their backs, and Buddhist beads and True Covenant scriptures were hung next to their saddles - one could tell at a glance that they were disciples of the True Covenant Archbishop Amur Buddha, a mix of styles.

"Master, we'll reach the Missouri River in another thirty miles." Zeng Jia Linshu held up a map seized from the Northern Army and reminded in a low voice, "There are many federal army outposts along the Missouri River, and they're all watching us!"

(End of this chapter)