The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 804 Zhao Si: I have a set of anti-tank gymnastics sent down from the sky
The eighth day of the third month of the sixteenth year of the Tianli calendar.

On the training ground in Marin County, California, yellow dust was flying. Xianfeng stood with his hands behind his back and squinted his eyes to see several Taiping Army instructors directing militiamen to drag two wooden fake tanks in the distance. The stuff was crudely made, just a few thick wooden boards nailed together into a square box with four wooden wheels installed underneath. It was pulled by two mules, and it could simulate the appearance of a tank moving.

"General Han, look at this thing," Xianfeng squinted his triangular eyes and smiled, "No matter how powerful the Yankee's 'Iron Turtle' is, it still has to crawl on the ground. As long as it has to walk on wheels, we can find a way to deal with it!"

Han Yulin stroked his beard and nodded, lowering his voice and saying, "Your Highness King Wu asked for instructions from above, and Brother Tian said that the tanks in the sky are a hundred times more powerful than Lincoln's tanks, but a while ago, they still used a group of militiamen in the city of Gaza in the sky to defeat them with a martial art called anti-tank gymnastics. Brother Tian also passed down this anti-tank gymnastics!"

"Anti-tank gymnastics? Very impressive?"

“How can it not be powerful, what Brother Tian passed down?” Han Yulin waved his hand, and the instructor on the field immediately blew the whistle.

A group of militiamen crouched down and quickly approached the fake tank using the earth slope as cover. The leading man swung his arm, and a piece of iron with a tail fin flew out in an arc and hit the side of the wooden target. With a "bang", the fake tank filled with sand was blown into wood chips.

"Great!" Xianfeng clapped his hands and laughed. "This 'Gasa Grenade' is really powerful? What's filled inside? Isn't it bitter acid?"

Han Yulin shook his head: "It's not bitter acid, it's even more powerful than that. And it's safe, not easy to self-destruct. And now only our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has it!"

At this time, the second whistle sounded on the field. Several men carrying shovels rushed to the middle of the road and worked for a quarter of an hour to dig out a deep pit in the front and shallow in the back. As soon as the fake tank ran over, the front wheel "banged" into the pit, and the whole body of the car suddenly tilted into a slope.

"Great!" Xianfeng's eyes sparkled, "This horse trap is really well made!"

As he was talking, a "crunching" sound came from the sidelines. A dozen strong men were seen pushing a two-wheeled cart, placing the newly poured cement triangular cones on the road. These "cement piers" were half a person's height, with the pointed ends facing upwards and stacked in a row, just like the fangs of a giant beast.

Han Yulin smiled and said, "This is called Dragon's Teeth. Together with the anti-tank traps we set up before, we can temporarily block the Yankee's steam tanks, and then use anti-tank gymnastics to throw anti-tank grenades. Prince Consort Nan Yi, tell me, with these few moves, can we get the South to recognize our Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma as members?"

Xianfeng smiled and said, "Does Davis have any choice now?" He turned around and glanced at Han Yulin, "The South recognized our seven states, so the North must recognize Utah and Nevada, right?"

Han Yulin nodded: "Of course!" He smiled and said, "Once Lincoln suffers in Vicksburg, he will have to increase his efforts to win us over!"

On April 1866, 4, the sky in Washington was so gloomy that it seemed to be blackened by the artillery fire of the Northern Army. In the East Room of the White House, President Davis stood in front of the window, looking out at the gray sky, tapping the window frame unconsciously with his fingers. His eyes fell on the dome of the Capitol in the distance, which once symbolized the pride of the South, but now looked like a tombstone about to collapse.

General Robert Lee's report was spread out on the table. The beautiful English cursive handwriting revealed a cold despair: "The Memphis Line of Defense collapsed, the Army of Tennessee was annihilated, and 37,000 men were lost. Artillery, ammunition, and baggage were all captured. The Union Army's new 'armored vehicles' (note: steam tanks) broke through our trenches, and barbed wire and Mitellius machine guns could not stop them. Our morale is on the verge of collapse."

Davis' fingers trembled slightly. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger in his chest, but the burning feeling of suffocation lingered.

"Thirty-seven thousand men..." he murmured, his voice as if squeezed out from between his teeth, "An entire legion, just gone like that?"

Secretary of the Army Bragg stood aside, his face livid: "Mr. President, in the Battle of Memphis, we almost lost all our elite troops on the Western Front. Now, if the Northern Army breaks through Nashville, the entire Tennessee will fall, and then..."

"By then, there will be a second Battle of Vicksburg." Davis added coldly, "But if we can win the first time, we can definitely win the second time!"

Finance Minister Meminger held a stack of Confederate banknotes in his hand, smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Mr. President, our economy can no longer sustain itself. The Northern Army's blockade has made it impossible for us to sell our cotton, and European bankers have refused to lend us money. Now, a pound of flour costs more than this piece of paper."

He casually threw a $1000 Confederate bill into the fireplace, and the flames instantly devoured it, turning it into a wisp of black smoke.

"Our currency has become worthless," Meminger said in a low, tired voice. "If this continues, the soldiers won't even get the pay they need to feed their families."

Secretary of State Benjamin pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes behind the lenses sharp and calm: "Mr. President, the most dangerous thing now is not the economy, but people's hearts."

"Oh?" Davis frowned, "What do you mean?"

"The Georgia State Assembly has passed a resolution to negotiate with the Northern Army in the name of an 'independent confederacy.'" Benjamin said slowly, "South Carolina plantation owners have even privately discussed whether to unite with other slave states in the South to form an American Confederacy."

Davis's face darkened instantly: "They want to surrender?"

"No, they want 'independence'." Benjamin corrected, "They don't want to fight for 'United America' anymore, they just want to keep their slaves and land."

Davis slammed the table so hard that the ink bottle on the table jumped up. "Ridiculous! They were the ones who shouted that they wanted to defend the Federation, but now they want to shrink back and become cowards?!"

"Mr. President, this is the reality," Benjamin said calmly. "Five years of war have made the Southerners tired. Now they just want to keep their own states. As for the 'United States of America'? In fact, they didn't care five years ago."

Davis was silent.

Yes, five years ago, the Southerners were shouting "state rights first" and wanted to establish a "free American Confederacy." It was because of Zhao Si's analysis that he "sent troops to Washington" and seized the federal legitimacy under the pretext that "47% must defeat 40%."

Unexpectedly, Lincoln and his gang of Northerners rolled up their sleeves and fought his Confederate Army for more than five years. Although they were defeated repeatedly, they relied on their overwhelming advantages in population and industry to exhaust the South. In fact, even without steam tanks, the South would have almost collapsed!
Because the thirty or forty steam ironclad ships and four or five hundred steam or sailing ships (most of which were converted merchant ships) in the North have completely blocked the South's foreign trade!
"You don't think now..." Davis raised his head slowly, his eyes sweeping over everyone present, "The Yankees have been fighting us for five years just to drive us out of the Union, do you? You don't think now that Lincoln and those northern factory owners will allow us to cut off eleven or twelve of the richest states from the United States when victory is about to be achieved?"

There was deathly silence in the East Hall.

No one dares to answer this question.

Just when the atmosphere was becoming extremely depressing, there was a sudden knock on the door of the East Room of the White House.

"Come in," Davis said impatiently.

The door was pushed open and Secretary Harrison walked in quickly, holding a telegram in his hand and with a very strange expression on his face.

"Mr. President, we have a telegram from Governor Zhao Si of Colorado," Harrison said.

"Zhao Si?" Davis frowned. "What does that yellow monkey want to do now?"

Harrison hesitated for a moment, but still read out the contents of the telegram: "Mr. President, the 'little brother' of God possessed me last night and taught me a set of 'anti-tank magic' that is specifically designed to defeat the armored vehicles of the Northern Army. This is the anti-tank secret method taught by Brother Jesus in heaven during the Battle of Gaza in heaven, which can help the South turn the tide of the war. However, this method cannot be given lightly. It must be exchanged for seven states joining the federation."

The East Hall was instantly in an uproar.

"What the hell is this?!" Army Minister Bragg was the first to jump up. "Anti-tank magic? Is this yellow monkey kidding us?!"

Finance Minister Meminger couldn't help but sneer: "God's little prince? Does he think we are three-year-old children?"

Secretary of State Benjamin seemed to be thinking about something. He asked in a low voice, "Which seven states does he mean?"

Harrison glanced at the telegram and replied, "Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma. Zhao Si has brought hundreds of thousands of black slaves from Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas and other places over the past few years, and has also turned more than 100,000 Indian red-skinned barbarians into nomadic red Mongols. Now he wants to make all these people American citizens."

"Ridiculous!" Breg roared, "He actually wants to allow a bunch of yellow monkeys and red savages to become citizens of the United States?!"

Davis did not refute immediately, but stared at the telegram with flickering eyes.

"Mr. President, you don't really believe this nonsense, do you?" Bragg asked in disbelief.

Davis raised his head slowly, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Everyone, do we have any other choice now?"

The East Hall fell silent again.

Yeah, do they have any other choice?
The armored vehicles of the Northern Army have crushed the defenses of the South, the economy is on the verge of collapse, and the people in the states are demoralized...

If Zhao Si's "anti-tank magic" is really useful, they must seize even a glimmer of hope!
"Harrison," Davis said in a deep voice, "Call Zhao Si back."

"Mr. President?!" Bragg looked at him in shock.

Davis glanced at him coldly and said, "Tell him that as long as his method works, we can accept seven states into the federation."

"President! This"

"Shut up!" Davis slammed the table and roared, "Now that you are all going to secede from the Union and become independent, do you still care about who is worthy of becoming a citizen of the United States?! If the yellow monkeys, niggers and red savages in the West can fight the Yankees, we will have a chance to establish our own Southern Confederacy!"

The East Hall was completely silent.

Davis' words seem to make sense!
Yes, if Zhao Si can get the West and the North to fight, the South might really have a chance...

"Harrison, go send the message." Davis said coldly.

"Yes, Mr. President." Harrison turned and left.

Davis looked out the window at the gloomy sky and murmured in a low voice:

"Little brother, please don't let me down..."

(End of this chapter)