Chapter 328

The northern government was in trouble, and the southern government was not much better. The first is the internal power struggle. The newly formed Confederate government is the result of compromise and balance among the states.

As a temporary grass-roots team, the executive power is naturally unpredictable. Most affairs can only be carried out with the cooperation of the state government.

Under dual leadership, chaos of all kinds is inevitable.

After the victory of the Battle of Cincinnati, they should have pursued the victory and concentrated their efforts to take down the industrial center of the northern government in one fell swoop, but the southern government attacked from all sides.

It has successively launched attacks on bordering areas such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa.

The style of play that blooms on all sides seems to be powerful, and it has achieved the goal of defending the enemy from the door, but this also lost the opportunity to quickly end the war.

This kind of stalemate is the favorite of the foreign powers. Arms dealers from all over the world have gathered in North America and want to carve up this feast.

In a manor in Missouri, the owner, John Casey, asked with a smile, "Fikle, how are things going?"

"Forget it, my friend. This business can't be done, and the state government has to buy breech rifles."

God, now the mainstream weapon in the world is the muzzle-loading rifle. Besides, what's the difference between the bullets loaded from the front and the rear, aren't they all fired? "

For this war, Fickel brought in 200 artillery pieces and 30,000 rifles, ready to take the opportunity to make a fortune. Artillery is naturally sold at a high price, but rifles are not so lucky.

In the war years, everyone is the most realistic, whatever weapon is easy to use, whatever weapon is used. There is no doubt that a breech rifle that can be played on the stomach is more competitive than a breech gun.

The southern government was already at a disadvantage in terms of manpower. Although the historical 1:2 has risen to 2:3, they still cannot afford to die. The state government wants to reduce the casualties of soldiers as much as possible.

John Casey shrugged and said, "Sorry, I can't help you with this. In normal times, it would be easy to persuade the state to procure a batch of weapons, but this is war time.

We have to take into account the opinion of the military, everything is about winning the war. The breech rifle provided by the Austrians works really well, and I have tried it myself.

Both the rate of fire and the hit rate have been greatly improved. The only weakness is that the range is not long enough, but this is not a weakness.

On the battlefield, most soldiers can only have a hit rate within 200 meters, and a range of 800 meters is enough. "

Fickel complained: "Damn, since you know why don't you tell me? I wasted my energy and went to the north if I knew it, but I came here because of your face."

John Casey said without changing his face: "This is not caused by you. Who told me that the weapon in his hand is the most advanced in the world?"

Fickel said dissatisfiedly: "My guns are indeed the most advanced in the world, at least among the front-loaded guns."

John Casey reluctantly said: "Well, even so, it's useless. Who made you come late, if a month in the morning, the government will open the acquisition of this batch of guns.

Not anymore, it has been proven that the breech gun is being phased out. The government will not joke about the lives of soldiers to purchase this batch of outdated equipment.

Otherwise, you can modify this batch of guns. I have seen that it is not difficult to convert into breech rifles. Although it adds a little cost, can't it all be earned back later? "

Fickel frowned, and his dissatisfaction flashed away. Modification sounds simple, but this is not Europe, but the southern United States, and there are not many factories capable of modifying rifles.

One of them is John Casey's arsenal. It is said to be an arsenal, but in fact it has just been rebuilt.

Before the North-South split, it was just a machinery factory. However, John Casey was shrewd. As soon as the South declared its independence, he ordered equipment from Europe, and poached people from several domestic arsenals, turning the machinery factory into an arsenal.

It is naturally impossible for the temporarily created grass stage team to develop new weapons.

The production capacity also did not meet John Casey's expectations. Now it can only produce 3 artillery pieces, 800 rifles, and 50,000 rounds of ammunition per month.

If you want to use the full production capacity of the production line, it is impossible to do it without one or two years.

Obviously this is something John Casey can't wait for. Who knows how long this civil war will last. Once the war is over, it will be a difficult problem for the arsenal to survive.

The emergence of the breech rifle brought a turning point to John Casey. Modification of the muzzle rifle is undoubtedly much faster than the production of a rifle.

With his connections in Missouri, there was no problem at all selling old modified guns to the government for new ones.

However, not all guns can be modified. Some rifles are easy to modify, and some rifles can be modified more than the gains.

Fickel's tens of thousands of rifles are undoubtedly suitable for modification. The relationship between the two is not bad, but in the face of interests, the relationship is the most unreliable.

John Casey's arsenal equipment was bought from Fickel, and now the feng shui turns, this time he is ready to slaughter Fickel.

As for whether Fickel would refuse, of course not. As long as you think about it with your head, you know that these guns will not sell in the south, and they will still not sell in the north.

You can't expect Austrian arms dealers to sell weapons to the southern government, but not to the northern government, right?

The breech rifle is not a high-tech product, take it

It only takes a month for the samples to be imitated. If Austria does not sell them in European countries, they will still sell them.

Moreover, the northern government will also own the cottage. Now the United States is the world's largest cottage country, is it not easy to copy a rifle?

After leaving the American market, it would be difficult to sell these tens of thousands of rifles. This also needs to consider the increased transportation cost. It is better to choose cooperation, and you can make some money.

Fickel said directly: "Okay, my friend will make a price, as long as the price is right, I will sell it to you."

As a qualified arms dealer, since he had guessed John Casey's purpose, he would naturally not choose to modify it and be deceived for another sum of money.

John Casey smiled and said: "Twenty-five thousand pounds."

Hearing this number, Fickel immediately got angry, stood up and said, "Why don't you go grab it?"

John Casey comforted: "As for the fuss, my friend. In business, this kind of obsolete weapon is now worthless.

In addition to modification, you can only sell to indigenous tribes. Are you going to sell so many guns until that year?

It is also risky for me to purchase these guns for modification. Modification takes time. If the civil war suddenly ends, it will all be lost.

In the face of an old friend, I add another £3,000, which is already the highest price.

You have to know that the southern government has just signed a huge military order with Austria, and they sold 200,000 breech rifles to the southern government at one time. "

Fickel's face changed greatly, which was undoubtedly bad news. As he returned to normal, 200,000 rifles, which seemed a lot, were actually scattered across fourteen Confederate states, averaging less than 15,000 rifles per state.

This is far from meeting everyone's needs, especially for a front-line state like Missouri.

Front-loaded guns are not easy to sell, because Americans have a lot of them in their hands. In this country where all people own guns, if you don't have a gun of your own, you're embarrassed to call yourself an American.

Fickel bargained: "One hundred thousand pounds, which is already the lowest price in the international arms market."

After pondering for a while, John Casey quoted again: "Twenty-nine thousand pounds, who made us old friends!"

"Ninety-five thousand pounds, it can't go any lower."

"I'll add another two thousand pounds and I can't go any higher."

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