Chapter 110: Adequate Preparation

It was mid-November 1850 when Fremont arrived in California.

The winter in California is cold and wet, and it has been raining continuously for five days.

The ship slowly sailed into the busy port of San Francisco, and Fremont stepped off the ship holding an umbrella.

He was followed by more than twenty servants he had brought from Georgia and more than forty fanatical followers from New York.

Liang Yao greeted Fremont at the heavily fortified port of San Francisco.

When the local people heard the news about Fremont's return, they spontaneously went to the port to welcome Fremont back and gave Fremont a hero's courtesy.

This made Fremont feel that all his efforts in Washington, D.C., were worthwhile, even if the results were somewhat unsatisfactory.

"Welcome home, my good comrade."

Liang Yao held Fremont's calloused hand and said.

"Home, yes, California is our home. We don't allow anyone to trample and destroy our home." Fremont showed a pleased smile.

Fremont was pleasantly surprised to find that San Francisco had undergone tremendous changes during his absence.

The new city of San Francisco, centered on the commercial street, is planned neatly and orderly, and brand-new buildings are rising on these planned lands.

There are even several factories on the edge of the city, one of which has thick smoke billowing out of its chimney.

"Is there a factory in California now?" Fremont asked in surprise.

Fremont was a native of Georgia in the south, but he was not a plantation owner who stubbornly pursued a pastoral life like poetry and painting.

He believed that the development of industry was the way forward for the future of the United States. Therefore, after the outbreak of the Civil War, Fremont did not choose to be loyal to the Confederacy. Instead, he insisted on his own beliefs and betrayed his family and chose to serve the North.

"Yes, yes, but currently only steam engine manufacturing plants and shipyards are operating normally. Other factories lack workers and raw materials. They have just settled in the industrial zone and have not started construction yet." Liang Yao said, "Now we have more important things. If we want to do it, we can only slow down the work in the factory.”

Strauss directly purchased some small and medium-sized industrial and mining enterprises in the east, dismantled the machines of these enterprises, and transported these machines to California as quickly as possible via the Nicaragua route.

Along with the machines arrived in California 1,200 skilled craftsmen and engineers. Liang Yao almost directly transplanted these mature industrial and mining enterprises in the east to California.

It’s just that Congress went its own way and insisted on taking back California’s land. In order to protect his legal land, Liang Yao could only temporarily slow down the pace of industrial development.

"If those consortiums weren't too greedy, given your ability, these factories in California would have started operations long ago."

Freemont sighed. He looked around and saw that the port was full of armed personnel. Fixed coastal defense artillery batteries were even built in Jinshan Bay, blocking the entire Jinshan Bay.

Armed officers on alert are inspecting ships preparing to enter the port and rigorously questioning their captains. Even the British and French merchant ships were no exception.

Fremont understood that Liang Yao spent his main resources on defending the port of San Francisco.

"There is no point in saying this anymore. I want the guys in Congress to know that Californians are not easy to mess with." Liang Yao ordered someone to pull a carriage and said to Fremont, "Fremont, get in the car. ”

Fremont didn't want to take a carriage, but asked Liang Yaodao: "Are there any horses? I'm more used to riding a horse."

"Of course."

Liang Yao clapped his hands, and Kony quickly brought two majestic horses over.

The two of them rode horses and galloped all the way back to Tingtao Garden.

When the guard on duty at the gate of Tingtao Garden saw that Liang Yao had returned, he saluted Liang Yao and Fremont with a very strange, but pleasing military salute.

This kind of military salute looks like a Prussian military salute. Did Liang Yao recruit Prussian officers to train his army?

Freemont was filled with questions. Along the way, he paid attention to Liang Yao's soldiers. These soldiers were well-trained and did not look like they were stragglers. They even walked side by side.

Before arriving in California, Fremont did not have high hopes for the California Infantry Regiment formed by Liang Yao.

Liang Yao was good at business and proficient in civil affairs, but he was not a professional military personnel after all.

Fremont had low expectations for the California Infantry, and was satisfied as long as it met the standards of a militia.

Now it seems that Liang Yao is no amateur in the military.

Although Fremont does not know the actual combat effectiveness of the California Infantry Regiment, on the surface, the spirit and organization of the California Infantry Regiment have surpassed many active American infantry regiments.

Fremont now felt more confident about encircling California.

"These soldiers have been trained very well by you, Liang Yao. You always surprise me. How many such soldiers do you have?" Freemont asked.

"The California Infantry now has 350 veterans. In addition to these veterans, 700 new recruits have been recruited in the past two months, and they are training in the fort."

Liang Yao replied that the armed forces he could mobilize now were not only the California Infantry Regiment, but also members of the Loyalty Society, the mining teams of major gold mining companies, local farmers, etc. These were all armed forces that could be organized and mobilized.

When necessary, Liang Yao could completely raise an armed force of two to three thousand people, or even more.

His current family background was much richer than when Washington founded the country.

"Enough." Fremont rubbed his hands excitedly, "I heard that half of Colonel Mason's regiment was marching towards San Francisco. I don't think half a regiment of troops would get any advantage in San Francisco.

Texas has also recently sent troops to New Mexico, and the federal government cannot dispatch too many troops to California in the short term."

"Even if a lot of troops are dispatched to California, I am not afraid." Liang Yao said very confidently.

He was not blindly confident. California's infrastructure was very poor. Not only did it not have railways, but there were also few roads. It was also far away from the eastern base camp. Even if the federal government had the ability to dispatch five or even ten infantry regiments, it would not be able to provide logistical support for these expeditionary infantry regiments.

The federal government wanted to transport a large amount of military logistics to California only through the Nicaragua route or the Panama route.

The eastern section of the Nicaragua route was controlled by Vanderbilt, and the western section was controlled by his Global Shipping Company.

The only transportation route that the federal government fully controlled was Panama, and now Panama not only has no canal, but also has not started to build a railway.

If the federal government wants to provide supplies to the army through this route, it will not only take longer, but the transportation efficiency will also be very low.

Mason's troops have not even reached Los Angeles yet, which is very telling.

"It seems that you have made all the preparations."

After entering Tingtao Garden, Fremont put away his umbrella and shook off the rain on his tweed coat.

Connie handed Fremont a clean coat with great insight. Fremont thanked Connie and then changed into the coat Connie handed him.

"It's not complete, but I'm fully prepared. This autumn, California harvested a lot of food, plus the food I bought from Mexico, I have enough food to support us until next autumn." Liang Yao said as he walked.

"When necessary, we can implement a rationing system for California's supplies to distribute these supplies more effectively. In this way, even if new immigrants continue to pour into California, we can guarantee that we can barely hold on until next autumn at the current rate of immigration growth."

"Don't say next autumn, given the current situation of the federal government, I don't think they can hold on for half a year." Fremont followed Liang Yao's steps and said.

"Mr. President supports us. What America needs now is to recuperate and heal the wounds caused by the war, not to start a new war.

I think Mr. President and those wise congressmen should know this. As long as we can hold on for a while, those diehards in Congress will sooner or later lower their proud heads."

Liang Yao also agreed with Fremont's point of view. America is indeed not ready to fight a new war now.

At the beginning of the year, the North and the free states and the slave states in the South were in such a fierce fight, but in the end, didn't the two sides still not fight?

This is not because the North and the South love peace, but because neither side is ready for a civil war.

In terms of contradictions, the contradiction between the North and the South of America is far greater than the contradiction between the East and the West.

Liang Yao seems to be an enemy of the entire United States, but in fact his enemies are only the nobles and financial representatives of the old states in Congress.

As long as Fillmore is not stupid, he will not keep paying for the greed of these people.

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