Chapter 223: Declaration of War on Japan

It is an old tradition that the US Army and Navy do not like each other.

Except for the French Bourbon Navy during the First War of Independence, which played the role of the US Navy, the cooperation between the US Army and Navy has not been satisfactory from the Second War of Independence to the recent Mexican-American War.

This expedition to Japan is thousands of miles away from the Pacific Ocean. In this era without wireless telegraphs, Washington could not issue instructions to the expeditionary force, nor could it get the war reports from the front line in the first time. All Washington could do was wait for the result of this expedition in Washington.

In other words, the result of this expedition depends entirely on the performance of the front-line commanders and the expeditionary soldiers.

If the expedition fails because of disagreements between the officers and soldiers of the navy and the army, it is a result that the cabinet members present do not want to see.

The expectations of this expedition are high from top to bottom in the United States. If this expedition can achieve the expected results, President Fillmore and his cabinet will be easily re-elected in the next presidential election.

If the expedition to Japan failed to achieve the expected results, the result waiting for them was to step down amidst a barrage of insults.

The Navy Department hoped that the commander-in-chief would be a naval officer, on the grounds that this unprecedented transoceanic expedition was led by the Navy, and the naval officers should be responsible for coordinating and commanding the expeditionary force.

The War Department (the predecessor of the Army Department, on September 18, 1947, the US War Department was renamed the Army Department.) hoped that the commander-in-chief would be an army officer, on the grounds that the plan for the expedition to Japan was proposed by Army Colonel Liang Yao, who was also responsible for ensuring the logistics of the expeditionary military operation and spent a lot of money on long-term preparations. For all these reasons, an army officer should be the commander-in-chief of this expedition.

Fillmore thought for a long time and finally decided to appoint Commodore Perry, the commander of the American East India Fleet, as the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Expeditionary Force, and the commander of the California Army, and Army Colonel Liang Yao as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Japanese Expeditionary Force.

America is also a society that values ​​qualifications. Although Liang Yao has performed very well as an army officer and has shown outstanding military talent, even Secretary of War Conrad and many senior army officers have a new look at Liang Yao.

They believe that this young colonel has a promising future and may become the backbone of the Army Department in the future.

But no matter how optimistic he is, Liang Yao's lack of qualifications is still a flaw, and Liang Yao's rank is not as high as Perry's. The mature and steady Perry is obviously more suitable than Liang Yao to be the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Expeditionary Force.

Although Conrad and a few other cabinet members questioned President Fillmore's decision and wanted to fight for the army again.

However, the majority of cabinet members still agreed with President Fillmore's decision and believed that Commodore Perry, who came from a naval family, was more suitable to be the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Expeditionary Force.

Three days later, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States Congress voted on the expedition to Japan, forcing Japan to open its country and free trade in the United States.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the resolution with a high vote of approval.

Even though many members did not know much about Japan, they still voted in favor.

In the eyes of most members, Japan is just a smaller version of the Qing Dynasty.

11 years ago, Britain was able to defeat the Qing Dynasty and force Japan to open up its country. 11 years later, the United States can also force Japan to open up its country in the same way.

This is what these members thought when they voted in favor.

Anyway, the war will not reach the American mainland across the Pacific Ocean.

If they win, everyone is happy. If they lose, the president and his cabinet should worry, not the voting members.

"Due to Japan's repeated shameful detention and inhumane abuse of our whaling crews without reason, our protests have been ignored by the Japanese side. In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of our American citizens, I declare that the United States of America has been at war with the Japanese Empire since September 18, 1851, until Japan..."

After the voting results were announced, Fillmore issued a declaration to Japan in Congress, which can also be understood as a declaration of war.

At this time, Japan had not yet opened its country, let alone been accepted by the mainstream Western society. Fillmore did not feel any pressure to declare war on a marginal country that was not accepted by the international (Western) society.

After the dust settled on the expedition to Japan, the efficient national machine of the United States began to run at a high speed.

Due to the current good economic situation in the United States and the trust of the American people in Perry and Liang Yao.

The first issue of $8 million in war bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance was quickly sold out.

The Navy Department was also not idle, and the best ships from various fleets were assigned to the American East India Fleet participating in the expedition to Japan.

After receiving these ships, Perry carefully inspected them to ensure that they were in good condition and could participate in the transoceanic expedition.

The ships in good condition were directly sent to the major shipyards of the Navy and painted black.

To Perry's regret, there were not many large steam ships in the US Navy, so he had to bring a few sailing warships to make up the number. His expedition fleet was not all steam warships.

The War Department also secured $600,000 in funds for Liang Yao to purchase and update equipment, pay allowances to soldiers, and require all arsenals to give priority to providing equipment to the California Infantry Regiment and the Militia Regiment.

Liang Yao did not bother to be polite with the major arsenals and directly asked for 5,000 Springfield M1842s, of which 2,000 were rifled versions and the remaining 3,000 were smoothbore versions, 800 latest Colt six-barrel revolvers, 20 field guns, and some ammunition.

Liang Yao's own troops were preparing to replace the Delysse needle-fired rifles, and he also had sufficient Delysse needle-fired rifles for replacement.

Liang Yao naturally looked down on these Springfield M1842s, but these guns could be used to train militias, and the Taiping Rebellion in the Qing Dynasty was rampant and had the potential to sweep across the southeast half of the country.

Chinese businessmen in Guangdong and Fujian had no sense of security. After seeing the benefits of foreign guns, they entrusted Liang Yao to buy some foreign guns for them to equip their guards in their hometowns in Guangdong and Fujian for self-protection in guarding their houses.

Compared with equipment, Liang Yao valued the gunsmiths and workers of these arsenals more. Liang Yao took the opportunity to poach some people from various arsenals in the name of providing equipment maintenance for the expedition.

He planned to use these people as the team to establish his own arsenal in California to replace the small workshops in California that can only repair guns.

Fillmore attached great importance to the military operation of the expedition to Japan. He specially summoned Perry and Liang Yao, hoping that the officers and soldiers of the navy and army could unite and complete this expedition beautifully.

"If this expedition is successful, you two will become the most outstanding generals in the United States, shining in the history of the United States, and become heroes in the hearts of more than 20 million American citizens." Fillmore said to Perry and Liang Yao.

"If you need any help from the government, please let me know. I will do my best to solve your worries."

"All officers and soldiers of the East India Fleet are ready! The ships can set off after painting, but the navy officers and soldiers are not good at land warfare. I implore the president to assign another regiment of marines to the expeditionary force." Perry made his request.

Fillmore frowned when he heard this, and Liang Yao also felt unhappy.

The California Infantry Regiment was already in the sequence of the Japanese Expeditionary Force. Perry now asked for the Marines again, which obviously showed his distrust of the army.