Chapter 527: Americans Also Cheat

The night sky outside Provo was exceptionally clear, and the air was exceptionally fresh.

After the opening ceremony, Liang Yao was a little tired physically and mentally.

Now the Pacific Railway, a major traffic artery that runs through the east and west, has been repaired.

The journey from Provo to Washington has been shortened to about a week, so he decided to stay in Provo for one night and then set off for Washington tomorrow.

Liang Yao rode a horse with a group of followers to patrol around Provo.

The moon tonight was exceptionally bright. Standing halfway up the mountain, you can have a panoramic view of the city of Provo on the shore of Lake Utah, and even clearly see the most conspicuous building in the city: the Mormon church, which is a bit weird and out of place.

"Kruger, if you were asked to build a military fortress along the Pacific Railway, where would you choose?" Liang Yao dismounted and sat on the ground, motioning Kruger, who was following him on both sides, to sit down together.

Building a military fortress along the Pacific Railway?

Kruger was surprised by Liang Yao's question.

Liang Yao has always had a good relationship with the Indians, so the military fortresses built along the Pacific Railway are naturally not used to guard against the Indians.

Moreover, even if the Indians are the imaginary enemies, there is no need to spend such a huge price.

The only answer is that Liang Yao built military fortresses along the Pacific Railway to resist the threat from the east, or more directly, the US military outside the Western Brigade.

Is the civil war about to break out soon?

Thinking of these political issues, Kruger felt very headache, but he did not ask Liang Yao why he had this idea.

He is a pure professional soldier. He asks questions that should be asked and does not ask questions that should not be asked. Kruger still has this awareness.

Kruger thought for a long time and gave an answer carefully: "Sir, it depends on whether you simply want to protect the railway, or to protect California, the western end of the railway, and your imaginary enemy."

"Suppose a war breaks out between the east and the west." Liang Yao gave a hypothesis.

With the hypothesis given by Liang Yao, Kruger gave a clearer answer: "There are fewer soldiers in the west and more soldiers in the east. If a direct conflict breaks out between the east and the west, the best approach is to follow the Pacific Railway, a traffic artery, and use the terrain advantages to defend layer by layer and purchase multiple defense systems.

Omaha, the starting point of the Pacific Railway, is located on the plains, which is easy to attack but difficult to defend, and is not suitable as the starting point of the defense line.

If it were me, I would choose North Platte City at the entrance of the Rocky Mountains, that is, the intersection of the South Platte River and the North Platte River as the starting point of the defense system."

"Go on." Liang Yao nodded, and he was quite satisfied with the answer given by Kruger.

The South Platte River Valley is the main road into the Nebraska Territory and the Colorado Territory, and the North Platte River Valley is the main road into the Wyoming Territory from the Nebraska Territory.

As long as you control the intersection of the two valleys: North Platte City, it is equivalent to holding the throat from the Great Plains to the west into the Rocky Mountains.

This idea coincides with Liang Yao.

"Further west, the Colorado Territory is sparsely populated, with less than 10,000 people. We only need to control the largest settlements in the territory, Denver and Fort Collins.

Although Denver is not on the Pacific Railway, if for military considerations, we can build a branch line to Denver City to effectively control Denver.

In this way, Fort Collins in the north and Denver in the south can form our defense system in the Colorado Territory. The two cities can respond to each other from north to south, and the defenders will not be trapped in an isolated city and unable to make a move."

In 1857, the Colorado Territory was still very desolate, with less than 10,000 settled people on nearly 270,000 square kilometers of land, which was a big gap compared to the Utah area.

The population of the Colorado Territory was so sparse that there was not even a settlement with a population of more than 1,000 people in the territory.

The two largest settlements in the territory, Denver and Fort Collins, had only five or six hundred people.

The section of the Pacific Railway that passed through the Colorado Territory was built by Vanderbilt. Considering economic factors, Vanderbilt chose to pass through Fort Collins instead of Denver.

But it's not a big problem. Fort Collins and Denver are only a little over 100 kilometers apart. For the safety of the west coast, Liang Yao can afford to build a 100-kilometer-long railway.

Kruger continued: "Further west of Colorado Territory is Utah Territory, which is also the most important part of the defense line.

Utah Territory is more developed than Colorado Territory, and the population in the territory has more supplies.

It is also the easiest place for the enemy to obtain supplies on the entire railway."

"You mean that when necessary, Utah Territory can be cleared of the countryside."

Liang Yao said what Kruger didn't dare to say.

Kruger nodded: "General, it's just that clearing the countryside is based on the premise of gaining complete control over the area of ​​clearing the countryside.

If you can't clear the countryside, you can only hold on to Provo and Salt Lake City in the north.

These two cities are along the railway, and the defenders can also support each other and disperse the enemy's forces."

Further west is Nevada Territory and the Nevada Administrative District in California.

Liang Yao has been operating in the Nevada region for many years. As long as Liang Yao does not make any mistakes, it is almost impossible for the US troops in the east, whether they are the Northern Army or the Southern Army, to quickly take over Nevada after crossing mountains and rivers and traveling a long distance.

If Nevada cannot be taken in a short period of time, the only outcome for the Eastern US troops who are waiting to go deep into Nevada alone is that they will run out of ammunition and food, and the whole army will be wiped out.

"You don't need to say anything about the Nevada area." Liang Yao stood up and patted the debris on his buttocks.

"Sir, I don't quite understand. Since you know that the Pacific Railway will pose a strategic threat to the West Coast after its completion, why do you still spend a lot of money to build this railway?" Kruger said puzzledly.

"The US troops in the east can attack us from the west through the Pacific Railway, so why can't we use the Pacific to go east?" Liang Yao said.

"Every coin has two sides. Considering the economy of the West Coast, I can't give up building this economic artery between the east and the west and the huge market in the east because of potential strategic threats."

The construction of the Pacific Railway has advantages and disadvantages, but generally speaking, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Liang Yao does not regret building this railway and the Garde Railway being built in the south.

"You are still thoughtful about the strategic level. This is why you can be a general, but I can only be a colonel." Kruger suddenly realized.

"Kruger, I have a task for you." Liang Yao suddenly raised his voice.

"Yes! Your Excellency! Please give instructions!"

Kruger heard that Liang Yao was going to assign him a task, and hurriedly stood up and saluted Liang Yao, waiting for Liang Yao to give him the task.

"Your Arizona Regiment will be stationed in Utah Territory from now on, and the location of the regiment headquarters is up to you to choose.

In addition, you will train a militia in Utah. Remember, the officers and soldiers of this militia must be non-Mormons. You can apply to me for the required weapons and funds." Liang Yao gave Kruger a task.

"Yes! Your Excellency!" Kruger took the task.

Kruger knew Liang Yao's character. He knew that Liang Yao would not allow a religious force, especially an unruly religious force, to control the key points along the Pacific Railway.

His Excellency the Brigadier General is preparing to start clearing the Mormon forces in Utah.

After a week's journey, Liang Yao arrived in Washington, the capital of the United States, from Provo in Utah Territory.

Including the two and a half days it took to get from Sacramento to Provo, the entire journey did not exceed 10 days.

Previously, the time required to get from California to Washington was measured in months.

Liang Shaoqiong and Shen Baozhen, who arrived in the United States for the first time, were also able to enjoy the charm of the eastern United States.

What disappointed them was that the eastern region was not much more developed than the cities of Jinshan, Sacramento, and Los Angeles they had visited.

At this time, the people in the eastern states were suffering from the economic crisis, and the pedestrians on the streets were very depressed. Few people had smiling faces.

Especially in big cities, unemployed people holding wooden signs with the words "looking for work" could be seen everywhere.

There was a long queue in front of the relief office.

From time to time, unemployed vagrants could be seen fighting for relief food.

Therefore, Liang Shaoqiong and Shen Baozhen did not think that the eastern region was so good. Instead, they felt that the lives of Californians were happier and the cities were cleaner and more orderly.

The Pacific Railway was full every day as soon as it opened.

Eastern newspapers often portrayed the West Coast as a paradise on earth. After the opening of the Pacific Railway, it was much more convenient to travel from the East to the West Coast than before.

Therefore, many Easterners, especially the middle class in the East, decided to try their luck in the West.

The New York Central Railroad sold a ticket for the New York-Sacramento train at $120 on the first day of the opening.

Even though the train ticket was so expensive, it was sold out in just half an hour.

The next day, the New York Central Railroad raised the ticket price to $150 per ticket, and it was still sold out in half an hour.

The third ticket, $200 per ticket, was still sold out.

On the black market, the New York-Sacramento train ticket was once sold for more than $300 per ticket, but it was still hard to get a ticket.

This made the senior executives of the New York Central Railroad, even Vanderbilt, unable to figure out how to set the price.

Liang Yao originally thought that the price of $120 per train ticket was enough for him to screen out middle-class and above immigrants to go to the West.

Unexpectedly, he still underestimated the severe economic situation in the East. Many people spent all their wealth and sold their houses and land just to get a ticket to the West Coast.

What's more, some people called the New York-Sacramento train ticket a pass to heaven. It seems that the West Coast is heaven.

Even the Easterners who couldn't afford or buy tickets didn't give up the idea of ​​going to the West Coast.

As soon as the train arrived at the train station, the crowd rushed up and climbed directly to the roof of the train just to enjoy the free listing.

Liang Yao saw this kind of grand occasion several times along the way, which made him wonder if he had arrived in India and Bangladesh.

Unexpectedly, Americans also have a time to cheat when riding trains.

In sharp contrast, although the Sacramento-New York tickets are also sold very well, they can be sold out every day.

But the enthusiasm of people on the West Coast to go to the East is far less than that of people in the East to go to the West Coast.

Except for a few people who go to the East to do business, most of the emerging middle class people on the West Coast buy tickets for the purpose of traveling to the East.

Therefore, the tickets to the East were dispensable to them.

At the Washington train station, after the train stopped, Liang Yao and the others just got off the train, and a carriage specially prepared by Buchanan took them away and sent them to the White House.

With the help of Liang Yao, Shen Baozhen and Buchanan discussed the cooperation of the Ship Administration.

Since Shen Baozhen did not have the decision-making power of the Ship Administration, he never gave Buchanan a clear answer.

The more vague Shen Baozhen's attitude was, the more Buchanan thought that it was the series of anti-Chinese events in the East a while ago that made the Qing Dynasty's envoy unhappy.

Buchanan bowed and apologized to Shen Baozhen and Liang Shaoqiong for this, and promised that similar things would never happen again, which made Liang Yao, who was working part-time as a translator, laugh and cry.

"Okay, Mr. President. The envoy said he was tired and wanted to take a rest. After returning home, the Qing Dynasty will notify us whether it decides to co-operate with Britain, France or the United States to run the Ship Administration." Liang Yao said to Buchanan with a smile.

It is true that Buchanan's term of office was the worst period in American history, which made it difficult for Buchanan to achieve anything.

But this cannot cover up the fact that Buchanan was indecisive and mediocre.

God gave Buchanan the opportunity to become the leader of the revival, but Buchanan did not seize it and chose to play badly.

Most politicians in this world follow the rules and are content with the status quo. The brave politicians who dare to break the status quo and break it are the minority of outliers.

The greatest achievement of Buchanan during his term was to take advantage of the Second Opium War and force the Qing Dynasty and the United States to sign the Tianjin Treaty. This treaty is the first unequal treaty between China and the United States.

"I have made a public apology for the recent anti-Chinese incidents, and the relevant compensation has been paid. Mr. Liang, I think the Huaxia Chamber of Commerce should also cancel the strike, right?"

After personally seeing off Liang Shaoqiong and Shen Baozhen, Buchanan said to Liang Yao. He hopes that Chinese businessmen can cancel the strike as soon as possible.

"I will inform the Chamber of Commerce of the relevant matters." Liang Yao nodded and said.

"In addition, please help to win the joint operation of the shipbuilding with the Qing Dynasty." Buchanan said.

"The federal government is so poor that it has almost no money to pay the soldiers."

This Buchanan is not a newcomer in the political arena, but a veteran in American politics. However, he still can't speak at all, and he said these things in front of a powerful general.

Liang Yao frowned when he heard this.