1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 49 The Surprised Stone Wall

The retired major whom Scrooge called very interesting was Stonewall Jackson, who later became famous in the Civil War. Like Robert Lee, in the future, he will be the most outstanding general in the Southern Army. On the battlefield, he was almost invincible, setting many classic cases of winning with less. Unfortunately, he was unlucky. He was seriously injured in an accidental hit by his own person, and finally escaped miraculously from the hands of the god of death. Just when he was about to return to the battlefield, he suddenly suffered from the cold. Died of pneumonia. Many southerners even believe that if Stonewall Jackson is not dead, the South will never be defeated.

Scrooge definitely sneered at this statement. If someone said so on military forums in later generations, he would definitely be overwhelmed by the crowd, and he would be accused of thinking that his IQ was slightly lower than that of the apes, probably with the national fan. It’s in a class. Because the Civil War was the first true overall war in the history of mankind, it was the overall strength of the two sides that competed. Both the population and economic power of the North far exceed those of the South by several times. Such a general trend cannot be reversed by a general.

However, only in terms of military affairs, Stonewall Jackson is indeed worthy of the title of the most outstanding general in the Civil War. Therefore, Scrooge would be very happy to be able to talk to such a character.

Jackson arrived at the McDonald Infantry Arms Company at about two o’clock in the afternoon. According to the procedure, Scrooge should first arrange for him to go to the shooting range to inspect the shooting conditions of the guns; then to the factory to inspect the production conditions.

At that time, Scrooge had just initialed a cooperation agreement with Robert Ferrari, who claimed to be Italian, and sent him to the carriage. The front foot just walked into the company’s door, and was about to go up to the office on the second floor, and heard someone say from behind: “My name is Thomas Jackson. I am a representative from the Federal Army. I am looking for your boss, Mr. Scrooge. .”

Scrooge turned his head on the stairs and saw a bearded man talking to accountant Smith passing by.

“Ah, sir, you…you…well…” Smith is a good accountant, but he has a stuttering problem, so generally speaking, it is not his turn to receive visitors. Suddenly someone spoke to him, which was far beyond his expectation, so the stuttering problem suddenly appeared again.

“I’m Scrooge MacDonald, the boss here. You are welcome, dear friend.” Scrooge turned around, walked down the stairs, and walked towards Jackson. Just before entering the door, Scrooge saw this bearded man walking from the other side of the street. As a representative of the Army, he did not ride in a carriage. This simple style made Scrooge a favorite. At the same time, his name-Thomas Jackson-also made Scrooge suspect that he would be in the coming war. The most powerful “stone wall”.

“Are you the boss here?” Thomas Jackson looked at Scrooge walking towards him, very surprised, “God, you invented MacDonald in 1857?”

“Yes, I’m Scrooge, like a fake replacement.” Scrooge said, thinking in his heart: “These guys in the Army are really not serious. Although we all know that this inspection is just a look, You don’t have to get to the point where you don’t even know the basic information of the company you want to investigate? You know, anyone who knows a little about McDonald’s Infantry Arms Company knows that their company’s boss is a minor.”

Jackson looked around. He saw that no one showed any special expressions, so he decided in his heart that this shouldn’t be a kid’s prank.

“Then, Mr. Scrooge, hello, this is my letter of introduction.” Jackson handed Scrooge the letter of introduction sent to him by the Federal Army.

Scrooge took the letter and looked at it, then raised his head and said to Jackson with a smile: “Major, welcome. Well, let’s go to the reception room and sit down for a cup of tea, take a break, and let our people prepare a little bit. Let’s go to the shooting range and try the gun first. What do you think.”

“Everything is subject to your arrangements.” Jackson replied very politely.

In the United States at the time, there was a saying that the southern military personnel were the most decent military personnel in the United States. They were both courteous and polite. This is very obvious in Thomas Jackson. Scrooge noticed that when walking, Thomas Jackson seemed to have a fixed pace and stride length in every step, just as he naturally carried a set of clocks and rulers. And when he was sitting, he also looked solemn and majestic without squinting. But when talking with you, he seemed very humble and polite, even if he was just a child in front of him.

After chatting for a while in the reception room, Scrooge understood that the Thomas Jackson in front of him was the famous “Stone Wall” later, but Scrooge did not immediately take out his notebook and ask for signatures of celebrities. The signature of’Stone Wall’ will be very valuable in a hundred years, but by that time, my signature will be even more valuable.” Well, that’s what Scrooge thought.

At this time, Roland came in and told Scrooge that the shooting range was ready. Scrooge stood up and said to Jackson, “Major, we can go to the shooting range now.”

Thomas Jackson put down the gun in his hand and shook his head slightly.

“What’s the matter, Major, is there anything wrong with this gun?” Scrooge asked.

“Ah, except for the price, this gun is almost perfect.” Jackson replied, “However, I am almost certain that the Federal Army will not be equipped with a rifle worth $50. Although in terms of actual performance, it is definitely worth the price. But Mr. Scrooge, you don’t have to be disappointed. Sooner or later, guns like this will drive their competitors to the trash. I just feel that the advent of such guns will definitely make future wars bloodier. .”

“This is not necessarily a bad thing. If the war is not bloody and painful, maybe a lot of fools will fall in love with it. Are you right?” Scrooge said.

“Well said, if I have not personally experienced the war, I might be a big fool.” Thomas Jackson smiled slightly. Scrooge knew that Thomas Jackson, as a famous general, had always been a pacifist. Whether it was the United States war against Mexico or the subsequent Civil War, he was opposed to it. But he is also a very contradictory guy. He opposed foreign aggression, but he was promoted to a major in the US-Mexico War. He opposed slavery and opposed the independence of the South. However, he believed that the southern states had independent rights and were willing to do so. They fight.

“Major, my invention is actually beneficial to peace.” Scrooge said in a serious posture.

“What’s this about?” Thomas Jackson, a pacifist, came interested.

“In China more than two thousand years ago, a great pacifist-Mr. Mozi appeared. In his era, China was split into countless small countries, and bloody wars continued between these small countries. After research, Mr. Zi concluded that although these wars were under various banners, such as orthodoxy, justice, etc., in the final analysis, they were just methods used by the nobles to obtain benefits. For those kings , War is a business. So he thought, if this business can be made less profitable, or less profitable, then the kings will be less interested in launching wars. So he seriously researched defensive technology, every time a When a country launched an aggression against another country, he personally took his own disciples to help the country that was invaded to defend. He was so good at defense that it would be extremely difficult for anyone to conquer the city he guarded. , The price to be paid is also staggering. In this way, he has succeeded in greatly reducing the rate of return of launching wars, and the aggression initiated by large countries against small countries often becomes more than worthwhile. In this way, when he is alive, he He and his disciples prevented the war time and time again. Later, some big countries would take the initiative to abandon the invasion plan as long as they heard that Mr. Mozi had arrived in a small country.” Scrooge did not directly answer the question, but talked about it. The story.

“This is really a great man. Thank you for telling me such a story.” Thomas Jackson exclaimed. Then he remembered something and said: “Mr. Scrooge, do you mean that your gun can also play such a role?”

“Of course.” Scrooge said, “My gun is extremely suitable for defensive operations. It can give the defender a huge advantage.”

“But it will also bring a lot of help to the offense.” Thomas Jackson retorted, “Well, with a rifle with such a high rate of fire, the offense can ensure sufficient firepower density with a looser formation.”

“But the defender gets more benefits.” Scrooge replied, “New weapons will always bring new ways of fighting. Just like the appearance of stirrups, the cavalry can go straight to the army and turn the tank into waste. , And the bayonet rifle makes the spear completely disappear from the phalanx. As long as a new defensive combat method is adopted, based on the use of new rifles, the defender will be able to obtain a much greater advantage.”

“Haha.” Thomas Jackson laughed, “Mr. Scrooge, I didn’t expect you to have studied war so much. Do you want to imitate that Mr. Mozi, by increasing the cost of war and reducing its rate of return? Stop the war? If this is the case, I really want to pay tribute to you. Well, although I am not very proficient in combat, I still have some experience. Why don’t you talk about your tactics and discuss them together? Let’s see if it works.”

“That’s great,” Scrooge said. “But we should finish the program first. Let’s go to the factory and check it out first.”