1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 642: The Three Kingdoms

"I admit that the problem in the West is as serious as the rebellion in the South, but everything has a priority. Mr. President, the situation is critical. Whether to send troops to the South or the West first, please make a decision as soon as possible." Douglas stood up and urged.

"All the volunteers and militia that have been mobilized will be used to defend the capital." After careful consideration, Lincoln made a decision. "In addition, issue another mobilization order to mobilize another 100,000 troops as quickly as possible. We have not yet completely torn our relationship with the West. We can first contact and negotiate with them on the ownership of the central border areas to buy some time."

Changes in the situation in the West disrupted Lincoln's original rhythm. Forced by the rapidly deteriorating situation, Lincoln had to issue a second mobilization order within just one month.

"Mr. President, it is not difficult to mobilize 75000 troops, but after we mobilized soldiers, the federal finances are almost exhausted. Our current finances are only enough to maintain these mobilized soldiers." Finance Minister Salmon Chase looked embarrassed.

Not to mention that this was the first time in the history of the federation that two mobilization orders were issued consecutively within a month, which was a great test of the organizational and mobilization capabilities of these federal bureaucrats.

The most fatal thing was that the federation was still shrouded in the shadow of the economic crisis. The financial situation of the federal government was not optimistic to begin with. After losing the two major sources of tariff revenue from the South and the West, the federal government's finances became even worse.

Maintaining an army of about 100,000 people is already the financial limit of the current federal government. It is impossible to mobilize another 100,000 troops even at the lowest supply standard.

"Mobilize patriots to donate! Use banking policies! Go to Wall Street to raise funds! Issue war bonds! Borrow from other countries!" Lincoln said in a very stern tone, "No matter what method you use, I want to see this 100,000-man army within two months! If you can't do it, you should step down and let others take over!"

Even though Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase was an old friend of Lincoln, Lincoln did not have a good face towards this old friend and seemed to have no mercy on him at all.

"Yes, sir." Salmon Chase had no choice but to accept the task.

People with simple patriotic enthusiasm don't have much money. It's not that rich people are unpatriotic, but it's very troublesome to get money from these people who don't give up until they see the rabbit.

As for borrowing from other countries, the wealthy countries in Europe were basically monarchies, and the kings and prime ministers of these countries hoped that the American Republic would become a mess and then split the North American continent. It was not easy to borrow money from them. This was destined to be a difficult task.

"The Southern states are not a monolithic entity. We can still fight for some states and regions to ease our current political and military pressures," Lincoln continued.

"The West Virginia gentry, led by Francis Pierpont, are very angry about the state assembly's vote to secede from the Union. We must win over these enlightened gentry in the counties and cities of West Virginia. Seward, you and Mr. Francis Pierpont are old friends, and I think it would be most appropriate for you to handle this matter."

Lincoln has always been very active in winning over swing states and regions in the South, and has already taken action.

Before Lincoln officially took office, he had contacted Charles Moorehead, the former governor of Kentucky, and revealed that he hoped that Kentucky could continue to remain in the big family of the Union. However, Charles Moorehead, the old fox, still took a wait-and-see attitude, not wanting to offend the North or vent his anger on the South, and did not make a clear statement.

Lincoln has already won the southern swing state of Maryland, and the remaining regions and states to win are Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia.

Of these three places, the most critical target is undoubtedly West Virginia. If West Virginia is won, it will not only weaken the strength of Virginia, the largest state in the South, and provide a guarantee for the safety of western Washington, but also prove to the outside world that the northern federal government is the people's choice and the only legitimate government.

"I will definitely live up to your trust." Seward accepted the task very readily.

Seward knew little about the frontier, but he knew the East.

The counties and cities in West Virginia had no tradition of slavery and were more closely connected to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York in terms of economy. These counties and cities were not on the same page with the Richmond authorities, and local dignitaries such as Francis Pierpont were originally loyal to the Union. It was easy to persuade them to defect to the North.

Compared to the task Lincoln assigned to Salmon Chase, Seward's assignment was a good one.

On April 1861, 4, a massive multinational fleet appeared in the waters near the port of Veracruz.

Some of the ships in this fleet flew the White Ensign and the Union Jack of the British Royal Navy, or the flags of the Second French Empire and the Spanish Empire.

There is no doubt that this army was the British, French and Spanish coalition forces that marched to Mexico in the name of debt collection.

The Port of Veracruz is one of the few ports in the western Gulf of Mexico that can berth large ships, and it is also the first stop for the British, French and Spanish Allied Forces arriving in Mexico.

Sven, the actual controller of the Port of Veracruz and commander of the Atlantic Fleet of the American Republic, allowed British, French and Spanish ships to dock at the Port of Veracruz for supplies at the instruction of Liang Yao.

After learning of this, the Mexican authorities protested to the American Republic, demanding that the port of Veracruz remain neutral and not allow warships of other countries to dock.

However, the authorities of the American Republic did not take the protests of the Mexican authorities seriously and still agreed to the request of the joint fleet of Britain, France and Spain to dock for supplies.

On the one hand, these soldiers from Europe could bring huge income to the port of Veracruz. On the other hand, the authorities of the American Republic did not want to vent their anger on the European powers at this critical moment.

Sven stood on the dock with his hands behind his back, gazing at the huge fleet and thinking a lot. This was the first time Sven had the opportunity to witness the two most powerful navies in the world with his own eyes.

The navy has high construction and maintenance costs, long cycles, slow personnel training, and a complex system. It is the military branch that tests national strength the most in this era and is a reflection of a country's comprehensive strength. The size and type of ships of Britain, France, and Spain can also give us a glimpse into their national strength.

In terms of fleet quality, the British Empire was naturally the leader, and Britain sent one of its ironclad ships, the Warrior, to participate in this expedition. The Warrior, with a displacement of about 10,000 tons, stood out among the other ships, and was very conspicuous.

In addition to the Warrior, more than half of the British ships are steam-powered, ranging from gunboats with a displacement of one or two hundred tons, suitable for near-shore and inland river navigation, to frigates with a displacement of two or three thousand tons, to battleships with a displacement of more than four or five thousand tons, as well as other troop transports, logistics support ships and the like. It can be said that the system is complete.

However, the scale of the British expedition was relatively limited, with only one or two regiments of marines and no heavy artillery. It seemed that the British really only came to force Mexico to fulfill its debt obligations by force.

The French Navy's flagship was two Glory-class ironclad ships with a displacement of more than 6600 tons. The fleet system was also relatively complete, and the steam rate was comparable to that of the British Navy. However, the French army was much larger than the British army, especially the troop transport ships, which were several times that of the British army, and the number of people must have exceeded .

An army of this size, let alone fighting Mexico, would be enough to give both the Confederacy and the Union a hard time even if it was deployed to the north. It seemed that the French were just as the president had judged. Their intention to collect debts was fake, but their intention to occupy and control Mexico was real.

After careful observation, Sven felt that the biggest difference between the British and French navies was not in the ships, but in the quality of the crews. The British crews were obviously more skilled and more comfortable in operating the ships than the French crews.

When his eyes fell on the seven or eight sailing ships of the Spanish fleet, Sven couldn't help but reveal a look of disdain.

Compared with the warships of Britain and France, the fleet of Spain, a declining empire, seemed to be from the last century.

(End of this chapter)