Wild North America 1846

Chapter 76 President Polk

one week later

May 1846, 5, at four o'clock in the afternoon

Washington, D.C

white house, oval office

President Polk signed the memorandum of mobilization of the Federal Army with great ambition, and then put down his pen to appreciate it, with a satisfied smile on the corner of his mouth.

This is a memorandum submitted by the Ministry of the Army. The standing force of the U.S. military is more than 8600 people. In times of emergency, volunteers can be recruited for a short period of time to expand the army.

According to the plan
During the war, the Army would expand to 3 men, the Marine Corps to 5, and the United States would have a naval force strong enough to overwhelm Mexico on land and sea, greatly expanding its Northwest and Southwest borders.

And all this

All will be recorded in the annals of history as the great achievements of this administration, and the first to bear the brunt is President Polk of the United States. No one can erase the great glory of expanding the territory.

Exactly a week ago, April 4th

The repeatedly provocative U.S. troops finally exchanged fire with the Mexican army, and this was the new situation that President Polk and the hardliners in this administration who fanatically advocated expansion expected to see, and the war machine of the United States was immediately activated.

Along with the propaganda of public opinion, border disputes have further ignited the anger in the hearts of the American people. Now everything is ready, only the east wind is owed.

The bill related to the war has been sent to Capitol Hill. Amidst the ups and downs, the bill will not be hindered, and it will be deliberated and passed smoothly soon.

According to the relevant procedures of the Congress, it is expected to be reviewed and voted on May 5, and it is almost certain that the Congress will pass the motion of going to war with Mexico.

Everything was progressing in an orderly manner according to the plan. President Polk happily took out his pipe and lit it, took two deep puffs, enjoying the refreshing feeling surrounded by the strong aroma of tobacco, his eyes narrowed unconsciously.

At this moment

The door was knocked twice, and then it was pushed open. Senior White House Secretary Suzanne came in holding the doorknob and said, "Mr. President, Secretary of State Slim Love said that there is an urgent matter and he wants to see you right away." to you."

"Let him in, Susannah, and see what good news it brings us?"

"As you wish, Mr. President." Suzanne retracted her head and closed the door smoothly.

in a few minutes

The door was opened again. The medium-sized, slightly fat Secretary of State Slim Love pushed the door in with a document in his hand. After closing the door with his backhand, he took a few steps forward and slapped the document Dropped it on the desk.

President Polk didn't look at the document, but looked up at Secretary of State Slim Love and asked, "What's the matter? Slim, you don't seem very happy."

"Look, Mr. President, the Brits are at it again. On May 5st, they encouraged a western force called the Datang Society to establish the Datang Kingdom in California, covering Upper California, Arizona and New Mexico. Area. This is all the area we plan to invade, damn Brit, clearly trying to confuse it."

"Wow... that doesn't sound good. Can you tell me about the Great Tang Society? I've never heard of this name."

"Me too, Mr. President, but before I came here, I learned about it through other channels. This Datang Society is a western force established by the Easterners. It rises very quickly. I heard that there are more than a thousand people armed and occupy St. Francis. Coe, the important towns of Sacramento and Los Angeles, seem to be no small trouble."

"Oriental? A place with more than a thousand people armed? Hehehe..." President Polk laughed contemptuously upon hearing this.

He went to the table and flipped through a few pages of documents casually, looked at ten lines at a glance, and then stopped to read; "Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria of Great Britain canonized Richard as Duke of California, King of the Tang Dynasty, Saint Fernandez Fangyuan 300 miles is its fiefdom. The Tang Kingdom has been officially recognized by the British government, and will send diplomatic envoys to Tang to take up their duties as soon as possible, to carry out mutually beneficial trade cooperation, and to enhance the exchange of expatriates..."

While thinking about it, the smile on President Volcker's face disappeared and was replaced by a solemn application.

Then he sat down, flipped through the document carefully, and read the document from beginning to end after a while.

After closing the last page, President Polk remained silent for a while, as if he was carefully considering the stakes inside.

Neither the so-called Great Tang Society nor the Tang State was on his mind, and those who were weak could be ignored and destroyed with a wave of their hands.

What matters is the attitude of London, the attitude of Her Majesty the Queen of the British Empire. Her Majesty Queen Victoria has been in power for 1837 years since she was crowned in 10.

All countries in the world have experienced the toughness of this wise monarch, Her Majesty the Queen. The Queen cooperated tacitly with the Whig Prime Minister William Nam, Viscount Melbourne, and implemented severe suppression internally, supported the capitalist business class to expand trade, and pursued positive policies externally. The global colonial policy has launched successive expansion wars.

President Polk knew it;

Compared with the British Empire, the global hegemony in its prosperous period, the United States is not even a hair.

The reason why he dared to threaten to use force to solve the Oregon issue was that Britain did not pay attention to the North American colonies, but spread pepper across the world, and used very little power in the British Canadian colonies.

Britain's primary interests in the world lie in Europe, where Crimea contains the Tsarist Empire, supports the Kingdom of Prussia in Europe to check and balance France's land hegemony, and implements a "continental balance" policy.

The second concern is that in the Indian subcontinent in South Asia, the British army is planning to invade Burma, attack Afghanistan, and attack the French Indian colony. It plans to unify the entire Indian subcontinent and include it in the scope of colonies.

In addition, Britain set up the Governor's Office of the British Straits in Penang Island in South Asia and Malaysia, operated the Weihaiwei Concession and the Hong Kong Island Concession in the Eastern China mainland, and suppressed the local aborigines in Australia and New Zealand.

at the same time
Britain implemented an expansion policy in South Africa, and planned to strengthen its influence in Egypt, the Kingdom of Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula in order to realize the dream of an empire on which the sun never sets.

this period
It was a period of rapid expansion of the British Empire's global colonies, which further strengthened its global hegemony. The French state could no longer compete with it and was forced to be reduced to a subordinate position.

At best, the United States can only be called a bully in North America, taking advantage of Britain's inattention, that's all.

A tiger is a tiger after all, and a proper attitude of awe is a must.

The problem is that the US-Mexico war is imminent and has to be launched.

President Polk looked up irritably, looked at Secretary of State Slim Love, and asked in a consulting tone;

"Dear Slim, you were present at the recent meeting with Federal Army Chief of Staff Bob Weingraub, who assured me that the Federal Army will defeat the Mexicans with absolute superiority and give us Bringing back a victory, that should be right, right?"

"Yes, Mr. President, there is no doubt that our Continental Army is confident enough to defeat the Mexicans."

"Then, how about adding...uh...the Tang Kingdom?"

"It's as easy as swatting a fly to death. I don't think Bob would be ashamed to ask for extra rewards. In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are invisible."

"Well, what about adding a Canadian militiaman or an Englishman?"

"Uh...that's hard to say."

"Well, it seems that our previous estimates were too optimistic. The British are not willing to lose the Oregon region. This Tang Kingdom may be a warning. This document is notified to the Ministry of War. The corresponding military preparations are carried out as planned. Now we can only go Take it step by step."

President Polk signed the document, then pushed it aside with some headaches, and said while tightening the cap of the pen; "Tell Bob, the corresponding military actions must be restrained, and don't make too much noise. I don't want to irritate the British too much, it's not in our interest."

"I will speak to Bob personally on this matter, Mr. President."

"That's fine, let me be quiet."

"As you wish, Mr. President." Secretary of State Slim Love took the documents on the table, bowed slightly, and turned to leave the Oval Office.

President Polk sighed for a long time, leaned back in the chair tiredly, pinched the space between his eyebrows with his fingers, to ease his mind from overthinking.

He had a premonition; America's westward expansion would not be smooth sailing, and might experience severe tests.

(End of this chapter)