Chapter 352: A Cruel War

  Chapter 342: Cruel War

At the end of 1862, the assassination case that lasted for several years finally came to an end, and after synthesizing all the evidence, the black hand behind the scene pointed to the Sardinian government.

Whether others believe it or not, anyway, the government of Paris is believed, the government of Vienna also accepted this explanation.

The protests of the Sardinian government were ignored, and before the assassination case broke out the Sardinian government secretly provided a sum of money to the charcoal-burning party, which became the most favorable evidence against them.

Crucially, the French also had witnesses in their hands, and the arrested suspects confessed to the assassination and came forward to testify against the Sardinian government.

The former government prime minister, Cavour, was jailed for the crime, and if he was unlucky, he might even be sent to the gallows.

The prime minister and the top government officials were directly targeted in one fell swoop, and King Vittorio Emanuele II could not be blamed for the crime, having announced his abdication two days earlier.

There is no need to go into the details of the benefit deals behind this, in short, the French are paying a big price to get the countries to acquiesce to all this happening.

Franz was surprised when he said, “The British just sold the Kingdom of Sardinia?”

Originally, he thought that around the Sardinian Kingdom, Britain and France would still have to have a dragon fight, but he did not think that the London government would compromise so soon.

Foreign Minister Weissenberg explained, “Your Majesty, we acquiesced to the actions of the French, and the Russians were too busy with internal reforms to participate in Italian affairs, and the British were powerless to intervene if they wanted to.

Anyway, the balance of Europe was not broken, and even if the French annexed the Kingdom of Sardinia, they still could not change the three-legged continental pattern.

The loss of the British interests, the French also in other places to make up for. The investigation mission to seize the suspect’s family property will be almost enough to repay the British loan.

Now that the obstacles to the French annexation of the Kingdom of Sardinia have basically been cleared, it is now up to the government of Paris to decide when to do it.”

Franz sneered, “So is Napoleon III preparing to gain the throne by election again?”

Don’t look at the French’s reasons that seemed very strong, but unfortunately these were not enough for them to legally annex the Kingdom of Sardinia.

There is nothing wrong with holding the masterminds responsible for plotting the assassination of the king, and the government of Vienna was pursuing the matter. But thus annexing the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Sardinians must first be asked if they are willing.

Especially let Vittorio Emanuele II abdicate, is a political defeat, that even if it is a swap of territory, the food should look better.

France has so many overseas colonies, just throw a name to Vittorio Emanuele II, it is also better than ousting him from power.

Being elected to the throne by the people is one of the least legalistic ways to go. To put it bluntly, the people can still get rid of him in the same way if they don’t like him one day.

Weissenberg replied, “From the intelligence we have gathered, the French are indeed preparing for the election.”

Franz said calmly, “Then give them a hand by having the nails we’ve planted also support Napoleon III as concurrently King of Sardinia, and build him up in public opinion.”

Whether the Kingdom of Sardinia would join France directly or whether Napoleon III would become King of Sardinia concurrently was very important.

In the former case, the Sardinian population would certainly not agree. But in reality, it was in the best interest of France. Experiencing a short-term pain was the only way to ensure that the Kingdom of Sardinia would not go out on its own.

Only to do so, eating face is a bit ugly, anyway, have come to this point, their eating face want to look good are difficult. Either they don’t do it, or they have to do it.

The latter, counting on the fact that France will always be strong and can suppress the Kingdom of Sardinia forever. Once France has half a problem, people are going to make a fuss about independence.

The Italians do not consider them and France to be one family, and the so-called basis of domination simply does not exist. Napoleon III also had no way to buy the underclass to agree with his rule.

Although Napoleon was a great man, it was a pity that Napoleon’s family was too shallow, and the political legacy left behind was not enough for Napoleon III to realize his political ambitions.

In this regard, Franz was well aware of the fact that Austria was able to expand smoothly in Europe, to a large extent, it was the political legacy left by the Habsburg Dynasty.

Turning to the history books, many parts of Europe had been ruled by the Habsburgs over the centuries. Even if he had fought his way through, he could still hold up the banner of dynastic restoration, even if it was a little far-fetched the legal basis was still there.

Without the political legacy of his ancestors, who in the German states would buy him? This includes the Austro-Italian region as well, where he is juridically orthodox.

Orthodoxy exists in both East and West, and many people in the East rebel by raising the flag of the previous dynasty. Not because of the number of supporters they can get, but mainly to prove that they are not a chaotic party and that they have a great deal of orthodoxy.

Having righteousness is called fighting for the world, without righteousness it is reckless thieves and bandits. In the end, the successful ones are basically the ones who fight for the world, and I haven’t heard that the reckless thieves and bandits have sat in the world.

“Since ancient times, those who do not plan for the whole world are not enough to plan for a time, and those who do not plan for the whole situation are not enough to plan for a country.”

This is Franz’s motto, always reminding himself to remain vigilant.

……

On January 15, 1863, with the support of the Confederate government, the central Indiana Territory declared itself an independent nation.

This area was the area where the U.S. government resettled the Indians, and dozens of tribes, between 1830 and 1840, were deported to this area.

The federal government did not yet have effective rule over the area, and because of the hatred, there were few white residents in the area; historically, it was only after 1889 that there was an influx of whites.

The war lasted until now, with both sides competing for overall national power. In order to win the war, the Southern government had to bring in more allies.

They were independent anyway, and there was no pressure on them to sell out to the federal government to buy off their allies.

In order to pull the Indians into the war, the Confederate government provided the newly independent Indian Emirate with fifty thousand rifles, one hundred guns, and several pieces of ammunition.

Once armed, the Indians set out on a path of vengeance. Kansas was the first casualty.

They had been pressed by the Confederates in Missouri and were suddenly stabbed in the back by the Indians and were instantly routed.

The Indians, harboring a blood feud, launched their fiercest retaliation, killing blood in the area.

Not only this one battlefield, the war has been carried out until now, the north and south have killed red eyes. Some areas have been turned into killing for the sake of killing, and civilians have become the biggest victims.

Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, and other warring areas have been reduced to hell on earth.

The nature of the war has changed, and through the propaganda of both governments, hatred has become one of the main factors in favor of the war.

Countries that were prepared to intervene were stunned by the American madness and chose to stop and watch.

Don’t get me wrong, people weren’t stunned. The main thing is that they want the Americans to continue to fight amongst themselves, consume each other’s strength, and preferably end up losing both.

To that end, both Britain and Austria were teaching the Southern government how to play diplomacy, and pulling in the Indians was one of them.

……

New York, looking at the casualty reports handed in by the federal government, President Lincoln couldn’t even look at them straight.

The Indians joined in, Kansas fell 70,000 Union troops were almost wiped out, civilian casualties were more than 300,000, the rest were reduced to war refugees, fled into the West.

What this meant, he could not have known better. The scope of the war was once again widened, the fire burned into the central region, the federal government’s political and military pressure further increased.

If the federal government could no longer gain the upper hand, it was estimated that many federal states would withdraw from this war for their own safety. In front of life and death, no interests mattered.

When the pie is painted in a beautiful way, it is necessary to let everyone see that there is a hope of eating it. Otherwise, the position of the capitalists who support the federal government will likewise be shaken.

At least the capitalists in Kansas have lost their money, and many have even lost their lives. The capitalists in the frontline belligerent states have likewise become the losers in this shuffle.

Whether or not the federal government was victorious, they had been eliminated from the game.

If it weren’t for the Southern government’s lack of diplomatic skills and the British and Austrians’ desire to see the war continue, deliberately bringing them down, there would have been at least several states out of the war by now.

“Carrot in one hand, stick in the other” is the most correct operation, if the southern government from the beginning did not target the northern government, but one state by one state to take political offensive, it is estimated that the neighboring states would have chosen neutrality now.

Against the entire federal government, the Confederacy did not have the certainty of victory, but to deal with one or a few federal states, that is not a problem at all.

The capitalists, who tend to be powerful, will most likely choose neutrality for their own good. Especially after the Kansas fiasco, everyone knew that the federal government was incapable of keeping them safe.

President Lincoln said to himself, “With the Civil War going on now, our casualties have topped three million, haven’t they?”

The Secretary of State at the door replied, “Not yet, but maybe next week. The Federal Government’s total military casualties are 1,768,000, of which 456,000 were killed in action, and 1,182,000 civilian casualties, of which 382,000 were killed.”

(NOTE: Casualties are calculated by the number of wounds, and it is theoretically possible for a soldier to be counted wounded dozens of times)

Lincoln sighed and said, “If we add the rebel casualties, the population loss we paid for this war is feared to be over 1.5 million.”

Obviously, he regretted starting this war. Not only Lincoln, many Americans regretted it. If people knew that the war would be so cruel, they would have compromised with each other before the war broke out.

Although the interests of the capitalists and plantation owners could not be reconciled, it was different for the capitalists and plantation owners in the warring states.

The interests of the class were not equal to their own interests, and selling out the class for their own interests could not be stressful for the capitalists.

Secretary of State Safar thought for a moment and said, “It depends on how it’s calculated, and if you take into account the reduction in immigration and the departure of immigrants due to the Civil War, then the loss could be increased by perhaps another million.

No, we can’t say it’s immigrants. In fact our total immigration has not gone down much. It’s just that white immigration is down, but Asian and black immigration is on the rise.”

The increase in black immigration has actually been forced. A large number of young men and women have gone into the military, creating a labor shortage in all walks of life.

Now that it was also a time of war, immigrants from European countries simply didn’t come. There was no choice but to bring in laborers from outside, and the increase in colored immigrants became inevitable.

Lincoln nodded and said, “No wonder there are more and more black soldiers in the army, it seems that a lot of people have used them to replace military service.”

Not everyone is willing to go to war, especially the rich capitalists, who are repelled from going to war. In this country of capitalists, it was naturally impossible for the federal government to force capitalists to serve in the military.

Hiring people for military service solved this problem perfectly; the federal government obtained soldiers and the capitalists completed their military service.

Secretary of State Safar said with a sad face, “Mr. President, I don’t think you need to be concerned about these side issues.

Our big trouble is just around the corner, have you figured out how to deal with the congressional questioning next week?”

Strategically speaking, the federal government had already achieved a stage victory by blocking the Southern government’s offensive, holding the core area of the Great Lakes, and preserving Washington.

Although Kansas is in the center of the United States, geographically: the Flint Hills in the east, the Smoky and Red Hills in the west, and the Senfrauer Mountains near the Colorado border.

There was no way for the Southern government to march westward with it in its grasp, and Missouri in the east, which would have joined the Confederate government, didn’t have to worry about it at all.

A single tactical defeat had little effect on the overall war effort. It was only then that President Lincoln was able to sit back and think about the future.

If Pennsylvania had fallen instead, he would have been unable to do so long ago.

Lincoln said indifferently, “What is there to be afraid of when it comes down to it. Even if I’m willing to step down immediately, it’s only if someone is willing to take over this mess.

Until the war is over, it’s impossible for Congress to kick us out of power. In case the federal government loses the war, the charge of splitting the federation will still need to be taken by us.”

This was not a broken record, but he really understood American politics. The current situation was still unfavorable for the federal government, and the possibility of the federal government splitting was very high, and no one was willing to bear the charge of splitting the federation.

From the current situation, even if we win this war, dealing with the southern states after the war will be an equally big trouble. No matter who sits in this position, the end will not be wonderful.

(End of chapter)