Chapter 218 America

After the successful experience of the first Australian expedition, this is undoubtedly a great encouragement for the civil and military ministers and even the lower classes of the Chinese and dynasties. This time, the movements and appetite of the Greater China and dynasties have also become much bigger, and Xiao Tianjian has focused on the Spaniards.

Because of the two massacres of the Chinese by the Spaniards on Luzon Island, it goes without saying that under the deliberate propaganda of the Great Central Dynasty, the current Chinese people in the Greater China and North Korea are very hostile to the Spaniards, and the Spanish's current national strength is declining, and their maritime strength is even after losing in the naval battle with the British. In the face of the offensive of China and North Korea, it soon lost its interests in Asia and was forced to withdraw from the competition of forces in Southeast Asia, focusing on North and South America.

Because the Spaniards discovered the Americas the earliest, they were also the first to colonize North and South America. From the end of the 15th century to the middle of the 17th century, Spain occupied a lot of land in North and South America, making it a Spanish colonial territory, and through these colonies, a large number of I took gold and silver, and then went to Asia to purchase goods and made a fortune.

Xiao Tianjian has actually focused on these colonies in Spain. In the early stage, only because of experience and strength, the Greater China and North Korea did not have the ability to quickly go to North and South America to compete for colonies with the Spaniards. However, now the Greater China has completed the expedition to Australia and occupied Australia to become the Greater China colonists. After the people's land, the Greater China and North Korea have already had such strength.

So a new plan for the expedition to North and South America was submitted to Xiao Tianjian and the cabinet. After reviewing it, Xiao Tianjian revised it to a certain extent.

The plan submitted by the naval department and the Sea Trade Group is really a little too appetizing. They actually want to send four expeditionary fleets. At the same time, they choose to land in four places in North and South America and compete with the Spaniards for colonies in the Americas. Such a plan makes the cabinet and Xiao Tianjian a little unable to connect. Accept.

Because the costly and the number of ships that need to be allocated is too large, even if the financial situation of the Greater China and North Korea are not good now, they can't stand such a toss, so Xiao Tianjian directly killed the plan of two of the expeditionary fleets, leaving only two expeditionary fleets, and the destination has been reduced to two, then It is the area of Mexico in North America and Chile in South America.

The reason why these two places were chosen as the first places to land in North and South America is that in Mexico, the reserves of silver ore are very huge. The Spaniards obtained a large amount of silver through here and imported it into Asia. In addition, the most important thing is that it is relatively close to Panama in later generations. Once you stand firm here. The heel can then control the Panama area. You should know that a Panama Canal can be cut here in the future to connect the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. Just collecting tolls is a large amount of wealth!

Therefore, the occupation of Mexico is very important for China and North Korea, which is also to lay a good foundation in advance for the layout of Greater China in the future.

And the South American expeditionary fleet chose to land in Chile for no other reason, that is, for Chile's saltpeter ore and copper resources. You know, before the modern science industry was born, for a long time, arms production could not be separated from saltpeter, and Chile has the world's largest saltpeter mine, once it is occupied. In this, saltpeter can be obtained for a long time to make a large amount of gunpowder, which greatly reduces the production cost of gunpowder, which is also the basis for the Chinese and North Korean troops to conquer the world in the future.

So in Xiao Tianjian's view, since we want to go on an expedition to North and South America, we must first obtain these two places. As long as we stand firm in these two places, we can gradually extend the power of the Greater China and North and North and South America in the future!

After the Admiralty received Xiao Tianjian's instruction, it immediately revised their original plan and was quickly approved by the cabinet and the emperor.

So at the end of the fifteenth year of Tianyuan, the second and third expeditionary fleets immediately began to recruit personnel and put them into training.

But what is surprising is that this time the Army Department protested, believing that such a big thing has kicked their Army Department aside. It is only for watching the fun, which is a serious unfair treatment of the Lu Division.

It's enough to go to Australia for the first time. Now that Dazhong and North Korea are going to the Americas, they don't let Lu Shi participate. Lu Shi will never accept it.

Therefore, they proposed that the army division must also participate in this operation, because the navy cannot fight the world. They are mainly responsible for things at sea. Once they land, they need the army division to cooperate. Moreover, the navy's marines are limited and lack heavy weapons. Once they encounter resistance from the locals, It is not enough to control the situation.

Therefore, it is very necessary for the army division to join in. This credit cannot be occupied by the naval department, because the wise emperor once said that any war will eventually require infantry to finally be solved. Therefore, if the army is not allowed to participate in this matter this time, it will be contempt for the whole army.

When Li Xin, the secretary of the Veterans Department, submitted the protest of the War Department to Xiao Tianjian and the cabinet, Xiao Tianjian and the cabinet were a little embarrassed.

They are very clear that the army used to look down on the navy, and over the years, there have been a lot of resentment about the tilt of military spending to the navy department. In addition, a few years ago, Dazhong and North Korea abolished the army, but expanded the navy, which made the army feel threatened, especially the expedition to Australia, did not let the army division participate, the army's army The officials have long been angry. Now that the Great China and North Korea are going to make a big expedition to the Americas, but the navy and the sea trade group are still in charge, and the officers of the army finally begin to sit still.

So the commanders of the military regions jointly asked that the army should not be excluded this time, and the army must also participate in this trip to the Americas!

After reading their co-book, Xiao Tianjian was very happy. Now under his guidance, the Chinese people who did not like expansion and war have become more and more aggressive, and nationalism has also begun to rise in China. For the Chinese, this is undoubtedly a The good thing is that the army is no longer satisfied with the days of being alone in the Asian continent, and has begun to want to participate in this global expansion.

So this performance of the army is something he is happy to see, so Xiao Tianjian decided to meet the requirements put forward by the army department after consideration.

After discussing with the Admiralty and the Cabinet, Xiao Tianjian once again issued an order to amend the American plan and add the army to this operation.

Although the navy is a little unhappy, it has to admit that the army's combat effectiveness on land is still more than that of their marines. In the future, the large North and South America cannot meet the needs of the war with their navies and marines alone. Therefore, it is reasonable for the army to request to join the operation.

So, under the coordination of various departments, Xiao Tianjian ordered the military regions to select and recruit volunteers and form the Army's American Expeditionary Force.

The first batch of the Army's American Expeditionary Force temporarily trained 6,000 people, and the two northern and southern fleets were allocated half each. As an advance force, they set out with the first fleets to the Americas.

In addition, in the next year, another batch of 18,000 to 20,000 people will be recruited to form two combat divisions as a follow-up reserve team, ready to land in the Americas at any time.

However, Xiao Tianjian put forward some requirements. First, all applicants must be voluntary and cannot be forcibly assigned! Second, all the applicants will serve for five years after landing in the Americas, and then become immigrants on the spot, settle in the Americas, and become the first batch of immigrants from the Greater China and North Korea in the Americas. Third, all people must be healthy and familiar with water. Dry ducks are not needed. If they can't swim now, they can learn now, but they must Only after passing the assessment can you be a full member. Fourth, the scope of recruitment is not only active army members, but also retired or dismissed soldiers can also sign up, which is equivalent to giving some veteran army soldiers who have been forced to retire due to disarmament a chance to appease the retired members of the army.

These principles were sent to various military regions. After the army soldiers learned about it, some speculators retreated, mainly because some people just wanted to go to the Americas for gilding and did not think of settling in the American continent in the future. This group of people first chose to give up, but in the army, they also There are many people who are very discerning. After understanding the geographical knowledge, they know that the region of North and South America is very vast, many times larger than Australia. Going there also means more opportunities, especially after the end of the five-year service period, they can obtain a large amount of land locally, which is also very useful. Something powerful.

As a result, there were still quite a large number of applicants, so that each military region had to strictly screen them. Some of the losers even complained to the Ministry of War, saying that the selection was unfair. As a result, there was a lot of noise, and it was not easy to complete the formation of the first expeditionary force.

The first wave of 6,000 people of the Army's American Expeditionary Force are of very high quality. Among them, there are many senior officers. After knowing that they are recruited, they may lower their ranks, but some officers still resolutely chose this path, and these army officers and soldiers are carefully selected. Individuals have experienced very strict military training, and their personal combat effectiveness is very strong. Many of them are even good at using a variety of weapons, which can be said to be a complete range of arms.

So after these people were organized, with a little training, there were two elite soldiers who were directly responsible for assigning them to the equipment. For these expeditionary troops, the military department did not hesitate to take out the best guys and arm them. In addition to the Minee rifles, they were also equipped with the latest wooden-handled dragonfly. Thunderbolt cannon, at this time, the Thunderbolt cannon has been officially renamed grenade. In addition, it has been equipped with the latest exquisite four-wheeled carriage as their material transportation, and the best and most robust war horse has been selected for them. At the same time, it is also equipped with the latest steel 12-pound and 24-pound artillery, as the most The new steel breastplate, in short, as long as it is the best weapon, is equipped with them all in place, so that these guys like it very much.

The only regret is that the chemical industry in China and North Korea has just started. Although sulfuric acid, nitric acid and caustic soda have been initially prepared and have the foundation for the development of fire caps, it has not yet reached the level of application, so in a short period of time, the rear rifle It can't be produced yet, and the blasting grenade has not been successfully developed.

If it is a breakthrough in this regard, then for a long time in the future, the Dazhong army can completely use these things to sweep the world, and there will not be much problem.

However, even so, the current large and medium-sized army has enough technical advantages when dealing with the enemy. Although this first wave of troops landing in the Americas is not large, what Xiao Tianjian wants them to do is not to immediately sweep the American continent, but to let them seize the bridgehead and then send reinforcements. The army passed.

After a year of preparation, the two fleets finally set sail in Ningbo and sailed to the other side of the distant Pacific Ocean. Considering that although their goals were different, their routes were still the same in the early stage, the two fleets acted together and arrived in the American Sea before arriving in the Americas. After the shore, they went to their respective predetermined goals separately.

For this reason, the Sea Trade Group also tried to spend a lot of money to get several nautical charts from Asia to the Americas from the Dutch, coupled with the nautical charts drawn by the expedition ship sent by the Great China and North Korea in the early stage, which is enough to support this huge fleet to sail to the Americas without getting lost on the road.

And on this long voyage, China and North Korea made quite full preparations for the fleet, preparing enough flour, rice, all kinds of bacon and salted fish for the fleet in advance. In addition, they also prepared all kinds of dried vegetables and fruits for them, and even carried live chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep and a large number of turtles on the ship, which can make the fleet The members can also eat some fresh meat and eggs on the road. In addition, they also make bean sprouts on the ship to ensure that the crew can eat some fresh vegetables and prepare a lot of tea for the fleet.

In order to ensure the health of the members of the fleet, China and North Korea also took advantage of the development of the glass industry to develop the earliest canned food. After disinfecting fruits and some meat at high temperature, the glass bottle mouth was closed with a cork, so that it could be stored for a long time for the crew on the way.

In short, as long as he can think of what he can do, Xiao Tianjian spares no effort to consider and prepare the fleet members in advance, because in his eyes, these people are precious lives and are the kindlings that China will spread all over the world in the future. They can't let them die of malnutrition and vitamin deficiency easily. And in the hands of septicemia.

This time, the fleet commander was replaced by Zheng Sen. Zheng Sen was originally the commander of the Southern Fleet in Batavia, but now he took the initiative to resign and signed up for this expedition to the Americas. Shi Lang could only let Xian take over Zheng Sen's position and give up the position of the fleet commander.

A group of new naval officers, including the eldest prince Xiao Haoyu, also joined the fleet again this time, acting as an important backbone member of the fleet. Xiao Haoyu officially served as the captain on a cruiser.

With Xiao Haoyu's participation, it was also a great encouragement to the morale of the whole fleet, which strengthened the determination of the fleet members and made them embark on the journey without hesitation.