Seward waved his hand and said firmly, "Don't talk about these inconsequential things. I must be careful to inform you, Mr. Special Envoy, that even now that I am Acting President, I am not in a position to decide on a truce between the Commonwealth of America and your army. ”

Fan Ruzeng smiled and glanced at Xiward, he couldn't guess the thoughts of the foreigner in front of him, it was nothing more than telling himself his bottom line, so that he wouldn't force him or use that thing to force him to make difficult decisions.

Of course, Fan Ruzeng naturally knew that he couldn't change the decision of the entire American Federation at once, but Fan Ruzeng still had to threaten a little: "Mr. President, if anyone knows that the itinerary of the assassinated President Hannibal Hamlin that day was revealed, and a few guards were deliberately transferred in advance, what do you think?" ”

Seward changed color and shouted, "Mr. Special Envoy, you can't do this!" This is not beneficial to your Chinese Empire, and even if you want to splash dirty water on me, it is useless, you have no evidence, and I will not let you speak freely. Big deal, the fish die and the net is broken. ”

Fan Ruzeng laughed and said, "Mr. Xihuade, don't be nervous. As I just said, you are a friend of the Chinese Empire, and if you become the president of the American Federation, it will be more beneficial to our Chinese Empire, and you know what you should do, as long as it is beneficial to both of us, we will not betray you. ”

Seeing Fan Ruzeng say this, Xiward's face improved slightly, and he said in embarrassment: "Mr. Special Envoy, it's not that I shirk it, but in the current situation, it is indeed impossible for the American Federation to stop fighting with your country. You can't abandon so much land in vain, admit defeat, and be willing to let you invade, right? America has never had a tradition of yielding. ”

Fan Ruzeng smiled and said, "Mr. Xiward, don't worry. Trust us, we won't make it difficult for you. It won't be long before those members of Congress in your country will take the initiative to ask you to come forward and stop the state of war with our Chinese Empire, no, no, the United Kingdom of Hexi. ”

..........

A week later, inside the presidential palace in Philadelphia.

Seward, who had been acting president for a few days, summoned Treasury Secretary Samon Chase, Interior Secretary Caleb Smith, War Secretary Edwin Stanton, Navy Secretary Gideon Wells, and General Winfield Scott, who was reinstated as Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, to discuss the emergency military situation.

And now, he finally understood what the envoy of the Chinese Empire meant by what the envoy of the Chinese Empire said a week ago that would not make it difficult for him.

In the past few days, a strange enemy army of about 10,000 men suddenly captured Bigstone, a major military town of the Union stationed in the Dakota area on the border with Minnesota, from the northwest to the Dakota region, entered the upper Mississippi River, and began to enter Minnesota.

Because Minnesota was originally swept by the Hexi Coalition Army, there were not many federal regular troops, and the militia, which was finally reorganized, was defeated by this group of strong enemy troops at once, and many people who had seen this group of enemy troops at close range were killed, and everyone else fled far away, so those militiamen didn't even know how many people and horses the enemy army was, what the situation was, and which commander, but vaguely found that it was a group of Eastern Chinese troops.

But when Seward got the news, the fierce enemy army had already made its way down the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. However, this group of enemy troops did not follow the Mississippi River to capture the military towns along the way, but went deep inland, directly attacking various small towns, industrial cities, and herdsmen's garrisons, turning Wisconsin upside down.

Therefore, Seward could only summon the members of the Cabinet and General Winfield Scott, the reactivated commander-in-chief of the Union Army, to consult with him on how to deal with the sudden appearance of the enemy army.

Siward explained his intention a little, and then asked directly: "Look, how to send troops to surround this group of enemy troops." Also, what is the origin of this enemy army? ”

War Secretary Edwin Stanton was a little absent-minded, and he was very dissatisfied with the defeat of the election for acting president, but now that Seward has mastered the whole situation, no matter how dissatisfied he is, he can only bow his head, and even, he heard that Seward seems to want former Secretary of War Simon Cameron to come back and replace him as Minister of War.

Therefore, hearing Seward's question, Stanton replied casually: "It must be those Oriental Chinese, the army of the Chinese Empire." ”

Seward frowned, how could the army of the Chinese Empire suddenly appear in Minnesota? The original Hexi United Army had been almost defeated, and although a small number of troops escaped in the end, it was estimated that there were only a few hundred people. This group of troops is definitely not the Hexi Army.

Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells, who is also a soldier, shook his head directly and retorted: "Impossible! The Chinese Empire's troops had landed in San Francisco, California, only a month earlier, and had been invading Oregon half a month earlier. In less than half a month, it is impossible to cross the desolate and remote Rocky Mountains, and cross a distance of 2,000 miles to come to this Minnesota! ”

General Scott suddenly interjected: "It's really possible! This group of enemy troops is most likely the same group of people who were still in Oregon half a month ago. Based on my 40 years of experience in the army, as well as this sporadic intelligence, this group of enemy troops should be the kind of troops called special forces. I seem to have heard someone say that the Chinese Empire in the East pioneered this kind of troops.

This kind of special forces is born out of the infantry, but it is much stronger than the infantry, and it is very versatile to carry out special tasks. The so-called special forces are the best in the infantry, with tenacious will and physical strength, very high military quality and combat level, and the strengths of various arms such as reconnaissance, engineers, and cavalry, which are suitable for marching and surviving in the field. Bad, bad, this kind of troops, especially good at raiding and sabotage, harassing and reconnaissance, and marching quickly and flexibly, must prevent them from entering the heart of the Union. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

Speaking of which, General Scott, who was originally old, was a little excited.

Siward suddenly understood: this is what the envoy of the Chinese Empire said a while ago, and it is obvious that this is their killer weapon.

After listening to General Scott's words, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton were both stunned, and Stanton said in disbelief: "There are still such troops? Impossible, where did they find so many excellent soldiers, how could there be so many such one-in-a-hundred soldiers? General Scott is a bit alarmist. ”

Scott pursed his lips and was a little disdainful of this nominal boss: "Stanton, don't forget, the Chinese Empire has a population of more than 400 million, even if it is one in a hundred, it is enough to pick out 4 million troops, and it is easy and ordinary to pick out 100,000 such special forces from these 4 million troops." What's more, they can march more than 2,000 miles in the wilderness mountains and forests in half a month, and they definitely don't bring any logistical supplies, but they actually survived and attacked everywhere, this, this kind of army, it's terrible. Mr. Seward, you have to be on the lookout! ”