The New York Times even openly called on the powerless federal government of the United States to immediately sue for peace with the Chinese Empire and stop the war.

Even the Philadelphia Times, the official newspaper of the Federation, revealed a wave of dissatisfaction with the federal government, and strongly called on the government to send a large army to take strong measures to quickly encircle and exterminate the Chinese army, which was less than 10,000 people.

The Tribune, a cheap newspaper in New York, bluntly claimed that General Scott, commander-in-chief of the War Department and the Army, should take the blame and resign, and that acting president and secretary of state Seward should also resign and be responsible for the suffering of the American Union.

The pressure of these newspapers to translate quickly put pressure on the U.S. federal cabinet in Philadelphia.

Inside the Philadelphia presidential palace, although it was late at night, it was still brightly lit and noisy.

Because of the fermentation of the media, thousands of people came to the square in front of the presidential palace early this morning to demonstrate, and although they were soon quelled and driven away by the military and police, Acting President Seward was already aware of the seriousness of the situation. He immediately convened the members of the cabinet and invited some of the heads of members of the National Assembly to come to the presidential palace for a meeting to discuss state affairs. But a large number of people, since noon today, have been clamoring and even fighting, but there has been no result.

Seeing that it was already late at night, Seward could no longer bear any longer, glanced at a group of cabinet members and parliamentary party leaders, stood up and shouted, "Don't fucking make any noise!" If this continues, the enemy army has come to Philadelphia, and we haven't discussed a result yet! I'm going to ask you a few words now! ”

All the people were stunned by Seward's rage, and they all looked at him, and they were silent.

Westward said to Winfield Scott, commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army, "Scott, your army has nothing to do with this group of Chinese troops in Illinois?" ”

"Mr. President, it's not that there is no way, it's just that there are too few troops, if there can be 15 to 200,000 troops to deploy the entire state of Illinois in a dragnet manner, so that the enemy army has no place to hide, it should be able to annihilate it in one fell swoop." Scott explained: "It's just that the enemy army is too cunning, and they are all rare special forces, more well-trained than our marines, good at long-distance running, and the commander of the other side is an unusually cunning fellow, not fighting with the main force of our army at all, but unpredictable and wandering around, making it difficult for our army to catch up, just burning, looting, and capturing between small towns and villages." What a headache! ”

War Secretary Edwin Stanton also added: "Indeed! These thieves are too treacherous. When they came across a fortified city that was defended by a large number of troops and had been prepared for a long time, they went around the city. When they encountered a weakly defended town, they directly attacked it, looted it, set it on fire, and walked away. This treacherous tactic is unheard of and is really impossible to deal with.

The War Department and General Scott wanted to mobilize forces to besiege and annihilate them, but most of the railroads had been destroyed, the canals had been blocked, and the waterways and docks had been destroyed, so they could not quickly mobilize their forces, let alone catch up with their marching speed, so although they sent troops to encircle and annihilate them several times, they all failed.

Moreover, military spending is already grossly inadequate. The soldiers complained and even contemplated a call to fight. ”

Treasury Secretary Samon Chase helplessly spread his hands: "Didn't you just allocate $30 million in military spending?" So soon to shout again about the lack of military spending? Mr. President, and all of you, once again, I solemnly offer my resignation. I can't do this finance minister! ”

Home Secretary Caleb Smith also shook his head: "It's your tactics that have problems. Why can't you send two or three similar troops in pursuit? ”

Scott glanced at Smith, who didn't bother to answer anything for such a military idiot.

Although Siward did not lead the troops to fight the country, he still had some military understanding, and said: "As far as I know, this enemy general named Li Xiucheng is extremely cunning, he is flexible and mobile in battle, and he seems to be careless but extremely selective all the way around, leaving the federal army that encircles them far behind. ”

Seeing Seward help speak, Scott nodded amicably and said, "Yes." This group of special forces of the Chinese Empire adopts the tactics of a wandering operation, and the plot is not how much property to seize, nor how many results to be achieved, but its fundamental purpose is to destroy the property of our Federation's towns and villages as much as possible, and destroy the Federation's economy! ”

Speaking of this, Siward also sighed and analyzed: "Everyone, have you noticed that the enemy army is ruthless. In the past half month, these enemy troops have been even more ferocious and brutal, robbing the people's food and property everywhere, killing the civilians who resisted, burning farmland and burning villages, going down to wells with lime and poison, destroying railways, forcing people to dig canals, sinking boats in canals to block rivers, robbing and expelling residents of towns and towns, burning down town after town, and being extremely vicious!

And all this, do you know why? It is they who are forcing us to sue for peace, to force us to surrender and sue for peace, to beg them to cease fighting! ”

"But we can't! We can't throw away the glory of America! Can't give in to those thugs! Even if they have 400 million men and a million regular troops, so what, we, the American people, cannot be defeated!

Even if we can't do anything about them now, even if we have lost nearly $200 million in Wisconsin, Illinois, northern Indiana, and other places, we should not be afraid. Even if the mob were to break into Michigan and Indiana, or even Ohio and Pennsylvania, we wouldn't lose anything. Even if we overthrow America and start over, we must vent our evil anger and never give in! Seward's words caused the cabinet members and parliamentarians present to fall into a dead silence, and they gasped.

They all heard Seward's remarks. If Westward had said so, the United States would have fallen into the abyss.

Therefore, Treasury Secretary Samon Chase was the first to take the lead and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President, I think it is better to stop the war!" What if the Chinese Empire only wanted to establish some United Kingdom west of the Mississippi River, and wanted the area west of the Mississippi River, so what if it was handed over to them for the time being? The Mississippi Federation itself was originally a federation of 13 states, and the area west of the Mississippi River itself was only bought for $22.5 million, but it actually cost just over $17 million. But now the cost of such a war is hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention the economic losses that have been destroyed in various places in recent times, which are as high as more than 200 million dollars. If this continues, the consequences of entering Ohio or even Pennsylvania will be unimaginable. I'm afraid that the Federation will be even more chaotic! ”

Everyone understood what Chase meant, this was an offer to make peace with the Chinese Empire.

And the cunning Scott understands that Chase may have been asked by Siward, the purpose of which is to help him speak, so that Siward's proposal to sue for peace with the Chinese Empire is not so abrupt.

However, a truce was also something that could not be done for Scott. He understood that the army of the American Commonwealth was simply helpless against the special divisions of the Chinese Empire. Unless we can endure even greater losses than we do now, it is indeed better to admit defeat and surrender.

Therefore, Scott, who was already old, stood up at this moment and said categorically: "The army of the entire Federation is indeed helpless against the brutal army of the Chinese Empire. In addition, the American Federation has indeed reached a serious critical juncture: the Confederate States have taken the opportunity to capture Tennessee, Kentucky and other places, and have taken the opportunity to attack the southern part of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, where most of the Union troops are stationed and are completely unable to defend the western region. In addition, the land and water army led by Peng Yulin of the Chinese Empire has occupied all the areas of Iowa and Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, and has set up an attack east of the Mississippi River, which is to warn us to give a quick answer.

At this moment, in my capacity as a citizen of the United States, and not as commander-in-chief of the Union Army, I request that I immediately negotiate with the Chinese Empire to cease the hostilities. All the blame and fault can be shifted to me. All I can do is resign and take some of the pressure off you! ”

With that, Scott stood up, left the conference room on his own, and went home.

Seeing this scene, even Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells, whose hometown is Iowa, did not speak, and acquiesced in everyone's decision to prepare for peace talks with the Chinese Empire.