But House Speaker Stevens said, "What about those lawmakers? They don't care how much the Federation has suffered, they just feel frightened by the conquest of a small army and surrender, they will heckle, they will mobilize the people and the common people who do not know the truth to rise up in protest. ”

Treasury Secretary Chase said directly: "I have an idea here. It could be said that Mr. Seward, exercising his presidential powers, was going to issue a decree to levy more heavy taxes on the people and parliamentarians on behalf of the federal government to resist enemy attacks. I believe that as soon as this news spreads, those people will demand peace talks instead of resisting! ”

The cabinet members looked at Chase with admiration, and I have to say that this is really the case, only vital interests can make people feel heartache and wake up.

And Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells finally said: "At present, there is indeed no other good way to deal with the current situation of the Union, and peace talks and the abandonment of the western territories are the best option, and the economy and public opinion of the Federation can no longer be delayed." However, I don't know if everyone has paid attention to it, but the British side has secretly sent troops from Europe to the Far East to attack the Chinese Empire and recover India. Calculating the time, it should have reached the Indian Ocean by this time, or if it persists for another week, at most half a month, news will reach the United States.

Until then, we can contact the guy named Peng Yulin to negotiate peace talks, and at the same time slowly stall for time.

If the British army is at war with the Chinese Empire, then the Chinese Empire will not have enough troops to withdraw its troops back to the Far East, and we will hold on a little longer, and at the same time accumulate forces to counterattack back. Now it's just that the cavalry is insufficient, and as long as more than 40,000 cavalry are mobilized, they will definitely be able to encircle and annihilate the enemy's special division.

If the Chinese Empire had enough troops to withdraw its troops back to the Far East, we would simply cease fighting and sue for peace, and we would have to abandon the area west of the Mississippi River to save the entire American Federation. ”

Everyone nodded, Seward clapped his palms, and just wanted to make a decision, his assistant rushed straight in, shouting: "Ladies and gentlemen, I just received the news that the British Expeditionary Force arrived in India two months ago, first captured Bombay and Palaji, Cochin and other places, and then had several fierce battles with the Chinese Empire, and there were tug-of-war battles in Ceylon, Madras and Calcutta, the two sides of the army won and lost each other, and the navy was obviously dominated by the British army, and now the British army is looking for a decisive battle with the main naval fleet of the Chinese Empire, But it doesn't seem to have happened yet.

And the Imperial Chinese army in the United States also seemed to have received the news, but did not react in any way. On the contrary, I just received the news that a few months ago, a fleet of troops from the Chinese Empire escorted many troop ships across the Bering Strait in the Pacific Ocean and captured the northwestern part of North America, a large ice field occupied by Russian and American companies, called Alaska. In addition, last month, starting from Alexandria, where the headquarters of the Russian-American company is located, it attacked several small ports in British Columbia, which had just belonged to the British North American colonies, along the western Pacific coast of North America, and with the cooperation of hundreds of local Chinese miners, they effortlessly captured the two major strongholds of Fort Vancouver and Fort Victoria. Half a month ago, it had already occupied Seattle, the main port city in the Washington area, and was attacking the entire Washington area along the Columbia River deep inland. ”

Seward and the crowd were stunned!

No one expected that the Chinese Empire would be so big that a few months ago it would send a fleet across the North Pacific to attack the territory of the Russian and American companies of Tsarist Russia, taking the entire huge peninsula and the Aleutian Islands, not to mention, and by the way, attacking the British British Columbia colony and Washington of the American Commonwealth from north to south.

Seward reacted quickly and asked deliberately, "How many troops is this fleet?" Seattle had already been captured half a month ago, well, counting the time, it is true that some railroads in the Midwest of the Union were disrupted, and it would take half a month for the news to reach Boston at the fastest speed. And the fact that this fleet should have received the news of the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force in India long ago, and that they did not return to the Far East for reinforcements, but continued unmoved to attack the British British Columbia colony and the Washington area of our Commonwealth, suffice it to say that they were well armed and did not seem to be afraid of the British Expeditionary Force. ”

The assistant hurriedly replied: "This expeditionary fleet of the Chinese Empire has at least 20,000 troops, or even 30,000 troops. By the time they captured downtown Seattle, they had landed about 15,000 troops. ”

Everyone's faces changed again.

Seward sighed and said, "Everyone, don't hesitate any longer. We are now paying a terrible price for our contempt for this Eastern Empire! I have already asked people to inquire that the Chinese Empire now has 5 large naval fleets, and no matter which fleet it is, it is enough to threaten the navy of our current Federation. And the most powerful of the Chinese Empire is their army. As far as I know, it is very likely that their army strength has surpassed that of Tsarist Russia in terms of numbers, exceeding 1.5 million troops, making them the country with the largest army strength in the world, and with their economic and financial resources and the sophistication of rifles and artillery, it is very likely that they have become the most powerful country in the army, except for the fact that the training of their soldiers may be lacking.

Units like the one in the United States alone, their most well-trained field regiment, numbered six, more than 700,000 troops, and counting. And their large number of local garrisons and militias, it is very likely that they will exceed 1.5 million! The most important thing is their terrifying population base and national strength, more than 400 million people, huge land area, rich resources and strong economic and trade strength, plus the industry that has slowly developed now, not to mention that our United States has completely lost the strength to compete with it, even the world's number one power, Britain, is likely to be unable to fight to the death with this super empire in terms of land war. If this momentum continues, within five years, Britain will only be afraid of giving up its position as the world's number one power.

So, everyone, it's time for us to decide! ”

The crowd fell silent, caught up in the shocking news of the presidential aides and Seward's assertion that the Chinese Empire was powerful.

..........

On 29 June, the New York Times and the Philadelphia Evening News simultaneously revealed that the federal government of the United States of America was preparing to increase its efforts to use troops against the Confederate States of the Southern Territory and the United Kingdom of Hexi to prepare a new round of military recruitment.

On the morning of June 30, more than 10,000 people gathered in the square in front of the presidential palace in Philadelphia to hold a huge demonstration, and Acting President Seward hurriedly came forward and delivered a public speech, claiming that the plan to raise taxes and expand military recruitment was a rumor, and agreed to the people's demands, promising to end the state of war as soon as possible, endure humiliation, and issue a call for an armistice to the Chinese Empire and the Southern Allies.

On July 1, the New York Times and the Philadelphia Evening News of the Commonwealth of America, as well as the Washington Evening News and the Richmond Times of the Confederate States of America all published a bombshell news at the same time, which caused a sensation among the people of the entire Commonwealth of America: After discussion and communication between the members of the Cabinet of the American Federation and the members of the Cabinet of the American Union, the two sides have sent a letter to General Peng Yulin, Commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire and Governor of New Mexico, and Lin Qirong, Commander of the Hexi United Corps. Lu Ziyue, ambassador of the Chinese Empire to the United States of America and the two countries, requested peace talks as soon as possible.

The next day, Philadelphia and Washington received a telegram from St. Louis, Missouri, in response at the same time: Headed by Fan Ruzeng, the plenipotentiary envoy of the Chinese Emperor, Lu Ziyue, the ambassador of the Chinese Empire to the American Federation and Union, and several representatives of the United Kingdom of Hexi, rushed to Washington to hold an armistice and peace talks on 4 July.

However, what makes the entire American Federation angry is why it is necessary to hold peace talks on July 4?