(Every one of your subscriptions, recommendations, and favorites is a great support for "Iron and Blood"!) It's not easy to get a new book, so please support it, thank you! "Iron and Blood" Novel Group: 150536833, welcome book friends to join and discuss the plot together!! ）

In 1854, it was not a good year for the United States, when Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed the two states to open animal slavery, causing the Kansas Civil War, which caused waves in the United States, even though the scale of the civil war was only a conflict of a few dozen or at least a few hundred people. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoIn short, for this year, the United States is far from it.

At the end of the year in Washington, D.C., a winter snow enveloped the city, and the thick snow even affected traffic, but it took days to sprinkle tens of thousands of pounds of salt on the roads to restore traffic, but despite this, Congress has been meeting for the past few days to discuss another country far away from the United States, far across the ocean.

The US Far Eastern Fleet is under attack in China!

Three of the seven warships were captured and four sunk, and more than half of the thousands of American sailors were killed or wounded, and about 500 US Navy officers and men, including Colonel Perry, the commander of the fleet, were captured.

"This is the worst defeat of the U.S. Navy since the Revolutionary War!"

Almost all the American newspapers described their surprise in these words after receiving the news, and what really surprised them was that the country that was powerless in the face of the British fleet more than ten years ago could now completely destroy the most powerful fleet of the US Navy in just half an hour!

This cannot but shock the Americans!

In addition to the shock, public opinion in the United States has fallen into an unprecedented dispute -- where is the United States going?

Whether to send a fleet for revenge, or to accept this reality!

Perry, the name, was once associated with a hero, because at the beginning of the year, he led the Far East Fleet to knock on the door of Japan on the president's instructions, and found a port of call for American whaling ships on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. You must know that a few decades ago, the British whaling ship landed in Hitachi-Otsuhama, Japan, and demanded fresh water from the Japanese side, and was arrested and expelled by the Mito Domain.

And now, the door of Japan has been knocked open by Perry, and all the American newspapers have used "American heroes" to describe him and the Far East Fleet, and the reason why people are so excited is that the whaling industry is so important to the United States, after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. As a newly established country, coupled with the barren and rocky land of the Americas, which was difficult to cultivate and difficult to develop agriculture, the marine economy became the choice of American development, and the whaling industry became the backbone of the American economy at that time. More than 850 of the world's more than 1,000 whaling ships were American, and the United States amassed so much wealth through the whaling industry that many young girls at the time dreamed of marrying the captain of an American whaling ship.

Of course, they don't hunt whales for food, in fact, whale meat cannot be stored except in the cold winter, they are for oil. Nearly 1,000 U.S. whaling ships on various oceans are like factories floating on the sea, and whales can continue to hunt whales while boiling whale fat into oil in a pot on board. Baleen is also an important product because it can be deformed after being roasted over fire, and it retains its cooled form, and is used to make various daily necessities such as corsets, umbrella bones, and fishing rods.

Tens of thousands of whale oil and other products were then sold to Europe, where whale oil was used as an industrial raw material and fuel, as well as as daily necessities for residents to light their homes. In exchange for tens of millions of dollars of wealth for the United States, it can be said that it was the whaling industry that pushed the United States, which did not have many industrial and agricultural facilities, to the forefront of the world economy at once, and it can be said that it was a veritable economic steam engine of the United States. The whaling industry is the most important industry in the United States, but as the whaling industry has become more profitable, it has ushered in the day when it will say goodbye to the stage of history. In addition to the sharp decline in the number of whales caused by the hunting in the past 100 years, it has become more and more difficult to hunt. In order to catch whales, the Americans had to travel farther to the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, along the North Pacific Ocean, where there are still large numbers of whales.

Because of this, Perry, who knocked on the door of Japan and secured a supply port for American whaling ships, was regarded as a hero by the United States, and this hero brought new hope to the whaling industry at a time when it was in decline.

However, now this hero and his heroic fleet, after receiving honor, were repulsed and wiped out in another country in Asia, which cannot but be said to be a great irony, just when people were preparing to welcome this hero back home, who would have thought that waiting for such bad news would be returned.

It is precisely because of this that the whole United States appears to be so excited, and even the whole United States is divided, some newspapers demand that Congress declare war on China, and others stand on a fair position and say that China has the right to attack Perry as an "aggressor", and Perry's defeat is because of his conceit and arrogance!

In the midst of this division, eventually all eyes were on the Diet, which has been debated for the past few days, where lawmakers have been discussing day in and day out, and the war clamors have spoken of the humiliation of the United States, the loss of Japanese ports for the whaling industry in the United States, and of course at this time, they have chosen to ignore the fact that China will continue to open Hakodate. Of course, the congressmen who opposed the war used the Constitution and public international law to show that what happened to Perry's fleet was entirely Perry's personal cause.

The congressional debate is going on, and in the "White House" that has been painted white because of the fire of the British, Franklin, as the fourteenth president of the United States? Pierce, who volunteered during the Mexican War and rose to the rank of colonel. After becoming a brigadier general, the US president has always adhered to expansionism, it can be said that it was with his support that Perry led the fleet to knock on the door of Japan, and now, the total destruction of Perry's fleet, especially the Chinese's abrogation of the "Japan-US Treaty", is more like a resounding slap in the face, only leaving his whole person in extreme anger.

"This damn Chinese guy, doesn't he know that this is war?"

Again, Pierce took the letter in his hand and vented his frustration loudly in an angry tone. The letter was written in English by the same Han Tu, and if there had not been a conflict between the two countries, Pierce would have even lamented the beautiful English of the other party, but now, in his opinion, it was simply humiliating.

"Look, William, what is he writing in his letter?"

Picking up the letter, Pierce read the letter.

"Mr. President, no country will tolerate the invasion of its territorial waters by the fleets of other countries, and I believe that no country in the world can feel the same pain as the United States in the invasion of other countries,......

To Secretary of State William? Renid? Marcy read the letter, and Pierce raised his voice again.

"I believe that the U.S. government and the American people can understand why I ordered the fleet to intercept your Far East Fleet and resolutely block it by force when it continues to invade China's internal rivers......

Shaking the letter in his hand, Pierce said in a mocking tone.

"Didn't he know that in 1812 we were the first to declare war on Britain?"

Faced with the smug president, William immediately retorted.

"Mr. President, it was Britain that first violated the sovereignty of our country, and the United States was forced to declare war......"

"Of course, I understand, of course I understand......"

Pierce immediately realized that now that he was president, if the reason why he declared war on Britain was to take advantage of the chaos in Europe and seize the whole of North America, the so-called violation of sovereignty was just a pretext. Then it will definitely cause an uproar in the outside world.

"But, now, my friend, China's actions are undoubtedly acts of war, and we must respond to war with war, what do you think, Jefferson?"

In the face of the president's target, Jefferson, as secretary of war? Hamilton? Davis, for his part, turned his attention to Secretary of the Navy, James? C. Dorbin, it was an expedition to China, and the Navy did not express its position, could it be that the Army swam over? Of course, he didn't say that, but generously.

"Mr. President, as long as you give the order, I believe that the whole of America will mobilize again, just like six years ago, and the patriots will step on their war horses to fight for the United States!"

As he spoke, Jefferson's eyes kept on the Secretary of the Navy, and Pierce was unaware that there was a Pacific Ocean between the United States and China.

"Mr. President, although I am personally extremely angry at the total annihilation of the Far East Fleet, as a member of the Navy, I must make it clear that at least for now, the US Navy is not capable of expeditionary expeditions to China, although we have 74 warships, but no more than 20 can have expeditionary capabilities, and the entire Navy has only 11 steam warships, but now we have lost four of them......"

As Secretary of the Navy, James, of course, wanted to be like the British and sail warships to Canton and blow it to pieces, but what could he do?

"We are separated from China by the vast Pacific Ocean, and we have no ports in Asia to exploit, and it is undoubtedly a nightmare to venture on an expedition, sir, I think ......."

Just as James was about to continue his account of the Navy's difficulties, the messenger entered the president's office and handed him an envelope.

"The results of the congressional vote are in!"

Pierce opened the envelope, glanced at it, and then said weakly.

"Congress did not pass a proposal to declare war, asking the government to resolve the current conflict through diplomatic channels!"

After Michiya's words, although he had long expected this to be a great possibility, Pierce said in an angry and sworn tone.

"There will come a time when members of Congress will pay for their stupidity, and those Chinese ambitions will continue to swell because of our withdrawal, and one day, they will even get their hands on California, and there will be a day of ......" (To be continued. )