Now, 10 years after the end of the war, Sherman's "march to the sea" -- a year-long bloody sweep of the South -- is still fresh in people's minds. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Once the most prosperous and beautiful city in the South, Atratha was wiped out in the aftermath of the Catastrophe, all in ruins, and only one street remained.

"We must remove and destroy all obstacles, kill every man, take every inch of land, confiscate every property, whenever we deem it necessary. In a word, ruthlessly destroy everything we see......"

In Sherman's opinion, the blow to ordinary people in the South must be as complete as the blow to the armed forces. From Atlanta onwards, although Sherman's Northern Army had been doing quite well, in order to completely frighten the South, he ordered his troops to burn down the houses they encountered, while killing all the livestock and those who resisted.

After burning Atlanta, Sherman's forces advanced 60 miles straight to Savannah by the sea. Almost all the places it passed through were flattened like a road roller, and everything that was on the ground was completely destroyed.

Sherman's army advanced along the way, destroying everything in its path, looting civilians of food and property, killing rebellious civilians, burning farmland, blowing up villages, plugging wells with lime, destroying railroads, looting and expelling town after town, and burning town after town. Sherman's troops hadn't arrived yet, and the flames could be seen from a dozen miles away, and when Sherman's troops left, all that was left was charred dirt and a few lonely smoking tree poles.

On December 23, 1864, Sherman captured the famous southern port city of Savannah and sent a telegram to President Lincoln saying it was a "Christmas present" to him. But he then burned this "gift" and left nothing behind.

In early 1865, the Sherman army invaded Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, and set fire to all the homes and public facilities throughout the city, leaving only the University of South Carolina and the administrative buildings remaining.

After that, Sherman's army burned all the way north to Charleston, South Carolina. The Charleston defenders put up a stubborn resistance, and Sherman launched a murderous shelling of Charleston with hundreds of heavy guns, killing tens of thousands of civilians. By the time Sherman captured Charleston, it was in ruins. In such a city that had been reduced to ruins, the Sherman army did not let go and lit a fire as usual. On the outskirts of Charleston, piles of black rubble manors burned by the Confederate army are still left.

"Burn Colombia again?" Vice President Wilson grinned, spread his hands, and made an exaggerated gesture, "That's not a good idea......

"I'm just going to make all of South Carolina cry wolf! I'm just going to turn all of South Carolina into hell on earth! I want to make all South Carolinians, young and old, rich and poor, feel the pain in their hearts! My legion will destroy South Carolina soon! If they really want to declare a war with China on secession from the Federation! I do what I say! ”

The more Sherman spoke, the angrier he became, he slammed into his feet, pointed to the ultimatum written by South Carolina Governor Wade to President Grant on the table, slammed his fist on the table, and roared, "If they think I'm cruel and cruel, I'll tell them that war is war, and it's not about winning their favor!" War is hell! If they want peace, they and their loved ones should not think about quitting the Union! ”

"I just want these Southerners and their children and grandchildren to learn an unforgettable lesson, never dare to want independence again! Never dare to resort to war! That's my answer to this dog mongrel! ”

Sherman's roar rattled the ears of the people in the hall, and the hall fell silent for a moment.

Sherman turned to Grant, who looked at him and then at everyone and asked, "Gentlemen, what is your opinion?" ”

"I think South Carolina should be martial under the Control Act." Vice President Wilson replied.

Grant nodded, and his gaze turned to Secretary of State Fish.

"Military control is only one aspect, and I believe that what the Monaken has done should be immediately made public in Congress, and that Congress should pass a bill declaring it illegal to fly the Confederate flag at any time and in any place." "Otherwise, I'm afraid the same thing will happen in the future." ”

"I agree." Listening to Fish's words, Interior Secretary Delano also said, "We must eradicate any signs of separatist forces." ”

"What if South Carolinians resist the enforcement of military control?" War Secretary Berknapp asked, "I think that in the event of such a situation, General Sherman should be authorized to take the necessary action." He snapped in words to emphasize the "necessary action" and cast a meaningful glance at Sherman.

"In addition, we should give the Chinese government an appropriate reply as soon as possible, China has just won the Japanese attack on Taiwan, and there may be a belligerent atmosphere in the country, and we should try to avoid escalating the situation." Fish added, "If necessary, we can consider giving the Chinese government some material compensation......

"Great, that's all." Grant nodded, agreeing with everyone.

Just then, a confidential White House secretary walked in briskly, holding a telegram in his hand and a look of panic on his face.

"What's wrong? Joe? Looking at the secretary's panicked look, Grant asked a little strangely.

"It's San Francisco...... President, what happened there...... Something unfortunate ......," the secretary whispered, handing the telegram to Grant.

Grant took the telegram and glanced at it, and his face immediately changed.

"What happened?" Fish sensed something was wrong and immediately asked.

"There was a shootout in San Francisco," Grant said, taking a deep breath, "and some Ku Klux Klan rioters stormed the Chinese neighborhood, and there was an exchange of gunfire and fighting, killing 35 Chinese and 12 whites and seven people of color." ”

Hearing the news, everyone was shocked.

"While the Chinese government has not yet received the news, according to what has just been decided, let's act immediately! Gentlemen! Grant stood up and said viciously, "Now, immediately disperse those people in front of the White House!" Those who refuse to leave will be arrested! Blackwell Island! Trimester! ”

On July 20, 1874, the U.S. Congress passed the famous "Monaken Act" in recent American history by a narrow majority, which stipulated: The Southern Cross flag, the former Confederate flag, was declared illegal, and it was forbidden to fly it on any occasion, and any form of hanging on any occasion and for any reason would be regarded as treason, and the "Monaken Act" also declared the Ku Klux Klan an illegal organization and banned it, and at the same time prohibited any mistreatment of blacks and colored people. In addition, Congress passed a resolution imposing the toughest martial law on South Carolina, the most powerful state of separatist forces, until the Southern separatist forces were eliminated.

On July 22, demonstrations against the "Monacen Act" broke out in Columbia and Charleston, the capitals of South Carolina, respectively, and nearly 10,000 people marched on the streets to protest against the corruption and incompetence of the Grant administration and Grant's continued presidency of the United States, and demanded that South Carolina become independent from the federal government and declare war on China. At the behest of the population, South Carolina Governor Hampton? On the same day, Widder issued a proclamation announcing that the Monacen Act would not be accepted and that the federal government's military control over South Carolina would be null and void. As a result, as soon as the news reached Washington, Grant ordered Sherman to take drastic measures. Sherman led federal troops into South Carolina, imposing martial law throughout the state and imposing a curfew in the capital Columbia. After Sherman entered Columbia, he directly arrested the governor of the state, Hampton? Widder, who imprisoned him and a large group of the state's separatist-leaning lawmakers. In Colombia, when the federal army tried to disarm the "New Hampton Regiment" militia, the militia began to fire on the federal army, causing more than a dozen federal soldiers to be killed and wounded, and more than 400 were arrested. This incident deepened the tension between the local population and the federal army, a large number of civilians took to the streets to protest, some Ku Klux Klan took the opportunity to mix among the civilians and shoot at the federal army, Sherman ordered a severe crackdown, the federal army received the order to disperse the rioters with sticks and high-pressure water cannons and cavalry, arrested more than 1,200 of them, the clash caused a total of 322 deaths and more than 900 injuries.

In the face of the rampant Ku Klux Klan, Sherman took harsh repressive measures, sending troops to clear the Ku Klux Klan's meeting places and lair, and during the attack on a castle controlled by Ku Klux Klan, the federal army was thwarted by the attack, using Gatling guns and Dahlgren heavy artillery, completely destroying the castle, eliminating all the Ku Klux Klux Klan members who were stubbornly resisting there, and also causing a large number of casualties among nearby civilians.

Under Grant's strict orders, the local government of San Francisco also took similar measures as Sherman, and while calming the incident, it also inevitably caused civilian casualties.

In view of the high casualties of the Union Army due to the rebellion of the South Carolina militia, Grant ordered the states to disband the militias and form the National Guard, which replaced the militias as the garrison forces of the states. The command of the newly created National Guard was not vested in the governors of the states, and the governors of the states lost the power to command the army and became administrative officials entirely. This measure also caused discontent in the southern states, but it was finally implemented with a strong push from Grant. Grant's measures further consolidated the power of the federal government, and enabled the US president to withdraw some of the powers limited by Congress, thus changing the situation in which China will be "one dominant power" in the US "separation of powers" system.

The series of bloody conflicts caused by the Monaken incident, which was comparable in scale to a war and nearly pushed the United States to the brink of division, was later called a "quasi-civil war" by historians.

Grant and Sherman's iron-fisted measures to "set an example" had the desired effect, not only preventing South Carolina, the most powerful separatist state, from secession, from seceding from the Union, but also severely cracking down on racist forces in the United States and maintaining the peace after the American Civil War, but also reducing the public approval rating of the second Grant administration, which was already discredited for corruption, and the popularity of Grant himself to a record low (Grant himself was nicknamed "butcher" and "bison" by the Southern people). As a direct result of the 1876 general election, when Grant sought re-election, he was not even nominated as a presidential candidate. Some historians have made this judgment: "Grant traded his personal reputation for the future peace of American society." ”

As for the chain reaction triggered by the "Monaken" incident, Lin Yizhe, who had already ended the war in Taiwan at this time, has not yet received any news.

Fuzhou, Mawei Port, Shipyard Wharf.

Chen Wan, who was sitting in the carriage, looked out through the window of the carriage and saw two huge warships at the anchorage of the shipmaster and sailor in the distance.

"That's the big ironclad ship that Kunyu captured from the Japanese......" Chen Wan looked at the "Longxiang" ironclad ship that had already hung the Chinese dragon flag, and said softly.

"Madame is exactly what she said." The groom who was driving the car heard Chen Wan's words and replied with a smile, "This big one, called 'Ryuchi', is the main ship of the Japanese Navy, and the smaller one over there is an American ship, called the 'Monaken'." ”

Chen Wan looked at the mottled bullet marks on the "Longxiang" and "Monaken" ships, remembered the fierce and cruel naval battle, and couldn't help but worry more about Lin Yizhe's safety.

The reason why she came to the dock today is because today is the day of Lin Yizhe's return.

When the carriage arrived at the dock, Chen Wan and Li Sizhu got off the carriage and stood in front of the dock, looking at the sea in the distance.

Not long after, accompanied by a long whistle, the figure of the "Weiyuan" ship appeared.

Somehow, seeing the "Weiyuan" ship coming from afar, Chen Wan suddenly recalled the scene when Lin Yizhe first came to Fuzhou with Eaya.

At that time, it was also the "Weiyuan" ship, carrying Lin Yizhe and this beautiful and simple Paiwan girl, sailing from the sky.

And now, she knew that she would never see Aya again.

Although she is a little dissatisfied with Lin Yizhe's "flower heart", this does not prevent her from liking Aya.

When she learned the news of Aya's death, she was also sad for a long time.

She knew that Lin Yizhe must also be very painful.

But she didn't know how to comfort him.

The "Weiyuan" ship gradually approached, and Chen Wan saw that there was no Lin Yizhe on the flybridge of the "Weiyuan" ship, and her heart suddenly tightened.

And Li Sizhu, who was standing beside her, also had a panicked look on his face.

The "Weiyuan" ship quickly stopped in front of the pier and lowered the trestle, and Chen Wan seemed to understand something and immediately rushed onto the trestle. Li Sizhu and several servants and maids followed closely behind her.

Seeing Chen Wan, the sailors on the ship gave her a military salute.

"Where's your lord?" Chen Wan asked, her voice full of anxiety.

"Mrs. Hui, my lord is not feeling well these days, and I think I am asleep at this time, and I don't hear the whistle." The sailor explained.

"Take us there." Chen Wan nodded and said.

The sailors received the order and took Chen Wan and others to the door of Lin Yizhe's cabin, and the two red-clothed marines guarding the door saw Chen Wan, raised their hands and saluted, then gently opened the hatch, and then retreated.

The people in the cabin didn't speak again, and Chen Wan walked lightly and came to Lin Yizhe's bed.

"Wan'er ......"

Lin Yizhe was already awakened by the sound of the door opening, he just straightened up, looked at this familiar face, only felt that his heart was relieved, and then he was dizzy, his legs trembled, and he fell straight down again......

When Lin Yizhe woke up again, he found that he was already lying on the shelf bed in that familiar room, covered with a soft brocade quilt, with a porcelain pillow under his head, and a porcelain cup, spoon and a jade ruyi on the mahogany coffee table in front of him. He looked at the delicate patterns carved into the mahogany ceiling on the top of the bed on the shelf, and the rows of cirrus moire decorations on the walls of the bed around him, and blinked for a moment, forgetting for a moment how he had come here.

"Brother, are you awake?" A familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ears, Lin Yizhe turned his head to look, and his eyes suddenly lit up - a light girl was blinking a pair of crystal clear eyes, looking at him with concern.

At this moment, Lin Yizhe seemed to have returned to the moment when he traveled back.

The girl in front of her was born with a delicate and pretty face, delicate facial features, sensual lips, and sheared eyes revealed a rarely seen eagerness when looking at him, she had a perfect figure, a slender figure, a good demeanor, and a simple and elegant Qing-style skirt decorated with a few small flowers, so that her whole person looked radiant.

"It's Sizhu......" Lin Yizhe recognized who she was, smiled and nodded.

Although the two have not been separated for a long time, they are usually commensurate with brother and sister, and there is rarely close contact, but today, Lin Yizhe is so close for the first time, looking into her eyes.

Against the backdrop of the sunlight outside the window, Lin Yizhe suddenly found that her pupils were not completely black, but with some dark blue!

This sudden discovery made Lin Yizhe's heart move.

"Good girl, she's grown taller again." Lin Yizhe suppressed the excitement in his heart, although his expression was still calm and calm, but there was a trace of sadness in his eyes. He smiled reluctantly at the beautiful girl opposite, propped himself up with his elbows, and tried to sit up, but immediately felt a wave of dizziness on his head, and could only fall back weakly.