The First Battle of Chicago was the toughest battle fought by the Expeditionary Force in North America.

The United States directly mobilized 50,000 people to enlist here, and with the militia formed in Michigan and the old American regular army that retreated here, the resistance exceeded 200,000. Even more troublesome is the architecture of the city of Chicago, where there are not many wooden houses, especially in the center of the city, all of which are modern buildings made of brick and concrete.

Twenty-four years ago, on that Sunday night, a stubborn cow kicked over an oil lamp placed on a haystack and created a terrible fire that shocked the world – the Chicago Fire. The 30-hour nightmare nearly destroyed the fastest growing city in the United States at the time, according to official statistics, left 100,000 people homeless, killed 300 people (many of them without bones, not counting the many homeless migrants and underprivileged people), and killed and injured countless livestock. It was the worst fire in human history, and the damage cannot be estimated in dollars or the size of the house. The specific statistics are also calculated only on the basis of the value of the houses and furniture burned at that time, and indirect losses are not recorded at all. Even then, at the most conservative currency prices of the time, its losses were not less than $1 billion.

The city of Chicago, which had been hit hard, was able to rebuild a more modern city from the ruins within a few years due to its geographical superiority and superior urban vitality.

In such a city, the 170,000 expeditionary force fought for 20 days and suffered 20,000 casualties before taking Chicago completely.

In this battle, the Wehrmacht defeated the resistance of more than 200,000 Americans. It also turns Chicago, a city full of modernity, into a giant tomb.

80,000 Americans were taken prisoner, and 100,000 died outright. More than 30,000 U.S. civilians were killed by accidental injuries in the fighting. 7,000 buildings and houses were destroyed, and the entire city was reduced to a large ruin. And only two years ago. It has just hosted the World Columbus Exposition and has been a great success.

Zhang Shouyan's thoughts and concerns were largely brought out by the Chicago War. One Chicago is 20,000 casualties, which is terrifying.

The expeditionary force is now moving further and further east, and has entered the essence of the real sense of the old United States, facing modern cities, they are not as big as Chicago's urban area, and the buildings are not as tall as Chicago's, but they are also brick and concrete, and even modern buildings made of reinforced concrete. Siege warfare will inevitably greatly increase the difficulty of the Wehrmacht's offensive and the number of casualties.

It's just that few people in China today really don't think about the possibility of the defeat of the North American Expeditionary Force, and the whole country has already been stimulated by the victories of the Wehrmacht again and again.

"The guns in the hands of the Wehrmacht are fighting for a larger living space for the people of the Empire!"

"The weapons of the army are fighting for the land for the peasants' plows."

This is like what Hitler said: Take the land for the German plough with the German sword, and get the daily bread for the German people.

In China, where the term 'per capita occupancy' is already widely known, the above statement is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The army is using war to fight for more living space and a broader land for the people and peasants in the country.

The Mississippi River in the United States is one of the three major black soil areas in the world. However, the other two black soil regions are the northeast of the motherland and the Great Plain of Ukraine, which has been included in China's sphere of influence. In this way, it will be even more exciting for the Chinese people. Who made even the most uninformed rural farmers in today's China know the truth that 'big land is not necessarily rich'?

Nationally published demographics and projections. China's population is already approaching 600 million, and in 50 years' time, China will only need to exceed 1 billion at its current population growth rate. Then the whole country will calculate how much land per capita can be at that time. How will we feed so many people......

Therefore, the thirst for land of the current Chinese has not weakened at all, on the contrary, it has become more intense.

And the North American Expeditionary Force fought Chicago after a bloody battle. There was no desire to avoid or wear away from war because of the huge casualties, and their morale was as high as ever. Each soldier also rejoiced in the great progress of the conquest of North America.

The second largest city in the United States, isn't that comparable to Shanghai in the country? No matter how bad it is. The status is also stronger than Hangzhou and Fuzhou, just like Guangzhou, which has been counterpressed by Beijing in recent years. The Wehrmacht took it, but it was a good lesson for the sticky Yankees.

As for the many middle- and lower-level officials and grassroots officials in China, they, like the vast number of ordinary people, hope that their country's territory will become bigger and bigger. Because sooner or later, the vast territory will become provinces, governments, counties and towns, and it will require N times as many officials at all levels, which is a shortcut for their promotion.

Just like the officials who joined Lanfang back then, they were just a small village chief when they first arrived, and they were the town mayor within two years, and then the county magistrate. It's a real success.

The two large-scale foreign wars after the establishment of the dynasty, the Trans-Khingan Mountains, Siberia and Central Asia, which were seized from the Russians, are also good examples of ready-made good examples. The imperial court bluntly said that cadres above the town level should be immediately promoted to one level (not the first level), and as long as they did not violate the law and embezzle bribes during the period, they could be transferred back to the mainland or remain in their original positions, and the latter level would be raised by one level.

An excellent shortcut to promotion is in front of all the officials in the world. Don't think that these officials are all cowards, and some of them are desperate. As long as the state gives enough cheese to attract people's hearts, someone will stick it headlong.

Do you want Zhang Qian to dig holes in the Western Regions back then, and after beating him, see how many explorers + diplomats there were in the Western Han Dynasty? Isn't it all for Zhang Qian's feudal marquis to be stimulated?

Now the country is gathering the common people to go to the new land, whether it is the South Seas or the Northwest, or North America across the Pacific Ocean, the imperial court will send not only soldiers to North America, but also a group of civilians and workers, and they will be the first batch of North American immigrants organized by the Chinese state.

In addition, in order to attract people to take the initiative to immigrate, the state has also deliberately relaxed the restrictions for immigrants from North America, with the per capita land granted to 100 mu and the minimum limit for paying agricultural tax raised to 300 mu, which is very attractive.

And the news of the gold mine in Nevada has made the hearts of the people in China even more excited. In fact, if it weren't for the war in North America not yet over and the limited capacity of steamships, hundreds of thousands of people would have been pouring on the Pacific route between the east and west of the Pacific Ocean.

"Big brother, the people's expectations for North America are very high, and those who are officials in the officialdom also have high expectations for North America." In front of the crown prince, his savior, Liu Ying, the third elder of the New Qin Dynasty, was looking at Liu Sheng with flickering eyes.

Liu Sheng didn't answer, so he had to look at the third child in front of him for a while, what did this kid have to say? As soon as I came to myself today, as soon as I said that, I smelled something else. Liu Sheng is not in a hurry, he wants to see the patience of his third brother. Anyway, Liu Ying is going to show herself sooner or later.

"Eldest brother, younger brother must say that our father intends to divide the feudal kingdom...... is it true or false?"

Liu Ying soon surrendered. What he was anxious about was his future and future generations, but he didn't have the time to compete with the crown prince.

The prince's face paused slightly, and he said, "You are well-informed enough." My father only asked me to say a few words last week. As he spoke, he got up and pulled out a roll from the nearby bookcase, and poured out a detailed map from it.

The red, yellow, black, and blue on the "Come and See ......" map rendered more than a dozen large and small plots of land in various colors.

Liu Xian didn't plan to let the rest of his sons be pigs, and he didn't want them to stay in the country and enter all walks of life, even departments, which would greatly strengthen the power of the imperial power and cause some unnecessary trouble.

In addition, the territory of China today is really too big, and even if there is a telegraph, it will be unstable. Because there are a large number of natives living in the new land, the natives of Nanyang, Russians and the old Americans have no sense of belonging to China.

It would be too tiring and dangerous to maintain such a complete rule of such a huge empire, and it would be hard to imagine that there would be nothing wrong in those places when the tide of national independence swept the world. Sooner or later, the mighty empire will collapse. In this way, the partition of the feudal kingdom became a big solution that he could come up with.

Even when the tide of national independence swept away, various countries restrained each other, coupled with the strength of the Chinese in their country, Liu Xian thought back and forth, thinking that he could survive in peace, right?

And in terms of the current situation, to do so, first, is to inherently cut off the ties between the rebels in the different parts of the land.

For example, Liu Xian planned to divide the territory of Europe that he already occupied into two countries, both of which now had many Slavic rebels. While China has been ruling the region in this way, these rebels are also unified.

Their goals are the same, their targets are the same, and they are the same -- at least easily unified.

Now that the land is going to be divided into two different subjects, will it be so easy for the rebels on the land of these two countries to be consistent with each other?

Liu Xian will not set up a puppet to play, if he is really canonized, then according to the traditional Chinese suzerain-vassal relationship, in North America and the Volga River, far away from China, one country after another. Both the vassal kingdom and the vassal king will have their own independence!

What Liu Xian wants is a group of 'satellite states' to protect China. It's not a bunch of puppet 'provinces' that need to be taken care of by China!

He will also directly implement the royal constitution in some feudal states, so that he can also 'shine back' on his own shortcomings and plan for the future. The other is also to subtly strengthen the stability and status of the royal family. (To be continued......)