Lincoln's face was rather bad.

Although the root cause is that he has been often sleep deprived recently, resulting in long-term mental weakness, the so-called mutual birth and bad mood are the real triggers for his bad face now.

As for why he was in a bad mood, it was very simple, it was nothing more than what Skerst had just said, that boasting of the strength of the Chinese.

As a matter of fact, he has long had a clear understanding of the strength of the Chinese army, and there is a lot of true and false information, and even a lot of information is collected by him himself.

It was precisely because he had collected a lot of intelligence and information about the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and even collected some information on the rise of the Chinese Empire, that he did not have much suspicion of Skerst's words.

After all, the advanced Chinese weapons that Scester said have long been famous in the world with the Civil War, not to mention him, even European powers have begun to pay attention to Chinese weapons, and it is said that some people have begun to contact the Chinese Empire, hoping to obtain the technology or physical objects of these new weapons.

As long as you are not a fool, you know what those weapons of the Chinese really mean, and it is not an exaggeration to say that a new era of war is created, and even many people regard the rapid-fire weapons of the Chinese, including those rapid-fire guns and rapid-fire guns, as muskets in the era of bows and arrows.

It can be said that the brilliant results of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the North American battlefield have not only made the countries of the world realize the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, but also made them realize the sharpness and strength of China's weapons.

Not to mention, powers such as Britain and France, which personally experienced the North American Civil War, paid more attention to the brilliant achievements of the Chinese in North America, and began to develop their own rapid-fire weapons very early.

Countries such as Prussia are said to be paying attention to this, and even heard that they had already sent envoys to China last year to introduce a batch of China's most advanced rapid-fire rifles and rapid-fire mortars, but unfortunately they did not succeed.

Even Europe began to learn the rapid-fire weapons of the Chinese, and the United States of America, as a victim, paid more attention to this.

Back when the news of the defeat of the Grant Legion came. Lincoln began to work rapid-fire weapons, and it was under this circumstance that the Gatling Gun was able to quickly emerge, equipping troops with good results on the battlefield.

Today, the United States of America is working on an improved version of the Gatling gun, a newer rapid-fire gun is also being developed, and even a new all-steel ironclad ship is on the agenda as a secondary priority project.

However, it was precisely because Lincoln was so concerned about his own weapons development that he often personally intervened. He also collected a lot of information about the performance of various weapons of the Chinese army at the front, and he knew how big the gap was.

It can be said that with the war until now, although the intelligence officers of the United States of America have not been able to really obtain the real performance parameters of Chinese weapons, nor have they obtained a single physical object for study, the performance on the battlefield cannot be concealed.

A large amount of information indicates that the average soldier of the Chinese Expeditionary Force had a light rapid-fire rifle in his hand, which was shorter than the ordinary Enfield rifle and had a faster rate of fire than the Gatling gun. There is also more ammunition.

Knowing this, the technicians of the United States, when they studied it themselves, found that there were too many problems, because no matter how hard they tried to do it. None of them could shrink the Gatling gun to the size of a regular Enfield rifle.

After all, the technological generation gap is too great, whether it is the level of technology, design concept or material manufacturing, etc., the United States is too far from the modern society, and it is not one or two backward technologies. It is an overall backwardness, and the gap between backwardness is still quite large.

The technology of this era, so to speak. Neither the United States nor Europe can independently create a 56 submachine gun on their own, even if they are given physical imitation, limited by the level of materials and craftsmanship, they will not be able to make it, at most they can be inspired in terms of design concepts.

As a result, the United States technicians were quick to tell Lincoln that it was impossible to design and produce a portable machine gun that could be carried by a soldier, and at most that it would optimize the performance of the Gatling gun.

However, while they could not design a lightweight rapid-fire gun, they were able to produce semi-automatic rifles, such as a modified version of the Sharps rifle, which they were able to design themselves, and if they were built on a large scale, they could also significantly reduce the cost.

Of course, what they call large-scale manufacturing is not a big industry in the true sense of the word, but it means increasing the number of handicraft workshops, and then uniting these handicraft workshops, and even developing a new production method for this purpose, which is called standard parts and assembly line work.

It is said that this method is still Richard. Jordan. Gatling was the first to come up with it, and he was inspired by the Gatling gun.

According to Richard. Jordan. According to Gatling, if each workshop only produces one part, and each part can be produced in strict accordance with a standard, reduce errors, and then summarize and combine, this can greatly speed up production and reduce production costs.

However, although the idea of standard parts and assembly line operation has been put forward in advance, due to the limited process level, it is impossible for them to really reduce the error of different parts to the level of assembly line operation. In fact, it is not impossible to control the error at a level, but that will reduce the speed, after all, many accessories are made by hand little by little.

In addition, it takes a lot of skilled workers to make weapons, which is exactly what the government of the United States lacks, so so far, this assembly line operation is currently only a gimmick and research and development direction, and has not really been implemented.

In other words, if the United States wants to expand its production, it is only to increase the number of workshops, but it is obviously not much more efficient, and the production and price of weapons remain high, and this does not reduce much.

This kind of scientific research progress made Lincoln quite frowning, and even if there were a batch of relatively good products, such as those newly manufactured Gatling guns, although the performance was improved, the price was also increased.

Nowadays, the cost of making a Gatling gun is at least the price of three Napoleonic guns, and the cost of bullets is much higher, far more expensive than those ordinary front-loading solid shells.

In order to improve the cost performance, increase the fire density while reducing the cost. A small company called Winchester came up with a shotgun.

This shotgun, named Winchester, has a simple design, reliable and durable, light and flexible, although the shooting distance is somewhat short, but by firing shotshots, it can greatly enhance the density of your firepower.

According to the tests of the US military, if this Winchester shotgun is used to charge, it can have a great advantage, as long as it breaks through the fire blockade of the Chinese army in the early stage. When approaching the effective shooting distance, the advantage of this gun is still very good, although it cannot completely eliminate casualties, but it can greatly reduce casualties, which is a helpless way.

However, no matter what weapons were produced, the high cost still gave Lincoln a headache, so he often wondered about the Gatling gun he developed. It is a weapon that is more than one grade behind, but even with such a backward machine gun, he cannot produce 10,000 machine guns in a short period of time, if he really produces 10,000 Gatling machine guns in a year or two. The federal government is going bankrupt.

Obviously, the Chinese army is more numerous, but it has a rapid-fire repeating gun that is more advanced than the Gatling gun, and the price is definitely more expensive. Ammunition will not be cheap either.

Therefore, Lincoln has always wondered where the Chinese got so much money to produce so many advanced repeating guns. Even if guns can be produced, but what about ammunition? Can they really afford to splash water on the battlefield with that kind of expensive metal-hulled ammunition?

In the past, Lincoln had not been able to get an explanation, but now that Skerst had been a prisoner, it is said that he had seen Chinese weapons up close, and he was clear about Chinese weapons and equipment, so he immediately asked about the cost performance of Chinese weapons.

"I've thought about this for a long time." Skerst pretended to muse, "Obviously, those weapons must be expensive, and the only explanation I can think of is that the Chinese have made a lot of preparations in advance for this war, and I even suspect that this batch of weapons may be weapons prepared by the Chinese during the civil war." ”

"Prepared to fight during the Civil War?" Lincoln asked.

"Yes." Skes nodded, "Mr. President, I think you also know that the current Chinese government, well, that is, the Chinese Empire, is actually not the same thing as the Chinese government in the past, they overthrew the original Manchu royal family through internal revolution, and re-established a dynasty by themselves, according to the Chinese, this is called changing the dynasty, in fact, it is just changing the emperor family."

However, it should be noted that the process of changing the emperor from the bottom up was quite short, and the time before the war broke out between us and the southerners was also very short, and it is said that it only took a year or two to succeed.

We have reason to believe that they must have prepared for this seizure of power for more than a year or two, so they must have too many weapons in stock.

In other words, it should be that the old Chinese dynasty was too corrupt and collapsed too quickly, resulting in the new dynasty's stockpile of weapons not being fully used, so it was brought to us for use. ”

"That's an interesting idea, but is there any basis?" Lincoln asked with a frown.

"No, not at all." Skerst deliberately smiled bitterly, "Or, if it weren't for what I said, then the Chinese would be even more terrible, don't you say?" ”

"Hey." Lincoln shook his head, "China is really a monster, obviously it was a typical backward country before, it was useless except for a large number of people, and it was beaten by the British and begged for mercy again and again, who would have thought that it would become a guy who invaded us so quickly, and it would become so powerful, this is completely illogical...... Could it really be that something mysterious could not happen? ”

"Mysterious or not, I don't know." Skerst continued to shake his head, "I can only say that the Chinese are really so extravagant and unreasonable in war, they really use those rapid-fire weapons to bombard every time they fight, bullets and shells are really splashed like no money, with our current army level, no one can resist it."

Let's talk about the battle I experienced, we were outnumbered, but the attack felt at least ten times as much, no, twenty times as many as the attack, all kinds of bullets and shells swept like rain, and our soldiers fell in rows like cutting corn, and it was a terrible feeling. ”

"According to you, the Chinese fight wars regardless of the cost, or the cost is lower?" Lincoln frowned, "But it doesn't make sense, if they are really as invincible as you say, why would they easily agree to a truce with us?" Wouldn't it be better to beat us outright? Anyway, if they were like that, even if they completely defeated us, they probably wouldn't be blackmailed by the Southerners. ”

"This. I really know why. Skester deliberately sighed again.

"Oh? Do you know why? What is it? Sure enough, Lincoln asked.

"As far as I know, the Chinese fought with us this time, don't look at the reason for which Californians are bullying the Chinese, but in fact it is just an excuse, an excuse to find an opportunity to invade us!"

"If you don't say this, I know it." Lincoln nodded, "But what's the use of knowing, this is a world of the jungle." ”

"Yes." Skester nodded, "The Chinese invaded us this time because they recognized that we were fighting against the southern rebels. They are too busy to take care of themselves, so they take the opportunity to seize a large amount of our land on the west coast, which is their main purpose.

Now that this goal has been achieved, there is no need for them to continue to spend financial, material and human resources, and it is only natural that they will withdraw their troops and cease fighting. ”

"yes." Lincoln laughed self-deprecatingly, "The Chinese's goal has been achieved, why stay here." ”

"But," Skerst added. "If you take this lightly, then it is a big deal, in fact, the Chinese did not go so simply, they still have a lot of back."

"The Chinese still have a back hand?" Lincoln frowned. "What's the backhand?"

"Do you know what I heard when I was released?" Skerst pretended to be a mystical way.

"What?"

"I got a message." Scist sighed, "It turns out that the Chinese Expeditionary Force has retreated to New Orleans. It looks like they're leaving, but that's not the case, they're bargaining with the Southerners. Hatch a new conspiracy against us. ”

"New conspiracy, what new conspiracy?"

"Mr. President, you don't understand the nature of the Chinese Expeditionary Force." "Although this army has the name of China, it is actually a private mercenary army, and their real boss is a private company called the Eastern Bloc, and this battle is just an action hired by the Chinese government." ”

"Well, I know this, does it matter?"

"Absolutely." "It is true that the United States of America and the Chinese Empire have ceased war, and the expeditionary force has withdrawn its troops, but in fact, this only means that the Chinese expeditionary force has completed the contract of the Chinese government, and once the contract is completed, they will become free, in other words, they can choose their employers again and take on new tasks." ”

Hearing this, Lincoln's eyes narrowed: "You mean to say that the Chinese Expeditionary Force does not want to leave New Orleans, but wants to accept the employment of Southern rebels?" ”

"Yes." Scester's face was serious, "It is said that the Davis government is sending someone to contact the commander of their Chinese Expeditionary Force, and the two sides are negotiating over the price, once the negotiation is successful, this army will accept the employment of the southern government and will rejoin the attack on our Xu Li."

At that time, we will not be able to blame the Chinese Empire at all, because the Chinese Expeditionary Force is not fighting us on behalf of the Chinese government, but on behalf of the southern government. ”

"This, how is this possible!" Lincoln stood up suddenly, but quickly sat down again, and looked at Scyster with a serious face, "Is your information reliable, is it true?" ”

"Of course it's true." Scist also became serious, "Although this news is secret, it is not a secret among the Chinese mercenaries, those Chinese soldiers talk about this matter everywhere, and I only know about it because I listened to the translator's reply." ”

"Damn it, these untrustworthy Chinese monkeys!" Lincoln clenched his fists, "How can they be so discredited!" ”

"Your Excellency." Scist sighed, "Didn't I say it, they are private mercenaries, not Chinese government troops, and the previous battles between them and our country were just for the Chinese government, and now that the contract is over, it is understandable to find a new boss to cooperate." After all, we can't beat them, can we? ”

"It's a big problem." Lincoln narrowed his eyes, "If this army attacks us again, it's definitely a real big trouble!" ”

"It's not just trouble, it's a disaster!" Skerst also squinted, flashing a playful light, but his expression became more serious, "Frankly, the real purpose of my coming to you today is to bring you a personal opinion, an opinion to save the United States of America!" ”

"What's the opinion?" Lincoln frowned.

"Let's make peace." Scestert exhaled, "Let's make peace with the Southerners!" This is the only way out for us now! ”

"Are you kidding?"

"I'm not kidding!" Skerst continued to say solemnly, "With our current strength, can we continue to resist the combined attack of the Southern Army and the expeditionary force?" Not to mention the British and French? No, we can't stop it at all, and we can't stop it!

We must take advantage of the fact that the Yankees are also exhausted, and hurry up to offer to negotiate peace with the South, so that the Yankees will not be able to make up their minds to hire the expeditionary force that asks for a high price.

In other words, our top priority now is to stabilize the other side first, send that damn expeditionary force away first, and don't let that mercenary force interfere with us again, only in this way can the United States, which can keep our freedom, have a chance to turn the tables in the future!

Otherwise, if you insist on going your own way, causing us to lose even the last capital, then what is the future! (To be continued......)