To the present Joseph. Johnston, for his part, had let go of his so-called reserve from the day he intended to seek the support of the Chinese and establish himself as king, and he could accept the conditions as long as they were not too excessive.

Therefore, since Joseph had accepted Li Yongji's previous conditions and promised to send him two pieces of land, there seemed to be no reason for the other party to oppose the request for him to jointly send troops to Panama.

After all, in Joseph. In Johnston's view, he was only a nominal ally in the matter of sending troops to Panama, just a name, and the real main force was Chinese, and after the matter was completed, Li Yongji also promised to give him an additional sponsorship fee totaling up to 300,000 Chinese yuan as the cost of receiving Panama, which was quite a lot.

And if he didn't agree, the aid he had promised before might be yellow, so without much struggle, Joseph agreed to Li Yongji's plan.

Joseph promised Li Yongji that once the expeditionary force handed over the captured weapons to him and handed over the control areas of several major cities along the way, then when Li Yongji led his army to New Orleans, he would send an expeditionary force to attack Panama City in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Western Theater of the Union Army, under the pretext of preventing harassment at sea, and this expeditionary force obviously refers to the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

In this way, on the surface, it seems that the coalition army is fighting against the federal army in Panama, but the main body of the troops is the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and if you want to ask, it can be regarded as the expeditionary force is a mercenary army in the western theater.

In any case, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was originally fighting in the United States in the name of mercenaries, and its previous operations against the United States of America claimed to be only accepting the employment of the Chinese Imperial Government.

Although there is a truce between the Chinese government and the federal government, it is at the national level, and private mercenaries, or expeditionary forces, are not included.

More precisely, after the armistice between China and the United States of the North, the expeditionary force effectively ended its employment relationship with the Chinese Empire. Freedom was restored, and it seemed reasonable to accept the mercenary of the Union Army again during this period.

In this way, the expeditionary force could easily gain control of Panama in the name of the Eastern Bloc, with the help of the fact that the Union and the Union were still at war, with much more room for advance and retreat, and many moral responsibilities were relieved.

On the other hand, Joseph. Johnston just issued a statement. He does not need to send a single soldier, and when the Chinese take Panama, he can easily obtain an interest-free loan of 300,000 Chinese yuan by transferring the Isthmus of Panama to the Eastern Bloc on the grounds of insufficient military spending.

Again, through this incident, Joseph can still be involved with the expeditionary force, so that outsiders can see it, ah. He was able to hire an expeditionary force, and there was also a kind of meaning of a fox and a fake tiger, because he could use the expeditionary force's great martial arts to deter the people around him. Including people in the coalition government.

Therefore, it was a plan that everyone was happy with, and there was no reason why Joseph should not agree to it if he thought about it for himself.

But here's the thing. The matter of cooperation with the Eastern Bloc is only good for Joseph personally, in essence. It is harming the interests of the United States as a whole, so if outsiders are present, it will definitely seem a little incredible.

After all, Joseph was also from a famous family, and his reputation in the past was quite good, he was a very famous patriotic soldier, and his loyalty to the United States was impeccable, and neither the Northern Army nor the Southern Army considered him a traitor, even during the Civil War.

After all, in essence, the Civil War was a civil war in the United States, and the purpose of the war, whether it was the Northern Army or the Southern Army, was to defeat the other side and restore the unity of the North and the South.

It's just that the development of the form is a little unexpected for them, after all, the war has been fought so far, both the north and the south have been scarred and tired, and neither is powerless to completely defeat the other, if there is no accident, the two sides will definitely temporarily cease fighting, and first maintain the situation of two countries coexisting.

But in any case, the North and the South are of the same root, and even if they are divided into two countries, they can only be like North America and South Korea in another time and space, and become North America or South America.

The Isthmus of Panama, whether it is for the United States of the North or the Confederate States of the South, is a very important pawn, after all, if the United States wants to expand westward, the digging of the Panama Canal is a vital link.

So, Joseph. What Johnston is doing now does not look like the style of the elite of Western democratic society, without the spirit of serving the public, but like a reactionary warlord who has milk and is a mother, who does not hesitate to betray the interests of the country and the nation, and is extremely selfish.

To be honest, in fact, Li Yongji didn't believe it at first, after all, in his impression, Americans, especially Joseph. Johnston, who also made a name for himself in history on another plane, should be a person of considerable character, and it is unlikely that he would have such a warlord style.

But the truth surprised him, and that was Joseph. Johnston was really determined to expand his private army, and the traitor was called a clean and thorough.

After knocking on the side, he found that he couldn't ask anything, so Li Yongji didn't ask any more, only thinking that the legend was wrong, and that the Americans were just like that. Johnston is also exaggerating, and he is also a man who can do anything for personal gain.

For this kind of beautiful rape, Li Yongji is very welcome, so in the same relationship with Joseph. Johnston negotiated the terms and quickly made good on his promise.

First of all, Li Yongji transferred the seized weapons to Joseph free of charge. Johnston, there were a large number of weapons, and even if they were seriously damaged, there were more than 600,000 rifles, 100,000 pistols, more than 400 light and heavy guns of all kinds, and countless ammunition.

The reason why there are so many weapons and equipment is mainly because the objects of the expeditionary force are all elite units of the federal army, and the weapons and equipment are originally good, but they are quickly defeated when they encounter unreasonable modern weapons.

Moreover, strictly speaking, when the expeditionary force was fighting in the entire lower Mississippi River, except for the bloody battle of Smithland, the other battles were quick battles, and the time for the two armies to duel was quite small, most of the time the Union army was about to collapse at the first touch, and then the expeditionary force pursued and killed in the back.

In this way, not only did the battle achieve remarkable results, but every time it was a total annihilation battle. The Federation Army was quite numerous, and their weapons were largely undepleted, because they were defeated too quickly to wear out.

If you want to make an analogy, then the battle between the expeditionary force and the federal army before is a bit like the battle of the German army blitzkrieg against the French army in World War II, which is also a quick battle, and then the French army has no decent resistance, so they surrender one after another, resulting in the French army is obviously the losing side. The losses were smaller than those of the Germans, and they also allowed the Germans to obtain a large amount of French equipment.

Although there are many captured weapons of the Federal Army, and the integrity is also good, it is a pity that most of these weapons are front-loading smoothbore guns or front-loading smoothbore guns, which are typical modern firearms, and their performance is completely incomparable with the weapons used by the expeditionary force.

After all, the weapons of the Federal Army are the goods of the sixties of the nineteenth century, while the weapons used by the expeditionary force are the mainstream weapons of the late twentieth century, and there are some electronic equipment of the twenty-first century. The technology generation difference is too great.

The soldiers of the expeditionary force were accustomed to modern weapons, and when they looked at the front-loading guns, they were not interested at all, so even if Joseph himself did not ask for them. According to Li Yongji's idea, he also wants to sell these weapons for money, but as for who to sell them to, there is no complete goal. It's just that whoever bids high will sell it to.

But now, Li Yongji doesn't have to worry about who to sell this batch of weapons to, because he can exchange this batch of weapons for something better. What better deal than to prop up an obedient agent with these weapons that are useless to oneself?

On the other hand, although these weapons were useless against Li Yongji's expeditionary force, they were of no use against Joseph. Johnston, that's a windfall!

More than 600,000 rifles and more than 400 artillery pieces can pull up an army of at least more than 400,000 people.

With 400,000 heavily armed troops, his strength can suddenly become one of the best in the entire Union army, even if he is facing the ever-expanding Northern Virginia Legion head-on.

In 1864, muskets, even in the Western world, were still quite expensive, not all over the streets.

In the past, because the Southern Union Army did not have an arsenal to produce weapons, in order to be able to fight against the Northern Army, it took five years of deliberate planning to accumulate enough weapons to rebel and pull up the so-called Union Army.

In the early days of the Civil War, why did the Confederate Army's Eastern Theater fight quite well, and the Confederate Army was not wanted, but the Western Theater, which was not much less than the Eastern Theater, was beaten back by the Grant Legion, a lone force of the Confederate Army?

Is it because the soldiers of the Western Army are not as brave as the people of the East? No, the fundamental reason is that the Western Army has too few and too poor weapons, and it is not at all the opponent of the elite Grant Legion.

As mentioned earlier, the main force of the Union Army is actually the local troops of the respective states, that is, the troops of the state government, so whichever state is richer, which state has better weapons and stronger combat power.

Virginia and other states in the east are traditionally wealthy, so they have more and better weapons, and their combat effectiveness is naturally stronger. Johnston was personally drafted and later recruited by Robert Brown. A case in point is the Northern Virginia Legion, where Lee took command, the ace unit of the Union Army.

On the contrary, the Western Theater of Operations, that is, the states in the middle and lower reaches of the Mississippi River, has always been a poor place, although there are many people and courage is good, but there is no money to buy weapons, especially advanced weapons, and the combat power is naturally inferior to the Union Army, which has more advanced weapons.

If nothing else, look at the captures, there are 400 artillery pieces and more than 600,000 rifles, all of which belong to the Federation Army that invaded the west.

As for their opponents, the troops of the Western Theater of Operations, all of them had only 300,000 rifles, including antique old-fashioned arquebuses, and the artillery was even more outrageous, not even 200 guns, and the caliber was generally small.

With such a comparison of weapons, in the early days, it was no wonder that the Grant Legion was constantly beating them with fewer victories and more victories.

That is to say, in several states in the lower reaches of the Mississippi River, such as Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana, there is no shortage of food or people, but what is lacking is weapons and money, so as long as you have guns and money, you can immediately become a big warlord at any time.

Joseph. This was the case with Johnston, who, after receiving the weapons and Hua Yuan from the expeditionary force, was immediately relieved like a nouveau riche who got rich overnight.

And he was not ambiguous, and immediately began a blatant military expansion, and in less than a month, the Mississippi regiment under his control was directly expanded around Memphis into a large force with a total of more than 300,000 people.

The reason why it can be so fast. Because after the Chinese occupation, Memphis originally became a famous trading hub, attracting a large number of poor farmers around to come and beg for a living, more than half of these people are lumberjacks, specializing in providing various types of wood for the Chinese.

Now that the Chinese are leaving, and they have lost a big donor, then the next step seems to be a good choice.

Because being a soldier is paid on a monthly basis, and you can also take care of food. This is the best way out for those low-level American farmers who have been devastated by the war, and have been cut a few times by the big farmers in the vicinity, and most of them are already destitute.

Of course, there is also a part of the Chinese in this, because the Chinese bought cotton and timber in Memphis, causing the price of these items to soar, and the local big farmers began to increase their land when they saw the benefits. Expansion of production.

The big farms were mainly expanding, and the unfortunate ones were the weaker American yeoman farmers, who were forced to surrender their land and were not hired by the farmers. After all, it seems more cost-effective to use serfs than them.

As a result, the number of bankrupt peasants gradually increased, and most of them went to work as lumberjacks in order to make a living. But once the Chinese no longer needed a lot of wood, they lost their livelihoods.

In Memphis, where prices are skyrocketing, these processes of American migrant workers are no longer able to work as lumberjacks. There is no better job to do than being a soldier.

In short, the conscription office was full of people, and there was a scene of heat everywhere, and seeing this, Joseph. Johnston was also very pleased, and the unhappiness of being suppressed by the Chinese gradually faded.

Actually, Joseph. How could Johnston not know that what he was doing now was very inappropriate, and that he was betraying the interests of the country?

If he just wants to be peaceful, eat and drink without worrying, with Joseph's family background, he doesn't need to do these things at all, even if President Davis doesn't deal with him, he just needs to go home, with his family's power and influence, he can be a rich man.

But he is unwilling, he is unwilling to be so bland like this, and from the bottom of his heart, he feels that the Davis government has done something wrong, and the mistake is quite outrageous, in the final analysis, Davis and those people are stupid!

This idea that the center is stupid is even more ingrained after the Battle of Vicksburg!

So, from that time on, Joseph. Johnston suddenly had a sense of ownership, he no longer wanted to passively accept fate, but wanted to take the initiative to change all this, according to his ideas!

And now what he is doing is fulfilling his plan!

Actually, speaking of which, Joseph. Johnston's plan was not complicated, he was to use the power of the Chinese to raise a strong enough army in a short period of time, and then use it to control the lower Mississippi River, and then use the major cities in the lower Mississippi River that were controlled by the Chinese to first control the three major states of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

In this way, he can not only directly control the three major states, but also control the important strategic hub of the Mississippi River, and if it is operated well, the nearby states of Texas, Arkansas, and Alabama are also likely to fall to him, because there is no nearby state at all, and there is no strength to resist his 400,000 army!

In other words, once he has an army of 400,000, and then directly controls three states, and indirectly controls three states, he will become a powerful existence in control of six states, and has the strength to directly call the alliance government!

In this way, he has six states and a strong army, and if the Union government does not want to start civil strife again, it can only appease itself, and the most likely is to hand over the power of the central government. Johnston becomes the second president!

Once he became the president, he also became the commander-in-chief of the Union Army, so with the 400,000 troops he personally raised, plus the Northern Virginia Legion was actually pulled up by him, and the soldiers were all Virginians, it would not be difficult to completely control these two main forces.

In this case, he will become the real ruler of the Confederate state in name and in fact, and at that time, he will be able to follow the example of Lincoln in the north according to the development of the situation, and control the parliament with the help of his army, and turn the Confederate state into a relatively dictatorial form of government.

After completing this step, he will seek negotiations with the North, and as long as the conditions in the North are not too harsh, he will find a way to directly annex the Southern Alliance to the North and restore the reunification of the North and the South again.

In other words, Joseph. Johnston is playing a big game, he's saving the country on a curve, at least that's what he thinks in his heart, and that's what he does.

As for how many people he will be misunderstood and abused by many people in this process, he doesn't care at all.

Thinking of this, Joseph. Johnston sighed softly and muttered in a voice that only he could hear, "All for America, all for unification!" As long as you can do this in your lifetime, even if you have a lifetime of infamy, it doesn't matter. (To be continued......)