After the war broke out in April 1861, the battlefield calmed down. This is mainly due to the fact that the troops used to fight are not yet fully ready. Now that the wavering states such as Virginia have completely fallen to the Union, Lincoln can free himself to reorganize the army according to his own ideas. Lincoln issued a recruitment order, and the first batch of 42,000 volunteers were recruited for three years. And eighteen thousand of them were first replenished to the Navy.

The commander of the Union Army, General Winfield 61 Scott, developed a plan for President Lincoln to settle the South by force. According to his plan, the best prepared navy would first blockade the Confederate Alliance. The Confederates did not have much of their own industry, and once they were tightly sealed, they would not be able to sell the cotton in their fields and buy the supplies they urgently needed, so that the power of the Confederates would quickly weaken, and the Union forces would concentrate on seizing control of the Mississippi River. Given the enormous superiority in the navy, as well as the strong shipbuilding capabilities of the Federation, the seizure of control of the Mississippi River was entirely possible. And once the Mississippi River is controlled, the Confederate will be split in half. What's more, the Union army could rely on river transportation to launch an attack at any point along the Mississippi River, and the defenses of the Alliance, which was already not rich in manpower, would become more and more stretched. At the same time, he stressed that there should be no rush to launch an attack on the capital of the Federal Republic of the South. Because in his opinion, the army in the north is far from being ready for such an operation. With this kind of warfare, the federal army will entangle the Confederate like a python, and finally suffocate it to death.

Just for the operation itself, the plan of General Winfield 61 Scott was excellent. In terms of the balance of power between the North and the South alone, this approach does allow the North to defeat the South with less losses. However, this method of warfare is really not desirable in terms of politics.

"Mr. MacDonald, I know that your Blackwater Company was directly involved in Italy's War of Independence. I wonder what the experts under you think about the war? At a reception at the White House, Stanton, the new Secretary of the Army (the equivalent of later Secretary of Defense), asked Scrooge.

Stanton, who was originally Buchanan's attorney general, was invited by Lincoln to serve as secretary of the Army when he became president. Scrooge had heard people talk about this man, and he was a tough, resolute guy who spoke very harshly. It is said that this guy even often referred to Lincoln as the "Illinois ape-man". Of course, if in a team, there is a guy who has such a cheap mouth, but has always been able to hold a high position, then he is not a deep back (harmony), but must be outstanding. Scrooge had dealt with him before, and knew that he was actually an easy person to deal with, except for his bad temper. For example, when he added Spam canned luncheon meat to the U.S. military's munitions purchase order, he was quite cooperative. Of course, this may have something to do with the fact that one of his cousins works for McDonald Foods and owns a stake.

"Ah, Secretary Stanton," said Scrooge, "I've talked to our experts about this. They all felt that the Union Army was not well prepared and that it would be difficult to deal with the rebels in the South in the short term. So our company has been preparing for this war as a long-term war. ”

"But Lincoln doesn't seem to see it that way," said Stanton, shaking his head, "and he's ready to send his troops to the south." General McDowell will be in charge of the attack. He assured Lincoln that the Confederate army was vulnerable. ”

"Ah, Minister Stanton, you have to know that the Confederate army is not necessarily vulnerable. You know, I have some channels for news in Europe. I've heard that some Southerners in England and France bought quite a few breech-loading rifles – well, basically not authorized copies of MacDonald's 1857 or illegally produced versions of it – and shipped them back south by sea through Guò. There are probably tens of thousands of them (a figure that Scrooge is completely exaggerating). Also, as you know, the MacDonald 1857 rifle has been on public sale in North America for a long time, and it is not known how many Southerners have bought it during this time. And our army is still using front-loading rifles. God, that's an era away. In Italy, the Italians, who used breech-loading rifles, have confirmed the great advantages of rear-loading rifles over front-loading rifles. However, our army still has no plans to equip itself with such a rifle. ”

"Mr. MacDonald, I would also like to see the Army equipped with more advanced breech-loading rifles. However, your rifle is simply too expensive, and Congress will not agree to buy such a rifle, at least not yet. If your rifle is as cheap as Spam, I can guarantee that we will definitely buy these rifles. ”

"How is this possible?" "But I can understand President Lincoln very well. The war has been going on for so long, and in order to quell the rebellion, it is conscription, and it is an increase in military spending, if there is no action at all, can Congress agree? Can those supporters of the Republican Party say yes? Now that they've put the money in, they're always hoping to hear something. Besides, the rebels moved the capital to Richmond, which was also a little too close to Washington, D.C. Don't you think? Watching the enemy right under their noses and not killing him is not the style of the Americans. Moreover, many people will feel that even for the sake of Washington's security, they should take Richmond before the Southerners gain a firm foothold. Because the distance between these two cities is just over 100 miles (in fact, the distance in a straight line is less than 100 miles), it is really ......" Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to Scrooge that whether it was Lincoln or Davis in the south, they might be regarded as the Son of Heaven guarding the country.

"Aren't you also a Republican supporter? Would you like to hear a little bit of noise too? ”

"No, the sound doesn't satisfy me, I want to hear the roar." Scrooge said, raising his glass.

……

Scrooge did wait for that roar, and he didn't wait long. In July, General McDowell announced that his army would begin its march south, telling the reporters that he was leading a full 35,000 heavily armed Union soldiers, while the rebels opposite him numbered only a little over 10,000 (22,000, in fact), and militiamen. He told reporters that his army would easily crush the rebels and remove the Southern threat to Washington, D.C. The general even told the reporters all the time of the troops, the place of the battle, and so on, and the reporters naturally published all of this in the newspapers. Since General McDowell assured that the battle would be easier than hunting, the reporters of the various newspapers rented carriages and brought dry rations when McDowell sent troops, and planned to go over to report on the victory of the Union troops.

Not only journalists, but even some bored citizens regarded this battle as a hunting party, and they took their wives, dressed in costumes, parasols, folding seats, and rode in their own carriages, and also set off with the army, ready to have a picnic party while watching the play.

A day later, however, General McDowell's troops were defeated from Virginia. According to the accounts of the journalists who went with them, the Union troops and the rebels met at the Boer River, and the Union troops attacked the stone bridge over the Boer River while forcing their way downstream to attack the enemy's flank. But there they were hit hard by the rebels from the South. The rebels in the South were extremely cunning in digging trenches in the ground, hiding inside, with only their heads exposed, and then firing at the MacDonald 1857 rifles against the Union troops who were still using backward Springfield 1855 front-loading rifles. The Union troops lined up in neat formation and launched five fearless attacks on the enemy's positions in a row, but for the well-known reason that the MacDonald 1857 rifle far exceeded the range and rate of fire of any front-loading rifle, they simply advanced in a rain of bullets. With every step forward, countless warriors were killed. A group of troops that rushed in batches were already killed and wounded before they could even get close to the enemy's positions. The Union army left nearly a thousand corpses in front of the enemy's defensive positions, still unable to make any progress. In the afternoon, reinforcements from the Confederate Federation arrived, and the balance of numbers between the two sides was reversed. Confederate reinforcements attacked from the flanks, and many of these rebels were also equipped with advanced MacDonald 1857s, and the power of their salvos made the Union army completely unstoppable, and if it were not for the containment of the cavalry troops, coupled with the sudden rainstorm, the Union army would even be surrounded and annihilated by the rebels.

This defeat immediately caused an uproar in public opinion. Various media in Washington have asked why the federal army has been defeated so badly.

"Hello, Diana, is there any newspaper for today?" Early in the morning, Scrooge came to his office, and the female secretary, Diana, immediately made him a cup of black tea.

Compared to coffee, perhaps because of the legacy of his previous life, Scrooge still prefers tea. And under the influence of Queen Victoria, in this era, drinking black tea is also higher than drinking coffee.

"Ah, yes, Mr. MacDonald, I'll go get it to you." Diana put down her teacup, turned and went out, and after a while, she walked in with a number of newspapers in her arms.

"Mr. MacDonald, these newspapers have coverage of the battle. I put all the references to our rifles on it. ”

"Okay, thank you, Diana, you're so attentive." Scrooge flipped through a newspaper with the headline: "Whose fault is the rebel superiority in weapons?" ”

Flipping through several newspapers, Scrooge found that there were not many newspapers that accused his company of selling large quantities of weapons to Southern rebels, and even those that accused his guns of being too expensive and that the federal army could not afford to equip them. And the newspapers that accuse MacDonald Infantry Weapons Company are all inconspicuous and inconspicuous newspapers with little influence at all.

"Well, it seems that the work done in the media has been very effective." Scrooge nodded, thinking.

Since Scrooge's company was not the target of revival, Lincoln's government was naturally the main target. Looking at the content of these articles, there are inevitably some questions like this at the end:

"Why does the rebels know to have the best weapons for their soldiers, while our government only gives them the cheapest weapons? Isn't the life of our soldiers worth the price difference? Why is it that when the major countries of the world are switching to the production of rear-loading rifles, our state-run gun factories are still producing obsolete old goods? Why are fools who should have been sent to a psychiatric hospital a long time ago still become generals after giving up treatment? Isn't this a systemic problem? (Oh, that's no, Scrooge was completely mistaken.) In the United States, there is absolutely no system problem, I don't believe you look at all kinds of Hollywood movies in the United States, no matter how bad the villains are, no matter how bad their status is, it is all their own problem, and the lofty system of the United States has always been correct. Even works such as "The Grapes of Wrath", which fiercely opposes the capitalist elite, believe that the US federal government is the last hope for mankind. Where do we spend all the money we pay? What's wrong with this country? I couldn't help but fall into deep thought. ”