What can be bought for five million dollars in the nineteenth century?

On October 27, 1821, the United States and Spain signed a contract to buy ownership of Florida for $5 million.

And in fact the Americans did not spend a penny, but directly occupied the Indians militarily in the name of expelling them through the Seminole War.

Spain, which was on the wane, simply had no strength to bargain with this emerging power in North America, and coupled with the former's domestic uprisings and natural disasters, it could only give Florida white to the latter.

Then-U.S. Secretary of State Adams excitedly said, "This will be a new era in American history." ”。

But he never imagined that 23 years later, the Austrians would buy a fleet of 70 warships and 18,000 officers and men from the Americans for five million dollars.

In fact, before the arrival of Ashton Hoffmann, the envoy of the Austro-Mexican United Development Company, the U.S. military was divided into two camps, one of which advocated a direct admission of defeat and retreated to the United States, and the other that advocated continuing to fight to contain the Austrian army.

However, John Fremont's personal prestige and excellent organizational skills brought these men together to continue to harass the California coastline, making it impossible for the Austrian army to expand it even if it was victorious.

But since that meeting, John Fremont has been trying to hide the fact that he has lost contact with the American mainland.

However, paper cannot contain fire, and forcing paper to roast on a fire can also encourage the spread of fire.

In order to dispel the doubts of the soldiers, John Fremont directed and acted in a big play.

His men hired a group of merchants from the Colombian port of Barranquilla to act as messengers, and then read the "good news" to the soldiers of the expeditionary force.

It did boost the morale of the soldiers, but some people raised objections as to why the U.S. military had already breached the fortress of San Gabriel and Mexico City and did not continue to send troops to attack Los Angeles and San Francisco.

And why are there no reinforcements, even if it is to send a little supply.

But those are only minority voices, and it only takes a big win for John Fremont to regain control of the situation.

But reality dealt him a heavy blow again, and it is not known where the Austrians got so many troops, and every city was garrisoned.

And for the Navy to go to land and forcibly attack a well-defended position would be a joke at all.

After a series of deflated troops, John Fremont had to lead his army back to the makeshift camp and wait for the right moment. However, the house leak happened to rain overnight, and the supply of the fleet bottomed out.

In fact, he used to plunder the coastal areas of California, but now that this trick does not work, he can only go to the nearest port to resupply.

The closest to this place is the port of Barranquilla in Gran Colombia, but now John Fremont has a new problem: he has no money.

At the same time, John Fremont was not the real commander of this fleet, and he had no authority to owe debts on behalf of the United States. The Colombians also brought a bunch of bad news to the US military.

That is, the European powers have decided to support Mexico, the British, French, and Austrian fleets have set off from the European continent, and what is worse is that Winfield's army has been surrounded by the Mexicans, and Zachary Taylor's main force has still not broken through the Rio Grande defense.

John Fremont was about to call these rumors, but another soldier met the group he had invited in the tavern.

The American GIs had a friendly exchange with him and learned the truth of the matter, which had developed beyond the control of John Fremont.

The angry crowd imprisoned John Fremont in the cargo warehouse on the flagship, where he did not resist and did not want to resist again.

In the warehouse, John Fremont began to worry about the future fate of the United States, because his strange army seemed to be alone at this time, and an inexplicable sadness welled up in his heart, and he even began to suspect that he would soon die in his sleep.

But when John Fremont woke up the next day, he wasn't dead. On the contrary, the door of the warehouse was opened, and he was told to go out.

John Fremont was very calm at this time, but smiled and straightened his clothes.

"Is there any smoke?"

The soldier on the side hurriedly took out a paper cigarette from his coat pocket and handed it over, and John Fremont took the cigarette in his mouth and continued.

"Is there a fire?"

The soldier hurriedly pulled out another match, and with a "click" sound, the smell of red phosphorus and burning pine wood came out, and John Fremont took a deep breath, closing his eyes as if he was savoring something.

"Thanks, please lead the way." John Fremont said sincerely.

Soon the hatch was opened, and the long-lost sunlight made the explorer's eyes squint, and he began to think back to his life and those thrilling expeditions.

John Fremont looked at the familiar faces in front of him, he felt a little guilty, but he didn't regret it.

If God had given him another chance, John Fremont would still have chosen to cross the Rocky Mountains and cross the Nevada desert to the Gold Coast.

Breathing in the salty sea breeze, John Fremont felt that it was indeed a good day to die for, and walked to the bow of the boat.

"Come, let's go! Long live freedom! Long live democracy! Beautiful"

John Fremont was interrupted before he could finish his last words, and the officers next to him helped him change into the admiral's uniform and the sailing hat, which symbolized the commander of the fleet.

The captains shouted in unison, "Mr. Fremont!" You are now our fleet commander! ”

In fact, after John Fremont was put in storage, there was a fire fight between the American troops on the land of the Republic of Gran Colombia, and in the end nearly a thousand people died before they subsided.

John Fremont was not stupid, and he knew very well that if his approach did not satisfy everyone, the end result would likely be the same death in a foreign land as the group of people who were purged last night.

"Long live the Austrian Empire! We have turned from darkness to light! ”

"Hooray!"

"Hooray!"

With cheers and flying naval hats, Fremont's fleet headed for Los Angeles, and the account in the port of Barranquilla was naturally credited to the Austro-Mexican United Development Company.

In fact, every move of the US military is under the surveillance of the Austrian side, but if Fremont can hold out for a while, he may be able to wait for Washington's intelligence.

Because this time John Taylor sent a warship to deliver information, which is not something that a hundred or ten Austrian agents can solve.

It would be no problem for these intelligence officers to deal with couriers or ordinary merchants, but they would have little chance of winning against the army, as they were trained to gather and transmit information, not combat.

Unfortunately, by the time Washington's messengers discovered Fremont's fleet, the latter had already flown the Austrian flag and did not hesitate to sink the former.

It would have worked better if Franz had wished the California Coast Guard had put Washington's messenger back.

(End of chapter)