1850 American Gold Tycoon

Liang Yao took the cigarette from Fremont's hand, but he had no intention of smoking at this time. He just played with the thin cigarette in his hand for a while, and then he put the wrinkled cigarette into his pocket.

"This is exactly what I am worried about. If we cannot achieve a quick victory on the battlefield, we can only disintegrate them from within Mexico, thereby indirectly bringing this war to an early end and ending with a result that is beneficial to us."

"Santa Ana has served as the president of Mexico for more than a dozen times intermittently. Although he does not have the name of a king, he has long been a dictator. He also has many opponents in Mexico, so this move is not a bad idea." Fremont He nodded and continued to ask.

"Who are you going to break through from?"

"General Ignacio Comes, this guy participated in the uprising against President Santa Ana two years ago. He has differences with Santa Ana. Moreover, he is well-known in Mexico." Liang Yao After thinking for a while he said.

"More importantly, this guy is frustrated now. If we give him a hand now, he will have to thank us."

Ignacio Comes was born in Salina Cruz in southern Mexico in 1812. He was a local powerful man.

Comes served in the Mexican army and participated in the Mexican-American War. His prestige in the Mexican army was second only to Santa Ana.

Comes participated in the uprising against Santa Ana two years ago and wanted to replace Santa Ana. However, due to insufficient preparation, the uprising ended in failure.

Although Santa Ana took into account Comes' influence in the army and his influence in Salina Cruz afterwards, he did not physically liquidate Comes, and Comes survived.

But the failure of the uprising also pronounced the death of Comes's political and military career. As long as Santa Anna was still in the position of president, Comes had no possibility of turning over.

Mexico is not a small country and is very considerate. It is unrealistic for the United States to swallow up Mexico in one go.

This also touched the bottom line of Britain and France.

Since Mexico cannot be swallowed up in one go, it would be a good choice to start supporting a pro-American Mexican talker after the war.

"This is a suitable candidate. It's always good to be prepared." Fremont also thinks that Comes is a good candidate.

"In short, our interests in California cannot be entirely pinned on the South. The South may not be reliable."

"Relying on heaven and earth is worse than relying on yourself." Liang Yao deeply agreed.

"Who are you going to send to contact Comes?" Fremont took a puff of cigarette, and when he saw that he was almost done with it, he threw the butt of the cigarette to the ground and stamped it out.

"Leland Stanford, Stanford has business dealings with Comes, so it would be most appropriate to send him there." Liang Yao said without hesitation.

"One more thing. Gervin and Strauss wrote to ask you that Mexico has unilaterally imposed a trade embargo on us. Should California take countermeasures?" Fremont asked with his hands behind his back.

"Has Mexico's trade embargo caused substantial losses to California? Has the import of iron ore been affected?" Liang Yao asked rhetorically.

"Not only that, but the import volume of iron ore has actually increased." Fremont laughed.

"After the war broke out, the unit price of iron ore increased a bit. In order to make a fortune, Mexican mine owners increased their iron ore exports to us, fearing that this would be the last time they would do business with us."

"Then there is no need to take countermeasures against Mexico. This also shows that the free trade advocated by us in California is not just rhetoric." Liang Yao said clearly.

"As long as Mexicans do not buy smuggled arms from California, all trade will continue as usual. Stopping trade with Mexican mine owners now will not be worth the gain, but will push them against us."

After bidding farewell to Fremont, Liang Yao came to Salty and Bell's Texas round.

Because Liang Yao had promised Bell in advance that after opening up the communication line, he would give Bell priority in providing a batch of arms and other military supplies that the Texas regiment was in short supply. The Texas regiment fought very hard.

After capturing Sarti, Bell left only one company to guard Sarti, while the rest of the main force went straight to Torreon.

Liang Yao also came to Torreon with Bell. As soon as they arrived at the gate of Torreon, they saw the familiar Stars and Stripes Banner and Bear Flag from a distance.

The Western Brigade led by Kruger had taken Torreon ahead of the Texas regiment.

"General! My subordinates have been ordered to capture Torreon. Please give me your instructions, General." Kruger stood in a tall military posture and gave a military salute to Liang Yao.

"There are no instructions yet. All ministries are ordered to rest where they are." Liang Yao said.

In more than a month, the Western Brigade conquered the three cities of Casatlan, Durango and Torreon. Durango is still the state capital, not a small city.

High-intensity combat consumes a lot of physical energy of the soldiers of the Western Brigade. The soldiers of the Western Brigade are not American supermen, but mortal bodies.

Proper rest is necessary if you want to maintain your combat effectiveness in the coming battle.

Moreover, Liang Yao's next combat plan does not depend on the Western Brigade itself, but on the results achieved by Jackson's Southern Army on the Eastern Front.

"Torreon has been captured, where are my arms and supplies?" Seeing that Torreon had been captured, Bell impatiently urged Liang Yao to fulfill the supplies he had originally promised to the Texas Regiment.

"Your supplies are indispensable. You first go to the Mexican arsenal in Torreon to see if there is any junk that you like. Take a few first. I will take you to Mazatlan to get the rest." Yao said impatiently.

Mazatlan is a small port city in the state of Sinaloa on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

It is said to be a port city, but in fact it is just a small fishing village with a population of only a few thousand.

However, with a population of several thousand, it is already considered a large settlement in the vast and sparsely populated northern region of Mexico.

In the mid-19th century, Mexico's core population and cities were in central and southern Mexico, while the north was the wilderness of Mexico.

The Western Brigade's advance route this time was to land at Mazatlan, and then advance inland along the road, reaching Durango, the capital of Durango, and Torreon.

Since Mazatlan has a port, after landing, Kruger left the Los Angeles Militia with more than a thousand men to defend this small fishing village and used it as the main supply point for the Western Brigade.

Military supplies transported by steam cargo ships from California are currently being stocked in Mazatlan.

After the fall of Torreon, the local Mexican defenders did not burn or destroy their warehouses.

The materials in the warehouse are also completely preserved.

I don’t know whether it was because Mexico was already poor or because Mexican military officers were extremely corrupt. Bell quickly walked out of Torreon’s warehouse cursing.

Damn it, the Mexican warehouses are outrageous, not to mention that the military rations in the warehouses have bottomed out.

I couldn't even find a few pairs of shoes. The guns and three rusty smoothbore cannons in the ordnance warehouse were nothing more than the United States. They were just a pile of scrap metal.

An angry Bell was about to lead people to raid the homes of Mexican military officers and local landowners, hoping to get some good things from their homes.

However, he was stopped by Kruger.

In order to quickly establish effective rule in the occupied areas after the war, Liang Yao had given the Western Brigade a death order before the war. After the city was captured, no looting was allowed, and the assets of the local gentry were not allowed. Anyone who wanted to When locals purchase supplies, they must pay market prices.

Therefore, after the Western Brigade captured the Mexican city, life of the local residents continued as usual, and there was no resistance to the Western Brigade and the California militia.

When the local Mexican people discovered that the Western Brigade was stationed in their city and their lives were more comfortable than before, the local residents even cooperated with the work of the Western Brigade.

When the Western Brigade recruited workers from these occupied areas to smooth out the disrepaired roads to facilitate the subsequent transportation of materials on the east and west fronts, they learned that the wages paid for the work were considerable, and local Mexicans enthusiastically signed up.

Bell wants to raid the home of a local landowner, which puts Kruger in a dilemma.

On one side are friendly forces who have a special relationship with Liang Yao, and on the other side are Liang Yao's military orders.

In desperation, Kruger had to find Liang Yao.

Liang Yao learned that Bell found nothing in Torreon's warehouse, so he took him to Mazatlan.

After arriving in Mazatlan, Liang Yao gave every soldier in the Texas regiment a pair of brand new leather shoes, a water bottle, and a belt with an ammunition box, but Bell was still not satisfied.

"Where are the guns?" Bell asked.

"The Walter rifle and the rifles currently equipped by soldiers of the Texas regiment are very different in how to use them. I do not recommend that you change to this rifle during wartime." Liang Yao said.

As the largest supply base of the Western Brigade in Mexico, Mazatlan obviously has no shortage of rifles.

However, Liang Yao was worried that the native pigs of the Texas Regiment could not eat fine chaff. It was wartime and there was not enough time for the native pigs of the Texas Regiment to adapt to a brand new weapon.

As a breech-loading rifled gun, the Walter rifle is not only very different from the front-loading gun in the method of use, but also in the structure of the gun.

If a gun malfunctions during war, soldiers who have just started using this rifle will not know how to quickly troubleshoot the problem.

"This reason is reasonable. You owe the Texas Regiment the guns first, but you have to give me a few cannons, right?" Bell said persistently.

"Wenshun, are there any artillery in the warehouse?" Liang Yao asked Deng Wenshun, who was in charge of managing the warehouse.

"If everything goes well, the artillery will not arrive in Mazatlan until next week." Deng Wenshun said truthfully.

"Third brother, if you want cannons, you only need to buy new cannons for our Los Angeles militia. Our militia has eight three-inch cannons. They are all serious cannons with rifling! As long as Mr. Bell doesn't mind. It’s an old artillery piece. Our Los Angeles militia can bite the bullet and use it to support our brother troops in Texas.”

Liang Yao's artillery unit was first equipped with Napoleon cannons. However, after the Sacramento cannon was put into service, these Napoleon cannons were eliminated by the regular army.

In line with the principle of waste nothing, these Napoleon cannons were given to militia groups across California for use.

"I don't mind, of course I don't mind," Bell said hurriedly.

The Texas regiment is now not obsessed with the issue of whether the cannon is new or old, but whether it is available or not. As long as there are cannons, Bell will not be obsessed with the newness of the cannon.

What's more, these Confederate light artillery regiments temporarily formed by Jackson were also equipped with three-inch Napoleon cannons. These guns were treasures in the Confederate army.

"Then pack up the artillery carts and ammunition and give them all to Mr. Bell." Liang Yao said with a big wave of his hand.

"Where are the mules and horses that pull the cannon?" Deng Wenshun asked.

"Send them together." Liang Yao said very magnanimously.

"I've given it all away, I've given it all away." Bell said while rubbing his hands excitedly, while not forgetting to express his emotions.

"How wealthy is California? Can even the militia afford artillery?"

"Artillery is not as good as guns. I heard that when General Jackson established the artillery regiment, he removed the veterans who knew how to operate artillery from each regiment. Are there any veterans who can use artillery in the Texas regiment now?" Liang Yao asked with some worry. .

"Don't worry, there must be one. I specially saved it." Bell smiled slyly.

"Veterans who are good at artillery are all treasures. How could they all form a light artillery regiment for Jackson?"