"What are you afraid of? It's just a joke!" McHale, Gale and the others burst out laughing. They didn't think war was such a terrible thing at all. It wasn't the first time the war started, and they hadn't been back home for long.

"That's right, none of you can pass the draft physical examination anyway." Sheffield's words once again caused laughter. It was too easy for them to avoid the draft physical examination and show that they were unable to fulfill their obligations to fight for the country.

Naturally, free people will go through life and death in wars. The lives of slave owners are so precious, how can they be wasted on a battlefield under heavy artillery fire? It is enough that everyone knows this matter well, there is no need to say it so straightforwardly.

"I really want to thank you on behalf of the federal government for caring about the situation of the country despite being disabled and strong-willed. If my birthday hadn't passed yet and I was still a minor legally, I would have wanted to go to the battlefield to fight for the country." Sheffield expressed his gratitude in the slightest.

No less shameless than others, he found another excuse not to join the army, but he just forgot that after a few months of planning, he might actually become an adult.

But it doesn't matter. He can also find another excuse. For example, he sprained his foot when he was five years old and has never recovered from it. But joking aside, Sheffield still gave his friends a clear explanation, "No accident."

If so, it’s time to have a fight with the Spanish Empire and let this sunset completely set.”

"We have been waiting for this day for a long time. If it weren't for the civil war, Cuba would have been incorporated into the United States." Gale said with a cold face. It was obvious that he had received more indoctrination from his father's generation and knew that the families in the southern states had an interest in Cuba.

Strong emotions. Moreover, when the Confederate States of America was established, if they succeeded in breaking away from the United States, they were still prepared to continue to expand and cause trouble with Mexico and Cuba.

Obviously the Spanish Empire was not taken seriously by these people. Sheffield, who had already sent people to Spain to investigate, understood that this idea was correct. In fact, the Spanish Empire and the British Empire, the global territories of the two generations of empires on which the sun never set, if used

If we compare an example from Chinese history, it is very similar to the Wei State during the Warring States Period.

The Wei State was the overlord in the early Warring States Period, but after the three dynasties were divided into the Jin Dynasty, the Wei State encountered a very big problem. The country was very fragmented, with a typical dotted layout. This was the most stupid, laborious and unsustainable way to dominate the world.

Layout. The Wei State is deep in the center of various countries. There is no strategic depth. There are battlefields everywhere, and nothing can be lost. As a result, every time the Wei State launches a major offensive, it will immediately be stabbed in the butt by others in another place, and then it can only continue again.

Return to the army for rescue.

The Wei State, which once dominated the world, failed to concentrate its forces on one point and rescued Dongdu Daliang twice. General Pang Juan and Prince Shen were defeated. The main force of the Wei army suffered heavy losses and was trampled underfoot.

This is the case for the Spanish Empire and the British Empire. The homeland is not impregnable, but the colonies are spread all over the world. The most important thing is that Spain was stabbed in the butt by Napoleon once, which led to domestic chaos and almost completely lost its American colonies.

The British Empire reacted quickly. It began to abandon its colonies before it reached the stage of siege. It stirred up conflicts before leaving. It waited for a comeback, but in the end there was no chance of a comeback.

According to the current situation in the world, the large local population is enough. In fact, there are only a few candidates for world hegemony. The advantage of the United States is that there are not so many powerful enemies blocking the doorstep, and it has more generous offers than the two candidates in Eastern Europe and East Asia.

The most important condition is that at this time, there is still hatred for the German Empire, the motherland in the hearts of Germans. The existence of the German Empire is the greatest luck for the United States.

Before the Industrial Revolution swept the world, the three candidates actually caught the tail of the last wave of traditional expansion. The Russian Empire crossed the Ural Mountains to join forces and marched eastward, and the Qing Dynasty launched its Western Expedition. Both of them coincidentally began to conquer the remaining Mongol forces.

The Russian Empire destroyed the major khanates in Siberia and took Siberia into its hands. In East Asia, during the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzong and Qianlong, they successively annexed Outer Mongolia and Qinghai, and finally destroyed Jungar, and also robbed one-third of Kazakhstan. To be fair, the Qing Dynasty annexed Instead of fighting endlessly in the Central Plains, it took much longer to fight against the Mongols.

From Ivan the Terrible to Catherine the Great, it took three hundred years for Russia to expand. It also took the Qing Dynasty 150 years to swallow up the Mongolian tribes. In the end, Russia became the country with the largest territory in the world. The Qing Dynasty Together with the Northeast and the Han Dynasty, the territory doubled and became the perfect territory in many people's minds.

Compared with the first two, the expansion of the United States took a shorter time and its results were no less impressive. It only took fifty years to complete a very successful expansion and become a two-ocean power.

Now it seems that the United States has to take another step ahead of the other two candidates. Sheffield looked at his militant partners and said, "My dear partners, even though the Republican Party is in power now, we must also get our own Compared with those Yankees, our advantage is that we have a more international outlook, rather than those manufacturers of fake and shoddy products that are sealed in the domestic market. Taking advantage of our advantages, even William McClay cannot The benefits that belong to us are given to others.”

"We have an experienced team in our hands, so we may not be able to defeat the federal army, right?" Sheffield reminded coldly.

"Not only do we have a team that can fight, but we also have a good location. If we can't get our share, don't use the ports in the south." McHale shouted, "We can still win even without the federal army. .”

"I've said it before. Although Spain is not strong, it may not necessarily win." Sheffield reminded his partners that they must be humble, at least within a certain limit.

But he didn't feel that his partners were inflated. If he remembered correctly, the Spanish-American War ended with the new power of the United States, which completely defeated Spain. In the specific battle, there were many times when the U.S. military did not lose a single person and completely annihilated the Spanish coast. The situation of the army is almost the same as that of the British and French forces at Baliqiao.

Now when it comes to which one is stronger, Spain or the Qing Dynasty, Sheffield really needs to think about this issue. Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the Qing Dynasty was the last in the world in the eyes of various countries, and it was also the weakest imperialism. It is a great power. After the Sino-Japanese War, it is not considered one of the great powers. It is a second-rate top country. It is definitely higher than Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and so on.

If Spain's national strength was not as good as Italy's, it really would not have the ability to do anything against the Qing Dynasty. Italy could be regarded as a unit of measurement.

"Anyway, that's the way it is. We have plans in Central American countries and we must overtake the Yankees." Sheffield ended this New Year's party. "Our companions must prepare well. Everyone should unite and prepare." Split the cake.”

After walking out of the room, Sheffield thought for a moment and said, "Send a report to Los Angeles and ask our Chinese labor leader to come over. I can give him a chance for revenge. Also, let us Democrats talk to the president. What's the point of holding on to the news? Ask him if someone is putting pressure on him to start a war. Tell him directly that as long as he agrees to the conditions, the Democratic Party will also agree. If he doesn't agree, he can supply supplies from the ports of New York and Boston. The ports in the south are all I’m very busy, and I’m also planning to start import and export business.”

As for whether there is a team capable of fighting, the Army will definitely have no problem. Gale and McHale can pull out a team. But the problem is at sea. The Black Gold Transportation Company is in Haiti and is registered under the name of the Haitian government.

of two protected cruisers.

One of them is equipped with four eight-inch guns, installed in two armored turrets, the turrets can rotate 150 degrees; ten five-inch guns, fourteen six-pounders, and two Gatling machine guns,

Six eighteen-inch torpedo tubes. Three hundred and forty-four feet long, fifty-three feet wide, draft twenty-one feet six inches, draft twenty-five feet loaded; displacement 5,800 tons, horse power 17,000

It has one thousand horses, a speed of twenty knots, a thousand tons of coal load, a range of six thousand nautical miles/ten knots, two inches of deck armor, and a cost of US$1.79 million.

Another protected cruiser was commissioned three years ago. Four eight-inch breech guns, six six-inch breech guns, four six-pounder rapid-fire guns, two three-pounder rapid-fire guns, two one-pounder rapid-fire guns, four

Thirty-seven millimeter swivel gun, two Gatling guns, five 14-inch torpedo tubes.

It is 330 feet long, 48 feet wide, has a draft of 20 feet, and a fully loaded draft of 24 feet. It has a displacement of 4,400 tons, a horsepower of 10,000 horses, a speed of 21 tons, a coal load of 1,000 tons, and an endurance of 7

One thousand two hundred nautical miles/ten knots; four inches of dome, two inches of deck, and two inches of gun armor; cost of $1,325,000.

These are the two trump cards in the hands of United Company. As for why there are not more, don't you look at the cost? Sheffield United Company just invested some necessary deterrence. The two warships already cost four million US dollars.

These are all purchased from Europe through the Haitian government. In the field of shipbuilding, Sheffield United Company has little experience and can only manufacture fishing boats. Now the navy of the United States is built through shipyards on the east and west coasts. The shipyard in Houston is still there.

In the catch-up stage, it would be great to be able to repair the warship clearly, but you still want to build it?

A few days after the New Year, which seemed to bring about change, an explosive news came from the exploration team that they had found oil. The drill bit drilled underground and drilled out the cement plug. The drillers started

The overshot was lowered and the mud in the wellbore was pulled out again and again. This process took more than two days. Everyone looked at the wellhead helplessly, but there was nothing.

Finally, they saw oil splashes on the surface of the mud that came back up. As the oil splashes increased, the exploration team members were finally convinced that their more than two years of hard work had not been in vain.
Chapter completed!