Chapter 41 Countdown

"...Just after the federal army under General Sherman captured Atlanta in one fell swoop last September, the federation launched the 'March to the Sea' war operation, completely destroying the enemy's various military facilities during the march, and dealt a heavy blow to the The economic power of the enemy paralyzed the economy of the South. On the Eastern Front, General Grant led the Union Army to drive the enemy near Richmond, the 'capital' of the rebellion"

".At the beginning of the year, black freedmen in the slave states in the south fled one after another, and the plantation economy was on the verge of collapse. The naval blockade imposed by the federal navy almost cut off the trade between the south and Europe. At the same time, there were many opposition groups in the south, and many The small peasants joined the 'Federalists' and began to engage in anti-war activities. The number of deserters in the South was increasing day by day, and food and daily necessities were scarce. The total victory of the war has entered the countdown to the declaration!"

After reading the front page article of the latest issue of "New York Times" titled "Countdown to Victory" in his hands, James gave an overview of the situation in the recent stage of the war, and then praised the correctness and advancement of the Federation. James looked at the date in the newspaper, April 2, 1865, he felt a little strange, as if he had forgotten something important.

   Glancing at the food on the dinner plate, James sighed deeply. Now every meal every day is a kind of "torture". He seems to be feeding a ferocious beast what it hates the most. Every time it eats it, it will bite you with hatred, and you can only endure this biting and continue to feed like this.

  For more than half a year, his extreme self-discipline control and boxing practice have more or less played a role. His mental stability has been getting longer and longer, and his blood control has also improved, but it is still very limited.

  James finally understands why Victor is so difficult in the advanced training of boxing. The tyranny in the mind will disturb your inner peace all the time, and the interference of vampire power will exacerbate this confusion.

  He faced the pain that could not heal by self-healing ability in the darkness of the underground, and that kind of loneliness deeply frustrated James.

  How many of my friends do I have in this world? Butler Wayne, Teacher Daniel, and Abraham. They will all leave him after all.

  Abraham! Abraham Lincoln!

   James thought of President Lincoln's name like thunder in his mind. He grabbed the newspaper on the stone table, stared at the time, and hurriedly rang the summons bell.

  He remembered what he had forgotten.

  John Booth has been drinking brandy for two days. His face is somewhat handsome, with a mustache, but bags under his eyes are swollen, and his hair is sticking to his forehead, shining with oil.

Booth did not expect the war to end so quickly. Even though the South suffered repeated defeats, it was not that there was no chance at all. General Joseph Johnston still had 30,000 troops, and there were still two states in the South, but Robert Lee This idiot actually reported his surrender just like that! There are more than 20,000 people around him, he should fight to the death!

   In vain, he has repeatedly praised Li as the greatest military strategist of our time, bah!

For the sake of the South, John Booth dedicated himself unreservedly. He traveled and performed all over the United States as a well-known actor, obtained a lot of important information, and got a lot of urgently needed medicines in the South. He was also the hero of this battle of faith. But all the hard work and dedication of the condemned person was obliterated by his words.

  He picked up the wine bottle and took two sips, the hatred in his eyes seemed to be real.

  dongdong, "John, are you there?"

   There was a knock on the door, and Booth shrank his neck reflexively. Hearing the voice, it was Herold, a colleague from the theater. He straightened his greasy hair in a panic, stepped forward and opened the door.

   "You're in the room, John, the worst. The smell in your room"

Herold couldn't help covering his mouth and nose, and felt that this seemed impolite, so he resisted and said: "I haven't seen you recently, the owner of the Ford Theater has invited two guests, are you interested in going on the 14th?" A new play? It's a Gettysburg play, and Mr. President and the dignitaries of the government are going to see it."

   "Gettysburg? Hey, I won't go. Wait, who do you think will go?" John Booth suddenly became interested, and his depressed eyes lit up immediately.

   "Mr. President, Vice President, Secretary of War and General Grant, it is said that there are many important military and political figures." Herold said while snapping his fingers.

   "Okay! I'll go, Ford's Theater on the night of the fourteenth!"

Herold was a little surprised at Booth's sudden energy. He has been very strange recently, as if he had encountered some huge blow, but seeing that he has been praising the correctness of the Federation in front of people, maybe it was because he was able to see Lincoln Excited for the president.

  Booth said goodbye to Herold, and the moment he closed the door, he felt a sense of generosity in his heart, and made a certain determination.

  On the evening of April 14, 1865, Washington.

  The train arriving at the station hadn’t stopped yet. Jack Pete and his two companions looked out the window tiredly at the slowly stopping train platform amidst the steam.

   "Let's find a hotel to stay in first, report to the White House tomorrow morning, and meet Mr. President?"

  Lauren said to Jack, who was sitting across from him, that this unexpected mission had made them non-stop for several days, and they didn't dare to delay at all. Now that they finally arrived in Washington, it was inevitable that they wanted to have a good night's rest first.

  Jack yawned and rested his cheeks. He was a little moved by Lauren's proposal, but then he thought of the scary and eager look of Master James in the underground space that day, so he shook his head.

"Young master's order is non-stop, rush to Washington as soon as possible, and meet Mr. President, before seeing him with your own eyes, there is no delay." Jack said with a serious face, he didn't know why James asked them to do this He went to Washington urgently to take on the security job of President Lincoln for a period of time, but the horror of his irritable mood and the scarlet eyes made Jack couldn't help but shudder when he recalled it.

  Lauren and Chris exchanged glances helplessly. They did not dare to speak out or disobey Jack's order from Master James. This was a great fear that arose under James' training a few years ago.

  In the White House, Madam Mary held Lincoln's hand with some concern, and said softly, "Just take Stephen as a guard? Isn't there too few people, and this young man is a bit out of touch?"

   "Don't worry, besides me and Grant today, whoever doesn't have a few guards around him, and in Washington, nothing will happen."

  President Lincoln patted his wife on the back of the hand and led her into the carriage.

  Ford's Theatre, approaching ten o'clock.

  John Booth checked his pistol for the last time in the bathroom. He has great ambitions. If he can kill the President, Vice President, General Grant and others in one go, then the war may directly reverse the situation!

I have to say that Brandy is really strong. After checking, Booth slipped up to the second floor where the presidential box is located. He had observed in advance that the only guard brought by the president sneaked out. He didn’t know what to do. He just Just go in and shoot, and it's all over.

"Jack, do you really want to go to the theater to find Mr. President?" Lauren asked helplessly. The three of them rushed to the White House and explained the situation to the briefing office. Many White House staff knew Jack. James took Jack and others to meet with Mr. President a lot, so he told them that President Lincoln went to watch a play at Ford's Theater tonight.

"Well, I'd better go and wait at the door to say hello. You go to the hotel first, and I'll be there later." Jack thought for a while and planned to meet Mr. President first, anyway, he had already been traveling for a few days , not bad for a while.

  The carriage drove to the entrance of the Ford Theater. Jack came down and looked at the man who was drinking from a small bottle at the entrance of the tavern opposite him.

Jack, who wanted to wait outside the theater, somehow felt that he had to go up to have a look. There were no security personnel in the theater, so he entered the hall like this. A handsome man came out of the bathroom and looked nervously towards the second floor. Walking to the private room, he tightly covered his pocket with one hand, as if there was something hard inside.

Jack became more and more uneasy, and he followed subconsciously. The man in front of him continued to quicken his pace, and the whole theater suddenly burst into loud cheers. It seemed that the plot had reached a certain climax. go in.

  John Booth took out his gun and pointed it at the head of President Lincoln, who was still immersed in the drama.

boom!

   Historically, Lincoln died so "casually". Of course, it is not ruled out that someone has already paved the way for the assassin.

  

  (end of this chapter)