Napoleon II Reborn

Chapter 391: Naval Shipbuilding Program (Part 1)

On January 8, 1829, under the call of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, the first congressional meeting of 1829 was held on Capitol Hill in Washington. At the meeting, Adams first made a speech: "Gentlemen and ladies. Up to now, the great United States of America has been established for 53 years. During these 53 years, with the efforts of the people, the United States of America has grown from a country that just broke away from The small colonial country that has grown up has developed into one of the world's great powers, the hegemon of the Americas. All of this is inseparable from you and our ancestors. We should be proud and proud of these achievements that have been made. However, we But we can't indulge in it. Because now is not the time for us to sit back and relax, we are still facing a powerful enemy. The entire American continent is very vast, but the great United States of America can only occupy less than one-fifth of the land , the remaining four-fifths are still in the hands of those evil colonists. The people have long been oppressed and enslaved by the colonists. As the most powerful country in America, I believe that the United States has an obligation to rescue them and let them Living in the excess of freedom. Back then, our ancestors came to this continent and achieved independence through unremitting efforts. For this, many of our ancestors paid a precious price even with their lives. However, their It is worthwhile to pay, because today's America has achieved brilliant achievements under their guidance. Now, facing the threat of a powerful enemy, I believe that we will fight like our ancestors. Then, victory will belong to Ours. Let us use our victory to declare to the whole world, 'America is the America of Americans'!" Adams waved his hands and roared loudly.

Driven by him, the overwhelming majority of congressmen stood up and shouted "America is America's America", over and over again, the voice almost seemed to lift the roof off.

Next, Adams took advantage of the situation and put forward a proposal to require the US military to march to other parts of the Americas and incorporate the entire Americas into the US territory. Both the House and Senate basically passed Adams' proposal with an absolute advantage. Of course, it is not without its opponents. A congressman from Georgia opposed this proposal. He said that what the United States should do now is to vigorously develop the economy, rather than compete with the powerful France for colonies, otherwise the United States will be brought to a point of no return. However, no one listened to him. Compared with those fanatical expansionists, their voices against this can be completely ignored.

After passing the proposal, Congress urgently allocated $500 million to the military as war funds. Then, the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting of the U.S. military was held. Adams asked the staff to start mobilizing the army, and within three days, come up with a combat plan. Within a week, the U.S. military must enter Mexico.

Under Adams' strong request, the US war machine quickly started to operate. In just 3 days, the U.S. military gathered 20 infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments, and two artillery regiments on the border between the two sides. The U.S. General Staff officially organized these 24 regiments into the 1st Army, led by Lieutenant General Calvin Strong, and set off from Louisiana to attack northern Mexico. The other regiments are also being assembled one after another. According to the estimates of the U.S. General Staff, considering the gap between the U.S. Army and the French Army in terms of weapons and equipment and the quality of individual soldiers, and the fact that the French Army has added a new legion in Latin America, the U.S. military will mobilize a total of 80 infantry regiments, 10 There are 1 cavalry regiment and 10 infantry regiments, with a total strength of 250,000 people. The Canadian government will also commit two infantry divisions to the battle to show that they abide by the secret alliance treaty signed at the beginning.

On January 16, 1829, about 60,000 U.S. troops, led by Lieutenant General Calvin Strong, set off from Shreveport, Louisiana, crossed the Sabine River, and launched an attack to the southwest. The French army stationed in Mexico is the Mexican division among the four French infantry divisions in Latin America. The other three are the Central American division, the Colombian division and the Brazilian division. In northeastern Mexico, the French defenders were only as strong as two infantry regiments. Basically, they are deployed in the Houston area near the Gulf of Mexico. Calvin Strong's army arrived in the Houston area on January 18. To their surprise, the defenders of the two regiments of the French army did not react as they had expected after learning of their arrival. Desperately fled south. Instead, he chose to block the US military in the Conroe area.

After knowing this situation, Calvin Strong was overjoyed and immediately dispatched 4 infantry regiments and 1 cavalry regiment to attack the Conroe area. He fully thought that with twice as many troops, it would not be easy to conquer Kang Luona. However, the final result exceeded his expectations. Five regiments of U.S. troops launched a fierce attack on the Conroe area, but in front of the defensive positions of the French army, they encountered **** wounds and more than 2,000 casualties. This made Calvin Strong feel extremely humiliated. Begin to send heavy troops to attack the Conroe area. In fact, because the Liverpool government provided a large amount of military technology to the U.S. government free of charge, the level of the U.S. military industry has developed rapidly, and the weapons they use are not far behind the French military equipment. However, compared with the French army, what they are teasing is the level of strategy and tactics. Since the establishment of the U.S. military, the wars it has experienced are nothing more than the War of Independence decades ago, and its tactical thinking is very backward. Although the Canadian Army has provided them with some new military thinking, these military thinking have not been taken seriously, or because of For various reasons, it cannot be widely used in the US military. As a result, when the U.S. army attacked Conroe, a regiment commander even asked his troops to form a square formation and attack the French army's positions. In the face of the firepower network formed by the French army's heavy machine guns and squad machine guns, this is almost like courting death.

After this battle, the French army came to a conclusion that the U.S. military was very rubbish, even more **** than the Canadian army.

On January 20, after holding back the Americans for two days, the French were ordered to retreat. During the two-day battle, although they repelled countless attacks by the US military, they also suffered heavy casualties, especially the artillery units of the US military, which caused huge casualties to the French army. If the French troops of these two regiments do not retreat, they are likely to be completely dumped by the U.S. military. In the Conroe blocking battle, the two regiments of the French army lost more than 1,000 people, but the American casualties were more than 5,000.

After the news of the United States' sudden attack on the Mexican region reached Paris, it aroused the anger of countless French people. They gathered outside the Royal Palace and the American Embassy, ​​demanding that the government send troops to teach those arrogant 'bastards' a lesson. Xiao Jie formally submitted a proposal to declare war on the United States at the parliamentary meeting on January 20. Parliament approved his proposal unanimously. Then, Xiao Jie officially declared war on the United States, and began to expel the American ambassador and Americans stationed in France, freeze all the assets of the United States in France, and the two countries officially entered a state of war.

Washington did not show any weakness, and immediately expelled the French ambassador to the United States and the French in the United States.

Under the orders of Xiao Jie and the French General Staff, the situation of the war was very unfavorable to the French army. By the end of January, the French had retreated to southern Mexico. But the casualties of the French army were not large, much smaller than those of the American army.

In mid-February, the French army retreated to the Isthmus of Panama. And began to block the US military on the newly built defense line here. Perhaps because the battle was too smooth, the American generals believed that as long as they launched an attack, the French army would flee south desperately. However, the result was completely beyond their expectations. In the Tarawara Mountains, Marshal Davout, the commander of the French 1st Army, used the favorable terrain to ambush the U.S. troops here, completely defeated the vanguard of the U.S. troops, captured more than 40,000 U.S. troops, and won a complete victory.

Only then did the U.S. military realize the strength of the French army and began to fight steadily. Just like that, UU Reading www. uukanshu.com The two sides began to confront each other on the Isthmus of Panama. The US military could not break through the French defense line, and the French army had no intention of going north. In this way, the war entered a stalemate. This is not because the French army does not want to take the initiative to launch an offensive, but because the French army is unable to launch an all-out war with the United States under the current circumstances. The navies of the two sides are desperately competing for sea dominance. At the same time, the battle of the French army in Russia has also entered the most critical stage.

After France and the United States officially went to war, the navies of the two countries began to exchange fire frequently. At the end of January, a squadron of the French Atlantic Fleet encountered the U.S. fleet in the mid-Atlantic region, and the two sides fought fiercely immediately. Because both sides are equal in strength. , So after three hours, both sides with heavy losses retreated at the same time. This naval battle is the largest naval battle between the navies of the two countries since the outbreak of the war. The French Navy lost two "Bonaparte" class warships and 5 "Iberia" class warships in the naval battle. The U.S. Navy also lost one "New York" class warship, two "Pennsylvania" class warships and three "Washington" class warships. Overall, the losses on both sides were roughly equal.

However, Xiao Jie and the senior French navy got an astonishing conclusion from this naval battle, that is, the warships of the French Navy and the US Navy are basically equal in terms of combat effectiveness, and the French Navy only slightly won by relying on the quality of its soldiers. Just the U.S. Navy. This assertion shocked everyone, because it means that it will be difficult for the French navy to gain an advantage in the face of other countries' navies. In order to maintain the superiority of the navy, Xiao Jie ordered and announced the launch of a new fleet building plan to carry out a complete refit of the French navy.