Chapter 704 Lurker (Fourth update, please subscribe)
"Mr. President, in order to prepare for the war with Ming, we must choose a suitable location between Washington and Oregon to build a naval base."
In the Oval Office of the White House, General Ulysses S. Grant looked at President Rutherford B. Hayes and said.
"why is that?"
President Hayes asked rhetorically.
"Haven't we already built a naval base in San Francisco Bay?"
In order to prepare for the war with the Ming Dynasty, after the "Los Angeles Incident", the United States not only formulated a naval expansion plan, but also built a new naval base in San Francisco Bay. The naval base has various facilities such as docks. Because the project is too large, it has not been completed until now.
Well, General Grant is going to build a new naval base in Oregon. Doesn’t he know that everything costs money?
In response to the President's inquiry, General Grant replied.
"Mr. President, if we want to blockade Vancouver, we can't rely on a single anchorage in San Francisco Bay. We must also build a new naval base as close as possible to prevent Ming coal ships from leaving Vancouver. Of course, more importantly... Lieutenant Colonel Mahan, please explain your thoughts."
"Yes, Mr. Minister."
Ma Hai unfolded a map he carried with him.
"Lieutenant Colonel, what is this?"
President Hayes asked, looking at the map.
"Mr. President, this is the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. It is the main outlet to the Pacific Ocean from the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound. Part of this strait constitutes the border between us and the Ming Dynasty. This strait is 90 miles long and 10-16 miles wide. Mr. President, if we build fortresses in places like Nieuwbe, the estuary of the Olympic Peninsula, and deploy special long-range cannons, then we only need to use the artillery to block the entire strait. Once a war breaks out, the coal ships of the Ming Dynasty will no longer be able to sail out of this sea area. At the same time..."
Mahan said as his hand continued up the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
"To the north are the Johnstone Strait and the Queen Charlotte Strait. The narrowest part of the Johnstone Strait is only one nautical mile. We can lay mines in this area and build a mine network between the Queen Charlotte Islands and Vancouver Island. Of course, there will inevitably be fish that slip through the net, so we need a new naval base. Its mission is to implement maritime blockades during war. Of course, in most cases, our artillery and mines are enough to block most targets. Even,"
Looking up at the President, Mahan said.
"We can also block the throat of Johnstone Strait at the beginning of the war and prevent their coal ships from leaving by sinking ships. In this way, we can use the least naval force to achieve our goal - cutting off the coal supply of the Ming Empire. Without coal, the Ming Empire's war machine will not be able to continue to operate efficiently!"
Standing in front of the map, looking at the several locations marked by Mahan, President Hayes pondered for a moment and then asked.
"Lieutenant Colonel. Your plan seems perfect, but I have a few questions that I hope you can answer."
"Yes, sir."
"Do we have cannons with such a long range now?"
"At present, there is no artillery in the world with a range of more than ten miles, but Mr. President, technology is always improving. As long as we put forward technical requirements to the manufacturers, they will soon be able to come up with weapons that meet our needs. There is no problem with this."
President Hayes thought for a moment and asked again.
"What if they attack our fortress batteries from the land?"
"Isn't that what we all dream of, Mr. President?"
Mahan said with a smile.
"No matter which army attacks the fortress, it will eventually pay a heavy price. The damage caused by machine guns and artillery to infantry will be unimaginable. Perhaps by that time, our artillery positions on the Olympic Peninsula will become the meat grinder of the Ming Empire. Thousands of Ming Empire soldiers will be killed by machine guns and artillery in front of our fortresses. In the end, we will exhaust their war potential there. Exhaust their war potential in the northern territories."
Looking at the lieutenant colonel in front of him, President Hayes was silent for a long time. He looked at General Grant standing beside him and asked.
"General, what do you think?"
"Mr. President, if war between us and the Ming Empire is inevitable, then we must do everything we can to prepare for this war and ultimately win it."
General Grant answered directly.
"Otherwise we are doomed to be the losers in this war."
"It seems that if these plans are to be implemented, a large budget will be required."
President Hayes spoke for a while.
"I think we should be able to squeeze out by then, and members of Congress should agree. After all, it is worth spending any amount of money for safety."
Once upon a time, the United States spent its own money to save money, and what was the result? It made humiliating concessions during the "Los Angeles Incident".
…
There were not many secrets in the United States in the 19th century, so there was no need for reporters to publish in newspapers that Congress was discussing issues. Even many drafts had not yet begun to be discussed, but were leaked by supporters or opponents of the draft. Both sides were trying to gain the power of public opinion to support themselves.
Of course, this makes it easier for other countries to collect intelligence. They don't even need to go through any channels. They can get the intelligence they need just by buying a newspaper.
But if you want to get the details, you need some extra effort, or in other words, you need to go through some special channels.
There are almost no people on the banks of the Potomac River in winter, but there is a man there, scattering grains to feed pigeons from time to time. In front of him, pigeons are walking and flying in the snow.
Even if someone saw this scene, they would not feel curious. Many people know Mr. Ritter, and his favorite thing is to feed the pigeons here. You can see him every week all year round.
Although the weather was very cold, he did not wear a hat, letting the biting cold wind blow his golden hair. Finally, after feeding the child all the grains in the paper bag, Ritt reluctantly raised his shoulders and muttered to himself.
"Okay, I'll feed you next time."
As he spoke, he crumpled the paper bag in his hand into a ball and threw it into the snow. The pigeons in the snow seemed to think that the paper ball thrown to them was also grains. They jumped over and ate a few bites, then found that they were not grains. They even turned their heads to look at the big golden retriever with some confusion.
“What a lovely bunch of little things.”
Ritter smiled, looked at the pigeons for a while, and then left. After he left, the pigeons were still jumping around in the snow, looking for food. At this time, a beggar-like passerby came over, casually bent down to pick up the paper ball on the ground, and continued to walk forward...
(End of this chapter)
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