The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 390: A Stone Stirs Up a Thousand Waves (Part )

While Chen Zhengwei was talking to Randolph Churchill, a war was also happening in faraway California.

After the Sixth Cavalry Regiment arrived near Sacramento, Governor William Irving, with the support of a gun behind him, stood up and criticized it, and sternly stated that it was forbidden for the Sixth Cavalry Regiment to approach, let alone enter Sacramento.

However, the Sixth Cavalry Regiment did not take the warning seriously.

According to the information they received, there are now a large number of Chinese people in Sacramento.

Obviously, the state government has been influenced by the Chinese.

Moreover, this is the main transportation route to San Francisco, and it is also the location they plan to use as rear supply, so they must take it.

So that night the Sixth Cavalry marched to Sacramento.

However, soon after they entered Sacramento, a large number of Chinese people with guns appeared in the alleys and behind the windows on both sides of the street.

When the gunfire rang out, the Sixth Cavalry, like the Chicago Infantry, suffered a heavy loss in firepower.

After half an hour of fighting, the cavalry regiment left behind a large number of dead soldiers and horses and hastily withdrew from Sacramento. After counting the number of people, it was found that there were more than 150 casualties.

"Pull up the artillery! Blow them up!" Samuel D. Sturgis, commander of the 6th Cavalry Regiment, gritted his teeth.

"That's Sacramento..." said Samuel D. Sturgis's adjutant.

"Our goal is to drive the Chinese out and use this place as a supply point!" Samuel D. Sturgis's eyes were full of resentment.

"And there are no local residents in the outskirts, only those Chinese!"

Even if there were, they were helping the Chinese and they deserved to die.

"Second to fifth companies, deploy!"

Three twelve-pound guns were aimed at buildings outside Sacramento and loaded with explosive shells.

Samuel D. Sturgis looked at Sacramento coldly for a moment, then waved his hand downward violently.

"fire!"

boom!
A building outside Sacramento was blown up in an instant, leaving only half of the wooden house crumbling there.

Hearing the explosions coming from the edge of the city, Sacramento residents hid in their homes, looking worried.

"Fuck! Cannons! How dare these guys bombard Sacramento?" Rong Jiasheng in the city yelled. "Where are they located?"

“1.5 kilometers south of the city!”

boom!
Another shell exploded not far away, blowing away half of the house and sending a lot of wood debris onto the house where Rong Jiasheng was.

"We can't go on like this. We can't just get beaten up and not fight back. Take out those things that were sent to me the day before yesterday!" Rong Jiasheng said fiercely, gritting his teeth.

Ten mortars and more than a hundred shells were delivered the day before yesterday. It is said that the range of this thing can reach two kilometers.

And along with the mortars came some people who knew how to operate them.

As for its power, that’s not clear, but it’s better to have it than not to have it.

Soon, ten mortars were placed at three locations in Sacramento.

After roughly estimating the position, he stuffed the shell into the barrel.

A few seconds later, the darkness suddenly exploded as if flowers were blooming, with shells exploding and dirt splattering everywhere.

Although the closest distance to the cavalry regiment's three artillery pieces was more than a hundred meters, it still scared the cavalry regiment.

"Those Chinese actually have cannons." Samuel D. Sturgis's face was uncertain. Not only did the other party have cannons, but they had more than them!
"Can you find their location?"

"We can't see it now. It should be near those houses!" said Samuel D. Sturgis's adjutant, pointing to a group of buildings in the distance.

"Fire in that direction!" Samuel D. Sturgis ordered immediately, but what he didn't expect was that the enemy's artillery was not on the sides of the house, but behind the house.

Mortars can fire at high angles, can be fired directly into the open space behind buildings, and strike behind cover.

Far more suitable for fire support in urban combat than cannons.

As the cavalry's artillery fire fell on the blocks on both sides of the building, the mortars opened fire again.

A shell landed more than 20 meters in front of the left side of Samuel D. Sturgis, scaring him so much that he squatted down immediately.

"Lieutenant Colonel, the enemy's firepower is too strong, let's retreat!" Samuel D. Sturgis's adjutant advised. The cavalry regiment could not break in, and they had fewer artillery than the enemy, so there was no way to fight.

Needless to say, Samuel D. Sturgis also had the intention to withdraw at this time.

I'm just still a little hesitant!
As he hesitated, the mortar fired again, and a cannon was blown away, and an arm fell to the side of Samuel D. Sturgis.

This finally made him make up his mind.

He gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Retreat!"

However, as they were preparing to evacuate, a howling sound broke through the air above their heads.

If they didn't move, the shell wouldn't hit them. But at this moment, a mortar shell directly blew away the carriage carrying the shell.

boom!
What followed was a violent explosion.

Rong Jiasheng and others cleaned up the battlefield the next morning and counted the specific casualties.

There were only more than 30 casualties on their own side, and 80% of them were caused by the enemy's artillery.

The cavalry regiment suffered more than 100 casualties in an ambush after entering Sacramento. The subsequent artillery bombardment and the secondary explosion caused more than 100 casualties again.

The Sixth Cavalry Regiment had a total of more than 800 people, and nearly 40% of them were killed or wounded in this battle. They would not be able to fight again in the short term.

……

In Chicago, a ray of sunshine finally appeared in the early morning. Two days of heavy rain washed the city thoroughly.

The gunfire that had lasted for several days finally stopped.

Some citizens took to the streets to inquire about the news. When they saw Chinese people wearing hunting clothes on the streets, they had a shocking guess in their minds.

The Army failed? What's happening now?

A wealthy man heard the news at home and almost dropped his teacup. He was stunned and shocked:
"So the Chinese won? The Army spent so much taxpayer money and didn't even fight a few hundred Chinese?"

"The Army will surely send the next batch of troops, right? When will they arrive?"

He was still waiting for the army to drive the Chinese man away. He was fed up with the Chinese man's evil deeds in Chicago, which made him feel insecure.

In his opinion, those Chinese should be thrown into mines to dig, or work on farms like slaves.

"Mr. President is in trouble!" Thompson said to his son while sitting at the dining table and eating.

He learned yesterday that Chen Zhengwei had won and almost wiped out the entire enemy.

He didn't sleep well last night.

"Why? The army has tens of thousands of people! That Chinese has only a few hundred people!" Thompson's son said in surprise.

"Because the army's enemies also include the Indians!" Thompson taught his son.

The Indian Wars are still going on, and the Indians are a major threat to the United States.

Moreover, several thousand people were wiped out by Chen Zhengwei, and the compensation alone was a large sum. If the infantry regiment was drawn to deal with Chen Zhengwei, there would definitely be problems with the Indian front. But Chen Zhengwei is now in the most prosperous area of the United States, and the threat is no less than that of the Indians.

Thompson didn't expect Chen Zhengwei to win so easily. There were four infantry regiments, nearly three thousand people.

And I heard that Chen Zhengwei's men did not suffer many casualties.

This was a result that no one expected.

Not only Thompson, but also the Director of Investigation Eberst and some upper-class figures in Chicago had received the news a long time ago.

On the contrary, it is the ordinary rich people who realize it later!

At this time, reporters in Chicago were shocked and kept recording the scene in the area near the train station.

The outer surface of the train station was riddled with bullet holes, and many houses in the blocks near the station were also damaged. Although most of the bodies had been cleared and the rain had washed the ground, some human tissue could still be found in the corners from time to time, telling of the brutality of the fighting over the past two days.

They recorded and waited.

They knew that Chen Zhengwei would definitely call a press conference with reporters to explain the details.

By now, many people know that China's Chen is very good at using the media to manipulate public opinion.

They also like to attend Chen Zhengwei's press conferences, as there will always be big news, which will greatly increase the sales of newspapers.

It is conceivable that this news will shock the entire United States again.

……

At this time, there was constant quarreling in the Army Department's operations command room.

"We can also mobilize the Second Infantry Regiment and the Third Infantry Regiment..."

"No! The 2nd Infantry Regiment has to protect settlers in Montana and fight against the Blackfoot, Sioux, Cherokee, and Crow tribes. Transferring them here would be murder!"

"The most important thing for us now is to figure out what exactly Denelson and the three infantry regiments encountered!"

"Three infantry regiments were annihilated by a few hundred civilians! This is a disgrace to the army!"

Army Commander-in-Chief Sherman looked at the map of the United States in front of him with an expressionless face, turning a deaf ear to the arguments around him.

Last night, the Army Headquarters learned about the situation in Chicago. Although most of the troops were directly wiped out and dispersed, there were still people in Chicago who were in contact with the Army Department and sent over the news after inquiring about it.

After learning that the three infantry regiments were wiped out, the Army Headquarters was in an uproar.

No one thought of suppressing several hundred people, and as a result, all four legions were annihilated.

Although the 22nd Infantry Regiment was careless, the 16th, 18th and 19th Infantry Regiments were annihilated by the enemy under the command of a brigadier general with outstanding military achievements.

This is simply like a fairy tale.

In the second half of the night, important figures from the Army Headquarters arrived and argued all night long, but no conclusion was reached.

Now there is no consensus even on whether to continue fighting.

And which corps should be mobilized to continue to mobilize troops? How many corps should be mobilized?
"Commander-in-Chief, the President summons you!" Sherman's adjutant Alexander McDowell McCook walked up to him and said.

"I understand!" Sherman nodded, glanced at everyone in the conference room, and left expressionlessly.

When he left, the others immediately fell silent.

One thing that no one mentioned was the Sixth Cavalry Regiment, which was scheduled to enter Sacramento last night.

However, no telegram has been sent back so far, which makes them feel very uneasy!
At this time, US President Rutherford B. Hayes was in a bad mood.

He had just woken up in the morning when he learned some unexpected and even shocking bad news.

He thought that suppressing the Chinese rebellion would be a simple matter, and Sherman had told him so.

However, the infantry regiment that went to suppress the rebellious Chinese was annihilated.

How could he accept this?

Moments later, Sherman met with President Rutherford B. Hayes.

"Mr. Sherman, tell me what's going on!" Rutherford Birchard Hayes asked gloomily.

"The 16th, 18th and 19th Infantry Regiments we sent to Chicago to suppress the Chinese were annihilated last night. The specific situation is now unknown! I'm still waiting for follow-up news!" Sherman said.

"If I remember correctly, the 22nd Infantry Regiment was also blown up by them. Does that mean we lost four infantry regiments?"

"Yes!"

"You told me you could get them in a week!"

"Our opponents are stronger than we thought!"

"A few hundred civilians wiped out our four infantry regiments? Do you know what will happen if this news gets out?" Rutherford Birchard Hayes said angrily.

"We will win!" Sherman said.

Rutherford Birchard Hayes stared at Sherman for a long time, knowing that getting angry would not solve the problem, and said in a deep voice: "Tell me, what should we do next?"

"Let the navy assist the army in attacking San Francisco and cut off the connection between the Chinese in San Francisco and Chicago. At the same time, cut off all material supplies to San Francisco!"

"At the same time, mobilize infantry regiments to besiege Chicago! And recruit new soldiers!"

"Your words make me think we are at war with some country!" Rutherford Birchard Hayes said unhappily. "San Francisco is the largest city in the West. Let the navy assist the army. Do you want to bombard San Francisco?"

"Killing those Chinese is the best way!" said Sherman.

"That's impossible!" Rutherford Birchard Hayes rejected it outright.

"The second way is to cut off the connection between San Francisco and Chicago, and to dispatch infantry regiments to besiege Chicago. We must not let the Chinese get support!" Sherman said as a second choice. The Chinese could not replenish ammunition in Chicago, so there was a shortage of ammunition. Nelson had explained this in a telegram before.

"And recruit new soldiers! After all, our war with the Indians is still going on!"

"How many more troops can be spared?" asked Rutherford Birchard Hayes.

"Five infantry regiments!" Sherman had already made the decision in his mind. He pulled out several infantry regiments to protect the immigrants and left only a small number of troops for defense.

Compared with the Indians in the West, the Chinese in Chicago are currently more troublesome.

After all, those Indians can't speak and are out of people's sight. But that Chinese can, and he keeps making trouble in the United States.

The Chinese in Chicago caused far more damage than the tens of thousands of Chinese in San Francisco!
As for the safety of those western immigrants... he didn't care, and he also left a small number of troops for defense.

"I hope you will command this time!" Rutherford Birchard Hayes said to Sherman.

The president's face looks very ugly now. There have been a lot of turmoil in the country recently, with protests in various cities. Now that he has been defeated despite having an absolute advantage, you can imagine what the reaction from outside will be. The pressure will be even greater in the future.

But things have come to this point and he has no other choice.

As a famous general who ended the Civil War, Sherman holds a high position in the president's heart.

"I will!" Sherman nodded.

After Sherman left the presidential palace and returned to the Army Headquarters, he received another piece of bad news.

The Sixth Cavalry Regiment fought in Sacramento, suffered nearly 40% casualties, and then withdrew.

Another failure!
(End of this chapter)