North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 129 We Must Drive Him Crazy (5,000 words)

"We are a state-owned arsenal, and we will absolutely not let you and Huamei Industry suffer any losses!"

Facing the confident Captain Nicholson, Azu's lips curled into a slight smile.

"Sorry, the patent for the HM50 rifle is not for sale!!!"

"Not selling?" Captain Nicholson's face instantly darkened. "Mr. Lee, I hope you've thought this through. I represent not only the Springfield Armory, but also the U.S. Army!"

"So what?" Azu's smile turned cold: "Even if President Washington came back to life and stood in front of me in person, the answer would only be two words—not for sale!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Miles, Captain Nicholson, and other military representatives turned icy cold.

"Mr. Li, I imagine you don't want to strain relations with the U.S. Army, do you?"

"We can acquire the patent for the HM50 rifle for a whopping $200,000! In the military industry, that's an unprecedented price..."

Azu said, "Gentlemen, it seems you don't know me very well! I'm not short of money. Let alone two hundred thousand US dollars, even two million wouldn't sell to me!"

"If you feel that my arsenal cannot meet the requirements of the Army Department's order, even if the order is cancelled, it will have a negligible impact on me."

"plum……!"

The rather handsome Captain Nicholson was about to say something more when Lieutenant Colonel Miles grabbed his shoulder and said, "Mr. Lee, we'll be staying in San Francisco for a few days, and I hope you'll give our suggestion a good consideration!"

"Heh!" Azu chuckled coldly. "Gentlemen, you should actually be thinking more about how to complete the tasks assigned to you by the Army."

"Whether it's Huamei Industrial's arsenal or the state-owned Springfield Armory, as long as they can procure this batch of new rifles, the War Department doesn't really care who is responsible for production, is that right?"

Faced with Azu's question, Lieutenant Colonel Miles and Captain Nicholson, among other military representatives, remained silent.

Azu continued, "Who is responsible for producing these rifles is not really important. However, these new rifles must be procured and deployed as soon as possible; this is very important for the U.S. Army!"

“If you don’t give me the orders, the Springfield Armory can’t produce them without the patents.”

"So, where did this batch of rifles that the Army urgently needs come from?" Azu continued, "Lieutenant Colonel Miles, if you fail to complete the mission, how will you explain yourself? What kind of responsibility will you bear?"

“This…!” Lieutenant Colonel Miles hesitated slightly before saying, “Mr. Li, this is not a question you should be considering!”

Azu waved his hand listlessly: "In that case, let's send you gentlemen back to rest. If you change your minds, we can talk again. If you still have other motives, then there's no need to talk anymore."

“This…!” Lieutenant Colonel Miles stared at Azu, and after a moment of silence, said, “I hope there will be another opportunity to meet Mr. Li.”

Then, Uncle Nine personally saw the delegation off.

Lieutenant Colonel Miles and his delegation of military representatives returned to their hotel in San Francisco.

In his own room, Lieutenant Colonel Miles left Captain Nicholson alone.

"Captain, we're here in San Francisco this time either to buy the patent for the new rifle or to sign a contract to purchase the rifles!"

Lieutenant Colonel Miles said in a deep voice, "No matter what, we can't go back empty-handed."

"Captain, I know you have other missions to complete. But please make sure we can achieve our main objective before we talk about anything else, okay?"

Captain Nicholson, holding a glass of whiskey, casually propped his legs up on the table in front of him: "Lieutenant Colonel, you saw it all. That damned Chinese guy dares to be so tough on us, the U.S. Army!"

"He's not even afraid of the U.S. Army. I want to know, where does his confidence come from?"

Captain Nicholson sneered, "I wasn't sent here by my superiors this time for any bullshit orders, nor for any bullshit rifle patents...!"

Lieutenant Colonel Miles wasn't too surprised: "Captain, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Heh!" Captain Nicholson grinned. "Lieutenant Colonel, you don't need to know what I'm going to do! All you need to know is that your mission here is to cooperate with me, understand?"

"I don't understand! But... I'll try my best to cooperate with you."
-
That night, in De Sandis's unassuming and cozy little home, an even more unremarkable guest arrived.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. de Sandis?"

The guests' faces were all shrouded in cloaks, making it impossible to see their features.

"Yes, I am De Sandis!"

De Sandis sized up the cloaked figure before him, his face filled with wariness: "Who are you? And why are you visiting so late at night?"

The cloaked man didn't speak, but instead took out a dark gold badge from his pocket and waved it slightly in front of de Sandis.

"This...this is...from the headquarters...!"

De Sandis saw the dark gold badge clearly and couldn't help but gasp softly.

“That’s right!” the cloaked man interrupted him. “I come from Washington, Mr. De Sandis, do you understand?”

"I understand, I understand!"

De Sandis quickly peered through the glass panel in the doorway and cautiously observed the area outside.

After confirming that there was nothing amiss, De Sandis led the cloaked man into the study on the second floor.

"Mr. De Sandis, is your home safe?"

DeSantis nodded and said, "It's very safe! My public identity is just a San Francisco councilman. I don't compete or fight for anything, so it won't attract anyone's attention."

"very good!"

The cloaked man then lifted the cloak over his head, revealing a handsome face with sharp features and piercing eyes.

“You are…!” De Sandis was quite certain that he had never seen this person before.

"I am Captain Garcia Nicholson of the United States Army!"

"At the same time, I am also a Hidden Knight of the Grand Solomon Temple!"

“Gurgle…!”

As a chapter master of the California Freemasons and a core member of the 21st Order, De Sandis naturally knew about the Temple of Solomon and the Hidden Knights.

Solomon's Temple is the most secretive and clandestine organization of the General Assembly.

Hidden Knights have no rank within the Freemasons and undertake the most confidential secret missions.

The Hidden Knights rarely go out, but once they do, all branches and members must cooperate unconditionally.

"Solomon's Temple...The Hidden Knight...!"

De Sandis knew that whenever the Hidden Knights were mobilized, it meant something big was about to happen!

"Don't be nervous, Master Sandys...!"

Nicholson said calmly, "I'm here to gather some information! The California chapter will play an increasingly important role in the future, so it's not time to expose you yet."

"What...what do you want to know?" De Sandis was inevitably nervous as he faced the legendary Hidden Knight for the first time.

"Li Zunian, Huamei Industrial Company, everything about them!"

"call……!"

De Sandis thought to himself, "Just as I expected!" He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

So, de Sandis organized his thoughts and decided to start from the beginning: "As far as I know, this Li Zunian boarded the 'Barbara' in Guangzhou, China, at the beginning of last year. Last April, the 'Barbara' suffered a shipwreck…!" "Headquarters already has complete files on these basic facts!"

Nicholson interrupted him, saying, "There's no need to go over the publicly available information; just tell me the secrets I don't know!"

"It's a secret... well... actually, I know very little about it myself!"

De Sandis wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "That Chinese guy has turned the entire Huamei Industrial Group into an impenetrable block."

"It's extremely difficult to get hold of that Chinese guy and the secrets of Huamei Industries."

"Is that so...?" Nicholson's brow furrowed slightly.

"Of course, we still learned some secrets, which might not be considered secrets, through various channels!"

De Sandis said, "The headquarters of Huamei Industries was originally an Irish shipyard. Now, the headquarters of Huamei Industries, built on the site of the shipyard, has expanded to more than a thousand acres!"

"The headquarters of Huamei Industrial is all-encompassing, almost like an independent little kingdom!"

"As far as I know, their headquarters not only included the original shipyard, but also a pharmaceutical factory, a machinery factory, militia camps and training grounds, where at least several thousand militiamen and tens of thousands of Chinese were stationed."

"Besides its headquarters, Huamei Industries also has two other shipyards, a shipping company, many hotels, several mines, a smelter, a trading company, and so on. Its businesses are almost all over California!"

"On Devil's Island, there's a mysterious small factory with extremely tight security, making it impossible for anyone to get close. I suspect that's Huamei Industrial's arms factory. Now, they're building an even larger arms factory on Angel Island!"

"In the Elephant Mountains of the Sierra Nevada, that Chinese guy has a mining base that is constantly extracting large amounts of gold."

"In California's Central Valley, that Chinese guy still has hundreds of thousands of acres of land!"

"As far as I know, that Chinese guy built several so-called 'model villages' in the Central Valley, and settled thousands of yellow-skinned monkeys there to cultivate and farm the land...!"

……

Nicholson had been listening quietly until De Sandis finished speaking, then he said in a deep voice, "The arsenal on Alcatraz, the Huamei Pharmaceutical Factory, the militia, and that so-called 'Model Village,' how much else do you know?"

De Sandis pondered for a moment and said, "The Alcatraz Armory is too mysterious; I have no information about it."

"As for the pharmaceutical company, that Chinese guy is supplying the church with large quantities of penicillin at a discounted price through the Bay Area bishop!"

Nicholson nodded: "Now, many church hospitals in the East have a lot of penicillin available, saving many patients who were going to die."

“Yes!” De Sandis said, “Bishop Evan of the Bay Area is that Chinese man’s fiancée’s uncle! According to my friends in the church, because of Bishop Evan’s outstanding contributions to penicillin, His Holiness the Cardinal has recommended Bishop Evan to the Vatican to serve as the Archbishop of California…!”

"Perhaps, after a while, the power of the entire California church will be in the hands of that Chinese guy."

Nicholson's brow twitched involuntarily!

DeSantis continued, "Currently, the three permanent militia groups in California, as well as the militia group in San Francisco, are completely under the control of that Chinese guy!"

"Four fully staffed militia regiments, with at least six thousand militiamen, are training day and night, most of whom are yellow-skinned Chinese."

"Once these four militia regiments are fully trained and ready, along with the new rifles produced by Huamei Industrial... even if the Southwest Army Command moves to California, even with more than 5,000 regular troops, it may not be able to completely suppress that Chinese guy."

Nicholson's brow twitched again!
De Sandis added, “As for ‘model villages,’ as far as I know, they are just colonial outposts! The villagers of ‘model villages’ all participate in military training, and everyone has a gun.”

"In just over three months, eight 'model villages' have been built in the Central Valley, resettling at least eight thousand Chinese."

"Moreover, more and more yellow-skinned monkeys, like locusts, are arriving in California in an endless stream! More and more 'model villages' will be built, and the construction will be faster and faster."

"Under the manipulation of that Chinese guy, California passed the Equal Rights Act for Foreign Workers, which granted almost all Asians full civil rights."

"Alas...!" De Sandis sighed, "In less than two years, the entire state of California will be completely overrun by yellow-skinned monkeys, and that Chinese guy will be in complete control of it. He will be the true King of California!"

"Heh...!" Nicholson sneered, "King of California...! California can only belong to America, only to us white people!"

De Sandis sighed with a grim expression, "Many people have tried to stop that damned Chinese man, but without exception, they all failed!"

"Now, that Chinese guy is getting stronger and stronger, and California alone can't stop him at all!"

"It seems the headquarters' judgment was correct!" Nicholson said in a deep voice, "The situation in California is about to spiral completely out of control! You are powerless to stop it on your own."

“And that is precisely the purpose of my trip!” Nicholson’s tone was relaxed, yet resolute.

“Mr. Nicholson, you want to stop him? What do you want to do?” DeSantis asked. “He now not only possesses immeasurable wealth and formidable military power, but he is also the Assistant Governor, having already seized control of California’s executive power, most of the legislative power, and half of the judicial power!”

"Unless America goes to war with him in all directions, I see no hope of victory!"

“All-out war… well, it’s not impossible!” Nicholson said calmly, “but we need a reason to convince Congress, to convince the President!”

"We need to start the war before that Chinaman's militia is fully formed and before he has completely taken control of California's executive power!"

Nicholson's tone was relaxed and nonchalant.

It was as if he was talking about something trivial, not something that would start a war!
Nicholson continued, "Mr. DeSantis, do you have any suggestions on how to provoke that Chinaman into going to war with our American Army?"

“This…!” De Sandis continued wiping the cold sweat pouring down his forehead: “I think that for that Chinese guy, the mining base in Elephant Mountain, the pharmaceutical factory, and those yellow-skinned monkeys are all his core interests!”

"The pharmaceutical factory is located at Huamei Industrial's headquarters, making it completely inaccessible!"

"If we want to provoke him into war with the U.S. Army, we can only start with his mining bases or 'model villages'!"

“The Giant Elephant Mountain mining base?” Nicholson frowned slightly. “As far as I know, a few months ago, Brigadier General George Phillips suffered a great loss at Giant Elephant Mountain!”

"Although in the battle report, Brigadier General George Phillips attributed that defeat to an Indian ambush!"

"However, we all know very well that the Brigadier General attacked Huamei Industrial's mining base with several times the number of troops, but suffered a crushing defeat against a mere three hundred armed miners!"

Nicholson shook his head slightly: "It seems that the mining base at Mammoth Mountain is very well defended and easy to defend, but difficult to attack!"

"Then, the only option is to target the 'model village' in the central valley...!"

Upon hearing this, De Sandis broke out in a cold sweat.

“Mr. Nicholson, those model villages are all built on private land purchased by China Industries. Those yellow-skinned monkeys, protected by the Alien Workers Affirmative Action Act, are no different from California citizens!”

"From any perspective, the model village and those yellow-skinned monkeys are absolutely legitimate and lawful settlers!"

“If we target the model village, I’m afraid…!” Just thinking about the consequences made De Sandis feel extremely horrified!
"Heh, what are you afraid of?" Nicholson said calmly, "We suspect that those model villages are harboring gangs, wanted criminals, and Native Americans who killed American soldiers... It's not unreasonable for the U.S. Army to request a search, is it?"

"This... I think it's not excessive!"

"Those yellow-skinned monkeys dare to refuse and resist our American Army. It's not unreasonable for us to fight back, is it?"

"Not at all, not at all...!"

On this cool autumn night, De Sandis felt his back was soaked with sweat and hesitated, saying, "But, if that happens, that Chinese guy will definitely go crazy...!"

"Heh, that's exactly what we want—to drive him crazy…!" Nicholson chuckled. "If he doesn't go crazy, how dare he openly attack the American Army?"

"How can we convince Congress and the President to go to war with that damn Chinaman if he doesn't openly attack the U.S. Army?"

Nicholson dusted himself off, stood up, picked up the half-empty glass of whiskey on the table, and drank it all in one gulp.

Then Nicholson put the cloak back over his head, covering his face, and said, "Master Sandys, thank you very much for your intelligence and support!"

"But if any word we've spoken tonight were to leak out, I believe you know the consequences!!!"

(End of this chapter)