North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 258 Killing an Acquaintance
"so much……?"

Ah Zu was also greatly shocked when he saw the number on the check.

Brigadier General Miles nodded with a hint of smugness: "Forty-five million dollars... that's just the money for our Confederate Army's first arms deal!"

Azu swallowed hard: "Brigadier General, your Southern Confederation has only been established for a short time, where did you get so much military funding?"

Brigadier General Miles said seriously, "Governor, never underestimate the determination of the Southern people to defend their historical traditions and way of life!"

"These military expenditures are almost entirely from donations from the people... The military expenditures will continue to increase, and the orders will become larger and larger!"

"It's absolutely worth it as long as it helps us preserve our historical traditions and way of life!"

Looking at the numbers on the check, Azu even felt a little sorry for the farmers in the southern states!

Brigadier General Miles continued, "Governor, what do you think? This amount of money should be enough to arm our Confederate army of over 100,000 soldiers, right?"

Ah Zu pondered for a moment and said, "Brigadier General, if my Huamei Armory is to supply your Southern Army with weapons, then we must redesign new firearms and artillery."

"These new firearms and artillery must be different from those produced and used in California."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to handle things up north."

Upon hearing this, Brigadier General Miles' face lit up with joy: "So, the governor is willing to provide us with weapons and ammunition?"

“Sigh…!” Azu sighed softly: “Back last year, when I hosted a banquet for Southern leaders in Washington, I said that I understand your historical traditions and way of life.”

“Money isn’t important!” Azu continued, “What’s important is that I can’t stand by and watch the historical traditions and way of life of the people of the South be openly destroyed in such a brutal way!”

"Therefore, I am willing to secretly support the Southern people's struggle for independence and freedom!"

Azu emphasized, "But this support is entirely private! If your Confederate States of America were to make this support public, our cooperative relationship could be terminated at any time!"

"These are my prerequisites. If you agree, we can continue our discussions."

"If you don't agree, then this is the end of it!"

As he spoke, Azu slowly pushed the huge check in front of him back.

"Smack...!" Brigadier General Miles immediately reached out and shoved it back hard halfway through: "Don't worry, Governor, this private support and cooperation is only between you and me, and we will do our best to keep it a secret!"

"Hehe!" Azu laughed and handed the check to Victoria behind him.

Victoria immediately understood, took the huge check, and left the office to verify its authenticity.

After Victoria left, Azu continued, "Brigadier General Miles, you should know that the weapons from our Huamei Armory are not cheap."

"A special-supply rifle like the HM50, if supplied in large quantities, would cost at least thirty dollars per unit!"

"And machine guns, they must cost three hundred dollars each!"

"As for mortars and breech-loading rifled heavy artillery, they are even more expensive!"

"One mortar, seven hundred dollars!"

"A 75mm infantry gun, $1,200!"

"A 100mm howitzer, two thousand dollars!"

"A 155mm howitzer, five thousand dollars!"

"Ammunition and shells are priced differently for bulk orders... but of course, the prices won't be cheap!"

Azu smiled and said, "After all, the weapons produced by our Huamei Armory are unmatched anywhere else in the world!"

Brigadier General Miles did the math and concluded that while the price was expensive, it was still reasonably reasonable.

"Governor, we need 200,000 rifles; 3,000 machine guns; 800 mortars; and at least 500 howitzers of various calibers!"

"We need at least 60 million bullets; and 300,000 artillery shells of all kinds...!"

"And penicillin, we need it in large quantities too...!"

Azu calculated: "Brigadier General Miles, the value of this first batch of military equipment is twenty-eight million US dollars."

“I can supply penicillin in large quantities at the factory price of fifteen dollars.”

Miles replied, "Then give me 200,000 vials of penicillin first!"

Ah Zu said, "Thirty-one million US dollars have already been spent, and fourteen million US dollars are left...!"

Brigadier General Miles said, "And there are the shallow-draft gunboats being built by the Huamei Shipyard... Although our Southern Army cannot compete with those Yankees on the high seas, we still need to protect our coastal waters!"

"How many of these 300-ton fast steam-powered shallow-draft gunboats, equipped with ten 100mm guns, cost $100,000 each?" Azu asked with a smile.

Miles replied, "We need at least thirty shallow-draft gunboats to protect our coastline and vital sea lanes...!"

"Then there are still 11 million US dollars left in this fund!"

Brigadier General Miles nodded: "The remaining funds will be temporarily held in your East West Bank. If we need to purchase additional military supplies later, we will deduct from this fund."

Azu thought for a moment and said, "Brigadier General Miles, don't you, the Southern Confederation, want to build up more war reserves?" "War reserves?" Brigadier General Miles asked in surprise.

“Yes!” Azu nodded slightly and said, “War reserves of important materials, especially food…!”

“Food…!” Miles seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this.

Azu continued, "As far as I know, although the South has extremely vast farmlands, cotton has long been the main crop grown there."

"Cotton fields occupy at least 80 percent of the land in the south."

“The profits from growing cotton are far greater than those from growing grain. Therefore, the southern states mainly grow cotton, while grain production is severely insufficient, and they are even unable to be self-sufficient.”

"Speaking of which, the southern states, which are mainly agricultural, actually need to buy food from the northern states."

"If war breaks out between the North and the South, and the North runs out of food, the consequences will be...!"

Upon hearing this, Brigadier General Miles's expression also turned serious.

In Azu's memory, the famous novel that became known in later generations truly reflected the widespread famine among the people of the South during the Civil War.

Even wealthy families like Scarlett O'Hara couldn't find food after the war started and had to endure hunger, let alone ordinary civilians.

Azu added, "Brigadier General Miles, from now on, your Confederate state will probably have to grow a lot of grain."

Brigadier General Miles nodded emphatically: "Thank you very much for the reminder, Governor. I will report your opinion directly to the Supreme Head of the Confederation to ensure that there will be no problems with the food supply."

Ah Zu smiled and said, "For big customers like you, my suggestions are just a bonus!"

Brigadier General Miles pondered, "Governor, if possible, could your arsenal avoid supplying weapons to those Yankees?"

Azu's face darkened: "Brigadier General Miles, isn't your request a bit excessive?"

“Of course I know this request is excessive!” Brigadier General Miles added, “But… if the governor were to supply weapons to both sides of the war… wouldn’t that be even more excessive?”

"Heh!" Azu chuckled coldly: "I did not force anyone to buy weapons, and similarly, no one can force me to provide weapons to others."

"This is a fair trade, isn't it?"

Brigadier General Miles looked rather grim, but he couldn't find any words to refute the young governor.

Now that we need their help, we're not speaking with much confidence. Who can we blame if the South can't produce these advanced weapons and munitions?
……

After signing a secret arms deal with the Confederate States of America, the arms factories that had already completed arms orders for Prussia and Austria immediately began to fully commit to the new large order.

Throughout the year, the production capacity of the Huamei Arsenal continued to expand.

Even with full-scale production, this massive $30 million arms order will likely take more than six months to process.

The production of thirty shallow-draft gunboats would be even slower. It would be quite an achievement if these warships could be delivered to the Confederate States of America within two years.

By the end of 1852, the order for warships that had been delayed for so long by the U.S. Navy was finally completed and delivered to the U.S. Navy.

……

Because the production of large quantities of military equipment, warships, and engineering machinery all require a large amount of high-quality steel.

California's limited iron ore production is no longer sufficient to support the production needs of these orders.

Therefore, a large amount of steel still needs to be purchased from abroad.

The most important steel-producing country today is undoubtedly the British Empire.

Secondly, Prussia's steel production and quality were also quite good.

Therefore, Azu ordered a large quantity of high-quality steel from Britain and Prussia through the European representative office early on.

Although the price of steel shipped from distant Europe has more than doubled, there's nothing that can be done about it right now.

The real solution to the steel problem will have to wait until the Carajás iron ore mine in Brazil is truly developed on a large scale.

……

Shortly after seeing off the Confederate procurement representatives, Brigadier General Miles and his entourage, Azu, unsurprisingly, welcomed the Union procurement delegation.

And the procurement representative for the Northern Army turned out to be an acquaintance!
Commodore Andrew Webber!
This former Pacific Commander was held hostage by the Freemasons and forced to do some despicable things against his will.

But upon returning to Washington, the general was not given a public trial.

President Lincoln made an exception and simply arranged for the general to retire early.

Given the current tense situation, coupled with the large number of officers leaving the Southern states, retired generals like Andrew Webber have been recalled to the army.

However, a general with such a tarnished reputation as Andrew Webber would never again have the opportunity to command troops in battle.

This brigadier general is now the Deputy Secretary of Logistics and Munitions under the newly established War Department of the United States.

(End of this chapter)