bullyxtreme Chapter 113 Deployment Planning and Downing Street's Vigilance
Chapter 113 Deployment Planning and Downing Street's Vigilance
Chapter 113 Deployment Planning and Downing Street's Vigilance
7 PM.
Chinatown.
In Zeng Tai's courtyard, the assassins from Mo Xia gathered together for the first time in a long time.
Guilliman, Jianyuan, Susong, Chongyue, John ———
The assassins from all over California were summoned here by subspace teleportation and stood in front of Zeng Tai.
"Are we the only ones who came back?"
John looked around and said, "I thought Leon, Arthur, and Hongwu would all come back."
"It's just California, and they all have their own things to do. Why would I call them back? It would just be a waste of my spot."
Zeng Tai waved his hand and led a group of assassins toward the hall.
In the center of the hall is a huge sand table.
The sand table is two meters long and one meter wide. It was made based on the intelligence sent back by Leon's dark angels and is at a scale of 1:500000.
At this point, the sand table was not yet fully completed; only the coastal and central areas were finished, but it was sufficient.
Rivers, mountains, valleys, cities, settlements, fortresses, and even main roads and farmland are clearly marked, making them easy to find at a glance.
Zeng Tai stood in front of the sand table, his hands resting on the edge, his gaze slowly sweeping over his assassins.
"I called you here tonight for only one thing: to go to war!"
Excitement was on the face of every assassin.
"My lord, this should have been done long ago."
John grinned, his smile tinged with a bloodthirsty edge. "With our current manpower and weaponry, taking over the entire state of California wouldn't be a problem, let alone simultaneously marching south to Mexico and north to Oregon."
Guilliman leaned down to examine the sand table, his fingers slowly tracing the undulating terrain, and asked, "My lord, what are your thoughts?"
Zeng Tai picked up a thin wooden stick from the edge of the sand table and pointed it at the location of the San Francisco Bay Area.
"My idea is simple: mobilize all members of Xinghantang and take over all the cities near the San Francisco Bay Area first."
"San Jose, San Mateo, Redwood City, Oakland, Benicia, Vallejo — control these cities, and thus completely control the entire bay area."
"Wrong, my lord, wrong."
Guilliman shook his head repeatedly and said, "My lord, this is war. Our goal is total occupation, so we cannot scatter our precious troops in useless cities in the early stages."
He also picked up a thin wooden stick and said, "Of the cities you just mentioned, only three are worth occupying: San Francisco,..."
San Jose and Benicia.
Zeng Tai dismissed Guilliman's rebuttal, instead asking, "So what are your thoughts?"
Guilliman said slowly, "Let's not even talk about San Francisco. We've already effectively occupied this largest distribution and shipping center on the West Coast. All that's left is to raise a flag."
He pointed the stick at San Jose, in the lower right corner of San Francisco: "San Jose, population of 10,000, the city itself is not important, what is important is the Santa Clara Valley where it is located."
As California's most prosperous agricultural region, it boasts over 150,000 acres of wheat fields. At a yield of 160 kilograms per acre, the annual grain production is enough to feed 200,000 people for a year.
"If we take it down, our food security will be guaranteed."
Su Song nodded in agreement and said, "Everyone, what Guilliman said is exactly what I wanted to say."
He pulled a booklet from his pocket, and when he unfolded it, everyone saw a dense array of numbers.
"Even if we add up the existing suicide soldiers and the many compatriots who will be transported later, the food reserves will still run out in two months, despite buying food every day."
"Next month is the harvest season for California winter wheat, and the month after that, it's the harvest season for spring wheat. By taking over the Santa Clara Valley, we can not only harvest 20 million kilograms of grain, but also save a large sum of money to accelerate our research."
Guilliman then moved the stick up, pointing it towards Benicia in the upper right corner of San Francisco.
"Beniccia has a population of one thousand and an arsenal that stores a considerable amount of military supplies."
Although the muzzle-loading guns and cannons inside were outdated, the lathe and the large quantity of gunpowder were very useful to us; taking them would also weaken the resistance of the white Californians.
Everyone in the hall nodded in agreement.
John stroked his chin and said, "Shall we fight San Jose first, and then go fight Benicia?"
"No!"
Guilliman shook his head and said, "Speed is of the essence in war, so we will split into three groups."
He drew three clear lines on the sand table with a stick.
"First Route, the troops under the Xinghan Hall. After you take the port and control the land and water routes in and out of San Francisco, head straight for San Jose and completely control the Santa Clara Valley."
After taking the valley, continue south to occupy Monterey and control its coastal ports.
Jian Yuan patted his chest and said, "This is simple; five hundred people can do it."
"That's not enough. You'll need to leave people to garrison there after you take it."
Guilliman drew a circle in the Santa Clara Valley with his stick. "Take a thousand men, take the valley, and then send small teams to sweep the local farms and collect all the grain."
Remember, don't kill too many people. We still need a large number of slaves familiar with the local conditions to help us manage the wheat in the valley.
Guilliman's stick continued south, stopping at the location of Los Angeles.
"Second route, Chongyue, you lead your Indian army to take Los Angeles, the capital of Southern California."
After taking it, use Los Angeles as a center to control San Diego to the south and San Bernardino to the east. Control the surrounding ports and major transportation routes.
Chongyue nodded and said in a deep voice, "No problem. I've taken down quite a few Native American tribes these past few days. Although I'm not very good at siege warfare, I can still bully those Native Americans with my strength."
"Is it our turn next?"
John looked at the city called Benecia on the sand table. "Shall we attack Benecia?"
"That's right!"
Guilliman said, "The situation in Benicia is unique. The militias of Southern California and Northern California are fighting over the city, each wanting to seize the weapons in the arsenal to strike at the other."
"According to previous intelligence, the number of militia members surrounding the area has now exceeded one thousand."
John, if you're going to take action, you must crush both sides with overwhelming force, giving them no time to react, and preventing anyone from detonating the arsenal.
John gave an OK sign and said, "Leave it to us. A mere thousand militiamen will collapse on their own after a hundred or two die."
Zeng Tai suddenly spoke up: "After taking Benicia, are we heading straight for Sacramento?"
"You noticed?"
Guilliman laughed and said, "As the political center of California, this city is different from other cities. Once we take it, we can severely damage the morale of white people throughout California and achieve the effect of subduing the enemy without fighting."
Zeng Tai looked at John: "I remember there are around 20,000 people in Sacramento. Do you think the Van der Linde gang has enough?"
"The current size of 800 people is, frankly, a bit insufficient."
John frankly stated, "Killing people is fine, but if we want to control the city, we'll need to send a thousand men to suppress any potential resistance."
"Don't worry about the subsequent stationing. There are enough summoning slots, and the dark angels who were previously sent to various cities as spies will also be awakened and join us."
Zeng Tai slowly said, "Then let's proceed according to Guilliman's plan?"
John was the first to speak: "I think it's a good idea."
Su Song said, "I didn't hear anything wrong, but be careful not to go on a killing spree. We still need slaves."
Zeng Tai made the final decision: "Let's do it this way, and set off tomorrow morning!"
"My lord, there's no need to wait until tomorrow morning."
Jian Yuan said, "Let's set off tonight. To be honest, everyone is already starving and thirsty."
Zeng Tai was taken aback for a moment, then grinned and said, "Alright, then I'll be waiting for your good news."
Meanwhile, in Belgravia, London, at 17 Grosvenor Crescent Street.
Living here is George William Frederick Villiers, the Foreign Minister of the British Empire.
He was having a wonderful dream.
Boom!Boom!Boom!
"Sir! Sir!"
Urgent knocking and shouting rang out at the same time.
Villiers rubbed his eyes and pulled the brass ring beside the bed. The gas valve opened, and gas slowly flowed into the chandelier, igniting it and casting a warm, orange glow.
He glanced at the clock on the bedside table; it showed that it was 3:10.
"Come in."
The secretary entered, holding a document, and said in a serious tone, "Sir, Ambassador Clapton has sent back a diplomatic note from the United States, a very serious one!"
Villiers threw back the covers and took the document. After reading only a few lines, his brows furrowed.
The note was short, but its wording was extremely harsh.
The U.S. government accused the British government of using its North American territories as bases to supply arms to Native American tribes in California, incite riots, and interfere in U.S. domestic affairs.
The note ended with the words "strongly condemn," which is a rather strong wording in diplomatic documents.
"absurd!"
Villiers tossed the note onto the bed, frowning slightly. "Large-caliber new artillery, rapid-fire weapons, and breech-loading rifles—our army doesn't even have these. Why would we provide them to the Indians?"
The secretary reminded him, "Sir, do you remember the intelligence report sent back from the San Francisco consulate yesterday?"
Villiers recalled: "You mean that intelligence report covering the current situation in California?"
"Yes."
The secretary nodded and said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but the weapons described in the American note are very similar to those used by a Chinese force that suddenly appeared in San Francisco. Both describe breech-loading guns and rapid-fire weapons."
Villiers' brow furrowed even more.
He certainly remembered the intelligence, but he didn't take it to heart. Without any physical evidence, it was all just speculation and hearsay, completely unworthy of his attention.
But now that the two documents are placed side by side, things are not so simple.
"Prepare the car, let's go to Downing Street."
10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence.
Henry John Temple Palmerston looked even worse than Villiers when he was dragged out of bed. Seventy-one years old, his energy waned, and being woken in the middle of the night was torture for him.
He walked into the study with a dark expression, wearing a bathrobe, and looked at Villiers sitting on the sofa.
"George, you'd better have something important to say!"
Villiers handed over the American note along with the intelligence from the San Francisco consulate.
Palmerston put on his glasses and turned the pages one by one. He read slowly and carefully, and after finishing, he leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and began to ponder.
"These American hicks are vulgar enough, but don't they even have brains?"
"If we were truly supporting the Native Americans, why would we provide them with breech-loading rifles and rapid-fire weapons? We don't even have those kinds of weapons in service ourselves, how could we possibly give them to a bunch of savages?"
"That's true. If they had any brains, they wouldn't have let those Indian savages wipe out two dragoon regiments. George, I remember their regular army only had a dozen or so regiments, right?"
"Patrick, this is no longer the time to wonder if the Americans have brains or not; these brainless Americans have already decided that we did it."
"The wording in the note is very strong," Villiers said softly. "If we don't give them an explanation, they might really cause trouble on the Canadian border."
Palmerston sneered, "An explanation? We didn't do anything, what explanation do we need to give them?"
"I think this is an American conspiracy. The Russians are fighting us in Crimea, and the Americans think they have an opportunity to cause trouble in British Canada."
"But they didn't dare to go to war with us directly, so they used this excuse. This way, they could both incite anti-British sentiment at home and test our bottom line."
Villiers coughed lightly, his voice lowering slightly: "We did it. The Oregon Indian tribes were able to instigate a riot because our people provided the weapons."
Palmerston looked surprised, then said matter-of-factly, "George, you said it yourself, that happened in Oregon. What does it have to do with us?"
The two exchanged a glance and revealed a knowing smile.
"How do we reply to them?" Villiers asked.
Palmerston said, "Just refute it with the strongest possible language and don't admit to the accusation. But we are aware of the situation and will send personnel to investigate."
"If the Americans are not satisfied with this answer and want to fight a third war of independence, then we will grant their wish."
"Okay, I'm going back to sleep now."
Villiers yawned and was about to get up and leave when Palmerston called him back.
"Wait a minute, George, this isn't over yet."
Villiers looked at Palmerston and heard him say, "We need to send people to California to investigate where those Native Americans and Chinese got their weapons from."
"I have a feeling that a hidden force in North America with the capability to manufacture advanced weapons could become our tool to once again control the situation on the North American continent."
Villiers nodded: "I will send a message to the consul at the San Francisco consulate and have him send people to investigate this matter."