America 1881: Legend of the West

While President McKinley was in a state of confusion due to Chen Jianqiu's manipulations in Washington, the battle in Texas was continuing.

News of Fort Stockton's defeat and Major Harrison's capture quickly spread throughout the state.

If you think the people of Texas are so vulnerable, you are wrong.

As an independent Lone Star Republic from Mexico, the fighting capacity of the people of Texas is extremely strong.

At the same time, Texas as a whole is very conservative and populist.

They despise any person of color or minority who has different beliefs.

There is a joke about a Jew who walked in circles in front of a house for sale in Texas, and the house was basically unsold.

This is true for Jews, let alone those Chinese who are at the lowest end of the contempt chain.

The people of Texas quickly mobilized reserve forces to fortify San Antonio with a force close to a division.

But Li Sifu went straight to Austin.

After Major Harrison was captured, he was replaced by Colonel Morrison.

When he learned the news, he was watching his soldiers adjust the firing angle of the cannon outside San Antonio.

After some research, they agreed that flattening the firing angle of the artillery might be able to counteract those "iron lumps".

"What? They went directly to Austin?" The colonel was shocked.

It was too late to move the artillery now.

The artillery of the Texas National Guard was originally at Fort Stockton, and the remaining artillery was in San Antonio.

So Morrison ordered the cavalry to set off first to support Austin, and he set off immediately with the infantry.

At the same time, the governor and state government officials in Austin received the news.

They were as anxious as ants on a hot pot.

However, what surprised the governor was that the thing that the citizens of Austin, and even the people of Texas as a whole, were most concerned about was not the defeat of Fort Stockton.

They have full confidence in their National Guard.

If it really doesn't work, why don't we all pick up guns and defend our homes? There are only a few Chinese, so who is afraid of whom?

What the people of Texas are most worried about is why do federal marines appear in Texas?

This sounds strange, but it's not strange at all.

Texas is a special one among the states in the United States.

Their state government buildings still don’t have the American flag, but the Lone Star Flag of the Lone Star Republic.

From the day this state joined the Union, it had a backbone of rebellion.

In other words, "rednecks" have a tradition of rebellion.

During the Civil War, Texas declared its independence once, joined the Southern Army, and was then beaten by the Northern Alliance.

After the Civil War, federal troops entered the southern states and committed numerous murders and arson.

It was not until President Hayes's administration that federal troops were gradually withdrawn from southern states as a compromise with the Democrats.

Now, in order to deal with the Chinese, the federal troops are brought in again. Isn't this inviting a wolf into the house?

News soon came out.

The Marine Corps was "invited" by the governor.

Not only were the Marines brought in, but an infantry division led by Kent was also eyeing the state border.

The people of Texas certainly didn't know about Kent's troops because the general himself and some of the soldiers didn't want to fight.

They take it for granted that they are sitting on the mountain and watching the fight between tigers and tigers.

The people of Texas are angry.

They feel betrayed.

And their wishes were quickly put forward by the legislators representing them in the state parliament.

One of them, a congressman named Henderson, questioned that the governor was taking this opportunity to curry favor with the federation in exchange for political chips for future development.

The governor was devastated.

He now regrets listening to Rockefeller Jr.'s words.

It was he who suggested sending troops to drive the Chinese out, and it was he who vowed to let the federation send troops to help.

The day this bastard was defeated at Fort Stockton, he found an excuse to leave Texas and go back east.

The governor is now unable to explain himself, even if he jumped into the Colorado River, he would not be able to clear his mind.

Seeing that Li Sifu and the tank troops were about to stuff the barrel of the gun into their mouths, these people actually cared about such nonsense.

However, in his complaints, the governor apparently failed to realize that Li Sifu and his Chinese troops may not be the main threat.

Li Sifu's tank really made a name for itself in the first battle. It looked invincible, but the reality was not so good.

The mechanical technology at this time was extremely unreliable.

Li Sifu's 40 tanks moved very slowly, and they would break down after traveling less than a hundred kilometers.

But Major Li didn't seem anxious at all.

From time to time, he would ask the maintenance team to repair it slowly, and if it didn't work, he would stop for a long time.

Li Sifu’s deputy was puzzled but anxious:

"Sir, soldiers are very fast, but at our current speed, I'm afraid it's a bit far from the 'directly to Austin' that Boss Chen wants! By the time we get to Austin, the National Guard will already be waiting for us there. Alright?"

The deputy looked at the lying tanks and said anxiously.

He watched the maintenance man knocking on it with a wrench, wishing he could get in instead.

However, Li Sifu stood on top of the tank with his arms akimbo, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, took a sip, and said slowly:

"As long as the goal remains unchanged, there will be no problem. Momentum is the most important thing."

How could the boss not know that the tank was slow? Under such circumstances, he issued such an imposing order, indicating that from that time on, the situation on his side was far greater than the actual situation.

Li Sifu didn't know what kind of arrangements his boss would make.

But he followed Chen Jianqiu for a long time.

His boss definitely arranged a backup plan.

Meanwhile, in Austin.

Representative Henderson, who cursed the governor in the State House, walked out of the State House building.

He looked around and finally saw a carriage at the corner of the street in a secluded place.

Henderson hurriedly boarded the carriage.

The carriage set off soon, carrying the congressman to a house on the outskirts of the city.

This small house looks unremarkable from the outside, but it is very spacious inside.

Especially the living room.

There are now about ten people gathered inside.

Among them were farmers, ranchers, businessmen, union representatives, and even soldiers.

And, of course, there are politicians like Henderson.

Among them were six state senators alone.

They were just representatives, and there were others in the state assembly who did not come because there was no room for standing at the gathering place.

When these people saw Henderson coming, they all made way for the congressman to come in.

It can be seen that this politician from Houston has quite high prestige among them.

Henderson walked up to the wall of the house.

A portrait of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas", hangs on the wall.

Henderson deliberately adjusted his posture to look similar to Austin.

"Folks, as we feared, Texas is facing a serious crisis."

"The federal government is taking advantage of the Chinese people's troubles to redeploy troops into Texas. The future of Texas is worrying."

"In this incident, the weakness of the federal government is evident. They still have no ability to stop the Chinese from moving forward!"

"If the governor continues to act his own way, I think everyone needs to discuss the future of Texas."

The future described by Henderson is naturally not that simple.

What they discussed was just like the name of their organization - Texas Independence Movement Alliance.