That night, New York was crying!
New York, the most prosperous and populous city in North America, turned into ruins overnight...
The flames burned for two days and two nights. The scene of a huge fire whirlwind piercing the night sky became the most profound memory of this fire.
When the flames were extinguished, all of New York disappeared, at least as a city, New York disappeared.
Only a fragment of ruins was left.
How many people died in the fire?
Is it two hundred thousand? Or five hundred thousand?
or more?
No one knew, at least not until the day after New York was razed to the ground, there was no accurate figure, but the next day, all American newspapers reported the news in a sad and angry tone.
In the writings of journalists, no matter what words they use to describe their inner anger and the tragedy of the fire, they dare not... describe their hatred for the empire!
Why not? Because they are afraid. They are afraid that the next city to be nodded will be their city. They are afraid that the next city with flying dragons will become their city.
who is the next?
Just when people were panic-stricken as they faced the destroyed New York, the atmosphere in Washington and the White House seemed extremely depressing.
New York is destroyed!
Entire cities were razed to the ground…
In fact, this is a bit exaggerated. After all, there are still a few buildings that have not collapsed. Well, there are still a few buildings that have not collapsed.
Anyway...New York is screwed.
"It's not about airships, airships have been eliminated!"
Sitting there without speaking for a long time, Cleveland looked at everyone with a resentful look on his face like an angry little daughter-in-law.
How did that happen?
Aren’t airships already in decline?
The Ming Dynasty...does not respect martial ethics!
Didn’t we agree that everyone would use planes from now on?
"Mr. President, we did not expect that at night... airships can conduct night bombings..."
Secretary of War Lamont pursed his lips, he was so helpless.
How could the Ming Dynasty be so ignorant of martial ethics?
Night bombing, don't they know that planes cannot take off at night?
In fact, airplanes can take off at night, but the technology is just not good enough.
"Why didn't you expect that as early as the Franco-Prussian War, the Ming Empire used airships to carry out night strikes? Why haven't you thought of it now?"
"That's different."
Lamont argued.
"We have conducted tests. Although the airship can carry out administrative take-off and landing at night, when it comes to bombing, its sight is very poor and it is almost impossible to hit the target, so..."
"So they bombed New York!"
Roosevelt, the former New York Police Chief, said angrily.
"The accuracy of airship bombing at night is indeed very low, but they bombed New York. New York was so big that the whole city was their target. They destroyed the whole city. Lamont, do you know how many people died in New York?
Do you know that New York is still burning? Do you know that New York...has disappeared from the world?"
Facing Roosevelt's continuous questioning, Lamont felt bad luck.
It’s not that we are too incompetent, it’s that the empire is too cunning!
Open your mouth, Lamont said.
"We really didn't expect that the Ming Empire would be so cruel. They would be so immoral and inhumane. Yes, they would launch such brutal and inhumane bombings on civilians!"
What is the most correct thing to say now?
Of course, he was blaming the Ming Empire. The more cruel the Ming Empire was, the easier it was to blame it.
What kind of air-raid shelters, what kind of air-raid facilities.
Just kidding, before New York was burned to ashes, who among you said that the Empire would bomb the mainland of the United States? No, before the war, he, Lamont, also raised this possibility, but what did the governors of each state say?
What about?
They said there was no need because the war didn't break out, so there was no need!
What happens next?
They said there was no need because now is the age of airplanes.
Well, there is no need for one to kill hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.
"Approximately how many casualties were there in New York?"
"About 500,000, maybe more..."
"Oh my god! How come so many people died?"
"Mr. President, this is bombing. This is the result of inhumane bombing..."
Roosevelt emphasized again.
"Mr. President, we are at war with such an inhumane enemy. They have no humanity or mercy. We must take revenge for the dead New Yorkers! Civilized behavior only exists among civilized people.
Barbaric behavior must be retaliated with barbarity! We must use violence to stop atrocities!"
At this time, Roosevelt seemed a little excited. How could he not be excited? His home was in New York. In the bombing of New York, he not only lost many friends, he even lost a lot of property. God can testify that the fire directly destroyed him.
The house was burned to ashes!
Not hating... is it possible?
"We want revenge! And we must take revenge!"
Cleveland said directly.
"This is a promise we make to everyone. If we cannot avenge New Yorkers, we will lose all support!"
What is most important to these politicians?
Of course it is support. Although it seems illusory, they do need the support of those people, at least to some extent.
"Can we bomb the Ming Dynasty? Can we carry out retaliatory bombing of the Ming Dynasty?"
As soon as Cleveland finished speaking, Secretary of War Lamont shook his head and said.
"This is almost impossible!"
"Why not!"
Roosevelt said excitedly.
"They can drop bombs on our heads, can't we drop bombs on their heads?"
"Roosevelt, it's not that you can't, but..."
Lamont said.
"We are too far away from Ming Dynasty,"
"Too far, then they..."
Roosevelt only spoke half of what he said, and then he understood.
"We are too far away from their homeland, and they are far away from us, Cuba! You mean Cuba?..."
Lamont nodded and said.
"Yes, Cuba, their airships take off from Cuba,"
When Cuba was occupied by the Ming Empire, no one was aware of the danger. At most, they were worried that the Ming Empire would set up a naval base there.
And this is also true. After occupying Cuba, the Ming Empire set up a naval base there. Their submarines set out from Cuba to intercept and attack merchant ships on the east coast.
That was the threat they saw at that time, but what about now?
Facing the airship taking off from Cuba, they suddenly discovered the importance of Cuba to the United States.
"In the past, in order to guard against the empire's airships, we established hundreds of air defense observation posts in the areas bordering the west and the empire and in the center. But now their airships take off directly from Cuba. After taking off from there, they can fly over the sea, away from us.
After all, we cannot set up observation posts on the sea. They can now bomb our port cities on the east coast at will. From the perspective of U.S. security, we must take back Cuba. Only in this way can we protect ourselves.
safety and prevent our cities from turning into rubble like New York."
Faced with Roosevelt's suggestion, Cleveland thought for a moment and then asked.
“Can we take back Cuba?”
The president's question made Roosevelt think for a moment, and then he said.
"We can accept the British suggestion. Moreover, Mr. President, what we need more now is revenge. We must retaliate in kind. Only in this way can we awaken the morale of the American people."
The impact of this bombing on the morale of the American people is self-evident. Roosevelt knew clearly that Americans now not only longed for revenge. They longed for victory, and longed for victory to wash away the fear in their hearts.
Americans were angry when they faced the destruction of New York. But apart from their anger, they also felt unprecedented fear.
After all, the cruelty of war is far beyond their imagination, and the death caused by the destructive weapons possessed by the enemy is also an ironclad fact. In this case, the United States needs a victory to awaken the people.
"So my suggestion is..."
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!