Greenspan, get me a wooden box to stand on. " Charles laughed heartily.
Most of the buildings in America are relatively crude, and the houses in Pittsburgh are no exception; most are wooden structures with dirt floors and almost no steps. Charles and other "platform members" were now standing on level ground with the militia.
When he had traveled along, proclaiming the Declaration of Independence, he had always temporarily moved a large wooden box and stood on it to read to people. This time, arriving at his own home and seeing a similar situation, he thought of the familiar wooden box once more.
The trading center certainly wouldn't lack wooden boxes, and Charles quickly jumped onto a sturdy wooden box used for glass containers.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Quiet, please!" Greenspan tapped the brass bell at the entrance of the trading center a few times.
Even after calling for quiet, the crowd below remained a buzz, though the loud discussions had turned into low whispers. Charles knew it was impossible to make these people any quieter, so he simply treated their voices as buzzing mosquitoes and began to announce:
"Citizens of America, residents of the Colonies! This is the last time I will address you this way, because on July 4, 1776, after Christmas, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia passed the letter to the British king, which is the Declaration of Independence, declaring formal separation from Great Britain and the establishment of the free and independent United States! From now on, we will no longer be called Americans, no longer colonials; our name is citizens of the United States of America!"
"Woo-hoo..."
"Bang bang..."
"AMERICA F*CK YEAH!"
The reaction below was very enthusiastic. Cheers and gunshots rang out in unison.
Choking gunpowder smoke filled the air, enveloping the entire trading center. Charles, from his elevated position, couldn't even clearly see the crowd further away, only the flashes of gunfire and the continuous shouts.
Hearing the constant bang-bang of gunshots, Charles even worried that these guys might get too excited and an inaccurate shot might hit him. He quickly and quietly jumped down from the wooden box.
However, Charles was somewhat understanding of these people's reactions; firing celebratory shots was a American tradition. Having read the Declaration of Independence along the way, he had seen many such excited scenes, and people would almost always fire celebratory shots. It was just that this time, because the audience was a group of semi-militia armed with muskets, everyone fired their guns into the air simultaneously.
The effect was naturally extraordinary; such a large cloud of smoke was even denser than when musketmen normally engaged in battle. The overall effect was indeed as Antoine had initially guessed: the crowd was impassioned, and morale soared.
Once the smoke had mostly cleared, Charles stood on the wooden box again:
"Citizens of the United States of America! Now I will read the full text of the Declaration of Independence to you all. Please be quiet!"
These people, after all, had received some military education. Hearing Charles' words, they immediately stopped the sporadic gunfire, though the smoke and mist had not entirely dissipated.
"When, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another... We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare,
That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;
and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy war, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the Support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
"Woo-hoo..."
"Bang bang..."
"AMERICA F*CK YEAH!"
It was the same old celebration method, with no new tricks; these militiamen all liked to express their excitement by firing their guns. However, Charles knew that people in the Midwest had another way of celebrating, which was drinking.
In comparison, he would rather these militiamen fire a few more shots than let them celebrate with alcohol. Since so many militiamen had arrived in Pittsburgh, the tavern owners had already sealed off their alcohol, fearing that these people might accidentally get drunk and tear down their small shops.
Just listening to the chaotic gunfire below, Charles knew that setting off to attack the Iroquois today was unlikely. Not to mention that these excited people wouldn't be able to depart quietly, even if they could, the gunpowder on them would have been almost entirely consumed by the continuous celebratory shots into the sky.
If they were to leave like this, it would cause a huge logistical problem. So, after discussing with Antoine and others, he very straightforwardly told these militiamen that they would rest and celebrate for a day today, and depart tomorrow.
Just as Charles was preparing to return to the trading center to rest, several soldiers galloped into Pittsburgh.
"Whoa..."
The soldiers, dressed in greenish-yellow Continental army uniforms, dismounted and, led by several militiamen, nervously approached Charles and the others.
"Hello! Respected Continental Congress Representatives!" The burly soldier leading them took off his hat and placed it over his chest, saluting Charles and greeting him.
"Hello! Brave Continental army soldiers!" Charles also tipped his hat.
"I am Major John Sullivan of the Continental army. Councilor Godfrey, I have come at General Washington's order to await your command. Here is the General's letter." He said, handing over a folded letter.
"Oh!" Charles took the letter in confusion, not understanding why Washington would suddenly send an officer to him.
However, after reading the contents of the letter, he was immediately overjoyed.
Washington had sent this John Sullivan because he had discovered natives joining the British army on the New York defense line and had heard news that natives might harass the Midwest. He had specially transferred several more experienced officers to Pittsburgh to follow Charles' arrangements, train militiamen, and be responsible for guarding against possible native attacks.
This was truly a godsend in a long drought. Charles had originally been a little worried about Sergeant Antoine' command ability. Although this Pittsburgh militia had a large number of people, it lacked a batch of qualified officers to lead them. John, again, meant a large number of grassroots leaders. The role of these few people was not just to add a few officials, but to maximize the strength of those militiamen.
"Major John Sullivan, by the authority of the Pittsburgh Council, I now appoint you Deputy Commander of the Western Expeditionary Force, to assist the Commander of the Pittsburgh Militia militia, and to lead three thousand militiamen from Pittsburgh and twenty-seven other western towns to attack the four tribes of the native Iroquois Confederacy."
"Attack natives? Now?" John Sullivan was stunned.
When he had entered the town earlier, he had already noticed the unusual activity within the town. He accurately judged the roaring gunshots to be celebratory firing. Seeing the armed militiamen in formation earlier, he had begun to suspect some military action might be underway, but he was still surprised to hear that they were actually going to set out on an expedition.
"Hahahaha! Major Sullivan, you don't need to rush. The troops will depart tomorrow, so you have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the situation. This is Antoine, our militia Commander; he will explain the specific situation to you in detail.
As for your comrades, they can also serve as squadron officers in the expeditionary force under his arrangement." Charles introduced Antoine to him, and at the same time, had Antoine arrange the remaining officers.
"Yes! Councilor." "Yes! sir."
John Sullivan and Antoine both assured Charles at the same time.
After receiving the support of Major Sullivan and these regular army officers, Charles was full of confidence in the victory of this force. Therefore, he also specifically persuaded the several investment cooperation managers from Philadelphia to go with the militiamen on the expedition, to see if they could travel to Louisiana, contact the French colonial governor, and along the way, investigate the resources of the Great Lakes.
After understanding the situation with Antoine, those officers also made appropriate modifications to the original battle plan. The twenty field howitzers specially manufactured for the expedition were reduced to ten, because Sullivan believed that the consumption of artillery ammunition and gunpowder was too great, and the current logistics simply could not keep up.
In attacks against natives, artillery was susceptible to native cavalry attacks and would not be particularly effective. The limited gunpowder would be better used by the musketmen. In addition, the horses pulling the artillery carriages could be saved for logistics.
Significant changes were also made to the militiamen's muskets. The original focus on militiamen's self-provided rifled muskets was changed to smoothbore muskets, and the remaining riflemen were all operating double-barreled rifles wielded by the strongest soldiers. The cavalry were also uniformly equipped with the newly manufactured sabers and short guns from the workshop, no longer carrying long spears.
This emptied Charles' workshop of all its various new smoothbore guns, short guns, and double-barreled rifles. Charles, of course, was not polite and directly had the large expense shared by the neighboring villages, towns, and Pittsburgh.
The departure on the second day was very smooth. With the addition of these regular officers, the actual combat effectiveness of the troops was greatly improved, and even the usual departure and deployment were much more orderly.
While still in the town, they were a chaotic group of people. Under the command of these officers, once they left the town, they formed neat lines. Although every semi-militiaman's mouth was constantly moving, at least they looked like a proper military unit.
"Alas! Finally, these people are gone!"
The first to breathe a sigh of relief was not Charles, but rather Patrick and the mayors of other neighboring towns.
"Their expedition this time is to protect our western villages and towns. It can be called defending our homes and country, not hesitating to shed blood. Why are you so eager for them to leave?" Charles asked with a smile.
"You don't know, Councilor Charles! We are very short of all kinds of supplies right now, especially gunpowder. If we let them keep firing their guns here, I'm afraid we won't even be able to gather enough gunpowder for them to go to battle. And if there's too much gunpowder, then we're worried that having that stuff piled around could put our lives at risk at any moment. It's good that they've left; we have a lot less preparation work and are much safer," explained a mayor to Charles.
When Americans first arrived on the continent, they faced various dangers, including natives, and have always had a tradition of carrying guns. The firearms industry in the thirteen Colonies was very developed; basically, every relatively large town and small city had its own firearms factory or parts workshop. However, gunpowder, a crucial component, has always been very scarce.
Charles had forgotten where he had read that America's DuPont Company was originally a gunpowder manufacturing enterprise, and its rise to prominence was due to finding a nitric acid formula that could replace nitric acid, utilizing the abundant nitric acid in South America. In this situation, Charles was helpless; not only was the trade route to South America not yet open, but even if it were, he wouldn't know how to use nitric acid.
"I know black powder is scarce right now, so I've been looking for an alternative. In fact, I've already found something called Picric acid. It's a dye, but it can also be used as an explosive, and its power is incredibly strong.
The only problem is that its detonation is very unstable, which makes it problematic for military use. For mining and blasting rocks, it might be slightly better. I've already purchased some, and if anyone is interested, I can resell a portion to you."
Charles knew that Pittsburgh would definitely lack black powder and could only choose Picric acid at present. So, before coming to Pittsburgh this time, he simply bought a large quantity of Picric acid from Mayor Bonis, intending to use it in Pittsburgh for quarrying, blasting, and similar purposes.
Now, with gunpowder scarce and the West going to war, not a single bit of black powder in the villages and towns could be wasted. That's why he was willing to generously offer it for trade to other villages and towns.
"Alright, we're willing to buy. The requirements for explosives used in mining and quarrying aren't high, but the demand is huge. If we can solve this part of the demand, we can definitely save a lot of gunpowder, and ensuring the supply of military black powder will be no problem." The mayors all expressed their willingness to accept.
Charles naturally handed over the subsequent trading matters to Greenspan and others, while he turned to discuss with Hans and others from the Pittsburgh Coal and Steel Consortium, who had been waiting for a long time.