In America, the decisive battle that would determine the fate of the Northern and Southern Governments ultimately ended with both sides badly battered.
Tactically, the Southern Government had won, suffering fewer casualties; strategically, the Northern Government had won.
Without outside intervention, the Northern Government could next rely on its advantages in manpower and industry to gradually gain the upper hand.
Unfortunately, that was impossible. This civil war had been waged under the intervention of the European great powers from the very beginning.
With so many wet nurses feeding them, the Northern Government's industrial advantage had never been brought into play. In this age of great navigation, maritime trade between Europe and America was flourishing. No matter how hard the northern capitalists worked to produce goods, they could not compete with the European Continent.
Moreover, the longer the war dragged on, the more debt the Southern Government accumulated, and the less able the various governments were to let go.
The butterfly effect was powerful. The Southern Government had not merely issued cotton bonds; it had also incurred enormous loans from various countries. The three great creditor nations—Britain, France, and Austria—had already been tied to the same cart.
It was worth noting that a large portion of the Northern Government's war funds had also been borrowed from those three countries. Whichever side, North or South, collapsed, the three major creditors would suffer grievous losses.
They ate from the previous lender, then ate from the next. If the financial circles of those three countries had not joined forces to stir up trouble, this war would never have reached its current stage.
President Lincoln said helplessly, "We can't keep fighting. Begin negotiations with the Southern Government as soon as possible!"
They truly could not fight on. At this point in the war, the Northern