Chapter 914 Chicago Fire (1)
At this time the secretary hurried in.
"Mr. Vice President, German bombers are flying over Chicago and starting to drop bombs."
"Damn it!" Vice President Truman couldn't help but curse softly. I was afraid that the Germans would still throw those terrible incendiary bombs, and Chicago would become a ruin again.
Why do I say "again"? Because 70 years ago, on October 8, 1871, Chicago suffered a monstrous fire. Many early Chicago buildings were built of wood, and even the streets and sidewalks leading to the buildings were mostly paved with wooden boards and surrounded by wooden fences. Wooden structures such as wooden fences, wooden warehouses, and horse stables can be seen everywhere. The fire took advantage of the wind and burned more and more fiercely. In just one and a half hours after the first fire alarm was issued, downtown Chicago became a big "city on fire." The flames soaring into the sky turned the entire night sky red. Before dawn, the fire approached Chicago's most densely populated central area. Hotels, commercial buildings, opera houses, banks, and postal buildings were all engulfed in flames.
A survivor at the time described: "Everyone in the house wanted to take away as much as possible. I tied my clothes into the sheets. I tucked the clothes under my arms and put my backpack on my back. My family and I successfully escaped from the fire. 's house."
"Everyone ran as hard as they could to the north. People were carrying all kinds of strange things. One woman escaped with her wedding dress and another woman with a bunch of soap. In this fire, people took away They are all things that don’t have a lot of value, and the really precious things are all left at home.”
The poor people fled on their own two feet, while the rich people abandoned their carriages, mounted their frightened horses and ran towards the outskirts of the city, trampling many people to death along the way. According to reports, more than a thousand people were burned to death or trampled to death by frightened horses in the city. To escape the fire, thousands of Chicagoans fled to the shore of Lake Michigan in panic. Some people, fearing that the fire would reach the shore, jumped into the lake and drowned.
The terrible fire continued to burn until the next morning. Firefighters controlled the fire on October 9, 1871, but the biggest contributor was a sudden storm.
This fire was the deadliest fire in human history. After the fire, downtown Chicago was reduced to rubble and 70,000 houses were completely destroyed. Calculated only based on the value of the burned houses and furniture at that time (indirect losses are not included), the loss was not less than 1 billion US dollars based on the most conservative currency price at the time. The death toll (100,000 homeless and 300 dead) was calculated based on the bodies found. Many people believe that many of the dead were not included in the statistics. For example, the floating population had not yet been registered at that time, and there were many people still living in the country. He suffocated to death in his sleep and was burned to the point of leaving no bones, so he was not included in the calculation at that time. Some people even revealed that the relevant authorities did not include the deaths of workers from Europe, the Middle East and the East when counting the number of people...
As for how the fire that set the entire city of Chicago ablaze in a short period of time was formed? Speculation swirled almost from the moment the fire broke out. Among them, the most widely circulated version is that a stubborn cow kicked over an oil lamp placed on the grass and lit the cowshed, causing the fire to spread throughout the city.
The fire chief who was directing the rescue at the scene believed: "There were fires everywhere, and it was completely impossible for the fire that burned throughout the city in a short period of time to start in a certain house and then spread."
As the disaster investigation deepens, the truth becomes more confusing. On the same day, fires also broke out in some forests and grasslands around Chicago. Many witnesses even described, "The whole sky seemed to be on fire, and blazing stones fell from the sky one after another..."
After studying astronomical archives, American scholar Vichem Bellin concluded that the fire was caused by a shower of hot meteorites. In his opinion, the extremely high temperature in the meteorite shower is enough to melt the metal stone instantly, otherwise it would be impossible. It seems reasonable, but this theory is not recognized by the scientific community. Because until later generations, no one has found even a small piece of scattered meteorite debris.
There are also other theories such as the tornado theory, the theory that comet fragments hit the earth, etc., but these speculations are not accepted due to insufficient evidence. Until more than a century later, people could not find the real cause of this strange fire, which is incredible and has become an unsolved mystery in the world.
And this time the incendiary bombs dropped by the Germans did not know how much damage and casualties they would cause. Although most of the residents in the city have fled to the surrounding countryside, many people still stay in the city for various reasons. According to the experience of New York City, even if they hid in an underground air raid shelter, if a German bomb landed near the air raid shelter and exploded, these people would be in danger.
Vice President Truman made the sign of the cross on his chest and whispered a prayer. "May God bless you!" He could do nothing but pray. As the president of a country (although he is now the vice president in name only, he only performs the duties of the president), he can only watch the city being bombarded by the enemy unscrupulously, and the innocent people are slaughtered. This feeling of powerlessness makes him Sad, angry, even desperate, but helpless.
The atmosphere in the conference room was oppressive and suffocating, as if there was an invisible mountain weighing down everyone's breath. After an unknown amount of time, Marshall spoke to break the suffocating silence. "I'm afraid the Germans' next target is Los Angeles." Last time it was New York City, this time it's Chicago, and the next target is likely to be Los Angeles.
Vice President Truman looked at Commander Arnold. "Commander Arnold, can you allocate some 150MM anti-aircraft guns to defend Los Angeles?"
Commander Arnold sighed depressedly. "Mr. Vice President, let alone that there are only 10 150MM anti-aircraft guns available for allocation, even if all these 10 anti-aircraft guns are deployed to Los Angeles, I'm afraid it won't have any effect. Don't forget the terrible intelligence capabilities of the Germans. Today we deploy anti-aircraft guns outside Los Angeles, and tonight the Germans will get a detailed deployment map." Although he didn't want to admit it, the Germans have this kind of intelligence capabilities. As he spoke, Commander Arnold intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Donovan, the director of the Strategic Intelligence Agency not far away. This guy is just like a waste. So far, he has only caught a few small fish and shrimps, and has not found the core figures of the German intelligence network deployed in the United States. How could former President Wilkie let such a thing take such an important position?
"And even if we surround Los Angeles with thousands of anti-aircraft guns, the Germans still have jet bombers." The thought of jet bombers that can fly to an altitude of 17,000 meters is extremely frustrating.
"..." Vice President Truman opened his mouth and asked a question after a long while. "But we can't do nothing?!"
"Of course we have to do something." Commander Arnold shook his head. "But now all we can do is to evacuate the residents and property in Los Angeles as much as possible to minimize the losses. Not only Los Angeles, but also major cities such as Houston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco need to be evacuated." Although these major cities have also been bombed before, they have not been burned down like New York City. Now the Germans are using the burning tactics to destroy cities one by one. These cities must be evacuated as soon as possible.
Vice President Truman frowned slightly. These are all large industrial cities. If the people are evacuated, how can the factories produce various military and civilian products? But then he thought again, the German bombing might target these industrial areas, and these factories might not be spared. If the workers are not evacuated, not only will the factories be lost, but these workers will also be lost. "It seems that we have to split up the industrial areas and evacuate the factories to the surrounding countryside." This is not a small project, but it is better than being bombed into slag by the Germans. I believe that the major financial groups should have no objection.