1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 662: Eastern Expedition!

On May 1861, 5, a loud bang on the Pacific Railroad completely broke the calm in Nebraska and also broke the deadlock in the entire North American continent.

On the same day, Liang Yao sent telegrams to both domestic and foreign countries, accusing the local Northern Federal garrison of deliberately destroying the property of the American Republic and demanding that the Northern Federal Army withdraw all military personnel along the railway west of Omaha (including Omaha) within 72 hours and compensate for the losses.

If the federal army does not withdraw from the Western Pacific Railway within 72 hours, the National Defense Army of the American Republic will be forced to counterattack in self-defense and demilitarize Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas and other places out of self-defense and to protect the property of the citizens of the American Republic.

Lincoln was very surprised when he received the telegrams from Mason and McClellan from the front. He had thought that Liang Yao would use troops in the central border area, but he did not expect Liang Yao to find such a reason to send troops. Liang Yao's decisive attitude also went beyond Lincoln's expectations.

It seems that Liang Yao's control over the Pacific Railway's transportation capacity and his ability to allocate resources in the entire western region are even stronger than he expected.

Lincoln knew Liang Yao. Liang Yao was a cautious and steady person who would not send troops without adequate preparation. Liang Yao chose to send troops at this time, indicating that he had made sufficient preparations.

Relying only on the Pacific Railway as a supply line to supply an armed force of more than 60,000 people, Liang Yao is squeezing out all the capacity of this railway to fight them, right? Lincoln secretly complained in his heart.

The federal government had to do its best to barely provide the most basic supplies for the 80,000 troops in Omaha and Kearny Forts, and the quality of the supplies was probably not as good as that of the Western Army in North Platte.

According to a telegram Blair sent back to Lincoln not long ago, the Western Army stationed in North Platte conducted high-intensity training every day without interruption, and the soldiers did not complain. In addition, the Western Army's uniforms were very uniform, even the militia had special uniforms, and the weapons they were equipped with were even better than those of the elite standing troops of the federal army.

Thinking of this, Lincoln couldn't help but shudder, and an inexplicable sense of fear rose up and rushed straight up his spine.

Although Lincoln was not a professional soldier, he had served in the militia and participated in low-intensity wars. He did have some military knowledge.

Only with sufficient logistical support can high-intensity training be maintained. The fact that the officers and soldiers of the Western Army had no complaints about the high-intensity training shows that this army is highly organized, morale-boosting, and well-trained.

To be fair, it is much more difficult for Liang Yao to maintain logistical supplies in North Platte than it is for Lincoln to maintain logistical supplies in Omaha.

The length of their supply lines and the difficulty of supply are not on the same level at all.

Omaha can not only be supplied through the well-developed railway network in the central and eastern parts of the country, but also have neighboring Illinois and Wisconsin use traditional horse-drawn carriages to transport supplies to Omaha, although this is relatively inefficient. If there is really no other way, you can still get food locally in Omaha.

Liang Yao only had the Pacific Railway as his lifeline. Although Lincoln heard that Liang Yao had made some achievements in the reclamation and construction of the Platte River Valley and parts of Colorado, this was only in the past two years. Lincoln did not think that only a few large strongholds in Colorado and these agricultural towns in the North Platte River Valley could support a large-scale, well-equipped modern army.

It seems that the situation on the Western Front is very dangerous.

As for the Eastern Front, the situation was not much better. 7 Confederate troops had assembled near Manassas, and the troop strength on the Eastern Front was also very tight. Lincoln did not have enough troops to transfer to Omaha to support McClellan.

Although he was well aware that McClellan's hastily organized second batch of mobilized troops was probably no match for the Western Army, all he could do now was pray to God, hoping that God would bless McClellan to hold Omaha for at least half a year.

Holding Omaha for half a year was Lincoln's bottom line. The federal government had already started the third round of mobilization. As long as McClellan could hold off the Western Army on the Omaha front for half a year and keep Washington on the eastern front, the initiative would be in their hands.

What the federal government lacks most now is usable reserve forces. Currently, all the soldiers that the federal government can use have been deployed to the front line.

In terms of military, Lincoln had played all his cards and had no more cards left.

Even so, Lincoln asked presidential assistant Nickel to draft a strongly worded telegram refuting the American Republic's rude demands.

Lincoln was not a pedantic person who did not know how to adapt. In fact, as a qualified politician, Lincoln was quite flexible.

Precisely because he was a qualified politician, Lincoln knew more clearly what things could be flexible and what things could not.

The Central Frontier region is related to the core interests of the federal government and is also Lincoln's base. Based on this alone, Lincoln would not agree to Liang Yao's tough demands and give up the Central Frontier region under the tyranny of the Western Army. Instead, he must firmly establish a foothold in the Central Frontier region.

Otherwise, he will not be able to explain to the voters who put him in the presidency, nor will he be able to explain to those self-righteous members of Congress.

Unable to explain to his superiors and subordinates, the only option for Abraham Lincoln was to step down. He did not want to step down in such an undignified way. Moreover, after he stepped down, no one in the entire North would be able to clean up the mess in the current situation.

  Who else but me will decide the rise and fall of the Federation?

Even if we are not sure of victory on the Western Front, we must fight!

Lincoln clenched his fists and said to his assistant Nickel decisively and resolutely: "Nickel, send the telegram!"

Nickel looked at Lincoln, whose face was haggard but whose eyes were still firm, and said nothing more. He nodded slightly, took the telegram and went to the White House to pay the telegram fee.

Liang Yao received a call back from Lincoln that evening. On issues concerning core interests, Lincoln's stance was very clear and decisive.

  In this case, who will conquer the central border area can only be decided on the battlefield!

The city of North Platte had already been under martial law and entered a wartime state. The next morning, the first batch of combat troops had already put on their equipment, checked their guns and ammunition, and assembled at the East Camp, ready to go, waiting only for Liang Yao's order to march eastward to achieve success.

The first batch of troops to go east to participate in the war included the 102nd Brigade, the 103rd Brigade, the 1st Artillery Brigade, the 1st Cavalry Regiment, the Machine Gun Regiment, the Rocket Regiment, the California Militia Brigade, the Oregon Militia Brigade, the Utah Militia Brigade, as well as civilians recruited from local areas, totaling more than people.

Liang Yao mobilized two-thirds of his troops for this expedition.

As the saying goes, when there are thousands of soldiers, there is no boundary; when there are tens of thousands of soldiers, there is no edge.

Liang Yao stood on the tower of North Platte and looked at the endless and magnificent sea of ​​people below him, and his heart was filled with emotion.

  This was the military strength he had spent twelve years accumulating! Victory or defeat depended on this one move!

Climbing up to a high place and looking at the powerful army he had built with his own hands, Liang Yao's eyes couldn't help but reveal a look of contempt for the world.

Facing the rising sun in the east, Liang Yao drew out the saber that Napoleon III had given him, pointed it forward, as if he wanted to split the vast North American land in half. Liang Yao took a deep breath, and roared in the direction of Washington with the greatest lung capacity and voice of his life: "Go!"

"Let's go!"

"Let's go!"

"Let's go!"

Under the tower, the soldiers who had been trapped in a corner of North Platte for more than two years had been holding back their energy. They responded like a tsunami to the tall and high-spirited commander on the tower, vowing to break out of the cage that trapped them today and drink from the Mississippi River!

"East out!"

Along with Liang Yao's roar, the artillery under the tower fired a salute, all the steamboats on the Platte River sounded their whistles, and military musicians played military music to officially set out for the battle.

The 50,000-strong army lined up in neat rows and marched calmly and powerfully, pouring out of Fort North Platte like an undulating human wave, like an unstoppable mountain torrent rushing down from the Rocky Mountains, with the momentum to flood the entire Great Plains.

The first to rush out of North Platte Fort was the 1st Cavalry Regiment. The commander of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, Maquik, led his cavalry to disperse in two directions, west and south, responsible for reconnaissance and police work to prevent the Northern Union Army in Omaha and Kansas from raiding to support the Kearny Fort group.

Although the intelligence collected from all sides showed that the possibility of the Northern Federation Army supporting the Kearny Fortress Group was very small, if this expedition failed, it would cost a lot of money and years to gather a strong army with such spirit and organization to march east again.

Therefore, even if the possibility was tiny, Liang Yao did not dare to take it lightly, because he could not wait. The Civil War was the best opportunity for him to expand his influence to the Mississippi River Basin.

Once the Civil War was over and the North had completed its unification with the South, he would be faced with an America that had a solid state, a more awakened national spirit, and was relatively united. By then, it would be much more difficult to get involved in the Mississippi River Basin than it is now.

Following the 102st Cavalry Regiment was the 102nd Brigade, followed by the Artillery Brigade and the Rocket Regiment. The 102nd Brigade, the Artillery Brigade and the Rocket Regiment were responsible for the main attack force of the frontal attack on the Kani Fortress Group.

The mission of the Oregon Militia Brigade and the Utah Militia Brigade was to provide cover for the main attacking 102nd Brigade and the Artillery Brigade.

The remaining 103rd Brigade, California Militia Brigade, and Machine Gun Regiment were used as reserves.

(End of this chapter)