1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 671: Destroy enemies and move to Omaha

"Oh, damn, these fat politicians are here to tell me what to do on the front line instead of staying in Washington. It's really annoying."

In the city of Omaha, McClellan, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, who had just gotten rid of those annoying congressmen, cursed.

"I really want to kick these fat pigs in the ass with my boots!"

After the war broke out, many savvy congressmen realized that the front line was a great place for them to stage political shows, so they brought their families to the front line to watch the war. A small number of congressmen came to the front line just to watch the fun.

The congressmen were initially more interested in going to the Virginia front in the core area of ​​the east. However, there were too many congressmen going to the Virginia front in the east, and the Virginia front was very close to the capital Washington, so it was not new. Soon, some congressmen took a different route and went to the Nebraska front in the west to watch the war.

This added a lot of trouble to McClellan. McClellan, who was already busy and overwhelmed, not only had to meet the reasonable and unreasonable demands of the congressmen, but also had to protect the personal safety of these congressmen.

As for what those congressional gentlemen said about setting an example by coming to the front lines and boosting the morale of the soldiers, it is nonsense.

When these congressmen, dressed in elegant dresses and surrounded by their entourage, appeared in front of the dishevelled soldiers, giving them orders, their effect was more of an undermining of the morale of the soldiers on the front line rather than encouraging them.

The senior military officers around McClellan remained silent. Their attitude towards these congressmen who came to the front line to cause trouble was the same as McClellan's, and they wished they could send these congressmen away immediately.

However, they also knew that McClellan was only good at talking. If these congressional gentlemen put their fat butts on McClellan's face, McClellan would not be able to lick them enough, let alone greet them with his military boots.

"Your Excellency! General Mason is back!"

While McClellan was upset, a lieutenant colonel walked into his office and reported to him that Mason had arrived in Omaha.

"Oh, damn it! This guy Mason actually has the nerve to come back! I even allocated him an entire brigade, an artillery regiment equipped with new cannons, and two infantry regiments! He has three sturdy forts, but he can't even hold out for two weeks!" McClellan was furious when he heard the name Mason, and he yelled.

"Get Mason over here to see me!"

The fall of the Kearny Forts greatly compressed the strategic depth of McClellan's Corps, and the important frontier town of Omaha would then have to face the Western Army's offensive.

Obviously, this situation was something McClellan, who was not fully prepared, did not want to see. Previously, McClellan was willing to give Mason an artillery regiment and two militia regiments in the hope that Mason could buy him more time. Even if Mason only lasted two months, McClellan would accept it.

In McClellan's plan, he could complete the training of 3 to 4 militiamen in two months, so that these northern citizens and farmers who had hastily enlisted would have the basic qualities of a modern soldier.

Once his troops were reorganized, the quality gap between his troops and the Western Army would be greatly reduced. By then, even if he could not defeat the Western Army on the front battlefield, at least he would be confident that he could stabilize the front and remain invincible.

Although McClellan was only 35 years old and a very young federal general, he was one of the few generals in the federal government who acted steadily and used troops cautiously.

Unlike most Union generals who were blindly optimistic, McClellan carefully analyzed and studied the Western Army before taking office in Omaha.

He concluded that the Western Army was highly professional, well-equipped, and had combat experience that was no less than that of the Southern Army. The hastily mobilized Northern Army, even with a 2-fold advantage in troop strength, would not be able to defeat the Western Army in a head-on battle in the short term.

Of course, the Western Army also had shortcomings. That was limited by the transportation capacity and logistics of the Pacific Railway. Even if the entire Western Army was mobilized, the upper limit of the number of troops that could be deployed in the central border area was relatively low. McClellan estimated this upper limit to be 8.

The weakness of the Western Army was the advantage of the Northern Army in the Central Theater. After all, it was much easier for the eastern region to provide logistical supplies to Omaha than for the western region to provide logistical supplies to the North Platte Valley.

Unfortunately, Mason only managed to hold out at the Kearny Fortress Group for two weeks, which was far from McClellan's psychological expectations. His plan was disrupted by Mason's rapid dam breach. "Sir, I'm afraid it's not possible now." The lieutenant colonel lowered his head and said softly, "General Mason is telling the congressmen about his heroic deeds of breaking out, and the congressmen want to keep him for dinner tonight."

"Breakout?!" McClellan laughed in anger. "Then tell General Mason, tell this great, brave and fearless American hero, and let him draft a telegram to the president to report the situation of the Kearny Fort Group. No one knows what happened there better than him!"

After saying this, McClellan waved his hand to signal his subordinates to go out. He wanted to be alone and think quietly about the next deployment.

After his subordinates left, McCree walked to the sand table, pulled out the blue flag on Fort Kearny, and replaced it with a red flag representing the Western Army.

McClellan's focus was on northern Kansas, and from time to time he looked toward the northwestern mountains of Nebraska.

After contemplating the sand table for a long time, McClellan took out a pen and paper and wrote down the words Maine Brigade, First Mercenary Regiment, etc.

On the night of May 1861, 5, Lincoln received two telegrams from Omaha.

One was from Mason, in which he explained that under his leadership, Mason's Brigade inflicted heavy damage on the Western Army at the Kearny Fortress Group, annihilated 10,000 enemies, and successfully broke through to Omaha, preserving its manpower.

Another telegram was sent by McClellan. In addition to asking Lincoln for soldiers and money as usual, McClellan also complained to Lincoln that the congressmen kept going to Omaha to show off, which seriously affected his work.

Beyond that, McClellan said nothing about Mason's breakout and retreat to Omaha.

"General Scott, I think the current situation in the West is not optimistic."

Two days ago, General Shenandoah led the Pennsylvania Army to infiltrate the town of Manassas, catching the Confederate Army off guard. Before Lincoln could be happy for long, he was severely poured a bucket of cold water by the news from the western front.

Lincoln was not an easily fooled citizen. Although he was not a professional soldier, he understood that although Mason's telegram to him exaggerated the performance of Mason's brigade, the fact was that the Union Army had lost the Kearny Fort Group.

As for what Mason said in the telegram about annihilating 10,000 enemies, it was even more nonsense.

If 10,000 Western troops were really annihilated, the casualties of the Western Army would be at least 30,000. This means that the Western Army lost a full half of its manpower! If all this were true, the Western Army would have retreated to the Platte Valley in disgrace by now.

"It's not just not optimistic, it's terrible! Mason is really outrageous. He is simply the second Anderson! No! He is not even as good as Anderson!" Scott was extremely disappointed with Mason's performance, even though Mason was once his disciple.

Mason's performance reminded Scott of Anderson at the Battle of Fort Sumter. The performance of these Northern juniors was really disappointing.

"Then let him enjoy Anderson's treatment and get back from the front!" Lincoln said expressionlessly to Nikola beside him, "Nikola, send a telegram to Omaha and ask General Mason to return to Washington to receive the award."

Although McClellan said nothing, Lincoln knew that McClellan and Mason were not on good terms, and it would be inappropriate for Mason to remain in Omaha at this time.

"Your decision could not be wiser." Scott agreed very much with Lincoln's decision. Although this was the second time a funeral was celebrated, they had to do it.

"Send a telegram to General Shenandoah to capture the town of Manassas! We need a real victory to boost morale!" After weighing the pros and cons, Lincoln made the decision.

With Mason's recent defeat, McClellan's Western Army would have a hard time destroying the Western Army that had come out in full force in a short period of time. In contrast, the Northern Army had a greater advantage on the Eastern Front.

Lincoln decided to retreat on the Western Front, maintaining the front line at Omaha to tie down the main force of the Western Army. He chose the Eastern Front as the breakthrough point, after all, the Union Army had just won the victory in Manassas Town on Bull Run, and the morale of the Pennsylvania Army in Shenandoah was high.

(End of this chapter)