1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 700 Other People's Teammates

Robert Lee made the right bet!

McDowell's Army of the Potomac's destination was indeed Manassas, not Richmond.

Upon learning that McDowell's main force had arrived at Centerville, only 8 miles away, Pope regarded McDowell's Army of the Potomac as a savior.

Although his troops were badly defeated by Jackson's impregnable position, Pope believed that all would be well if McDowell's Army of the Potomac joined the battle and attacked Jackson's Army of Virginia.

They can still turn the tide of the battle with their advantage in military strength!

The only regret was that Pope could not take all the credit and had to share the credit of retaking Manassas with McDowell.

Pope was still too naive, and McDowell had his own plans.

Robert Lee had already led 3 Confederate reserve troops from Richmond north to Manassas. No matter how bad the North's intelligence work was, the movement of 3 troops could not be concealed from the North's spies.

McDowell believed that if Pope and the Army of Virginia attacked Jackson at this time, not only would they not be able to make a breakthrough, but Pope's Army and the Army of the Potomac would also be at risk of being surrounded by the main force of the Confederate Army led by Robert Lee at the same time.

What's more, Pope didn't even bother to say hello to him before the attack, which made it clear that he wanted to take all the credit, which was very unfair.

Since Pope is not a decent person, McDowell is naturally unwilling to clean up Pope's mess.

The Army of the Potomac was the Union's last remaining army and must not be lost.

As long as the Army of the Potomac was saved, even if the battle was lost, McDowell could give an explanation to Washington. The politicians in Washington and the capitalists in New York and Philadelphia would remember his favor.

As for Pope's inability to explain to Washington, what does it have to do with McDowell?

If he could not save the Army of the Potomac, it would not be a question of whether he could give an explanation to Washington, but whether Washington would become the government of Philadelphia or New York. He would definitely become the target of public criticism when he returned. This was the result McDowell did not want to see the most.

Or should we just withdraw our troops? McDowell had a flash of the idea of ​​withdrawing his troops.

That wouldn't work either. If he retreated directly, he would be branded a coward and would never be able to hold his head up in either the military or political circles.

After weighing the pros and cons, McDowell believed that the best option was to stay in Centerville and wait and see what happened.

Centerville was only 8 miles away from Pope's corps' station. If Pope fought well, he would be able to rush to the front line to support Pope as soon as possible.

If Pope was defeated, he would have enough time to command the Army of the Potomac to retreat to Washington.

On the morning of August 1861, 8, Robert Lee's main force, despite the harassment of northern guerrillas, the vanguard finally arrived south of Manassas.

Robert E. Lee was about to link up with Jackson's Army of Virginia to secure the Confederate position at North Manassas.

But he was persuaded by Jackson and General Longstreet who was accompanying him.

Jackson called Robert Lee and told him that McDowell's Army of the Potomac showed no signs of joining forces with Pope's Army, and that he could still withstand the attack of Pope's Army. Robert Lee could look for opportunities to fight on his own and he did not need to worry about him.

Longstreet believed that since Jackson had pinned down Pope's Army, they could go around to the side and rear of Pope's Army and attack it with Jackson's Virginia Army, thus completely annihilating Pope's Army in one go.

Once Pope's Army was completely wiped out, McDowell's Army of the Potomac would be alone and helpless. Then they could repeat their old tricks and drive Beauregard's Army near Arlington County south to attack the Army of the Potomac from both north and south and wipe out this isolated army. Once the Army of the Potomac was destroyed, the Northern Union would no longer be able to produce a decent army to resist them, at least not this year.

As for dispatching McClellan's Omaha Corps on the Western Front to support the Eastern Front, the Yankees could do so if they were willing to cede the central frontier area to Liang Yao.

Longstreet and Liang Yao participated in the Second Mexican-American War together. Longstreet had contact with Liang Yao when he was a colonel in charge of logistics.

Liang Yao was a bold guy who dared to lead an entire brigade deep into Mexico City and successfully captured it.

If the Western Army lost the Omaha Corps, Liang Yao would probably want not only the central Great Plains region, but also Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, which provide water for horses.

At that time, they can take advantage of the gap when the Northerners cannot take care of each other and go north to Washington or even Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, and end the war before Christmas this year.

Robert Lee was very excited by Longstreet's idea. As a Virginian, Robert Lee naturally wanted to end the war as soon as possible.

But Robert Lee had one last concern.

"Do I have to gamble again that McDowell will sit back and do nothing? McDowell's Army of the Potomac has 2 men and is a force to be reckoned with."

"General, you are not gambling, but making the right judgment based on your understanding of McDowell." Longstreet never thought that Robert Lee was gambling, but believed that Robert Lee knew McDowell well enough.

McDowell was by no means a mediocre person, but he was good at training troops rather than leading them in battle.

Like McDowell and McClellan, their extraordinary ability was their ability to train a group of civilians into soldiers who could take up guns and fight on the battlefield in a short period of time.

Perhaps this is why Lincoln and Scott appointed the two men as the commanders of the two most important corps of the Northern Union Army respectively.

"No need to wait for the troops in the rear, the vanguard will follow me across the river and go around to the flank of Pope's army!"

Without much hesitation, Robert Lee made a prompt decision to cross the river and attack Pope's Army.

Not long after the Confederate vanguard crossed the river, Pope discovered the Confederate troops crossing the river. He realized that the main force of Robert Lee's Confederate Army had arrived at the battlefield.

Pope had asked McDowell several times to join forces to capture Jackson together, but Pope's requests fell on deaf ears and McDowell did not respond.

Pope was very angry at McDowell's disregard, and in that case, he did not expect McDowell to join him. Pope lowered his requirements for McDowell.

He sent a messenger to tell McDowell to let McDowell's Army of the Potomac keep a close eye on Robert Lee's troops. He would continue to chew on Jackson's Army of Virginia.

However, even this request was not met by McDowell, and McDowell remained inactive and continued to sit firmly in Centerville.

Seeing that the Army of the Potomac, which was only 8 miles away from Pope's Army, showed no signs of moving, Robert Lee and Longstreet became bolder.

Robert Lee and Longstreet decided not to wait for the 1 Confederate troops that had not yet crossed the river, but directly organized the 2 troops that had already crossed the river to launch an attack on Pope's Corps from the flank.

(End of this chapter)