Wild North America 1846

Chapter 286 Civil War Escalation
Washington

Three unmarked black carriages passed through the road in front of Capitol Hill, and soon came to the south entrance of the White House. Several senior military officers wearing straight general uniforms got off the carriages, and hurried in with stern faces.

The reporters waiting at the south entrance of the White House recognized them at a glance. Among them were Lieutenant General Heath Caldwell, Chief of Staff of the Continental Army, Lieutenant General McClelland, Commander of the Northern Army, and MacDonald Knox, Commander of Artillery. Major generals and other important military officials, the expressions of the reporters immediately became excited.

The purpose of entering the White House at this time is self-evident, it must be because of the unfavorable situation on the battlefield, and urgently discuss countermeasures.

in the white house

Discussions in the small conference hall have been going on for a long time, and everyone's faces are dignified. After two full-scale military mobilizations in the north, social production has shifted to the war system, and all kinds of urgently needed supplies are being produced at full capacity.

However, limited by the backward conditions of industrial production capacity in today's era, the 68 northern army recruited urgently lacked almost everything, from weapons to military uniforms, from ammunition to boots, and tents.

The United States is a highly liberal market economy of the British style. Before the outbreak of the civil war, there was no concept of strategic reserves. There were some commercial stocks in the domestic market, but it was only a drop in the bucket to meet the needs of a huge army that suddenly increased in number.

Even if production is at full capacity now, there is still a long process to increase production. It is expected that by this time next year, most of the shortage of materials will be alleviated, while a small part will become more acute.

Just take kerosene as an example;

Since the world's petroleum refining industry is basically monopolized by the Tang Kingdom, after the outbreak of the civil war, the north cut off the import of kerosene, lubricating oil, diesel and heavy oil. After the inventory was exhausted, it now includes large and medium-sized cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit. Inside, after nightfall, it is plunged into darkness.

Even the kerosene street lamps on the roadsides of big cities are unsustainable, people have to move around in the dark, and only a few candles can be lit in taverns, and the dim light is like will-o'-the-wisps.

People turned their hope of lighting back to vegetable oil and animal oil, which caused the price of vegetable oil in the market to soar, even reaching more than 10 times that before the war, which is jaw-dropping.

The lack of lubricating oil made the situation even more serious. Many factory equipment was paralyzed and had to be temporarily replaced with animal fat, which greatly reduced production efficiency.

Also due to the outbreak of the civil war, cotton imports in the south were cut off, which forced many textile factories in the north to stop working, and there was a huge shortage of military uniforms, bedding, tents and other materials supplied to the army.

The same is true of social needs, which led to textile importers in the UK and the Tang Kingdom to raise prices crazily. The price of a foot of ordinary cotton cloth quadrupled compared to before the war, and "Luoyang paper was expensive", attracting citizens to snap up it.

A white cotton shirt rose from 65 cents to $3.5, and a pair of strong and durable "Lister brand" jeans produced by Datang Kingdom cost as much as $13.6, which was only $2.35 before the war.

Many northern volunteer militiamen still held the old-fashioned flintlock muskets brought from home until they went to the battlefield, and they wore all kinds of strange clothes. How could they look like an army?
This kind of spectacle, just like the peasants fighting with the lord's knights with pitchforks and sticks in the middle ages in Europe, was so chaotic that observers from various countries in Europe laughed out their teeth.

"There are not so many ifs, and don't give me so many reasons. I will see the Northern Army launch a full-scale general attack at the end of July. Otherwise, I will use the special authorization of the wartime president to send you all to court-martial. Death, charged with treason." President James Buchanan shouted hoarsely, he looked around the crowd with angry eyes, his face flushed with excitement.

In the one year and more than three months since he took office as president, President James Buchanan has rapidly aged from a handsome middle-aged politician. Now he has gray hair and looks as old as a teenager.

The huge tests he faced one after another almost bent the tall and straight waist of President James Buchanan, and his figure became a little stooped, but his eyes were still so firm.

He looked around at the crowd and continued;

"The army needs soldiers, and I give them to you. The government wants nationwide mobilization. I signed the presidential decree. Now I need news of victory, but you are emphasizing various difficulties for me.

Our military strength is 1/3 more than that of the South, which is the biggest advantage.

Orders now as President of the United States, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Armed Forces;

The Continental Army is scheduled to launch a full-scale general attack on the southern rebels on the eastern and western fronts simultaneously on July 7, under the command of Lieutenant General Heath Caldwell, chief of staff of the Army, who will be on the front line.

The soldiers of all armies must go all out to fight, the United States will give the greatest support, and hope to hear the good news of your victory. "

"Honorable President, I accept this sacred mission on behalf of the Continental Army, and I will lead the brave soldiers to attack with all their strength and bring you the victory you desire." Lieutenant General Heath Caldwell led a group The general stood at attention, saluted, and bravely took on this arduous task.

President James Buchanan turned his eyes to the commanders of the United States Federal Navy. After seeing them standing up in unison, he ordered in a deep voice;
"I order that the federal navy fleet attack across the board, blockade and cut off the ports after the southern rebellion, and authorize you to arrest ships that violate the federal ban and participate in the smuggling trade."

"Your Excellency, does this also include cargo ships from Britain, France and the Tang Kingdom?"

"Yes, but we must pay attention to the method and method. Artillery can be fired for deterrence, unless it is specially authorized; otherwise, it is not allowed to sink the merchant ships of the above-mentioned countries unless it is a last resort, so as not to cause international incidents."

"Oh...that does sound a bit incomprehensible, Your Excellency the President."

"Execute the order, everything is for the United States."

"Obey, the federal navy will faithfully implement the president's order, and may God bless America."

"May God bless America." President James Buchanan crossed his chest devoutly. He really needs some good luck now.

The war in the making involves hundreds of thousands of troops. The Northern Army will launch a fierce attack on the Confederate Army on a front thousands of kilometers long from east to west. This large-scale battle requires a long time to prepare.

There are only 7 days before July 28th, and the time is very tight...

Although speaking

The fronts of the American Civil War stretching thousands of kilometers from east to west are actually very clearly divided. One is the Eastern Front and the other is the Western Front.

Especially the Eastern Front, which mainly refers to the distance of 150 kilometers from Washington to Richmond. During the American Civil War, this was the main battlefield in the East, and it was also the key to repeated battles.

Before the Southern Independence Movement

Virginia, a wealthy and populous state in the East Coast South, wavered at a high-level rally in New Orleans and did not make up its mind to join the secessionist faction outright.

In order to win over Virginia, the President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis (Southern) made a big bet and persuaded other southern states to agree to set the capital in Richmond, which is the capital of Virginia and the largest city in the state, in order to win over Virginia. A hesitant Virginia joins the South.

As a result, in the American Civil War, the distance between Washington and Richmond was only more than 150 kilometers, and this became the battlefield with the most frequent contention, the bloodiest battles, the largest number of casualties, and the largest number of troops in the entire civil war.

Every hill, every river, every fort, and every town between Washington and Richmond were fought over and over again during the war. Towns, railroads, and infrastructure were all reduced to ashes, and it was the main battleground in the Civil War.

For example, in the early days of the war;
In the Battle of Marathas, where the Northern Army suffered a head-on blow, Jackson, the commander of the Southern Army, withstood the five fierce concentrated attacks of the Northern Army and won the reputation of "Stone Wall". .

However, this is just the beginning. The second battle of Malathas and the third battle of Malathas took place here...

No matter how many setbacks and heavy casualties they suffered, the armies of the North and the South set each other's capital as the ultimate war goal, and devoted all their efforts to the fist-to-body battle.

On this land
In the original history, from the outbreak of the civil war to the final end of more than 4 years, an average of 420 soldiers were killed every day on both sides of the North and South, accounting for a little more than 2/3 of the total casualties. It is to compete for the advantage of the eastern battlefield. squinted.

From the beginning of the war to the present, after the Battle of Malathas, the Northern Army launched the Battle of Hegu and the Battle of the Peninsula one after another, with the purpose of invading Virginia on a large scale and heading straight to Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy.

However, under the excellent command of the commander-in-chief, General Lee, the Southern Army defeated the Northern Army's offensive one after another, especially in the first and second Marathas battles, General "Stonewall" Jackson made great achievements repeatedly, The northern army who beat them was full of sacks, leaving nothing but corpses all over the ground.

After this
In order to take advantage of the battlefield, the Southern Army took the initiative to cross the Potomac River to launch a fierce attack on the Northern Army. It invested heavily in the Battle of Maryland, the Battle of Sandsburg and other battles with tens of thousands of people. Finally, it stopped under the crowd tactics of the Northern Army. Stepped forward.

The battlefield on the Eastern Front is a bloody mill without strategic detours and depths, where the North and the South engage in head-to-head hand-to-hand combat, with repeated scrambles for every hill and every river.

An army of thousands of people was pulled up, and after a big battle, only a thousand people could come back.

The inherent cruelty and bloodiness are vividly reflected in the eastern battlefield.

On the other hand, on the western battlefield, the strategic depth is too great.

The battlefield on the western front is mainly to compete for the Mississippi River, the main traffic artery. The truly decisive battlefield is in the western part of the Appalachian Mountains and the western battlefield in the vast Midwestern Great Plains.

As early as the beginning of 1858, the Northern Army began operations on the western battlefield, sending heavy troops from Kentucky to capture Tennessee, intending to occupy this important large granary in the south to supplement the precarious food supply in the north.

The south resolutely counterattacked. After being trained by the officers of the Tang Kingdom, the cavalry troops mainly from Texas showed their talents and caused heavy damage to the northern army.

The battle on the Western Front was in the ascendant, and the situation was out of control like a wild horse running wild. The impact of the war almost affected the entire territory of the north and south of the United States, and no state was spared.

(End of this chapter)