The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 842: Death in battle is planned, victory must be announced

Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory, July 1868.

The mixed smell of cigars and coffee filled the air in the Fort Kearny headquarters. Grant drew four arrows heavily on the map with a pencil, and looked up at the generals: "Gentlemen, Denver must be taken before November 11!"

"Divide into four groups?" Major General Philip Henry Sheridan frowned and drummed his fingers on the table. "Our forces will be spread thin."

"On the contrary." Grant knocked on the location of Kiowa Pass, and the wooden thumbtacks trembled slightly on the sand table. "The rebels have built fortifications at each pass, and the four passes are connected by railways, so they can quickly mobilize troops. If we concentrate our forces to attack one point, they can concentrate their forces on defense. So we have to force them to divide their forces for defense, and we can use our superior forces to the real breakthrough point!" He turned to Major General John Logan who was in charge of the eastern route: "You lead the Indian Corps and the 11th Army to feint at La Junta Pass. The louder the better."

Like Grant, Major General Logan, a U.S. Senator from Illinois, was a member of Lincoln's "own family". Of course, he would try his best to help Grant's "election". When he heard the old man's order, he immediately twisted his beard and narrowed his eyes: "Those Indian soldiers in turbans..."

"We don't mind their death." Grant waved his hand indifferently. "It's nothing more than paying some money, and it doesn't need to be counted in the total number of casualties. Let them charge three times a day, and make the rebels think that this is the main attack direction!"

He took out a document from the drawer, put on a stern face, and scanned the generals: "According to the order of the Ministry of War, from today onwards, this corps will implement the 'planned deaths' system." He slammed the document on the table, "The number of deaths per day must be approved by the corps headquarters according to the plan!"

"Ah?" Major General Logan was a little confused. "This, this can be planned? Can people die on the battlefield as planned?"

Grant said seriously, "Of course, we can't realize the plan by how many people died, but we can announce and report the number of casualties! Any unplanned deaths cannot be reported as deaths for the time being, and you need to wait in line for a spot."

So that’s it.
"Major General Thomas, you lead the 12th Army to attack Rincon Pass. Attack with great fanfare to attract the main force of the enemy, but do not attack by force to avoid heavy casualties." Grant then sent out the 12th Army, which had the weakest strength under his command.

"As for Strasburg Pass, Lieutenant General Meade, leave it to your 7th Army!" Grant said, "The 7th Army is the main force, but this time its mission is not to storm Strasburg, but to carry out a feint attack and serve as a reserve force for the battle."

"As for the main attack," Grant turned his head and looked at Major General Sheridan, "I will go to Okiwa Pass with your 6th Army! The artillery and engineers of the Corps' direct team will follow the 6th Army!"

Grant paused, then said solemnly: "Remember, from now on, this corps will implement the 'planned death system'. Without the order of the corps headquarters, no one shall be killed in battle!"

On the dusty training ground outside Washington, five hundred Gurkha soldiers, wearing ill-fitting red robes and red scarves wrapped around their heads in the style of the Taiping Army, were practicing Chinese slogans under the scolding of British officers.

"Heaven-Father-Emperor-God-bless-you!" Charles George Gordon, who once served as a military attaché in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, taught word by word and occasionally whipped the soldiers who pronounced the words incorrectly with the cane in his hand.

Lincoln's carriage slowly drove into the training ground. Through the window, the president saw a Gurkha soldier clumsily pinning the Taiping Army's wooden waist badge on his red scarf.

"Is this really okay?" Lincoln asked Secretary of War Stanton beside him, tapping his knees nervously.

Stanton smiled bitterly: "This is a necessary tactical deception, sir. When General Grant returns victorious, the effect of parading these 'Taiping prisoners' in the streets" he smiled meaningfully, "will be enough to make the New York Tribune write headlines for a whole month. And we can also organize 10 victory propaganda teams and let them go to several key swing states to preach our victory. In this way, the vote on November 11 will be a sure thing."

A riot suddenly broke out on the field. The red scarves of more than a dozen Gurkha soldiers were blown away by the wind, revealing the British Army's standard short hair underneath. Because of the fight for the scarves that were blown away by the wind, the Gurkha team suddenly became chaotic. Amid the constant curses in Nepali, several "Taiping Army prisoners" actually wrestled with each other.

Lincoln's temples throbbed: "They can't even speak English"

“The Taipings wouldn’t know that either,” Stanton shrugged. “The Taipings speak Taiping language!”

Lincoln was just about to tell Stanton that the Taiping people spoke Chinese when five hundred harsh voices started to roar again: "God bless us, our Father!"

In the war room of the state government in Denver, Hong Tiangui was pointing at Fort Kearny with a mahogany stick: "Grant has assembled five armies, with a nominal force of 200,000, but only 120,000 can actually fight."

"He will definitely attack Kiowa Pass," Black Tom stroked his black beard, "which is a shortcut from the Great Plains to Denver."

"Not necessarily." Han Yulin suddenly spoke, his finger tracing the location of Lajunta Pass. "The Northern Army has been transporting Indian soldiers here recently, and they deliberately let our scouts see them. They pretended to attack from the beginning, so I'm afraid it's a trick."

Zenk O'Hara said: "I guess Strasbourg is a possibility too."

Xianfeng glared at O'Hara and said, "What's there to guess? You can't fight a war by guessing!" He grabbed the wooden sign representing the Mobile Corps and slapped it on the Wyoming location. "I will lead 70,000 men north and directly reach the Great Lakes region!"

Luo Yaoguo narrowed his eyes and stared at the pockmarked face: "Are you trying to force Grant to come back for help?"

"King Wu, doesn't this just help lift the siege of Denver?" Hong Tiangui replied, pulling out a plan from his briefcase and respectfully placing it in front of Luo Yaoguo. "This is the plan I and General Zhao worked out for a counterattack on the Great Lakes. Please take a look!" "Counterattack on the Great Lakes!" Luo Yaoguo narrowed his eyes, "Great! You guys are really bold and daring!"

At dawn on July 7, Major General John Logan's XI Corps launched the first wave of attacks on La Junta Pass. Dozens of 20-pound Parrott guns blasted the cliffs on the east side of the pass into pieces, but they were unable to shake the reverse slope fortifications carefully designed by Han Yulin.

"Forward! For the Federation!"

"Forward. Long live the Queen!"

Two Union infantry regiments and a worthless Indian infantry regiment advanced toward the mountain pass in a scattered line, but suddenly fell into chaos two hundred yards from the barbed wire. Clouds of smoke rose from the ground, instantly knocking over dozens of Union soldiers and Indians! The California militia snipers who were ambushing in the trenches behind the barbed wire took the opportunity to come out and open fire, targeting officers. The first round of volleys knocked down five company commanders.

"Don't stop! Rush through the death zone!" Logan roared from behind.

When the Union soldiers finally rushed to the barbed wire, dozens of burning barrels suddenly rolled down from the top of the cliff. Kerosene flowed along the preset trenches, instantly turning the entire front into a sea of ​​fire. The stench of burning filled the battlefield. Han Yulin watched all this coldly in the bastion and said to the messenger: "Tell the headquarters in Denver that La Junta Pass is impregnable!"

Major General Thomas's 12th Army encountered a more cunning opponent. The former commander of the Black 1st Division, Zenk O'Hara, withdrew the garrison to the second line of defense and deliberately let the Union Army enter the canyon. When the vanguard completely entered the ambush circle, a shrill copper whistle suddenly sounded on the cliffs on both sides.

"put!"

Twelve Taiping Army mortars hidden in the cracks of the rocks fired at the same time, and the specially made incendiary bombs created a blazing storm in the narrow valley. The uniforms of the Northern Army soldiers were torn apart by the air waves, and blisters instantly swelled on their exposed skin. A survivor wrote in his diary: "That was not a battle at all, it was God cleansing sinners."

At the Strasbourg Pass, Lieutenant General Meade's Seventh Army witnessed the most standard "Hong Tiangui Line of Defense". Three zigzag trenches supported each other, and each machine gun nest was equipped with a "Denver-made" Gatling machine gun. When the Union Army launched a bayonet charge, the defenders suddenly withdrew from the front line.

"Take the trench!" Meade, seeing that the "feint attack" was successful, quickly ordered to occupy the enemy's empty position. As a result, as soon as his troops rushed in, a muffled sound suddenly came from the ground - the Taiping Army engineers detonated the pre-buried "serial jumping mines". An entire regiment of the Union Army was blown to pieces in the trench, and only less than a battalion of remnants escaped.

At Kiowa Pass, Sheridan's Sixth Army, which was responsible for the main attack, ran into the strongest defense. Hong Tiangui personally commanded the garrison, which was composed of officers and soldiers of the First Division of the California Militia who had "no actual combat experience".

When the Union artillery fire covered the trenches, the California militia retreated into their gun holes; when the Union infantry charged, they emerged from their holes and set up Gatling guns to fire wildly, while the breech-loading guns and mortars on the reverse slopes threw out rounds of ammunition. Grant saw through the telescope that his most elite commandos were shredded and blown into "parts" by various crossfires as soon as they approached the trenches.

"It seems," he murmured, "I really need President Lincoln's 'victory speech'."

Unknown Valley in the Rocky Mountains, July 7.

In the darkness before dawn, the 1841-man army, with torches, flowed slowly like lava. The American cavalrymen in the vanguard wore Mongolian-style fur coats, with horn bows and M rifles hanging from their saddles; the black infantrymen in the center carried the black, red and yellow tricolor flag, with their bayonets gleaming in the light of the torches; the California militia artillerymen in the rear drove draft horses, dragging the "Tianli " field artillery, all the way forward.

"Are all gathered?" Xianfeng asked in a low voice on a high ground outside the valley entrance.

Black Tom had just finished counting the troops and grinned: "Five divisions, enough for Grant to drink a pot."

"Let's go!" Xianfeng nodded. When the first ray of sunlight illuminated the valley, this elite army under the "black, red and yellow" flag had disappeared in the mist of the Wyoming prairie.

West Wing of the White House, Washington.

Lincoln was reviewing the final version of the Victory Plan: "The parade should shout 'Long Live the Union' and the prisoners should show remorse." He suddenly looked up and asked Stanton: "How many real prisoners did Grant capture?"

The Minister of War wiped his sweat and said, "At present, there are about one or two hundred."

"How many Chinese are there?" Lincoln asked again.

"Uh, zero."

The president's face darkened: "Then let those Gurkhas study Chinese seriously and don't be denied food!"

"Yes, Mr. President!"

(End of this chapter)