The central cardinal of the federal government and the people in the east, who had been looking forward to Grant like a great drought, always thought that as soon as this person arrived, the Southern army would immediately collapse. Who would have thought that the first gift he brought to the Eastern Front would be such terrible casualties?

Public opinion complained, thinking that they were unladylike and ate a hollow radish. Journalists, editors, and people who are qualified to speak in the media complain that Grant and any of his predecessors are even worse than the ones before them.

Even Mary? Lincoln both said, "Grant is a butcher, not worthy to be the commander of a great army." He traded two of his own lives for one of his enemies. He has no way to command the army, and he cares about people's lives...... With this style of play, I can command the battle. ”

The only person who disagrees with the president's wife is the president.

Lincoln saw the biggest difference between Grant and his predecessors: the previous commanders of the Eastern Front retreated as soon as they hit the wall, while Grant really hit the south wall and did not look back.

Replaced by Grant's predecessor, he was so hard that he didn't want to retreat and couldn't get it, because the troops had already been scattered. And Grant's subordinates, although badly wounded, are still monolithic and scrappy. This kind of dominance was something Lincoln had never seen.

But it doesn't work for him to be the only one, especially since it's an election year.

Needless to say, the main and faction scares voters with bloody casualty figures every day, and even among the main war faction, Lincoln has many political enemies: Look at who you use as president, and what kind of battle you fight!

Someone began to talk about Xuan Jun.

When Xuan Jun first arrived on the East Coast, he disembarked in New York. Rest and change clothes and then pull it out. From the school that was temporarily used as a barracks to the railway station. Passed through most of New York City. The citizens of New York were impressed by this well-armoured and well-organized unit. At that time, there were complaints that so the haode army weishenme did not stay on the Eastern Front, but was sent to the Western Front, where birds do not?

Later, the Xuan army first had Chattanooga, and then there was a trend of breaking through the bamboo in the south, and the people in the east became more and more hot, and slowly developed into such a logic: the eastern front could not hold each other, if there was an elite like the Xuan army to add in. Wouldn't it be possible to break the deadlock right away? The Eastern Front has solved the problem, but is the Western Front still a thing?

More and more people are criticizing the fundamental strategic mistakes of the federal government, which should be more important than western.

There were people who demanded that the Xuan army be transferred to the Eastern Front to participate in the war.

The casualty figures created by Grant have fueled this argument, and people are shouting that Grant is incompetent, as if all the problems can be solved.

These people have forgotten or pretend to forget that Grant has also fought big victories on the Western Front before, including Chattanooga and Germa.

Lincoln saw the situation very clearly, and the Eastern Front must still be a stalemate in the short term. But this kind of holding is a holding on tightly together, and one party will not be able to support it after all; The kind of stalemate that used to be. It's far away, even if the sea is dry and the rocks are rotten, there is no clear winner or loser.

But political opponents don't care about that. Voters don't bother to know about this, they just want the result, and this result is not a small win, but a big victory that can decide the whole battle.

Lincoln wanted their votes, and he had to give them this result, and since the Eastern Front could not be counted on, he could only hope for the Western Front.

For the Western Front, the result is to take Atalanta.

The current progress on the Western Front has exceeded expectations, Lincoln can not make further demands, he also understands that Atlanta is by no means an overnight city, but if he does not take Atlanta as soon as possible to satisfy the voters' desire for victory, there is no need to wait for the day of voting, the election will be reversed, even if Kwan Zhuofan and Sherman still win Atlanta before the official election, I am afraid it will be too late for Lincoln.

That is to say, the time point to take Atlanta must be earlier than Hara Jihua.

Both Kwan and Sherman have a little tingling on their scalps, especially Kwan Zhuofan.

The situation of Xuanjun is special, Guan Zhuofan's plot depends on Lincoln's strong support, if Lincoln steps down and the Lord and faction come to power, Guan Zhuofan's hard work will naturally be in vain; Even if it is the main battle faction that comes to power, if the brainless really transfers the Xuan army to the east, will he be ordered or not?

Of course, the Eastern Front is going to go, but it is not at this time.

Therefore, whether it is for Lincoln or for himself, he has to complete the impossible task of taking Atlanta ahead of schedule.

Atlanta defended tightly, and if Hood was like Johnston, he shrank his head and huddled, and it was really not easy to speak in a hurry.

Fortunately, Hood was still more powerful and took the initiative again.

Kwan Zhuofan and Sherman repeatedly discussed the strategy for capturing Atlanta as follows:

In the direction of due north, it is purely on the defensive, and in principle, it is good not to take the initiative to attack, and block the road to the north of Atlanta.

The first important strategic goal of the Left Army's Guan Zhuofan Division was to cut off the Atlanta eastward railroad, that is, the railroad between Atlanta and Augusta, along the eastern flank of Atlanta, while squeezing the Southern Army's defense line inward.

The Sherman Division of the Right Army was now deployed northwest of Atlanta, which could be along the west flank of Atlanta, squeezing the Confederate line inwards and moving south, with the primary strategic goal of cutting off the Atlanta Westward Railroad Line, the line between Atlanta and Birmingham, Alabama.

The next step is to cut off the Atlanta southwest rail line, the line between Atlanta and Montgomery, Alabama.

Zuihou, the left and right armies met at Jonesboro, south of Atlanta, to capture the southern gateway to Atlanta, cutting off the Macon Railroad south of Atlanta to Savannah, which was Atlanta's most important foreign lifeline, thus completing the siege of Atlanta.

With the Macon Railroad in its hands, it was only a matter of time before Atlanta fell.

Try to force and attract the southern army to take the initiative to attack, and do less or no frontal assault, and approach the enemy's defense line by earthwork and extending trenches.

After a breakthrough, the artillery positions should be placed in front as much as possible, and the artillery should not be set up intensively, and the key is to fire shells into the city as soon as possible to create panic among the residents to the greatest extent.

In the process of detouring to the south, we should pay attention to the rhythm, step by step, and all departments should echo back and forth, so as not to move too much, stretch the battle line too long, and expose flaws.

Hood Ke is a person with a strong desire to attack, and he keeps an eye on him, and he may not be able to give him a chance.

Strengthen the protection of the railway line behind you until Chattanooga. Our army will send cavalry to cut off the railway line of the Southern Army, and the Southern Army will naturally do its best to harass the supply lines of our army.

The cavalry of the Atlanta defenders of the Confederate army should not be worried, but Forrestal's cavalry is still haunted in Tennessee and Georgia, although the cavalry division of the Xuan army won his battle, but Forrest did not know the power of Spencer's spear, such a mistake he would not make a second time, for the legendary general of the American Civil War, who was the best at cavalry raiding, no matter what, he could not be ignored.

After the decision was made, Guan Zhuofan and Sherman acted separately.

Hood quickly felt the pressure, and of course he couldn't let the northern army calmly move south. General Hood was disabled and strong-willed, and he decided to attack the east and west flanks at the same time, intending to pinch Guan Zhuofan and Sherman, and kill the shame of the battle of the Hutch River.

The battle first began on the western flank, and Hood aimed at it for a long time, adopting the tactic of flanking and raiding, although the Sherman division had already been extra careful, he still gave him a cold shot.

At that time, the Memphis Regiment of the Right Route Army, the Doccian Division, was marching, and the Confederate Army suddenly came out halfway, and the Dorki's division was punched heavily on the flank, broken in two, and surrounded by the Confederate Army.

Fortunately, this army is almost all veterans, and an unexpected attack does not completely throw them into chaos, and after figuring out what is going on, they can regroup and form a formation to resist.

The Blair Division of the Memphis Regiment rushed to the rescue, and the Southern Army had already prepared a blocking force, and the Blair Division was beaten back several times.

Legion Commander James? McPherson personally led a division into the battle, several units tangled, and the lines on both sides grew longer and longer, reaching more than seven miles.

McPherson shuttled between his three armies, directing the battle, and when the front changed, when he returned from one division to another, there were more Confederate troops on the same path.

*(To be continued......)