The view at the foot of the mountain is spectacular.

Along the main road, groups of men and horses drove over, one after another regimental and military flags were waving in the wind, and the cockades on their heads and the guns on their shoulders glittered in the early morning sun. They waded across the shallow stream and crossed the long bridge, and soon the blue dragon was missing its head in the south and its tail in the north.

The team greeted each other happily, and from time to time there were loud cheers and cheers, the military band played vigorously, and the commander's high-pitched commands came and went, mixed with the excited barking of the military dogs.

Guan Zhuofan squinted his eyes in the sun, what a beautiful day!

Someone spotted the commander-in-chief on the heights, and immediately took off his hat and saluted the hillside, and then the other soldiers around saw it, and cheers rang out, wave after wave, countless arms waved towards the hillside.

Guan Zhuofan raised his hand in greeting, and this action elicited a tidal wave of response from the soldiers, and the cheers filled the valley like a tsunami.

Behind Guan Zhuofan, Wan'er was riding on a jujube red horse with shiny fur, and she looked at the man in front of her who was bathed in the sun, fascinated.

After that night, the small seed of affection in Jiangnan's daughter's heart inexorably germinated, grown, and flowered, zaijian to the "master", no matter when and where, the girl's face, shallow clouds and deep halos, was always red, and the beautiful big eyes were always strangely warm and bright, and the heart was beating fast at every turn.

Guan Zhuofan's corner of his eye caught Wan'er, he turned his head and motioned for Wan'er to step forward. Wan'er blushed, hesitated, and urged her to step forward.

She wore a crisp and well-fitting military uniform with a small flowered cloak. On the legs are knee-high shiny soft leather riding boots. A wide belt was tightly tied around his waist. On the right was a revolver, on the left hung a dagger, and on his head was a soft-brimmed broad-brimmed cowboy hat decorated with a tuft of red feathers, fluttering gently in the wind.

On the green slopes, under the blue sky, in the clear and bright sunshine, one of the most delicate flowers in the world is the world.

The soldiers spotted the beautiful "orderlies" around the commander-in-chief. The decibel of cheers suddenly rose, the tone of the military band was jerked up, and countless soldiers whistled and sang.

Kwan Zhuofan recognized one of the tunes: Yellow Rose of Texas.

He thought, what are we men fighting for? For the sake of his hometown, for the country, and for the woman he loves the most.

The Xuan army and the Cumbran army reached Dalton first.

Dalton is mountainous, and the mountains stretch all the way to Atlanta, although these mountains are not very high. But it's also a mountain.

Mountain streams are everywhere, and tributaries merge into the main stream. First it flowed from east to west, and then it became northeast-southwest, and the route of the northern army's march was from northwest to southeast, that is, the river was just across the way of the northern army to the south.

The river meanders through the gorge, and the hills on the opposite bank are densely covered with the fortifications of the Southern Army. There are two bridges over the river, one is a carriage bridge, that is, a road bridge; One is a railway bridge. These two bridges were the only way south to Atlanta, and at the end of the bridge, looking up was the central part of the Confederate Dorton Line.

Not only that, there is also a dam upstream of the river, which is also under the control of the Southern Army.

That is to say, if you want to approach the position of the Southern Army, you must either line up to cross the bridge and provide target shooting services for the Southern Army, or you can first climb down the canyon and cross the river with the idea of crossing the river, and then climb up -- it is still a target.

The Southern Army was so happy that they could also open the sluice gates to release water and turn the river into a large swimming pool for the Northern Army.

In addition, Guan Zhuofan also believes that under the deck of the two bridges close to the opposite bank, the Southern Army has loaded enough explosives.

Guan Zhuofan asked Colonel Anderson to judge the effect of the shelling of the opposite fortifications, and Colonel An frowned for a long time behind the telescope, and said very honestly: General, the effect is limited.

Limited is limited, and it is good to practice accurately, colonel, let's set up the artillery positions first.

Colonel Anderson was a little stunned: General, are you sure you want to do this?

Yes, yes, but when the cannon is fired, I'll tell you when it's time.

Guan Zhuofan admired in his heart: Uncle Johnston, you really have you.

He calculates the days, and the day after tomorrow at the latest, Sherman's right army should arrive, and in the past two days, let's not waste it, and do something else first.

From the outbreak of the war to the present, Joseph? Johnston had always felt depressed.

He was born into a wealthy Virginia family, and one of his mother's uncles was the Founding Father, Patrick? Henry is the man who shouted "Freedom or Death", and served two terms as governor of Virginia after the independence of the United States.

Before the outbreak of the war, Johnston had already served as a brigadier general in the Union Army, making him the highest-ranking and most senior member of the former Union soldiers who joined the Confederacy. Lee is just a colonel.

But among the first five people to be conferred the rank of general by the Confederacy - the Confederacy did not have a lieutenant general, Joseph? Johnston was only fourth, and it was his depressed beginning.

The reason for the suppression: I don't know Weishenme, Confederate President Davis just didn't deal with him.

Johnston won the Battle of Bull Creek, the first major battle of the North and South armies, and was later seriously wounded while directing the battle, and almost died. After recovering from his injury, he became the commander of the Western Theater of the Confederate, which is equivalent to Guan Zhuofan in the north, which sounds high and powerful, but unlike Guan Zhuofan, he has no support from the highest levels of the government, so he has to be regarded as a half-empty commander.

He did not command one of his most important men, the Tennessee Army.

Tennessee Corps Commander Blackston? Prague is a figure who can go straight to heaven, and President Davis thinks he is a military genius, and he likes to directly intervene in commanding operations, and Johnston can't say a word about the actions of the Tennessee Army, including the Battle of Chattanooga.

Guan Zhuofan thought that when it came to employing people, Davis and Lincoln really couldn't compare. Lincoln would have attacked his political opponents, but only when they were no longer useful or threatening to him, and Lincoln would never have used people based on his own likes and dislikes.

For example, after the defeat at the First Battle of Bull Creek, Lincoln appointed George ?? McClellan is the commander of the Northern Army on the Eastern Front, and McClellan not only belongs to the Democratic Party, but also has a relationship with Lincoln.

In the 1860 election, McClellan supported Democratic candidate Douglas on suspicion of election fraud: he used his authority to deliberately delay the train, and as a result, a train of Republican voters in a county could not arrive at the polling place on time to vote, allowing Douglass to win the county.

Thousands of troops are easy to obtain, but one general is hard to find, this little holiday, Lincoln doesn't care.

Moreover, although Lincoln also liked to point fingers at the front line troops at the beginning of the war, he was limited to issues related to the defense of Washington, and would never reach out from Richmond to Chattanooga from Richmond thousands of miles apart, as Davis did.

Later, the other side of the commanders, such as Grant, Guan Zhuofan, Sherman, Lincoln unconditionally supported.

It wasn't until Chattanooga was defeated that Davis had no choice but to say that he wanted to "grant Joseph?" General Johnston has full powers", Johnston thought he could finally be in charge - he didn't know that he was still too optimistic at this time, so he rushed to Atlanta to clean up the mess.

Johnston's work was fruitful, the already discouraged units were regrouped, training and equipment were strengthened, and most importantly, the soldiers were well fed. After a period of time, the spirit of the troops has taken on a new look, and their enthusiasm for fighting has been rekindled.

Johnston's strategic thinking and battle arrangement were exactly as Kwan Zhuofan judged, blocking layers of attacks, forcing the Northern Army to suffer heavy losses under the strong attack, and dragging the Battle of Atlanta until after the Northern election.

He repeatedly asked himself: What if I am a general of the Northern Army? The conclusion is: no way.

Uncle Johnston was full of ambition.

After the arrival of the Northern Army, they set up camp and did not immediately attack, but only arranged artillery positions in an orderly manner.

The number of artillery pieces, the southern army is far inferior to the northern army, and the northern army only has the meaning of wasting ammunition, but if the northern army wants to take the position of the southern army by artillery alone, it is also a dream. According to intelligence, there is still a northern army that has not arrived, but even if that northern army arrives, what if it arrives?

Johnston was studying the enemy situation at the command post and his staff when suddenly, due east, the sound of gunfire was faintly heard.

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