Inside the presidential office building of the White House.

Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, Winfield Scott, and Douglas, the leader of the Northern Democratic Party, came to visit.

Lincoln was pleased with this. In the past few days, he has felt a lot of pressure, but he is like that, the more difficult it is, the more he will rise to it. This was true when I was a child, and it was even after I entered politics, even after the pressure of public opinion against and condemnation before the president-elect took office a while ago.

Lincoln received Douglas first. He thought that the other party would not come to the White House to see him, after all, he was defeated by himself, and if he put himself in his shoes, it would be difficult for Lincoln to pull down this face and meet the political enemy who defeated him and snatched his presidential throne. Two days ago, I went to visit him in person, but I was refused to meet, but I didn't expect the other party to come to the door by himself.

After only 2 months of not seeing him, Douglas was already sallow, and he was described as withered. Lincoln hurriedly surpassed the assistants beside him, stepped forward to support him, and said, "Mr. Douglas, it's a pleasure to meet you!" ”

Douglas had a cold face and snorted: "Lincoln, I'm not here to see you, I'm here to see the president of the American Commonwealth!" After speaking, he shook his hand to break free from the hand of Lincoln, who came to support him, but almost fell because of too much force, and the deputy leader of the Northern Democratic Party and his assistant next to him hurriedly held on.

Lincoln was a little embarrassed, but he didn't take it to heart, he had already heard from his subordinates, saying that Glass was so sick that he had even brought a doctor from New York to see him, and that he might not be dead soon, and that Lincoln could no longer hate this young rival in love and political in his politics for more than a decade, and when he saw his frail face that was tormented by illness and was not human. What a strong little old man!

Seeing that Lincoln was silent, Douglas sat down on the sofa in the living room by himself, his voice a little weak, but unusually resolute and powerful: "Lincoln, as the president of the American Commonwealth, you must assume the responsibility of the federal government!" Now in the face of Union turmoil and Southern rebellion, you must stand up and swear to preserve the unity of the Union! Here, on behalf of the Northern Democrats, I formally promise you that we, the Northern Democrats, will spare no effort to assist the federal government in suppressing the Southern rebellion. ”

Lincoln stepped forward to shake hands with Douglas, but the latter refused, so he had to rub his hands and say, "Mr. Douglas, I will, I will do my best to maintain the unity of the Union!" As you may know, I have ordered in the name of the President to call up 75,000 militiamen from all the states of the Union to serve in the Union for three months to quell the rebellion in the South by force! ”

Douglas said quietly: "Lincoln, although you defeated me and won the presidency, you don't have as much experience as me in dealing with those cunning guys in the South. I've dealt with extremists in the South before, and you don't know as much about these people's despicable purposes as I do. In my experience, I must solemnly advise you that the Federal Government must recruit a force of 200,000 men to quell this rebellion, and that the militia should be conscripted for not only three months, but at least nine months or even a year! ”

Lincoln said with some embarrassment: "I will be very careful to organize the cabinet to analyze your proposal!" But, Mr. Douglas, you also know that the federal government is very financially difficult, and it is a bit difficult to recruit 75,000 militiamen at one time, and if 200,000 is like you said, and for another nine months of service, how can the federal treasury afford it, unless most of the funds are spent by the states themselves? Moreover, although the south rebelled, their strength would not be difficult to pacify for three months with an army of 75,000 men, right? ”

Douglas said unhappily: "This is my suggestion, and my warning!" I'm not a member of your cabinet, so I'm not obligated to remind you, do you like to listen or not! ”

Seeing that Douglas was angry, Lincoln had no choice but to smile and say: "Mr. Douglas, don't get me wrong, I and the members of the federal cabinet will definitely analyze your proposal well!" You're also thinking about the Federation, we all understand. ”

Douglas's face softened slightly, and he snorted: "It's good that you understand!" You know, I'm not rooting for you, I'm still hated for your hypocrisy! As long as it violates the Constitution, whether it wants to enforce slavery in the Free State or the slave liberation in the Southern Slave State, I will still strongly resist it. In the future, I will make a public speech urging Democrats everywhere to support your Republican federal government and maintain the unity of the Union! ”

After speaking, Douglas didn't stay any longer, signaled his assistant to help him and left on his own!

Lincoln looked at this thin back with some complexity, and suddenly felt that he was really not as pure as the other party, insisting on his own ideas and principles, and in this respect, he was really inferior to him!

As soon as Douglas and they left, the commander-in-chief of the Federal Army, Winfield Scott, and the Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, and Cameron's assistant and legal adviser, Edwin Stanton, came out of the room and came to Lincoln.

Lincoln sorted out the emotions caused by Douglas, kept his face calm, and said, "Three, have you heard Douglas's suggestion?" Conscription of 200,000 troops for 9 months? What do you guys think? ”

War Secretary Cameron smiled contemptuously: "Douglas may be too sick and confused!" How many troops are there in total in those rebel states in the south? Not to mention that the Federal War Department still has 16,000 regular army units to command, and the 75,000 militia recruited by Mr. President alone adds up to nearly 100,000 troops, and it will not be able to quell the rebellion in several southern states in three months? ”

Army Commander-in-Chief Scott waved his hand and said unceremoniously: "Minister Cameron, I think you may be confused!" I think Mr. Douglas has a point, and he is at least better suited to be the Secretary of War of the Commonwealth than you are. As he spoke, Scott held his huge belly and glanced at Cameron with contempt.

He is the commander-in-chief of the army, and it stands to reason that he should be regarded as a subordinate of the Secretary of War (that is, the War Department) Cameron, but he has a special status, serving as the commander of the army for 20 years, and he is also the hero of the United States of America, the most influential American general after the founding president George Washington, and the first American general to receive the rank of lieutenant general after Washington.

Scott's influence in what Cameron called the Federation's 16,000 regular troops is unmatched by anyone, not even the president and Congress. As early as the Second American Union Revolutionary War with Great Britain, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and rank as a general, becoming the highest-ranking person in the entire federal army at that time. Twenty years ago, Scott became the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army, and began a series of reforms to the federal army, so that the army greatly improved its tactics, quality and equipment, and later commanded the federal army to capture Mexico with very few personnel in the Mexican-American War, seizing new territories such as Texas, New Mexico and California for the United States, becoming a god in the army.

Therefore, Cameron didn't even dare to refute, and froze there with a blushing face, extremely embarrassed.

But Scott ignored him directly, twisted his huge body with a big belly, faced President Lincoln with difficulty, and continued: "Mr. President, in fact, I came to you because I have another bad news to tell you!" ”

Lincoln's heart suddenly burst and he immediately asked, "General Scott, what bad news?" ”

"The finest commander of the Union, the true soldier whom I admire the most, Colonel Robert Lee, declined your appointment and my request, and he even resigned from his post as commander of the First Cavalry Regiment of the Union, and led his family out of Washington, D.C., and returned to his native Virginia."

"Why? Just because of his hometown, Virginia declared secession from the Union? He ignored the Federation and became a traitor to the secession? Lincoln's face was full of regret and disappointment, and he was a little dissatisfied, and said indignantly, "Let him go!" Everyone has their own choices. But the outcome in the future may also be difficult for him to face! Among the huge federal soldiers, is there no other good commander besides him? Isn't there still General Scott you? ”

Scott shook his head with a worried expression: "Mr. President, you may not be aware of the influence of Colonel Robert Lee in the military. Although his position was not high, because his wife was the granddaughter of General Washington, he was regarded in the army as the heir of General Washington, and he was in charge of West Point for a time, and his influence in the Union Army was only below me. My fear is that his departure will cause more of the best officers in the Union Army to defect to the Southern states, especially the junior officers from the South, from Virginia. ”

Lincoln's face changed, and he realized what Scott said that the huge impact of Robert Lee's departure from the Union was difficult to restrain the junior officers in the Union Army from leaving without permission.

"Then, General Scott, can you still persuade Colonel Robert Lee back? Or use coercive measures to stop it from going south? Lincoln asked.

"It's impossible, we have to respect his choice! Besides, it was too late, he had already left by train early this morning, and it was estimated that he had already entered the territory of Virginia. Scott replied unceremoniously, and after speaking, he glanced at War Secretary Cameron again, and said, "Robert Lee's matter can only be like this, leave him alone for now." Mr. President, I think the suggestion that Mr. Douglas has just made is very reasonable. The conscription of 75,000 militia is too small, and the time is even shorter, and it should be greatly increased! ”

Lincoln was a little displeased, because this call-up order was proposed by him at his own pace, discussed and passed in a cabinet meeting, and the War Department also carefully calculated and simulated that this number of people and time were enough to successfully quell the Southern rebellion. But in the face of Scott, who is the Dinghai Divine Needle in the Federal Army, he can only wait for a trace of emotion, and said respectfully: "Oh, General Scott, what makes you think so?" ”

"Our federation is too unprepared for the civil war that has broken out and is about to escalate caused by this North-South dispute! By the words of your Minister of War, the regular army of the Union Army has 16,000 men, is that a lot? What is this for a vast federation of 31 million people and a vast territory? Fortunately, the Federation has been isolated in Europe for so many years, and it would have been defeated by other countries in Europe long ago. In 1856, the population of Tsarist Russia was exactly twice that of our Federation, about 62 million people, but its regular army had 1.2 million people, and the reserve troops that could be called up to 1.7 million people at the beginning of the war were still miserably defeated in the Crimean War! Speaking of the army, Scott regained his military spirit as soon as he changed his belly and was weakened, and he continued: "Moreover, the 16,000 men of the Army Standing Force are divided into several small units, except for some in the federal states, and most of them are stationed west of the Mississippi River to guard against the Indians and the troops of the New Mexico Province newly annexed by the Chinese Empire. Mr. President, that is, I, who seem to be the commander-in-chief of the Union Army, in fact, have very few soldiers at hand! ”

"And the militia you ordered to be conscripted from the states, perhaps because you are not a soldier, do not understand that the Union militia today is not very reliable in a real war, they are not very good at training, and the militia meetings have even become a festival of binge drinking. Only volunteers are a reliable force for the unity of the Federation! The states of the North and South have now formed some elite volunteer companies, and Mr. President, these volunteers should be recruited more broadly, they are much more valiant than the militia, they are well trained, and they will serve longer! ”

After hearing what Scott had to say, Lincoln fell into deep thought.

And the Secretary of War Cameron on the side couldn't help it, the conscription of the militia was originally suggested by him to President Lincoln, this Scott was bluntly slapping himself in the face, he said with some dissatisfaction: "General Scott, you are a respected federal military god, but have you forgotten that it only took a year and a half for you to command the federal army and conquer Mexico, which is stronger than the United States." More than a year ago, the French Empire united the Kingdom of Sardinia and Austria on the European battlefield, and the victory and defeat were won in just three months. Could it be that it will take more than three months for the current federation to quell the rebellion of a small number of people in the southern states and recruit 75,000 people? ”

Cameron's words, Lincoln agreed, and he also looked up at Scott. In fact, not only did he and his cabinet members think so, but also the Republicans and Democrats in the North, as well as the major newspapers in the people, predicted that such local unrest in the South might be subsided in just 30 days. Three months is already a very conservative estimate.

Scott snorted and laughed: "If war is so simple, then what else do you want this old man to do in the position of commander-in-chief?" Although I believe that our Federation will be able to quell the rebellion in the South, I insist that more regular volunteers are needed, not militias, which are not just 75,000 but at least 150,000 or more. The time is not just three months, but about a year. Well, yes, by the time the spring blooms next year, the Union will put down the rebellion! ”

After speaking, Scott said solemnly: "Mr. President, I formally advise, and even warn, to you, not to think about defeating the rebels in 3 months!" If you and the War Department still insist on rushing out troops to conquer the Confederate Alliance with 75,000 untrained militiamen, I refuse to command the operation! The defeat in the war has nothing to do with me! ”

Edwin Stanton, an aide to the Secretary of War, persuaded on the sidelines: "Mr. President, Mr. Secretary, General Scott and Mr. Douglas have their own point. There are more troops to be recruited, and a little training, although it takes a certain amount of time, but the odds are greater, and it is not a bad thing! ”

Lincoln said, "It's fine! General Scott, your and Mr. Douglas's proposal is very good, I will seriously consider it, and the reasonable part will be accepted! Minister Cameron, next, your War Department will propose a new recruitment plan, mainly to recruit those soldiers who are mainly volunteers, and see if the service time needs to be appropriately extended. ”