Washington dc.

In the afternoon, Lincoln walked out of the church, exhausted.

The battle of Manassas had already begun, and he could even hear the rumbling of artillery dozens of miles away.

Although he came from a church family, he was not very religious, and he rarely came to church for worship in normal times. However, today, because of the war ahead, because of this crucial battle, he came to the church to worship religiously, praying for God to grant victory to the Union army!

As soon as Lincoln walked out of the church after finishing his homework, he hurried to the War Department to check the war reports sent back from the front. The battle report does not provide much information, except that there is still fierce fighting on the front line, the rebels in the south are much more stubborn than expected, still resisting, and so far, the federal army has not been able to capture the town of Manassas.

Lincoln was uncertain, and seeing that the War Department had not received reliable information, he called a carriage from the presidential palace and rushed to the home of General Scott, commander-in-chief of the American Union Army.

Before waiting for the servants in Scott's house to report, Lincoln and his assistants rushed directly into his mansion, only to find General Scott still taking a nap, and at this time, Lincoln noticed that it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon.

General Scott, who was woken up by the servants, looked unhappy. Scott woke up yawning, he was now extremely weak, and in the last few days, he has even been unable to stand up. His servant attached him a sling to the ceiling, allowing Scott to grab the strap and move his fat body to the chaise longue on his own.

Seeing this scene, Lincoln was a little sad, this is the American war hero who once dominated Mexico? However, now was not the time to think about this, and Lincoln asked directly, "General Scott, are you alright?" Oh God, do you know what is going on in the war ahead? Today is a day of cannon roaring, and I am very worried. ”

Scott rubbed his eyes that hadn't woken up yet, and said nonchalantly, "How many people are there on the battlefield?" Where are they gathered now? What about the armament of the southern rebels? Mr. President, I don't know any of that. From the beginning of the war, no one reported to me, I knew nothing. ”

Lincoln was speechless. What else could he say?

The commander-in-chief of the American Union Army, at a time when the sound of artillery was constantly coming from only a few dozen miles from the capital, actually fell asleep at home, and he didn't know anything.

There was a nameless fire in Lincoln's heart, but seeing Scott's gray hair and his attitude of not caring about him at all, he could only hold back, handed Scott the two front-line telegrams from the War Department in his hand, and asked: "General, please look at this telegram again, the news from the front is that the Southern rebels are guarding the town of Manassas in advance, waiting for McDowell to lead the troops to attack." You look at McDowell, can they win? ”

Scott glanced at it and said, "Mr. President, you don't have to worry! With that, Scott yawned and lay down again, and he said in a daze, "I'm old and confused again." Sleep first. Before he could finish speaking, the snoring rang out.

Lincoln secretly hated why he had come to this Scott's house. I really don't know how this happened, how long has it been, and the commander-in-chief of the army, who was worried about state affairs not long ago, has turned out to be a bad old man who does not care about the war. Could it be that he didn't follow his advice of "Operation Python", so he simply didn't care about anything to vent his grievances?

Lincoln pondered as he rode back to the White House in a carriage.

Soon, another sleepless night ensued, and Lincoln did not fall asleep until midnight thinking about the battle at Manassas. Just when he was asleep in a daze, it was already the second half of the night, and on the streets of Washington, a chaotic group of defeated soldiers poured into the Washington neighborhood, and the streets began to riot, and countless people were awakened. Lincoln was also woken up by his assistants and told that the soldiers at the front had returned to Washington and had fled in defeat.

The startled Lincoln quickly got up, wiped cold water on his face to make himself more sober, and rushed out of the White House. But no matter what, even the tired face couldn't hide the sourness and disappointment in his heart.

Secretary of War Cameron and two members of Congress came to him like refugees, crying out about the brutality of the Southern rebels and the incompetence of McDowell.

But Lincoln didn't pay any attention to it, he felt even more that it was his own incompetence!

One of the panicked congressmen said directly: "Mr. President, the army of the Confederate States of the Southern States is already invincible, the army of our Federation has been destroyed devastatingly, and there is no confidence at all. Therefore, Mr. President, if not, you should issue a speech declaring an unconditional truce, so as not to cause unnecessary damage. ”

Before Lincoln could reply, a banker next to him, who claimed to be from London, followed suit: "Mr. President, I am now informing you of a loan from our bank that the federal government borrowed from our bank two months ago, and requests that it be returned or collateralized within 24 hours. Otherwise, we will take steps to recover the money. ”

Several arms suppliers and logistical dealers also rushed over, apparently hearing about the defeat in the battle ahead, and expecting the imminent collapse of the Federation, so they hurried to collect the debt.

Lincoln couldn't help but have a nameless anger, which washed his originally depressed and lost heart to pieces, and he suddenly seemed to have experienced something and became stronger.

So, Lincoln didn't bother to pay attention to these people, and with the help of his assistants, pushed away these fly-like crowds and returned directly to the White House. These failures made him feel so motivated that he just wanted to go back as soon as possible and issue an order in his capacity as president urging Congress to pass a proposal to expand the number of volunteers. He was ready to directly and forcibly expand the army, and replace it with a strong commander to command the army.

Along the way, in addition to ordering McDowell, the Union commander of the Battle of Manassas, to rush to the White House to report the war to him in detail, Lincoln kept shaking hands with the defeated soldiers who were downcast, encouraging them, and at the same time encouraging himself, saying, "God will bless you." God will bless us as well. Sooner or later, the rebels will perish, and victory will always belong to the Federation! ”

For Lincoln, the immediate defeat, while painful, was not particularly new. He has faced failure all his life, but he is not afraid of failure, and failure cannot break him. As long as he is still in the position of president, and as long as all the states of the Union support him, he is not afraid that the Northern Union will be defeated. However, this defeat also reminded him that he remembered General Scott's previous words, maybe he was right! Perhaps, I should properly consider the python plan he said!

..........

In the small town of Manassas, which has just ended the war.

President Davis of the Confederate States of America, Secretary of War Judah Benjamin, Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Army, Brigadier General Samuel Cooper, and Colonel Robert Lee, General Adviser to the President's Military Affairs, and others hurried by train.

Major General Joseph Johnston, commander of the East Virginia theater, and Brigadier General Pierre Boregarde, commander of the West Virginia theater, have prepared the conference room at the request of the president. However, the two noticed that in addition to President Davis and the generals, there was also a Chinese dressed in the East, according to Colonel Robert Lee, who was General Peng Yulin, the special envoy of the Emperor of the Chinese Empire and the governor of New Mexico.

"Orientals also dare to call themselves generals?" Thinking about the great victory he had just won at the Battle of Manassas, Borregard said with some contempt to Major General Johnston, who was also the hero of the great victory.

Major General Johnston also didn't look down on the Orientals, nodded and said: "It's just a title, he can be called a marshal if he wants!" ”

"But this is in the Confederate States of America!" Bordegard glanced at the Chinese and snorted coldly: "I really don't know what President Davis thinks, look, the Chinese officer is called a general." Will the Oriental Chinese command a war? And General Li is also, he also calls the other party General Peng, and says that this person's military talent is far superior to him, and it is enough to be the teacher of the generals of our alliance countries, which is really too much! ”

"Robert Lee is a guy on paper! Otherwise, how could President Davis not let him command this Manassas campaign, but only made him an inconsequential military adviser? Major General Johnston may have sensed Borretard's admiration for Robert Lee, and was a little unhappy, and said: "It is clear that President Davis and the War Department have appointed him brigadier general, but he still refuses to wear the Union General's badge, and is only willing to wear the three-star Confederate Colonel's badge, which is really brainless." How can such a stubborn person adapt to the battlefield if he can't be flexible on the battlefield? He himself was deceived by the Chinese surnamed Peng's clever words, and he felt that the Chinese was powerful and honored as a teacher. ”

While the two were chatting, President Davis looked over, beckoned to the two, and said loudly: "Look, these two are the greatest contributors to the victory of Manassas for our Confederate States of America, Major General Joseph Johnston, commander of the East Virginia theater, and Brigadier General Pierre Bored, commander of the West Virginia theater!" ”

Everyone looked at each other, and applause rang out.

Johnston and Bordegard walked briskly, and after saluting President Davis, and then saluting the generals, but they ignored the Chinese man standing next to Davis as if they had not seen it.

Benjamin, the Minister of War next to him, and the Chinese man were like old acquaintances, and pulled the two of them to introduce him: "General Peng, come on, let me introduce you, these two are the heroes we are going to celebrate today, Major General Johnston and Brigadier General Borlegard, who joined forces to cleanly defeat the invading Union enemy forces. ”

As he spoke, he introduced the elegant middle-aged Chinese in front of him to the two: "Two generals, maybe you already know the identity of this General Peng, but now let's officially introduce it: This is General Peng Yulin of the Chinese Empire." ”

Peng Yulin smiled and stretched out his hand, wanting to shake hands with Johnston and Borlegard, but Johnston and Borredard didn't see it, and directly turned to the Secretary of War Benjamin and said, "Mr. Minister, let's go talk to General Cooper and Colonel Lee." ”

Benjamin's face was embarrassed, and he said to Peng Yulin: "General Peng, I'm sorry, maybe there is something over there." ”

Peng Yulin couldn't see any unhappiness on his face, he didn't care at all, and still smiled slightly: "It's just right, I'm going over there to say something." ”

After saying that, he walked straight to President Davis.

Here, Davis and Colonel Robert Lee did not know what they were talking about, while Brigadier General Samuel Cobo, commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army, was chatting happily with Johnston and Borlegard.

Peng Yulin walked straight over, interrupted them, and said loudly: "President Davis, I have a suggestion, I don't know whether to talk about it or not!" ”

After speaking, without waiting for Davis to nod, he said directly: "At this time, it is a huge mistake for your country to celebrate victory here!" This means that your country will lose its victory and go to defeat! ”

As he spoke, he looked at everyone with a serious face, ignoring the stunned eyes and the anger in the eyes of the people next to him, and continued: "At this time, the most important thing is not to celebrate the victory here, to celebrate the so-called great victory, but to immediately pursue the whole army, attack north, and take advantage of this great opportunity to attack Washington and occupy the federal capital. Only a complete defeat of the Confederate army and the capture of Lincoln and those members of Congress can be considered a real victory. Wouldn't it be better to celebrate then! ”

At this time, Johnston couldn't bear it anymore and directly reprimanded: "You yellow-skinned monkey from the East, what are you talking nonsense here?" ”

Boregaard was also furious, after all, Peng Yulin's denial of the victory in the Battle of Manassas was a denial of his merits, and this celebration was also proposed by him, Peng Yulin's words made him very disgraced, so he shouted: "That's it! You, a Chinese surnamed Peng, do you know what military is? The Northern Union army has been completely frightened by us, and the war is over. It won't be long before the Yankees will naturally surrender to our allies! ”

War Secretary Judah Benjamin also frowned, and said: "Mr. Peng, this is the internal affairs of our Confederate States of America, you better not talk about it!" The war is over, we have won a complete victory, and this is the result! ”

Davis remained silent, on the one hand, he was still thinking about what everyone was saying, and on the other hand, although he was the president and familiar with the military, he also had to listen to the opinions of his subordinates, especially to get the majority to support him, so he did not say anything for the time being.

At this time, the commander-in-chief of the army, Brigadier General Samuel Cobo, spoke up: "Ladies and gentlemen, what General Peng said is also for the sake of the overall interests of our Union State. I think he has a point, we should take advantage of the victory, and the celebration can be saved until after the occupation of Washington. ”