President and Commander-in-Chief Lincoln, President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army (Northern Army) in Newington, USA, was listening to General Sherman's report with a black face.

"Up to now, our First Front has lost nearly 50,000 men, and less than 800 have fled back to Springfield from the Potomac River in Washington. Intelligence now indicates that more than 100,000 Allied troops (the US Southern Army) are being trained by officers of the Chinese Shence Army, and that large quantities of Chinese equipment have arrived in Washington, with more than 50,000 tons of supplies, for which the rebel government has paid $20 million worth of gold and silver. ”

"Abominable Chinese!"

Boom!

Lincoln slammed his fist on the table, and he didn't feel the slightest pain, which showed how angry he was.

"Organize a counteroffensive immediately, and before the rainy season comes, be sure to capture Washington and end the illegal rule of the rebels over the United States!"

"Your Excellency, I don't think it's a good time to attack Washington, after all, we know too little about the Chinese Shence Army, they are very strong, and they just won the victory against the British and French forces not long ago."

Lincoln was furious and retorted, "What is the Anglo-French army? When we in the United States gained independence, didn't we still fight the British and French forces all over the place? Even if the Chinese Shence Army defeated the British and French forces, we might not be able to defeat them, this time it was just a sneak attack by them, you know, we didn't expect them to suddenly enter the battle. ”

Seeing that Lincoln was a little presumptuous, Sherman immediately glanced at General Braxton-Bragg beside him and motioned for him to persuade.

Prague understood what Sherman meant, and advised Lincoln: "Your Excellency, your wisdom is enough to defeat the Southern rebels, even if they have the help of the Chinese. However, it is recommended that you better understand their combat effectiveness and the performance of weapons and equipment, so that we can achieve the maximum results with the least casualties, what do you think? ”

Lincoln fought back his anger and tried his best to calm himself.

Sherman immediately took the opportunity to say, "I investigated all the soldiers who had escaped, and from their mouths I described that the Chinese Shence Army used a powerful artillery. The explosive power of a single shell is enough to kill anyone within a radius of 200 meters, and a shock wave of level 7 (roughly equivalent to a force 8 gale) can still be felt within a radius of 500 meters. ”

Lincoln frowned and said, "What kind of artillery would be so powerful?" ”

Prague was in charge of intelligence work and immediately said: "According to the information we have, the British and French forces encountered this kind of artillery on the battlefield of Songhu, it should be a 155mm heavy howitzer, using a kind of smokeless slag that we have never seen before, and the power is incomparable." ”

Sherman continued: "The Chinese Shence Army also has a machine gun that can fire continuously, with ten barrels and hundreds of rounds per minute, which is as dense as rain. It is impossible to defend against it at all, especially since its bullet has a large caliber, which is half an inch (12. 7 mm), hit in the head or torso, instantly causing a huge tearing wound, very fatal, if not bandaged within 30 seconds to stop the bleeding, you will definitely die. If it is hit on the limbs, it is directly a comminuted fracture. Our 50,000 troops attacking Washington were defeated by these two new weapons of the Chinese Shence Army. ”

Prague said: "This ten-barreled gun is a Gatling machine gun, the firepower of a Gatling machine gun is equivalent to the strength of a battalion, and the face lethality is extremely strong, more than half of the 200,000 British and French troops on the Songhu battlefield were slaughtered by this weapon." Britain and France named it Songhu meat grinder, which is very well-founded. ”

Lincoln completely calmed down, and when he heard these two big killers, he suddenly felt that his head was a little foggy.

This Nima should not be so cruel!

Don't let people live!

"Do you have any countermeasures?"

Sherman and Prague looked at each other. They all shook their heads, indicating that there was no solution for the time being.

In the face of absolute equipment superiority, quantitative changes will not be able to cause qualitative changes. Even if the United Army has a million troops, if it fights head-on with the 10,000 troops of the Chinese Shence Army, it will inevitably be the United Army that will be defeated.

"In a head-on confrontation, we have no chance of winning, it is better to continue to use guerrilla tactics, abandon Washington, attack from all sides, harass the enemy's rear, and destroy their economy and lines of communication." Sherman proposed.

"Good idea, no matter how powerful the Chinese Shence Army is, it only has a town of troops, about 12,000 people, and it is impossible to divide troops to defend major cities. As long as they don't divide their forces, then we can drag down the Union army. Join them in dividing our troops, and then we will have a chance to break through each of them, completely destroy this Chinese Shence army, and make them regret coming to the United States. Prague agreed, and said fiercely.

Lincoln frowned, and said a little unwillingly: "However, if you don't take Washington, you can't destroy the leadership of the rebels, the civil war has been fought for more than five years, and the whole United States is in chaos, I hope to end the civil war as soon as possible, and if it continues to fight for such an indefinite period, our American national strength will be completely exhausted, and we will no longer be able to compete for world hegemony." ”

Lincoln's words are very convincing, because Americans have been warmongers and aggressors in their blood since the founding of the country, and look at the 277 years since the founding of the United States, there have been only more than ten years without war, and the rest of the years have been constantly fighting, invading and expanding.

To say that Americans love peace is to eat Xiang and break their brains.

Sherman and Bragg fell silent for a moment, considering Lincoln's words.

In the end, Prague was ruthless and said: "If you want to fight Washington, then it is early, if we wait until the rebels are fully adapted to the Chinese equipment and training, then we will have no chance, even if we win, it will be a miserable victory!" ”

"Hit! Do whatever it takes! Lincoln nodded, determined.

Sherman hesitated slightly, but both Lincoln and Bragg agreed, and as a three-man leader, Sherman didn't want to split, so he agreed.

So, in the Newington area, Lincoln guerrillas began to masse on a large scale.

Black slaves from the southern part of the United States had just been freed and became the main force of the United Army, which numbered 800,000 black legions, which was a huge force.

Eventually, a group of 100,000 guerrillas under Lincoln's command assembled at Newington, most of them white, from the northern provinces, the elite of the Northern Army, well-armed, almost all of them breech-loading rifles. There was also the Black Legion commanded by Omaba, which numbered as many as 300,000 men, but there were too few breech-loading rifles. Most of them were front-loading smoothbore guns.

The news of the large-scale build-up of the United Forces in Newington soon reached Washington, and President Davis of the Confederate States of America was taken aback and hurriedly invited Major General Liang Ying, deputy commander of China's overseas theater of operations, to discuss countermeasures.

"On the orders of our emperor, our army only helps to defend the two important places in Washington and New York, and the rest needs to be defended by your army, after all, we only have one town of troops, and we can't overdivide our troops."

Liang Ying expressed his attitude, and Davis also knew that although the Chinese Shence Army was powerful, it only had a small number of troops in the United States. It's only about 10,000 people.

"Can you convey to the emperor and the military that we hope that more elites like your army will come to the United States. As long as you're willing to send troops, everything else can be said. ”

Davis was also forced to be helpless, although the Southern army ruled the United States, but the number of Southern troops was too small, and the northerners could not be trusted, and now there were slave riots in many places in the South, millions of black slaves escaped, and millions of black slaves joined the Lincoln guerrillas. As a result, the strength of the United Army led by Lincoln has increased greatly, while the Union Army has become less and less.

If it weren't for the fact that the Shence Army broke the siege of Washington, it crushed 50,000 Lincoln guerrillas in one fell swoop and prevented the enemy from capturing Washington. Davis was ready to quit and run away.

It was precisely because of the arrival of the Chinese Shence Army that Davis was given a glimmer of hope, and other Yugoslav military government officials also rekindled their fighting spirit.

"I'll convey it to my emperor!"

Liang Ying didn't reveal anything, he met Li Weiguo once before he came. Under the premise that Li Weiguo was instructed to do his best to maintain a United States in a state of constant civil war and division. As long as it is profitable, it can be used.

Liang Ying then went to the Chinese Legation in Washington, D.C., and sent a telegram to China through the Legation's telegraph to ask for instructions.

Li Weiguo was in Shanghai, so he received a telegram from Liang Ying as soon as possible.

"Using the money and food of the Americans to feed the overseas corps of the Chinese Shence Army is a good plan, and I think I can agree to it."

It was Li Hongzao who spoke, the current governor of Liangjiang and the minister of Nanyang, with a prominent position.

Originally, Li Weiguo planned to let Li Hongzao serve as the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, because he believed in Li Hongzao's ability, but with Li Hongzhang's surrender, Li Weiguo's attitude changed, and it was a risky move to appoint Li Hongzhang as the minister of Beiyang.

"It is a good strategy to use American money to feed the imperial army, but the problem is that the current strength of Lincoln's Allied Army guerrillas is superior, Davis's Allied army is in a weak position, and it will not help us to send fewer troops, but it will cause a high degree of tension among the traditional powers of Britain and France, after all, the United States is not China, it is too close to Europe, and it is also the traditional industrial raw material area of Britain and France, and it is very unfavorable for us to have a conflict with Britain and France there."

Indeed, the British and French expeditions to China will cost huge national strength and require strong logistics and transportation, and if the Chinese army clashes with the British and French powers in the United States, then it will also face huge national power consumption and logistics and transportation problems, and the most important thing is that the British and French powers occupy maritime superiority, and before they completely control the Pacific Ocean, the Chinese army is very passive in fighting in the Americas.

Li Hongzao quickly understood where Li Weiguo's worries were, thought for a while, and then said: "In this case, it is better to bring Britain and France in, if you can form a coalition to eliminate the Lincoln guerrillas, it is naturally the best, if you can't eliminate them in a short time, it is better to directly divide the United States, and use the political and military pressure of China, Britain, and France to force the Lincoln government and the Davis government to negotiate peace, determine a ceasefire demarcation line, and cause the United States to be de facto divided. ”

Li Weiguo's eyes suddenly lit up, he always wanted to prevent the reunification of the United States and prevent the northern forces of the United States from winning, but now it seems that as long as the United States is separated, then everything will be perfectly realized.

"Your proposal is very good! On your behalf, you went to the British and French consulates in Shanghai to convey this proposal to them, believing that they do not want the United States to be reunited either, and that they should be happy to cooperate. ”

"Yes!"

Li Hongzao received the order, stayed for a while, and then quickly went to the British and French consulates in Shanghai to convey the Chinese government's proposal.

The British and French consuls expressed their support one after another, which was the attitude of the British and French governments, so the consuls of the two countries responded without hesitation and were willing to cooperate with China to form a trilateral intervention group of China, Britain and France. Directly intervene in the American Civil War and force a ceasefire between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America.

The British and French envoys in China quickly reported the Chinese proposal to the British and French governments respectively, and the British and French governments quickly agreed to it.

The reason why the British and French governments agreed so quickly was also bitter.

First of all, the French government was busy fighting a war with Prussia, and the tragic Franco-Prussian War blocked the national fortunes of the two countries, and the French army needed to import new weapons and ammunition from China, so it was necessary to "respect" China's attitude. Now that there is a China on the rise, there can be no more United States on the rise. Otherwise, the big cake of the world will have to be shared by one more country, which is not in France's national interests.

Also for the UK, it is also a pain in the egg. Because Britain's industrial capacity far exceeds that of France, the demand for industrial raw materials is the most sensitive, before the Civil War, cotton and other products in the south of the United States are the most important raw material suppliers to Britain, originally the southern army unified the United States to Britain very happy, but unfortunately Lincoln came to an American version of the 25,000-mile Long March, straight into the south of the United States. The millions of black slaves who instigated the rebellion on the plantations in the South left a large amount of cotton uncultivated, production plummeted, and prices soared to the point that Britain was in pain.

In this case. Britain was the most supportive of an immediate end to the American Civil War, but it did not want the United States to be united, and a divided United States was also in line with Britain's national interests.

As a result, China, Britain and France hit it off. Immediately form a group to intervene in the American Civil War.

For Davis's Confederate American government, it was in dire need of respite, so it happily accepted the mediation of China, Britain and France.

But the Lincoln administration disagreed. The inability of a divided United States to dominate the world will shatter Americans' dreams.

So, in early September, the Lincoln administration organized another attack on Washington, and the Chinese Shence Army and the American Confederate Army adopted defensive tactics, digging trenches and repairing pillboxes, and holding on to Washington.

The Lincoln guerrillas still had some experience in trench warfare, and successively broke through multiple lines of defense of Davis's government army and approached downtown Washington.

However, to the collapse of the Lincoln guerrillas, they were suddenly stopped by the fortifications built by the Chinese Shence Army, as they were about to win.

This time, the Chinese Shence Army built something special, building reinforced concrete pillboxes at important points in the trench defense positions, and Gatling machine guns fired from the firing ports of the pillboxes, massacring the Lincoln guerrillas.

In one day, the Lincoln guerrillas made twelve charges, resulting in more than 60,000 dead and wounded, but could not move forward.

This time, the Gatling machine gun once again showed its reputation, and the Songhu meat grinder became the Washington meat grinder.

However, Lincoln was not reconciled, and continued to draw troops from other base areas, adopted the method of attacking and harassing from all sides, and threw himself into the offensive and defensive war in Washington.

The two sides fought for more than a month, and both suffered heavy casualties.

By mid-November, when winter came, the British Navy finally reached the Potomac River, directly cutting off the retreat of the United Army, and isolating the 200,000 United Army in Hebei, unable to get supplies from Henan.

At the beginning of December, when heavy snow fell, the 200,000 United American troops in Hebei were still unable to break through Washington, and their supplies were also cut off, so they were forced to retreat.

When Lincoln saw that China, Britain and France shamelessly sent troops directly to intervene in the civil war, he immediately vomited blood in anger and had to choose to withdraw his troops, all the way to Richmond.

However, although Lincoln was defeated, the Davis government was also unable to continue the pursuit of the United Army, and the dozen or so southern states occupied by Lincoln were all agricultural economies, without industrial support, and they were also exhausted and could no longer launch the Northern Expedition.

So, under pressure from inside and outside, Lincoln finally nodded and agreed to an armistice.

At the beginning of December 3966 and January 8, 1867, under the joint intervention of China, Britain and France, the Davis and Lincoln governments concluded the American Armistice Agreement at the junction of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ashland, north of Richmond.

Its main contents are:

First, to establish a military demarcation line, roughly demarcating the 38th parallel, from which each side would retreat 5 kilometres, in order to establish a demilitarized zone between the opposing forces as a buffer zone in order to prevent incidents that could lead to the recurrence of hostilities.

2. The commanders of the opposing sides order and ensure that all armed forces under their control cease all hostilities totally within 12 hours of the signing of the Armistice Agreement, that all military forces, supplies and equipment be withdrawn from the demilitarized zone within 72 hours of the entry into force of the Agreement, and that within 10 days of the entry into force of the Agreement, the other side shall withdraw all its military forces, supplies and equipment from the rear of the United States and on the coastal islands and sea surfaces, and from military personnel, combat warships, transport vehicles, weapons and ammunition coming in from outside the United States for reinforcements, Each side shall appoint 10 senior officers to form a "Military Armistice Commission" to supervise the implementation of this Agreement and to negotiate and deal with any violation of this Agreement, and a "Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission" composed of one senior officer from China, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Second French Empire shall be responsible for supervising, observing, inspecting and investigating the rear ports and demilitarized zones.

3. Within 60 days of the entry into force of the Armistice Agreement, the Parties shall repatriate in batches all prisoners of war who insist on repatriation in their custody to the side to which they belonged before they were captured, without any hindrance, and the remaining prisoners of war who have not been directly repatriated shall be released from their military control and custody and handed over to the Repatriation Commission of a Neutral Nations (one member each appointed by China, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Second French Empire); The two sides have set up a "Committee for the Repatriation of Prisoners of War" and a "Committee for Facilitating the Return of Displaced Civilians" to coordinate all the provisions of the two sides on the repatriation of prisoners of war and specific plans for the return of civilians.

Fourth, it is proposed to the relevant governments of the two sides that, in order to ensure the peaceful settlement of the US issue, a high-level political conference of the two sides should be convened within three months after the agreement is signed and takes effect, to discuss the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the United States and the peaceful settlement of the US issue.

Since then, the American Civil War has come to an end, and it has since been divided into the Confederate States of America north of the 38th parallel and the United States of America south of the 38th parallel.

An America that cannot be unified will not be able to compete for world hegemony for a long time.

China, Britain and France are all very happy to have joined forces to suppress a potential future enemy and competitor. (To be continued.) )