Han Si nodded silently, looking at the map for a long time. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The present situation on the battlefield of Des Moines is completely different from that of the previous battle of the Missouri-Kansas City, in that there is no clear front line, but a large corps of maneuvering operations. Except for the belligerents around Des Moines, the two armies fought on their positions. More than 1 million people on the periphery formed a mobile corps, and although it occupied many key points, it did not really open a defensive line, but maintained a state that could be mobilized again at any time. This method of warfare is somewhat similar to the way trench warfare was played before the advent of trench warfare.

Han Si looked at the battlefield that seemed to be in chaos, and said in a deep voice: "The U.S. troops on the periphery seem to be avoiding the battle, and the few mobile corps they have scattered around the periphery are only containment, and the purpose is just to prevent our army from forming an encirclement of the U.S. forces besieging Des Moines...... Now the real key point should still be the gains and losses of Des Moines, if the Twelfth Army can hold on, the initiative on the northern front battlefield will be in my hands. If they can't hold it, the Americans will win the initiative. ”

Chen Yucheng nodded, "Yes!" Des Moines was the key to the northern front, and now the Americans' arrangement on the northern front revolved around the capture of Des Moines, with at least 400,000 troops responsible for the siege and reinforcements. In addition, there are at least three mobile corps on the outer line. As soon as the peripheral clusters of our army move closer to Des Moines, these three US mobile regiments may cut off the logistics line of our army...... And it may not be easy for our army to seek a decisive battle with the enemy's outlying corps. The current situation is that the American army has been attacking Des Moines for a long time, and our army cannot fight the enemy in a decisive battle around Des Moines. At the campaign level, it is a stalemate. ”

Listening to Chen Yucheng's words, Han Si just smiled faintly, and even crooked the corners of his mouth, "...... The stalemate on the northern front is probably the result that both we and Lao Mei are currently wanting, Lao Mei has attracted more than a million of our people to the northern front, which has provided convenience for Kansas City to break the siege, even if they can't take Des Moines, anyway, their target in this battle is Kansas City...... As for us, we have also formed a semi-encirclement of the American forces besieging Des Moines. It can be pressed at any time, and as long as it fights without logistics for a week, it can leave four or five hundred thousand American troops on the battlefield! Now it's time for the final showdown! ”

The timing of the final decisive battle is, of course, the time when the American Southern Route Army marches west around Kansas City! No matter what method they use to solve the logistics, it is impossible to quickly retreat a million troops 400 kilometers when the situation is unfavorable......

……

November 10, 1876, Pacific Town, Missouri River.

The clouds were overcast, and it looked like it was about to rain. It should be noon, but the sky is gloomy as if it is dusk.

Castis. Lee stood on a low mound, looking down at the Missouri River below, but the gloom in his expression was as thick as the lead cloud in the sky.

Two fleets of ships with no end in sight had appeared on the river, both consisting of steam tugs and iron-hulled barges. On the south bank of the Missouri River, more than a dozen temporary wharves have been erected against the riverbank, each with an iron-hulled barge. Countless soldiers were carrying all kinds of baggage, supplies, ammunition and even heavy weapons onto the barges.

The shouting of trumpets came and went, as soldiers dragged freshly assembled iron-hulled barges onto the surface of the Missouri River.

And farther away, the rumbling of artillery came in a dense manner. Fierce fighting continued, and the two Chinese armies fought on both sides of the Missouri River, fighting and retreating. Most of the intelligence on the US military's "shipbuilding" on the Missouri River has been detected by the Chinese military. Therefore, their resistance is extremely fierce, and every bit of progress of the front-line troops has to pay enough blood! It is not an exaggeration to say that flesh and blood fill a path forward. And the pace of advance is also very slow, it took two whole weeks to advance less than 50 kilometers, and now the US front is almost 300 kilometers away from Kansas City! It is estimated that it will take another three or four weeks, with 200,000 casualties, to reach Kansas City!

However, what made him anxious was not the losses on the way forward, this was all expected, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army was already very strong, and it was on the defensive, and the US army could play a 2:1 to 3:1 exchange ratio even if it was good. This battle, even if it can be won, is a miserable victory!

But a crushing victory is better than a defeat after all! And Castis. Lee now smells a hint of failure. Or maybe it's the sixth sense...... Although the war situation was developing according to the plan, even the British, who had always been "passively resisting the war", rarely took active action, and transported troops from Europe to the war one by one.

But it was not only Britain that was active, but also the Roman Western Empire to the south. Or rather, the female Caesar Mathilde is also actively preparing for war! The second phase of the mobilization order of the Kingdom of Mexico has been issued, and the first phase of the general mobilization has been completed! Although nominally to quell the Brazilian and Paraguayan-Uruguayan rebellions, Roman armies continued to advance into the Kingdom of New France...... No one in New France wanted to secede from Rome, at least until the defeat of Donghua, and the "New Frenchmen" were model citizens of the Roman Empire.

Thinking of the thin defenses of Tennessee and North Carolina, which bordered the Kingdom of New France, Castis. Admiral Lee had a feeling of horror -- he was afraid that the United States would not die at the hands of the Mexicans in the end, right? If that's the case, it's ridiculous.

Yellow smoke rose in the distance, and several cavalry galloped from the direction of Pacific Town to the south, heading straight for Castius. The mound where Lee is located, followed by Castius. One of the staff officers beside Admiral Lee ran down, talked loudly to one of the knights in front of him, took a document from the other man's hand, and then turned back and ran back to Castius. Lee's side.

"Admiral, telegram from New York, the General Headquarters of the Army has taken note of the unusual actions of the Roman Empire, and Admiral Testage has mobilized one of the British infantry corps that has just arrived to strengthen the defenses of Tennessee, and is preparing to mobilize another British Army Group that will arrive later to set up in North Carolina. In addition, London had already sent the Marquis of Salisbury, the Foreign Secretary, to Paris to negotiate with Augustus of the Roman Empire, asking Rome to promise not to intervene in the war in North America. ”

"Plus a British infantry corps and a British army group...... That's almost 450,000 people, and there should be no problem! "Castis. Li muttered in a low voice, not knowing whether he was convincing himself or telling the staff officers around him. "Just give me two more months, two more months...... I'll be able to rescue Admiral Jackson! ”

……

Two days later, the British negotiations seemed to have had some effect, and a telegram from Napoleon IV forbidding Mathilde to go to war with the British-American Empire reached the National Palace of Mexico.

Augustus, the Roman Empire, had wanted Mathilde and Juan to destroy the British-American Empire, which he considered necessary to destroy the British Empire. And once the British Empire falls, the Roman Empire will become the only powerful country in the entire white world that has the financial resources to maintain a large navy and has a world empire, and the entire white world must rely on Rome.

But now, as soon as the chaos in South America broke out, Napoleon IV believed that Mathilde should focus on quelling the rebellion in South America, rather than getting involved in the war with the British Empire.

"It's all nonsense!" Mathilde threw the urgent telegram in Augustus' name back on the table.

Ten legions of Roman troops (Mexicans) and two white armies of Donghua had now been assembled in Mississippi.

This is an army of 700,000 men, and this long-distance transfer alone took more than a month and cost no less than 10 million silver pesos, not including the ammunition and supplies prepared for this campaign - the treasury of the Kingdom of Mexico has already prepared more than 200 million silver pesos for this military expenditure!

"Your Majesty." Juarez walked into Mathilde's office with heavy steps, "That one in Paris has changed his mind?" ”

The telegram sent to Mathilde, he, the tributary, naturally had a copy, and as soon as he received the news, Juárez went to the National Palace.

Mathilde was just about to discuss with Juarez how to prevaricate Napoleon IV when another telegram from Lordaine House arrived, "Your Majesty, a secret telegram from Your Majesty Donghua, who wishes to begin operations in the direction of the Mississippi River by November 25th. ”

Mathilde took the telegram and looked at it a few times, and said to Juarez with a smile: "Duke, it seems that we are going to be the end of American history...... Duke, do me a favor and go to the Kansas City front to persuade Admiral Jackson to surrender, this is Juan's request. ”

"Persuasion? Is it possible? ”

"Juan said he could do it, he would definitely do it!" Mathilde said, "I'm also leaving for New France, and Juan will come to New France later to command the troops." ”

"Your Majesty, how did Napoleon IV deal with it?" Juarez asked.

Mathilde laughed: "Napoleon IV is not Napoleon III, and even less Napoleon I!" ”

Juarez frowned, "Your Majesty, what about South America?" King Henry can't seem to handle it...... He had at his disposal less than 50,000 men of the Foreign Legion and 30,000 very weak Brazilian troops. ”

Mathilde smiled, "Let Henry find a way to deal with it first, and when the North American fight is over, I will let Juan lead troops to save him, López will definitely not be Juan's opponent!" ”

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty Juan is the king of Donghua under the Great Chinese Empire, not the king under the Roman Empire." Juarez reminded in a low voice, "You don't really want him to be the next Caesar, do you?" ”

"I don't want to." Mathilde shook his head, "I just want him to be the king of Mexico, and I won't let the Kingdom of Mexico secede from the Roman Empire, I hope Juan can be a guarantee of peace between the two empires in the future." ”r1152

Fastest update, read please.