"Brigadier General, what methods are you going to use to break through the enemy's defenses?" Brigadier General Banks looked at his top boss with a frown.

McDowell laughed, "The Southerners rely on the razor-sharp firepower of the Jason-style rifle." But this rifle is not unique to the Southerners, and we in the Potomac Regiment also have 8,000 of these rifles in our hands! ”

Unlike the South, which concentrated on the use of new weapons and organized them into fist units, the Union Army distributed their 20,000 Jason-1858 rifles more evenly. The Potomac Corps got 8000, which was not enough for all the infantry to use it. So McDowell gave these new rifles to the cavalry and skirmishers - unlike the European cavalry, the American cavalry had always focused on firepower rather than hand-to-hand combat, so the American cavalry had always had better guns than infantry, and there was nothing wrong with McDowell's arrangement.

"We can concentrate the infantry and cavalry of the second, third, and fourth armies with Jason-style rifles, about ...... There are 6,000 people, right? McDowell thought for himself. He sent the First Army to the west bank of the Potomac River, so there were 2,000 fewer Jason-style rifles.

"Almost 6,000 people." Brigadier General Banks said, "Commander, do you want to use them to break through the Southerners' defenses?" However, it is likely that the other side has concentrated 10,000 Jason-style rifles. ”

"Well, it's possible, but they're spread out on an eight-mile front, and that's what the French generals are against Jérôme. Peel's place. We just need to make a breakthrough at one point, and they're done. McDowell snorted coldly, "And...... On the east bank of the Potomac River. I still have 60,000 troops! ”

"60,000 troops? Commander. Do you want to ......"

"Tonight! We concentrate our main forces. Use the sea of people to push these southerners back to the other side of the Potomac River in one fell swoop! ”

……

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Union artillery began to roar again. This time, it seems that more than 150 cannons were concentrated, and under the cover of night, they closed the distance and began to bombard with grenades. For the first time, the industry of the North is now being revealed, and their artillery is much more powerful than their opponents. DuPont also has a large explosives and gunpowder factory that can provide enough explosives to produce flowering shells. The shells were also quite accurate, apparently taking advantage of the cover of the night. Closes the distance. Seeing that there were large groups of fireballs rising all over the southern army's front, from time to time there were broken fragments of civil engineering fortifications and even human limbs being blown apart and flying in all directions.

The generals of the Southern Army and Jérôme were having dinner. Peel, who was the first to realize that the decisive battle was coming, put down their knives and forks and left the camp tent and headed for their respective command posts. Jérôme. Peel still followed General Beauregard and reminded loudly: "The key tonight is artillery and machine guns, and they must be launched after the enemy's general attack is launched!" And artillery has to be used intensively...... Our front is long, the enemy will definitely concentrate on breaking through, this is their only chance!

Other than that. Let all the troops on the other side of the river come over, and we may have to use them in the early hours of tomorrow morning to counterattack. Hunt your way to Washington! ”

Chen Yucheng followed Thomas all the way. Brigadier General Jackson went to the front line, and tonight's battle was the first real battle of machine guns and breech-loading rifled guns! As the military attache of the Ming Dynasty in the Confederate States of America, he must have first-hand information!

Thomas. Jackson, like most generals of this era, liked to stand on the front line by example, and this time he directly entered the trenches with a few staff officers and heralds, and it was also the focus of the Northern Army's artillery. This burst of shells came over, and the fierce fire made it impossible to raise people's heads. The large and small machine-gun firing points set up with wooden sacks were all blown up a lot, but fortunately, the machine guns had not yet entered the position. Chen Yucheng's neck was full of dirt, and his belly was tightly pressed against the ground. I kept muttering in my heart: "Damn Frenchman, you still want to fight Philadelphia and New York, and you say I can't fight, I think you are an old fool who is blindly commanding!" ”

Before the smoke of the artillery fire had cleared, a large group of Union troops rushed towards it. Unlike during the day, this time the sortie was not lined up in neat formations, but scattered stragglers. After walking a few steps, I stopped and put my gun, and the fight was very lively. If it weren't for the weaker firepower of the artillery and the lack of tongues of fire from machine guns, the current scene really seemed to be on the battlefield of World War I.

Chen Yucheng got up and looked to his side, the soldiers had already set up their rifles and started to fight back at the urging of the officers, and the machine guns had also been pushed into the fire points that had not yet been damaged, and the drums were loaded, waiting for the signal to shoot. These machine guns were the key to determining tonight's victory, and the Yugoslav army attached great importance to it, and a junior officer personally mastered every machine gun stop.

Thomas. Jackson didn't know where he went, and Chen Yucheng didn't look for him, but found a half-collapsed machine gun fire point and got into it and began to be a spectator.

Sherman, the historical cavalry commander of the Northern Army, is now the commander of the infantry, commanding his cavalry regiment of several hundred men, braving the constant bullets of the Southern Army, borrowing terrain and features to move forward. The Jason-style rifles in their hands also fired, and a dense rain of bullets stirred up small columns of smoke on the line of the Southern Army's trenches. From time to time, people on both sides were shot, and screams rang out one after another. The smell of blood spread throughout the battlefield.

Chen Yucheng was observing the battlefield with wide eyes at this time, this is the most precious experience!

The battle lasted from 8 p.m. on June 9 to the second half of the night, and showed no signs of stopping. Under the cover of artillery, the Union troops using Jason-style rifles launched six charges in a row, destroying four barbed wire fences laid by the Confederate army, and almost rushed into the Confederate position, and finally Jackson personally led the team to repel them with bayonets and grenades. In the trenches, the casualties of the Southern army also increased, and the wounded were constantly sent down, and they were placed next to General Borigard's temporary headquarters in rows, and only a few military doctors were taking care of them.

Beauregard gritted his teeth and asked Jérôme, who was standing beside him. Peel: "Admiral, it's time to use machine guns and artillery, right?" "Jérôme. Peel looked calm, and didn't take the casualties in front of him seriously at all, just shook his head lightly, and said lightly: "The enemy has rushed 6 times, defeated 6 times, the loss is at least 3 times that of ours, and the casualties must be more than 3,000...... I think next time, it should be a general attack, otherwise McDowell will never have a chance again. ”

"Colonel! What about the front of us? ”

At the same moment, McDowell, the commander of the Confederate Potomac Corps, was questioning Sherman, who had just retreated from the front. The cavalry commander was now a bit wolf-bellied, and his head was blooming—it had been smashed open by the Southerners with the butt of his rifle, and was now wrapped in gauze. There was also a color on his arm, and he ate a bayonet. Obviously, the hand-to-hand combat just now was extremely hard!

"We have destroyed all four barbed wire fences of the enemy, but the fire of the Southerners is still very strong! And they are very good at hand-to-hand combat, they fight fiercely, our losses are not small, and there are less than 300 people left in my regiment! The other regiments were similar, losing more than half of them. ”

At this time, the infantry regiment of the Federal Army was about 11,200 men, and the number of cavalry regiments was even smaller, usually only five or six hundred, and now Sherman's regiment was considered to have suffered more than half of the casualties.

"Rush again, this is the last time, because victory is coming soon!"

McDowell pointed behind him as he spoke, countless Northern infantry had formed one phalanx after another, all rifles were bayonet, and the entire 50,000 Federation soldiers were ready to charge to the death. They will launch an all-out assault on an 8-mile front, and of course, there is only one direction of the main attack! (To be continued......)