June 8, 1861, Virginia, Confederate States of America.

In the cool breeze of early summer, brigades of troops rolled forward on the main roads of northeastern Virginia. The sound of people shouting and neighing. On the plains west of the Potomac River. Officers and men of the Northern Virginia Regiment, dressed in gray uniforms, gathered their heavy cannons and sped east along the road that passed through the vast cotton fields. Now the main force of the entire Virginia Army, including the elite Virginia Second Division and the Virginia Second Division, are gathered here at this moment, with high morale, putting on a posture of smashing the enemy's nest and capturing Lincoln alive.

Commander of the Northern Virginia Legion, Pierre. General Beauregard rode on horseback, and his military adviser, the French Admiral Jérôme. Pierre, Chinese Major General Chen Yucheng, and troops of the 2nd Virginia Division advanced together. The scale of this military operation is very desperate for the Southern Union countries, which are outnumbered, but at this moment, General Boregaard does not have the slightest worried look. This is the confidence that the training of more than two months before and the new weapons and equipment that Chen Yucheng sold to the alliance countries brought him.

As a veteran officer who has served in the army for many years, he naturally knows that new weapons cannot be bought with money to exert combat effectiveness, and that correct training must be carried out so that officers and soldiers can master the correct way to use them. However, because the US military has not fought a major war for more than 10 years and does not care much about wars outside the Americas, its military command thinking has long been outdated. Before he withdrew from the federal army, the infantry drill of the US military still emphasized horizontal formation and platoon gun tactics, which was completely the thinking of the pre-loading gun era. And. Weapons used by U.S. infantry. It is indeed a front-loading gun that has long been outdated. Although many gun companies in the United States have introduced rear-loading guns, they have not received many orders from the army, and only the cavalry, which is inconvenient to load bullets on horses, has replaced rear-loading guns, but those rear-loading guns cannot be compared with the Jason-1858 rifle. As for machine guns and breech-mounted guns, they are even more legendary weapons. It is believed that even in front of those officers in the north, no one knows how to use it correctly.

Now around Beauretgard, Old Peel and Chen Yucheng, all of them are infantry advancing in large groups. Most of the infantry carried Jason-1858 rifles on their shoulders, while others dragged pack horses with disassembled Jason-style machine guns on their backs. In the middle of the ranks of the infantry, wagons with Bessemai cannons rumbled past. If you look closely, it is not difficult to see that Beauregard has reorganized his two wings, and has brought two elite divisions, the 1st and 2nd Virginia Divisions, equipped with new weapons, to the commander of the Left Wing Army, Thomas Brown. Under the unified command of Brigadier General Jackson.

The brigadier general's army will be the first to cross the Potomac River and meet the enemy's swiftest counterattack! And this is Jérôme. The heart of the battle plan proposed by Peel!

That's when it happened. Three knights in civilian clothes galloped over and saw the commander's flag. Knowing that General Beauregaard was here, he hurried over on horseback, and after answering the command, he came to Beauregard. The three of them were sweating profusely, and they reined in their horses in front of Beauregard's horse, saluted and reported loudly: "Mr. Commander, the army of the Yankees has left Washington, and there are seventy or eighty thousand men!" ”

Beauregard sighed and asked, "Did you cross the river?" ”

"No, heading north into Maryland."

The American brigadier general took out a pencil and drew two arrows on it and handed it to Jérôme. Pierre.

"Leesburg, let's cross the Potomac River into Maryland there. On the other side of Leesburg are large wheat fields, and the terrain is flat, just for the decisive battle. ”

Jérôme. Peel nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Brigadier General, there is only one chance to severely damage the Pomatok Legion!" ”

"No problem! After winning on the banks of the Pomatok River, I will command the army in pursuit all the way to Washington! In order to cover the retreat of the Lincoln administration, the Pomatok Corps had no choice but to fight to the death! Speaking of this, Beauretgaard suddenly smiled, "And Pomatok Legion Owen. MacDowell was a fool who liked to think he was smart, and although he had studied in France, he had little practical experience, and only worked as a staff officer and adjutant, and he liked to formulate overly complicated offensive plans. I think this time will be no different. ”

He beckoned backwards, and several staff officers immediately rode over.

Beauretgaard instructed: "Give Brigadier General Jackson an order to command the 1st Virginia Division to cross the river with pontoon bridges, and then immediately construct fortifications, lay out defenses, and wait for the 2nd Division to cross the river." The action must be fast, the bridge must be completed before 12 o'clock tomorrow night, and the first division must complete the river crossing before dawn tomorrow, and at the same time complete the tactical development while crossing the river, and be ready to attack the Yankees at any time! ”

……

"We're going to wipe out the Southerners!"

At the same time, sitting on horseback and watching the mighty march under his command, the commander of the Potomac Regiment of the Federal Army, Owen . Brigadier General McDowell was also full of confidence.

"Yes, Mr. Brigadier General, we have 80,000 men, and the other side has a maximum of 50,000 men, and we will definitely win." A man in his thirties named James. Garfield's major adjutant said kindly.

"It's not just about victory! It is also necessary to completely annihilate the opponent, at least more than two-thirds, and the south will completely lose the capital to fight! McDowell said as if talking to himself. The sooner this damn civil war ends, the better. If it drags on all the time, who knows how many smaller moves the Europeans and Orientals will make! ”

He thought for a moment and turned his head to look at Major Garfield: "James, record my order, let Joseph. Brigadier General Mansfield commanded the First Army to cross the river downstream of the Great Falls, break into Virginia, and then advance slowly along the Topomac River, while searching with cavalry, and if the Confederates showed signs of retreat, they immediately advanced in the direction of Manassas, trying to block the Southerners there. ”

James. Garfield hurriedly took out his notebook to record it, he seemed to want to make sure, and asked again: "General, did the First Army all cross the river?" ”

Now the Potomac Army has a total of four corps, divided into one, but there are only three corps of 60,000 people, and the opponent may be as many as 50,000, which seems to be unreliable!

"Yes, all across the Pomatok River!" McDowell repeated, then ordered, "Go and give Nathaniel again. Brigadier General Banks ordered his Second Army to hasten its advance, and to occupy Germantown, Clarksburg, and Gaithersburg in one part this evening, and to deploy a defence immediately. By tomorrow morning, one of them is to arrive at Frederick to defend and send cavalry to search the banks of the Pomatok River. If it is found that the southern Yankees are crossing the river, they will be attacked and disturbed. ”

"Mr. Brigadier General, what is the standard for harassment delay?" James. Garfield said more, not that he wanted to talk more, but that he knew very well the current Union army officer.

Although the Americans have a strong militia tradition, the number of officers cannot be compared with that of Europe or even the Ming Dynasty -- after all, the previous Federal Army was only a pocket army of more than 10,000 people, how many excellent officers could there be? And a third of them resigned and went to the South. A third were either in California in case of a possible Ming invasion or a Chinese uprising, or they were simply surrounded in fortresses in the southern states. The current 200,000-odd federal troops are organized entirely from the remaining one-third of the federal army plus elite militia volunteers from the northeastern states, and a large number of soldiers and even civilians with some prestige and ability (Garfield himself is a civilian) have been promoted to officers. These guys certainly have a lot of courage, but it is simply unrealistic for them to perform tasks that are too complex and require judgment based on the shape of the battlefield.

McDowell touched his beard and thought, "Well, let Brigadier General Banks take it personally, he is an excellent professional soldier, and he should know how to do it." (To be continued......)