In the middle of the night. In the summer the water rises sharply above the Potomac. Dozens of small boats and hundreds of thousands of figures are busy surging. Truckloads of timber were brought in. The boats were fixed and nailed together. Several military pontoon bridges were rapidly stretching towards the east bank of the river in the night. It was the sappers of the Northern Virginia Regiment of the Union Army that carried out the construction. Although the army of Lao Mei in this era was very amateurish, their sappers were really good. This era was the era of large-scale construction and construction in the United States, and it was not at all difficult to find some construction workers even in the less industrialized south. Moreover, the military academies of the United States, whether it is West Point or Virginia, are famous for their civil engineering -- the military of the United States is too small to arrange too many officers, and it is good to learn the ability to build houses and build roads, so you can mix up with an architect or something. So the task of building a bridge over the Potomac River did not bother these Southern hillbillies who wanted to go to Washington and New York to reason. Sappers were sweating with shovels, hammers, and saws, and several pontoon bridges were quickly erected.

Also in the darkness of the night, the vanguard of the 1st Virginia Division was also moving nervously. They arrived at the banks of the Potomac River during daylight yesterday, collected a few small wooden boats, and crossed the river in batches. Then a bridgehead was created on the east bank of the Potomac River, a cordon was opened. Prevent the Northern Army from interfering with the construction of pontoon bridges.

The first to arrive at them was the militia of Maryland, who were actually mobs with guns, lurking in the wheat fields and shooting cold guns or something, but their commanders didn't know what medicine they had taken wrong, and they actually gathered a team of thousands of people. The horizontal formation was opened. Beat the drums. Shouting slogans to defend the Union and defend Maryland, the vanguard of the 1st Virginia Division went head-to-head. Easily routed by well-trained Virginia soldiers with the precision of Jason-style rifles, they left behind hundreds of corpses and retreated to the nearby town of Poolsville to hold on.

And the vanguard of the 1st Virginia Division did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, but began to dig fortifications and lay barbed wire obstacles according to the orders of their superiors. And the Maryland militia in the town of Poolesville was staring at each other like this. I don't know how to send someone to reason. By daybreak, a group of Northern cavalry drove to the town of Poolsville, and then began their raid mission......

June 9, 1861, Maryland, east bank of the Potomac River.

Gunshots rang out sporadically. It seems like there is never a time to break off. Three pontoon bridges have already crossed the Potomac River, and brigades of soldiers are lining up to cross the river. The size of the Confederate bridgehead has also expanded several times compared to last night, and it has reached the small town of Poolsville.

The whole of the Southern Army, which had already crossed the river, did not care about fatigue, and they were all working in sweat, and almost no one rested, from officers to soldiers. Units of three regiments had already crossed the river, and supplies and artillery began to be brought in waves. Old Peel and Chen Yucheng also crossed the river with Beauret's headquarters, and the two of them went to the front line with a few attachés, and they were lying in the trench watching the battle while wondering.

At this time, the Northern Army was coming in large numbers. However, no large-scale offensive was launched, only a small number of cavalry were used to harass and discharge guns. Trying to contain the Yugoslav army's river crossing operation. But what is puzzling is that the cavalry of the Northern Army is actually equipped with the latest Jason-style rifles!

"It's all Jason-1858? Chen, are you sure that only 20,000 of these rifles were sold to the Yankees? ”

Old Peel, whose eyes were red from sleepless night, sat on top of a small horse at the bottom of the trench, frowning and questioning.

"100% sure! Smith. The Wesson plant can only supply up to 10,000 pieces, with another 10,000 pieces shipped from the UK. Moreover, the point 38 barrel used in the Jason-style rifle is only produced in the United States at the Birmingham steel mill, and it will take a while for the Northerners to be able to imitate it, right? ”

Chen Yucheng thought for a moment and said, "Maybe the northerners assigned the Jason-style rifles to the cavalry and skirmishers, so that the infantry can continue to use the old-fashioned front-loading guns?" ”

Old Peel shook his head in disbelief. "That would be stupid, by the way, is there any information on that?"

"Nope." Chen Yucheng shook his head, "These are all reports related to military movements and recruitment, and President Lincoln is very determined to maintain the unity of the Union!" A new conscription decree is being prepared to expand the federal army to 500,000 men! He lowered his voice and said in Chinese, "Don't you think it's necessary for us to wait until Lincoln expands his army before attacking?" ”

Old Peel glanced at Chen Yucheng: "Do you really know how to fight?" Don't you see how much difference there is between the strength of the South and the North? If you don't take advantage of the current reason, you won't be able to keep it in the future! ”

At this time, a small group of knights of the Northern Army had already touched the front of the position of the Southern Army. Their horses were far behind, and their four legs became two. Quietly touched along the boundless wheat field, and approached to observe the movements of the Southern army. Leading the team was a colonel of the Northern Army named William. Sherman. He was a cavalry regiment commander under Brigadier General Banks, commanding an elite cavalry regiment based on the "old army". Unlike the French army, which did not attach much importance to cavalry (of course, it is now the French army), the United States of America still retains a fairly strong cavalry, and it is all musketeers. Equipped with the most advanced Jason-style rifles - Chen Yucheng guessed right, the Union Army did give advanced breech-loading guns to cavalry and skirmishers, and let serious infantry continue to use front-loading guns (as has been the case historically).

On the orders of Brigadier General Banksy, he commanded the troops to attack and harass the opponent. However, after some fighting, he found that the opponent's combat method was very strange! It's not that it's just a dignified swing to fight, but that I don't know where to hide and shoot cold! And...... The marksmanship was extremely accurate, and the cavalry under his command was often beaten on his back without even seeing the shadow of the enemy. After inexplicably losing a dozen cavalrymen, he decisively ordered his troops to retreat to a distance of 1,500 yards to fire their guns.

However, this famous general of the Federation Army in history is very afraid of heaven and earth, and under the cover of wheat fields, he almost touched the front of the barbed wire of the Southern Army.

Barbed wire is not a rare thing in the United States, and farmers and ranchers in the United States like to use barbed wire to fence off their land, so it is a product that is in high demand, and there are many factories that produce it. Both the Southern Army and the Northern Army have purchased a lot. Therefore, the southern army was also more wasteful when it was used, and pulled out three barbed wire fences, all of which were nailed into the soil with large wooden stakes. Obviously, there is no way to break through these three obstacles with cavalry.

The Yugoslav positions behind the barbed wire fence seem to be in full swing of construction. You can still faintly hear the rumbling movement of cars and horses and the sound of neat steps. Sherman lay in the middle of the wheat field, scanning the Confederate positions over and over again with a telescope, although he saw nothing concrete except the barbed wire, not even a few Confederate soldiers. But he still instinctively felt the danger, as if there was some kind of Longtan tiger's den on the other side!

Just as he was pondering whether to shoot a few shots to test it, his rich man climbed up with two of his men out of breath, covered his ears and whispered: "Sir, Brigadier General Banks has come up, and he has also brought the 7th and 8th Divisions, and he has ordered our regiment to prepare for battle!" ”

Sherman was taken aback: "What is the brigadier going to do?" The adjutant said with certainty: "The brigadier general wants to launch a tentative attack to find out the enemy, and if possible, it would be good to drive the Southerners back to the other side of the Potomac in one fell swoop." ”

"Attack with infantry?" Sherman shook his head slightly.

Although Europe and the Ming Dynasty experienced a military revolution before and after the war against Russia, the United States was not affected much. Sherman, who worked as a cavalry instructor at the Midwestern Military Academy in Iowa, didn't know anything about how to build barbed wire and squat in a pit stream. But when he saw the position of the Southern Army with his own eyes, he still instinctively felt that something was wrong. Very bad! (To be continued......)