Although Burnside's attack on the Chinese this time was a desperate gamble with no way out, it was at the strategic level, and in terms of tactics, he was still quite cautious, not brutally and hard, but formulated more than one tactical plan in advance.

For example, the previous strategy of attacking the camp of the expeditionary force with three infantry, plus one cavalry division attacking the port fleet, is Plan A, also known as the Quick Attack Plan.

The so-called Plan B, also called the fatigue tactic, or the wheel tactic, means that once the three-way attack cluster fails to achieve a quick attack, it will be divided into multiple waves of small forces, each wave of 5,000 to 10,000 people, to carry out a continuous and uninterrupted attack on the Chinese camp to exhaust the enemy and consume the spirit of the defenders.

In other words, Plan B is a water mill effort, that is, relying on the advantage of a large number of people, taking turns to fight with the Chinese for consumption, even if their own losses in this process will be a little greater, but they are numerous and can afford to consume, the Chinese only have more than 20,000, plus the fleet's sailors and soldiers are not more than 25,000, under this attrition tactic, they will definitely be exhausted, and when the Chinese are not able to do it, they will launch a fatal blow.

I think that at the beginning, when Grant fought Vicksburg, he used this tactic, that is, it was clear that there were few people who bullied you, and then I constantly tired you, if it were not for the Chinese inserting a jar, the original Vicksburg would definitely fall under this tactic, and in another history, Vicksburg did fall under this tactic.

However, unlike when Grant fought Vicksburg, the firepower of the defending side at this time was much stronger than that of the besieging side, and the supply was also stronger than that of the attacking side, so this so-called tired enemy tactic was naturally more brutal than ordinary siege warfare, because Burnside understood that in order to really make the defenders nervous. If you can't rest normally, you must continue to maintain a certain amount of pressure, if the pressure is too small, it will not work, and if the pressure is high, your own casualties will inevitably increase.

But by this time, Burnside couldn't care about casualties or casualties, and if they couldn't beat this Chinese camp and get the supplies inside, they wouldn't be able to walk back anyway. After all, the entire New Virginia Legion now only has seven days of rations, and as soon as the seven days are over, they will run out of food, and it is better to fight with them than to run out of food and lose.

In this way, Burnside quickly had three green flares fired into the sky, and the three flares stated that they were asking everyone to carry out Plan B.

Not to mention the first attack cluster where Burnside personally sits, although the commanders of the other two attack groups were also saddened by the loss of the previous attack, they also knew that there was no turning back when they opened their bows, so they could only fight hard. Anyway, it was the small soldiers below who died in the end, and even if they failed in the end, they could still surrender to the Chinese and rely on their status as senior officers. I don't think I will be too much troubled.

That is to say, compared with the blood of grassroots officers, the middle and senior officers of the New Virginia Regiment are quite realistic people, and the reason why they are willing to fight the Chinese. In addition to the orders of Burnside, the supreme commander, the main thing is that the people below want to fight, and they are already somewhat disobedient. Otherwise, they don't want to fight the Chinese.

After all, compared with the simple-minded young grassroots officers who were brainwashed by Lincoln's fools, these middle- and high-ranking officers above the rank of lieutenant colonel are all old fritters who have been in the army for many years, although they also have a patriotic heart, and they also want the United States of America to maintain unity and oppose separatism, but in fact, in their hearts, they do not feel that there is only one way to unify the south from the north.

In other words, these officers in the army did not buy Lincoln's so-called policy of emancipating black slaves, they never thought that blacks could be compared to them, that it was normal for blacks to be slaves, and that starting a war with the South for this idea, leading the country to split, and even making foreign invasions take the opportunity to make everyone unhappy, Lincoln was to take the majority, and that Davis in the South won their sympathy.

Of course, if it was before the Chinese, the British and the French entered the war, these middle and senior officers would never think so, after all, although the Union Army at that time was also defeated and won less when facing the Union Army, but the overall strength was much stronger than that of the South, and no one would believe that they would lose, so from the perspective of the doomed victors, these officers were still quite in favor of crusading against the Southern rebellion.

But now it is different, due to the participation of the Chinese, the western front of the Union Army has been defeated in successive battles, and they are all large-scale strategic defeats, several ace legions have been completely annihilated, and even triggered a chain reaction, and finally the Union Army lost too much blood, so that Lincoln had to start a more extreme dictatorship.

In this way, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the life of the federal army is not good, especially in the face of the joint strangulation of the three forces of the Chinese, the alliance army and the British and French coalition forces, the situation in the federal state is really getting more and more difficult, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is sinister.

Of course, if it was a pure foreign invasion, they might have fought back, but if they thought about it, it might not be a bad thing if the North failed completely. Because if the North and the South are inseparable, then the United States may really be divided into two countries, but if the North completely fails and the Southern Army is allowed to occupy all the northern territories, then in fact the United States is still the United States, at most it is just a change of president and a few policies, and it is estimated that these officers will not be subjected to too much trouble.

This trend of thought has recently become more and more vigorous in the upper classes of the United States of America, and in addition to the rebellion of the agents of the Southern government, it is also related to President Lincoln's New Deal, because Lincoln wants to engage in dictatorship, which must have touched the interests of the big capitalists, so they have gradually turned from supporting Lincoln at the beginning to opposing it.

If Lincoln hadn't been in control of the military, a powerful secret service organization, and full control of the Diet and the Grand Court, I am afraid that the bill to impeach him from office would have begun long ago.

But in any case, these ideas that it is better to surrender to the south have also affected those officers in the army, especially the middle and senior officers who are about to face defeat, so in their opinion, once they fight with the Chinese, even if they lose, they just need to surrender, but if they win, then they will gain fame and fortune.

It is in this mindset that it is. They are so obedient and seem to have the courage to lead troops to fight the Chinese, but in fact, they are more speculators, and compared with the uninformed American soldiers below who think they are really cannon fodder to defend the country, they are not at the same level at all.

Similarly, Burnside actually had the same idea, and the reason why he returned halfway and fought with the Chinese was that the petition of the low-level soldiers was just a fuse. It's not that he can't control the army, he has to be coerced.

You know, at that time, although some people at the grassroots level of the army were dissatisfied with abandoning the infected people, running away privately, and not daring to fight the Chinese face to face, such people were actually a minority, and most people could still breathe a sigh of relief for rushing back to the rear in time to safety. It's just that there is indeed some depression in the bottom of my heart, which is true.

But Burnside thought about it on the road, and even the soldiers below were dissatisfied, let alone President Lincoln, once he did not fight the Chinese decently. Deserting the flu soldiers and fleeing back, it may be nothing for the time being, but after a long time, President Lincoln will know. I'm afraid that he can't fool these little tricks, maybe Lincoln will be informed one moment ago, and the next moment the man in black in the White House who came to arrest him will be on his way.

Burnside, though, also had a deep affection for the United States of America. I don't like the division of the country, and I don't have a good feeling for the Chinese, the British and the French, but he actually has no resentment towards the southern rebels, more of a different position, and even some sympathy, after all, from the bottom of his heart, Burnside also hates black slaves and does not like to emancipate black slaves.

In addition, Burnside also valued personal honor and personal life, and he felt that he would shed his blood for the United States, but he did not want to die for Lincoln, who had become a dictator.

Therefore, it is clear that he is the hero who went back with the troops intact, but in Lincoln's eyes, it is likely that he is afraid of the enemy and cowardly, and in today's atmosphere, it is possible to be caught and sentenced, put in prison or even shot.

These thoughts, the situation was urgent before, and he didn't expect it, but when he put down his burden and really abandoned the flu soldiers and ran away, they popped up little by little, making him more and more upset.

In the end, it was these fears of Lincoln that prevailed, and together with the petitions of several soldiers, he took the opportunity to change course and return, determined to abandon Yiqiē and fight the Chinese to the death.

In order to persuade those middle and high-ranking officers, Bernside had to tell them the truth, telling them that your operation looks risky, but in fact it is nothing, after all, you are all high-ranking officers, as long as you are not so unlucky, even if you are defeated, it will be okay, at most surrender, according to the general rules of engagement in the world at this time, there will generally be no disadvantage to officers who surrender in battle, even if the Chinese who have just stepped into the threshold of the great powers, it seems that they have done a very good job in this regard.

On the contrary, if you go back like this, the soldiers below will be fine, and the law will not be held accountable to the people, and they will not be responsible, but you high-ranking officers will be different, and you may be captured by Lincoln's agents as a model of Liwei.

It was because of this that everyone willingly led the troops over, and impassionedly fooled the people below, and let the people below attack with all their lives.

Anyway, they all understand that the harder they fight, the more heroic they are, and if they win, even if they are defeated, they will gain respect, anyway, no matter whether they win or lose, they will have benefits.

It was precisely under the impetus of this idea that although they were somewhat heartbroken by the losses of their men, they were already like this anyway, and after seeing the signal, they all carried out continuous attacks on the Chinese camp in accordance with the established Plan B.

Due to the lack of firepower of the Americans, their method was to disperse the personnel more and more, and then advance to a certain point, for example, after the enemy's artillery range, they quickly lay down, while blindly firing, while shouting loudly, and at the same time crawling forward, creating a kind of opportunity to attack posture.

Since there were 10,000 people attacking each time, and it was a large scattered army line attack, plus it was still covered with white cloth, or three simultaneous attacks, that is, an attack of more than 30,000 people in three directions, the momentum caused was still huge, so that the Chinese did not dare to take it lightly, and could only continue to use artillery to fight back.

To put it bluntly, this method is to consume the other party's firepower, and Burnside does not believe that the Chinese are trapped here, how much firepower can be consumed.

Not to mention, this method is quite useful, because once the Chinese's firepower weakens and the artillery density decreases, those feints of the US troops will accelerate closer to the Chinese's positions, and their blind shooting sometimes has a lot of effects, although the damage to the Chinese is minimal, more than 30,000 people shooting. It can only cause single-digit damage, but it still causes tension among the Chinese.

In addition, the advantage of the US military in being numerous and overwhelming was also brought into full play; they attacked during the day and at night; anyway, they took turns 24 hours a day to send people to find gaps around the Chinese positions to attack, and at one point they even advanced to a place only 500 meters from the front of the position, and they all encountered the first layer of barbed wire.

The Americans were outnumbered, and arrangements were made in advance as to which troops would attack. Which unit is on standby and which unit is resting are all in good order, fully bringing the essence of wheel warfare into full play, but the Chinese, on the contrary, did not anticipate this hand, did not arrange the troops at different levels, and have always been nervous, and only lasted two days before they were exhausted.

Although Li Yongji later discovered this situation in time. Soon let the troops take turns to rest, but after all, the overall number of the expeditionary force is small, and the defensive range of the camp is very large, even if there are rapid-fire weapons and advanced reconnaissance equipment. But I still don't dare to take it lightly, and the front-line position still needs to have enough soldiers.

After three days of back and forth, the attacking Americans became more and more accustomed to the rhythm of the Chinese, although the casualties were still not small. But it is much smaller than it was at the beginning, thanks to the fact that the Americans have mastered the strategy of crawling forward.

And. During this period, the Americans, while exhausting the Chinese with continuous attacks, used sufficient manpower to begin to dig trenches in reverse, that is, first digging trenches vertically, trying their best to approach the opponent's camp and then digging trenches horizontally, expanding the attack line, and then continuing to dig trenches forward after they were stable.

Taking advantage of this method, in only three and a half days, more than a dozen criss-crossing trenches, which had spread out with the three attack clusters as the center, were dug 500 meters outside the first line of the expeditionary force's position, and the first layer of barbed wire had already come into contact with it, and it began to continue to extend forward.

In this process, the expeditionary forces did not fail to discover, but in the face of such trenches, they did not have many methods, and the effect of using ordinary shells was very poor. Burn. Although the effect of the bullet is okay, it is greatly reduced because of the ice and snow, so it is not good overall.

Of course, Li Yongji is not without any way to this, for example, he still has some PF97 type 93mm individual cloud burst shells on hand, but this thing is not many in number, and the price is expensive, and it seems to be overkill to deal with the Americans who are obviously cannon fodder, after all, human life does not seem to be a problem for the Americans on the other side, which was originally kept as a killer weapon and used as a fortress.

Considering that the war will continue, after all, the other side still has a strong living force, so in the end, Li Yongji still chose to mobilize more sharpshooters to the front line, and then use cheap and sufficient Type 85 sniper rifles to snipe at the other side, focusing on sniping those who dig trenches.

You know, when the camp was set up, because the terrain here in Smithland was relatively low, and it was the intersection of two river estuaries, so when the Chinese made the camp, they chose a soil slope highland, and then filled in the soil, so it was much higher than the surrounding area.

Because the position is higher than the surroundings, even if the opponent completes the tactics of trench penetration, the artillery shells may not be so accurate, but if large-scale sniper tactics are used, it is still quite effective, or in other words, it is a cost-effective tactic.

The Type 85 sniper rifle was born from SVD, and because of the cost performance, it is not a special sniper rifle cartridge used, but a Type 53 7.62 mm machine gun cartridge, which means that it can be used with a machine gun, which causes this rifle Although the effective range is one thousand meters, in actual use, even if it is equipped with a 4x scope, the real accurate range is only about 600 meters, and an experienced excellent shooter can hit 800 meters.

However, the distance between 600 meters and 800 meters is more than enough, especially when the total number of this specially concentrated sniper force exceeds 3,000 people, and the results obtained are especially heavy.

After all, no matter how many Americans there are, they can't let people die indefinitely, in fact, when the casualties increase to a certain point, no one will go to the front to dig a trench, which is clearly a death.

However, thanks to the cold weather, the hard ground, and the benefits of covering the surface with snow, the Americans found that it was not possible to dig open trenches, so they simply continued to dig deeper, digging trenches that were not open air, anyway, in this weather, it was still possible to only make temporary underground passages to destroy the barbed wire fence in front of them and sweep away the charging road.

So next, the Americans changed their methods, not digging open trenches, but digging tunnels, because the ground is hard, plus there is snow on the surface, the Chinese can not see their specific direction clearly, and the sniper units have lost their effect, and can only continue to bombard with shells.

In this way, as time went by, Li Yongji's expression became more and more gloomy, knowing that if this continued, the Americans would eventually rely on digging underground tunnels to dig in front of them and shorten the engagement distance with them, so that their own firepower advantage would be greatly reduced.

However, the effect of blind bombing does not seem to be good, not to mention that ordinary mortars have no effect, even the effect of naval guns is not very good, even if they can occasionally blow up a part of the tunnel, but they are outnumbered, and soon they will dig new tunnels, giving full play to the advantage of sufficient manpower.

In addition, the tentative skirmishers on the ground by the Americans have not stopped, and Li Yongji's front-line troops still have to deal with these ground attacking troops who are about to rush over if they are not careful, so it is impossible to waste all their firepower on bombing those underground tunnels.

Li Yongji thought about sending people to take the initiative to attack and blow up those tunnels, but his own troops relied heavily on motor vehicles, and the other side had strong troops, and there were skirmishers on the ground to cover them.

In the final analysis, it was the severe cold and snow that restricted the firepower and mobility of the expeditionary force, and it was reluctant to abandon these technical weapons, so it was trapped here.

However, it is not a way to let the other side keep digging underground tunnels to their own positions, once the other side digs into their own positions and comes to a center to bloom, it will be troublesome.

Fortunately, when the time entered the sixth day, when the Americans' underground tunnel was dug only 300 meters away from the Chinese position, Li Yongji's response method was also ready, and his method was to fly thunder cannons.

That's right, it's a flying thunder cannon used by the People's Liberation Army in another time and space, specially used to throw explosive packets!

This thing is not difficult to make, let Zhang Xinda temporarily process some large-caliber seamless steel pipes can be used as cannon barrels, and then bury them in the soil, and then with specially made large-caliber explosive packages, or artillery shells, you can launch explosive packages at an area within 400 meters.

Once the setting was successful, Li Yongji immediately asked people to throw explosives down as if they didn't need money, this thing is cheap and powerful, even if there is snow on the ground, even if the underground ground is hard, it can't withstand this kind of indiscriminate bombing.

Soon, the nearby tunnels were blown up, and it was impossible to continue to advance into the Chinese positions in this way.

Of course, even if the Chinese didn't use the flying thunder cannon to throw explosive packets, Burnside could not continue to carry out such a stable ground wheel attack while sending people to dig tunnels, not that he didn't want to, but that he didn't have enough time, because his troops only had one day's rations left.

In other words, Burnside has only one day left, and if he can't break through the Chinese position in the next day, it will really be over.

"The final blow." Watching the sun slowly set, Burnside clenched his fists, "Whether you win or lose, it's up to you tomorrow!" (To be continued......)