Although the fast column is equipped with a large number of carriages and its transportation capacity is stronger than that of ordinary troops, the core is still a fast word, so in terms of attacking fortifications, it is worse than the regular infantry army, after all, they only brought some infantry guns, not large-caliber siege guns.

Therefore, the main role of this 30,000-strong fast column is to make surprise attacks, and once a regular battle is fought, when the opponent has a relatively resolute resistance, the combat effectiveness will be somewhat insufficient.

After a tentative assault was thwarted, Stuart decisively stopped letting his troops continue to die, and quickly led his troops back two kilometers before stopping.

"Damn, that's a tough bone!" Seeing that his own people had suffered a lot of casualties in the previous tentative attack, Stuart shook his head, "It's really unlucky, why do you think they are so bold, if they run away quickly, I won't have to work so hard?" ”

"General." The adjutant ignored the other party's complaints, and continued to ask responsibly, "Obviously, the other side resists resolutely, and also deploys a large number of heavy artillery, both in terms of range and power, which are stronger than our infantry artillery. ”

"I know, of course I do, and I don't need you to remind you, Lieutenant Colonel Ballmer." Stuart pouted, "I'm trying to attack, it's a temptation, and I don't really want to fight each other." ”

"So what do we do next?" The adjutant who was called Lieutenant Colonel Ballmer said, "Just stay here and stare at it?" It's getting dark, so you have to find a place to camp, right? ”

"Camping, do you just think about camping?" Brigadier General Stuart frowned.

"What can we do now if we don't camp?" Lieutenant Colonel Ballmer shrugged, "It's obvious that we can't take this place, it's better to retreat back first, find a place to settle down, and then confront the other party, no matter who you can say." ”

"No, no, no, we can't do that." Stuart shook his head. "In this way, we will lose our greatest support, and we will completely become a stupid infantryman."

"What do you mean, General?"

"Get around this damn Bradensburg!" Stuart waved his hand, "Our whole army is going to Washington!" Hmph, I don't believe that Washington is so hard to bite! ”

"Bypassing Bradensburg?" Lieutenant Colonel Ballmer was stunned when he heard Stuart say this, "General, I have to warn you that once we do this, we will be giving up the back road to the defenders here. Once our attack on Washington is frustrated, we will face two sides of the attack, and when the time comes, we will be completely annihilated in an instant. ”

"No, it won't." Stuart waved his hand, "We have stronger mobility, even if we can't beat it, we can always run, and there is no danger in this area, almost all of them are flat." Relying on the speed of our horses, we can completely ignore this and hit Washington first. I remember there wasn't much cavalry here in Washington, just some infantry. So we don't have to worry about being surrounded at all. ”

"I have to warn you, sir." Ballmer retorted, "It's a nice place around here, but it's mostly farmland. And our army is a carriage army, not a pure cavalry, and it cannot do without the road. Once in the field, the wheels quickly sink into the mud and may be slower than the infantry.

In short, our troops cannot do without the road, but there are only a few roads here that can take carriages, and when the time comes, they only need to block the road, and we will not be able to advance or retreat, even if we are completely surrounded, we will not be able to rush out at all.

So, you are counting on attacks against Washington, which is simply not going to work. ”

Hearing him say this, Stuart was stunned: "Is that so?" Our troops, unable to leave the road? ”

"Of course it is!" Ballmer said loudly, "Your Excellency, I know that you used to be a good cavalry commander, and you are a good commander of cavalry, but I will say that although we have a lot of horses and vehicles, we are really still an infantry, a relatively fast infantry with strong firepower!"

For us, the carriage is just a means of transport, it is used for our personnel and equipment, but it is not for combat, and you expect to use us as cavalry, it will not work at all! ”

"So, you think there's something wrong with my tactics? It simply doesn't work? The corners of Stuart's mouth curled.

"Nope." Ballmer shook his head, "I'm just doing my job as an adjutant to give you some details and tell you some of the realities of the situation, what to do, of course, you have the final say, Your Excellency Brigadier General." ”

"Very good, you did a good job, I am so lucky to have you as my adjutant." Stuart smiled and nodded.

This James? Ever? Brown? Brigadier General Stuart, who is only 31 years old this year, is a veritable young man, and the reason why he became a brigadier general at such a young age is because he was brave and good at fighting in previous battles, and he was forged with a lot of merit. Lee's favor would have been relevant if it weren't for Robert. Li's promotion, even if he had made great achievements in the past, it was impossible for him to take charge so quickly.

In any case, the Stuart general, though often confused, was confused about some details, such as now, he did not understand the difference between cavalry and carriage men. But it is undeniable that he is very brave and full of action, and he must do whatever comes to mind, even if it will be difficult for his ideas to be realized.

In short, this is a man who is brave and tenacious in battle, flexible in tactics, but does not like to be told by others, although he has been out of a lot of baskets before, but on the whole, he is still a very good commander.

"Your Excellency, Brigadier General." Ballmer didn't appreciate it very much, and continued to say in a rigid way, "You haven't made a decision yet, so many people are waiting for your orders." ”

"Well, order, yes." Stuart nodded, "In this case, we will set up camp five kilometers back, and then we will surround all the carriages in a circle and use them as a camp, and as for the horses, we will unload them all for me, and find a group of guys who can ride horses, and ride them to fight with me."

Well, in this way, these people can be considered cavalry, and at worst dragoons (mounted infantry), I should be fine with these people to harass Washington, right? ”

"Why do you have to take the risk? Checkmate? Ballmer couldn't help but ask, "You saw that too." Washington is already on guard, and even if we attack them, we can't do much with our people, and it's just a waste of body and horsepower.

Wouldn't it be good for us to retreat quietly, and then set up camp, and then inform the rear? Originally, our purpose was to try to attack, wasn't it?

Since the other party is not easy to fight, we should try our best to go back, otherwise, in case the other party has any back-up. It's not good to surround us. ”

"You don't have to worry about this, I'll ask you if you can do it." Stuart narrowed his eyes, "Attention, I'm the boss of this army!" ”

"Yes, I see, General." Ballmer nodded, "I'll arrange it now, but I can't say how many people can be qualified for the cavalry mission." ”

"Then do it!" Stuart Road. "Stop talking nonsense with me!"

Ballmer quietly saluted Stuart, and sure enough, he quickly went to give the order, and with this order, the entire carriage unit immediately got on the carriage and turned around. At the beginning, the front team changed into the rear team, and quickly retreated backwards.

After retreating five kilometers, they stopped again and formed a large circle around the vehicle. A circular barricade was erected, and several wooden fences and barbed wire fences were arranged outside, which was considered to be the completion of a defensive position.

Afterwards. The horses of the entire army began to be counted together, and it was found that the total number was more than 7,600, which was enough to form two or three cavalry regiments in terms of horse retention.

However, although there are a lot of horses, and these horses are basically dual-purpose horses, which can be used as cavalry horses, the problem is that there are too few qualified riders, and less than 3,000 of the entire 30,000-strong army can ride horses!

This is not difficult to understand, as Ballmer said, although this army has a horse character, but in the end, it is still an infantry. In this team, the role of the horses is appropriately used as a traction power, and the purpose is to pull the carriage that carries people.

Therefore, the most important thing in this unit is infantry tactics, so there are no cavalry.

You know, cavalry is an expensive class of troops in this era, not just a grasp can be made, and horses are also very expensive resources in this era, even in the United States, in the Southern Union, the value of horses is similar to the brand-name sports cars of later generations, they can only be raised by rich people, ordinary people can't afford to raise horses, let alone play horses.

Moreover, even if you can afford to raise a horse, you don't necessarily have to ride a horse, and even if you can ride a horse, it is not the same thing as becoming a qualified cavalryman.

In short, the cavalry of the Confederate countries is also an important type of troops, and it is impossible to be placed in this carriage army at will, so in this fast column, the soldiers are basically infantry, and they are basically poor, and not many people can ride horses.

"Damn, how can this be?" Seeing that there were only more than 2,800 riders who could ride horses, Stuart finally became angry and waved his fist at his lieutenant Ballmer, "Are you kidding me?" Why are you so human? ”

"This is already all the people who can ride horses." Ballmer shrugged, "I said earlier, we are a more mobile infantry, and it is okay to ride in a carriage, but to talk about horseback riding...... Unfortunately, not everyone has the money to buy a horse. ”

"Okay, I get it." Stuart nodded helplessly, "This TM is an infantry!" A not-so-pure infantryman! ”

"That's right, I told you a long time ago, General." Ballmer said, "So, are you still going to play cavalry tactics now?" It depends on the ...... of less than 3,000 people Well, a guy who can only ride a horse? ”

"What about this......" Seeing this, Stuart really began to hesitate.

Indeed, according to Stuart's original estimate, how can these more than 30,000 people pull out 5,000 cavalry and launch an attack on Washington with this cavalry, the effect should be good.

However, if there were less than 3,000 men, and they were all rookies with no cavalry training, then the situation would be different.

According to the information obtained in Baltimore, although Washington does not have many troops at the moment, but that is not much relative, and it is estimated that it is not enough for the 300,000 army, but if there are only 30,000 troops, it is completely different.

Not to mention anything else, the Bradensburg in front of me alone is initially estimated to have more than 30,000 people, which is not less than its own people, and this place is stuck on the only way to Washington in Baltimore, so it is a strategic place that cannot be bypassed no matter what.

Of course, it's a strategic location, but it doesn't matter at all. It is true that by cavalry assault, it is possible to break through to the city of Washington, but after that, what will be done after that?

If there were 5,000 cavalry, Stuart would dare to take a risk, after all, he was more mobile, and left his troops here to contain Bradensburg, according to the information he had obtained before, Washington should not have many troops to deal with his own cavalry, and it is more likely that he will not be able to go out. Defend yourself in Washington.

In this way, Stuart's goal was achieved, he didn't plan to really threaten Washington with cavalry at all, he just wanted to show off his might in the past, put some pressure on Washington, and by the way, burn and loot outside, and hit the morale of the other party.

Stuart did this in order to plunder wealth, after all, when the city of Washington was designed. There were no strong walls, so they had to rely on the buildings of the city itself as fortresses to fight the enemy in the streets.

There is no doubt that Washington is empty of troops. If they divide part of their forces to Brydensburg, their own troops will be somewhat insufficient, and they will inevitably give priority to guarding buildings such as the White House and the Parliament Building, and will not strictly guard the residential buildings on the periphery.

This gave Stuart a chance. He could loot some homes outside and set a few more fires along the way, even if he couldn't burn Washington down. It can also cause chaos for them and make it easier for them to get out.

All in all, the attack on the capital, Washington, D.C., was a sweet bait that had always tempted Stuart, and by this merit alone, even if he stayed here and did nothing, he would still receive a heavy reward after the war, not to mention that the wealth he had plundered before would also be his own.

However, there is a premise for this, that is, the defenders of Washington are not strong enough to take the initiative, and once they take the initiative, they can only flee in disgrace.

Therefore, in the face of this possibility, the attacking troops can only be fast cavalry, and there must be enough of them, otherwise they will not be able to oppress the defenders of Washington, and they will naturally not be afraid to stick to the center of the city, and let themselves burn and loot outside.

At the same time, the attacking cavalry had to be very strong, completely under Stuart's command, and able to do it like his fingers, so that he could complete such a difficult tactical operation in the face of two sides of Washington City and Bradensburg.

But now, there are less than 3,000 people here who can ride horses, and they can't be said to be qualified cavalrymen at all.

If nothing else, what if the other side still has cavalry? No more, only 1,000 people, no, as long as 500 professional cavalry, these people will have to go and never return.

"Well, you're right, Ballmer." Eventually, Stuart sighed, held back the greed in his heart, and shook his head, "My idea is really not mature, well, at least these guys can't bother Washington." ”

"A wise decision, Your Excellency." Ballmer also exhaled, he was really afraid that his bold general would make that kind of move, it would be enough to bear, after all, as an adjutant, he also had to act together.

"Pass my orders." Stuart waved his hand listlessly, "Heighten your vigilance, well, send another herald to report the situation here to General Jackson, quickly!" ”

"Yes, General!" Ballmer immediately saluted, indicating that he would carry out his orders immediately.

In this way, Stuart's rapid column came in a hurry, but because of the lack of ability to attack the fortifications, it stopped at the city of Bradensburg, did not boldly abandon here, and sent troops straight to Washington.

As it turned out, this was a big mistake made by Stuart, because at this time, Washington had no troops, and even President Lincoln himself had personally arrived in Bradensburg the day before, and also gave a stirring pre-war speech.

In other words, Washington now has only a few policing police forces, and it is a veritable undefended city, and the real focus of defense is on Brydensburg.

This is also Lincoln's strategy, which is to put the defensive forces in Brydensburg and concentrate the defense, so that not only can make full use of the favorable terrain of Brydensburg, where it can snipe the enemy, but also in the event of defeat, Washington can avoid the fire.

In other words, Lincoln deliberately turned Washington into an undefended city in order to protect Washington from being caught in the flames of war.

And he concentrated his troops in Fort Bradens, a suburb of Washington, because it was the only place to enter Washington, and any normal general would not leave Bradensburg alone and make a detour to attack Washington behind, which was too dangerous and completely self-defeating.

Therefore, this is actually an empty plan played by Lincoln, once Stuart really sends troops to bypass Brydensburg and directly attack Washington behind, it will definitely succeed, and at that time, Washington will be destroyed, and the defense of Brydensburg will be in jeopardy, because the defenders will become unwilling.

Fortunately, Stuart, though emboldened, held back and, as Lincoln had expected, stopped across from Bradensburg and began a serious confrontation with Bradensburg. Of course, even if Stuart wanted to mess up, the defenders of Brydensburg would not let him succeed lightly, but if the other side found out, the situation would not be good.

In short, Stuart's actions allowed Washington behind Brydensburg to escape, and it can even be said that it greatly changed the course of the war and the fate of the United States. (To be continued......)