George Gordon Meade, the commander-in-chief of the Union Army personally promoted and appointed by President Lincoln, may have been discreet and duty-bound since he took office, perhaps because he knew that his qualifications were limited.

It can be said that in the current situation where the Union Army is now under enemy attack everywhere and the overall situation is at a disadvantage, the Union Army is still able to fight steadily and steadily, and there is no overall panic, President Lincoln's strong style, and the unity of the people of the United States of America are the main factors, but General Mead's careful command is also a very important factor.

Unlike other commanders-in-chief of the Union Army who like to sit in the rear, Mead prefers to be on the front line, although it is impossible to really let him go to the front line, but after he took office, he still stubbornly set up the Union Army General Headquarters in the Potomac Legion, and did not stay in the relative safety of Washington.

This is not only because the Potomac Corps is currently the most elite unit of the Federal Army, but also because this legion has the most important mission, because it is the gateway to the Eastern Theater of Operations and the first line of resistance to the Union Army.

The eastern front of the Civil War did not have a huge depth like the western theater, on the contrary, the depth between the two sides was very small, after all, Washington and Richmond were not far apart, and there was only one Potomac River between the two sides that could be used as a barrier.

It is precisely because of this that the Eastern Front during the Civil War was the most fierce and the most critical, and even if the Western Battlefield was fiercely fought, as long as the Eastern Battlefield could not make a decisive breakthrough. No one can really pose a threat to the other.

Obviously, because they all know the importance of the eastern battlefield, not only the Federation Army has sent the most elite troops to defend it. The Confederates also sent the Northern Virginia Legion, led by Robert Lee, the most elite of each other's troops.

At the beginning of the war, although it was the Union Army that was the first to fire and provoke the Northern Army, because the Northern Army was stronger, it was the Northern Army that took the initiative to attack the South most of the time, even if it suffered defeats again and again, but the initiative was always in the hands of the Northern Union Army. It's always been offensive and offensive.

However, after the First Battle of Fredericksburg, the Confederate army led by Robert Lee won a great victory. The Union Army suffered heavy losses, and then Robert Lee took advantage of the situation to counterattack, and finally got out of the situation of being passively beaten and set foot on the land of the Union Army. It even approached Washington at one point.

So to speak. If it weren't for the victory in the Battle of Gettysburg, the capital Washington would probably have been captured by the Confederate forces led by Robert Lee, and of course, it was in the Battle of Gettysburg that George Gordon Mead stood out, won Lincoln's favor with his excellent defensive counterattack ability and good organizational skills, and gave him an exceptional promotion.

And then later. Although the Confederate offensive at the Battle of Gettysburg was thwarted, the offensive and defensive postures of the North and South were completely transformed. It has become a situation where the Union Army is the main attack, and the Federation Army is the main defense.

Originally, the Federal Army was still accumulating strength and preparing to launch another counterattack, but first, Robert Lee Xuexue was obedient and arranged a large number of fortifications on the Fredericksburg front, especially a lot of hateful barbed wire, which made it difficult to attack the Union Army positions head-on, and second, it was the strong attack of the Chinese, which completely eroded the Western Theater, which in turn brought a series of quite adverse chain reactions to the entire Federal Army.

Although it is said that the Western Theater is a relatively remote place, but there, a large number of elite troops and resources invested by the Federal Army have been annihilated one after another, especially after the loss of up to 700,000, which has completely broken the bones of the Federal Army, and it can even be said that there has never been such a big loss in history.

You must know that the war in this period, not to mention the two wars of independence fought with the British before, let's talk about this Civil War, the mobilized troops of both sides are so huge, but the actual losses in a campaign are rarely more than 10,000, and if they can exceed two or three thousand, it is already a relatively large battle.

Even in the Battle of Gettysburg, which is said to be the most tragic, the total number of casualties on both the North and the South did not exceed 70,000, and this is still sad.

However, compared with those battles of the Chinese, these battles are simply pediatric, because the combat effectiveness of the Chinese expeditionary force is simply perverted, and the federal army is not so much fighting as being slaughtered.

The first appearance of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was a landing battle, which directly destroyed the Union Navy in New Orleans, and then wiped out the local Union Army, and basically none of them could escape.

The second time, the Chinese went north along the Mississippi River, directly to the periphery of Vicksburg, and completely annihilated the ironclad fleet of the Federal Army that carried out the artillery bombardment order in the area by sneak attack, and once again annihilated the Grant Legion besieging Vicksburg City in the field.

It can be said that when I heard the news at that time, not to mention Lincoln, even Mead didn't believe it, after all, the army led by Grant was not a small number, and most of them were regular troops, and they had many battles and had rich combat experience, so even if they failed, they would not be completely annihilated, and even if they were completely annihilated, it would not be possible to be so short.

Soon, however, the troops near Memphis were also wiped out by Chinese, and then the troops in Nashville, the troops in Smithland...... The collapse of this elite army of the federal army has forced even the most conservative people to accept the fact that the Chinese army has completely surpassed the federal army, at least in terms of combat effectiveness, and everyone is not a level of troops at all.

If you really want to compare, Mead thinks that his federal army is like the most primitive Indian army that is still in the age of cold weapons, while the Chinese army is armed to the teeth in the age of firearms, so that two different era troops fight, and the results speak for themselves.

Although George Mead did not know the true level of equipment and operational concepts of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, his speculation was basically accurate based on his rich experience.

After all, although the officers and men of the Chinese Expeditionary Force are all from the Chinese, both in terms of personal quality and overall quality. In fact, they are not as good as the white people of the Union Army, but the weapons and equipment of this army are all properly modernized, if not comparable to the 21st century. But it also reached the level of the mid-to-late 20th century.

A large number of repeating small arms, a large number of rapid-fire support artillery, a large number of motor vehicles, plus a communication system to communicate with the crew, so much modern equipment on board, and then a lot of targeted training, even the most rubbish militia group. It may not be possible to turn over in an instant, and it may not be possible to deal with troops with the same equipment, but it is necessary to deal with the Federation Army whose weapons and equipment are inferior to their own at least one era. That's more than enough.

Therefore, the engagement between the Federal Army and the Chinese Expeditionary Force is indeed an engagement between armies of different eras, even in terms of technological gaps. It also exceeded the distance of the Western troops against the cold weapons forces at this time. It's not an exaggeration to say that people are bullied.

It is precisely because of this huge technological gap, or combat effectiveness gap, that the federal army has gradually recognized the facts, especially after a large amount of information from the front line continues to come back, even the most arrogant federal people have to face up to the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, and they do not have the slightest confidence in the Chinese army's fighting.

In fact, as early as the beginning, the people of the Union Army thought that a white man could fight at least ten Chinese. Later, it became that a white man could fight five, after the fall of the Grant Army. It became one by one, and later, when more information about the Western Theater was transmitted, especially after knowing the equipment of the Chinese, such as knowing that the Chinese had the kind of invulnerable ironclad chariots, as well as overwhelming artillery fire and airtight rapid-fire guns, they never mentioned this stubble again.

Obviously, as long as you are not a fool, you know that once the situation of the Chinese army is true, if it is really generally equipped with mechanical and steel chariots, as well as rapid-fire artillery and rapid-fire rifles, then at the current level of the federal army, no matter how many people there are, it is useless.

At least George Meade once said that in the face of this kind of army with high mobility and strong firepower, the so-called numerical advantage is no longer an advantage, because no one will make a breakthrough under that kind of firepower, unless your number can exceed the total number of bullets and shells of the opponent, and you can always be not afraid, rush forward like a walking corpse, exchange meat bullets for iron bullets, withstand huge casualties, and successfully rush up to fight with the opponent before your own side is completely destroyed by the opponent's firepower, this is a glimmer of possibility, but this is obviously unrealistic, No one can do that, after all, people are afraid.

It was at that time that George Mead persuaded Lincoln more than once to hurry up and make peace with the Chinese, otherwise if he continued to fight, it would not be as simple as cutting the land and seeking peace, after all, no matter what, what kind of stamina, numbers, industrial strength and the like, everything is in vain if you can't win the other party, the so-called comprehensive strength must ultimately be reflected in the army, and it must be reflected in military strength.

Fortunately, President Lincoln, who had already shown signs of self-righteousness, finally listened to the persuasion, although it was a little late, but the worst result was not reached, and finally succeeded in negotiating peace with the Chinese, finally allowing this most terrible army to withdraw, and greatly reducing the pressure on the western defense line.

It can be said that when the Chinese were stationed in the Smithland area, although they were still far away, they could also feel the pressure of the Chinese in Washington in the east, because everyone knew that as long as the Chinese were willing to make up their minds and the logistics could keep up, they could completely move east along the Ohio River, and at that time, with the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, breaking Pittsburgh would not be a problem at all.

Once Pittsburgh, the army of the Union Army, is occupied, then the Union Army does not have to fight, and when there are Chinese in the west, the British in the north, and the Union Army in the south, directly admitting defeat is the best outcome.

In any case, George Gordon Mead, as President Lincoln's confidant, has been labeled as the Lincoln Party, and according to the current situation in the United States, once the regime led by Lincoln is defeated, his George Gordon Meade's fate will not be much better, and it may not even be possible to retire, but it is very likely that he will be arrested and counterattacked.

The reason is simple: as a result of the long war and Lincoln's dictatorship, the social environment in the United States has changed greatly, relations between people have become more intense and sensitive, the earlier style of forgiveness has gradually faded away, and radicalism and fanaticism have become a kind of social mainstream.

Well, in this case, the higher you stand, the more painful it will be when you fall, so General Mead at this time is always terrified. I am afraid that one day I will be like other outspoken opposition officers, who were still high-spirited federal military officials one day, and the next moment I will become a prisoner. It is even possible to be sentenced to death.

Of course, in addition, Mead also believes that at this stage, Lincoln is the most suitable president, and his authoritarian reform is also the most beneficial policy of the United States, and it is under Lincoln's leadership that the Union Army can hold out in a passive situation for so long. Otherwise, if someone else came to be president, he really doubted that he could hold on until now, and he would probably have surrendered long ago.

It is because of the fear in my heart. Coupled with some sense of responsibility, and of course, that desire for higher power, George Gordon Meade was particularly attentive to his work, after becoming the commander-in-chief of the Union Army. Always on the front line. Strive to find and solve problems as soon as possible, and if not build the Federation Army into an invincible army, at least make it a resilient defensive army.

For now, George Gordon Meade is doing a good job, building a large defensive position near the Potomac River, effectively blocking the progress of the Union army, leaving the so-called famous general Robert Lee helpless. Let the armies of the north and the south become confrontational armies, and neither can do anything about the other. Although it was unable to obtain an effective attack, it held its current position, preventing the Alliance from attacking and preventing the opponent from using its tactical advantage to extend the victory.

Although the Confederates later attacked Baltimore through a large-scale landing battle, that place was surrounded by the Union Army on all sides, and with the current strength of the Confederate Army, it was no problem to obtain an important location by sneak attack, and if they wanted to continue to expand the results of the battle, they probably did not have the ability.

Later facts also proved Mead's speculation that Thomas Jackson's troops really stopped at Baltimore, focusing on defense and no longer choosing to attack, because his troops lacked stamina and forced attack could only be risky.

Therefore, in Mead's opinion, there is no need to worry about the Union army, the British and the French, even if the British increase their interference, the Union Army is not afraid at all.

The only thing to be afraid of is the Chinese, although the Chinese intervention army is the smallest in number, but the combat effectiveness is ridiculously strong, it is completely cheating, it is the enemy that Mead is not sure of at all, and it is also his most troublesome enemy.

Fortunately, now that the biggest enemy of the Chinese has been removed, Mead is no longer worried, as long as the confrontation continues, he believes that the British, French and Confederate people will lose patience sooner or later.

After all, after losing the Chinese in this battle, the alliance army is the main opponent, and now both sides cannot help each other, compared with a resilience, and if you compare resilience, the alliance is obviously not the opponent of the United States, and the gap between the two sides is too obvious.

In this case, it is actually okay to stay away from Washington and go to the Potomac River Front Command to sit in command, on the contrary, they can do a lot of good, not only to gain a reputation for being on the front line, but also to keep Mead away from the center of power, and to avoid a lot of power dumping, which is also the secret of his ability to gain Lincoln's trust and stay alone in the face of the increasingly rampant Patriotic Youth Army.

To put it bluntly, George Gordon Mead doesn't like the current capital Washington, because he feels that the city has changed, into a fanatical city without the slightest trust at all, so as long as it is not a special situation such as a special summons by the president, he will basically not return to Washington, but stay in the camp of the Potomac River Corps, although it is a military camp, but at least it feels much better, because it is all he has the final say, and it will make him feel more intimate here.

It can be said that although he stayed in the front-line troops, unlike those officers and soldiers at the lowest level, the life of the commander-in-chief, General Mead, did not show any tension here, it was completely a leisurely and tranquil life, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was on vacation in the barracks, so when he was here, Mead felt extremely happy.

However, the current commander-in-chief George Gordon Meade was not very happy, because he had to leave his beloved barracks overnight and get on a train to Washington under the "protection" of a ticket of men in black.

Although he was very unhappy, he did not dare to resist, because this was an order specially sent to him by President Lincoln, asking him to return to Washington immediately to report to his work! (To be continued......)