Just when Li Yongji appointed Shi Dakai as the deputy commander of the expeditionary force and the trustee of Memphis City, handed over the responsibility of managing the city to Shi Dakai, and he went all out to prepare for the expedition, the commander-in-chief of the Western Theater of the Allied States, Joseph. Johnston, with the Tennessee Corps, rushed to Memphis and officially joined the main force of Li Yongji's Chinese Expeditionary Force.

Joseph. As the commander-in-chief of the Western Theater, Johnston was nominally the supreme person in charge of the western region of the Confederate State, so his arrival, Li Yongji had to receive him personally, so that his status could be equal.

There is no way, if Li Yongji uses the identity of the emperor of the Chinese Empire, he will definitely not have to receive him personally, but he is now the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and even his name has been changed to Li Yuanzheng, so in the face of the lieutenant general and commander of the theater of operations of the Allied States, only he can be equal at present.

Of course, the most important point is that if Li Yongji wants to implement the leapfrog tactics this time, he must obtain the support of the alliance army, after all, it is a fact that the number of the Chinese expeditionary force is too small, even if he can take down the enemy's city, if he wants to occupy it safely, he must let the alliance army cooperate. These coalition armies can't attack, and if they are purely defensive, they still have some effect.

Because of this, Li Yongji said to Joseph. Johnston took his arrival very seriously, and specially sent the whole army to hold a grand and solemn welcome ceremony, and even he himself dressed up to show great respect for Joseph. Johnston's appearance.

In the face of the enthusiasm of the Chinese, Joseph. Johnston was slightly surprised, because he really didn't expect the Chinese to be so kind to him. Because the real purpose of his trip was actually to seize power, that is, to find a way to take back the ownership and jurisdiction of Memphis, and this behavior is in conflict with the Chinese. The Chinese should also know this, so he really didn't expect the Chinese to welcome him so much.

Actually, for the arrival of the Chinese, Joseph. Johnston has always been in a rather tangled state of mind.

On the one hand, Joseph. Johnston was grateful to the Chinese for their timely intervention, stabilizing the western front and avoiding the collapse of the Union army. Defended the Union State, but on the other hand. The Chinese shot and also seized all the honors that should belong to the Union Army, making the Alliance Army look so unbearable in the face of the victory of the Chinese.

However, Joseph. Johnston also knew. This cannot be blamed on the Chinese for being able to fight, only for not being able to fight, and if you have to blame the Chinese, at most it will be said that the help of the Chinese is not gratuitous help, but ill-intentioned.

In fact, it is not only Joseph who thinks that the Chinese take the initiative to fight because of bad intentions and feel entangled in their hearts for the Chinese. Johnston one, the entire Confederate upper class of society. In the face of the Chinese, they are quite entangled, even President Davis of the Union State. The same is true.

It can be said that the word entanglement is the mainstream mentality of the Union people towards the Chinese at this time.

On the one hand, the arrival of the Chinese strategically helped them stabilize the western front, and also provided a large amount of supplies. The economic system of the Union State was restabilized, and it can be said that it was of great help to the Union State in all aspects. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the benefactor of the Union State.

But on the other hand, the Chinese are yellow, inferior people who are despised by the whites of the Allied countries. Now, their group of noble whites actually want the help of this group of inferior people who they look down on, and it seems that they can't do without the help of the Chinese, which makes the white class of the Union proud in their hearts quite unhappy.

In addition to the unhappiness of racism, the help of the Chinese is not gratuitous, but needs to pay a price, which also makes the people of the Allied States unhappy, they feel that the Chinese are here to take advantage of the difficulties of the Allied States to make war money, not noble gratuitous help.

There is evidence for them to think so, because so far, all the support of the Chinese has been money, and the price is not expensive, even if it is a so-called loan, it is not a low-interest loan, at most it is slightly lower than usury.

In addition, after the squadron occupied the three cities of New Orleans, Vicksburg, and Memphis, it still holds the management of these three cities, and has not returned the jurisdiction and tax collection power of these three cities to the Confederate government, that is, these three cities are still in the final hands of the Chinese, and the local Confederate people have to bow their heads to the foreign Chinese and pay taxes, which is clearly uneasy and kind.

Obviously, this idea is viewed from the perspective of malice, because if you are objective, what the Chinese are doing at present is actually very fair, and it is also very necessary, not harsh. On the contrary, if it is other white compatriots, such as the British and French, they have done more than the Chinese in the past.

However, because the Chinese are of the yellow race, they have become a group of bad guys comparable to the Jews.

It was in this kind of malicious speculation that most of the white elites in the Allied countries concluded that the support of the Chinese was all harboring evil intentions, such as the Chinese selling weapons, selling industrial products, and providing loans, and he decided that the Chinese wanted to occupy the market of the Allied countries and dominate the financial field of the Allied countries, so that the Allied countries would become economically dependent on the Chinese.

To tell the truth, although this idea of the white slave owners of the Union countries is not far from the truth, it is actually slightly extreme, after all, whether it is a loan from the Chinese, or measures such as selling industrial products and collecting raw materials, even if there are no Chinese to do it, it will not be much better if someone else does it, and the conditions may even be harsher than the Chinese.

In the final analysis, this is not how bad the Chinese are, but the economic system of the Union countries themselves that has a relatively single and low-level product category and a high degree of dependence on the outside world.

In fact, the economic system of slave farmers in the Union was completely a low-level economic system dominated by agriculture, and although this system was a little higher than the traditional natural economy of the so-called feudal society, correspondingly, this economic system was very susceptible to external influences and had a low ability to be self-sufficient.

This is because the farmer economy of the Union countries mainly grows cash crops with relatively high economic value, such as cotton and tobacco, although these things are in terms of income ratio and economic value. It was much better than growing grain, but because of this, the economy of the Union was actually strictly dependent on other importing countries. Once something can't be sold, they will be affected by strictness.

At the beginning of the war, since the United States navy began to blockade the coast of the Confederate States, the cash crops of the Confederates could not be sold to Europe, and as a result, most of them suffered heavy losses, although later most of them began to replant food, but the losses were already formed. And the effect is not very good.

Suffice it to say, relative to the north, which is not short of food. The Union countries do not look at the fertile land, but in fact, the government is in a state of food shortage, and the local farmers have since switched to growing grain, but because of the previous losses. The Confederate government lacked funds, and the Confederate government could not afford to engage in paper money and bonds like the federal government, so the Confederate government's ability to pay was insufficient, and the local farmers, even if they had food that was in short supply, could not sell it.

In other words, if the war has been fought until now, if it were not for the timely help of the Chinese, a large amount of materials and Chinese currency were sent in. Let the commodity economy of the Union countries be put back into circulation, and it will not be long before the economic system of the Union countries will completely collapse. Because the Union State already had little money.

If it is another country, when faced with this situation, it can also be alleviated by mandatory executive orders, such as the United States of the North, Lincoln used the method of mandatory orders to issue paper money, and forcefully implemented it. to help the North through its financial shortfall.

However, the Davis government of the Union State was born from the day it was born. It is not a hard-line government, because this is a government that was improvised by the slave owners in the south for their own interests, how can they let this government that they elected make it difficult for themselves?

It is precisely because of the lack of administrative power that the Union has always been overstretched in dealing with economic and military issues, and to be honest, such a government, because it is too inefficient, is not very suitable for war times, which is one of the reasons why the Union has been defeated so quickly in history.

However, although the government of the Union State was relatively weak, not only did it have no money, but its administrative capacity was relatively low, it was precisely because of the lack of money that the military form of the Union State presented a warlord-like model.

It may be an exaggeration to say that the warlords are a bit exaggerated, but it is undeniable that the main force of the Union is not the poor regular army of the Union State, but the local troops.

Like Robert. The Northern Virginia Regiment commanded by Lee and the Mississippi River Regiment under Pemberton were actually local troops that were temporarily recruited in the local area, not troops directly under the central government.

One of the characteristics of such troops is that they are logistically self-sufficient, often raised from their hometowns, that is, from the places where they are recruited, and in terms of nature, they are very similar to the local militia groups in China.

In fact, the reason why the Confederates fought the Union Army was not because of how much the Confederates agreed with the ideas of the Confederate States, but because they were mostly opposed to secession. Li is one of the representative figures.

The reason why these local coalition armies want to take up arms to fight against the Northern Union Army is, in the final analysis, because the Federal Army has always been on the offensive side, and the army of this era, even if it is the American * team, is quite poor, and it will suffer misery everywhere it passes, so the Federal Army fights with them in order to defend their hometown and avoid the attack and harassment of the Northern Army.

Therefore, the Confederate army will fight bravely and skillfully in its own land, but once they leave their homeland and go to the land of the Northern Confederation, they will become war-weary xù.

That is to say, although the economy and politics of the Union are sparse, the army is still quite good, but it is precisely because the economy is not good, and the population base is too small, so they lack stamina, and after a long time, when the north reacts, they will be finished sooner or later.

However, in this time and space, the Chinese intervened in time to save the precarious financial problems of the Union army, and Li Yongji also took the initiative to contact local warlords and cooperate with people like Robert . People like Lee do business directly.

Specifically, Li Yongji sent a number of commercial representatives, who were nominally salesmen of the Eastern Bloc, who would be stationed in these important legions and then directly use the Chinese's own transportation channels to transport the goods directly to the hands of these warlords, without going through the hands of the Allied governments.

For example, Robert. Lee's Northern Virginia Legion, the barbed wire fence in their legion, and some cutting-edge artillery and breech-loading rifles were all used by Li Yongjitong Guò as a commercial representative, directly using the Eastern Bloc transport company to transport goods to their camp.

As for how the transport companies of the Chinese were able to break through the naval blockade of the Americans before. Shun lì to transport the goods to Robert. Lee's Northern Virginia Regiment is stationed, which of course has something to do with the advanced equipment of the Chinese.

In order to help the Confederate army, especially Robert. Lee's Northern Virginia Regiment. Li Yongji deliberately remodeled a number of transport ships, most of these transport ships are about 600 tons of clippers, in order to increase the tonnage and speed, there are no weapons on them, but they are equipped with diesel engine propeller propulsion equipment, as well as simple night vision equipment and radar equipment.

When transported, these converted transport ships usually sail with sails. And most of them walk at night, and when it comes to daytime. It's okay, but once you find an American warship in the distance, you start the motor and speed up your escape.

These clippers once the diesel engine thrusters are activated. The speed can soar to more than 14 knots, and if it is a tailwind, it can reach 18 knots, so in this era, there are generally no warships that can catch up with them.

It was with this higher speed and greater reconnaissance capability that these ships evaded the blockade of the Americans and delivered a large amount of supplies to the Northern Virginia Legion. Lee's Northern Virginia Regiment was more combat-ready.

For the Chinese these walks. Private. Boats, the Americans used to be annoyed. Many encirclement and suppression operations were organized, but none of them succeeded, because the Chinese always found them first. Even when the enemy is not visible to the naked eye, the Chinese can use the radar to detect the enemy first, and then decisively turn around and flee.

Being able to detect the enemy first, fast and fast, and experienced veterans at the helm, as a result of which these China walked. Private. Ships became the only way for the Confederates to communicate with the outside world. Let the Chinese earn not ordinarily much, but the British and the French go . Private. Boat. In front of the embarrassed and angry US Navy, they all suffered great difficulties.

Because of this situation, the allied armies everywhere have a favorable impression of the Chinese, and because they can be financially independent and do not rely on the allied government, they are basically in a situation of separate affairs, and the allied government actually does not have high control over these local legions, and can only use guò high-ranking officials and other ways to encircle the leaders of these local legions.

Robert. Lee's Northern Virginia Regiment is not to be mentioned, and this unit has now become almost Robert Virginia. Lee's private army, if not for Robert. Lee himself continued to obey the orders of the Union government, and his fame was great and he was subject to many moral constraints, and if he rebelled, it would be a big problem.

Therefore, although the timely help of the Chinese has alleviated the unfavorable situation of the Union State, it is actually weakening the ruling power of the Union government in disguise, so it is strange that Davis can be happy.

However, Davis also knows that in the current situation, they really can't do without the Chinese, so now they can only continue to borrow money to buy arms as much as possible and go all out to befriend the Chinese. But at the same time, Davis is trying to fight for his own interests and limit the movement of the Chinese.

For example, for the three cities occupied by the Chinese, although Davis acquiesced to the jurisdiction of the other party and never said anything about the handover, he kept sending troops in it to divide the Chinese's power in this way.

In New Orleans, at Vicksburg, the Confederate army sent a large number of troops into it, and in terms of numbers, it far exceeded the Chinese.

Only Memphis, the front-line city occupied by the main force of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, has not yet had any Allied troops there, but this is mainly because it is the most front-line, plus the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force is also there, Davis does not want to stimulate the Chinese too much, lest the Chinese completely abandon it, and then cause a complete collapse of the Mississippi River front, so he does not send a soldier into it, so as not to cause misunderstanding.

However, now that the Chinese themselves took the initiative to ask the Allied Army to station, the situation was different, so when Davis heard that the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force personally asked the Allied Army to send a force over, he was very happy to obey the order and sent Joseph. Johnston, commander of the Western Theater of Operations, went over to show his attention.

In terms of status, Joseph. As the commander-in-chief of the Western Theater, Johnston is definitely high-end, and now, in the entire Confederate Nation, he can compete with Joseph. Johnston is only comparable in terms of status, and only Robert Brown, commander of the Eastern Theater and commander of the Northern Virginia Regiment, is the commander of the Eastern Theater of Operations. General Lee was able to match.

But actually, Joseph. Johnston is a very high status. His fame is not small, but in terms of actual power, he is far inferior to Robert in the Eastern Theater. Plum.

Although in terms of results. The results of the Western Theater were actually greater than those of the Eastern Theater, but those results were basically created by the Chinese, on the contrary, the Alliance Army basically did nothing on the entire Western Front, but fought very badly.

You know, the Confederate states originally occupied all of Tennessee, but after the Northern Army began to attack Tennessee. Successive battles and victories, on the contrary, the coalition forces continued to defeat and retreat. A large amount of land was lost one after another.

If the Chinese had not appeared in time to help the Union army turn defeat into victory in the Battle of Vicksburg, once Vicksburg was also lost, the entire Mississippi River would have been lost to the Northern Army. Until that time. Not to mention the Mississippi River region, even the entire West will be lost, which will be a fatal wound for the Confederate States.

It is precisely because the defeat was so miserable, and the results were almost all Chinese, that the Confederates boasted about themselves, just as they boasted about the Continental Army and Washington.

Now both the North and the South have high regard for Washington, saying that Washington defended the United States and defeated Britain Yunyun. In fact, it's just self-labeling.

In the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army led by Washington was a soy sauce fighter at best, relying on their little strength. To defeat the British and defend American independence is pure fantasy.

The real history is that Britain did not regard the Continental Army as an adversary in the first place, and their main opponents were the French, the Spaniards, and the Dutch, especially the French. It was because of the struggle of France, Spain and the Netherlands. It was only after the British suffered heavy losses that Britain gave up its North American colonies. It gave the United States a chance to become independent.

In other words, the war of independence, which the Americans boasted about, was in fact nothing more than a battlefield in the Americas against the French in the eyes of the British, and at the same time, the British and the French were fighting each other all over the world.

In the same way, Washington, which was boasted by the Americans, actually did not have much brilliance during the entire period of the Revolutionary War, and even the unbridled Saratoga victory was at best a small local victory against encirclement and suppression, and from any point of view, it could not become a turning point battle.

Because just after that Saratoga victory, the British still firmly grasped the initiative on the battlefield and were always in a strong position, and the Americans' Continental Army could only continue their guerrilla warfare, doing some harassment, and still losing more than victories, and being beaten by the British army without any temper.

It was the strong action of the French later, especially the many battles between the French Navy and the British Navy, which caused the British to suffer heavy losses and could not continue to provide timely supplies to the British army in the United States.

In other words, if the British were willing to grit their teeth, continue to hold on, continue to fight with the French, and let the French back down first, then the so-called War of Independence may have to rewrite history, and the United States may not exist anymore.

Therefore, the Americans have a tradition of bragging, even their founding father Washington can be blown as a saint, not to mention that the Union Army is still a little brilliant on the Western Front, at least the Vicksburg Garrison under the command of General Pemberton is very strong.

"God testifies that Pemberton is a fool, and a super conceited, brainless big idiot!" At the welcome banquet, it seemed that he was a little drunk, and when he heard Li Yongji boast about General Pemberton, who was still stationed in Vicksburg, Joseph. Johnston immediately scolded with excitement.

When he saw Li Yongji and other Chinese stunned, Joseph. Johnston blushed and continued to say loudly: "I think that at the beginning, I was recruiting troops in Jackson City, and I had expected that Grant would take the initiative to attack me, so I wrote to Pemberton very early, asking him to take the initiative to lead the army to move closer to me, even if he gave up Vicksburg if necessary, but he just didn't listen to me, but instead asked me for instructions, took the initiative to ask Davis, and asked Davis to press me, which is simply unreasonable!" ”

After a pause, Joseph. Johnston continued: "At that time, the Yankees had the advantage of troops, and there was also an advantageous navy, and the upper and lower areas of Vicksburg had fallen into the hands of the Northern Army, and Vicksburg was a lonely city, so what was the point of continuing to stay there?"

He was there, unable to hold either the Mississippi River or Vicksburg, but would create a division of forces, so that our army could not form a fist and be broken by Grant...... If he hadn't listened to orders, how could I have been so badly defeated in Jackson City! Hmph, now because of you, he won by luck, and as a result, he became a war hero, and I became a loser...... Hey, the world is unpredictable, the world is unpredictable. ”

For Joseph. Johnston's complaint, Li Yongji smiled slightly, somewhat understanding.

That's right, after the Battle of Vicksburg, Pemberton, who held on to Vicksburg, became a war hero, and his prestige was not inferior to that of Robert in the east. Lee, who was brought to him by the do-gooders, was married to Robert. Li Xiangxiang compared it and called it the double wall of the alliance, and blew it into the famous general of the alliance state.

After the war, Davis not only boasted about Pemberton's exploits everywhere, but also promoted him to the position of deputy commander of the Western Theater of Operations, second only to Joseph. Johnston, and, in terms of actual power, was also greater than Joseph. Johnston, as Pemberton's Mississippi River Corps, was the priority to replenish the unit.

It is clear that Joseph. Johnston is just because of his old qualifications, good popularity, and many generals in front of him are not convinced by Pemberton, after all, Pemberton's previous popularity is really not good, so Davis did not mess with Joseph. Johnston.

But in its current state, it is clear that Joseph. Johnston is just an excess, and Pemberton will sooner or later become the commander of the Western Theater, after all, Jane is in the heart of the emperor and is valued by Davis.

"For this, I think anyone with a discerning eye will know the truth of the matter, you don't need to be angry." Li Yongji smiled and said, "Of course, for those who don't know the truth, I think as long as you get a few big victories, they will change their opinion of you." ”

"The Great Victory?" Joseph. Johnston squinted, looked at Li Yongji and said, "Lee, didn't I say that you really want to go your own way, cross Cairo, attack Smithland, and implement that frog jumping tactic?" ”

"That's right." Li Yongji said, "Now it depends on whether you are willing to do it with us, of course, even if you don't want to, I will do it alone, but when the time comes, you won't be able to share the credit." ”

"Do you know what that means?" Joseph. Johnston said, "For us, it's just a siege to contain Cairo, it's not a big problem, but you have to go deep behind enemy lines, and you are likely to face attacks from two sides at the same time, or even more at the same time, are you sure you can retreat with all your might?" ”

"How do you know if you don't give it a try?" Li Yongji smiled, "Anyway, it's us who are deep behind enemy lines, not you, don't you say?" ”

"What about Memphis, are you sure that there will be no problems here during your expedition?"

"Memphis won't have a problem." Li Yongji said, "I promise!" ”

"You promise? What guarantees do you take? There are 150,000 people in Nashville! I must make it a priority to keep Memphis City safe! ”

"What a guarantee?" Li Yongji continued to smile, "Just because we annihilated Grant's elite army at Vicksburg that was enough to sweep through Mississippi, just because we completely annihilated the Camberon River Army in its heyday in a battle outside Memphis, just because the Federation Army turned around and fled in fear when they saw our shadow...... I don't know if this guarantee is enough? (To be continued) R580