After the Chinese representative promised to take the initiative to reduce the food standard of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the turmoil not only did not subside, but on the contrary, there was a further trend.

The reason is simple, because the representatives of Britain and France do not agree with the extent to which the Chinese have lowered their food standards, believing that the gap between them and others is still too large, and it is a harsh injustice to others.

The Chinese representative defended that this was the standard originally set by the Chinese themselves, and that they were responsible for their own logistics, and that it was not too much to let others pay for it, but the French said it, so the problem lies in their own logistics.

The French said that the fundamental reason for joining forces to fight the United States this time was to enable the Allied Powers to become independent, and to put it bluntly, it was the Allied Powers that asked for us, and we, the outsiders, actually took the risk.

Since we took the risk, since we are here to help the allies, why should we be responsible for the replenishment of logistics and materials ourselves? Isn't it up to you, the host of the Allied States, to be responsible?

It's like asking you to fight and die for me, but not providing you with a salary and supplies, this problem is not good, and it will be difficult for them French and British to calm down.

In fact, when it comes to this, it has deviated from the original direction of discussion, from the supply problem of the Chinese to the issue of asking the allied countries to be fully responsible for the supply, if Li Yongji is here, there will definitely be a strong sense of immediacy, because the future generations of online keyboard warriors quarrel with each other, and it is a common trick to guide the trend and deviate from the topic.

It is a pity that the representatives of the Allied States at this time were relatively simple, and they actually began to argue with reason on this already crooked issue.

The people of the Allied States said that it is true that you came to help us, but you also have benefits, but if you are not good, will you come to help us?

Besides, didn't the original covenant say that the United States should be fought first, and then the United States would be defeated, and then the flesh would be cut off from the United States. Even the general scope of the division of interests is in the treaty, you won't go back on it now, right?

Therefore, since the Covenant was signed, it had to be carried out in accordance with the regulations of the Covenant, and each was responsible for its own supplies, so why should you British and French supply our allies be responsible? You see how atmospheric the Chinese are, they have fought so many battles, they have so many results, and they have not seen this and that from us, and you British and French have not yet achieved any results. You really want us to raise you, why do you really want us to raise you?

At this time, the British began to speak, he said that the Chinese have the considerations of the Chinese, they do not want that to be their business, and the Chinese have long made a lot of preparations for your Civil War, and have set up a stronghold in your west very early, besides, the Chinese have the greatest appetite and want the most territory. Plus they have money, so they are responsible for the logistics themselves, which makes sense.

We are different from the British, even if we defeat the United States. The place where you want it is the land in Maine, and the money you want is not comparable to the appetite of the Chinese.

Therefore, since our stated goal is small. Then our investment will not be too large, and if the investment is not large, we will not be able to take full responsibility for the logistics and supply. Therefore, it is still the people of the Union who should be responsible.

The French immediately followed, saying that this is the truth, our appetite is small, so the investment cannot be greater than the return, otherwise it will be a loss, so before this, we can help you fight, but the logistics and supply must be the responsibility of your allies, and the standard of supply cannot be too low, what standard, the French will follow our French standards, and the British will follow the standards of the British.

The people of the Allied States will definitely not do it, and they will vigorously say that they are violating the Covenant, but the British and the French bite to death, saying that the Covenant only stipulates that they cannot cease war with the United States alone, and must help each other, but they do not say that the supply must be responsible for themselves, if you don't believe it, let's take a look, which one says, the logistics must be responsible for themselves?

On the contrary, the Four-Power Covenant was only a general intention, so things like logistics were not written on it, these were just conventions, and as a result, the British and French seized on them.

Eventually, the French said that if they did not settle the question of the person in charge of supplies, they would refuse to carry out their original military orders and go to attack Nashville.

The same is true of the British, who sided with the French and demanded that the question of logistical coherence be reopened, and that a charter must be produced or the previous military orders would not be carried out.

At this point, the situation has become clearer, or the true intentions of the British and the French have been exposed, and the British and the French have made it clear that they want to mess around and delay time, and their purpose is not to carry out the order previously discussed at the headquarters of the four countries, that is, to attack Nashville, the capital of Tennessee!

As mentioned earlier, although the meeting of the armies of the four countries in New Orleans this time is more of a symbolic meaning, in order to put pressure on the United States, there are also many practical things, such as the signing of the Four-Power Alliance Treaty and the formation of the Joint Command, which are all very binding things.

The signing of the Four-Power Alliance Treaty made it impossible for the armies of the four countries to armistically cooperate with the United States alone, and stipulated the division of the obligations of each country and the post-war results, and planned their respective interests in advance, which was equivalent to dividing the spoils in advance, so that everyone clearly knew what they wanted from each other, so the centripetal force was still very strong, and then strengthened the ties between each other.

Comparatively speaking, there are many problems with the establishment of the joint command, and the main problem lies in the division of powers of the command.

The establishment of a joint command was first proposed by the Chinese, and although the name is called the Command, it looks very high, but the essence is only to find a place where everyone can discuss matters and express their unity to the outside world.

To put it bluntly, in Li Yongji's thoughts, the Joint Command is a place of harmony, and as for how everyone will fight against the United States in the future, they must show their own magic and fight their own.

In this way, there will be many benefits to the Chinese Expeditionary Force, because in this case, the Joint Command will have no real power at all, and everyone will have to rely on their own strength if they want to obtain any benefits.

On the issue of the Civil War, it was the one who suffered the greatest losses and had the most resolute will to fight. It is undoubtedly the Allied Countries, followed by the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which is slightly inferior in combat power.

At present, the North and the South have entered a phase of stalemate, and the reason for the stalemate between the two sides is that the United States is temporarily unable to attack, and the reason why the United States is unable to attack is because of the two support points.

The so-called two support points actually refer to the two major fronts of the east and west.

Thereinto. The eastern front was supported by Fredericksburg, where the Confederates concentrated their best troops, led by the best generals, and relied on rivers and numerous trench positions to effectively hold off the allied attacks.

The support point of the western front is mainly the Mississippi River Valley, which is the lifeline of the Confederate states. Here, although the Confederate army was defeated by the previous United States army, thanks to the timely intervention of the Chinese, it had regained control of the lower Mississippi River. and secured the battle line in the area of Memphis, so that the army of the United States could no longer move forward.

Suffice it to say, the two pillars of support, one east and one west, were the main obstacles preventing the armies of the United States from moving south. And these two support points are in the hands of the allies and the Chinese, respectively.

Because both the Chinese and the Allied armies controlled important areas, and the forces invested were strong. The results of the war were also great, so in fact, after the establishment of the Four-Nation Alliance, the leading parties became the armies of the Allied countries and the armies of China.

Moreover, due to the emergence of the Chinese, the logistical support that originally caused the Allied countries a headache is getting better and better, because the Chinese not only began to provide them with a large number of excellent ordnance materials, but also purchased their agricultural products in large quantities at very reasonable prices, which not only put the economy of the Allied countries back on track from the situation of frequent collapse, but also made the economic ties between the Allied countries and China closer and closer.

It can be said that today's alliance countries are almost all supported by the Chinese, and once the Chinese leave it alone, the alliance countries will soon collapse, so the current alliance countries value the relationship with China the most.

In the past, the Confederates for various reasons always expected the British to intervene with the French in order to make themselves independent, but they soon found that the British and the French only paid lip service to the French and did not act at all.

On the contrary, the Chinese decisively sent troops, not only regaining control of the lower Mississippi River, stabilizing the communication lines vital to the Confederates, and blocking the invasion of the United States. In addition to these, they also provided a large number of cheap and high-quality munitions and purchased their own long-standing agricultural products at reasonable prices, so that the Allied farmers' economy could be restored and they had a stronger force to deal with the United States.

That is to say, when the Confederates were most in need of help, the British and the French were nowhere to be seen, and when the Confederates had stabilized the front and the dawn of independence had appeared, they ran over, and only sent a small number of men, making it clear that they wanted to come over and share the benefits.

But since you are here, you have to show some sincerity and make some results, otherwise why should you benefit after the war?

It was in line with this principle that when the Joint Command was established, the representatives of the Allied countries united with the representatives of the Chinese and demanded that Britain and France immediately send troops to Memphis to join the main forces of the Chinese first, and then the British and French troops would attack separately to recover Nashville, the capital of Tennessee.

In other words, having Britain and France send troops to Nashville is a kind of surrender, and you can only prove that you have the qualifications to share the fertilizer after the war by actually fighting the troops of the United States face to face.

Due to the joint pressure of the Chinese and the people of the Allied countries, the British and French representatives could only respond hard, but they needed to make some preparations.

In fact, the British and French representatives did not want to fight with the armies of the United States, but what they hoped for was to fight a few bargaining battles, not to go to a hard fight.

Nashville is the capital of Tennessee and the last current stronghold of the United States in Tennessee.

Due to the destruction of the Cumberland River Corps and the Tennessee Corps respectively, Nashville was originally an empty city without defense, but because the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Memphis was indifferent and did not take advantage of the victory after destroying the Cumberland River Corps, Ooneshville breathed a sigh of relief and reorganized the defensive force.

The newly formed defense force, which is currently composed of the remnants of the Cumberland River Regiment and some temporary compulsory conscripts, has a total number of only more than 20,000 men, and on the surface, it seems to be quite weak.

In addition, the general who led this remnant army was a lesser-known man named James. Major General McPherson. It is said that this major general was also promoted temporarily due to a lack of personnel, and he was only a brigadier general before.

As a result, perhaps in a hurry, President Lincoln actually promoted a brigadier general to a major general, and appointed him as the commander of the Cumberland River Military District.

The highest level of the army of the United States is the theater of operations, also called a military district, and under a military region there can be many armies and legions. Generally speaking. The corps refers to the mobile corps of the field, which can fight across regions, while the garrison is generally only a local garrison with the army as a unit, and usually does not go anywhere.

Just like the Nashville defense force, it is currently mainly the local defense garrison, as for the elite field troops, they have long been depleted in the previous battles.

Due to issues of custom, military districts in the United States are generally named after rivers, such as the Tennessee River Military District. Cumberland River Military District and so on. Among them, the Cumberland River Military District, the headquarters is in Nashville, because Nashville is next to the Cumberland River.

The commander of the military district is the highest-ranking commander who fights alone, like Grant before. It is the commander of the Tennessee River Military District, which can be said to be a high authority, and there are not many military commanders in the entire United States, who usually go through multiple layers of tests. Therefore, it is very rare for a brigadier general to be suddenly promoted to the commander of a military region.

But actually, James. General Macpherson, though not well-known in this era. The fame of the other time and space is also average, not as famous as Grant, but in fact, Su zhì is not worse than him at all, and even wins, he is a very good general, but his luck is not as good as Grant.

In another time and space, even Grant himself admits that his talent is not as good as James. Mcpherson.

This general was also born at West Point, and graduated first in his class, and he was a good student with excellent character and learning. After graduating, he served in the engineering army for a long time, and with his own talent in civil engineering, he was especially good at civil engineering and defensive warfare.

Before this, he was only a brigadier general under Grant, and if there was no accident, he should have participated in the Battle of Vicksburg, after all, he was one of Grant's most trusted generals, and his relationship with Grant was no worse than that between Grant and Sherman.

Unfortunately, he accidentally fell off his horse before the troops were about to leave, broke his right calf, and was unable to walk, so he was left in Nashville to recuperate, which allowed him to avoid the crushing defeat at the Battle of Vicksburg.

Later, when the Cumberland River Corps sent troops to attack Memphis, it was he who strongly opposed William. Rosscrans's decision to send troops called for a stronger defense in Nashville and a defensive counterattack with the opposing side.

The results are obvious, thanks to William. Rosscrans's insistence on going his own way, and the Cumberland River Army attacking Memphis was completely defeated, and almost all the army was wiped out. Ross Krans was also killed in battle.

Due to the lack of high-ranking officers, his small, recovering conscripts brigadier general became the supreme governor of Nashville.

After that, because the Chinese suddenly stopped and did not take advantage of the situation to attack Nashville, they gave it to James in Nashville City. McPherson had a rare respite.

James. Macpherson began to use the president's new decree, that is, compulsory military service, in the name of the United States of America, to force all men over the age of 18 in Nashville to serve as soldiers, and to go to civilian labor if they were not well armed, and began to build a large number of civil fortifications around the city of Nashville.

At the same time, he sent a telegram to the White House, asking the president to send reinforcements as soon as possible, and to ask for regular troops.

As a result, Lincoln decisively telegraphed and promoted James. Macpherson, as a major general in the regular army of the United States, appointed him commander of the Cumberland River Military District, and told him that he had already sent the Mississippi River Corps and the Ohio Russian regiment over and told him to hold on a little.

Lincoln told him that as long as he held on and gave him time, reinforcements and supplies would continue to flow over to help him stabilize the front, so until then, he had to take responsibility for defending Nashville.

After receiving the president's assurance, coupled with the stimulus of the promotion, he began to devote more energy to the defense of Nashville City, and in view of the fact that the Chinese were equipped with a lot of ironclad vehicles, he not only expanded the scale of the fortifications, but also dug potholes in the ground, which are difficult to drive, but it is still no problem to walk.

In addition, in order to prevent shelling by the Chinese, he also built many small forts around the trenches with cement bricks and wood. A twelve-pounder cannon was also placed inside the fort, which was actually a bunker!

In addition, Nashville was originally the base camp of the rear of the United States army, with a lot of supplies and its own arsenal, so they had no shortage of ordnance supplies, especially artillery, which was for the artillery of the two military districts, there were thousands of guns, in addition to a large number of shells. Add to that those head-scratching positions, so Nashville isn't easy to play.

In short, the current Nashville is a big construction site with potholes, and even Li Yongji has a headache when he looks at the position that looks like the surface of the moon, not to mention the British and French troops who are still using front-loading guns.

On the surface, Nashville has only more than 20,000 troops, and most of them are improvised conscripts. I don't have much combat experience, but if you focus on defense, it will be very difficult to take it down.

The Anglo-French army was only more than 30,000 people, and there was not much heavy firepower. How could it be possible to take Nashville, a city with more than 20,000 men defended and built a large number of permanent positions and a large number of artillery? Even if they can be defeated, how many people will they lose?

Perhaps. How did the Anglo-French know about Nashville? The reason is very simple, although Britain and France have not been in a tough fight with the United States, their intelligence work is still very good. I have always paid close attention to the dynamics of the United States, especially in a big city like Nashville, where they have a lot of spies, and it is impossible not to know Nashville's intelligence.

To tell the truth, if the British and French forces can send 30,000 people over, they will not come to fight at all, or they will not fight such a tough battle, their original intention is to come over and be a guard of honor, show that they will save zài, and they will leave later.

Originally, the purpose of the British and French troops coming to New Orleans was to come and show their deposits, attend meetings, and discuss the formation of a joint command and the signing of an alliance.

When this was done, according to the plan of the British and French, they should leave the port of New Orleans at once by boat, go north to the Canadian border with the United States of America, and strengthen the local defenses with the British forces there, so as to involve more American troops.

When the time is ripe, for example, when the United States and the Chinese are inseparable from the Confederate countries, have gone all out, and even begin to lose, they will take the initiative to attack and capture the vicinity of Maine, after all, that is, the New England region, is where the core interests of the British lie.

Before that, the British and French armies were at most soy sauce, and their navies would blockade the Americans, but they would mostly deter them and not push them too hard.

As for why the French are so close to the British, it is because the British promised that when they defeated the United States and seized Maine or even larger, they could send troops to help the French completely defeat the resistance in Mexico, and support their chosen puppet to come to power and form a Mexican empire.

In short, they didn't think about fighting Nashville at all, but as a result, when the joint command was formed, the people of the Confederate countries suddenly put forward a motion to ask the British and French forces to fight Nashville to show their sincerity!

Although the Chinese also followed suit, they only wanted them to establish a forward position near Nashville and trap Nashville, but did not really want them to attack the city, and there were Chinese troops behind to support it.

To put it bluntly, this is a matter of posture, and it is enough for their Anglo-French forces to show their faces in front of the United States troops, and let the United States troops know that Britain and France have also taken the initiative to fight.

That being said, but this is very dangerous, not to mention that it was not the purpose of the Anglo-French alliance in the first place, they were just going to Canada to strengthen their defenses and wait for the opportunity, but they didn't want to fight the army of the United States now.

The commanders of the British army and the French army are not fools, and he also saw that the Chinese want to put them on the front line, contain Nashville, and then the Chinese can leisurely swim in the back to reap the benefits, anyway, they are in Memphis, relying on the Mississippi River, and there are battleships, and if the situation is not good, they can leave immediately.

The Anglo-French forces were different, they had to go to the vicinity of Nashville to line up, and there were no high-speed mobile vehicles of the Chinese, and the warships were not convenient to pass, so once there was danger, they could only fight each other.

At this time, it happened that the people below were making a big fuss because of the problem that the Chinese's food was too good, so the British and French commanders made a clever move, pushed the boat along the water, and took advantage of this reason to deliberately make things bigger, and even jointly raised yì and reconvened the joint meeting, hoping to stir up nonsense and make things yellow.

As long as the time drags on and the chaos continues, they don't have to fight Nashville anymore, if they don't tear their faces, they will drag it out, and when Nashville's reinforcements arrive, they won't have to fight. And once they tear their faces noisily, they just leave angrily.

In this way, they are not non-observant of the covenant, do not carry out orders, and are not unilateral breakers, but everyone is responsible, because it is a quarrel, it is impossible to negotiate, and since they cannot negotiate, it is natural that they cannot carry out the previous orders.

If you don't say it, this is the advantage of a democratic alliance, if it doesn't please the eye and doesn't like it, you will make a fuss, and when the trouble is over, you don't have to carry out the previous plan. (To be continued......)