"Go on the offensive? Where to attack? ”

"Of course, that's going to smash the Yellow Dragons and destroy their Pittsburgh."

"Destroy Pittsburgh?" Listening to Zhang Xinda's words, Li Yongji blinked, "You're okay with your brain, right?" Why fight Pittsburgh? And do you know where Pittsburgh is? ”

"Of course I do." Zhang Xinda smiled, "Pittsburgh is in Pennsylvania, and the distance from your small town of Smithland is only five hundred kilometers, which is not that far. Of course, given the terrible road conditions of your time, it was not very convenient for the troops to march, but don't forget, Pittsburgh is by the river, right next to the Ohio River, and you have a fleet, and it is still convenient to move east along the Ohio River. ”

"You're typical of looking at a map and talking about distance." Li Yongji glared at him, "Can the reality be the same?" Besides, why do you want to fight Pittsburgh well? At this time, Pittsburgh is not the Pittsburgh of later generations, and today's Pittsburgh is only a new city, with a small population, only 80,000 people, and the industrial capacity is not strong. ”

Indeed, Pittsburgh's iron and coal, its proximity to the Ohio River, and its easy access to transportation make it an ideal place for heavy industry.

Historically, however, Pittsburgh was a fledgling city before the Civil War, and by 1850, there were only 46,000 people in Pittsburgh, and the industrial center of the United States at that time had to be said to be the traditional big cities of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

Pittsburgh's great development, thanks to the Civil War, because as the war progressed, the demand for steel in the Confederate increased considerably. However, the arms production capacity of Philadelphia and New York is no longer sufficient to meet the increasing demand ahead, and Pittsburgh is a hub city for supplying the Western Front, so it is necessary to pass through Pittsburgh to supply arms to the Western Theater.

In order to reduce transportation costs, plus because of the war. The price of steel has increased greatly, and the federal government has also made great efforts to develop Pittsburgh, no longer simply using Pittsburgh as a supply base for iron ore and coal, but actually building many factories, such as ironworks, military factories, shipyards, etc., so Pittsburgh's steel industry has developed rapidly. Steel mills and weapons factories have sprung up in Pittsburgh.

It can be said that the war contributed to Pittsburgh's first rapid development, and if it had not been for the Civil War, Pittsburgh would definitely not have developed so quickly if it had not been for the supply of the Western Front.

Historically. During the Civil War, Pittsburgh quickly replaced Philadelphia and New York City as the largest arms production base in the Commonwealth due to its resources and geographical advantages.

After the Civil War, Pittsburgh did not decline because of it. On the contrary, because of the next restoration construction, a large amount of steel and cement are needed, and it has once again entered the fast lane of development. Coupled with the advent of the new open-hearth steelmaking method, Pittsburgh has been given more and more vitality.

At this time, the so-called steel industry in the United States mainly refers to the production of cast iron, and the steelmaking method is similar to that of Britain and France.

Such a steel industry. Ironmaking is actually separate from steelmaking, on the one hand. Iron smelting requires large quantities of iron ore and coal, most of which are produced at the source of the resource. Pittsburgh, for example, mainly produces cast iron, which is why it is called the "Iron City".

On the other hand, since the steelmaking method is the crucible steelmaking method, the output of steel is very low, so there is no need for a large number of raw materials, so the dependence of the steelmaking industry on the source of resources is not so strict, on the contrary, because the price of steel is very high, so the steelmaking mills are often with the foundry.

In other words, in the United States at this time, most of the steel mills were concentrated in Philadelphia and New York, and as for Pittsburgh, although it developed rapidly, it mainly produced cast iron, and even if there were some munitions, they were mostly cast iron weapons.

In 1860, before the start of the Civil War, Philadelphia's manufacturing output accounted for 30% of the country's manufacturing output, of which nearly sixty percent of the heavy industry was in Philadelphia, and most of the rest was concentrated in New York.

Therefore, in a certain way, even if Pittsburgh were destroyed at this time, it would not be too much of a blow to the industrial production capacity of the United States, because Philadelphia and New York could still increase production capacity.

To put it bluntly, in the final analysis, Pittsburgh's history is too short and its population is too small, with a total of less than 80,000 people, so it is naturally impossible to have many industrial workers, and in this era, without enough industrial workers, steel production capacity will not go up.

In short, at this time in the United States of America, the real strategic heavy industry centers were Philadelphia and New York, and Pittsburgh, although it was developing rapidly, was a new city after all, and although it had strategic value, it was not great.

"Therefore, Pittsburgh at this time is not an irreplaceable heavy industry city at all, and it makes no sense to fight down." "On the contrary, Pittsburgh is the interior of the United States of America, and because of its convenient transportation, it is one of the three most important cantonment points of the Union Army. As far as I know, there are at least three new legions stationed in Pittsburgh now, plus the two main legions retreating from this side, these are five legions, and the total will not be less than half a million troops!

500,000 people, and the whole eastern part of the Ohio River is under the control of the Confederate State, and the population density along the river is also very high, and all of them are attached to the federal government...... With a few people like me, even if I can fight through, I will soon be surrounded on all sides, and once there is a mistake at that time, it will be a situation where the whole army will be annihilated...... Damn, you don't really want to hurt me, do you? ”

"Why, where do you want to go?" Zhang Xinda shrugged his shoulders, "Just with your motorist, plus I help you, who can take you?" Don't you want to hit wherever you want? What about half a million people? If you can't stop your attack, everything will be in vain! As for being besieged...... Not to mention whether the Americans still have the confidence after suffering repeated setbacks, even if they do, what can they do if they really surround you? With your strength, you can break through after the fight. Who can really do anything to you?

Well, if you think about it this way, when the time comes, you will lead a lone army and make a thousand-mile assault. In the case that there are enemies in front and back, the gods block and kill the gods along the way, and the Buddha blocks and kills the Buddha, what a courage and how happy! ”

"Hmph." Li Yongji glanced at him, "Just for pleasure." Do you want me to go behind enemy lines and fight a worthless Pittsburgh? ”

"How can you say that it is worthless, it is very valuable." Zhang Xinda stood up solemnly, "That's right, what you just said is right. What Pittsburgh has a small population, less than 80,000 people, the industry is just starting, it is not very strong, etc...... To tell you the truth, I asked you to fight Pittsburgh, and I didn't like that bit of industry at all, and I didn't go for Pittsburgh's industry. ”

"It's not for Pittsburgh's industry, so why did you let me fight Pittsburgh?"

"You've just said that." Zhang Xinda smiled. "Just because Pittsburgh is one of the three major cantonment points of the Union Army."

"What do you mean?" Li Yongji frowned and said, "Why don't I understand the more I listen?" ”

"There's something I don't understand about this." Zhang Xinda said, "I'll ask you." You should know the three major battles of the Liberation War, right? ”

"I know," Li Yongji became more and more confused, "but what does the three major battles have to do with you letting me fight Pittsburgh?" Hey, don't you always go around in circles? To put it simply, can you die? ”

"Don't worry, don't worry." Zhang Xinda smiled and said, "That." During our War of Liberation, our Party won three major battles. Therefore, the pace of defeating the Kuomintang and unifying the whole of China was greatly advanced. At least two to three years in advance, you should have heard of this, right? ”

"Yes, I've heard of it, and then what?"

"This is the benefit of the so-called strategic decisive battle." Zhang Xinda said, "A strategic decisive battle is to defeat the enemy's main force in a short period of time, so that the opponent will lose a large amount of effective force in a short period of time, so as to greatly shorten the time of the war, let the war develop in the direction of their own hope, and end the war as much as possible." ”

"Getting to the point!" Li Yongji felt his head skip and start, "If you continue to be long-winded, I will close the call with you!" ”

"Okay, good, the point is coming soon." Zhang Xinda hurriedly said, "Look, you mentioned to me before that the United States of America has begun a comprehensive conscription, but due to transportation and other factors, it is impossible to concentrate all troops in one place, so they have set up three cantonment points, or large barracks, to train newly recruited soldiers, isn't that so?" ”

"That's right." Li Yongji nodded, "In order to facilitate the command, these three cantonment points are in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York, which are called the three major barracks of the Federal Army, which is almost the main force of the Federal Army...... Well, what's wrong with that? ”

"It's a big problem." Zhang Xinda said, "Although Lincoln was ambitious and engaged in a compulsory conscription system, in fact, because the United States is a country with a large number of immigrants, coupled with factors such as tradition and system, it is impossible for him to really recruit four million troops." Not to mention four million, with his current situation, one million is enough to choke.

Remember the recent New York Recruiting Riots? Isn't it because immigrants of Irish descent are dissatisfied with the new conscription laws that they are fighting? If it weren't for the fact that there happened to be a main army in New York and sent a large army to suppress it in time, it would have been possible for New York to join the camp of the Southern Army. ”

"That's true." Li Yongji nodded, "The previous compulsory conscription law was too rough, it can be regarded as Lincoln in a hurry, but this matter was more problematic at the beginning, if the government continues to be tough, the people will bow their heads under the power after all." ”

"That's what I'm worried about!" Zhang Xinda slapped his face, "You see, in times of war, the better the government, because the more the government is, the more it can ban a dissenting opinion and concentrate all forces to fight against foreign enemies, which is called unanimity with the outside world, even if there will be all kinds of injustices during this period."

The strength of the United States is still very strong, and if we really make a concerted effort to mobilize the more than 20 million people alone, it will indeed be very difficult for us to do so.

But fortunately, the United States is an open immigrant country and implements a federal republic, which makes the country's centripetal force and cohesion not very strong, and in the face of foreign invasion, it is impossible to concentrate all its forces in the short term.

However, Lincoln is too ruthless, this guy has now completely turned into a big dictator, and it is a compulsory military service system, and it is a forced paper money reform, and he actually did it!

Moral factors aside, Lincoln's reforms, although there will be some confusion at first. There will be a lot of opposition, but as long as the initial chaos is overcome, and the U.S. government is truly turned into a government, then the country will become terrifying.

Because at that time, all the citizens will be kidnapped by this horrible * government. Then, in the name of patriotism, these people were pushed to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

You and I should be very clear about this, once the people accept a voice for a long time, it will be subtly transformed, especially when this voice is packaged as patriotism. The populace will erupt in a hysterical, frightening madness!

We don't care whether this practice of sacrificing a qiē for patriotism is right or wrong, but at least there is no doubt about one thing, and that is that once this force is formed, it can destroy a qiē. At that time, no matter how good your weapons are, you won't be able to stop the tide of people who are not afraid of death, right? ”

"That's just as well." Li Yongji nodded, "But that kind of method of ideological control should only exist in the future, and now the world, at least in the United States, should not be mature, right?" ”

"You'd be wrong, patriotism. Sometimes it's actually very simple, and as it stands, there is a soil for the birth of such an idea. Zhang Xinda said. If nothing else, the French Revolution knows that the madness of the pre-revolutionary period is not acceptable to ordinary people. Moreover, in the case of foreign invasion and military defeat, it is the catalyst of *ism. It can accelerate the government's move in the direction of *.

Lincoln's administration is like that now, and they are just the beginning. The transformation has not yet been completed, and there is still a lot of opposition within the country. So we still have a chance.

In other words, we must take advantage of the fact that the U.S. government has not yet completed the reform, and when Lincoln has not wiped out the domestic opposition and the internal situation is still unstable, so as to defeat the other side as soon as possible, and force the other side to negotiate with us as soon as possible to get what we want.

Otherwise, if we continue to let them confront the Yankees and play a war of attrition, then over time, the Yankees will become weaker and weaker, and the federal government will complete the reform and truly concentrate all the forces in the country.

At that time, you will not be facing the United States with a separation of powers, but the far-right, Stalinist America, and I don't need to say more about how terrible that country is, right? As the saying goes, if you are not afraid to be reasonable, you are afraid that you will be a hooligan! The United States, which plays democracy, is more or less reasonable and relatively easy to deal with, but if they do*, it will be a complete hooligan, and it will be much more difficult to deal with it at that time. Because you are facing a government that does not care about human life at all, such a country is difficult to defeat, at least not with your current strength. ”

"I think I get what you mean." Li Yongji nodded, "You mean, before the other party completes the *transformation reform, you should have a strategic decisive battle with the other party in advance, such as knocking out an important garrison point of the other party, and then use this bonus point to force the other party to sign an alliance with us?" ”

"That's right!" Zhang Xinda nodded, "The Federal State is now in the most difficult period, and the three major garrison points are not so much convenient for command, but as three defense points for helplessness.

A careful look at the map shows that the garrison point of Pittsburgh is mainly facing the western battlefield in time, while the garrison point of Philadelphia is used to prepare for and counterattack the eastern battlefield. As for New York, it is easier to understand, it was originally a reserve army, but now, it is to guard against the Anglo-French forces.

Once Pittsburgh, an important garrison point, is destroyed, even if we cannot completely annihilate the troops there, it will be equivalent to reaching the opponent's nose, and the blow to their military morale will be unprecedented, no less than a Huaihai Campaign.

At that time, we, the British, the French, and the Confederate forces in the south will be surrounded on three sides, and Lincoln will not continue to fight with us as long as he still has some brains, but will start peace negotiations with us while he still has some bargaining chips in his hands.

In other words, under normal circumstances, if Pittsburgh is taken, the war can basically end ahead of schedule, and the US government, in order to avoid a total defeat, must agree to our conditions, at least the western land, which they cannot keep anyway.

Of course, if they don't know how to lift, then we will continue to fight, hit Pittsburgh and then Philadelphia, and if they don't surrender after hitting Philadelphia, then hit New York, and if they beat a city, they will destroy a city!

Hmph, I don't believe it, the big cities are all over, the industrial base is gone, can he continue to be arrogant? Not at all! ”

"But in this way, the consumption of this material ......"

"It's all said, you don't have to worry!" Zhang Xinda waved his hand, looking like a wealthy brother with money, "I just got a lot of goods from China, not to mention anything else, what 56 rush, what 60 force, and 63 type 107 mm rocket artillery, that is enough to arm a small African country." It is easy to form 200,000 people, and it is no problem to fight for half a year.

With so many arms, arms, and supplies as a backing, what are you afraid of? Heaps can kill them, too!

Listen to me, don't hesitate, don't worry about it, let's do it boldly, let's have a vigorous attack! (To be continued) R655