Christmas 1863 was not a joyous holiday for the citizens of Washington, but a day of sadness and anger. As for the reason, it was news from the front that the Nashville Legion was almost completely wiped out.

As mentioned above, the Nashville Legion is a newly established legion, although it is stationed in Nashville, but for various reasons, more than eighty percent of the officers and soldiers of this legion are foreign reinforcements, and only two percent are locals, and eighty percent of the so-called foreign soldiers are from Washington, so the fall of the Nashville Legion is particularly sad for Washingtonians.

You know, Washington is not a metropolis at this time, its own population is relatively small, at most the size of a small town, except for the political center of the United States of America, other aspects are not prominent.

Such a city has lost nearly 100,000 young adults at once, and it may directly involve 100,000 families, coupled with the extended network of these families, and the chain reaction caused by this, the repercussions are particularly large.

This is not like the previous defeats, although the citizens of Washington have heard all kinds of news of victory or defeat before, but firstly, the news of victory is mostly (false propaganda), and secondly, most of the dead and injured are not Washingtonians, and everyone is not deeply touched, so there is no problem.

But now, most of the casualties on the front line are their own relatives, and this time, all of a sudden, Washingtonians really feel the cruelty and ruthlessness of the war, and correspondingly, the negative emotions such as grief and anger are also heating up uncontrollably.

In response to this situation, Lincoln delivered a public speech at the White House in a timely manner, in which he did not hide the fiasco, but tried his best to exaggerate the heavy casualties, and counted these casualties on the heads of Chinese and southerners.

According to Lincoln, it was the attack of the Chinese and the Southerners. It is this tragedy that caused this tragedy, so we must remember this tragedy and defeat the invaders and rebels once and for all, so as to comfort the souls of these dead.

All in all, there are heavy defeats, and there are heavy casualties, but the enemies are Chinese and southerners, so what we should do is how to take revenge, not cry weakly.

Not to mention, these diversionary agitations. There are also a lot of effects, and many people who didn't want to join the army also want to take the initiative to join the army because of this matter, even if their families can't keep them repeatedly.

Most of these people who joined the army had brothers or children who died in Nashville, so they signed up for the army to get revenge.

Although for most people, these feelings are only temporary, and they may dissipate over time. But for now, at least, they have added a large number of troops to the United States, which has somewhat alleviated Washington's lack of troops.

Of course, it is not enough to just preach hatred and revenge. You have to find someone to carry the black pot. Originally, the commander of the Nashville Legion, James Brown. McPherson is the best person to carry the black cauldron, but alas, he also disappeared in that blizzard, and nine times out of ten he is like everyone else. Frozen to death and buried in the snow, he couldn't be a scapegoat.

In fact, the entire Nashville Legion inside. None of them can be scapegoats, because most of the outsiders died because of the blizzard, and the rest of them also surrendered early, and their positions are very low, they can't and don't deserve to be scapegoats.

Eventually, powerful people in Washington were implicated and pushed Burnside, the commander of the Virginia Legion, out.

Perhaps, the troops led by Burnside are not in Nashville at all, so how can they be scapegoated for the Nashville Corps?

According to some well-informed sources in Washington, it was the slow progress and extreme inaction of the Virginia Legion led by Burnside that led to the interruption of supplies in the Nashville area. General McPherson had to take the risk of breaking out, only to be annihilated by both enemy forces and extreme cold weather during the breakout.

Therefore, with the spread of these conditions, gradually, the common people in Washington gradually recognized a seemingly logical truth, that is, it was precisely because of Burnside's passive offensive, it was his indecisiveness, who gave up a rare offensive opportunity, and failed to capture Smithland, an important strategic hub, in time, that Nashville was cut off from the outside world, and then led to the occurrence of "Nashville's harsh winter".

In this way, Burnside, who was still confronting the Confederate Army and the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Smithland, was inexplicably hated by the Washingtonians, who believed that he was the culprit of the heavy defeat, and demanded that he be removed and tried more and more.

In fact, it was not that Burnside did not want to capture Smithland, it was purely because he had more than enough strength and General Mead's advice in advance, so as soon as he came to a place thirty kilometers outside of Smithland, he stopped the prospect, and then dug a trench, built a barracks, and fought a defensive battle.

Burnside is actually doing the right thing, with the current situation of the Federal Army, or the current situation of the Virginia Legion, it is simply a lack of defense and offense, if this force is forced to attack the heavily guarded Smithland, it is purely no different from looking for death.

In other words, it was because of Burnside's prudence that the Virginia Legion escaped the catastrophe, and because they were training rigorously every day, it could be regarded as adding a little training experience.

It's a pity that the common people don't understand this, they only know that Burnside did not take Smithland, who has fewer guards than him, and Smithland is the only way to transport supplies and soldiers by river, and in the case of the destruction and containment of the railway line, the only way to transport supplies and soldiers is by water.

Well, since Burnside didn't take that small number of people, it would be a dereliction of duty, so it seems that he is the best person to carry the blame.

At the beginning, the White House still had some sympathy for Burnside, and even Lincoln planned to give a speech to prove that he had not betrayed and was not making a mistake, but that it was really caused by problems on the frontal battlefield.

In other words, at the beginning, Lincoln and General Mead came to each other to keep this genius inventor and commander, so Lincoln never let go and did not let Burnside go around to develop and apologize.

But. As time went on, especially in the two days before and after Christmas, the masses who knew the truth became angry and spontaneously organized marches and formed long lines to petition the White House.

Seeing this situation, Lincoln couldn't continue to favor Burnside, and besides, he didn't have a good impression of this guy in the first place, and if Mead hadn't trusted him in the first place, he would have had to let him lead the troops. Lincoln said he wouldn't send him anything.

So, at the strong demand of many Washington citizens, Lincoln decisively ordered the dismissal of Burnside as commander of the Virginia Legion, and not only that, but also escorted him to a court-martial, where he was tried.

It is clear that Burnside is the unlucky bastard, a punching bag to throw out to quell the anger of the people.

……

"I'm sorry, General. Mr. President is busy at this time and does not have time to summon you, you can ...... Ah, what are you going to do? You can't go in! ”

"Get out of the way!" George in a lieutenant general's uniform. Gordon. Meade pushed the young man who stood in his way pushed him away. Walk straight to the president's office in front of you.

"No way!" The man who was pushed away quickly ran over and stopped again in George. Gordon. In front of Mead, he stretched out his hands and said with a clean face. "Mr. Lieutenant General, I repeat, Mr. President is very busy right now. If you don't have a reservation......"

As soon as he said this, the loyal official of the president's office suddenly stopped, because the general Mead, who was dressed as a lieutenant general, had already pulled out his revolver and put the muzzle of the gun directly on the other man's head.

"Will you get out of the way?" Mead said expressionlessly, "Believe it or not, even if I kill you here, you will die in vain, and no one will administer justice for you?" ”

"No, no, no!" Although the young man's legs trembled, he still did not leave, but said stubbornly, "Even if you kill me, I can't let you in, if you have the guts, shoot it!" ”

"I'm not a little daring, do you think I don't dare?" George. Gordon. Mead smirked and pressed the ram safety of the revolver with his thumb, leaving the pistol in an activated state at once, which was also the most dangerous time for the pistol.

Seeing this, the young man's face immediately turned white, and cold sweat began to break out, but he still did not leave, but closed his eyes: "If you want to shoot, shoot, but if you want to break through, step over my corpse first!" ”

Seeing him like this, General Mead looked gloomy, because at this moment, it was Mead who couldn't get off the stage.

After all, this is the White House, it is the presidential palace, and Mead's trespassing is already a problem, and if he shoots and kills people again, it will be a big sin.

He didn't care about himself, he didn't do it, but he came this time for something else, and if he was delayed, it would be troublesome.

Just in George. Gordon. When Mead was still worrying about how to get off the stage, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in front of him: "Huh? What's going on? General Meade, are you kidding this new little guy? But you're kidding a bit big, look, our poor little guy is almost wetting his pants. ”

"Humph!" Listened to the other party's words, George. Gordon. Mead took advantage of the situation to put away the pistol, and then turned to look at the thin middle-aged man, "It turns out to be you, Aaron, I haven't seen you for a long time, it seems that your recent days have become more and more moisturized." ”

That's right, the person who spoke out to relieve the siege between the two sides just now was Aaron, who had just come out of the president's office. Pinkerton is also the current celebrity around the president.

The general smiled. Alan. Pinkerton smiled and walked slowly over to George. Gordon. Mead's approach, "General, are you here to find Mr. President?" ”

"Yes." George. Gordon. Mead nodded, then pointed at the young man who had just exhaled, "But this guy dares to stand in my way and won't let me see the president!" It's ridiculous, I am the commander-in-chief of the federal forces in wartime, appointed by the president himself, and the president promised me that I could go directly to him if there is anything, but I didn't say anything I had to make an appointment! ”

"New, ignorant." Alan. Pinkerton smiled again, then waved at the earthy-faced young man, "Alright, Ike, there's nothing for you here, get out." ”

Hear Aaron. Pinkerton said this, and the young man known as Ike straightened up, bowed slightly, and then stepped back.

"Sure enough, loyal and well-trained." After reading these all the time, George. Gordon. Mead sneered, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be your Federal Intelligence Agency agent, right?" ”

"Ike, you say? Hehe, what kind of agent is he. "Aaron. Pinkerton smiled and shook his head, "General Mead, this is the presidential palace, and the employees here are all serious people, how can they be agents." ”

"Hmph, whatever you want." George. Gordon. Mead shook his head, "Is Mr. President inside, I'm going in to see the President, you won't stop me, right?" ”

"Of course I won't stop you." Alan. Pinkerton continued to smile, "But to be honest, Mr. President is really inconvenient to meet right now...... Don't worry, just listen to me. That's right, Mr. President has not slept for three days and three nights recently, and he just fell asleep, so I told Mr. Sù Ike that no outsiders are gone, just to let the President rest well...... If you think it's okay to disturb Mr. President's rest, just go in, and Mr. President won't blame you, but ...... Well, it's up to you. ”

"Mr. President hasn't slept for three days and three nights?" George. Gordon. Mead frowned, "Really? ”

"If you don't believe me, I can take you to see it now." Alan. Pinkerton said, "But you'd better keep it quiet and don't wake him up." ”

Suspiciously, he looked at Aaron. Pinkerton, finally, George. Gordon. Meade nodded: "Okay, I'll be careful and take me to see it." ”

Obviously, George. Gordon. Mead still didn't believe in the spy leader.

This distrust of him, Aaron. Pinkerton just smiled lightly, and then walked to the president's office first.

Soon, they crept into the president's office. Gordon. Mead is in Aaron. Pinkerton's guidance led him to the inside of the office, and sure enough, he found President Lincoln resting on a folding bed with his clothes on, and his slight snoring was obviously asleep.

See this, George. Gordon. Mead sighed secretly, and didn't wake up the other party's thoughts, but in Aaron. Pinkerton signaled, and continued to carefully retreat with him.

After leaving the president's office and walking back into the hallway, Aaron . Pinkerton smiled and said to Meade: "How is it, General, do you believe it now?" ”

"Why didn't the president sleep for three days and three nights?" George. Gordon. Mead asked suddenly.

"What else can I do, for the things of the front." Alan. Pinkerton sighed, "The Nashville Legion is completely annihilated, public opinion is raging, and the president has been going around lately, giving speeches everywhere, and he has to come back to deal with official documents when he is done, hey, it's really difficult for Mr. President." (To be continued......) R1292