"The southerners want a truce? Ask me what I think? ”

After hearing Lincoln's questioning, George. Gordon. Mead was stunned for a moment, and just wanted to speak subconsciously, but quickly frowned and thought about it, and then replied cautiously: "Mr. President, although I am the commander-in-chief of the federal army, I am actually only a military commander, and I am only responsible for leading troops to fight, and I don't care about anything else, so you shouldn't ask my opinion on things like this whether to cease war or not, right?" ”

By not George. Gordon. Mead was so careful because although the question Lincoln had just asked was simple, the answer was definitely not simple.

If the United States of America had been the same system before 1862, and the president had asked Mead this, he would have given his answer without saying a word, and he could have basically said anything.

But now it's different, and now it's a case of Lincoln's alone. The system of layoffs is becoming more and more stringent, especially in the capital Washington, D.C., which has been affected by the war, and the population of the city has increased dramatically, and it has become the most heavily monitored city in the United States of America.

Under such circumstances, if you continue to talk nonsense like before, if you anger His Excellency the President, or make him suspect that you have bad intentions, you will be arrested and questioned if you are not careful, and you will be dismissed from the military, imprisoned, or even shot.

Although George. Gordon. Mead was Lincoln's trusted commander, or he would not have been promoted to commander-in-chief of the Union Army, but he was still very intimidated by the increasingly strange president, so he no longer spoke as casually as he used to.

But it is clear that this caution of General Mead has caused President Lincoln to be unhappy, and he is not very aware of the pressure and concerns in the other party's heart, and is only dissatisfied with the other party's prevarication in his words.

I just wanted to subconsciously reprimand, after all, Lincoln's rest has been very bad recently, and he is very angry. But soon Lincoln saw the other party's bloodshot eyes, and considering that the other party had rushed over overnight to accept his questioning, his irritable mood inexplicably subsided.

Also, I rushed over overnight to accept my own questioning, during which in order to hide people's eyes, I still took a coal truck, although he said that he felt good and slept all the way on the train, but he knew that it was unreliable when he thought about it.

Lincoln hadn't thought about this before, because he had something on his mind. I didn't notice these details, but when I saw his red eyes, I realized that the other party actually didn't take a break, and rushed over directly after a bumpy ride.

Thinking of this, Lincoln's originally serious expression softened: "It's been hard along the way, do you want to have another cup of coffee?" ”

Seeing that the other party suddenly had a pleasant face. George. Mead's heart tightened, and he hurriedly excused himself: "No, Your Excellency the President, I have already drunk it when I came...... Not. What I just meant was that the stakes were high and there were many aspects involved, and that I was only a military commander. I can only see the small world of the army, and I can't see the overall situation, so I don't dare to reply easily. ”

"It's okay." President Lincoln smiled lightly. "Although the question of whether to cease war or not is a comprehensive matter, involving many aspects, the military aspect accounts for a large proportion, and even the military aspect mainly depends on military matters."

Speaking of this, Lincoln paused deliberately and found that the other party did not mean to answer, so he continued to say something to George. Mead said: "You are the commander-in-chief of the Federal Army, and you know the situation of the Federal Army best, at least more than I do, so I want to ask you, from a purely military point of view, is it good or bad to have a truce with the Southerners now...... Don't worry, say whatever comes to mind, after all, we are all for the good of this country. ”

"Understood." Hearing that the other party moved out of the country, George. Gordon. Mead nodded and said thoughtfully, "If it were only from a military point of view, I would agree with an armistice." ”

"Oh? Is that so? Lincoln nodded noncommittally, "Tell me why." ”

"Quite simply, for now, the whole war situation is very unfavorable for us." George. Mead said, "Although the Chinese have ceased war with us, leaving us with one less of the biggest threat, but other than that, our situation has not become optimistic, and we are still in an unfavorable situation of fighting on both sides." ”

Speaking of which, George. Mead stretched out his hands and gestured as he said: "First of all, the south, on the Potomac River defense line, we and the Southern Army are in a situation of confrontation with each other, no one can help anyone, any offensive behavior is stupid." Of course, if we make up our minds and are willing to make great sacrifices, it is not impossible to defeat the other party, but we cannot make up our minds to do so.

Because we are not the only enemy of the Southerners, in the northeast, we also have the enemy of the British, which makes it impossible for us to concentrate all our forces on one point against the Southern Army, and we have to go to great lengths to guard against the British.

Although the British in the northeast did not launch a large-scale offensive against us, they had taken advantage of our all-out efforts against the Chinese on the western front and the southerners in the southeast to seize New England, and we could do nothing about these places, and could only watch these lands fall into the hands of the British.

Obviously, the British are not Chinese, the New England region is close to Canada, belongs to the same English-speaking area as us, has the same roots in culture, has a certain degree of recognition, once the British occupy it, it will be difficult to take it back.

But we can't give up those places, after all, those places are different from the western regions for the Chinese, not vast and sparsely populated wastelands, but the traditional territories of our United States of America, and we must not lose them, so it is only a matter of time before we renew the war with the British for these lands in the future.

The British probably understood this as well, so they kept increasing their forces in that direction, although they did not launch a large-scale attack on us. According to intelligence, there are now more than 200,000 British troops in the Boston area alone, half of whom are elite red shirts transferred from the British mainland.

From this point of view, it is clear that the British are trying to attack us, although they did not take the initiative to attack us for the time being, but it was only to put more pressure on us. After all, defense is more labor-saving than attack, they don't attack, they can consolidate the results they have with minimal effort, after all, they have made a lot of money now.

On the other hand, we have no room for loss in the land occupied by the British. Sooner or later, we have to take it back, so our attack attempt is greater, and we are the ones who have to attack.

Although the number of 200,000 British troops is not large, it is a number of insufficient offensive and more defensive, but it can hold back a large number of our troops, so that we cannot go all out against the Southern Army, as long as this is achieved, the purpose of the British will be achieved.

Even more terrible is the fact that the British Navy blocked our coastline. This made the communication between the British army and the southerners more convenient, resulting in the fact that although they were separated from us, they relied on the sea, but they had stronger mobility, which was equivalent to allowing them to grasp the initiative in the war and fight wherever they wanted, while we fell into a completely passive situation, and could only rely on internal operations to offset this disadvantage.

The loss of Baltimore before was the benefit of their ability to take the initiative. This allows them to attack us at any time by sea and use landing warfare to strike at our weak points, but we can only react passively and fall into a situation of total passivity. ”

Speaking of which. George. Mead seemed to have a dry mouth, and subconsciously coughed and cleared his throat, while Lincoln handed over a glass of water. George. Mead probably said that he was on the rise, and he took it and drank it without thinking about it.

It wasn't until he had finished drinking a glass of water that he reacted. I just wanted to say thank you, but I noticed Lincoln waving his hand: "Keep talking." ”

"Uh, yes." George. Meade nodded, put down the cup gently, and then said, "Well, in short, because we are fighting on two sides, and we have to face the British and the Southerners at the same time, the situation is quite unfavorable for us.

Originally, according to our original plan, after the truce with the Chinese, we should concentrate all our efforts and drive out the British in the north first, while the southern Yankees continued to focus on confrontation and wait for us to turn back and clean them up, but since they used the method of large-scale landing to take Baltimore, this plan has not worked, because it is difficult for us to hide from them in this large-scale movement, on the contrary, their troops in Baltimore can threaten our central area at any time, which is quite dangerous.

So, at the moment, the most important thing for us is how to pull out the nail of Baltimore, but it is clear that the commander of the opposing side is also very cautious, and after capturing Baltimore, he did not rush to attack, but defended Baltimore with all his might, which makes us passive again.

Because although the Southern Army in Baltimore is not a large force, but relying on the British naval fleet and those fortifications, it is not a simple matter to take Baltimore, I estimate that if we want to take that place, we will need at least 300,000 men, but in that case, our strength in the north and south will be weakened.

Therefore, unless we can recruit another million troops, otherwise, in the current situation, we can only passively defend the existing territory, and it is difficult to launch an active attack, but this passive defense is extremely disadvantageous, and maybe when the other side will give us a ruthless one again.

So the conclusion now is that we will have to do so with great difficulty unless we call up another million troops. ”

"Recruit another million troops? That's impossible. Lincoln shook his head, "We don't have that strength anymore, and even if we can recruit them, the government can't afford to support them." ”

"Then the results are obvious." George. Mead spread his hands, "From a purely war point of view, we are at a disadvantage of fighting on two fronts, and we have to fight two enemies at the same time, so the best way is to stop fighting with one side first, so that we can concentrate our forces on one side first, and after dealing with one side, we can go back and deal with the other side, which is the safest plan."

But obviously, I guess the British and the Southern Army can also think of this, so they should have an alliance agreement, and they will not agree to a truce with us alone, and they will definitely advance and retreat together, so as to obtain the greatest benefits.

Therefore, if we can really make a truce with the Yankees, it will be in our best interest, because we can draw our forces to concentrate on the British, but we are afraid that we will be deceived and pretend to be a truce, but when we draw the main force from the south to the north, we will suddenly come to us, and it will be more than worth the loss. ”

"This time it should be very sincere." Lincoln narrowed his eyes, "The people from the south say that if we are willing to recognize the status of the Confederate Powers and agree to sign an armistice in the presence of the Chinese representatives, we will take the initiative to withdraw our troops from Baltimore and return Baltimore to us." ”

"So good?" George. Meade's eyes widened, "It's good for us to do this, is the Southerner really willing to do this?" You know, any armistice agreement, it's just a piece of paper, once they do it, aren't they afraid that we will tear it up after we have recovered? ”

"That's why they said they were going to sign this armistice agreement in the presence of Chinese representatives." Lincoln's face turned pale, "The Southern representative said that when the armistice was signed, the Chinese representative would act as an intermediary and guarantee the ten-year armistice. This means that after the agreement is signed, within ten years, once either side takes the initiative to start a war, the Chinese will intervene and send troops to intervene again until the agreement is maintained, understand? ”

"This ......" George. Mead frowned, "The Chinese still want to be a guarantee?" ”

"Yes." Lincoln sighed, "According to the envoy from the South, the Chinese have negotiated with the Confederate government in the South, and decided to build overseas military bases for the Chinese in New Orleans and Houston, and troops will be stationed here for a long time as a deterrent force to maintain peace in North America and monitor the armistice."

It is said that this overseas garrison of the Chinese is the expeditionary force that gives us a headache, and it is said that half of the forces will be left there, and the other half will return to Los Angeles, and even increase the population and troops as appropriate in the future to supervise the thorough implementation of the armistice agreement between our two sides. ”

Hearing Lincoln say that, George. Gordon. Mead frowned: "If you want to say that, isn't it that the Chinese are forcing us to negotiate peace?" ”

"Yes, you are right, it is the Chinese who are forcing us to stop the war." Lincoln's expression was indifferent, "So I want to ask you, do you think the Chinese are bluffing in this way, or are they really capable of launching armed intervention against us again?" If the Chinese start a war against us again, will we be able to stop it? ”

"I'm sorry, Mr. President." George. Gordon. Mead immediately shook his head, "Frankly speaking, if the Chinese unite with the Alliance to launch a military attack on us again, as long as the scale is the same as in the past, then we will definitely not be able to stop it."

Suffice it to say, if it were just the Chinese, we might be able to drag each other down, but if there were coalition forces, the situation would be different. When the time comes, the Chinese army can be an invincible blade, and the alliance army will be the backup of the blade, and if the two are combined, we will definitely be defeated. ”

"If we recruit another 500,000 troops, will we be able to stop the Chinese?"

"Don't say half a million, one million is not enough." George. Mead smiled bitterly, "Isn't the lesson of the Western Battlefield enough?" In short, until the technological gap between the Chinese army and the Chinese army cannot be bridged, and the firepower superiority of the Chinese cannot be cracked, the more troops are conscripted, the more we will bleed.

Of course, although the Chinese army is strong, but the firepower is so strong, it is estimated that the consumption of fighting such a war is also very large, to a certain extent, we can indeed exchange human lives and blood, in exchange for the other side can not afford to consume, and then cease war with us, the question is, how much blood can we shed? ”

"So, we don't have a choice about the truce demanded by the Southerners?"

"Yes, if there are really Chinese interfering in this, then we have no choice." George. Gordon. Mead nodded, "If we can't beat people, everything will be in vain, so at this time, we only have to be patient, otherwise, we will be completely broken ribs and we will never be able to get up again." (To be continued......)