Although he had already planned to intervene with arms and obtained Li Yongji's authorization to attack, Peng Yulin did not take action immediately, but gathered troops and strengthened vigilance while coldly watching from the sidelines and observing the development of the situation.

Obviously, Peng Yulin's purpose was to wait for the Pemberton Legion to fight with the Mississippi River Legion before taking the opportunity to fight, so that he could obtain the maximum result with the smallest losses.

Although Peng Yulin's unit is strong in combat, it is a pure infantry division after all, and it is not comparable with motorized units in terms of mobility and firepower.

The Pemberton Legion is also a large army of 80,000 men, of which the core force is 50,000, all of which are Chinese-style equipment obtained from the expeditionary force through trade.

The so-called Chinese-style equipment mainly refers to the Hua 1 rifle and the Hua 1 artillery, which belonged to the early equipment of the Imperial Army, of which the Hua 1 rifle is the improved Sharps rifle, and the Hua 1 gun is a strengthened version of the Napoleon gun.

Although these equipment are quite backward for Peng Yulin's troops, after all, Peng Yulin's troops are generally equipped with 56 offices and 56 charges, and the artillery is mortars and recoilless guns, which not only far surpass the Pemberton regiment in terms of firepower, but also have stronger mobility because of the small number of people and the light weapons.

After all, Peng Yulin's regiment only had 5,000 people, which belonged to the small regiment-level troops, and this kind of small regiment-level troops of pure infantry only had 4,000 real combat soldiers after excluding various auxiliary units.

Four thousand against eighty thousand, even if the weapons are better than the other side, but because it is not a motorized force, it cannot maintain that kind of absolute suppression in terms of firepower, and there is no cavalry, so in the event of a conflict, if the people of the Pemberton regiment are brave enough. It's still easy to take advantage of the sea of people to drown Peng Yulin's small 5,000 people.

However, although Peng Yulin's troops are small in number and the attack is slightly insufficient, Peng Yulin can not only command this infantry regiment at present, but also command a Kunshan frigate!

The Kunshan frigate has two H/PJ-87 single-barreled 100mm automatic main guns, as well as two twin 37mm anti-aircraft guns, this kind of firepower is definitely a battle-level weapon near Memphis.

It can be said that as long as it is within the range of the main guns of the Kunshan frigate, Peng Yulin's regiment is absolutely safe. Because no pure infantry unit could resist the main artillery bombardment of the Kunshan frigate head-on.

However, the shortcomings of the Kunshan frigate are also obvious, that is, it cannot leave the water, so the real protection range is limited, in terms of 100 mm main guns, the maximum range is only 17.5 kilometers, that is, the fire support that this frigate can provide can only be centered on the Kunshan. Within a radius of 17 km.

Peng Yulin's infantry regiment was stationed in the port of Memphis, within the absolute protection of the naval guns, plus some fortifications in the camp, if it was purely defensive. He was confident that the Pemberton Legion, which was part of the Union Army, would never be able to attack.

And in case of an accident, there are two clippers in the port of Memphis, which can load Peng Yulin's troops at any time and transport them away, so rely on this small fleet. Peng Yulin's infantry regiment was in an invincible position that could be defended and walked.

However, although Peng Yulin's regiment is strong in defense, it is inevitably deficient in offense. This is the fundamental reason why he does not plan to fight directly with the Pemberton Army.

Fortunately, the main gun attack range of the Kunshan frigate is a secret, and only a few people know the details, at least the people of the alliance army don't know yet, so this gives Peng Yulin a chance to kill and injure the other party one at a time.

However, this kind of opportunity is only once, so in order to get the greatest result and give the opponent the greatest damage, it is necessary to let the opponent attack Memphis City without scruples, and the offensive route of the opponent's attacking force must be within the range of your own naval guns.

Obviously, although the Pemberton Regiment had already begun to attack the Mississippi River Regiment in Memphis, it probably also took into account the fact that there was a regiment of expeditionary force troops here, as well as the small fleet led by the frigate Kunshan anchored in the port of Memphis, so the range of action was not large, and it was obviously in a tentative situation.

Therefore, Peng Yulin was not in a hurry, he felt that since the other party had already made a move, he would definitely send someone over to lobby him, and it was impossible to remain so indifferent.

Sure enough, as soon as Peng Yulin's side finished gathering his troops, he received a telegram from the Mississippi River Army garrison in Memphis City, asking Peng Yulin's troops to provide immediate support, and at the same time, Peng Yulin also received a message that a caravan came from outside the barracks, and the leader of the caravan claimed to be an envoy sent by the Pemberton army, asking to meet with the person in charge here, that is, Peng Yulin.

Soon, Peng Yulin met with the so-called envoy, although the other party was a white man, he could speak fluent Chinese, which showed that the other party was still very sincere.

The other party's intention was also expected by Peng Yulin, that is, he hoped that Peng Yulin would not want to help him in the next few days, and would not help Joseph. Johnston's troops.

According to the other side's statement, the expeditionary force was an ally of the Union Army. Johnston was employed, but at the time Joseph. Johnston is a Confederate Army, so in this way, the Eastern Expeditionary Force actually accepted the employment of the Confederate Army, and the real employer was the Confederate Army, not Joseph. Johnston.

And now it's the case, Joseph. Mr. Johnston had been relieved of his duties as Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Western Theater and had been branded a traitor, while the Mississippi River Corps had been ordered to disband by the Confederates. Johnston was no longer part of the Confederate Army and had lost the right to hire expeditionary forces.

The current commander-in-chief of the Western Theater of the Union Army has become John Brown. Bel. Hood, and Commander Hood has decided to eliminate Joseph with a resolute will and thunderous means. Johnston led the rebels, so he hoped that the Chinese expeditionary force friends stationed here would not meddle in the war between the two sides.

In return, the Eastern Expeditionary Force had previously communicated with Joseph. Commander Hood recognized the formal agreement signed by Johnston as long as there was an official document, and at the same time, General Hood also took into account the hard work of the commander of the local garrison, so he specially presented 30,000 Mexican silver dollars and 2,000 Mexican gold coins in his personal name. as a reward for allies.

To put it simply, the other party asked Peng Yulin's garrison in Memphis not to interfere, and the reason was naturally Joseph. Johnston's troops have been branded as rebels by the Confederate government, and are no longer generals of the Confederate army, and thus have lost the basis for cooperation with the expeditionary force. Johnston, not perfidy, but respects the contract and fulfills the duty!

Of course. The other party was very smart, and he didn't just want to impress the other party with these words, so he also took the initiative to take out some practical things, the 30,000 silver dollars and 2,000 gold coins, which were obviously bribes given to Peng Yulin.

After all, it was said that it was given by Commander Hood in his private name, and it was a friendly exchange between private individuals, not official business, but smart people knew what it meant.

Since the other party said so. Peng Yulin also smiled at the silver dollars and gold coins, and then replied to the other party that they have no interest in interfering in this internal struggle of yours. So you will be strictly neutral and will not take sides until you have a result.

After receiving this promise of strict neutrality, the envoy left behind silver and gold coins. Then I happily went back to my life, and I felt that this trip had gone quite smoothly.

After that, got the news of John. Bel. Hood was happy though. But after all, there were still some concerns, so at the beginning did not fully believe the other side, did not launch a full-scale attack, but slightly increased the intensity of the attack, from the original attack scale of one army to the supply scale of two armies, so that the attack force reached 20,000 people.

Although it was a large battle of 20,000 people, the actions of these two armies were still cautious, always paying attention to the Chinese troops in the port of Memphis, for fear that the other side would suddenly kill out.

At the same time, the home of the Pemberton regiment was also in strict formation, keeping a close eye on the dynamics of the Chinese, so as not to betray the other side.

However, they soon discovered that in this attack, the Chinese were only guarding the barracks, without the slightest intention of taking the initiative, and the entire defense of Memphis City was all under the responsibility of the soldiers of the Mississippi River Legion.

This made both Hood and Pemberton slightly relieved, and began to become more reassured, and increased the intensity of their attacks on Memphis City.

In this way, Pemberton's regiment attacked Memphis City in the form of wheel warfare, using a siege on all sides and 24 hours of non-stop artillery bombardment, hoping to force the other side to surrender in this way.

The reason for this is because Memphis City is also a big city, and the city defense is quite strong, and although the Mississippi River Army is poorly trained, it has a large number of people and is not too poorly equipped, and if you rashly engage in siege warfare, you will definitely suffer a lot of losses.

Therefore, a strong attack is definitely not possible, and it just so happens that General Pemberton had endured the siege of the city under the command of General Grant in Vicksburg, and this time he also took advantage of his own strength and increased firepower, and came to a four-sided encirclement and non-stop artillery bombardment, hoping to wear down the morale of the defenders in this way and force the other side to surrender.

Memphis City is a large city that can accommodate a large enough population, which is the advantage of Memphis.

However, because of the large population, the daily consumption of materials is also very large, so Memphis City cannot be cut off from the outside world, once the connection is broken, not to mention anything else, a single food problem can kill people.

Obviously, Memphis was previously under Chinese rule, so although it was once a prosperous commercial city, it actually did not have much food reserves.

After that, the Chinese began a major withdrawal, and the main forces retreated to New Orleans, leaving only an infantry regiment of five thousand men in the port here, plus a small fleet of three ships, and as for the control of Memphis City, it was given to Joseph. Johnston.

And Joseph. Johnston, when he got Memphis, he had already raised a force of 200,000 people, plus the original citizens of Memphis, the daily food consumption was not a small amount.

It's August, and although there is a lot of wheat and corn on the land outside Memphis, most of it has not yet reached the harvest season, so it happens to be a month when the old grain is about to be eaten up and the new grain has not yet come down.

At the same time, the city did not have much grain reserves because it had changed hands many times before, and the usual grain was obtained through trade, using water and land to trade with the outside world.

Therefore, this siege of Hood and Pemberton on all sides is equivalent to cutting off the food channel of Memphis City, as long as the other party cannot reopen this channel. Sooner or later, you will have no choice but to surrender because you have nothing to eat.

Of course, there is the biggest problem here, that is, the land side of the alliance army can be controlled, but the Mississippi River waterway can not be mastered, so they have to spend a lot of money to buy Peng Yulin, just hope that Peng Yulin will cut off the surface traffic here.

Peng Yulin did not agree to this, but agreed to allow the Pemberton Regiment to enter the port of Memphis, and said that as long as they did not come to disturb the camp of the expeditionary force in the port of Memphis. They won't have any changes.

To put it bluntly, this is deliberately biased, because once the Pemberton Legion controls the port of Memphis except for the rest of the expeditionary force barracks, without the interference of Peng Yulin's army, it is basically equivalent to cutting off the water transportation of Memphis City.

In this way, when the four-sided encirclement operation was successfully successful, Hood and Pemberton were really relieved, and completely believed Peng Yulin's words, thinking that they really didn't want to help. This is the real force, and the continuous attack on Memphis City began.

In order to put pressure on the defenders of the city, Pemberton took out all the artillery and shelled it twenty-four hours a day. It was even more ruthless than Grant at the time, after all, Grant at least left Pemberton an hour of rest, and the shelling was only twenty-three hours uninterrupted.

Originally, Hood and Pemberton were in high spirits. I feel that in this kind of situation of being surrounded on all sides and abandoned by the Chinese army, the other side will definitely not be able to bear it. It is estimated that it will collapse in a few days.

Who knew that the defenders of Memphis were actually quite resolute, at least for the time being, there was no sign of wavering, the defense played quite well, and several tentative attacks by Pemberton were repulsed without hesitation.

This phenomenon made Hood and Pemberton quite puzzled, after all, in terms of the style of the Alliance Army, most of them were demoralized in this situation, not to mention that most of the opponents were newly recruited rookie soldiers.

However, no matter how well the opponent plays, Hood and Pemberton agree that this situation will not last, and that it will collapse sooner or later after a long time.

After all, the army in Memphis City is a lone army, without any reinforcements, nor any helpers, plus the general righteousness is not superior, it won't be long, and the people inside can't bear it, and sooner or later they will surrender.

Thinking of this, Hood and Pemberton began to change their siege methods in order to achieve a quick victory.

Hood organized a total of four attack groups with 20,000 men, and then these four attack groups were separated, and each attack group attacked for six hours alone with the cooperation of artillery, and once the six hours were over, they retreated and were taken over by a second attack group.

In this way, the non-stop attack of the four attack groups formed a 24-hour uninterrupted continuous attack, which is a typical wheel warfare.

The advantage of this is that the continuous attack of the four troops can cause continuous pressure on the defenders of the city, while their own side can take turns to rest, the purpose is naturally to cause the opponent to cause continuous mental and physical exhaustion, and weaken the opponent's will to defend the city.

Of course, this is also quite bold, and it is clear that it is bullying the other party and not daring to go out of the city to fight, so it is played like this, so it is also a game that belongs to the strong.

However, in doing so, although they can take turns to rest, they will inevitably accumulate a lot of fatigue, plus the four troops take turns to attack, the attack is sharp, but there are too many connections, and there will inevitably be too many holes in the defense.

The most important thing is that with the development of the situation, in order to facilitate command and reduce the connection problem of wheel warfare, especially for fear of being broken by the opponent by using the advantage of the inner line, Hood and Pemberton gave up the method of encircling on all sides, but gradually concentrated the main forces in one direction, so that the troops could be concentrated and it was not easy to be counterattacked by the other side.

I don't know if it's a coincidence or what, the main direction of attack of the Pemberton Corps is exactly within the range of the naval artillery bombardment of the Kunshan frigate!

In this way, the Pemberton Legion of the Union Army attacked for ten days in a row, although the defenders of Memphis City became exhausted and crumbling, as if they were about to break the city and surrender in the next moment, but correspondingly, the Pemberton Legion, which was the main attack, was also quite uncomfortable, and also accumulated considerable fatigue and exhaustion.

In other words, both the offensive and defensive sides are exhausted, but the attack is slightly stronger.

During this period, Peng Yulin actually had been in contact with Joseph in Memphis. Johnston has a connection, after all, there is a special liaison officer of the expeditionary force in Memphis, and the liaison officer has the expeditionary force's big killer in his hand, the radio talker!

So, Peng Yulin and Joseph. Johnston has always been a close relationship, and Joseph of Memphis City. Johnston knew about Peng Yulin's plans and arrangements early on, and because of this, his defense was so resolute that he did not become decadent because of this.

Otherwise, without Peng Yulin's guarantee and plan, facing the siege on all sides and the betrayal of the expeditionary force, Joseph . Johnston's temperament, he surrendered long ago. Because it is an absolute disadvantage, there is no chance of turning the tables, and Joseph will never do useless work, and if he surrenders early, he can at least protect the safety of the military and civilians, and at least have a guarantee for his personal safety.

Of course, in fact, for Peng Yulin's plan, Joseph. Johnston was still quite dissatisfied, after all, this was using them as consumables, and no one was happy to change them.

But the man is under the roof, the current Joseph. Johnston was isolated, and the only lifesaver was the expeditionary force stationed here, so he had to follow the other party's arrangement and obediently serve as bait.

In this way, the plan to exhaust the enemy was executed smoothly, and when Peng Yulin heard that the morale of the defenders in Memphis was very low, the defense was crumbling and could no longer support, and the Pemberton army on the opposite side was also exhausted, Peng Yulin no longer hesitated, and finally decided to take action. (To be continued......)