Burnside did things very simply this time, and after receiving the order, he quickly led the Virginia Army to Smithland within a week, but he did not immediately attack, but first dug fortifications nearby and began to confront the Chinese and Union forces in Smithland.

Although later research proved that this was a wise decision to save the Virginia Legion, it was a pity that at the time, Burnside was criticized by the world and had to resign from the military after the war.

At that time, public opinion in the United States generally believed that it was his indecision that led Smithland to fail to win in time, and led to the occurrence of a military tragedy that later generations called "Nashville's Harsh Winter", so he was considered to be the culprit.

But in reality, this is clearly a big misunderstanding.

At that time, although Burnside led troops to the vicinity of Smithland in time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the Allied Army had occupied the local area for a long time and built a fairly good defensive position, and the ironclad fleet accompanying the Virginia Legion was also severely beaten by the Chinese task force, and after losing half of the ships, the Virginia Legion became a lone army without assistance.

In view of the lack of fleet cover, and the fact that the firepower of the Virginia Corps was much lower than that of the Chinese and Union troops in Smithland, and the training was insufficient, in order to reduce losses, Burnside ordered to stop the advance, dig trenches in place, and adopt a confrontational approach.

Since the troops led by Burnside did not attack and did not pose a threat to Smithland, Li Yongji did not do much to them, after all, taking the initiative to attack is also very expensive, and the Chinese do not attack, and the coalition army led by Charles does not dare to attack alone, so the two sides have formed a situation of confrontation with each other, but no one shoots.

Originally, this was actually a good thing, after all, for the Chinese Expeditionary Force, their strength was stronger, and they didn't attack the Federation Army, but they didn't want to make more effort. On the contrary, for the Virginia Legion of the Union Army, they did not attack because they were unable to attack.

Don't look at the Virginia Legion, there are 180,000 people, and the weapons and equipment are basically in place, but unfortunately most of them are temporary conscripts, and the training time is less than a month.

In fact, General Mead, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the Union Army during the war, also thought that the Virginia Legion was overwhelmed, so when he ordered Burnside to lead the troops into battle, he instructed him in advance, telling him that he only needed to bring the troops over this time, first, to give an explanation to the president, and secondly, to familiarize the soldiers with the atmosphere of the battlefield, so that they could mature quickly, but they must not take the initiative to attack.

Burnside strictly carried out General Mead's instructions, and did not lead this rookie corps to take the initiative to attack, but dug trenches to confront each other, so that the soldiers under his command could adapt to the battlefield environment in this imminent situation.

Although Burnside did this to preserve the viability of the Virginia Legion, avoid another heavy loss, and allow the new recruits of this army to mature rapidly, it is undeniable that his sluggishness did lose the strategic initiative and did not recapture the strategic location of Smithland in time.

As mentioned earlier, Smithland is a small town with no fortified castles, but it is the confluence of the Ohio and Cumberland rivers, and the federal government has to use Guò to supply Nashville when rail transportation has been completely paralyzed.

Now, the Chinese and allied forces have taken control of Smithland and blocked Nashville's rail transport raid from the outside world, which is equivalent to completely cutting off Nashville's connection with the outside world and completely sealing off the city.

What's even more worrying is that it is already ten years of winter during this time, and the temperature in Nashville has plummeted, but the city is unable to be self-sufficient due to its large population, and must be supported by materials from the outside world, so once it is cut off from the outside world, the city will not be able to hold out for long.

In the beginning, the commander of the Nashville Legion, James Brown. McPherson, still gritting his teeth and insisting, continued to obey the orders of the White House, but when the time entered December, when the weather was getting colder and colder, and food and heating materials were getting less and less, he was a little impatient.

"Bastards, bastards, all a bunch of short-sighted bastards!" James Brown, who had just dealt with the mayor and the councillor. When McPherson returned to his lodgings, he finally couldn't help but get angry at the adjutant who came to report to him, "Don't I know that food is running low?" Don't I know that the coal and firewood for the fire are also running out? But the foreign trade routes are blocked, what can I do? I can't conjure all of these things out of thin air, can I? Why, why can't they just hold on? ”

"General." Major Kent, the adjutant of Major General McPherson, ignored his superior's complaints, and instead reported with a gloomy face, "The information just obtained that the defenders of Memphis have begun to move, and the target is exactly us. ”

"The defenders of Memphis?" McPherson raised an eyebrow, "When was the thing?" Is the information reliable? ”

"The message should be reliable." Kent nodded, "It's the intelligence we brought back from our scouts deployed in Memphis, and as for the time, it should have been a day ago." ”

"A day ago...... McPherson frowned, "Are you sure it's coming in our direction?" ”

"Not sure." Kent shook his head, "You know, General, it's just snowing now, and our scouts are limited in their capabilities, and the time is too short to know that the defenders of Memphis are on a sortie, and the direction of the advance is ours at first, but it is unknown if they change their objectives halfway after that." ”

"That's right." McPherson touched his chin, "So how many people were dispatched by the defenders of Memphis, you should know that, right?" ”

"I don't know." Kent continued to shake his head, "Scouts report that the defenders of Memphis City sneaked out of the city in the middle of the night, and he found out about this by chance. Originally, he did want to find out how many people there were, but the defenders were so tightly defended that outsiders couldn't get close at all, and it was dark, so he wasn't sure how many there were. However, according to the intelligence officer's personal speculation, the size of this force is not small, at least 30,000 people. ”

"At least thirty thousand? If it's true, then I'm afraid they are the main force to do their best. McPherson nodded.

"That's how it should be." Major Kent said, "General, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, shouldn't we take advantage of it?" ”

"What's the right time?" McPherson glanced at him, "And what kind of use?" ”

"That's what I thought, General." Kent organized his words for a while, and then continued to say to McPherson, "As far as I know, Memphis itself does not have many troops, and in terms of troops, it is not as many as us, but because of the Chinese and the cover of the fleet, we can't do anything about them."

However, they had previously divided a main force to attack Kailuo and Smithland, in this case, it is estimated that there are not many troops left behind, although I don't know how many there are, but 30,000 people is estimated to be the limit...... So, maybe we can take the opportunity to gather the main forces and take the initiative to attack in the direction of Memphis?

They are few in number, and they have gone out of the city, and they have lost the cover of their geographical advantages, and if we can mobilize 100,000 troops to fight them in the field, we may be able to annihilate their lone army.

Once they annihilate their remaining troops, Memphis will be an empty city, and we can easily take Memphis, and if we can take Memphis, then with the wealth of that city, all the food, ammunition and heating supplies will be solved, right? ”

"It's good to think, Major Kent." McPherson smiled and shook his head, "It's a pity that it's too unrealistic, or rather, the qiē you said can't happen at all." ”

"Why, General?" Kent suddenly raised his voice, "Are you really like others say, frightened by the enemy, like a coward, and never dare to confront the enemy head-on?" Otherwise, why don't you dare to take the initiative in this situation, but continue to huddle here to suffer? ”

"Why? The reason is simple, because I am the commander of the Nashville Legion, not an ordinary soldier. "As a commander, I must be responsible for the whole legion, I can't think about things as simply as ordinary soldiers, I have to take the overall picture, and I must get the most results with the least losses, not ......."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." Kent immediately interjected, "It's true that we want to achieve the greatest results with the least losses, and now the opportunity is right in front of you."

You see, the defenders of Memphis have poured out, they are already under-armed, we are well-armed, well-trained, high-spirited, and basically well-armed. In addition, we have no external supplies, and we are at a point where we cannot advance and retreat.

In this case, why don't we simply do our best and fight with their remaining soldiers and horses, as long as we defeat this army of soldiers and horses, we can not only get a shocking victory, greatly boost the morale of the army, but also take the opportunity to take Memphis and use Memphis supplies to survive the winter, don't you say? ”

"First of all, the other party's so-called 30,000 people leaving the city is just a guess by the intelligence officers at the front, and there is no actual evidence." McPherson shook his head, "Secondly, even if the number of troops left behind by them is small, the fact that this force dares to take the initiative now shows that they have enough confidence to win, or at least undefeated confidence." In this case, what we should do is to continue to calm down and not fall into their full set, otherwise, if we also follow the main force to go out to fight them, but they secretly concentrate the main force to attack our base camp, then who should we cry to? ”

"But it's ......"

"No, but!" McPherson waved his hand, "Fighting a war is not child's play, and there is no room for mistakes." And now our army is the only one in the vicinity, and if there is a mistake and the losses are too great, then it will definitely be even more miserable in the future. Therefore, whether the defenders of Memphis are really out of the city or not, and whether they are coming to our place or not, we will never have a problem if we continue to strengthen our vigilance and respond to all changes. ”

"Well, General, you have the final say." Kent, who did not get the approval, was slightly disappointed, "But General, even if we are dedicated to defense, our supplies are getting less and less, and the weather is getting colder and colder, if we continue like this, I am afraid that we will freeze to death and starve ourselves without waiting for them to attack." Is there anything you can do about it? ”

"Well, of course I have a way." McPherson glanced at his young lieutenant lightly, "But, now is not the time to say, anyway, you just go back and wait patiently." ”

It is true that McPherson did have a plan in mind, but he could not say it to this loose-mouthed adjutant.

Hearing McPherson say this, Major Kent nodded helplessly, then saluted, and then exited the room.

It wasn't until Kent left that McPherson breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head with a wry smile.

Indeed, Nashville has become an isolated and dead city today, and McPherson understands very well that with the current situation of the Union Army, there is little hope of expecting them to come to the rescue, so the most important thing is to learn to save yourself.

It should be, Kent's idea is also good, taking advantage of the lack of troops on the other side, and the intelligence shows that they take the initiative to go out of the city, so it seems to be a good way to concentrate the main force on the other side, eat their remaining troops, and then occupy Memphis.

It's a pity that although the plan is good, the lack of combat effectiveness is a hard wound.

This Kent was a newcomer, one of the officers who had arrived in Nashville with reinforcements, and McPherson was able to promote him to adjutant only because of his special status, not because of how capable he was.

To put it simply, this Kent is a second-generation official.

Kent's father was a cavalry colonel in the regular army of the Union Army, and after retiring from the army, he joined the Republican Party and began politics, quickly becoming a veteran of the Republican Party and now a heavy member of Congress.

In particular, this Kent family has a close relationship with General Mead, who has become the wartime commander-in-chief of the Union Army, so when he came to report, he also brought a document written by General Mead himself, which in addition to some words of greeting McPherson, mainly introduced Kent's identity and background, and asked him to take care of this guy called Kent Jr., saying that he was his nephew.

It was precisely because of this document of care that he took good care of the other party, so he promoted him to his adjutant, in order to protect the other party well.

Don't think that the United States is a political system with a separation of powers, and there is no corruption by nature, or that there is no nepotism by virtue of being fair and open.

In fact, in the early days of the founding of the United States and until the end of the 19th century, in the political, economic, and military fields of the United States, it was popular to engage in relations and friendships, and nepotism and personnel corruption were also quite strict.

Not to mention the political circles, what political families have long emerged in an endless stream, and the same is true in the economic circles, although it has not yet produced monopoly capitalists as it did later, but some large capitalists have been passed down from generation to generation, and the same is true in the military circles, many officers are almost hereditary from generation to generation, forming a relatively rigid structure.

This kind of rigid structure in all aspects and fields has become a serious obstacle to the development of the United States, and the reason why the Civil War was so fierce was also due to the factors of this kind of consolidation of power and narrow channels for ascension.

However, after the Civil War passed, the so-called big waves washed the sand, the original inherent rigid relationship was broken, and many new generation of civilians became rich or political stars, such as Lincoln, such as Grant, etc., and then the United States went through a series of reforms and repetitions, such as the emergence of monopoly capitalism, etc., and finally gradually formed a more excellent competition system, although the power of society has not been eliminated, but at least the influence on the country is not so strict.

In a word, Kent is the second generation of officials, and his identity background is there, and he can't be offended lightly, so obviously his construction is worthless in McPherson's eyes, but he still explains so much with a pleasant face.

Seriously, in McPherson's opinion, that Kent is still too young, too simple, and the number of people and the like is ignored, but the actual indicator of combat effectiveness is ignored.

Don't look at the fact that there are only 30,000 people, no, even if there are only 10,000 people, it is not something that the Nashville Legion can fight, after all, people's weapons are too advanced, not only a large number of repeating guns, but also sharp rapid-fire mortars, in the face of such weapons, in addition to defense, for the time being, McPherson can't think of any better way to deal with it.

Moreover, the Chinese and the Allied Army control the Mississippi River, they can transfer troops from the rear at any time, and their control of intelligence is also very strict, so the authenticity of the information obtained by the front intelligence officers is very questionable, and nine times out of ten the Chinese deliberately let you know, in order to make you make mistakes.

Therefore, the best way to deal with opponents such as the Chinese and the Alliance Army is to not adapt to all changes.

"It's beautiful." McPherson walked to the window, looked at the snowflakes fluttering in the sky outside, and whispered, "It's a pity, your beauty is a mortal danger to us now, and I can't stay here anymore, I must break through as soon as possible...... Yes, it is necessary to break through as soon as possible, before the situation takes a turn for the worse! Otherwise, we really won't be able to leave! ”R1152