Chapter 153: The smell of the barracks
The February sea breeze is not only salty but also icy.
Sunlight shone through the sparse foliage of the forest and shone on Robert Lee's silver hair.
He was lying on the marching bed, reading a book with relish.
A cough brought Robert Lee back to his senses, only to see his old friend Stonewall Jackson in a green tights uniform, already standing on the side.
"Hey, old man, are you here again to encourage me to send troops? You know, it's too cold these days to fight. ”
Stonewall Jackson sat down on a nearby rock in frustration and said, "If it hadn't gone wrong at the Battle of Fredericksburg last month, how could we have fallen into such passivity?" ”
"Don't worry too much."
Robert Lee advised, "I have already gone to explain the situation on the side of His Excellency Davis, and we did not lose that battle, but because of your physical accident, you had to retreat tactically, and the loss of personnel is not large. It's just that the group of has taken over the stronghold and bragged about it. ”
After a pause, Robert Lee asked with concern: "I heard from the military doctor that you mistakenly took the medicine left by Dr. Porter during the battle, resulting in the inability to command the battle, it seems that these medicines are really dangerous, have you destroyed them?" His Excellency Davis has asked about it! ”
"Those pills...... Destroyed, all completely destroyed, not a single ...... left"
Stonewall Jackson replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
Two months ago, Richmond's miracle doctor, Porter, suddenly disappeared, only to learn that he had been kidnapped by agents from the North.
The northerners were so quick that Dr. Potter's kitting box was not taken with them.
Stonewall Jackson discovered the kit while cleaning out the camp and took it to the battlefield.
In a fateful showdown with Robert King Jr., Jackson found that the opposing side's line was unexpectedly loose.
After a few feints, Jackson found the right moment to surprise the opponent's artillery position with the main cavalry of North Virginia.
Jackson was already a brigadier general, so naturally he wouldn't take the lead with a carbine like he used to be.
Still, the smoke made his lungs feel uncomfortable.
Although severe infections have been cured by cephalosporins, sequelae such as pulmonary fibrosis cannot be eliminated.
The cough was so severe that Jackson had to take a pill from Dr. Potter's medicine box, take it, and ......
As we all know, Viagra, or Viagra, is a drug that was originally invented by Pfizer to treat cardiovascular disease in the elderly.
During clinical trials, Pfizer technicians found that the drug had little effect on cardiovascular disease control in the elderly.
This is the case with modern drug research, where one of the 100 test specimens is considered lucky, so the technicians are not particularly disappointed.
But when they asked the volunteers who had tested the drug, especially the elderly men, to return the remaining experimental drugs, they were all refused.
This left researchers puzzled.
It wasn't until several elderly people couldn't resist the researchers' repeated inquiries that the secret of this drug that could make old men rejuvenate was revealed.
Naturally, Stonewall Jackson, a 60-year-old man, also found joy in this drug.
As for President Davis?
To hell with him!
Stonewall Jackson had a ghost in his heart, for fear that Robert Lee would ask about the whereabouts of the medicine again, so he quickly changed the topic: "Lee, don't you think your recent outfit is a bit deviant?" ”
Indeed, even Robert Lee, who was basking in the sun today, was still wearing a pink suit, a green bow tie around his neck, very thin, straight bell bottoms, a silver-gray cross on his chest, sunglasses on his head, a Cuban cigar in his mouth, and his silver-white hair was neatly curled with hairspray.
"Also, what kind of book are you reading?"
Jackson reached out and snatched a well-printed book from his old friend's hand, "The Godfather? What the hell is this? ”
"Hehe, old man, it's time for you to develop some hobbies! There are many beautiful things in life besides wars, such as studying aesthetics, such as reading literature......"
Robert Lee snatched "The Godfather" back and introduced: "This is the third chapter of the "Gentleman Trilogy" by the great writer Huang He, a popular all-rounder in the literary world today! ”
"To be honest, I've only recently become obsessed with this book. The first two parts of the "Gentleman Trilogy", the stories about detectives and theologians are really not to my liking, but this "Godfather" is a rare and excellent book, and you can even learn a lot of principles about how to behave and manage subordinates from it. ”
As he spoke, Robert Lee took the cigar from his mouth and flicked the ashes, saying, "Of course, with what I know about you, the "Detective Zhuge Watson" series may be more suitable for you. ”
……
Just as the two old men were discussing literature, an indescribable aroma wafted from the camp.
"Li, it seems that the new type of cereal porridge has been prepared, do you want to try some together?"
"Of course, that gentleman is really a generous man, and he also added nutritious fishmeal to the grains, from the initial discomfort, after the continuous adjustment of the quartermasters, to now the invention of a variety of cooking methods such as puree, baking, and soup, the new type of cereal has completely conquered the stomachs of the young men!"
As he spoke, Robert Lee jumped off the marching bed, subconsciously touched his buttocks and thighs, and muttered:
"I don't know if it's a delusion, but I feel like I've been getting stronger again lately, and this well-cut flared pants seem to be a little tighter...... Hey, I'll drink one less bowl of cereal porridge for a while......"
Robert Lee relieved the book and said with a smile, "I'm not as good as you than leading troops to fight, but I'm afraid I'm better than strategy." ”
This is Robert Lee's scheme.
In this day and age, neither the South nor the North has the capacity to maintain a professional army of hundreds of thousands, millions of people.
Many of the troops were so-called "volunteer armies", that is, units financed by the states themselves and organized by the freedmen themselves, and were slightly more organized than the militias.
But many of them, whether they are volunteers or militiamen, are homesteaders, and they need to return to their hometowns to work in the spring during the busy farming season.
Moreover, the farms of homesteaders in the north were more labor-scarce than those in the south, which used a large number of black slaves.
Therefore, Robert Lee was ready to attack him unprepared at this point in time, and hit the snake by seven inches.
Of course, his Northern Virginia Regiment was also essentially a volunteer army.
The reason why Robert Lee dared to formulate such a battle plan to kill 1,000 enemies and lose 800 was because he now had a stable and reliable food supply.
The freedom-loving righteous man from the Northwest sent Robert Lee plenty of food.
That gentleman was so generous that even Robert Lee was ashamed of the low price he had!
That gentleman is using his net worth to subsidize the food of the southern boys!
At this time