"Very well said, George, you have succeeded in diverting our attention, so let's talk about it...... How can the Western Expeditionary Force bring back the victory we need? ”

President Polk's statement shows that he agrees with George Levinson's explanation.

He then emphasized; "This time I just look at the results and don't pay attention to the process. And that stupid Colonel Stephen Carney had to be replaced, and he had put the entire American Federation to shame, and that was the only demand. ”

Returning to the real military question, Secretary of War George Levinson shrugged his shoulders regretfully and replied;

"As you wish, honorable Mr. President.

The Department of the Army could issue a document to remove Colonel Stephen Carney, who would return to the warm South of Florida to recuperate and serve as the National Guard chief in the southern state.

As for the specific question of reinforcements to the Western Route Army, I think General Arthur's answer is more authoritative. ”

The ball was kicked back at the feet of the Chief of Staff of the Federal Army, Maj. Gen. Arthur Temple, who, as the first man in the military, had an unshirkable duty to answer the president's question.

Considering that the difficulties faced by the Western Route Army were far greater than imagined, Major General Arthur Temple had a change of heart and temporarily changed his mind about reinforcements;

From the original plan of 3,600 reinforcements, it has nearly doubled to 7,000.

Han Xin's idea of ordering more troops is also very popular in the West, and if possible, it is not fragrant to gather more troops and fight a rich war?

"Considering the long-distance expedition of the army, the Tang Kingdom has shown good combat effectiveness, and has been supported by European countries led by Britain and Germany, and the total number of troops gathered has reached 2500~3000 people, and it is likely to increase further.

The General Staff Headquarters of the Federal Forces believes that;

Reinforcements to the western front should be no less than 7,000 men, including 2,000 cavalry units, and artillery units with 40 12-pounder and 20-pounder army heavy guns, and the artillery regiment should have an establishment of about 680 people.

On the more than 1,400 kilometers of roads from Kansas City to Denver and from Denver to Rio Rancho, a logistics station should be set up every 100 kilometers, and enough migrant workers should be dispatched to build a 6-meter-wide flat road that can accommodate two heavy-duty four-wheeled carriages to travel without hindrance to each other.

Only by reaching such basic conditions can we supply the materials needed for the corresponding operations of the more than 7,000 troops and heavy artillery units on the western front, crush the enemy with absolute strength, and completely destroy the resistance of the Tang Kingdom.

In order to support the operation on the western front, in addition to 14,000 road construction workers, we need an equal number of coachmen, grooms, tanners and craftsmen, totaling about 30,000 people. In order to ensure the continuous supply of materials on the long front of more than 2,700 kilometers to Los Angeles.

That's the only way

Only then can the western battlefield keep up with the steady progress of the main battlefield in the south, bringing victory after victory to the Federation.

Mr. President, this is the safest option.

I swear to God that with enough support, the Union Army is confident that it will bring back the victory you need.

If you can approve this plan, then the War Department can mobilize manpower and material resources from all over the country to get troops to the front line as soon as mid-to-late July.

And sometime in September at the latest, the Union Army marched west with confidence to advance to Los Angeles.

Other words;

This long western supply line would only last for three months at most, and as soon as the Western Expeditionary Force advanced to Los Angeles, all military supplies could be recruited on the spot, instead of having to travel thousands of miles from Kansas.

As long as Los Angeles can be captured, victory will be firmly in the hands of the Union Army, and we are confident that we will be able to finish our western march by the end of the year and bring back a hearty victory.

Mr. President, the military needs your valuable support, which is a prerequisite for victory. ”

The Chief of Staff of the Federal Army, Major General Arthur Temple, opened his mouth and at once demanded an army of 7,600 men and almost 30,000 laborers to support the war in the west.

Roughly calculate;

From Kansas City, the closest supply gathering place to the west, through Denver, Rio Rancho, Las Vegas to Los Angeles, the terminus of the West Coast, this tortuous westward route is more than 2,800 kilometers.

Every 100 kilometers to set up a logistics station, then to set up 28, each logistics station to 180 to 200 people calculation, which requires more than 5,600 people, in order to maintain the daily delivery of a large number of materials.

Add to that the 14,000-strong road-building army and the horse-drawn convoy running on this long logistical line, 30,000 people is not necessarily enough.

The reason is simple

It is necessary to maintain a cavalry force of 3,000 men (2,000 cavalry reinforcements and nearly 1,000 of the existing Western Expeditionary Force; The daily needs of the injured are a huge burden.

Each war horse needs to consume 8~10 pounds of oats, black beans and other concentrates every day, and at the same time, it needs to consume 50 pounds of forage and no less than 15 pounds of water every day to maintain the daily combat effectiveness of the war horse.

How can war horses fight if they don't have a full stomach?

Clear water can be obtained from the nearby Shenghuang River, but the concentrate and forage must be transported from the rear for thousands of miles, and the people of the mule and horse transport convoy eat and chew the horses, which is an astonishing amount of transportation every day.

Of the 3,000 cavalry on the western front, 30,000 pounds of concentrate and 150,000 pounds of forage were needed per day for war horses, and if you add the people who transported the mule and horse convoys, this figure would be multiplied by four, that is, no less than 720,000 pounds per day.

Based on the fact that each heavy-duty carriage can carry 2,500 pounds, this would require 300 heavy-duty wagons (with a slight margin).

It is more than 1,300 kilometers long from Kansas City to Rio Rancho, and if it takes 13 days for a heavy-duty carriage to complete the journey, then these 300 heavy-duty carriages need to be transported by 13, that is, about 4,000 (with a little margin) to meet the daily needs of the front.

That is, no less than 180,000 pounds of supplies are supplied every day, and this is only the daily needs of the war horses that supply 3,000 cavalry, and if you add 7,600 soldiers, this number will be multiplied by 1.5, that is, more than 6,000 heavy-duty carriages are needed to maintain a long logistics line.

Each heavy-duty carriage is equipped with two horses and two coachmen, and it takes 13 days to reach the front line, and a round trip is 26 days, and people eat horses along the way, and thank God that 500 pounds of 2,000 pounds of supplies can be left.

More than 6,000 heavy-duty wagons run the transportation line day and night, and each logistics station needs at least 30 carpenters and 30 leathermen, as well as a variable number of blacksmiths, grooms, cooks and other support personnel.

If the carriage or the axle is damaged and needs to be repaired, it is the carpenter's business.

The carriage leather cord and saddle were damaged and had to be repaired, which was the business of the cobbler.

The horseshoe should be replaced frequently, and the horse's hooves should be corrected frequently, so as not to be unable to withstand the long journey, which is the business of the blacksmith.

Tens of thousands of people running around the logistics line every day have to eat and drink, which is the business of cooks.

The logistics station also has to feed some spare mules and horses, which are used to replace some mules and horses that are sick, have broken legs, or broken hooves, and to replace horses used to transmit emergency reports, which is the groom's business.

The war was fought on logistics and money, and the Americans had to go on an expedition to deliver supplies to the west across the desolate western Kansas and over the Gobi Desert and deserts of New Mexico.

The Tang Kingdom, on the other hand, has a huge home battle advantage.

From Los Angeles, travel more than 400 kilometers east to Las Vegas, which is part of the Colorado Canyon rim area.

Further east into the Grand Canyon, a landscape of mountains, streams, water and grass, a population of millions of bison and 100,000 wild horses, stretching for hundreds of kilometers from west to east.

From Las Vegas, head east through Milan to Flagstaff, all of which are part of the Grand Canyon region.

Further east from Flagstaff, you will enter the arid Gobi region, about 191 kilometers to the town of Gallup, a sizable oasis on the banks of the Shenghuang River.

The Tang Kingdom sent more than 190 kilometers of materials to the front line, and the town of Milan in the Grand Canyon area of Colorado has abundant forage, oats, black beans and other resources, and it is not a problem to send them to Gallup Town.

In the forefront of Rio Rancho Town, the defenders of the Tang Kingdom only kept a few war horses, and the supplies they needed were negligible, which was a huge gap between the two sides.

The soldiers of the Tang Kingdom guarding the town can meet their needs with two dry cakes a day and a few bowls of broth, and the logistical pressure is not great, which is the advantage of a huge home battle.

It was with logistics in mind that the elder Karn evacuated most of the residents of Rio Rancho Town, and all the personnel, mules and horses were evacuated to Gallup Town to relieve the pressure on the supply of supplies at the front.

From this point of view, it is enough to prove that the old lieutenant colonel Kahn has rich combat experience and has chosen a plan that is conducive to long-term perseverance.

Inside the Oval Office

President Polk looked at General Arthur fixedly, silently calculating what he needed, even with the high position he was in, he couldn't help but gasp.

This bastard lion opened his mouth, and he really dared to ask for a price!

The main force of the U.S. invasion of the south, plus the subsequent reinforcements, now has a total number of 23,000 troops.

With the help of this springboard in Texas and the state's well-developed rail transportation corridors, the main force of the southern invasion led by General Taylor of the United States crossed the border between the two countries and invaded Mexico, and the relative logistical pressure was not great.

This is because Texas is rich in natural resources, and everything needed for the war can be transported from the state to the front.

Moreover, the region of Mexico, adjacent to Texas, is a traditional densely populated area in Mexico, with thousands of years of farming culture and relatively dense villages and towns, and there is no shortage of grain, oats, black beans and hay, which can be collected on the spot.

Therefore, the main force of the US invasion to the south can invest more troops to fight a hard-fought general battle with the government forces commanded by Mexican President Santa Anna in the Buena Vista area, which is heavily defended by Mexico.

The Western Route Expeditionary Force does not have such conditions, and every time 1,000 additional soldiers are invested, they have to consider whether the logistics can be supplied.

"Okay, the government can support the military's conditions, but I want to be clear; The victory must be brought back to me, and there are no more reinforcements. "President Polk, as a forward-thinking politician, will not bargain with the military like a street vendor.

He thought carefully for a long time, and finally made a decision.

But President Polk's final warning was no joke, and if the War Office and General Arthur, Chief of the Federal Staff, failed to bring victory back, there would be serious political consequences.

The implication

Not only are their political futures ruined, but they must resign and take responsibility as soon as possible, and members of Congress are not vegetarians, they will rush to the top and tear the two men apart......

Secretary of War George Levinson glanced solemnly at Major General Arthur Temple, Chief of Staff of the Federal Army, and saw the heavy pressure in the other party's eyes.

Now the two are grasshoppers on a rope, and they are all happy when they win, and they must be American heroes who will go down in history.

Don't talk about it if you lose, it's all over!