Wild North America 1846

At the high-level military conference held in Davenport, Lieutenant Colonel Fan Pengju had an eye-opening experience. Not only did he see many legendary and famous generals, but he also truly got to know many senior generals in the army. It was really a large number of talented people and bright generals.

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In the military establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the commander of the ace division must be an army major general, the commander of the A-level field division must be an army brigadier general, and the commander of the B-level field division must be an army colonel. The military rank can be high but not low.

What positions can a lieutenant colonel serve?

There are lieutenant colonels and colonels as senior staff officers at the Army Staff Headquarters. They can serve as intermediate lecturers at the Chang'an Martial Arts Lecture Hall. They can serve as chief of staff or regimental commander in the Class B field division.

A division commander whose main responsibility is training, but generally does not receive direct combat missions.

My cousin Fan Pengfei, who is now a lieutenant general in the army, was a lieutenant colonel in 1852. By fate, he served as the division commander of the supplementary army, which was mainly composed of mainland recruits, and went to the Crimean battlefield in Europe.

This was a mercenary division funded by the British. Later, due to its outstanding performance in the Crimean War, it evolved into the main body of the British Foreign Legion.

This kind of supplementary division is only a temporary organization and is not considered a third-line force. It does not have a formal designation assigned by the army. The number of troops is about 5,000 to 6,000. Its main function is to supplement field troops lost in combat.

Generally, it focuses on military training and does not undertake combat tasks.

Commander Fan Pengfei's situation is an extreme exception that cannot be replicated. Before the Tang Kingdom's main field army is exhausted, the supplementary troops will not have a chance to go to the battlefield.

The military meeting lasted for two days. After the meeting ended, the huge military machine immediately started operating at high speed and entered a state of tension before war.

At around 5 a.m. on May 15th

More than 3,170 artillery pieces belonging to the coalition forces opened fire violently. The hot shells pierced the dark night sky and hit the Northern Army's position hard. The explosions sent smoke and dust everywhere, dust and dust flew away, and the position was in a mess.

The fierce bombardment lasted from about 5 o'clock to 8:30. After pouring more than 800,000 artillery shells on the Northern Army positions, the coalition forces began to drive a large amount of cannon fodder towards the enemy positions, and the fierce battle began.

The dark cannon fodder of the coalition forces successfully passed through the front-line positions that were severely damaged by artillery fire without encountering much resistance. Just as they cheered and continued to go deeper with old-fashioned muskets, they encountered a strong counterattack by the Northern Army's second-line troops.

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The two sides encountered each other at close range. They raised their guns and fired at each other in panic. After the intensive "crackling" gunfire, thick black gunpowder smoke obscured the battlefield. Countless soldiers were left with dazzling bloody holes cut by bullets, and their bodies were weak.

to be on the battlefield.

The indiscriminate gunfire continued, and both sides of the battle suffered serious casualties. After encountering a strong blockage, the cannon fodder troops retreated as expected, leaving a large number of corpses on the enemy's position.

not long after

Under the strong pressure of the supervisory team, the cannon fodder troops once again launched an attack. Fierce fighting broke out in three battlefields in the north, west and south of Chicago suburbs at the same time. The battle became intense from the beginning.

On the 181-kilometer peripheral front surrounding the Chicago metropolitan area in three directions, the attack momentum on the southern front was particularly ferocious.

In just two days, the entire front had been dented to a large extent. The lost outer positions were only 37 kilometers away from Chicago, and the rumble of artillery could already be heard in the city.

The south is the direction of the main attack by the Colorado Corps. The main attack is carried out by the approximately 50,000 remnants of former General Sherman's troops recruited by the Colorado Corps. In addition to the tens of thousands of cannon fodder collected in the past two months, the total strength of the slave army is approximately 100,000.

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Its combat effectiveness is undoubtedly much stronger than other cannon fodder units.

The Northern Army troops responsible for the defense suffered a heavy loss at the first encounter. They were caught off guard by this ruthless white servant army. Not only did the first line of positions fall, but the second and third line positions also fell one after another under its ferocious offensive, leaving only

The last four-line position barely blocked the coalition attack.

If the fourth-line position was lost again, the coalition's frontline would be directed toward the city of Chicago.

Grant, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, was so horrified that he had to use the strategic reserves in the city to launch a counterattack.

With the reinforcement of 50,000 reserve troops, the Northern Army suffered tens of thousands of casualties before retaking the third-line position and re-stabilizing the defense.

After several days of fierce fighting, General Grant, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, relied on the strong reserve forces at his disposal to put out fires everywhere during the siege on three sides, and managed to survive the most difficult start.

A week of bloody fighting

The Northern Army that defended the city of Chicago repelled countless enemy attacks, killing and wounding nearly 100,000 enemy troops, and suffered as many as 82,000 casualties. Although it paid a great price, it finally defended its outer positions.

A precarious situation.

Regarding this battle situation, General Grant, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army, had a grim look on his face, because he knew that the real test had not yet come. The Northern Army had been fighting only cannon fodder troops this week, and the casualties were so heavy.

Especially when dealing with the powerful enemy in the South, half of the losses occurred on the southern battlefield in Chicago. The temporarily recruited militias of the Northern Army were obviously no match. The casualty ratio was almost double that of the opponent, making it very difficult to deal with.

"I curse them, this group of cold war machines that have lost their faith. They are more ferocious and aggressive when serving the Eastern people, and they really cause us a lot of trouble." Admiral Grant held his head with a headache.

He is not very old, but he suffers from migraines.

"Your Excellency, Commander, we have done everything we can, and leave the rest to God." Artillery Commander Major General Macdonald Knox poured a cup of steaming coffee over and handed it to Grant.

Jiang then sat down next to him and said without complaint;

"Our artillery equipment lags behind that of the Tang Dynasty by a full century. My artillery lost 1/3 in this week. Soon the front line will be without artillery support, and the war will become more difficult."

"This is really bad news." Admiral Grant took a big sip of coffee with a worried look on his face.

The new artillery equipment of the Tang State appeared as early as the Crimean War, leading the new development of European artillery technology. The army powers of Britain, France and Prussia successively introduced Tang artillery equipment and technology to replace the old equipment in the army.

The Ottoman Empire, in particular, introduced 680 artillery pieces and 1.2 million rounds of artillery shells at one time, enough to equip 8 artillery divisions.

The problem is that the armies of the powerful European countries are equipped with a large number of obsolete artillery. They cannot just throw them away as scrap metal. They can only introduce a small amount of advanced artillery equipment step by step. Most of them have to rely on their own research and development and production, which has a lag period.

It has only been a few years since the Crimean War ended. The U.S. military is not completely ignorant of the Tang Dynasty's new artillery. However, due to limited military funding, it does not pay enough attention to the new artillery technology that represents the world's highest level. Now it has suffered a lot.

loss.

Civil War between the North and the South

Due to extremely tight military budget, the Confederate States of America only imported more than a hundred Colt breech-loading guns for the defense of Richmond and several important fortresses, and they could not be opened to attack, so it was all money!

Now facing the Tang Kingdom's army, which was armed to the teeth, the Northern Army was suffering miserably from the artillery fire that only supported the attack. The entire division and regiment were wiped out by artillery fire.

General Grant felt bitter. The cannon fodder troops were so difficult to deal with. When it was the Tang Kingdom's turn to attack, he was not sure whether he could withstand the attack.

"How many more guns do you have in your artillery?"

"There are less than 1,200, and most of them are on the frontline battlefield. We only have 480 artillery pieces in our hands. This is our last artillery force, and it can't be used easily."

"If you can't defend Chicago, everything will be empty. You have to use it when it's time to use it!"

"If we continue to fight like this, I'm afraid the artillery in my hands won't last for two weeks and will be completely destroyed by the enemy's counterattack fire."

"The British still have some artillery in stock in Canada. They promised to unload some artillery from the sailing battleships and transfer them to us. As long as we hold on to the urban fortress of Chicago, we will be able to receive a steady stream of supplies, including artillery fire and personnel."

"Can the troops be replenished?"

"Yes, President Buchanan has further mobilized. We can receive volunteer militia from the port. Now the Chicago frontline has the highest priority for troop replenishment. We can get 20,000 to 30,000 reinforcements every week through the Great Lakes route to support us in fighting the war.

Go down."

"One battlefield on the Eastern Front and one in Chicago. When will these two bleeding wounds heal?"

Admiral Grant could not answer this question. He drank the coffee in his hand silently, his heart darkening.

Perhaps, this is a disaster that the United States must experience?

The continuous sound of gunfire coming from the suburbs has been going on for a week. Millions of troops from both sides of the enemy and ours are fighting in Chicago. People are falling every minute. The battle is in full swing.

In about a week, the Northern Army suffered as many as 82,000 casualties, and the remaining troops were less than 500,000 (note: the original total strength of 560,000 troops will be continuously replenished through the Great Lakes region in the future. The total strength is a dynamic consumption~replenishment

process), facing increasing pressure.

The field troops of the Tang Kingdom that really make General Grant fearful have not yet officially appeared. The western theater is the headquarters of the Hill Corps of the American Confederacy, the southern theater is the servant army composed of the remnants of the Sherman Corps, and the north is the typical white cannon fodder unit.

People of all ages, young and old, all rushed forward to start a fight.

What hurt the Northern Army the most was the Tang Kingdom's sharp artillery fire and the southern white servant army. Therefore, the southern theater was the focus of repeated competition between the two sides.

General Grant deployed a large number of reserves in the area, vowing to fight for every inch of land and never take a step back.

But so far in the bloody battle, almost all the casualties on the battlefield are white people. How can this be embarrassing?