Chapter 2554 Soldiers Approaching the City (Ⅱ)

The more than 18,000 Continental Army soldiers stationed in Midgard used the so-called "military tickets" printed by the Ministry of Military Supplies as money, looting everywhere in the city, buying and selling by force.

Incidents like this happen every day in the streets and alleys of the city, and there are simply too many to count.

The angry complaint letters from the citizens of Midgard filled General Vasa's desk, but he couldn't restrain the military discipline. The Continental Congress didn't pay, and the officers and soldiers couldn't go to war hungry. We can only ask the citizens to be considerate.

Buying and selling by force and harassing the people can still be said to be the illegal actions of a minority, but there is a decree that is destined to arouse the resentment of the public class. George Vassar must personally come forward and urge the representatives of the Continental Congress to sign and pass it.

The troops stationed in Midgard City were extremely short of weapons and ammunition, so they had to find ways to raise them.

For this reason, General Vasa urged the Continental Congress to issue an "Emergency Period Military Supplies Act", requiring the citizens of Midgard to donate private firearms free of charge, distribute them to soldiers of the Continental Army who lacked firearms, and repay the original price after the war.

Of course, the last sentence is just a polite remark. Bring me the gun first, and I won’t return it... I’ll talk about it later.

In addition, this decree also requires the general public to hand over all lead products in their homes, including the lead sheets used to prevent rain on roofs and windows, all of which must be peeled off and sent to the Ministry of Military Supplies, where they will be melted down and used to make bullets.

For a citizen family with a middle-level living standard, firearms are a valuable asset. The soldiers confiscated them as soon as they said they would, and left a military ticket as compensation. Who could not be annoyed that this kind of thing fell on them?

Not to mention the forcible confiscation of lead products. In many families, even the wine glasses were dug out by the soldiers, stomped flat, put them in backpacks, left behind a sentence "Thank you for donating bullets from the Continental Army", and left, making a mess.

What made the people of Midgard even more alarmed was that the decree on the mandatory donation of military supplies was off to a bad start.

Today a soldier can force you to "donate" bread, guns, and lead products, and tomorrow he can hold a gun to your head and force you to "donate" gold, silver, livestock, and even your wife and daughter. Do you dare not donate?

The colonial people set off a wave of independence in order to resist the tax burden. Looking back now, the Continental Congress and the Continental Army, which represent the independent forces of the colonies, are more ruthless than the tax collectors of the suzerain country. Why not obediently pay taxes to His Majesty the King!

Midgard was not the starting point of the independence movement. Many people in the city opposed participating in the independence revolution. Originally, the Ashan Empire was our suzerain country, and we have come here for so many years. Now the suzerain kingdom has been replaced by the Fijin Kingdom, which is recognized as more civilized and developed. What's wrong with this? Why bother to live a peaceful life, but have to get involved in the Yankee disputes?

With people's growing antipathy towards the Continental Army, the above-mentioned argument prevails. In this atmosphere, the citizens of Midgard are not at all optimistic that the Continental Army can defeat the Fijian regular army. Language, and the pessimists packed up their belongings and dragged their children and fled to the south.

At the same time, with the establishment of the "Continental Congress" and the spread of the "Declaration of Independence", patriotic enthusiasm everywhere was unprecedentedly high, and southern militias poured into Midgard City, spontaneously assisting the Continental Army to defend the "capital" of the country in their minds.

Throughout July 1626, there was a busy scene on the Vimur River. The boats of the citizens of Midgard headed south, and the boats of the southern militiamen parked at the city's pier, shuttling back and forth, which was very lively.

By the end of July, the total number of officers and soldiers in Midgard had reached 26,000.

The strength of the Continental Army looks quite spectacular, but it pales in comparison to the Fizhen Army.

In late July 1626, hundreds of Fizhen warships and transport ships came overwhelmingly, and the white sails on the ships formed a curtain, covering the Asa Bay airtightly.

The Fizhen Legion from New Avalon and the Asa and Giant mercenaries successively landed on Minute Island under the cover of naval guns. The Fizhen regular army plus mercenaries who arrived in Midgard successively reached Thirty thousand, in addition to nearly 200 large and small ships.

Fiji's regular army is well-equipped, the soldiers are in good health, and coupled with the support of the naval fleet, the advantages are obvious.

On the afternoon of July 24th, the Fizen Navy cruiser "Rose" led six frigates to appear at the mouth of the Vymur River in a majestic manner, went northward along the river, and brazenly approached the Midgard port area.

Alarm bells rang immediately on the shore, soldiers of the Continental Army quickly ran into the trenches, and all coastal defense artillery aimed at the incoming Fizen warship to bombard fiercely.

The Fizen warship then began to fight back. Only after this confrontation did the soldiers of the Continental Army know what the "Sea Overlord" of the world of Vares is, and only then did they know how big the difference in firepower between the two sides was.

There are two main types of magic crystal guns equipped by the Continental Army, the 6-pound cavalry gun and the 12-pound infantry gun.

These two types of field guns cannot be compared with the naval guns mounted on huge battleships. Even if the shells fired by chance hit the Fizen warship, they cannot penetrate the thick armor, and the large-caliber naval guns on the Feizhen warship not only The turrets and bunkers built by the Continental Army were smashed to pieces, and the streets and buildings in the port area were blown into ruins.

The crowd scattered and fled, and the streets were in a mess, as if the end had come.

Facing the overwhelming artillery fire, the soldiers of the Continental Army could only hide in the trenches in despair, their eyes full of fear.

The Fizen naval bombardment lasted three hours and ended in the evening.

At this time, a particularly majestic steam ironclad warship sailed into people's eyes. The flag fluttering on the mast was painted with the "Holy Crown of Thornes", which was the coat of arms of the royal family of Osbert, the ruler of Fizhen.

This is the flagship of the Fizen Navy, the Royal Battleship "Eagle" equipped with 64 heavy naval guns.

The battleship "Eagle" appeared in the harbor, marking that the commander of the navy, General William Howe, had personally arrived at the front line.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the "Eagle" led dozens of warships to cruise in the harbor of Midgard. To the defenders on the shore, this was a silent humiliation.

The bombardment demonstration and armed cruise organized by General Howe had the expected intimidating effect.

The entire army of the Continental Army had a deep sense of fear towards the Feizhen Fleet, to the point where it turned pale.

On the morning of July 28, the day after Midgard's port was bombarded by Fizen naval ships, a Fizen special envoy came to the headquarters of the Continental Army and presented a letter written by Earl Winthrop in an attempt to persuade the Continental Army to Commander-in-Chief George Vasa gave up resistance and surrendered in Kaesong, but was flatly rejected by General Vasa!

·The Dilemma of the Continental Army ("The Biography of Hamilton" [US] Ron Chernow)

Washington's troops were massed in the trenches of South Manhattan with fewer than 20,000 inexperienced soldiers and no warships.

Washington must have struggled with how to defeat an enemy armed to the teeth.

Washington wrote that he was using "every means" to prepare for an imminent enemy attack, yet he acknowledged that his army was "extremely short of arms and ammunition, and this was a severe blow to the morale of his men."

In response to a severe shortage of ammunition, the New York State Legislature decided to strip all the lead off roofs and windows and melt it down to make bullets.