Chapter 2774 Battle of Routes (Ⅱ)

Conversely speaking, the Continental Army's division of troops to rescue Yalfheim may miss the opportunity to counterattack and fall into a passive situation strategically, but at least there is an explanation to the compatriots in the south, and the unity of the north and the south has been maintained by actions.

Taking a ten thousand step back, even if the troops sent to rescue are useless and cannot change the fate of Yalfheim in war and the people's livelihood, at least we have done our best, and we can confidently say "We did our best", the South Even if the compatriots have grievances, they can only seek revenge from the Feizhen invaders. No one can blame the mainland army for it.

In fact, looking at George Vassar's military career, whenever he was asked to make key decisions, he would always show this mentality of "seeking no merit, but no fault", which also attracted a lot of criticism. , accusing him of being "conservative," "mediocre," and "lack of courage."

These criticisms are not unreasonable, but from another perspective, conservatism means prudence and prudence, mediocrity means that there is no warlord ambition to support self-respect, lack of courage shows that he will not easily risk the lives of his officers and soldiers, and it is precisely this kind of The style of "not seeking merit, but seeking no faults" makes him the most suitable candidate to be the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the moment.

George Vassar tended to divide his troops to support Port Prince, but he did not want to cause misunderstandings among the officers of the "Northern faction". He suspected that the commander-in-chief was too selfish and favored his fellow countrymen, and it was inconvenient to express his views in public, so he wrote a letter to the "Continental Congress" in an objective and neutral way The tone lists the two sets of programs advocated by Laval and Gates, and asks the representatives of the Continental Congress to make decisions.

From a procedural point of view, the Continental Congress is the superior organ of the Continental Army, and it is reasonable for the army to obey the government's dispatch. Vasa's doing so may be suspected of shirking responsibility, but neither the North nor the South can find fault.

In fact, General Vasa had a deeper consideration. Before the letter was sent, he had already guessed the result.

The Continental Congress is stationed in Port Prince. Even for the sake of their own safety, what choice will the bureaucrats make?

The answer is obvious.

The Continental Congress sent a letter back the next day, expressly supporting the rescue plan, which was expected by George Vassar. No matter how reluctant the northern military officers were, they could only send their complaints to the civil servants of the Continental Congress. In the end, you still have to implement the orders issued by the government.

Through General Vasa's handling of this dispute, it is not difficult for Joan to see that the commander-in-chief's political wisdom is far more outstanding than his military talent.

The decision to go south to support Port-Prince has been finalized. The next question is, who should command this force?

The candidate appointed by the Continental Congress was General Charles Gates.

The Continental Congress appointed General Gates as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Theater of the Continental Army, not only because he was born in Yalfheim, but also served as the commander of the garrison in Yalfheim for a long time during the colonial era of the Ashan Empire. Assuming this position, in fact, also has a hint of compensation.

In late March of this year, due to the interference of the Far Eastern Emperor Roland I, the Continental Congress failed to pass a resolution to replace the commander-in-chief. General Gates had to continue to submit to General Vasa. The relationship has also become increasingly tense.

In order to appease General Gates and avoid the intensification of the Continental Army's high-level internal fighting, the Continental Congress let George Vassar lead half of the troops to stay in Forge Valley, keeping an eye on the Clinton Corps stationed in Freeport; at the same time, he appointed General Gates as the commander of the Continental Army's southern theater , leading an army of 20,000 to go south to defend Yalfheim and resist Earl Winthrop's expeditionary force seems to be a decision that has the best of both worlds.

If General Gates defeated Earl Winthrop on the southern battlefield, he would definitely surpass Vasa to become the supreme commander of the Continental Army, and the Emperor of the Far East would have nothing to say.

So what is the prospect of General Gates leading the troops south this time?

At least at the time, it was much better than George Vassar's situation in the north.

Alfheim is the hometown of Charles Gates. He is very familiar with the local environment and society, and has a broad and deep-rooted public opinion base in the South.

On the contrary, Earl Winthrop was on an expedition, and he was unfamiliar with the place of life in Alfheim, so it was difficult to defeat General Gates, the "head snake" in this land that was hostile to invaders.

In this way, just two days after the Winthrop Corps sailed from Freeport, Charles Gates took the commission letter from the Continental Congress, led an army of 20,000 to leave Forge Valley, and went south to take up his post.

...

After a week of smooth sailing, on April 13, under the cover of naval guns, the Winthrop Corps landed in the shoal area in the northeast of the Cutlass Coast, and immediately captured a nearby port named "Greenmouth". Town, as a base for the temporary garrison, and then the troops were divided into multiple groups and attacked in all directions, sweeping along the east coast of Wilnoa from north to south, invincible.

In just two weeks after landing, the Feizhen Southward Corps captured hundreds of villages and towns, large and small, and an army of 20,000 approached the most important port hub in the north of Alfheim and the temporary residence of the Continental Congress-Princes Harbor.

Knowing that the Winthrop Corps was approaching within a hundred miles, at this critical juncture, the representatives of the Continental Congress saw that the situation was not good, and once again resorted to their special skills, skillfully packed their luggage, and boarded the "Herlinghorn" "The warship went into exile in the port of Leiden.

In the face of the great enemy, the government officials who led the colonial people to fight for independence have collectively run away again and again, which is really outrageous.

The news of the withdrawal of the Continental Congress spread throughout Port-Prince overnight, causing great dissatisfaction among the local residents.

The soldiers of the Continental Army who came to support Port of Prince’s from the Forging Valley starry night were also full of complaints. Many middle and lower-level officers and soldiers especially couldn’t figure it out. Is it worthwhile for myself and my comrades to risk their lives to defend this group of bureaucrats who are greedy for life and fear of death?

The sentiment of war weariness spread rapidly in the barracks like the plague. Before the Battle of Port-Prince, the Continental Army clearly showed a dangerous sign of low morale.

Meanwhile, what did Charles Gates do as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army's southern theater and front-line commander of the Port-Prince Garrison?

During the more than half a month of preparing to meet the enemy, General Gates' energy was mainly spent on two things-one was to urge the repair of fortifications, and the other was to recruit and suppress the local forces in Port-Prince.

Since repelling the Hailan invaders in 1622, Yalfheim has enjoyed peace in recent years. The local residents have been busy making money taking advantage of the frequent wars in the north. The defense of Prince Port has been lax. Most of the forts are also deserted.

However, Port-Prince is, after all, the gateway to the south, and its strategic position is important, so it cannot be easily given up. The first thing General Gates did when he came to Port-Prince was to announce the dissolution of the municipal council, to impose military control on Port-Prince, and to send gendarmerie to requisition civilians in the city. and supplies, repairing defense projects day and night.