Chapter 2869 Southern Beacon (Ⅱ)
This kind of spiritual comfort resorting to religion cannot solve practical problems logically. However, by coincidence, not long after, General Green and the Continental Corps of the Continental Army he was struggling to maintain really ushered in a turning point in their fate!
The matter started with the "Emancipation of Slaves Announcement" issued by Earl Winthrop at the end of May. After more than two months of deliberation and publicity, this announcement has spread all over Alfheim, arousing strong repercussions.
Many black slaves learned of this announcement through various channels, were deeply encouraged, and tried their best to escape from the plantation and go to join the Feizhen army in search of freedom.
Earl Winthrop and his Fizen officers and soldiers were not only the "liberators" in the eyes of the black slaves, but they also pushed themselves to the opposite of the slave owner class, becoming the slave owners who incited and shielded the slaves to defect and damage their vital interests. The culprit!
In hindsight, if one does not consider moral factors and only analyzes from the perspective of practical pros and cons, one has to admit that Earl Winthrop's "Emancipation Proclamation" did more harm than good to the southward conquest.
The matter of "liberating the black slaves" was indeed to help Master Fei regain a victory on the battlefield of public opinion, but it also completely angered the manor owners in the south of the New World. private property", they had to spend their money to finance the Continental Army to drive out the Fizen invaders.
In this way, the "Abolition of Slavery Proclamation" issued by Earl Winthrop turned into a powerful propaganda weapon in the hands of General Green, which was used to persuade his fellow southerners to help recruit recruits and raise food and salaries.
Since then, General Greene has done a great job of rebuilding the Continental Army, but building a force to match the invaders took a long time.
Rawls Winthrop did not want to give General Green too much time to regroup. He wanted to strangle this new threat in its infancy before it could fully develop.
In mid-August 1627, Earl Winthrop was stationed at Port Leighton and sent General Cornwallis to lead the Third Infantry Division of Fizen to join forces with Isaac Hooker's Cavalry Division, royalist militia and fugitive black slaves. The "Free Corps", with a total of 30,000 troops, went south to attack the Green Corps, preparing to launch a war of annihilation, determined to completely wipe out the remnants of the Southern Continental Army from the territory of Yalfheim!
Leiden City is the birthplace of the "Sons of Liberty Association". From the slums to the rich areas, there are "Sons of Liberty" active everywhere. The large-scale mobilization of Fizhen's military, of course, cannot be hidden from the eyes of these spies. Relevant information quickly reached General Nathaniel Green's headquarters.
After more than two months of preparation, in addition to the 6,000 veterans of the Continental Army brought from Forge Valley, General Green has recruited nearly 10,000 new recruits. The total force is only half of the Cornwallis Corps. Most of the recruits are under the age of 20 and seriously lack practical experience. Even if they are equipped with the new air rifles supported by the Far East, it is difficult to defeat the well-equipped, well-trained and clearly superior enemy in a frontal confrontation.
General Green, his staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel Holden Zion, and Colonel Audrey Zion of the Cavalry, were all soberly aware that before the reinforcements sent by the two allies in the Far East and Canaan arrived in the New World to join the war, the South The Continental Army should try to avoid head-to-head confrontation with the enemy, and use the complex environment of rivers and dense forests in the Yalfheim area to deal with the enemy. advantage in guerrilla warfare.
In the next month, General Green adopted this principle of "the enemy advances, we retreat", "the enemy retreats, we pursue", and "the enemy stationed, we harass" to avoid a direct decisive battle with Thomas Cornwally's troops and delay Leading the Phishen army around the jungle fields of Alfheim.
General Cornwallis had a superior force, but he couldn't catch Nathaniel Green, a slippery "snake", who led him by the nose and was harassed by the local militia guerrillas from time to time. Even a single piece of wood could be sniped. After working in vain for more than a month, no results were achieved, and the troops were exhausted from torment.
The Feizhen army chased behind the Green Corps and went deep into the southern hinterland, gradually moving away from the coast, the supply line was forced to become longer and longer, and the logistics supply became more and more difficult to guarantee.
The military supplies collected from Prince Port and Leiden City, as well as the shiploads of weapons and ammunition shipped from the mother country, can only be escorted to the front line by land.
Alfheim in early September is the hottest and rainy season of the year. The mountain trails are already rugged and hard to walk. Coupled with the heavy rain for several days, the road is covered with mud and weeds. The transport convoy marched under such bad road conditions. , of course the speed will not be fast.
The transport team is like a snail crawling hard. If such a good target is not hit for nothing, it will of course become the target of the militia of the Continental Army.
Even if the transport team was escorted by officers and soldiers, it was impossible to defend against it. At least six of the ten transport teams were ambushed and destroyed on the way. The escorted supplies fell into the hands of the guerrillas, and a large part was transferred to General Green's camp. .
In the autumn of 1627, such incidents continued.
By looting the Filipino convoy, the impoverished "mudlegs" of the Continental Army obtained relatively sufficient supplies, so that the cynical Lieutenant Colonel Holden dubbed Earl Winthrop "the quartermaster on our side." ’, “Generous Patron of Food and Ammunition”.
Contrary to the situation of the Continental Army, General Kang Huali's troops had to hunt wild animals in the forest for military rations due to the inability to guarantee logistical supplies, and even food became a problem.
As a result, the Cornwallis Corps had a sharp conflict with the indigenous peoples who had lived deep in the Yalf forest for generations and lived on hunting.
Wherever the army passed by, all the birds and beasts were killed, how do you let the aborigines live?
The Asa tribe in Alfheim, including non-human races such as elves, goblins, and centaurs, protested against General Cornwallis one after another. After receiving a cold reception, their anger turned into hatred, and these aborigines also joined in Going to the ranks of the guerrillas, assisting the Continental Army to harass the invaders, and ambush Fei Zhenren's transport team, resulting in a further shortage of supplies for the Kanghuali Corps, falling into a vicious circle.
Thirty thousand soldiers eat horse chews, and consume a lot of food and grass every day. The logistics supplies cannot keep up, and hunting wild animals alone cannot solve the problem.
It is not a long-term solution to always be hungry and full like this. General Cornwallis had no choice but to reach out to the southern big manor owners and ask them to provide part of the food and salary.