Chapter 603: Vulnerable

Chapter 596 Vulnerable

"John Brown has already captured Harbors Ferry. Is the Confederate army really so vulnerable?" Pinkerton, who was waiting for Liang Yao in North Platte, reported to Liang Yao about the Harbors Ferry crossing. latest situation.

To be honest, Pinkerton admired the courage of the Gileadite Alliance armed forces headed by John Brown, but he was not optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the Gileadite Alliance armed forces. After all, the Gilead Alliance has a limited number of people, and it is deep into Virginia, its home base in the south, fighting without any external support.

The Gileadite Alliance's one or two hundred men were able to capture important transportation nodes and arsenals in Virginia. This surprised Pinkerton, and he couldn't help but look at John Brown's efforts with admiration.

"It's not that the Southern Army is vulnerable, it's that they are unprepared." Liang Yao asked Pinkerton, "Is there any news from Washington? Is there any movement from the federal government to deploy troops?"

"According to the news from our congressmen in Washington, the Buchanan administration has no plan to mobilize troops. Instead, General Robert E. Lee will take charge and organize the Virginia militia to quell the rebellion." Pinker Dun reported.

"A riot? Did the Buchanan government classify this incident as a riot?" Liang Yao asked.

"Yes, we know from the cables we intercepted that the Buchanan administration defined the Harpers Ferry incident as a riot." Pinkerton said, "It may be to appease the mood of the South. After all, this time it was a radical attack from the North. Violent armed forces attacked the south."

"This is not a foolproof solution. The mood in the south has been calmed down, and the anger of the northerners may soon rise again." Liang Yao shook his head and said, "John Brown is quite famous in the north and is an abolitionist. A flag, I don’t know how many northern politicians are staring at this matter, ready to make a big fuss about it.”

"That means there is still the possibility of a full-scale military conflict?" said Kruger, commander of the 103rd Brigade.

"Regardless of whether this is possible, we must be prepared for war." Liang Yao said seriously, "North Platte is the gateway to the west, there is no room for failure, do you understand?"

"Understood." Kruger nodded, and then reported to Liang Yao, "The federal government also responded to our construction of a fortress in North Platte. They dispatched two regiments to the Goshen area and Build forts in the Gossen area to try to block our eastward approach."

The Gossen area is located 50 kilometers southeast of Pratt, next to the Pacific Railway, a small village with a population of only a hundred or so.

In order to prevent the western armies from advancing eastward, Scott also responded to the western armies' construction of forts and fortresses in the North Platte area.

Scott dispatched two regiments and hired local civilians to build forts in the Goshen area, trying to control the Pacific Railway during the war and prevent the western army from advancing eastward, thus threatening the northern region.

Liang Yao didn't take the federal government's move too seriously. The overall topographic layout of the United States was low in the east and high in the west, with the west facing the east.

There are not many routes to choose from when heading west from the east, but there are countless routes to choose from when heading east.

A small Goshen fortress can temporarily control the eastern section of the Pacific Railway, but it is undoubtedly a wishful thinking to use it to lock the western iron heel from going east.

"I heard about this. They repair theirs and we repair ours. Just leave some troops to guard against them." Liang Yao asked as he walked with his hands behind his back.

"How many troops are sent by the federal government to the Gossen area and who is the commander? Have you found out?"

"We found out that they are the newly established New Hampshire First Regiment and the Second New Hampshire Infantry Regiment. The commander is our old friend Brigadier General Mason." Kruger replied.

"Mason? This name sounds familiar." Liang Yao felt that the name Mason sounded familiar.

"This is the Colonel Mason who was captured by you when California was established ten years ago." Kruger said, "His sword is still stored in your manor."

"So it's him." Liang Yao thought of the long-lost Colonel Mason.

The federal government is not very clear about the federal government's purpose in photographing Mason as the military chief to prepare for the west's eastward advance. Could it be that Mason, as the only senior officer above the rank of colonel in the United States army who was captured by him, is more interested in him and the army in the west? learn?

As for the two infantry regiments, the First New Hampshire Regiment and the Second New Hampshire Regiment, which were stationed by the federal government at Fort Goshen, after the 103rd Brigade entered North Platte, it was difficult to attack North Platte. pose a substantial threat.

His defeated general Mason was not stupid enough to let two infantry regiments attack the North Platte fortress group that had been initially completed.

Liang Yao climbed up to the observation tower and raised his telescope to look into the distance.

I saw that the buildings of the North Platte Fortress Group were connected by trenches. In front of the trenches, densely packed horse and barbed wire fences had been laid out.

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Before Robert E. Lee arrived at the Harpers Ferry Armory, local militia had attempted to attack the Harpers Ferry Armory three times.

However, in these three attacks, the local famous regiment found nothing except leaving more than 60 corpses in front of the armory.

The Virginia militia that failed in the attack had no intention of fighting anymore, and withdrew from the armory. They robbed some places near the ferry and then returned to the military camp to drink and engage in prostitution.

Seeing that the militia surrounding the armory was so weak, John Brown's third son even took advantage of the night and led an armed force of more than 20 black slaves to sneak attack the Virginia militia camp, and finally returned to the armory unscathed.

The attack failed and the camp was attacked. The morale of the Virginia militia was extremely low.

It was not until the next day that Robert Lee arrived in Harpers Ferry with a regiment of infantry composed of volunteers and militia and a company of artillery by train that he turned the tide and stabilized the army's morale.

Although volunteers and militia both belong to the militia system, their combat qualities are incomparable.

The volunteers are generally composed of veterans and non-commissioned officers who have retired from the front-line troops and have rich combat experience. The militia, after all, is a group of strong men who can shoot, and their combat qualities are extremely limited.

This is why both the North and the South have to regularize the militia, and the speed and efficiency of regularizing the militia are far less than that of the West.

Although the militia in the West is called the militia, it is actually different from the militia in the East. The militia in the West is actually closer to the volunteer army in the East, rather than the militia with the same name.

After learning about the battle situation from the officers of the local militia, Robert Lee was extremely disappointed with the local militia.

It seems that if he wants to recapture the arsenal, he can only rely on the troops he brought with him.