Plans could never keep up with changes. The Civil War, which was supposed to end soon, was still in a stalemate in 1864.
A battle of hundreds of thousands of troops was not something that could be fought in a day or two. Neither the north nor the south could afford to lose the war. The commanders on both sides were experienced and prudent. The battle directly turned into a war of attrition.
The southern army was slightly stronger, but the northern army had more people. On the battlefront that was more than 100 kilometers long, the two sides fought many battles. The result was that both sides won and lost. Overall, they were evenly matched.
The power of the butterfly effect was strong. With the help of various countries, the southern government was strengthened and the northern government was weakened. One increase and one decrease was directly reflected on the battlefield.
In New York, looking at the telegram for help in his hand, President Lincoln was about to collapse. This was the nth time he had asked for help. Since the beginning of the great battle, he had received three or four telegrams for help every week.
If anyone said, "Use the strong national power to fight a war of attrition with the other side and drag out the rebels." Lincoln would definitely go up and give them a few slaps.
Industrial advantage. With the support of the great powers, did the north really have an industrial advantage?
The southern rebel army's industrial manufacturing capacity was limited. Could they not buy it?
Now the northern government could not block the southern ports. The navies of both sides had fought many battles, but the northern navy still could not win.
The economic advantage was even more ridiculous. Did they really think that capitalists were all patriotic and could sacrifice themselves for the country?
Class interests were not equal to personal interests. Making money was the first priority. As long as they made money, who cared if the United States would be divided?
Capital without borders was not a joke. It was real. As long as they made money, even if they left the United States, they could still live a comfortable life.
On the contrary, the selfless support of the federal government won the war. In the end, it was time to divide the spoils. Sorry, this was an era where strength spoke.
Although the northern government's economy was larger, in reality, the wealth that the southern government could mobilize was not much worse than them.
At least the southern cotton bonds were more popular in the international capital market than the northern war bonds. In order to support the southern government, the British FAO had accepted a lot of bonds from the southern government.
When it came to the northern government, it was different. They either paid in foreign exchange or in gold and silver. What was the US dollar? No one knew it.
In the end, they found out tragically that the northern government's real advantage was that they had more people and could fight with the southern government.
However, this advantage was not without its limitations. If the losses were too heavy, the people's war-weariness would rise.
Since the beginning of the decisive battle, on average, the Northern Government Army had lost a regiment of soldiers on the battlefield every day. Dealing with telegrams from the frontline had become President Lincoln's daily job.
President Lincoln asked with a haggard face, "My Minister of War, please tell me how long this battle will last."
The Minister of War, Semon Khaimei, thought for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. President. Only God knows the answer to this question. All I know is that we can't take the risk now. The Federation can't afford to lose this battle. "
Secretary of State Safar added, "Then can you reduce the number of casualties? Based on the current rate of losses, the United States will have no future even if the rebels are suppressed. "
Because of Franz's butterfly effect, as soon as the war broke out, a large number of weapons and equipment were sold to the warring Northern and Southern governments. The speed at which both sides expanded their armies was faster than the same period in history.
Correspondingly, the training time of the soldiers was greatly reduced. On average, the training time of each soldier was less than 40 days. During the most dangerous times, the soldiers of the Federation Government were sent to the battlefield after less than a week of training.
The aftereffect was that the number of casualties on both sides exceeded that of the same period in history. The loss of a large number of young men had already threatened the rule of the Federation Government.
The Minister of War, Semon Khaimei, explained, "The various state governments used criminals, local ruffians, and a large number of colored soldiers to make up the numbers. We didn't pursue the matter.
The quality of the soldiers is not up to standard, so the number of casualties will inevitably increase. At least the death rate of white soldiers has been reduced. "
Lincoln immediately interrupted, "Sir, don't say such things. We are all Federation soldiers. There is no distinction between races, do you understand?"
Some things could be done, but they could not be said. Political correctness had also appeared in the United States in this era.
…
In Richmond, President Jefferson Davis was also facing the same problem. The cruel number of casualties had exhausted the Southern government.
The lack of human resources had become the biggest problem for the Southern government. Although the labor export companies were active, the cheap labor from the African continent was not easy to use. They had to go through strict training before they could become qualified labor.
If the Northern government was willing to compromise, he did not mind stopping the war immediately. If the war continued, the Southern government, which lacked manpower, would find it difficult to fight the Northern government.
Of course, they were not afraid of the Northern government. If they really fought to the end, they could still drag the Northern government down with them. At least, they thought they could do it.
In less than four years, because of the civil war, the total population of the United States had decreased by 5%, and this was based on the large influx of Asian and black people.
The Northern government had the advantage of accepting Asian immigrants across the East and West Oceans, while the Southern government, due to its geographical location, mostly accepted African immigrants.
Currently, there were at least 400,000 active black soldiers fighting for the Southern government. The total number of black soldiers killed in battle was more than 250,000.
In order to encourage the slave owners to bring black slave soldiers to the battlefield, the Federal government even offered double the compensation. After all, well-trained black slaves were excellent cannon fodder, and the newly arrived black laborers were still rebellious.
In order to encourage the black soldiers' morale, under Robert Lee's insistence, the Confederate government released the black slave soldiers from slavery. They also offered huge rewards, such as: for every two enemy soldiers killed, a black slave would be rewarded, or an equivalent amount of wealth.
The direct consequence was that there were almost no captives in the black soldiers' army.
President Jefferson Davis asked with concern, "Mr. Robert, did the British agree to send troops to intervene?"
A snake could not do without its head. As the one who had contributed the most in the Intervention League, John Bull was undoubtedly the leader.
Now that the North and the South were in a deadlock, it was a good time to intervene. The appearance of the Intervention League instantly broke the balance of power between the two sides.
Even if one of the countries took action, it could be the straw that broke the camel's back, breaking the balance of power between the North and the South.
Secretary of State Robert frowned and said, "The British still want to see us kill each other. Anyway, the war has been fought to this point, and there are no victors.
In this battle, our casualties have reached as high as 380,000, of which 110,000 have died in battle. The Northern government is close to 600,000, and at least 180,000 have died in battle.
Even if we win this battle, we won't be able to continue to expand the results of the war in a short period of time. The Northern government isn't much better, and no one can continue fighting. "
Vice President Alexander objected, "I'm afraid not. The greatest effect of a battle is on the morale of the troops, not just the number of casualties.
No matter how heavy the casualties are, as the victors, they have at least a hundred thousand mobile troops. As long as the morale of the troops is high, they can continue to fight.
When the time comes, the losers can only rely on the Intervention League. Only when they take action in times of danger can they reap the greatest benefits. "
This was a fact. An army with high morale could often defeat an army with low morale several times. After the end of this major battle, more than a hundred thousand troops could already influence the outcome of this civil war.
However, this was still not a threat to the Intervention League. With more than 200,000 fresh troops joining in, the situation on the battlefield could be reversed in an instant. For the sake of greater benefits, the British were naturally willing to wait until the outcome was determined before taking action.
This was the difference between reality and theory. In theory, the total troops of the Northern government were more than two million, the total troops of the Southern government were more than one million, and the Intervention League only had more than 200,000, which would not be of much use at all.
In fact, the total troops were not equal to the troops that could be put into battle. The first thing the states had to do was to ensure their own safety, not all of them to fight.
Secondly, there were troops with combat effectiveness. Take the Northern government as an example. If half of the troops of more than two million troops were the main force, they could crush the South two or three times.
In reality, not to mention half of the main force, there was not even a tenth of the main force. Other than the hundred thousand troops who could fight, the rest were a motley crew.
You couldn't expect a rookie army of 16,000 people to be divided into two waves of civil war and train a million elites in less than four years.
Historically, the battles that decided the outcome of the North and South were often on the scale of tens of thousands of people. If both sides sought stability and were reluctant to commit elite troops, there would not have been such a large-scale battle.
After a moment of silence, Jefferson Davis said, "Contact the Northern government in secret and explain the situation to them. If you don't want the British to take advantage of us, recognize our independence and end this war. "
Secretary of State Robert shook his head and said, "I don't think there's any hope. We can indeed minimize the losses by negotiating in private, but the politicians of the Northern government can't afford this responsibility.
I don't think they will be willing to put their political lives on the line because of patriotism, or even suffer the revenge of the capitalists in the future. "
This was a practical problem. Selfless people were always in the minority. In history, after the Southern government was at a disadvantage, didn't these people become traitors for their own interests?
The chances of counting on the Northern government to be selfless patriots were not much higher than winning the lottery.
Under the military intervention of the Great Powers, the Federal government was divided, and the politicians could still blame it on others.
In this era, the European Great Powers were strong, and their failure was not because they were incompetent, but because the enemy was too strong.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
