1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 649: Mason's Rage

"Davis and others were too indecisive, and Lincoln was also worried about gains and losses," Sartre commented. "Lincoln was only a militiaman for a period of time, not a professional soldier, and his military knowledge was shallow. Washington was still under the attack of the Confederate Army, and it was not a wise move to split the troops in Omaha at this time."

Sutter was puzzled by Lincoln's decision to divide the army. From a military perspective, Lincoln's move was an absolute failure. As a half-military man, Sutter, who had served in the Union Army when he was young, knew the current situation of the Union Army.

The current military strength of the Northern Army was not an absolute advantage over the Southern Army or the Western Army. If Lincoln concentrated his forces to fight a decisive battle against either the South or the West, the outcome would be unpredictable. But if the troops were divided, the Northern Army's chances of winning would be even smaller. Sutter racked his brains but could not understand why Lincoln made such an arrangement.

"Lincoln was the president, not a general. He would not consider issues from a military perspective. This is something Scott and his team should consider." Liang Yao took a sip of tea and asked, "How did Lincoln win the election?"

Sartre lowered his head and thought seriously for a while, then raised his head and answered: "This is the most turbulent election since the founding of the United States of America, and it is difficult to say what is right and wrong.

Many people attribute Lincoln's victory to the internal division of the Democratic Party, the compromise of the upper elites in the North, the weakness of his competitors, and the irreconcilable situation between the North and the South, which gave Lincoln an opportunity to take advantage of. But in my opinion, the most critical reason for Lincoln's victory in this election was not this, but the strong support of the middle and lower class citizens in the North. "

After hearing Sartre's answer, Liang Yao nodded with satisfaction. Sartre's answer hit the nail on the head: "Public opinion is like water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. Since Lincoln was pushed to the presidency by the overwhelming public opinion in the North, he was bound to be carried forward by this overwhelming public opinion. He had no choice.

Even many senators in the White House Senate are completely unaware of the current state of the federal army, not to mention the lower-middle class people, who have long been brainwashed by official media opinion. The federal military strength they perceive is far greater than the actual federal military strength. "

Sartre chewed on Liang Yao's words carefully. After Liang Yao's advice, he suddenly understood: "Lincoln should be responsible to the voters who support him. If he wants to sit firmly on the presidency, even if he knows that there is no chance of winning, he must take a gamble and create a tough and glorious image for himself."

"Yes, we can lose the battle, but the president's glorious image cannot be damaged." Liang Yao smiled generously, "This is politics."

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"McClellan and Lincoln, these two sons of bitches!"

In the command center at Fort Kearny, Mason was furious after reading the telegram, and could not help but speak ill of his current superior, McClellan, the commander-in-chief of the Frontier Army, and the current president.

"Damn it! You've abandoned more than 3,000 Ohio men in my brigade. If these forts I'm guarding are lost, you won't have an easy life!"

When Mason learned that McClellan was sent to Omaha to be responsible for the reorganization and preparation of the second batch of 100,000 mobilized troops, his mood was completely different from what it is now.

Also in his headquarters at that time, Mason and his colonels and lieutenant colonels cheered with joy and even held a party to celebrate.

The Kearny Fortress Group was the front line of the confrontation between the Union Army and the Western Army, so it should have the highest priority. According to common sense, McClellan should have sent reinforcements to Kearny as soon as he had completed the assembly of some troops.

After all, the strength of Mason's Brigade alone was too weak to face the Western Army, which had 40,000 to 50,000 field troops alone.

What Mason didn't expect was that McClellan had been in Omaha for two weeks, and the number of mobilized troops assembled had reached 40,000 to 50,000, including many combat-ready mobilized soldiers. Under such circumstances, McClellan still stayed in Omaha and refused to send any reinforcements to him. Every time he sent a telegram to urge him, McClellan always refused to send a single soldier to the Kearny Fort Group on the grounds that the troops were insufficient and the new recruits still needed training. How could Mason not be furious?

What is even more infuriating is that he explained the pros and cons to Lincoln, stating that the Kearny Fort Group was the best barrier for Omaha. Once the Kearny Fort Group was lost, the entire area west of Omaha would be flat and indefensible, and the fall of Omaha would only be a matter of time.

Unexpectedly, Lincoln's reply was just a cold reply: "Follow McClellan's arrangements." This made Mason's heart sink.

It seemed that both McClellan and Lincoln were prepared to sacrifice him and his entire brigade of soldiers to buy time for training the second batch of mobilized soldiers.

Thinking of this, Mason couldn't help feeling pale, powerless and sad.

Although he holds a high position and is a brigadier general of an elite brigade, in the end he is still a pawn of the bigwigs in Washington.

Mason had heard some rumors recently. Liang Yao was very tough on Washington, and Lincoln would never give up the border areas. If the situation continued to develop like this, it would only be a matter of time before the two sides went to war.

Mason had been captured by Liang Yao once ten years ago, and he didn't want to be captured by Liang Yao again.

Since the War of Independence, there have been precedents of high-ranking American officers being captured by the enemy, but there has never been a case of a high-ranking officer being captured twice by the same enemy.

Is he going to set such a humiliating precedent that has never been seen before and will be difficult to surpass in the future?

"Sir, that bastard McClellan has given up on us. Since they are so cruel as to give up an entire brigade, we might as well retreat." Mason's adjutant Falcao was obviously shaken.

He was the old man who followed Mason to fight in Los Angeles ten years ago and was finally captured together with Mason by the California Regiment at that time, which is now the 101st Brigade of the Western Army.

Falcao still had a relatively clear understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Spanish Army. The Wuliang Newspaper in the North, which had no bottom line and always belittled the actual combat effectiveness of the Spanish Army and the Southern Army, could deceive the vast majority of ignorant people, but they could not fool the front-line officers and soldiers who had fought and come into contact with the Spanish Army and the Southern Army.

"Asshole!" Mason shouted, interrupting Falcao. "We are soldiers! We must live up to the flag behind us!"

Even though Mason was now dissatisfied with his superior, Brigadier General McClellan, and even President Lincoln, Mason, who was born into a military family, still adhered to his bottom line and accepted this arrangement.

He was a man who attached great importance to honor. He did not want to bring shame to his family, nor did he want the 3,000 Ohio boys who followed him to the Kearny front to be embarrassed in the future. Although he himself had once thought of abandoning the Kearny fortress group and retreating to the safer Omaha.

(End of this chapter)