Wild North America 1846

Chapter 343 War Promotes Technological Development
Detroit

Guarding Detroit is Lieutenant General Samuel Brown, a veteran of the Northern Army. He is also one of the generals with the most experience in fighting the coalition forces so far. General Hermann.

The failure of the Battle of Chicago undoubtedly severely damaged the reputation of General Grant, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army.

The commander-in-chief who was ordered in danger is now returning to the Eastern Front to preside over the overall situation. It is also a last resort to leave all the mess on the Western Front to Lieutenant General Samuel Brown.

From the original Civil War to the current three-way melee in the North American War, the unprecedentedly tragic war has lasted for four years. The United States has replaced three commander-in-chiefs, namely General Heath Caldwell and his The successor, General Ambrose Everett Burnside, is the third General Grant's turn to lead the Union Army, and he cannot be changed again.

If you face the enemy and change generals so frequently, there will be no way to continue the battle.

The city of Detroit is on the verge of the ports of the Great Lakes. It is named after the Detroit River connecting Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, which means "the river of the channel".

19s
The city of Detroit is famous for its steel industry and wood and metal processing. It is a heavy industrial city similar to Salem in the Tang Kingdom. It has a population of 37.21 and an urban area of ​​about one-third that of Chicago.

Since 1805, Detroit has been the capital and largest city of Ohio. Thanks to the city's industrialization level and construction capabilities, the entire city is now like a big fortress, which is really hard to crack.

Speaking of

Lieutenant General Samuel Brown is also a wolf character. He had enough of the endless attacks of the white cannon fodder stormtroopers on the Union side in the Battle of Chicago, and he really hated his teeth but could do nothing.

The defenders died wave after wave, and the city guards were severely beaten and wounded. In the end, the army of the Tang Kingdom took advantage of it and became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

After learning the lesson, General Samuel Brown conducted a looting and forced recruitment of white males aged 12 to 60 in the Great Lakes region during the retreat, and retreated to the front line of Detroit with a large number of people.

On the one hand, the labor force is used to speed up the construction of the defensive fortress, and on the other hand, the coalition forces are not given the opportunity to harvest the population first.

As a last resort, these people can also take up weapons and go to the battlefield to enhance their own ability to fight a high-intensity war of attrition.

Although this approach has caused public dissatisfaction, under the precarious situation of the war, I can no longer care so much about it, and just tear my face and do it.

In addition, General Samuel Brown followed the advice of his subordinates and incorporated as many as 17 blacks fleeing north into the reserve team for day and night drills, preparing to use them as cannon fodder to consume the offensive edge of the coalition forces.

Therefore, on the surface, the Northern Army from Detroit to Cincinnati hoarded 55 to 57 troops. The actual number is close to one million. The reason why black and white cannon fodder are not included in the statistics is because they have no weapons to equip. Not an army.

Then we have to wait until the existing militiamen have been killed and wounded before we can squeeze out weapons and equipment for them.

After entering December

The weather suddenly turned cold, and a Canadian cold wave caused the temperature in Detroit to drop by more than 10 degrees. The sky was covered with clouds, and it seemed that the first snowstorm of this winter was brewing.

Because Detroit is located by the Great Lakes, the Detroit Canal and other water systems are developed, and the humidity in the air is high, so it is wet and cold in the cold winter.

Under such circumstances, when fighting in the wild, once the heavy snow comes and the insulation measures cannot keep up, the army will suffer from large-scale freeze-to-death and frostbite attrition. That is no joke.

After the weather turned bad, the cavalry of the Tang Kingdom that were often seen outside Detroit disappeared, and they all hid in the warm houses in nearby towns to escape the cold. Lieutenant General Samuel Brown breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, the bad weather came at the right time!
After the cold current from Canada moved south, the nighttime temperature in Detroit has dropped to around minus 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in recent days. The cold wind howled across the wilderness, and the dripping water turned into ice.

With the wet and cold winter, as long as we stay in the wild, the boots on our feet will always be wet and cold to the bone, and the hand will be frozen and stiff after holding the rifle for more than ten minutes. The cement and concrete pouring must be stopped because it cannot be solidified.

The concrete poured in such a cold weather is mixed with a lot of ice and frozen shavings, which is as loose as tofu, and it will fall when pushed by hand, and the building will collapse when it weighs too much.

"Your Excellency, according to experienced locals, this blizzard that has been brewing for several days will arrive in the near future, that is, it will take a day or two."

"This is the best news I've heard in a while. I can finally sleep soundly. God, the situation on the Western Front is really terrible." General Samuel Brown shook his head with a wry smile.

Now talking about the battlefield on the western front is just self-deception. The seven states in the northwest of the United States of America are all occupied by the coalition forces. Being squeezed to the extreme, how can there be any battlefield on the Western Front?
If it retreats further, it will already be connected with the Eastern Front.

General Samuel Brown excluded the bad information, raised the single-barreled copper binoculars in his hand to observe, there was no one in the wilderness, only the cold wind was blowing the withered yellow bushes swaying here and there, A bleak winter scene.

General Samuel Brown put down the binoculars in his hand, passed them to the staff officer behind him, and asked after a moment of pondering; "How many imitation Minie rifles have arrived?"

"According to the statistics of the Ministry of Logistics, 13.6 Mini rifles and 8800 Sharps rifles have been delivered so far. The weaponry rate of the regiments included in the formation has reached 77.5%. It is estimated that in another three months, it can basically be guaranteed. Each has a weapon."

"This means that my soldiers still have to fight with spears and swords?"

"Judging from the current supply situation, I'm afraid that's the only way to go. We lost all our artillery and most of our infantry weapons in the Battle of Chicago. We only rely on British aid and weapons factories working overtime for production. This is already our maximum capacity. "

"I can't let the soldiers take spears and big knives to deal with those eastern legions armed to the teeth, even black cannon fodder. This violates the basic moral values." Lieutenant General Samuel Brown sighed, and cast his eyes melancholy Wilderness, continued with deep regret in his tone;

"Thank God! But such bad weather cannot buy us three months. The Eastern Legion is cunning and treacherous, and will use all means to win.

But it is undeniable that they have strict discipline and do not lack the spirit of military sacrifice.

So the good days of peace will not last long, this city..."

Standing on the fortress, Lieutenant General Samuel Brown looked back at Detroit, which was full of buildings behind him, and said with a sigh; "It will eventually fall into the flames of war, perhaps this is its fate."

The general's words aroused the bad mood of all the senior officers present, and their eyes became melancholy.

The Tang Kingdom's iron hooves pressed down on the border, and every officer felt the heavy pressure on his shoulders, and the suffocating feeling was almost maddening.

Although they had repelled several attacks before, everyone knew in their hearts that it was because the Tang Kingdom's army hadn't exerted its strength, and it was just trying to stop it. After testing the strength of the defense, they quickly retreated.

These Eastern armies are like a pack of wolves, constantly testing their weaknesses, and once they find a fatal flaw, they will swarm up and savagely divide their prey, including the famous Sherman Army, which brings fear to all the senior generals of the Northern Army. deep shadows.

"What about other equipment?" General Samuel Brown asked again.

"Honorable General, 65 of the Army's custom "coffee mill" machine guns were issued to the 14th, 15th, and 28th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments, followed by the 49th, 55th, and 96th Pennsylvania Regiments, and the 11th New York Volunteer Regiment, The 56th regiment is equipped separately, and 18 "coffee mill" heavy machine guns will arrive next month, which will greatly enhance our defense capabilities."

"Well, this kind of single-barreled heavy machine gun must control the firing rate, the barrel is too easy to overheat."

"Your Excellency, we have emphasized this point in machine gunner training."

"Where's the artillery?"

"Today, the forts in Detroit are equipped with a total of 276 cannons, most of which are Napoleon cannons, and the relatively advanced Williams cannons only have 31. The next step will be to urge the arsenal to increase production and provide us with more artillery."

"God bless, I hope it will be in time."

Lieutenant General Samuel Brown had mentioned "God bless" several times during this short conversation, and he seemed to be a little lacking in confidence, but the senior officers present wisely did not point out that they maintained a tacit understanding. silent.

One of the generals of the northern army counts as one. Who can say that they have confidence in dealing with the army of the Tang Kingdom?

That's too much nonsense, the northern army urgently needs a hearty victory to boost the morale of the army.

With the current production capacity of weapons in the North of the United States, imitation Mini rifles are not a problem, and there is no problem in supplying sufficient lead bullets and black powder. The monthly output can reach 2 to 3 pieces, and more can be made with overtime. .

The Sharps rifle has better shooting accuracy, but the manufacturing process is cumbersome and the loading is troublesome, so the output has not been high.

As for imitating the King's rifle of the Tang Kingdom, the Northern Federation does have such production capacity. The biggest problem is that it cannot produce full-charge copper-cased bullets and reliable thunderbolt primers.

A small amount of production is possible, but industrialized supply in large quantities is impossible.

every war

They are all opportunities for major technological inventions. In the Crimean War, military short-distance radios, Colt breech-loading artillery and hand grenades appeared.

In the North American War, there was the first naval battle of steam ironclad warships, the comprehensive promotion of photographic technology and wired telegraphy, Europe began to promote the laying of transatlantic wired cables, the application of advanced bolt-action rifles and the emergence of submarines, long-rod torpedoes, etc. Major scientific and technological application inventions.

The endless stream of advanced weapons of the Tang Kingdom firmly suppressed the northern army and made them suffer a lot in the war. The lesson can be said to be profound!

(End of this chapter)