Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

In the war that followed in July, the offensive pace of the U.S. and Prussian troops slowed down. At Lincoln's strong request, Manteuffel could only go to the front line, capture a few Prussian commanders, and stuff them into the U.S. headquarters. Staff officers.

And Manteuffel also met the important generals of the US military, Major General Sherman, commander of the Mississippi River Theater, and Lieutenant General Grant, the commander-in-chief of the federal army. The United States does not have the rank of general now. Lieutenant general is already The highest military rank.

They respected Manteuffel very much. After all, he easily captured Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States of America. This was something that the U.S. military could not do. Prussia's intervention quickly expanded their results, and they finally stopped being passively beaten. recover from the situation.

But when the war meeting began, Sherman believed that they should attack Atlanta. Sherman's troops were blocked by Johnston's troops in Atlanta. Although they launched continuous attacks in the follow-up, they could not take it for a while. If the Prussians had gone with his troops to attack Atlanta, he would have won the war immediately.

But to be honest, this is not the first time he has said this. When he first came here, he boasted that he could win the civil war if he had [-] soldiers. However, there was still a certain gap between the ideal and the reality. He had A lot of troops, but still defeated in Atlanta.

Sherman spoke aggressively. He believed that Richmond had been captured by the Prussian army, and that the last lifeblood of the Confederacy was Columbia. As long as he could capture Atlanta, it would be equivalent to winning the Civil War.

There was just one problem. Grant believed that they should attack along the Richmond line. Richmond was captured, but it was only captured. There were at least [-] Union troops outside, and they should pursue the victory.

Everyone preferred to listen to Grant's plan, but Sherman still insisted on attacking Richmond. Grant said, "I have no objection to General Sherman's tactics. Can you capture Atlanta before September?"

"Of course!" Sherman said.

Grant, "Okay, then let General Manteuffel go with you to capture Atlanta. We will try to attack Raleigh from the north and strive to end the civil war as soon as possible."

Manteuffel listened to the speech of the U.S. military without saying anything. The strategic deployment of the U.S. military was pretty good, but they had a slight misunderstanding of their combat effectiveness. Anyway, according to Manteuffel's assessment of the strength of the U.S. military, Sherman estimated It is unlikely that Richmond will be captured before September. Grant may still have a chance.

........

In August, the Prussian army continued to attack Atlanta with Sherman's army. Sherman asked Manteuffel how the Prussian army was trained to be so strong. He also wanted to train such a strong force.

Manteuffel told Sherman, "The combat effectiveness of the Prussian army was honed in the brutal imperialist war. The United States has never had a real head-on conflict with a powerful country. It is isolated in a corner and has no powerful countries around it. Naturally, it is difficult to develop the skills like Prussia." Such a strong army."

Manteuffel also bluntly stated that there were less than [-] veterans in the troops he brought. He was responsible for being the commander of the new recruits and taking the new recruits to fight. This could quickly familiarize the new recruits with the war and ensure the effectiveness of the training.

Sherman listened, but he believed that the United States could also train a force as powerful as the Prussian army. He believed that he had that ability. Manteuffel did not pay much attention to this matter until Sherman actually When attacking Atlanta.

Sherman boldly adopted a rush operation without rear support, which caught the Confederate army off guard. Davis, the leader of the Confederate States, adopted the most barrage style of attack. He changed his generals before the battle. Davis defeated Johnston. Unsatisfied with the idea of ​​giving up without a fight, Johnston was simply dismissed from his position and replaced by John Hood.

After Sherman learned about it, he took advantage of the favorable terrain in the north to launch a defensive counterattack. In just two weeks, the Confederate army suffered more than [-] casualties. Hood continued to fight despite being trapped. The failure of several attacks greatly reduced the morale of his army, leading to rebellion and escape. There are countless soldiers.

Seizing the opportunity, the Federal Army used the Prussian twenty-four-pounder cannon to blast through the city wall and rush into the city. Hood's troops retreated hastily and escaped from Atlanta. Sherman actually captured it before September. to Atlanta.

Manteuffel was a little shocked by this. On the one hand, he marveled at Sherman's tactical talent, and on the other hand, he felt a little ridiculous about Hood's flawed command. Hood could obviously hold on and hold on until September. It wasn't a problem, but he just rushed out and was beaten to a pulp, but still lost the city.

In mid-to-late August, the Prussian army successfully entered Atlanta with the federal army led by Sherman. Manteuffel originally had some appreciation for Sherman. His tactics were indeed great and more powerful than he imagined. Quite a bit, but what happened next made Manteuffel confused, even angry.

Sherman had a very unfriendly attitude towards the occupied territories. He ordered that civilians' homes could be rushed into, burned, killed and looted. When the Prussian army was patrolling, some Americans would even rush out and kneel down to beg the Prussian army to stop Sherman's army. .

Manteuffel even went to Sherman to reason about this matter. Sherman's answer was, "This is the consequence of their betrayal of the Union. War is not just between armies. War is between countries." Things between us have something to do with everyone, and if we are defeated, we will be defeated as well."

Manteuffel was shocked. He would never have imagined that the man in front of him would be so cruel as to wield a butcher knife against innocent civilians.

In the end, Sherman even ordered all Atlanta residents who wanted to survive to leave immediately. He wanted to set fire to the city. This kind of thing was really shocking. I had only heard of burning other people's homes, but I had never heard of burning my own city. Burnt.

Another thing that was done to increase Prussia's favorability. Manteuffel asked the Prussian army to help the Americans in Atlanta evacuate. What about the Americans who were unwilling to leave? Of course, we can help those who can take care of them if we can, but there is really nothing we can do about them, even Prussia can't save them.

They may have thought that as long as they didn't leave, Sherman wouldn't dare to set fire to the city. It turned out that they thought too much. When the point came, Sherman didn't care who you were and directly ordered the city to be set on fire.

The fire quickly spread throughout the city, and the federal soldiers evacuated the city safely and promptly, ignoring the elderly and women. Poor thousands of old people and women, struggling and screaming desperately in front of the overwhelming fire, trampling on each other... No one escaped from the sea of ​​​​fire.

The old people, children, and women who were forcibly pulled out by the Prussian army looked at all this with their mouths open. They were actually protected by foreign troops and persecuted by their own troops.