When the Confederate soldiers saw a big fish in the net, they were like cats seeing fish, their eyes lit up, and they all drank to make McPherson surrender.

McPherson strayed into the enemy formation, but he did not panic, took off his military hat, raised it slightly, bowed slightly, turned his horse's head, and ran in the direction of the Northern Army's battle formation.

The Confederate soldiers were stunned for a moment, then came to their senses, and fired a volley of gunfire, and McPherson fell off his horse.

The Southern Army is open-minded, you blow up one of our Bishop Puke, I will kill one of you McPherson, two clear!

The record for Sedgwick was broken in a few days, both McPherson and Sedgwick were major generals, but McPherson was the corps commander and Sedgwick was only the corps commander.

Moreover, the Battle of Atlanta has only been going on for a few days.

At only thirty-five years old, McPherson was a man of outstanding appearance, warm-hearted, intelligent, and extremely good at managing the army, and was a favorite of Sherman's subordinates. Sherman once prophesied: "This guy will be a good guy for Grant and me in the future." ”

Sherman personally covered McPherson's body with a flag and wept like never before.

But this unexpected blow did not cause Sherman to be depressed or irritable, but at once aroused his whole body, from the inside out, to refresh his spirit.

Kerber? General Kargs recalled: "Sherman had a special quality of not being surprised when taking on a big task and not being in danger of any danger. In the heat of the day, when McPherson was killed in front of the Atlanta team, all his quirks were gone. His thoughts never seemed clearer, his faith never seemed so strong, and his spirit never seemed so inspiring. ”

The Sherman faction nicknamed "Black Jack" John? Logan succeeds McPherson as commander of the Memphis Corps.

John? Logan readjusted the deployment of several forces. Then launch a counterattack. "Black Jack" rode back and forth in front of the battle, and to boost morale, he shouted: "Avenge McPherson, guys, avenge McPherson!" ”

The blood of the Northern Army was boiling, and in less than thirty minutes, the defense line of the Southern Army was breached.

The southern army on the western flank had to withdraw into the city.

After the southern army on the eastern flank left the city, it sneakily made a big circle and appeared in the left rear of the northern army.

Guan Zhuofan received the report and smiled: Come with me to this set?

After the Battle of Chattanooga. Subtle changes have taken place in Guan Zhuofan's operational guiding ideology.

The Battle of Chattanooga was the first large-scale battle of the Xuan Army into the United States. Only win but not lose, otherwise you can't mention it in one breath, and you don't have to fight in the future; At the same time, the Battle of Chattanooga was also the first time that Kwan Zhuofan commanded a truly modern operation. Except for the records in the history books. No other experience. I don't dare to play, and I can't play any tricks.

So, regardless of the cost, regardless of casualties. No matter how hard the bone is, the broken tooth has to be gnawed raw.

After the Battle of Chattanooga, I had the confidence, and I won't do it anymore. First, after all, it is only to fulfill international obligations, not to fight life and death, and it is impossible to put one's old bottom into it; Second, Guan Zhuofan understood better than most of his contemporaries that in the face of rifled guns and trenches, the queue for shooting must be eliminated.

Therefore, on the way from Chattanooga south to Atlanta, in the face of Johnston's strong fortifications, Guan Zhuofan did not fight a single frontal assault. Each battle is adapted to local conditions and adopts different ways of playing, which seem to be different, but they are always the same, and in the end, there are two words: roundabout.

Going around in a big circle to the enemy's flank and rear flank is of course called a "detour," cutting off the enemy's logistical supplies, extending the trenches, skirmishing tactics, and night attacks, and it can also be regarded as a "detour" in a certain sense, and the starting point is to avoid the enemy's dense firepower to the greatest extent, minimize one's own casualties, and stick a knife in the weakest part of the enemy army as much as possible.

However, the basic operational thinking of the times was to "see who has stronger firepower and who can resist better."

If you play a "detour" against the enemy, you naturally have to prevent the enemy from "taking a detour" against you.

The Xuan army's formation is "three-dimensional", not "linear". The left and right flanks are always equipped with defensive troops. In the process of moving the whole army, this basic pattern will not be changed.

This kind of movement not only refers to the march of troops, but also includes the transfer of positions, the extension of trenches, the change of artillery positions, and the adjustment of logistics, which is a "whole" concept.

All units of the armed forces will always maintain a posture of echoing each other and supporting each other at any time, except for cavalry, and try not to send lone troops outside except for special tasks.

Therefore, the left army was far more tightly protected on the flanks than the right army, and the provisional third division of the Xuan army under the Iksan belt was already deployed on the left side of the whole army, and the first part of the Kumbran Army was ready to be reinforced as a reserve.

This is the first time that the provisional Third Division has fought independently with a complete formation, and it is also the first time that black and white soldiers have really fought together.

The effect is not bad. There was a tacit understanding, at least there were no incidents of white soldiers shooting at black soldiers.

In the Battle of Dalton, Guan Zhuofan deliberately singled out the two black regiments and assigned them to the first division of the Xuan Army to act together, just to give the black regiment a chance to prove itself, and the black regiment grasped this opportunity well.

Of course, there were racists in the white regiment of the provisional 3rd Division, but the human heart is flesh and blood, facts speak louder than words, and most white soldiers were convinced by the performance of the black regiment in the Battle of Dalton. In the Left Army, the talk of "blacks can't fight" or even "blacks will rebel when they get guns" was almost inaudible at once.

The Southern Army repeatedly rushed several times, but could not break through the defense line of the provisional 3rd Division, so it had to retreat, and the reserves of the Kumbran Corps did not come in handy at all.

The Southern Army rested for a while, regrouped its formation, moved to the front of the Northern Army on the eastern flank, and launched another attack.

Guan Zhuofan thinks that Hu De is really an elm pimple head, you can't beat the flanks, but you can beat the front?

In front of the formation were the Yang Regiment of the Second and First Divisions of the Xuan Army, the Kezi Regiment, and the Kunbulan Army.

The German Regiment and the Kuizi Regiment of the 1st Division of the Xuan Army were sent to take care of the cavalry division responsible for cutting the railway line.

There was no suspense in the result, and the Confederate army was finally defeated back to Atlanta, and the Confederate army was in front of the Northern army in front of the corpse.

Moreover, this defeat of the eastern flank of the Confederate army in Atlanta made them unable to provide more protection for the railway line to the east, and the Xuan cavalry division successfully cut off the railway line from Atlanta east to Augusta.

The German and Qui regiments formed between the railroad line and Atlanta did not fight any decent battles.

Therefore, the cavalry division of the Xuan Army was unusually calm, and the destruction of the railway was extremely complete.

The rails are very heavy and hard objects, and the belt cannot be taken away, and it is difficult to be substantially damaged, so the army at that time was fighting, and the so-called cutting off the railway line was to remove the rails and sleepers and throw them to the side, especially when the enemy reinforcements would arrive at any time and the time was in a hurry.

However, this left a big drawback, when the enemy sappers repaired the truncated railway, they could just use these rails and sleepers, which greatly reduced the difficulty of repair and increased the repair efficiency.

Under the guidance of the sappers of the Sherman Division, the cavalry of the Xuan Army tied the dismantled sleepers and rails together, set them on fire, the sleepers turned into ashes, the rails were also burned red, and the softened rails were easily twisted into various twists.

The industrial capacity of the south is limited, and a sufficient number of rails cannot be produced in a hurry, which ensures that in a short period of time, the southern army will not be able to repair the broken line, so as to truly complete the "cut-off" of the relevant railway line.

The Left Route Army achieved its first major strategic objective.

When the Confederates retreated, the Confederates took advantage of the situation to cover up and break through the first line of defense on the eastern flank of Atlanta, and the Northerners' artillery positions had to be extended, and the shells could enter the city of Atlanta.

The Atlantan's nightmare begins.

The first time Atlantans heard cannon fire was at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Faint and dull, like the thunder that was still far away in the sky when the heavy rain was brewing in Mengxia. The people of the city really heard the sound of war, and really felt that it was approaching them, and that it was close at hand.

People's hearts are raised.

*(To be continued......)