Inside the White House, Washington.

President Lincoln looked at the war report in his hand and felt extremely sad in his heart. However, he still held back, looked at the Minister of War Cameron who was sitting at the bottom, and another young general who was only in his thirties, gritted his teeth, and secretly made up his mind.

George Brinton McClellan, a Democrat and a native of Philadelphia, enlisted in the Army after graduating from West Point, fought in the Mexican War, and later entered West Point to teach, and traveled to the battlefield during the Crimean War in Europe to study European strategy and tactics. After the outbreak of the Civil War, McClellan relinquished his position as general manager of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad and participated in the formation of the Ohio Volunteer Army.

Some time ago, a unit of the Southern Rebels entered West Virginia and clashed several wars with the Ohio Volunteer Army led by McClellan, and the Ohio Volunteer Army was victorious.

A few days ago, because the southern rebels moved troops everywhere for the Battle of Manassas, and transferred all the Portmark Corps led by Brigadier General Boregaard, who was originally stationed in the West Virginia theater, resulting in weak troops in several counties in the westernmost part of Virginia, McClellan took the opportunity to lead the Ohio Volunteer Army to attack the western part of Virginia and occupied a lot of places in one fell swoop. Although McClellan commanded not many wars, he won many victories, and he was very young, so he was nicknamed "Little Napoleon of the West" in the army.

And now the Federation has been defeated in the Battle of Manassas, and the entire Federation is in an uproar! Several members of Congress organized a rally in Washington to denounce McDowell, the federal commander in Manassas, saying that they wanted to take him to court-martial. And the major newspapers have condemned McDowell's incompetence, even to the Union's Army Commander-in-Chief, General Scott, Secretary of War Cameron, and even the president.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Lincoln decided to calm the anger of the people and Congress, and replace the Union commander who commanded the defeat in the war, so that he could give them an account and avoid further repercussions.

"I called you here today, mainly because...... Let's take a look at this battle report, which has just been sent from Illinois about the war in Missouri, Kentucky, and Illinois. Lincoln motioned to his secretary, John Hay, to hand Cameron the battle report.

At this moment, Cameron had recovered from the embarrassment of fleeing from the battlefield yesterday, and he took the battle report and looked at it, stunned.

The war report speaks of the recent fighting in the West, not only in Missouri, but also in Kentucky and Linos.

Although Missouri has always claimed to be neutral, Governor Jackson is of Irish descent, I don't know when, became a staunch Irish nationalist, he united a large number of Irish people, and with the support of an unknown force behind him, he formed a Missouri Irish Independence Army of tens of thousands of people, and occupied various parts of Missouri one after another. And Missouri's former governor, Sterling Price, led a militia force close to the Confederate states into St. Louis.

However, just a few days earlier, the fierce "Battle of Wilson Creek" had taken place in Missouri, and the Union forces suffered a crushing defeat. Brigadier General Nathanel Leon, President Lincoln's newly appointed commander of the Missouri theater, led a 10,000 federal volunteer army summoned by Illinois to defeat Price and capture St. Louis, but failed in the attack on Jefferson, the capital of Missouri, and then captured St. Louis with him. Nathanel Leon could only lead the defeated more than 6,000 Union soldiers to retreat to Springfield, just happened to meet Price's reorganized militia troops, the two sides had a fierce battle, Price's militia troops were beaten out of measure, defeated and fled, at this time, Jackson's Irish Independence Army of Missouri rushed over, a fierce battle, Brigadier General Nathanel Leon was killed, another deputy commander was also wounded, the entire Union army was left to command a major, and the federal Illinois Volunteer Army was suddenly defeated, The entire line retreated, leaving only more than 4,000 people scattered and fled back to Illinois, and the casualties of several battles, plus those who fled and disappeared along the way, lost more than 5,000 people.

Not only that, because of the defeat of the 10,000 Union volunteers in Illinois, Brigadier General Albert Sidney Johnston, deputy commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army and commander of the Western Theater of Operations, led 15,000 Union soldiers to cross the Mississippi River and invade Illinois through the southern border of Missouri. The western region of the Federation is in a hurry!

As a result, a military coup also took place in Kentucky two days ago. The commander of the Homeland Self-Defense Force formed by the Assembly was killed, the Homeland Self-Defense Force was defeated by the Kentucky Self-Defense Force formed by Governor Megovin, the Kentucky Legislature, which was originally inclined to the Union, was purged, seven or eight lawmakers disappeared, and four or five lawmakers were frightened when they learned the news in advance, and left Kentucky overnight and fled to Ohio, and the remaining lawmakers turned to the Confederate States to support Governor Maygovern. So the entire state of Kentucky fell into the arms of the Confederate States of the South, and directly announced its secession from the Northern Union and joined the Confederate States of America!

War Secretary Cameron has a heavy heart. It stands to reason that he should have received the battle report first and then reported it to the president, but because he rushed to Manassas to observe the battle, he did not receive the battle report information in time.

After reading the battle report, the entire Midwest region of the American Federation was in danger, and his face turned pale.

"Mr. President, how can this be? How could the Union army be so poor? Cameron's lips were bitter.

McClellan next to him also took the battle report and read it, his brows tightened, and his face turned iron-blue.

Lincoln glanced at Cameron and said, "Cameron, someone from the Army and the War Department must be responsible for this!" I have spoken to General Scott, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and he will resign from his post as Commander-in-Chief tomorrow and retire completely. As for the Ministry of War, you also have to say something, how about it? ”

Cameron was shocked and said incoherently: "Lincoln, the war is lost, you can't let me carry this black cauldron, you can't do this!" ”

Lincoln shouted: "The defeat of the war is mainly the responsibility of the War Department!" And you, as the Minister of War, have an unshirkable responsibility! Now that the federal army has lost war on the eastern and western fronts one after another, the newspapers, the people, the army, and even Congress have denounced the responsibility of the War Department and even the federal government, including General Scott's old age, War Secretary Cameron's inaction, underestimation of the war, and other issues, you must stand up and apologize to the public on behalf of the War Department and the federal government, and take the blame and resign! ”

After saying that, Lincoln sighed and waved his hand: "That's it!" You will be in the newspaper tomorrow and apologize and resign. Then, I'll appoint you ambassador to Russia, and you'll stay there for a few years and wait for the matter to subside before you come back. ”

Cameron knew Lincoln's character and could not change what he had decided, and as a Republican, he could only reluctantly accept this arrangement.

After the discouraged Cameron left, Lincoln looked at the somewhat panicked McClellan and said, "General McClellan, you have also seen that the Federation has reached the most dangerous moment. As the Confederate general of everyone's letter, you have won successive battles in Ohio and western Virginia, and you have the title of 'Little Napoleon of the West,' and I am prepared to let you carry the burden. Would you like to? ”

McClellan recovered from the news just now and nodded with some surprise: "Mr. President, I am naturally willing to better contribute to the Federation!" ”

Lincoln nodded and said, "As you heard just now, politics is sometimes so cruel. The Secretary of War, Mr. Cameron, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, General Scott, will announce their resignations tomorrow, and the public anger caused by the defeat on the Eastern and Western Fronts of the Union will be resolved. I will then appoint Mr. Edwin Stanton, Attorney General, as the new Secretary of War, and you, Mr. McClellan, will be the new Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Army, temporarily commanding all the armies throughout Virginia to resist the offensive of the Southern rebels, are you confident? ”

McClellan's face was full of shock, he didn't expect that the president would directly appoint him as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Federation, and the commander-in-chief Scott resigned, and this deputy commander-in-chief was the commander-in-chief of the nation's army. And he is only 35 years old, and it is already a great honor to be promoted to the rank of major general, which is rare in the world, and if he becomes the commander-in-chief of the Federation in the future. This, doesn't this mean that he will also become a lieutenant general like General Scott, comparable to General Washington, the father of the nation?

McClellan hurriedly gave a military salute: "Thank you, Mr. President, for your trust, I am confident that I will defeat any invading enemy." ”

Lincoln nodded, but seemed a little dissatisfied, and asked, "How to defeat the Southern rebels?" I heard that now the southern rebels have been placed under the command of General Robert Lee, who is a famous contemporary general, and even General Scott admires him. ”

McClellan was full of pride: "It's just a vain name." He merely came up with the opportunity to quell the Brown uprising. The reason why the Union army lost the war was, in the final analysis, a matter of soldier training, and of course, a problem of commanders. Mr. President, the reason why I am called the 'Little Napoleon of the West' is partly due to my commanding skills, but more importantly, I pay attention to the training of soldiers. Give me some time, let me train my troops rigorously, not to mention Robert Lee, even if Davis himself comes, I will crush them and drive them out of Richmond! ”

After hearing this, Lincoln was not only dissatisfied, but frowned even more: "General McClellan, you also know the current situation in the Federation, how can you have any time for your troops to train slowly?" Moreover, your troops are the most well-trained from their rallying streak to the time they have now fought several battles in Ohio and western Virginia. The rebels in the south will certainly take advantage of the victory at the Battle of Manassas and attack Washington. All you have to do now is immediately replace McDowell and command all the forces around Virginia to resist. Rebels must not be allowed to storm Washington, D.C.! ”

McClellan's face turned into a bitter gourd, and the soldiers of the secret path were untrained and went directly to the battlefield, even if the commander was wise, it would be difficult to win! However, he knew that it was useless to talk about this, the rebels were about to attack, and there was no time to train the troops slowly. The only way now is to organize troops to resist as best they can, as President Lincoln said, and then slowly strengthen the training of the troops as long as they hold Washington, D.C.

"Also, there is a widow who is a spy for the rebels in the South, and I have asked the Ministry of Justice to arrest her. After you take over, try to use her channel to send some fake news to the southern rebels and lure them into being fooled! Lincoln remembered something, waved his hand, and motioned for McClellan to leave.

The next day, the White House announced a change in the positions of Secretary of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Army, which calmed the anger of the people and Congress. But just as the people were celebrating, hoping that the new Secretary of War and the commander of the Union Army would do something, a frightening news came: the 30,000 troops of the Confederate rebels had defeated a small number of federal garrisons and arrived in the town of Fairfax, southwest of Washington, D.C., only 24 kilometers away; Another force planned to take a train and force its march to Alexandezia, a port town south of Washington, to blockade the Potomac River.

Washington was plunged into an unprecedented crisis, and the entire D.C. panicked people.

For this reason, in the morning, President Lincoln once again issued an emergency mobilization order for war, summoning militias and volunteers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Delaware, New Jersey and other states near Washington, D.C., to rush to Washington, D.C., to resist the attack of the rebels!

At noon, President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward delivered speeches to Congress.

Seward first condemned this as an act of war caused by the rebellion within the American Federation, and demanded that the rebels in the south stop fighting and the two sides settle the dispute through peace talks; At the same time, he called on the countries of Europe and some of the great powers in the East to support the federal government in quelling the rebellion, or at least not to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States.

Lincoln directly and strongly condemned the Southern rebels for provoking the split of the federal government and bringing war and harm to the American people. He stressed that his goal was to save the Union, neither to preserve slavery nor to destroy it, but to support the federal government and ensure the unity of the Union. He called on people from all walks of life in the Federation to act together to support the federal government in resisting the rebel invasion.

Immediately afterwards, Congress, on the advice of the President, approved a bill to raise a volunteer army of 1 million men, and was prepared to levy a 10 percent increase in taxes on all free citizens of the North to cover military spending on the rebels, and the federal government was to issue bonds to the population and European countries to finance the war effort. Finally, Congress called on the people to abandon the original idea of underestimating the enemy, to treat the rebels in the South as if they were the British Empire 80 years earlier, and to start preparing for a long and arduous all-out war.