In September 1794, the situation of the Continental Army was excellent. With the capture of Pittsburgh, the Continental Congress seemed unstoppable in its revival, and Washington also formally established the Continental Army Headquarters in Pittsburgh.
Previously, the Continental Army did not have a stable headquarters, mainly because they had only one front and did not need to establish a unified headquarters.
But now, with the capture of Pittsburgh, the situation of the Continental Congress in North America has officially entered a new situation.
In Washington's vision, the future combat Continental Army will carry out a policy of division of troops. At present, the British army is mainly concentrated in Virginia, and this is an opportunity for the Continental Army.
Pennsylvania, where Pittsburgh is located, borders Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
These areas are the essence of the British North American colonies. At present, the main force of the British army is concentrated in Virginia, and the remaining states will inevitably have empty defensive power. In this case, if the Continental Army deploys its main force to the Virginia border, and then detaches its troops to attack the remaining states,
Several states are being attacked, and from a strategic level, the Continental Army will have a great advantage.
But now Washington also knows that the British army will definitely not sit back and watch his strategic plan succeed.
In this way, Washington finally made the British army dare not move lightly through a battle.
In Washington's mind, the Continental Army's next target was the Harrisburg area in Pennsylvania!
Although Pittsburgh was previously the seat of the Governor's District and the capital of Pennsylvania, it must be said that Pittsburgh's geographical location is quite eastward.
It can be seen from the map of Pennsylvania that Harrisburg will become very important in the next phase of the battle.
The roads between Harrisburg and the southwestern part of Pennsylvania can be said to be connected in all directions. It is one of the key points of north-south transportation in the British colonies.
And Harrisburg is also Philadelphia's eastern barrier.
"It's almost time to rest and recuperate for a week. Gather the generals and we're going to take action!"
Washington said proudly to the staff officers in the military tent.
Just as Washington summoned the generals of the Continental Army to start planning the next phase of the offensive, in Atlanta, Wodenhall's personal representative was seeking to see Bruneker in the Governor's Mansion.
"Your Majesty the Governor, after the capture of Pittsburgh, the rebellion of the Continental Army has become a climate. This situation is not only unfavorable to our army, but also unfavorable to your country. Therefore, Sir Wodenhall hopes to join forces with your country.
Suppress the Continental Army again!"
This envoy was the third envoy sent to Atlanta after Wharton Hall landed in North America. The previous two envoys did not receive a positive reply from Bruneke.
"I can understand Sir Wodenhall's painstaking efforts, but please know that I did not receive instructions from Brandenburg to dispatch troops. Therefore, although I am the governor here, without orders from Brandenburg,
, I still have no right to send troops!"
Bruneck said with a smile on his face.
Bruneck was able to laugh, but apparently the envoy couldn't laugh anymore.
After that, just like the previous two times, no matter what the envoy said, Bruneke was unmoved. Seeing this situation, the envoy had to return to Philadelphia sadly.
However, after the Wharton Hall representative left, Bruneck's expression changed, and he immediately summoned Scharnhorst and other military officers as well as several government officials.
Originally, Scharnhorst was also going to Nashville with the army, but Bruneck kept him in Atlanta.
Bruneck actually had no other intention in leaving Scharnhorst behind. The main reason was to let Scharnhorst understand various matters of the pre-war government and military.
"Have the troops been deployed in place?"
"Your Majesty the Governor, please rest assured that our troops arrived at the scheduled assembly points half a month ago!"
Bruneck nodded and asked the government official on the side:
"How is the material collection going? Is the logistics support line smooth?"
"Your Majesty the Governor, we have gathered a large amount of logistics supplies in Nashville and other places where the army is gathered, which is enough to sustain the army for three months. As for the logistics support line, the government has mobilized 500 large freight carriages and also inspected the roads along the line.
It has been renovated, and at the normal speed of these carriages, it only takes ten days to reach the farthest point, Nashville, from Atlanta!"
"very good!"
Bruneck nodded in approval, then stood up and said to everyone in the room:
"Starting now, the North American states belonging to the great Kingdom of Prussia will immediately enter a state of war. All officers will immediately rush to their respective units. According to the plan of the Governor's Mansion, on September 15th, a full-line offensive will be launched against Pennsylvania!"
On September 15, 1794, the Prussian Governor-General of North America boldly sent out troops. The First and Third Colonial Divisions, under the command of Scharnhorst, set out from Nashville and drove straight into Pennsylvania. Basically, they encountered no enemies along the way.
Threatened to stop them, under these circumstances, the Prussians captured Louisville, the capital of Kentucky, in just half a month.
It was not until October 1st, when Washington, who led his army to the Harrisburg area to confront the British army, learned that the Prussians had sent troops.
In the Harrisburg area, Washington gathered all the elite members of the Continental Army, as well as nearly 20,000 black slaves. This brought the number of Continental Army under Washington to 39,000.
On the other side of the Continental Army were 22,000 British troops led by Warton Hall.
Harrisburg is now under the control of the British. There are two thousand British troops stationed in the city, and Wharton Hall personally leads 20,000 troops stationed under the city of Harrisburg.
"The damn Prussians, how could they choose to send troops at this time!"
After hearing the news, Washington's face was filled with anger.
Although the Continental Army has undergone extensive expansion, its total strength is less than 60,000.
After Washington took away 39,000 people, the Continental Army actually had only 11,000 people left in other areas, and 4,000 of them were formed by Washington into the Northern Expedition Detachment and had already rushed there ahead of Washington.
to Scranton, where they would launch their offensive against Connecticut.
Three thousand more men were formed by Washington into a southward detachment, and these three thousand men would invade Maryland from Hagerstown.
In this case, the actual number of troops deployed within the control of the Continental Congress is only 10,000.
Among them, 2,000 were stationed in Columbus, 3,000 were stationed in Pittsburgh, and the remaining 5,000 were scattered in various cities under the control of the Continental Congress.
Once the Prussian army set foot on the territory of the Continental Congress, it meant that they had almost no decent opponents.
This was an extremely dangerous signal for Washington. Once the Prussians took their retreat, the Continental Army led by Washington would be in danger of collapse in an instant.
"We must defeat the British as soon as possible, otherwise, once Ohio State or Pittsburgh loses, our previous battle results will be ruined!"
Washington made up his mind and looked fiercely at the British military garrison outside Harrisburg.
Unlike the Continental Army, when the British learned the news that the Prussians were sending troops, almost the entire British army station turned into a sea of joy.
British people with a little bit of common sense know that the marching route of the Prussian army is completely heading towards the back road of the Continental Army. This also means that once Washington is delayed by the British army and cannot return to the army, the Continental Army will not only lose the previously captured territory.
The land will also face the danger of being attacked by the Prussian army and the British army.
But there is one person who is incompatible with the current atmosphere in the British camp. This person is the British commander Wharton Hall.
Indeed, the news that the Prussians sent troops could not be better than good news, but in Wharton Hall's view, the timing chosen by the Prussians to send troops at this time can be called cruel.
At present, the main force of the Continental Army has been assembled in the Harrisburg area. Judging from the speed of Prussia's march, it may only take twenty days to set foot in the area controlled by the Continental Congress.
In this case, Washington will not have much time left.
In other words, if Washington cannot defeat the British army and return for rescue within a month at the latest, the situation will change dramatically, and the strategy previously achieved by the Continental Congress will be lost immediately.
To be honest, after hearing the news that the Prussians were sending troops, the first thought that flashed through Wodenhall's mind was to make peace with the Continental Army so that the Continental Army could return to fight the Prussians.
But then, this idea was abandoned by Wharton Hall.
Washington was not a fool. Even if Wodenhall sent someone to inform Washington of his thoughts on peace, perhaps Washington would not believe it.
After all, for Washington, the Prussians were enemies, but the British were even more powerful enemies.
If Washington really believed in Wharton Hall and led the army back to the division, who knows whether the British would pursue the Continental Army in the future. By then, the Continental Army, which had just recruited many new recruits, would be completely wiped out.
Was severely defeated.
Therefore, you can make peace with Washington, but you must provide reasons that convince Washington.
But now, it is obvious that this reason is missing, because the Prussians sent troops to fight the rebellion at the invitation of the British.
"We must let the Continental Army taste the bitter experience and let them know that they will not get any advantage in the Harrisburg area. Only in this way can the Continental Army understand that if they want to preserve their victory, they can only return to the division and fight with Prussia.
Men fight it out!"
At a military meeting of the British army, Wodenhall spoke frankly to a group of British officers under oath.
Early September 1794
In the Harrisburg area, the Continental Army and the British Army engaged in the largest battle since the beginning of the North American War. The total number of troops invested by both sides reached more than 60,000.
Washington ordered his trusted general Nicholas to lead 5,000 elite soldiers and 10,000 newly recruited black soldiers as the vanguard of the entire army to enter the battlefield from the northwest.
Opposite Nicholas were four thousand British troops led by the British general Alberta.
Nicholas took advantage of the strength of his troops and after using elite soldiers to open a gap in the British defense line, he ordered 10,000 poorly equipped black soldiers to be divided into five groups to join the battle.
These black people may have poor equipment and even lack of clothing, but for these black slaves, if the Continental Army is defeated, they will be enslaved again. It is with this idea that these black soldiers broke out
A strong combat effectiveness.
This thought had been instilled into the minds of all black soldiers by officers at all levels in the Continental Army before the war.
The black soldiers who joined the battle in five batches swarmed into the gap in the British army's line. Although most of them had crude cold weapons in their hands, under the encouragement of the officers, they still fought fiercely with the British army without fear of death.
battle.
Taking advantage of the fact that the attention of the Alberta troops was attracted by the black soldiers, Nicholas quietly deployed his main force that had previously been deployed on the battlefield.
Suddenly, the British army led by Alberta was under the fierce attack of these black slaves, and the battle line began to shake violently uncontrollably.
At this time, while Nicholas attracted the attention of the British army, Washington used the concealment of the Moron Heights occupied by Nicholas to mobilize three thousand soldiers and concentrated them on the right flank of the British army.
At this time, seeing that all the forces under Alberta's command were shaken, Warton Hall urgently dispatched 3,000 British soldiers to reinforce Alberta.
Just after Wharton Hall sent reinforcements to Alberta, Washington personally led an army of 20,000 people on the battlefield.
The army led by Washington entered the battlefield from the west. Seeing the arrival of the main force of the Continental Army, Wharton Hall personally led an army of 10,000 to block the front of Washington's army.
As a result, Wharton Hall actually only had a reserve force of 3,000 men left in his main formation.
With the reinforcement of 3,000 British troops, Alberta gradually began to stabilize the situation. After all, although the black slaves were caught off guard, the British troops were elite after all, and in terms of weapons and equipment, these British troops occupied
A huge advantage.
Seeing that the reinforced British troops were gradually stabilizing their battle line, Nicholas was not in a hurry. Instead, he immediately ordered his main elite force to enter the battlefield from the gap between the Alberta troops and the reinforcing British troops.
More than 4,000 well-equipped Continental troops were thrown into the battlefield, directly putting the Alberta troops in danger of being cut off from the middle.
A crisis looms over Alberta.
As a last resort, Alberta once again asked Wharton Hall for help.
At this time, the main force of the Continental Army led by Wharton Hall and Washington himself was fighting fiercely. Even though Washington had a huge military advantage, he still could not get an advantage in the face of the battle line composed of elite British soldiers.
The battle lasted until four o'clock in the afternoon
After Alberta sent six messengers to ask for reinforcements, the helpless Wharton Hall had no choice but to mobilize 1,500 men from the 3,000 reserves originally left behind to reinforce the Alberta troops.
For Wharton Hall, this is the limit of what he can do.
On the Alberta side, the British army was actually struggling.
"Let the artillery fire one more round at the gathering point of those niggas!"
"But general, after a day's battle, many artillery pieces have reached their limit. If we fire another round, I'm afraid these artillery pieces will be useless!"
After seeing through the telescope that the black slaves of the Continental Army were accidentally squeezed into a low-lying area, Alberta was overjoyed and said to the staff officer beside her.
"What nonsense? Immediately order the artillery fire. Even if all the artillery is disabled, as long as we can hit dozens of cannonballs on the heads of those niggas, we will win!"
Afterwards, under orders from Alberta, the artillery had to reload the artillery.
In fact, as Alberta said, this is indeed the best opportunity for the British army. After the new British army joined, the black soldiers who had been fighting for at least three hours gradually began to show signs of failure.
Under the slow squeeze of the army, more than 4,000 black soldiers gathered on a piece of land of less than half a hectare.
The Alberta unit has more than thirty artillery pieces. After these artillery fires were fired under the order of Alberta, they instantly dealt a devastating blow to the morale of these black soldiers belonging to the Continental Army.
After a round of shelling, although 15 of the more than 30 artillery pieces exploded, causing nearly 100 casualties among the British artillery, the results after the shelling were huge. The Continental Army that was suddenly bombarded was temporarily stunned.
The time actually collapsed.
This scene not only made Alberta happy, but also exceeded Nicholas' expectations.
"No damn retreat! No retreat!"
Nicholas, who was standing on a high ground and commanding, kept waving the saber in his hand and yelled at the black soldiers who were fleeing across the mountains and plains.
"Your Excellency General, it is very difficult for these black people to be able to persist for such a long time!"
Indeed, as the officer next to Nicholas said, it is very difficult for these black slaves to be able to persist in fighting for a day despite suffering huge casualties. Even most white people
No soldier can do this.
But in Nikolai's view, this is not enough.
But just as he was speaking, the morale of the British army suddenly rose to a higher level due to the defeat of the black soldiers of the Continental Army, and then these British soldiers launched a counterattack against the Continental Army.
The Continental Army, which had previously been inserted into the British army, suffered heavy casualties under this counterattack.
"Damn it, order the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th regiments to break out immediately and request reinforcements from the Marshal!"
As a last resort, Nicholas could only order the Continental Army inserted into the British formation to break out.
At six o'clock in the afternoon, both the Continental Army and the British Army were exhausted. As a last resort, both sides had to withdraw their troops and return to their camps.
However, on the entire battlefield, the three thousand Continental Army that had lurked on the right flank of the British army did not retreat, but quietly lurked. (To be continued...)