Chapter 203 The Confederate Flag Flying Over Gettysburg
Balls of smoke and flames shot up into the sky along with the blast of dust. In the light of the fire, the Yankees hiding behind the parapet were blown into the sky. A stone tombstone was blown into pieces, and broken stones fell from the sky.
Liaocheng, fell on a few unlucky people.
It turned into countless steel fragments, flying wildly along with the explosion shock wave, knocking dozens of federal soldiers to the ground and tearing apart their flesh, blood, and bones.
Continuous explosions exploded one after another like fireworks at a festival. It was hard to believe that this was artillery bombardment. In the crazy bombardment and violent explosions, countless steel fragments burst out in all directions, and they roared.
Flying around, harvesting life happily.
Shelling!
The fierceness of the mortar bombardment was far beyond people's expectations. General Pickett could not even believe the scene in front of him - in the violent explosion, the earth was shaking, and the fierce artillery fire seemed to have the effect of destroying the world.
It looked like they were all razed to the ground, and the smoke clouds from the explosion enveloped the small mountain.
As the smoke filled the air, Pickett even felt a little sympathy for the Yankees. The small stone wall in the cemetery, which looked so inconspicuous, was almost completely collapsed in the explosion. The flying stones injured countless unlucky people.
.
"By God, the way war has been changed!"
Pickett murmured.
In just two minutes, 48 4-inch mortars dumped thousands of shells, thousands of pounds of silica explosives and tens of thousands of pounds of cast iron on Cemetery Ridge, turning Cemetery Ridge into a slaughterhouse.
The lives of many federal infantrymen were killed, and the federal artillery also suffered heavy casualties under the fierce artillery fire, and completely lost their combat effectiveness.
"Okay, gentlemen, it's our turn!"
After receiving General Longstreet's order, Major General Pickett stood in front of the soldiers and shouted.
"As you can see, the artillery destroyed almost everything. If this continues, even if we reach Washington, it will be difficult for us to have a chance to fight the Yankees again."
"Yes, General, they were all destroyed by cannon."
Everyone seemed extremely happy. After witnessing the destruction caused by the cannon, they believed that no one could survive the bombardment and that it was just a charge.
However, when they marched neatly to the sound of military drums, they did not know that in another world, this charge ended in tragedy - even though the Confederate soldiers launched a heroic charge and broke through
Several layers of Union defense lines, and large numbers of soldiers were torn apart by merciless explosions on the way to charge and fight. Pickett could only watch as his soldiers committed suicide and rushed toward the smoke and death without hesitation.
However, this time everything changed with the addition of new cannons.
Just like in another time and space, before the infantry charge, General Robert E. Lee hoped to launch a concentrated and powerful artillery bombardment on the Union positions in the hope of destroying the Union artillery positions, reducing the probability of his own casualties, and damaging the morale of his opponents.
Although a series of low-level command errors were still committed, it was different from the other world - inferior artillery was replaced by superior artillery - 54 3-inch Armstrong breech-loading guns and 48 4-inch mortars
The result of this bombardment was doomed from the beginning.
The bombardment on July 3 was probably the largest in the entire Civil War. Hundreds of artillery pieces from the North and the South began firing at each other for nearly two hours at 1 p.m. The Confederates used nearly two hundred guns, including Armstrong breech-loading guns.
The artillery was spread out and fired along a 3-kilometer-long front. The accurate shelling of the rifled artillery brought an almost devastating blow to the Northern Army's defense line.
The stone wall on which Brigadier General Hayes of the Northern Army relied was completely destroyed in the bombardment, and the fierce mortar fire caused the loss of the Philadelphia Brigade guarding the stone wall. The fierce artillery fire made the morale-defeated Northern Army panic and collapse.
When Major General Pickett ordered the attack.
The outcome of this battle is already determined,
Under the leadership of General Pickett, 12,000 Virginian soldiers marched toward the destroyed federal army positions and launched the largest charge in the entire Civil War to the sound of drums.
The few remaining federal 12-pounders plowed a bloody path among the Confederate troops. The remaining federal infantry continued to tilt their firepower at the neatly arranged Confederate troops, but this could no longer change the overall situation. Finally, with a burst of charge,
The Confederate Army broke into the Federal Army's position, and time seemed to have returned to the era of cold weapons, with the sound of bayonets clashing one after another amidst the smoke on the battlefield.
General Lewis Armistead, holding a saber in his hand, rushed to the small stone wall like an ordinary soldier. He raised his saber high, pointed forward and shouted loudly.
He jumped off the stone, still shouting, his voice almost hoarse. The soldiers who rushed past him roared like beasts. They rushed through the stone wall, they stepped over the corpses on the ground, their hats fell off, and their hair was scattered.
opened.
"Follow me, gentlemen, and charge!"
In order to let all the soldiers see and follow him, General Lewis Armistead raised his cap with his saber.
"Gentlemen, follow me and rush..."
He waved his saber and lifted his hat at the tip of the saber. His voice was hoarse, but his blood was boiling. In front of his eyes, the Yankees were retreating...
After an hour of hand-to-hand fighting, Union Hancock's Second Army collapsed. Under the fierce attack of tens of thousands of Confederate troops, he abandoned the Cemetery Ridge position and abandoned the entire Union army at Gettysburg.
In the evening, the Confederate flag was finally planted on this hill.
In the smoke of gunpowder, when the Confederate flag was planted on the hill, there was a burst of compliments around General Robert Lee. All the generals and staff around him were congratulating him!
"General, this is a great victory!"
Everyone knew what this victory meant - they successfully completed the siege of the Federal Army at Gettysburg. However, their cheers did not last long - on the same day, the Battle of Vicksburg
At the end, the Confederate defenders asked General Ulysses Grant to surrender.
After learning the news, General Robert E. Lee just sighed.
The easy victory was lost!
Now the Confederate army had no way to retreat, because Grant had already gained the upper hand in the Battle of Vicksburg, and the Confederate army's western front was in danger of collapse.
The Virginia Army, like Grouchy's Army at Waterloo, has no value in existing alone...
That night, standing on the mountain ridge, General Robert E. Lee looked helplessly into the distance. If Vicksburg could hold on for another two weeks, he would be able to reach the city of Washington in less than a week.
But what now?
Standing there motionless, Robert E. Lee's expression was terrifyingly cold. After a long time, he let out another long sigh.
He closed his eyes.
God, what should I choose now?
Now, he must focus on the problems of the war.
choose?
Is there really a choice?
Either move forward, continue to move forward, attack all the way to Washington, or...
Although he had no answer in his heart, Robert E. Lee knew very well that he had to fight and could not wait. He would not become stronger while waiting, but the enemy had reinforcements from all directions, and they would become stronger...