The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 908 The Sherman Project

Deep within the Fort Cumberland Army base, a massive operations command center had been temporarily requisitioned as General Sherman's campaign planning room. The heavy oak doors shut out the clamor of the training grounds outside; inside, only the rustling of maps and papers, the scratching of pencils, and Sherman's deep, clear instructions remained.

A massive military map of the western half of North America almost covered an entire wall, stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific coast. Blue pins were densely packed around the areas representing the federally controlled eastern United States, while red stubbornly occupied the vast expanse west of the Rocky Mountains to the coastline. The most striking patch of bright red was firmly locked at the map's center—the core fortress complex of Colorado: Fort Denver. Surrounding Fort Denver was a complex defensive system comprised of numerous trenches, anti-tank ditches, barbed wire, and concrete bunkers, known by the Eastern US military as the "core fortress of the Zhao Si Defense Line." It stood like an impregnable pass, blocking the gateway to the eventual unification of the United States.

Another, slightly smaller map focuses specifically on the upper and middle reaches of the Missouri River and the northern Rocky Mountains. A thick blue line, the Missouri River, is clearly marked on the map, winding from north to south. After entering the Western United States controlled region, it first divides the vast Dakota region into East Dakota and West Dakota (capital: West Dakota City). The river continues south into Montana, with both banks entirely under the control of the Western United States.

Standing before the map, General Sherman, though over sixty years old, still stood ramrod straight. He held a slender lever in his hand, pointing to a large area on the map located north of Denver in the Missouri River basin.

"Gentlemen," Sherman's voice was deep and penetrating, his sharp gaze sweeping over the people standing in the room: Secretary of War Lincoln, Commander of the 1st Armored Division MacArthur, and several key staff officers, "Although we have been declaring our intention to capture Fort Denver and have even named our upcoming offensive the 'Denver Offensive,' a direct assault on Denver would only result in our young men bleeding to death at the barbed wire! We cannot afford the cost of a frontal breakthrough. So this is merely a smokescreen to deceive the enemy!"

His putter moved west along the Missouri River, pointing to the area marked East Dakota, bordered by the blue federal control zone and dotted with red dotted lines representing fortifications. "This is the northern end of the 'Zhao Si Line'—part of the defenses left behind by that traitor Zhao Si, who's practically on his deathbed. It's far less fortified than the core defenses around Fort Denver. Especially this section (his putter slammed down on a small area on the map), due to the terrain, the fortifications are sparse and lack depth!"

Then, the lever shot upwards, crossing the border between the Union and British Canada, pointing towards the Canadian territory bordering Montana, which is controlled by the western United States. "Our first move is here!" Sherman's eyes gleamed with the sharp light of a hunter spotting his prey. "A massive Northern Army Group, comprised of the 7th and 9th Infantry Corps and three artillery brigades! They will launch a fierce attack along their pre-designated assembly area in Nebraska-South Dakota (Union-controlled area) towards the weakest point in the northern section of the East Dakota defenses on the east bank of the Missouri River!"

Secretary Lincoln frowned slightly: "With just infantry and artillery... that's a feint, isn't it?"

“Mr. Secretary,” MacArthur stepped forward, taking over the conversation, his corncob pipe twirling unconsciously in his hand, “the offensive on the northern front will be extremely ‘real’ and ‘fierce’! We will deploy at least three hundred 6-inch (152 mm) heavy artillery pieces! They will roar day and night! We will tear a huge gap in the defensive line! Infantry groups will surge toward that gap like a tidal wave, breaking through the shallow defenses. Meanwhile—” MacArthur’s lever traced a long arc across the map, cutting in from the Canadian border, “at least two cavalry divisions will secretly enter British Canada! Under the cover of the border, they will conduct long-range maneuvering flanks! The objective is to outflank the ‘Zhao Si Line’ in Montana! In conjunction with our frontal assault, we will attempt to sever the line’s logistical links with Fort Denver, creating the illusion that we are about to launch a strategic encirclement from the north, annexing the entirety of Montana and West Dakota!”

MacArthur paused, his voice brimming with confidence and allure: "When our heavy artillery continues to bombard the East Dakota Line, our infantry repeatedly launches attacks, and two powerful cavalry forces suddenly appear deep within Montana's flank... Secretaries, if you were the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Army, stationed in your impregnable Denver Fortress, with your precious 'Black, Red, and Yellow Corps'—their most elite, their only strategic reserve capable of large-scale field mobility—could you remain indifferent? Would you stand by and watch us potentially cut off the lifeline of the entire Northern theater, devour two states, and let the elite 'Black, Red, and Yellow' rust in their fortifications?"

The room was silent as everyone mentally reenacted the thrilling scene.

Sherman promptly took over the command, his lever not pointing north, but abruptly dropping back to the lower center of the map—Nebraska. "The enemy's possible reactions are only two!" Sherman's voice was resolute. "First, they might urgently redeploy the main force of the 'Black, Red, and Yellow Legion' north, rushing them by rail to reinforce the Missouri River front, attempting to plug the gap before we complete our encirclement, or engage our cavalry in a decisive battle in Montana! Second—" His lever pointed to the salient deeply embedded between East Dakota and Nebraska in the Union-controlled area, "they might also risk sending the 'Black, Red, and Yellow Legion' eastward, directly attacking our frontal defenses in the Nebraska direction, forcing us to return from the north to reinforce them—a tactic the Chinese call 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao'! Whichever path they choose…"

Sherman's face broke into a chilling smile, like that of an old hunter about to close a trap. "—They've all stepped into my meticulously designed death trap!" He picked up a red pencil and heavily drew a huge red "X" on the base in Nebraska near the front lines. "Right here, we'll find the true deadly fangs! The First Armored Corps, composed of the 1st Armored Division, the newly formed 2nd Armored Cavalry Division (comprising a standard tank battalion, a steam car battalion, an artillery battalion, an engineer battalion, and two standard cavalry brigades), and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Division (with the same organization)!"

"When the 'Black, Red, and Yellow Legion' is moved away from the fortified Denver Fortress, whether it heads north or east, it will lose the protection of that damned concrete and steel tortoise shell! Outside Denver Fortress, in the Colorado wilderness or the plains of Nebraska..." Sherman's voice was filled with a murderous intent that he had suppressed for countless years, "...the hunting grounds of our more than three hundred MK.1 steam tanks and four cavalry brigades! They will form an unstoppable steel torrent! A frontal assault to destroy any enemy that dares to block our way in open battle!"

MacArthur stepped forward and used his lever to outline the First Armored Corps' offensive direction: "If the 'Black, Red, and Yellow' forces move north to the Missouri River basin, the main force of our First Armored Corps will launch a rapid counterattack southwestward along the Nebraska railroad! Target—the junction between Fort Denver and the northern region of the 'Zhao Si Line': the Wyoming section! We will tear apart the fortifications there and, as quickly as possible, cut off the most vital supply and mobility artery supporting the entire northern front: the Denver-West Dakota railroad! This is tantamount to trapping the 'Black, Red, and Yellow' forces reinforcing north, the 'West Dakota' forces defending West Dakota, and the defenders of Montana in a massive encirclement!"

"What if the 'Black, Red, and Yellow Legion' chooses the most risky second option and attacks our Nebraska defenses directly to the east?" MacArthur quickly retracted the lever to the "X" marked area, then drew a large inward-facing arrow in front of the "X." "Even better! Our Nebraska front line will fiercely resist, delaying and wearing them down. The First Armored Corps will launch a decisive attack from its pre-arranged assembly area, with the strongest and most direct force, on the flanks and rear of this isolated enemy main force! On the open plains, no line of flesh and blood can withstand the charge of over three hundred steam tanks! We will encircle and completely annihilate the main force of the 'Black, Red, and Yellow Legion' within Nebraska territory as quickly as possible!"

General Sherman took a final step to the map, his broad hand almost covering the vast western United States controlled west of the Missouri River. "Even in the worst-case scenario, if the enemy doesn't deploy the 'Black, Red, and Yellow Legions' as we anticipated, or if our encirclement isn't completed in time..." Sherman's gaze was cold and realistic. "As long as the First Armored Corps cuts off the vital Denver-West Dakota lifeline, our massive northern force can sweep down, coordinating with the armored units to completely clear the entire area west of the Missouri River and north of Denver—the whole of West Dakota and large swathes of Montana will fall into our hands! This is equivalent to cutting off the right arm of Fort Denver! Then we can use the same tactic on New Mexico south of Fort Denver, cutting off its left arm as well! Fort Denver, without its two arms, is just an isolated castle, and its capture will be much easier!"

He slowly lowered the lever, gazing at Secretary of War Lincoln, who had come on behalf of the President to hear the specifics of the "Denver Offensive." "Gentlemen," he said, "this is my Sherman Plan! It requires exquisite deception, massive troop movements, and the right time, the right place, to deliver that fatal blow of steel! It's a gamble! The stakes are the fate of the entire Union! But—"

Sherman's voice suddenly rose: "To utterly crush the traitors' stronghold, to end this civil war that has torn the nation apart, and to make our great United States great again! We must risk everything!"

A brief silence fell over the operations room, broken only by the dense array of symbols on the map silently proclaiming the impending great battle. Secretary Lincoln gazed at the two red arrows on the map (the massive northern front group feinting an attack and the lurking, deadly armored iron fist), then at the stubborn red fortress representing Denver in the center, and nodded heavily. At that moment, he seemed to feel, through the plan, the power of the impending, history-altering torrent of steel.

(End of this chapter)