It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 263 | Seals, let's get to work! (Combined into one)

October arrived quietly.

Richmond.

More than 100 kilometers south of Washington, D.C., Richmond is filled with hordes of new recruits, military trucks come and go, and tents are scattered throughout the suburbs, stretching for dozens of miles, making the whole city look like a giant fortress.

The U.S. military formed three infantry divisions near Richmond in one go. These three divisions were formed by supplementing the local National Guard with a large number of new recruits, nine out of ten of whom were raw recruits who had only been in the army for a few weeks.

So, does such a force have any combat capability? Of course not.

"To be honest, I don't mean to mock you, but the fact is that these troops have no field combat capability whatsoever and can only defend the city and wage a war of attrition."

Shank stood by the roadside with a colonel, surrounded by a large group of army recruits and loudly shouting sergeants.

The recruits wore British Tommy helmets and carried Springfield bolt-action rifles, looking as if they had traveled from the European war more than 20 years ago.

"Perhaps," the colonel said, "but at least we are determined to hold Richmond."

"Yes, the New York and Philadelphia battles must not be repeated; it's too shameful."

"With the anti-tank rocket launchers you provided, we will teach the enemy's tank forces a lesson."

In terms of manpower, to put it extremely, if we only consider the standard of 'cannon fodder,' America could easily mobilize millions of people.

There are approximately two million bolt-action rifles in stock. A young adult male can complete cannon fodder training in as little as a week or even a few days, so there is certainly no shortage of soldiers.

Sending recruits who have only received very brief training to the battlefield would have been unthinkable in the past and would have been seen as a form of murder.

People only pay attention to manners and quality when they are in a comfortable environment. When they are in dire straits, they don't care about such things. The same is true for regimes. With the war going on to this point, the United States Federal Government is in a precarious state and can no longer care about so-called human rights.

The American leadership believed that even if Washington fell, Richmond to the south must be held, and the invaders could not be allowed to continue south and sweep across the entire east coast.

Shang Ke spent two days in Richmond giving instructions on how to command the city's defenses, providing on-site guidance and deployment of the city's defense system. He was truly guided by a master strategist.

His view was that Richmond could most likely be held, because the strategic offensive limit of the British and Ivan Ross expeditionary forces was about that. They had achieved amazing results in the early stages by relying on their elite forces, but sooner or later they would be bogged down in urban warfare and the vast ocean of people's war.

The only thing he felt urgently needed to improve was that the newly formed U.S. military units lacked veterans with real combat experience.

Therefore, he set his sights on the isolated force trapped in New York.

Upon returning to Washington, he pointed this out directly.

By this time, the enemy had already reached the city gates, and George Marshall was preparing to evacuate. As the Army Chief of Staff, he really shouldn't stay on the front lines of the war for long.

Marshall, of course, knew the importance of veterans. He said regretfully, "The Navy tried to evacuate those troops, but failed. Now the Navy is preparing to send submarines."

Shang Ke frowned and said, "Submarine? That can't transport many people at all."

The battle for New York was not completely over; a small group of defenders remained entrenched in a small area, putting up a desperate resistance.

The remaining defenders were concentrated on King Island and several waterfront neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan—near Wall Street—with the famous New York Stock Exchange as their most important stronghold.

According to their telegrams, there are roughly four to five thousand people, and they currently have sufficient ammunition, but lack food.

"...The defenders are mainly composed of the defeated soldiers of the army group, as well as a large number of reservists and volunteers, who are now holding out in the densely built area near Wall Street."

"Who is in command of the garrison now?" Shang Ke asked casually.

“Hmm…” Eisenhower pondered before replying, “It seems to be a colonel named McAuliffe.”

A nearby staff officer chimed in, "That's right, Anthony McAuliffe."

Ah? Another familiar face has appeared?

Shank's lips curled into a slight smile, which puzzled the other American generals present.

"These people are quite important; they can be used as the backbone of expanding the army. We should try our best to bring them back," Shang Ke said casually, uttering a seemingly pointless statement.

People couldn't help but feel that he was talking without understanding the situation.

Who doesn't know that those garrison troops are important?
The problem now is that the waterway is blocked, and ships can't get in. Even if submarines were used like canned sardines, they could only transport thirty or forty people at a time.

After leaving the command post, Shang Ke, still undecided, went to the embassy's liaison office and sent a telegram to Xijing requesting instructions.

Should we intervene too much? Or should we simply let it go and avoid getting involved?

The next day he received a reply: let nature take its course, help if you can, and don't deliberately suppress it.

The ruling government has already achieved its desired outcome in secret talks, and it's almost there, so it's best to stop there and not pursue extreme pressure.

Having understood the central government's stance, Shang Ke began to devise his own solutions.

First, although a few thousand remnants of the defeated army in New York were still putting up a stubborn resistance, their presence did not affect the normal use of the docks. Therefore, from a military point of view, New York was essentially under the control of the Ivan Ross Expeditionary Force.

Therefore, the Ivanos expeditionary force attempted four attacks, all of which ended in failure. After that, they abandoned the idea of ​​annihilation and instead turned to siege and persuasion, since attacking a place full of tall buildings would result in too many losses.

To prevent the American Navy from sending ships to rescue these remnants, the Ivan Ross Expeditionary Force deployed a 107mm cannon battalion and a temporary howitzer battalion—equipped with captured American-made 155mm howitzers—on Staten Island to block the shipping lanes.

Oh? That's all?

This didn't stump Mr. Shang. After figuring out a general plan, he immediately took a small plane to Newport News to discuss the action plan with the American Navy there...

【Picture】

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After the Imperial Russian forces launched a two-pronged attack on New York and Philadelphia, they were already exhausted. Not only were they overworked, but their units were also extremely dispersed, with scattered battalion or company-level units everywhere.

After regrouping his troops and taking a week of hasty rest, General Antonovich led the Imperial Russian forces southward, heading straight for Washington, D.C., determined to seize this political center in one fell swoop.

Four days and nights passed in the blink of an eye. While the Battle of Washington raged on, the standoff in New York was far from over.

The remnants of the American garrison were completely isolated in the small Lower Manhattan area, and the Imperial Russian besieging forces showed great patience, refusing to launch an offensive.

The New York Stock Exchange building is riddled with bullet holes and completely unrecognizable; three of its six tall pillars are broken.

The streets outside were littered with brick and stone fragments, and barbed wire and broken parts of various weapons were scattered at the intersections. The wreckage of several tanks was charred black.

This iconic building was the heart of the remaining defenders, housing the command post and over three hundred soldiers.

After a few days of relative calm, fierce fighting broke out again today, with four Royal Air Force Blenheim bombers flying over the area and dropping multiple aerial bombs on the stock exchange building.

"Boom! Boom!"

The violent explosion made the entire building tremble, and billowing smoke spread outwards, as if one were in a cloud of mist.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the soldiers at the guard post at the street corner noticed something amiss.

A white-flagged SUV slowly drove up, carrying Tsarist Russian officers and translators who were unarmed and raised their hands to indicate that they were not hostile.

It turned out that this was a messenger sent by Brigadier General Voronov, the commander of the besieging forces of Imperial Russia, to persuade them to surrender. For more than ten days, neither loudspeakers nor leaflets had any effect, so this time they simply sent someone directly.

The well-mannered Imperial Russian major carried the bag into the basement of the stock exchange building.

Along the way, dozens of cold and resentful gazes were fixed on him, as if they wanted to devour him alive, making the journey feel exceptionally long and agonizing.

Upon meeting McAuliffe, the current commander of the remaining garrison, the embarrassed major hurriedly relayed the demands for surrender.

"...The battle has progressed to this point, and no one will come to your rescue. Such lonely resistance is meaningless. We know that you are currently lacking water and food, and many wounded and sick soldiers are not receiving treatment. A hopeless resistance is not something a qualified commander can tolerate."

The major morally criticized the legitimacy of McAuliffe and his group's lone struggle, and then handed them a letter.

"I sincerely urge you to lay down your arms and surrender. Brigadier General Voronov assures you that after you cease resistance, everyone will receive the treatment due to prisoners of war, the wounded and sick will be treated, and clean water and sufficient food will be provided."

Colonel McAuliffe sneered and said disdainfully, "There are two kinds of people in this world whose words you can't trust: the words of the Britons and the words of the Ivan Rus's."

After saying that, he glanced at the letter, made a gesture as if to throw it away, but then didn't.

He thought for a moment, took out a pen from his pocket, and scribbled a few letters on the letter.

The major returned empty-handed with the letter.

Before the war, the short Brigadier General Voronov was an unremarkable infantry colonel with little to show for his achievements, so his promotions were quite slow.

Voronov was puzzled by McAuliffe's reply. A staff officer with only a mediocre command of English asked in confusion, "Nuts?"

Everyone was puzzled, so they asked the translator what the word meant.

The translator stared at the word 'nuts' in silence for four or five seconds before awkwardly saying, "General, this word is an insulting and provocative swear word."

Voronov tossed the letter aside and said coldly, "Don't they realize their predicament? Foolish Americans! Starve them!"

If he had sufficient troops under his command, Voronov would have no patience to wait any longer and would have launched a direct assault to wipe out these stubborn remnants, wanting to see just how hard-working the enemy commander really was.

Unfortunately, our forces were insufficient. Most of our mobile forces were deployed to the Washington campaign, and the troops brought in by sea were prioritized for the attacking forces. Although we had more than 10,000 men under our command, we actually only had two understaffed infantry regiments and several thousand logistics support personnel.

That night.

Staten Island.

A shimmering white crescent moon was reflected on the sea surface. Suddenly, bubbling bubbles appeared, and then a long, slender object emerged.

晚上19时45分，墨鱼号（SS-171）潜艇上浮，紧接着海狮号（SS-195）和秋刀鱼号（SS-189）潜艇也准时上浮。

One by one, figures emerged from the hatch, descended onto the submarine deck, and were then pushed into the sea by rubber boats.

A spirited Shank shouted, "Hurry! We need to take out the enemy's coastal artillery positions as quickly as possible, and then rescue the Manhattan armed POW camp. If we fail, the more than four thousand people on the shore will be doomed!"

After he finished speaking, he boarded a rubber boat.

For some reason, the plight of the remnants of the New York garrison reminded him of the Courland Army Group in the original timeline.

Therefore, he jokingly referred to the remnants of the New York garrison as the Manhattan Armed Prisoner of War Camp.

Shank simply dealt with the difficulties the evacuation operation faced by taking it one step at a time—since the enemy's artillery deployed on Staten Island blocked the shipping lanes, they would find a way to eliminate them.

The American Army Air Forces did try, but the air raids were far from effective. Naval vessels were still subjected to intense shelling after entering the waterway and were forced to flee in disarray.

The Army Air Forces attributed the situation to the enemy's cunning, which not only provided ample camouflage but also deployed numerous decoys to draw enemy fire.

Therefore, Shank changed his approach—using submarines to transport a small number of elite commandos ashore, launch a night raid on artillery positions, and neutralize the threat of coastal defenses. Then, naval destroyers would rush into New York harbor at top speed to pick up the remaining defenders.

These officers and soldiers all came from the 1st Marine Regiment. Due to the urgency of the situation, only a simple selection was made. In order to facilitate light-load operations and enhance firepower, all of them were equipped with M1 Thompson submachine guns and BAR Browning automatic rifles. Only a very few individuals carried Springfield sniper rifles equipped with optical sights.

Purely on a whim, Shang Ke deliberately gave this commando team the name 'Seals,' which also helped to form the prototype of a special forces unit.

Before long, a dozen rubber boats, each carrying nearly a hundred people, silently approached the beach.

Since it was a night raid, stealth was paramount. Several female warrant officers provided the assault team with ample mental cover, and only one person was assigned to detect enemy activity. Everyone else carefully took back roads and searched northward.

At 20:36 p.m., the assault team locked onto the target. As they approached, they could vaguely see the outlines of more than a dozen gun positions. Above them were camouflage nets erected on frames, and below were captured M1918 155mm howitzers.

The Russian artillerymen were killing time in small groups, some smoking, some playing cards, completely unaware that danger was approaching.

“Those must be howitzers captured after MacArthur’s army group was defeated.” Shank put down his binoculars.

Upon hearing that the enemy was using captured weapons to attack their own people, the American soldiers immediately became enraged.

"Load your guns, prepare for battle, let's give the Ivanros a surprise!" Excitedly, Shank raised his signal pistol to the sky, pulled the trigger, and shouted, "Seals, let's get to work!"

(End of this chapter)