General McDowell's defeat not only caused him to lose his position as a commander but also made the situation in Washington suddenly dangerous. The place where the Confederates defeated the Union Army was only a little over thirty miles from Washington. Moreover, compared with that station in history, the Confederate Army had a more obvious advantage in that battle. Due to their superior equipment and tactics, they killed more than 4,000 Union Army in this battle. More than a thousand people were captured alive. This figure has almost doubled compared to the original historical figure. On the other hand, the losses of the Confederate Alliance were much smaller than in the original history. They only paid about 400 casualties. In the original history, although the Southern Army won and wiped out more than 2,800 federal troops, it also lost more than 1,700 people. Considering the population gap between the North and the South, such an exchange ratio is not enough to defeat the North.

In the original history, the Confederacy did not immediately take advantage of the victory and march toward Washington after this victory. Because the Southern Alliance's losses in this battle were not too small, they did not have much confidence in attacking Washington. But this time was different. The Confederate losses were almost negligible, while the Confederate army was almost demoralized and morale was extremely low. Some soldiers who escaped from the guns of the Confederate army even suffered from MacDonald's 1857 rifle phobia and even dreamed of the fast and accurate discharge of the Confederate army, and then woke up in a scream of fear.

Two days after the battle, Confederate cavalry appeared on the outskirts of Washington. Although they didn't make any offensive moves, the flag of the Confederate Union in their hands made the whole of Washington into a mess. All kinds of rumors began to fly in the sky like wings. Some people say that the South has gathered a hundred thousand troops and is about to attack; others say that the troops of the Confederate Army have arrived within ten miles of Washington; Down to a small gap to the north.

This series of rumors caused chaos in Washington, and many people simply fled with their families. Twenty-four hours a day, the train stations in Washington were crowded with citizens trying to flee Washington.

Under such circumstances, Lincoln had to transfer troops from other regions to Washington again to ensure the safety of the capital. Although doing so would affect the Northern Army's offensive operations on other fronts, under the current crisis, which is almost the only option.

At the same time, Lincoln also issued a call to the entire Federation, asking everyone to form a volunteer army to defend the capital.

Relying on the more developed railway system compared to the South, the reinforcements of the federal army arrived quickly, but at the same time, the Southern army was a little hesitant about what to do next. The frontline commanders, General Pierre Beauregard and General Joseph Johnston, both hoped to take advantage of the victory and march towards Washington, eventually capturing the capital of the Federation and forcing the Federation to end the war. And President Davis of the Confederacy, during the defensive phase of this operation, used the trenches like a stone wall to firmly withstand the five attacks of the federal army and brought them huge damage. Brigadier General Jackson, nicknamed "Stonewall", firmly opposed the attack on Washington.

President Davis believes that even if Washington is conquered, the Federation may not agree to peace. Historically, Washington has not been conquered. During the Second US-British War, the British conquered Washington and set fire to the presidential palace and Capitol Hill, but this did not force the United States to seek peace with Britain. On the contrary, the Americans who felt humiliated and angry were more united, and finally defeated the United Kingdom and won the victory. (Regarding this battle, both sides claimed to be the winner after the war. This is a rare "win-win" war in modern history.) Conquering Washington may not make the North surrender, but may make the North feel deeply humiliated and become more dissatisfied. Willing to compromise.

As for Brigadier General Jackson, his reasons were more tactical. He thought that if we could use trenches, so could the Yankees. And they have no shortage of talent for such operations. Since the long conversation with Scrooge, he has done a lot of research on the trench defense tactics proposed by Scrooge. And he has always been concerned about what happened to Scrooge. Later, after the trench warfare method appeared in Italy for the first time, he even made a trip to Italy himself to understand how the trench warfare method performed in actual combat. So the role of Scrooge's "Black Water" in this battle naturally cannot escape his eyes. Scrooge was a Northerner, and Northerners couldn't ignore his experiences when the Civil War broke out. Even more so after this battle. So, if they want to attack Washington by themselves, then they are the ones facing the damn trench defense. And damn it, although Jackson has a lot of research on trench warfare, he hasn't been able to research any effective way to deal with these damn trenches.

"The appearance of trenches has made attacking an extremely difficult thing. Well, isn't this what Mr. MacDonald intended? By increasing the cost of attacking, and suppressing the desire to attack. This is what the South won The correct way to be independent. A reckless attack will only cause you to suffer losses in vain. Even if you must launch an offensive action, it should be carried out in mobile warfare. Instead of storming other people's positions." "Stone Wall," Jackson thought this way, so he was naturally less interested in actively attacking Washington.

...

Of course, Scrooge, who is familiar with history, had expected this fiasco long ago, and he could also predict that in this time and space, because of some of his previous cheating actions, this fiasco of the federal army would be overwhelmed the original history. So after the fiasco, Lincoln may be about to issue the "King Order". Therefore, before this battle, Scrooge asked Heishui to slowly end various businesses at hand, gather personnel, and prepare to stage a story of turning the tide after this fiasco, and then use this Momentum, to get a package of contracts including weapons, ammunition, personnel training, etc., and earn him a lot of money.

When Lincoln's call for the Volunteer Army was issued, Heishui had assembled its personnel. Excluding those who stayed in key areas and could not be used, Heishui had gathered more than 800 people. This number is not large. But Scrooge, who had been preparing for this day when Blackwater has formed a few years ago, certainly had his way. In fact, before this, the mercenaries of Blackwater had undergone a lot of tactical training. So Scrooge, in the name of responding to Lincoln's call, with the help of the Cleveland city government, gave the Blackwater troops the name "Cleveland Volunteer Corps", and then began to recruit volunteers directly, and recruited these The newcomers were scattered and incorporated into the "Blackwater" combat sequence, and the size of the troop was quickly expanded to 5,000 by adopting the method of one veteran leading several recruits.

At the same time, to express his love for the United States and his hometown of Cleveland, Scrooge announced that he would donate 5,000 McDonnell 1857 rifles as weapons for the "Cleveland Volunteer Corps".

In the original history, Rockefeller chose to donate money to serve in the Civil War, that is, to donate a few hundred dollars, and then he did not have to serve as a soldier. This made him often blamed for it (his opponents and one of his younger brothers). But this time, he didn't have to do this, because his name was included in the list of officers of the "Cleveland Volunteer Corps", in charge of material support in the rear.

As for Gardner, who intends to become an official, well, he became the commander of this legion. In name at least, he was the commander of the Cleveland Volunteer Corps. And he also received the rank of Brigadier General given by the State of Ohio. (In the United States at that time, both the federal and the state could give military ranks.) Of course, the fact is another matter. Gardner knew that this position was just Scrooge's fulfilling his promise, which provided him with a good opportunity to climb up. As for the battlefield command, the actual command is in the hands of Robson, who is now appointed as a lieutenant colonel by the state of Ohio, and the ultimate command is undoubtedly in the hands of Scrooge. In fact, without Scrooge nodding, even Lincoln might not be able to command this army.

At the same time, Cleveland's most famous "Salvation" Hospital announced that they will temporarily close the hospital. All medical staff will go to the front line to serve the bloody soldiers on the front line. Naturally, McDonald's Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company lost no time in announcing that it would donate a batch of drugs to support their charitable deeds, and will also provide various needed drugs to the federal army at a preferential price.

At the same time, the "McDonald Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company Labor Union" also issued a call, calling on employees to work voluntarily for two hours a day in addition to normal work, to make their contributions to their motherland. What, are you worried that workers won't be able to work on the assembly line for ten hours? Have you forgotten what McDonald's Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company makes? It is nothing more than to let the workers take more "Dali Pills". The trade union organization put up large banners in the workshop, which read: "For the motherland, work hard!" The company guarantees that the workers' wages due to their voluntary work will be sold as medicine at the most favorable price, Donated to the frontline soldiers.

This series of acts of righteousness was immediately widely reported by various media. At the end of July, when the Southerners finally came together and decided to launch at least one tentative attack on Washington, Scrooge personally brought the sulfonamides, heroin, and "Dalibols" donated by the McDonald Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company. , as the president of the "Salvation" Hospital, together with the "Cleveland Volunteer Corps" led by Gardner, rushed to Washington as the first patriots to respond to President Lincoln's call. President Lincoln personally received them and publicly praised Mr. Scrooge Macdonald as a model of American patriots.