Chapter 654

In the original historical time and space, the great victory of Saratoga changed the situation in the northern battlefield, so the French could not wait to declare war on Britain, and immediately carried out the encirclement and suppression of British merchant ships at sea, and at the same time vigorously restrained even the hard faced British fleet.

It was precisely because the French were fighting with the British, which led to the tension of the British army in North America.

With the withdrawal of William Howe and the rise of Henry Clinton, who was not very military minded, the situation of the British forces in North America became even more difficult.

Because of the tight situation, Henry Clinton even had to withdraw from Philadelphia and New York, thus losing Philadelphia, a city of great strategic significance.

The withdrawal of the British Army relieved and renovated the army, which was about to be out of breath. At the same time, more colonists joined the army, which brought the army a rare development time.

After the British army retreated to New York, from the summer of 1778 to May of 1780, in the vast northern battlefield, in addition to sporadic small battles, even a large-scale battle did not break out.

Compared with the scorching northern battlefield, Henry Clinton obviously valued the southern battlefield more. In the original historical time and space, Clinton was always eyeing the southern battlefield. Although he was defeated in his attempt to capture Charleston a few years ago, it did not stop the British Lieutenant General from coveting the south.

When Clinton sent out Philadelphia and retreated to New York, he decisively sent 35000 British troops to fight Savannah down by sea. Savannah's fall was not a good thing for the army, so the Army decided to send troops to get Savannah back when the main force of the British army was shrinking in New York. This is the battle of Savannah.

Unfortunately, this battle broke out in September 1779, when the French and American allied forces led by the commander of French naval fleet, count, Admiral Jean derstein and American general Benjamin Lincoln besieged Savannah. Because of derstein's autocracy, his fleet was heavily damaged by the British garrison in Savannah, which eventually led to the failure of the battle of Savannah.

The battle of Savannah was the first major British victory after the loss of Philadelphia. It was also because of the victory of the Savannah campaign that lieutenant general Clinton firmly believed that he would put his strength in the southern battlefield, occupy more important ports and cities in the southern United States, and finally achieve the goal of encircling the north and the south to defeat the army.

It can be said that it was the victory of the battle of Savannah that led to the battle of Charleston in the spring of 1780. In May of the same year, Charleston, the military center of South Carolina, was successfully captured.

It can be said that in the original historical time and space, from 1778 to 1780, the confrontation between the British army and the great army was mainly in the southern battlefield. In fact, Clinton's strategy can not be said to be a failure, because when the British Army successively occupied Savannah and Charleston, the British army had the best chance in the southern battlefield at the beginning.

Since the capture of Charleston in May 1780, the British army has hardly suffered defeat in the southern battlefield in the whole year of 1780.

In May of that year, the British army defeated the American army in vickshauck, South Carolina.

In August of the same year, 2400 British regular troops led by Charles Cornwallis met with 3400 main troops led by Horatio gates in Camden, north of South Carolina. As a result, Horatio Gates was defeated by Cornwallis, not only more than 900 soldiers were killed, but also more than 1000 soldiers were captured. It's called the battle of Camden.

The defeat of Camden also led to the complete end of Horatio Gates' military career.

If it develops at such a pace, the British army will surely realize the confluence of the north and the South and finally win the war of independence.

But in the summer of 1781, a small creature named "Aedes" appeared. It was the emergence of Aedes, which was unique to South Carolina, that led to the spread of malaria in the British barracks, and eventually led to the complete failure of the British army.

But in this time and space, the British did not lose Philadelphia or retreat to New York. Instead, they stuck to Philadelphia and firmly restrained the army on the anti battlefield.

And Clinton also took the opportunity to send troops from the sea last year, as in the original historical time and space, to take Savannah.

At the same time, because of the victory of the battle of Savannah, Clinton also planned to go south again in early 1779 to capture Charleston. This process is a whole year earlier than the capture of Charleston in the original historical time and space.

In fact, if Charles Cornwallis, deputy commander-in-chief of the British army in North America, had not insisted on returning to Britain in the winter of 1778 to accompany his sick wife, I am afraid that Charleston would have been taken down as early as that winter.

In this time and space, because there is no mediation time for two years, Charles Cornwallis and Henry Clinton still can't get along. However, Henry Clinton had nothing to do with the real count. Cornwallis was deeply trusted by the king of England, and his family background was even worse. In addition to his position in the army, he could not compare with his deputy in other aspects.

With such a famous deputy, it is estimated that Henry Clinton is disgusted and helpless

The time soon came to February 1779, when the wife of count Charles Cornwallis died of serious illness, and Cornwallis returned to North America again with grief.

It may be that his wife's death has greatly stimulated the earl. As soon as he returned to North America, he volunteered to attack Charleston.

Clinton was overjoyed by the deputy's request. For the first time, they showed close cooperation. So in March of that year, Cornwallis became the commander-in-chief of the south. With the assistance of the Royal Navy, Cornwallis led up to 18000 British troops and quickly arrived at the periphery of Charleston along the sea.

When the British arrived at the outskirts of Charleston, the army stationed in Charleston didn't even respond. The large-scale landing and shelling of the Royal Navy began.

At that time, the highest commander of the army stationed in Charleston was major general Benjamin Lincoln, the commander-in-chief of the southern army. In the original historical time and space, major general Lincoln participated in the battle of Savannah at the end of 1779. But major general Lincoln failed in his attempt to recapture Savannah. Later, he returned to Charleston for garrison. As a result, in May 1780, his Garrison in Charleston failed to resist the siege of the British army. Major general Lincoln had to lead 5400 army troops to surrender with the artillery, small arms and ammunition in Charleston on May 12, and Charleston fell.

This battle is known as the battle of Charleston in history, and it is also the biggest loss of the US Army in the whole war of independence.

However, in this time and space, Benjamin Lincoln had no chance to take part in the battle of Savannah, because before he could take part in the battle of Savannah, he was blocked in Charleston by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis

The battle of Charleston, which was more than a year ahead of schedule, was the same as in the original historical time and space. After resisting for a month and a half with the help of Fort Sullivan, later Fort Morelli, and many military fortifications, Benjamin Lincoln finally failed to resist the fierce attack of the British Army and led the army to surrender to the British army at the end of April.

This is the battle of Charleston in this time and space, but it was more than a year earlier, and the army lost more than 6000 people, a little more than the Charleston battle in the original historical time and space