After pointing out the various unreasonable structures of Pittsburgh, Hamilton finally wrote an industrial development plan for Charles, hoping that Charles would adopt it.
This plan was simple, focusing on developing light industry, represented by textiles; precision manufacturing, represented by clockmaking; heavy industry, represented by coal and steel; and a commercial industry based on canals.
However, it emphasized balance and basic industries, amounting to a complete industrial structure arrangement.
Of course, at this time, there was no strict division between light and heavy industries; these industrial classifications were merely added by Charles himself.
Charles read this development plan very carefully.
However, perhaps Mr. Hamilton was still too young at the time; Charles didn't see any particular highlights in this industrial development plan, apart from its meticulousness and balance.
Each step wasn't closely interconnected, and the overall structure wasn't tight.
If Charles hadn't been clear about industrial classifications, people of that era would hardly have recognized its merits.
Of course, for this era, as long as one could understand his plan, it was considered a very detailed development plan.
Solely based on this plan, Hamilton was qualified to be the director of a state's industrial development bureau.
Charles had his own industrial development plan; in his heart, he had always believed that Pittsburgh should develop into a heavy industrial city, and indeed, it could only develop into a heavy industrial city.
However, after reading Hamilton's report, he felt a little shaken.
In fact, it wasn't strictly limited to heavy industry.
Although specializing in one path made development easier, if the surrounding industrial development level couldn't keep up, with only Pittsburgh's heavy industry advancing, it might end up developing like the Soviet Union later on.
Thinking this, Charles felt that Hamilton's industrial development plan was more reasonable.
After frowning and contemplating for a long time, Charles finally just wrote back, asking Greenspan and Patrick to support Hamilton with financial policies.
He wanted Hamilton to seize the opportunity presented by the large number of Philadelphia refugees accompanying the Continental Congress to develop some light industries and other sectors.
The brutality of war is sometimes described as the longest day, the most solemn day, and so on.
But the siege period Charles experienced could almost be described as the fastest time.
The British army continuously dug trenches, while the Continental army militiamen could easily find opportunities to fire a few cannons or shots, making the British army cry out in distress.
Charles had to inspect the city daily, then review documents sent from Pittsburgh and various parts of Philadelphia, and sometimes meet with representatives from different regions.
He was busy all day, and it was only when he suddenly noticed he had a lot more free time that he realized the battle had been going on for a month.
General Howe began to constantly ambush relief forces and supplies on various roads in Philadelphia, which significantly interrupted communication between Philadelphia and its surroundings, naturally giving Charles a bit more free time.
Time really flies!
Charles thought this before he truly realized the brutality of war.
The British army slowly dug trenches, and indeed, it took a whole month to dig them.
Even after a month, they were only just able to engage with the Continental army on the fortress, and effective hits were very low.
The two armies rarely fired at each other for various reasons.
Over the past month, Charles and General Sherman had learned through intelligence channels that the British army intended to surround Philadelphia, lure relief forces from across America, and then annihilate them.
And this intelligence, unfortunately, came at the cost of losing over a thousand militiamen.
The northern militiamen were fine; many had gone to fight guerrilla war with Washington, and not many more militiamen came to support.
However, Virginia, the largest southern colony, had some unknown problem, constantly embroiled in conflict itself, yet continuously sent militiamen to support.
Small groups successfully reached Philadelphia, but two groups of several hundred men were completely routed by General Howe personally leading his troops.
In this month, the final number of soldiers added to Philadelphia was just over a thousand.
Subsequently, even worse news arrived from the North.
Benedict's forces, moving south from British Canada, had already captured Ticonderoga and were preparing to advance towards Albany.
According to the operational plan, it wouldn't be long before they would move south and rendezvous with General Howe.
The commander defending Ticonderoga was General St. Clair, who had participated in the Anglo-French war and was quite experienced, certainly not incompetent.
His troop deployment had a flaw, leading to the Continental army being surrounded on all sides.
The supply lines were cut, and the high ground had fallen into British army hands, making it clear that holding out for reinforcements was hopeless.
If they fought hard against the British army, the result could only be complete annihilation, and Ticonderoga would ultimately not be saved.
Another option was to hold out until nightfall, then quietly abandon their positions and transfer to an outer line, preserving the effective strength of the United States.
General St. Clair thought it over repeatedly and still chose to break out and withdraw.
As long as this force of four thousand men remained, Ticonderoga might still be recaptured.
As for personal gains, losses, and reputation, he would leave that for posterity to judge.
When the troops began to move, their actions were swift, covert, and orderly, seemingly on the verge of breaking through the encirclement and shaking off the enemy.
It was at this critical moment that royalist elements deliberately aided the British army, and a large fire suddenly erupted on Mount Independence.
The fire alerted the British army, who immediately launched a full-scale attack on the moving American forces.
The main weapons of the American forces were loaded on wagons and couldn't be unloaded and set up in time, leading to them being scattered and routed by the enemy's charge.
The organized and planned transfer turned into a major retreat.
Heavy weapons and military supplies were almost entirely lost, and the number of casualties, deserters, and missing was incalculable.
And the thing Charles was most worried about also happened: General Washington, who had been active in New York, had not sent any news for a long time.
Even with a temporary interruption of supplies, the British army's logistics, without large-scale engagements for a month, could still inflict significant damage on Philadelphia.
"Boom..." a cannon fired.
A newly arrived fortress cannon from the Philadelphia outer fort launched an attack on the British army's artillery position.
The British army, not to be outdone, immediately retaliated with fortress cannons newly transported from New York.
The two sides exchanged sporadic cannon fire.
The British army only suffered personnel casualties, while Philadelphia faced the risk of its fort collapsing.
Charles and the Major General stood behind Philadelphia, observing the artillery battle ahead, both with furrowed brows.
"Fortunately, several more cannons have been transported from Pittsburgh; if it weren't for their suppression, our fort probably wouldn't last three days," General Sullivan said with a very heavy tone.
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"It makes no difference now.
It just means we can hold out for a few more days.
Currently, the British army's shelling is only to suppress our fort's firepower, allowing their trench-digging soldiers to work more safely.
When they open fire with full force, the speed at which our militiamen repair the fort simply cannot keep up with the destructive speed of the British army's cannons," Charles said with a dejected expression.
The British army was very cunning; after digging the trenches to a certain extent, they continuously harassed the Continental army in the fort with artillery fire, preventing them from attacking the digging British army at close range.
And the continuous shelling, although causing limited actual casualties, indeed made most of the militiamen in the fort retreat to Philadelphia, and the fort on the front line was now staffed entirely by regular Continental army soldiers.
Even so, the Continental army soldiers could basically only stay in the fort and endure the shelling, launching very few attacks on the British army digging in the trenches.
Because the British army also dispatched a large number of sharpshooters to cover the digging in the trenches, if you fired a shot, I would fire back.
Neither side dared to shoot or dig freely.
This was the real stalemate phase of the war, and the consumption of gunpowder began to increase significantly.
These past two days, both sides had again suffered casualties, but due to the inaccuracy of muskets at the time, the casualties were still relatively small.
"If Commander-in-Chief Washington could cut off the supply of gunpowder for the 'Shrimp Soldiers' (the British army wore red coats, so they were also jokingly called 'Shrimp Soldiers'), that would be great.
These damned Shrimp Soldiers, their supplies have to come all the way from New York, but I see them firing cannons even more generously than we do," Sullivan said, his eyes red with envy.
Because General Howe had wiped out several relief forces from Virginia, the gunpowder supply from that region also ran into problems.
Fortunately, the preparations made in the previous month were not in vain; a large amount of gunpowder had been accumulated in the city, enough to support one or two large-scale battles without issue, but Sullivan had already begun to limit the number of artillery bombardments.
"Of course.
Unless New York is occupied, their gunpowder supply will continuously arrive by sea, while our route from Virginia has already been largely cut off by the British army," Charles said with a bitter smile.
"Originally, the goal of fighting this Philadelphia campaign was to cripple the British army's logistics and force them to retreat, but now it seems the British army has cut off our own logistics supply."
"Councilor Charles, at this point, do you think we can use those things you've prepared?" General Sullivan's eyes shifted.
"Hehe! The British army is still a bit far from us, and their personnel density isn't high, so using it now would be too much of a waste.
After all, while my things are incredibly powerful, they are also very easy to counter; if used now, General Howe would certainly find a way to break it immediately.
So let's wait a bit longer, and use it when the British army prepares for its first concentrated attack, aiming to inflict massive casualties in one go," Charles shook his head, rejecting General Sullivan's suggestion.
"If we don't use it soon, I'm afraid General Howe will launch a full-scale assault without much further delay.
At that point, the objective of prolonging the battle as much as possible will be impossible to achieve, and we won't be able to count on General Washington's aid," General Sullivan said with some regret.
"I think General Washington must also be in great trouble.
He hasn't caused any significant obstacles to the British army's logistics supply before.
Now, unless General Washington can eliminate all the British army behind General Howe, given the British army's current strength, even a temporary interruption of supplies would be useless.
Only when we engage in a decisive battle with the British army, and General Washington's troops suddenly attack from the British army's rear, while we also launch a full-scale assault, with a pincer attack from both sides, will we have a chance to win.
To achieve this, Washington must resolve the British army constraining him in New York and other places.
Currently, this seems impossible, so the safety of Philadelphia can only depend on ourselves," Charles' mood was also very heavy.
Sullivan remained silent.
Charles had done everything he could; now, it was up to Washington's performance.
At this time, Washington was in great pain; he simply couldn't shake off the few hundred cavalry trailing him.
After chasing for so many days, he could almost recognize every British army cavalryman.
This British army cavalry unit didn't seek an opportunity for a decisive battle with him; they just kept driving him from behind.
Only when Washington appeared on an open road did they begin an aggressive pursuit; once Washington wanted to enter a village or town or stop, they would also stop.
Washington also noticed that as long as he was in New York, this unit wouldn't pursue too closely, but if he tried to enter Pennsylvania or New York, this cavalry would chase him desperately.
Washington knew very well that his troops were not professional cavalry, and under such intense pursuit, even if they reached their destination, they would have virtually no combat capability.
So he could only try to shake them off by all means when the British army wasn't chasing too tightly.
He tried this for a month.
The biggest achievement of this month was that Washington continuously gathered guerrilla forces from the North; his troops snowballed from five hundred to a thousand men.
However, these guerrilla teams were even less effective in combat than ordinary militiamen.
They could only charge behind others in victory, and once defeated, they would flee in disarray.
Many guerrilla teams, while escaping on horseback, joined Washington's forces and then, no matter how Washington tried to push them away, they wouldn't leave.
Even with a thousand of these mounted infantry, Washington wasn't confident of winning against those eight hundred regular cavalry.
However, with Benedict occupying Ticonderoga, Washington no longer had time for guerrilla warfare.
Not only was his own guerrilla range shrinking, but if he continued, once Benedict occupied Albany and moved directly south to rendezvous with General Howe, there would be no need to rescue Philadelphia at all.
So, even knowing his strength was insufficient, Washington resolutely turned his troops, preparing to attack New York.