In the spring of 1776, to use a more revolutionary phrase, it was a victorious spring, because Washington repelled the "invincible" British army in Boston, and other units of the Continental army also won great victories.
The people of the Thirteen Colonies in America, due to the victories, quietly breathed a sigh of relief, believing that this might force the British king to reconcile with the Colonies.
Even Charles, who had long known that the battlefield situation would not be very good in the future, was unprepared for what might happen next because the victory came too easily.
The Colonies won battles, but Britain showed no sign of backing down; instead, British king George III ordered a blockade of the ports in the American Colonies, and set fire to Port Holmes and Norfolk Port in Virginia.
Furthermore, he signed contracts with some rulers in Germany, recruiting 20,000 German mercenaries.
He threatened to suppress the rebellion and hang every rebel leader in the Colonies.
The German mercenaries had extremely poor discipline, committing murder, arson, rape, and looting everywhere, which aroused the anger of all Americans.
New York governor Tryon still remained on a warship anchored in the harbor, remotely directing pro-British elements in New York.
He devised a policy of bribery, offering a bonus of five pounds and 200 acres of land to each person loyal to the British king, 100 acres to their wife, and 50 acres to their children.
Their tasks included cooperating with the British army's landing, instigating rebellion, assassinating American officers, and blowing up armories.
These individuals were extremely arrogant, expanding their organization everywhere, even bribing the Mayor of New York, Washington's bodyguards, drummers, and fifers.
The development of the situation showed that the idea of reconciliation was unfeasible; Americans and the British could not live on the same continent!
The last shred of illusion Americans held for the British king was completely shattered; "Independence!" was now a unanimous and inevitable outcome.
At this time, Thomas Paine's pamphlet, "common sense," which had been published in Philadelphia for some time, was widely accepted by the American populace.
This book was not long, but its influence was immense, acting as a catalyst for America's independence movement.
Thomas Paine was an outstanding bourgeois democrat and political commentator.
Born into a Quaker family in England, he made a living through labor in his youth.
In 1774, he came to America as an indentured servant and, through Franklin's introduction, became an editor at "Pennsylvania" magazine.
He deeply felt the hardships of the lower classes and the phenomenon of wealth disparity.
He once wrote articles opposing the system of slavery and supporting the anti-British movement.
Paine realized that it was essential to clarify the true destination of the war of Independence, clearly put forward the slogan of striving for independence, and proclaim it to all the people; for this, he wrote the book "common sense."
"common sense" was published in January 1776.
Its language was accessible, its writing sharp, directly denouncing the British hereditary monarchy.
The shots at Lexington had blocked all avenues for reconciliation with Britain; only through armed struggle and a declaration of independence could the people of the Thirteen Colonies be united to fight for their rightful claims.
The result of the armed struggle would be "the preservation of human rights and the establishment of a free and independent America."
The title "common sense," to people in the 21st century, contains arguments that are universally known common sense, but in that era, it was a work that shook the world.
The publication of "common sense" answered the question of where America was headed; it enlightened the bewildered and leaderless American people, bringing them sudden clarity and a strong spiritual belief.
The spirit of independence and freedom took root in the hearts of the American people, and they resolved to sever ties with their former unjust and now immoral mother country.
Amidst shouts for independence, Charles returned to Philadelphia.
In the first half of 1776, America already met the conditions for independence.
All Colonies had established independent assemblies, with Safety Committees set up below them as executive bodies.
The British royal government collapsed one after another.
The Continental Congress also effectively played the role of a central government, establishing agencies similar to ministries of finance, foreign affairs, commerce, and navy, differing only in name.
Just before Charles arrived in Philadelphia, Washington also came to Philadelphia.
However, he did not come to discuss independence, although the call for independence was already very high.
But for Washington and the Continental army, the primary threat now was the British army and Prussian mercenaries.
He came to Philadelphia to prepare for the great war that would soon begin.
Because Washington was personally in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress' focus was on discussing Washington's proposals for establishing a standing army and army building.
Charles had originally planned to be busy with the bank, branches, and coal tar matters as soon as he returned to Philadelphia, but now he was pulled into a meeting, and his influence in this particular meeting was quite limited, so he decided to simply follow the majority and no longer express avant-garde and unique opinions.
The outcome of the meeting was no surprise to Charles: the proposal for a standing army was, without surprise, rejected by radical members of the Continental Congress, such as Samuel Adams and John Adams.
They firmly opposed the establishment of a strong centralized government and the creation of a standing army.
They pursued democracy and freedom, fearing that centralized politics and a large military would lead to ** and dictatorship, and that a powerful figure like Washington would monopolize military power.
As compensation, they provided compensation for Washington's second proposal.
First, it stipulated a three-year term of service for soldiers, with a ten-dollar bonus for each new recruit; 13,800 militiamen were to be drawn to reinforce New York's defenses; obstacles were to be placed in New York Bay to prevent British warships from entering; and other states were to provide troops to organize another force to defend the central states.
Second, the original temporary military committee was abolished, and a permanent operational body, the "Board of war and Ordnance," was established.
The first committee consisted of six members.
Charles, a newly elected member who had been absent from Philadelphia for nearly a month, as one of the few military talents in the Continental Congress, was actually elected as one of the committee members by the majority of representatives, and the nominator was none other than John Adams, whom Charles considered a potential enemy.
The other five members were all prominent figures in the Continental Congress: John Adams, Benjamin Harrison, Roger American, James Wilson, and Edward Rutledge.
Richard Peters served as secretary.
Due to Charles's appearance, there was one more member than in history.
Washington was not among them, as they still insisted that military personnel should not interfere with the government.
"General Washington, please rest assured that our committee will fully support you from the rear.
We will not dictate your military actions, nor will we hinder your ordnance allocation; everything will be focused on assisting you," Charles said, shaking Washington's hand in farewell.
Although he knew that the purpose of the Continental Congress establishing this committee, in addition to providing logistical support to the Continental army, was primarily to supervise her military actions, Charles was not adept at military command.
However, having seen many movies in later generations, he knew that many wars were lost due to misguided commands from the rear.
Rather than giving ignorant commands, it was better to give free rein to the generals on the front lines, hence his words to Washington.
Furthermore, Charles did not clearly remember the key battles of the war of Independence and was not keen on overly interfering with America's independence process, to avoid misjudging future historical events.
"Thank you!" Washington placed his hat over his chest and bowed sincerely to Charles.
Only a frontline general like him could truly understand how much efficiency Charles's assurance would bring them and how much wasted effort it would save.
Charles and Washington had only interacted twice, but he had a very good impression of him.
This old general was a man of few words and very cautious in his actions, but he was indeed a very distinguished figure.
Thinking about the long period of unfavorable conditions the American battles would face, he couldn't help but worry about him a little.
"General, although I do not intend to interfere with your command, as someone who genuinely cares about the future of the Continental army, I still have a few well-intentioned reminders I'd like to share with you frankly," Charles said, a little awkwardly.
He had just said he wouldn't meddle in military actions, but in a blink of an eye, he was about to start lecturing.
Washington said nothing, merely looking at Charles very gently, patiently waiting for him to speak.
There's a saying that's true: the most powerful eloquence is listening.
Washington's demeanor almost made Charles impulsively want to reveal all the battles he knew, but fortunately, his reason did not fail him, and he cautiously said,
"General, I won't go into specific battles; you should be clearer than I am.
But there's one point that we might not have noticed before.
In America, even young men of seventeen or eighteen can shoot a gun, and they shoot very accurately.
However, in open field battles, when everyone fights face-to-face, and we compete on the overall combat capability of soldiers, the advantage of our soldiers' accurate marksmanship is not fully realized.
I believe it's basically impossible for us to defeat the British army in terms of firing speed and firepower output, after all, our soldiers are not as regular as theirs.
Individual combat power is strong, but they haven't received much training in this type of regular warfare, so overall, we don't have an advantage, and thus the possibility of losing battles is very high."
"We haven't fought a large-scale decisive battle with the British army yet, but the Continental army's frontal combat capability is indeed inferior to the British army's, which is what I have always worried about.
Do you have any good methods for open field warfare?" Washington humbly asked Charles.
"No! No! I don't have any good methods for open field warfare," Charles quickly shook his head.
"It's just that I've heard that when our soldiers defend, using cover to shoot, they often manage to win with fewer numbers.
So I think we just need to minimize the number of open field battles and fight more positional battles.
The biggest trouble with positional warfare is that it can prolong the war for a long time, and this is precisely what the British army fears most.
A protracted war also has adverse effects on us, but compared to the British army, it is much better for us."