Hoi 4 Chapter 21

Chapter 21 - Jul 1946: A House Divided Again(st Itself)

"I speak to all Americans. The coming weeks will prescribe the future of our country. We, distracted by the War, allowed a despot to seize the reigns of liberty and determine our destiny. I say now: this cannot stand. I implore the states to join together against the evil that sits in the Oval Office, that holds on to the power it so selfishly abuses, and to restore the freedom this nation was founded upon. It is not the death and destruction of the loyal states that is sought, but the reuniting of the country under justice and liberty for all."

2 out of the 9 nuclear reactors in the US are in Arizona and California, and 2 of the bombs in the arsenal were in the latter state, preparing for deployment to Asia. Newly formed units, ready for the fight in China, were in San Francisco to be sailed to Indochina. These, at first surrounded by local militia and national guard units, defect from the US and join the rebelling state. Now, Deseret has 25 divisions to the US's 19 continental divisions. Many divisions along the Russian front, and about 25 who were sailing to join the Chinese front, are redirected back to the US to put down the rebellion.

TBC, now living in a rebel state, is urged by Sancronis to take command of the army. It takes a lot of convincing, but he reluctantly accepts. General TBC is put in charge of all rebel forces. He writes to his friend General Zen, begging him to not join the rebellion and to continue his duties overseas. Zen agrees. The war against tyranny must be fought on all fronts.

Eternien's administration is flooded with telegrams from the allied nations of the Anglo Alliance. This situation in the strongest member threatens the entire war effort and the future of the world. Britain urges Eternien to step down and allow for the reuniting of the US, as do the Teutons and the UBP. Eternien, sure of his righteousness and his eventual victory, does not listen, and the allied nations keep themselves out of the conflict, focusing on the World War instead.

The current rebel plans, if the fighting breaks out, are to send General Anguish into Louisiana and drive up the coast, taking as many ports as possible. At the same time, General Cinti will do a parallel push to the north, hoping to collide with or cut off defensive forces meant to stop General Anguish. In the west, Colorado will be taken, then the men will drive north to cut the nation in two in the Dakotas. Oregon's national guard will trap the Washington national guard along the coast, then move in to capture.

The standoff continues, and the pressure gets to the divisions on the Utah-Colorado border. General TBC and Sancronis order the men not to fire first, but a single shot (that both sides will blame on the other) starts a skirmish that sees 250 dead Americans. These first shots of the war set the country to real war with itself. The Utah units cross into Colorado, pushing the loyal divisions back. Within days, they are already closing on Denver. Colorado secedes from the Union, joining Deseret, and the Colorado divisions join the rebel ranks, while other national guard units in the state flee to the closest loyal state: Wyoming.

As the war begins, air forces on both sides are launched and the first air combat in the US is seen. Cities like Denver and San Francisco are witnesses to dogfights and air raids. Civilian populations are avoided for now, but military sites are targets. On the seas, the 4th Carrier Group and the 7th Submarine Group defect to the rebels, and the in-construction fleet based in San Francisco joins the fight. Several skirmishes between submarines and main fleets occur, sending half a dozen ships to the depths. Neither side has superiority of the air or seas yet.

The betrayal of Colorado is met with fury from Eternien. He orders the units in Wyoming to retake the state, and an invasion begins from the north and east at the same time. They meet a few rebel units about 50 miles from Denver and the battle crushes the rebel forces, who retreat back to Denver to regroup. Within days, the city is under siege as units from Kansas join the Wyoming units. To the south, Texas' national guard moves into Louisiana at the command of General Anguish, taking Baton Rouge in the south and Shreveport in the north, meeting only a little resistance on the way. The locals welcome the troops readily and provide information on loyalist movement.

Overjoyed by the civil war, Russia and Chine recuperate and, for the first time in years, start pushing the Anglo lines back. China regains several lost provinces, while Russia punches a bulge into the UBP and US fronts in Central Russia.

Terres du Nord breaks neutrality and declares support for the rebels on August 1st, and their impressively sized, albeit inexperienced, army marches into Washington. At the same time, the rebel armies in Oregon push north to trap the Washington national guard in the west of the state. Terres du Nord withdraws from the war overseas, recalling what little troops they sent to aid the Anglo Alliance.

Louisiana falls on the 12th of August, and the pocket is created in Washington later that day. So far, the rebels are doing well, although Denver is still under siege. The newly formed units captured in San Francisco arrive in Colorado, led by Rebel General Idhrendur, but it will be another day or two before they can break the siege. Meanwhile, a loyal army led by General Jabby begins pushing into Texas from above, intent on cutting the powerful state off from the other rebels.

General Jabby meets fierce resistance from the people of Texas (guns guns guns), and hundreds of citizens and loyal soldiers are killed. In the north, Washington surrenders, along with the 13 thousand troops, as Seattle is taken.

Meanwhile, Russia's penetration back into their territory continues, and the bulge is threatening to break the front. China also breaks the US advance into two fronts once more.

General Idhrendur arrives just in time in Denver, and the siege is lifted on August 15th. His army and the garrison together chase the loyal troops out of Colorado. General Anguish meets the first southern troops in Alabama, and the largest battle so far takes place. over a thousand die in all, and 2 thousand are wounded. It is a stalemate, and Anguish's march along the sea comes to a halt. There is a lot of hesitance among the troops of both sides; these are not Stali Pact soldiers they are shooting at, these are their fellow Americans, their brothers. Much of the shooting seems suspiciously inaccurate, and a high amount of the casualties are likely accidental hits.

General Idhrendur pushes into Nebraska, but meets 3 sizable loyal armies and is forced to backtrack somewhat. The northern territories, seeing the impending doom offered by Terres du Nord, joins the rebellion, and the troops in Washington turn east instead of north to aid Idhrendur. In the south, General Jabby gets dangerously close to reaching Mexico, but continued attacks by locals hinders his progress. A local militia from El Paso and other towns move to stop him from reaching the Rio Grande. General Cinti, north of Anguish, diverts his forces south to break the stalemate.

Thus far, only about 8 thousand Americans have died, many of them civilian casualties, in the 2 months the war has been raging.

The troops pulled from the front and the rebellious units arrive back in their prospective ports in mid September. Now, the loyal armies outnumber the rebels. It will still be some time before they make a difference in the war. Idhrendur loses ground and is nearly ousted from Nebraska, as the Washington troops speed to help in the fight. Another clash begins between General Anguish and the loyal troops in Montgomery, but Cinti is only 80 miles out. In Texas, the militia force, recruiting locals along the way, is enough to stop Jabby's march toward the Rio Grande, and he retreats north. Cinti's army joins the battle of Montgomery, encircling the loyalist troops. After several hours of combat, they throw down their arms and surrender. Montgomery is taken and Alabama falls.

On September 8th, the first of the US troops from Europe arrive on the line in the south, determined to stop the US advance. At nearly the same time, the first rebel troops arrive in New Mexico and push to cut off General Jabby in Texas. Other units also are deployed to other parts of the Republic. One unit is sent to Idaho to capture that state and the neighboring Wyoming, while another is sent through Texas to attempt to back up Anguish's fight. Rebel units from Europe under General Tyson land in Louisiana and move north to engage newly spotted loyalist units moving to retake the state.

On September 12th, an attempt to oust the president with force, carried out by a rebel militia in Dover, fails miserably, and all 85 of the rebels are imprisoned to be executed. The riots continue throughout the city, and the air is constantly filled with smoke from burning buildings.

In Dover, the House of Representatives (of the remaining states) vote nearly unanimously to impeach President Eternien. Never has such unity been seen in the US, but the President does not comply. He declares Martial Law in the states and impacts a curfew on all major cities. The US is now a military dictatorship. Such a cowardly move is called out in a speech given by Governor (he has chosen to remain with the title) Sancronis. He calls Eternien the false leader of the US, commanding against the people's will and causing thousands of deaths in the civil war.

The Civil War has claimed nearly 30 thousand lives, and it is bound to grow much higher now that the troops recalled from overseas have made it home. But the prospect looks bleaker for Eternien than the rebels, as his order for Martial Law causes more outrage than even his alleged rigging of the election.