The United States: 'Prophets of a New Order'

Kurt_Steiner: Sorry, if I told you, I'd ruin all the suspense.

yourworstnightm: It's sporting to let someone score a few points in a game before utterly crushing them, don't you agree?

Viden: So is the United States the Fourth Rome?

Nathan Madien: Thanks for the catch.


America at War - Part III

With the first month of combat in the war having proven indecisive, matters began to unfold rapidly in Cuba and Mexico. After a week-long lull in the fighting, II. Army launched itself across the Rio Grande on June 2 before the Mexican army could dig-in following its victory over Wedemeyer. I. Corps under Eisenhower and III. Corps under Millikin crossed over the border, supported by the rest of II. Army and the bulk of the Army Air Corps. After rapidly ceasing Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, the American attack pushed south toward Monterrey. Two Mexican divisions stood in the way, giving their ground only after a day of heavy fighting.

Back to the west, a half-hearted Mexican attempt to relieve Cardenas' trapped army was beaten back by MacArthur with ease on the 5th. Unwilling to waste his army in a pursuit of Cardenas' forces down the desolate peninsula, MacArthur instead detached the DeWitt, believing that the American cavalry, backed by the guns of the Pacific Fleet, would be more than a match for whatever resistance Cardenas' slowly-starving soldiers could mount. On the 6th, an entire division surrendered at Rosarito, apparently having run out of ammunition in the hasty retreat from Mexicali.

DeWitt continued to pursue Cardenas' army before encountering the bulk of his forces at Santa Rosalia on June 11. Fully-supplied and aided by the guns of the battleships and heavy cruisers, DeWitt routed General Villasina's men and forced the Mexican general to surrender after a brief but intense battle.

Back at the northern end of the peninsula, MacArthur finally began his push from Mexicali southward along the eastern coast of the Gulf of California. With Lt. General Krueger's III. Corps screening his left flank, MacArthuer advanced steadily on Hermosillo. Though outnumbered, the Mexican defenders held up IV. Army's advance for nearly two days before the weight of the American attack forced them to retreat.

The news of MacArthur's most recent victory was soured, however, when reports arrived from New Mexico. Having deemed that region too desolate and remote to warrant more than a token defense, MacArthur had allowed the New Mexican border to remain largely undefended. Seeing this as an opportunity to score a propaganda victory, the Mexican general staff ordered an invasion. A pair of Mexican divisions crossed the border and pushed several hundred miles into the interior before anyone had noticed. Though embarrassing, the invasion was strategically insignificant. MacArthur testily declared to reporters, 'Let them run around the desert all they want. I'm winning a war here.'


In any case, the invasion of New Mexico did not provoke Roosevelt to redirect the Army's thinly-stretched assets from elsewhere. Instead, the Americans followed up on their push across the Rio Grande; having finally secured Monterrey and Saltillo, the rest of II. Army crossed the border, seizing Matamoros in a brief but vicious street battle. Already struggling to contain Eisenhower, the Mexican army could muster only a single understrength division to contest Stillwell's main thrust. the retreat was called after only a few short hours of sporadic fighting, leaving the whole of the state of Tamaulipas open to the American army.

Compared to the war in Mexico, events in Cuban took a bizarre twist that left American intelligence experts baffled. Although successful in recapturing Guantanamo Bay, I. Army had failed to break out, forcing the rest of I. Army to retire back to Miami. Having recouped its losses, I. Army was given a golden opportunity. After the initial landings, Cuban forces had been diverted south to aid in the containment effort, leaving much of the coastal defenses either undermanned or neglected entirely. On June 4, the remainder of I. Army came ashore at Nuevitas and rapidly advanced into the interior of the island, seizing the city of Camaguey unopposed.

The most recent intelligence reports suggested that only a single Cuban division, under Mj. General del Castillo, had been trapped as a result of the landings. Leaving Lt. General Bradley to protect Camaguey, Hodges pressed eastward across the island along a wide front, while Clark finally broke out of Guantanamo Bay, forcing del Castillo to surrender. As Clark moved up the island to link up with the rest of I. Army, the Americans stumbled across one Cuban division after another. Two divisions were discovered on the 9th, another on the 13th, and yet another on the 16th. Though none of these discoveries hindered Clark's advance for more than a few hours, the fact that four Cuban divisions had appeared out of thin air baffled intelligence experts. Regardless, the President was more than happy to report to the American public that over half the Cuban army had been eliminated in just a few short weeks.

But it was Europe where momentous events were unfolding, and it was where Roosevelt's attention was most frequently directed; the fate of Europe hung in the balance with the outcome of the war between France and Germany. After the liberation of Alsace-Lorraine and succesfully crossing the Rhine at Freiburg in late April, the situation had largely stalemated, though the German army managed to retake the city in early May. The declaration of war had diverted media attention firmly back to the United States, and the European war was largely neglected, until news arrived from Berlin on June 5. After having ruled the German Empire for almost 53 years, Kaiser Wilhelm II Hohenzollern died at the age of 82.


The news Wilhelm's death shook the entire nation; under him, the German nation had risen to the status of superpower, had endured the Great War, and become the preeminent state of the European continent. Having been the ruler of German for the entirety of most citizens' entire lives, the Kaiser's death could not be but looked upon as the passing of an age in both German and world history. Whether events on the front presaged this view of his death, or if his death precipitated those events, one can only speculate. The coronation of the Kaiser's son, Wilhelm III, was to be a true display of imperial pomp at the New Palace in Potsdam, but the military-minded Crown Prince chose to do away with such extravagance. On June 12, Wilhelm III became Kaiser of the German Empire in a small and spartan ceremony.

The Crown Prince's decision reflected on his mentality, but also on the condition of the empire. Questions had been raised as to whether or not the lavish coronation originally planned could even have been afforded. Indeed, in early June, Marshal Manouchian succeeded in breaking through the German lines in the Rhineland. First, Luxembourg fell. After Wilhelm II's death, the French continued to advance deeper into Germany, sweeping through the Saar and reaching the confluence of the Rhine and Main, threatening Mannheim, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, and even Cologne by the 14th.

Not prone to panic in the face of such major setbacks, the Germans counterattacked, with von Leeb successfully retaking Luxembourg and threatening to encircle the French forces in the Rhineland while von Reichenau held the French advance in the south. But the French continued to press at the German lines in other sectors, finally crossing the Meuse south of Liege and capturing the city of Arlon on the 16th. Within another week, Liege had fallen and the whole of German Belgium was under French occupation, in turn threatening to encircle von Leeb in Luxembourg. As before, the German Army was bruised yet continued to fight as doggedly as ever.

Nathan Madien said:

So the occupation of the entire state of New Mexico is not a cause for alarm. I guess losing one state isn't that bad when you have fourty-seven others.

Click to expand...

You might want to look at the screenshot more carefully. They only captured Las Cruces and Silver City. And besides, even today, there's practically nothing out there. Moreover, having sent two divisions to take two provinces, sandwhiched between two enemy divisions, there's not much more they can do. Does that warrant calling off the drive to Mexico City, or abandoning Mexican territory?

2448

Viden: It is a bit ridiculous, I'll grant you that. But, as you can see, the U.S. hasn't exactly put that manpower to much use, at least not since the civil war.

Kurt_Steiner: That's what I'm doing at the moment.

Nathan Madien: You didn't "offend" me at all. I just wanted to point out that New Mexico is far from being conquered. Though, I should have defended those provinces, since my rocket facility was in Las Cruces...

yourworstnightm: Not a big Mexico fan, I take it?


America at War - Part III

After securing both Tampico and Ciudad Madero on the Gulf Coast, II. Army's advance south continued in earnest. In the pre-dawn hours of July 29, the woefully-unprepared Mexican defenses south of Ciudad Madero gave way to the American attack. Outnumbering the defenders by a substantial margin, Stillwell marched along the coast with impunity, confident that his right flank was secure with Eisenhower and Millikin. Just north of Veracruz, Stillwell abruptly turned inland, making his way toward the capital of Mexico City, finally stopping on July 9 at the city of Puebla, site of Mexico's celebrated victory over the French in 1862.

Meanwhile, in the west, having brought the cavalry corps back from the southern tip of Baja California, MacArthur ordered an assault on Nogales, north of Hermosillo in order to shorten IV. Army's lines and to threaten the Mexican forces in New Mexico with encirclement. Supported by Krueger's III. Corps, DeWitt rapidly battered through the Mexican cavalry screening General del Rio's western flank on July 6. Though as yet still not encircled, Del Rio's forces were faced with an increasingly tenuous supply line running through Ciudad Juarez, within sight of Wainright's guns on the opposite side of the border.

With the army seemingly incapable of slowing the American advance and the prospect of a total defeat quickly materializing into a distinct possibility, President Lombardo began to lose his nerve. Increasingly dissatisfied with his government, both the military and the civilian populace could easily move to oust him from power. Using the Canadian embassy as an intermediary, Lombardo secretly contacted Washington on July 7, offering terms of peace that proved shockingly generous. Though stipulating that neither Cuba nor the southern half of the country be occupied by the Americans, Lombardo offered to cede the entire northern half of Mexico to the United States.

The offer was so unexpected and so generous as to give Roosevelt pause. But advice from all directions soon dissuaded the President of accepting such a proposal. MacArthur complained that occupation and pacification of such a large swath of largely useless territory could serve only to drain the country's resources. Henry Morgenthau reiterated this last point: besides the oil interests, which American companies already owned, or would have restored to them after the conflict, the land was undeveloped and barren. Hull suggested publicizing the terms of the agreement and rejecting it outright, while reminding that defeating Cuba was just as important as Mexico. Even Vice President Wallace, whose leftist sympathies made him opposed to the war, favored rejecting the territorial acquisition.


As such, Roosevelt announced the Mexican offer to the public. Even with the war on, the Mexican press learned of the deal almost immediately. In almost an instant, Lombardo's power evaporated amidst massive protests in Mexico City. Sensing the opportune moment was finally upon them, the Mexican general staff seized control, establishing a junta under Augustin Mendoza and Pablo Quiroga 'for the duration of the present emergency.' Though Lombardo remained president de jure, the two generals effectively sidelined him, reserving power for themselves.

Hoping to capitalize on the confusion in Mexico City, II. Army pushed ahead its attack on the capital to the 12th. But the Mexican junta had not rested idly on its laurels since the 8th. Facing Stillwell's force was four divisions under Qiroga, well-entrenched to the west and north of Puebla. The American attack was to be two-pronged, Emmons leading the eastern arm and Eisenhower in command in the north. Though at numerical parity and boasting better weapons and training, II. Army failed to gain any ground. As casualties mounted, the Mexican defense continued to stiffen. At last, Stillwell called off the attack on the 13th.

For the next week, neither side made a move along the front, using the respite to rest and reinforce their bloodied forces. MacArthur finally broke this lull in the fighting on the 21st to complete the encirclement of del Rio's army in New Mexico. Though fighting valiantly to defend the supply line, the Mexicans retreated south, leaving DeWitt to capture Ciudad Juarez. on the 30th. The counterattack was immediate and overwhelming. Though DeWitt successfully stymied del Rio's break-out, he was forced to retreat in the face of the southern wing of the attack on August 1. Unwilling to allow the Mexicans to escape their trap, MacArthur hurried III. Corps in to plug the gap, with Wainright providing valuable support from El Paso.

In Cuba, I. Army continued to advance slowly along a wide front, meeting little resistance as it went. But on the 3rd, the Americans at last encountered the bulk of the surviving Cuban army, three divisions concentrated around Santa Clara. Positioned at an important crossroads, I. Army needed to capture the city in order to continue the advance along the island. The next day, Hodges ordered an all-out assault. Through a combination of heavy rain, difficult terrain, and entrenched defenders with masses of well-placed artillery, I. Army failed to make any appreciable headway. Within twelve hours, Hodges aborted the offensive and I. Army retired in poor order, an opportunity the Cubans failed to exploit; the heavy rains made it all but impossible to move their artillery forward in time.

After ten days reorganizing after the defeat, I. Army again attempted to carry the Cuban positions on the 15th. Though the weather had improved enough to allow the Atlantic Fleet to provide fire support on the right flank of Hodges' attack, the terrain and Cuban artillery once more barred the way. Eager to avoid being bogged down on the island, the President authorized the deployment of the reserve Fifth Army under General Collins. Composed of recruits enlisted since the civil war, V. Army was eager to prove itself in battle.

On August 3, they had their chance. Rather than being deployed to Santa Clara, V. Army was tasked with an amphibious landing around Havana. Though faced by a determined Cuban resistance and even a brigade of armored cars, V. Army fought its way ashore, supported by the Atlantic Fleet, and battled the Cubans through the streets of the capital. By nightfall on the 4th, V. Army was in control of the city and President Gomez fled to Santa Clara with the part of the government that managed to escape V. Army. Now surrounded and with the capital under enemy occupation, General Fulgencio Batista convinced Gomez to surrender to Hodges. On August 6, Cuba's unconditional surrender was announced.