In defense of Freedom, a USA Kaiserreich AAR

@CylonAndrew: I might send the South African army to Italy, but I plan on distributing the US forces in Africa to a new front elsewhere once Mittelafrika is crushed.

@Black Lotus: Not to worry, I have TONS of military leaders for my forces. The only area I am somewhat concerned in is a lack of superior tacticians for my air force, which I usually like to have lead my fighter wings.

@Americandor: Not as much strain as you might think actually. The game runs relatively smoothly and quickly. Not as quickly as it did in 1936 mind you, but still pretty good.

@Zeldar155: I got a kick out of that one. I wish I had the kind of cash needed to run some sort of epic gaming rig, but in reality my computer is actually starting to show its age. My computer uses an Nvidia Geforce 7600 video card, has 2 gigs of RAM, has 2.42 ghz processor, and runs on windows XP. It sounds pretty powerful, but struggles to run games like Crysis on just above medium graphics settings.

@Zhuge Liang: I am not sure if Russia or Germany can spare much to help the Ottomans. Helping Mittelafrika is also out of the question for them, since the Allied Forces solidly control most of the worlds oceans and both Russia and Germany lack lots of transport ships.

@Xesan: Africa is a bit of a logistical nightmare, especially the Congo which is largely jungle and has little to no infrastructure, but I have chosen my forces accordingly to help offset this. Most of the American units in central Africa are Air Cavalry divisions and Marines, which are both great at movement and jungle warfare respectively.

Also, an attack on Vladivostok is out of the question. In KR the city is an urban province, and when I last saw it there may have been as much as 60 Russian divisions there. An offensive in Manchuria is also not very likely at the moment, since I only have about 35 divisions in Korea supported by the still rather small Korean Army, not enough for a big push without the threat of a Russian flank attack.

@Asalto: Just curious, how old would Peter Wrangel be by 1956? IIRC he was born in the 1870's, and should probably be dead by now. Then again, I am still using lots of old veteran generals like MacArthur, who should probably be in retirement. Seriously, it sometimes seems like Generals and politicians in this game can live to be like 200 years old since there are not really any death events, sorta like the characters from the original Star Trek series making cameos in NextGen. :rofl:

@salidas16: Losing Mittelafrika probably will not be that big of a blow, but losing the now oil rich Ottoman empire will be a big one.

@everyone else: thanks for the comments!

In western China, Qing forces continue their large scale offensive in the region, attacking the city of Chengdu with 110,000 troops. An American infantry corps garrisoning the city is swept away by the massive Qing force, retreating towards Chongqing.


US air cavalry units invading Angola are counterattacked at the town of Nova Lisboa by a sizeable force of Mittelafrikan colonial troops. Although holding their ground for 3 days, the Americans are forced to withdraw back north across the river.


Back in Europe, the 40,000 Italian soldiers that took Tirana are besieged by Mitteleuropan forces attacking from the north, south, and east. The Italians, although outnumbered, are able to successfully repel the attack and hold the city. However, after this battle, the Italians are successfully evacuated under American direction, under the logic that they would be better put to use on the Northern Italian frontlines than surrounded and under siege in Tirana. (basically, I thought it was retarded for the Italians to be sending troops out of their country when they are losing control of their biggest industrial centres to Mitteleuropa, so I mil controlled them to keep them from sending more troops to Albania and keep them back in their homeland.)


Back in Africa, the recent US landings in the Congo Delta have forced thousands of Mittelafrikan troops to withdraw back to the southeast. Taking advantage of this situation, French colonial forces, supported by Liberian army forces, launch a massive counterattack. Mittelafrikan forces are driven out of French colonial territory as Allied forces march on Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Ghana.


Towards the South East, US forces continue their drive deep into the Congo, facing little to no enemy resistance. The first major engagement in the region is a stand by 20,000 Mittelafrikan colonial troops, led by African General Mambo at Elizabethville. Mambo's soldiers hold out for 2 days in the face of relentless American air and ground assaults before finally withdrawing to the east.


Along the coast, American Marines and Tanks, after capturing the city of Luanda, attack towards the south, battling a very large force of Mittelafrikan troops at Benguella. By now, the Mittelafrikan forces are having massive supply and manpower troubles due to massive sustained combat with Allied Forces. After a short engagement, these units flee towards the south.


In the Middle East, US forces launch a massive offensive into Mesopotamia. Their objective: to secure the entire southern banks of the Euphrates River. American tanks drive deep into the desert, crushing all Ottoman resistance in their path.



American forces in Syria also take part in this offensive, such as here, at Aleppo, which comes under attack from General MacArthur's 1st army. The Ottomans are massively overwhelmed by the Americans, abandoning the city and retreating back into Anatolia.


Back in China, the Qing army attempts to take the major city of Chongqing. However, they now hit massive resistance by American and Chinese forces, supported by Chinese armoured divisions. The Qing attack falls apart in the face of relentless Allied firepower, bringing the entire Qing offensive in the region to a grinding halt.


Back in Africa, beleaguered Mittelafrikan units are cleared out of southern Angola by American tanks. Low on vital supplies such as ammunition, the enemy forces flee westwards, towards the Atlantic coastline.

@Zhuge Liang: Indeed. Like America did in Asia after the end of the pacific war, America will give freedom, peace, and good government to the oppressed people of Africa.

@Xesan: In order:

1. Stalemate
2. Later.
3. By now, yes. Soon after Turin fell, huge allied reinforcements from France, Spain, Canada, La Plata, and Brazil arrived by the dozens on the Italian front, and helped stop the enemy offensive.
4.At the point I am at ingame, not going very well.....

@atty: Which is exactly why Chongqing cannot fall.

@Eams: 1867!? Damn, that guys father probably fought during the FIRST American civil war! American zombie generals will be a more devastating secret weapon than my Hydrogen Bombs.

@Zeldar155: Those aren't actually Russian units you are seeing fighting in China. Those are simply Qing troops that have been sent as expeditionary forces to the Russians. There are a few actual Russian units in the area, but they are mostly just moving towards Primorsk.

@Asalto: If the Germans bring out those land battleships, I will send in my skyhawks. Besides, since crazy mister Hitler and the nazi's didn't come to power in TTL, then lots of those wunderwaffen's would have never even been developed.

@everyone else: thanks for the comments!

On the middle eastern front, US forces push forward into the major port city of Basrah. Ottoman forces are quickly swept away, bringing the southernmost sections of the Euphrates river under US control.


In China, the failure of the Qing army to take Chongqing has given the Allied forces a chance to regain the initiative in the area. 3 entire US infantry corps spearhead a massive counterattack in Ya'an province, forcing Qing units to flee north, back over the border. This also results in the encirclement of a small number of Qing troops further south, which nets several divisions worth of prisoners.


In Southwest Africa, US marines accept the surrender of 90,000 Mittelafrikan troops at Mocamedes. This finally closes the campaign for Angola, allowing the US and South African armies to shift all of their forces eastward.


At Mongu, to the east, US marines engage a sizeable force of Mittelafrikan troops, led by a young African general Mobutu. His forces are no match for the strength of the US marines, forcing his army to flee towards Lusaka.


At Lusaka, Mobutu's army is utterly smashed in a combined operation by US and South African troops, forcing him to flee further eastwards.


The year 1956 comes to a close and 1957 begins. By January of 1957, the campaign in Africa has resulted in huge territorial gains by US and Allied troops. Mittelafrika is now reeling due to the success of these campaigns, having now been reduced to East Africa and small pockets of resistance still holding out in Ghana, Nigeria, and Chad.


The US has also achieved huge progress in the Middle East by January 1957. Thanks to powerful armoured and mechanized forces, the US army has cleared all of the middle east up to the southern banks of the Euphrates river, where US forces are resting in preparation for another, massive strike at the Ottoman regime.


In Asia, results are more mixed by 1957. to the east, US, Chinese, and Southeast-Asian forces have driven Qing and Russian units only a short distance from the original border line. In Korea, no effort has been made to breakout into Manchuria, due to a lack of troops and the strategy of a defensive posture. More worrying however is India. Here, all of western India, up to the Indus river, has fallen to the Russian Army. Pouring out of central Asia, the Russians are now preparing to put more pressure on the shaky allied frontline here.


The situation in Europe, the heart of the Mitteleuropa alliance, is not much better. After breaking through in Northern Italy, German and Eastern European armies were halted due to the arrival of massive allied reinforcements to the region, mostly from the French, Spanish, and Latin American armies, as well as large numbers of US troops. In France, both sides continue to make only small engagements, with neither side seeming to be willing to launch an all out assault along the frontline.


As the year begins, information comes from Spain of an attempt by Spanish intelligence to overthrow the Polish government. The CIA and the President are confused over the Spanish strategy, not seeing why Poland seems to be such a focus of Spanish espionage efforts.


Back in Africa, over 500,000 US troops begin another, massive drive towards the east, this time, directed at the capital of Mittelafrika, the city of Dar Es Salaam, as well as the surrounding area. This drive will undoubtedly bring the deathblow to the Mittelafrikan regime, bringing the African front to a close.


The first major engagement of this offensive takes place at Mpika, where Air Cavalry and Marine units under the command of General Groves shatter Mittelafrikan defenses, forcing the enemy to flee northeast into Tanzania.


Meanwhile, in the Middle East, 1.3 million US troops, spearheaded by thousands of tanks, cross the Euphrates river in all sectors and march north. Their ultimate target: The Caucuses mountain range, as well as the mountains in Western Persia and all of eastern Anatolia. This will shatter the back of the Ottoman Empire, and secure the Middle East from an enemy counterattack.

@Zeldar155: I am starting to play with the idea of making those borders South Africa's permanent post-war boundaries. But I guess the big factor to that would be if Apartheid started taking place in South Africa, in which case, South Africa would probably lose Namibia and southern Mozambique. IIRC, apartheid should have already started long before 1957, but the country ingame is a democracy and has no events concerning apartheid, so I guess things should be alright.

@Karaiskandar: The Russians seem to have endless reserves, so they should not have a problem sending large numbers of troops to Persia.

@atty:correct, that is Italy in control of Cyprus. They control some other islands too, which they took from the Ottomans. With their aggressive moves out of their own country, I am starting to wonder if they are being led by some kind of pseudo-Mussolini.

@Zhuge Liang: I am pretty confident that I have enough troops in the region to take and hold my objectives. If not, I can always bring in troops from places like South Africa, Canada, Australia, or Britain to help shore up my manpower.

@everyone:thanks for the comments!

As US troops secure Lusaka, they are attacked by Mittelafrikan reinforcements arriving from the east. These enemy troops are led by none other than Mittelafrikan Statthalter Hermann Goring himself, having decided to take personal command of units on the front. Although this attack shows promise, Goring's plans are undone after South African and US troops hit his flanks from the south, forcing Goring to call of his assault on Lusaka.


Back in the middle east, American air cavalry units that have swept into Kirkuk are foiled in their attempt to seize control of Tabriz by heavy Ottoman reinforcements.


A similar situation unfolds in Bakhtaran, where more American troops are halted dead in their tracks by massive Ottoman reinforcements. It appears that western Persia was far more heavily garrisoned by enemy forces than previously thought.


Meanwhile, the Ottomans abandon Mesopotamia, leaving only a single division of Bulgarian mountaineers to garrison the city of Baghdad while they retreat north. American motorized forces led by General Marshall easily crush these rearguard forces and enter the city.


American troops moving towards western Persia organize their forces for a massive assault against the Ottoman and Bulgarian units holding Bakhtaran. Although slightly outnumbered, American mechanized infantry and light tanks attack and shatter the enemy forces, thanks largely to superior American firepower.


A similar offensive is undertaken by US forces further north, at Tabriz. Here however, things do not go very well. Ottoman units are able to take advantage of the mountainous terrain, which hinders the effective use of American armoured vehicles, to stop this US advance cold. More reinforcements will be needed to push the enemy forced back.


Meanwhile, in the seas around Japan, American CVL's engage a very large battlegroup of Russian diesel and nuclear powered submarines off the coast of Hokkaido. The Russian subs are hit from long range by helicopters carrying torpedoes and depth charges from the American carriers, as well as torpedoes, depth charges, and ASROC's from American destroyers. Realizing that they stand no chance against the US fleet, the Russian submarines flee the area for Vladivostok harbour.


Back in Africa, exhausted US troops marching huge distances from the west in hostile terrain are repulsed in Kenya by Mittelafrikan forces. This setback brings a temporary halt to the advance in this region, as US commanders decide to allow these units to rest before putting them back into battle once again.


Back in western Persia, US troops, having trekked long distances across the deserts of Mesopotamia are embarrassingly halted in their advance on Hamadan by a single division of Bulgarian mountain infantry. This Bulgarian victory is short lived however, as massive follow up US units are ordered to attack the province, successfully driving the Bulgarians out.


On the Northernmost sector of the American offensive, things are continuing to go rather well. US forces now pour into eastern Anatolia, and are now approaching the Caucuses mountains. However, they experience a significant setback, when General Bradley's army attempt to storm the Armenian capital of Yerevan. Armenian troops, with their homeland under threat, fight tenaciously to hold back the American advance. This intense resistance, combined with overstretched American supply lines and exhausted US troops, results in US forces having to call of the attack and wait for more reinforcements and supplies. (mech units low on org and fighting in the mountains don't do very well.)