Last Bastion of Freedom: The US alone against the Fascist world

Nathan Madien said:

True, but so far Madison is the only Commander-in-Chief to actually take command. Of course, if a General wins, it would be more exciting to watch them than to watch Madison ride around on his horse.

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I should hope so, and couldn't you just see Clark out there trying to claim more glory for himself.

morningSIDEr said:

Very good updates. Sadly it is well past the deadline for votes (Eisenhower would have been my choice nonetheless), I hope you can get the election event working, as I look forward to the next update. All of the shenanigans going on during an election always makes for enjoyable reading.

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I sure hope I can get the thing working to though it may become a non-issue if Truman wins, which is what I suspect will happen.

I apologize for the delay in updates, but I have been busy with school, RL, and Europa Universalis lately and have not gotten around to writting this lately. I will try to post another update sometime between now and thursday, but If I cannot get one out, I probably won't be able to until next week.

After a long wait I finally manged to get my lazy self back to work. Here is the long awaited update.

The Battle in the Middle East remained stalemated. Clark, who was at this time being courted by various people to run for president in the upcoming elections, Was unsure if he could make significant progress without significant reinforcements, and these did not look to be forthcoming. He nonetheless ordered Oulton to make an attack on the city of Kirkuk.

The advance got off to a good start, but the Axis strategy of Defense in Depth eventually thwarted their advance.
While the campaign in the Middle East was going nowhere, MacArthur was making good progress in the New Guinea campaign. Having been halted in his initial attempt to take Kokonau, he ordered Stilwell, who had completed his part of the advance and had no more objectives, to land in Babo and catch the enemy in a two pronged attack.

Stilwell was able to occupy the region of Babo without encountering any resistance and 40,000 Japanese troops were now trapped in Kokonau. Soon after, MacArthur launched his attack

The Japanese troops were slaughtered to a man. The Island was now completely cleared of Japanese troops. All that remained was to seize the now undefended Kokonau and Sorong for MacArthur to be able to lay claim to a massive chunk of real estate.
Back in the Middle East, Eichlenberg made another attempt on the region of Nasiriyah.

The attempt failed and the consequences of that failure where much more severe then would have been thought initially. Almost immediately after this defeat, The German and Italian forces counterattacked. They chose as their target the city of Baghdad. The defenders were battered and bloodied from the failed attack on Nasiriyah and they were quickly swept aside in the face of the brutal Axis counterattack.

While the Americans were also able to seize Samaria, this fell soon after as well. It was clear that while the Italians had lost their capital and most of their homeland, they had by no means lost the will to fight and they were still very much in the fight. Badoglio was therefore being proven justified in refusing to surrender, as He was proving much more competent then Mussolini had ever been.
Soon after this reversal of fortunes in what used to be Iraq, Clark made an attempt his first foray into the former territory of the Republic of Turkey in an attack on the city of Gazientepp.

He then followed up with an attack on the region of Batman

His forces were able to seize the region rather quickly and then move on to take Kayseri

The offensive did not stop there however, as Clark and his men also managed to seize Mersin and Elazig.

That, however, was to be the climax of the offensive. To advance any further would require the Americans to stretch their lines much too thin, and so Clark ordered all of his forces to halt upon entering their target regions.
Eichlenberg also made another futile attempt on Nasiryah that, while getting off to a good start would ultimately fail.

Soon thereafter, good news came in from the Pacific. MacArthur had finally succeeded in liberating New Guinea. However, bad news also accompanied this. Their was a severe shortage of supply convoys and too many of the transports lacked proper escort. To make matters worse, the Japanese fleet had decided to go a-hunting for anything that was not protected and protected well. The MacArthur would therefore have to wait until such a time as these things would be forthcoming. While good news was coming in from the Pacific, it was countered by bad news coming in from the Middle East. Clark had recently left the region and temporarily resigned his commission to run for President. While he had only done so after Bradley personally ensured that he would make sure he got the command back, he left Truscott in charge in the meantime. While Truscott was competent, he was not equal to the task set to him as he had never held a theater command before and he was now being thrust into the most active theater of the war. The American forces there were now experiencing a string of reverses. The first of these was the recapture of Hilla by the Italians.

Kayseri fell soon after.

This was soon followed by Dayr Az Zawyr

However, while the first two regions fell and would not be taken back for quite some time, the fall of Dayr Az Zawyr was averted by an American counteroffensive towards Van by General Shepherd.

The Americans were able to take the region soon after and would actually manage to hold onto it. The Axis positions in Mesopotamia were now outflanked and the Americans would use this advantage to eventually roll up the Italian forces int he region.
Soon after this victory, however, the Americans were forced to withdraw from the dangerously overexposed region of Elazig.

Soon after the seizing of Van, General Oulton decided to take advantage of the outflanking of the Axis forces in Kirkuk and ordered an attack on the region

The Axis forces in the region were forced out and, despite a near constant stream of reinforcements entering the region, the Axis were completely incapable of preventing the regions fall. The battle for Mesopotamia now looked to be going in America's favor after many long months of bloody stalemate, and Truscott and Truman could only hope it continued to do so.

Nathan Madien said:

Is New Guinea its own country now? Or does it belong to someone else?

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it is split between Indonesia, which owns the Western half, and Papua New Guinea, which owns the Eastern Half and is an independent country. In game however, only one of these countries exists. Their is now way I am going to go through the trouble to create an independent New Guinea nation, however. New Guinea is the only question mark in terms of what I intend to do with conqu...mmm *cough* "liberated" territory. I am going to do one of two things. Split it between Indonesia and Australia after the war or keep the whole thing for the United States. And yes, I am going to leave this decision up to my readers.

Kirkuk would soon fall and the Axis forces in Mesopotamia would be outflanked. The only real sticking point in the region was Turkey, where Allied forces were unable to make lasting gains. This did not look likely to change soon, but many soldiers and generals in the region, though unable to say anything publicly, hoped that Clark would win. The reason for this was two fold. First, these men had all served under him and knew what he was capable of. The Second reason, which was most prevalent among the generals in the area, was a belief that if Clark won, he would pour massive amounts of reinforcements into the region and that was exactly what the campaign needed to make meaningful progress. The German monster still outnumbered them in terms of men and the quality of the individual soldiers was about even. While the Americans and the Axis continued to batter each other's brains out, No one saw an end to this war anywhere in sight after almost 20 years of war. The only thing that kept the American people in the fight was the belief that The Germans had to be stopped and that any peace short of a victors peace would be an insult to all those men who had already fought and died to try and stop the ambitions of Hitler the madman.

Amongst this atmosphere, the campaign in the Middle East continued to rage. The first major event to take place was that the Americans captured the region of Hilla.

However the region would soon be recaptured. This region would continue to change hands many times throughout the campaign, as the American forces in the region where being stretched thing to try and hold it. Eichlenberg also made another attempt on Nasiryah that unfortunately went the way of all previous attacks on the region.
Oulton had also managed to seize the region of Kirkuk. However,the Germans launched an almost immediate counterattack.

This counterattack was able to drive them back
While this was happening in the Middle East, Admiral Fletcher engaged the German fleet at see.

He sunk a carrier and three light cruisers for the cost of 3 carriers and a light cruiser. The Pyrrhic victory showed Truman how battered this fleet was and it was immediately ordered back to port to rest and refit.
Then, the long anticipated amphibious end run operation was launched along the Dalmatian coast. The Americans landed at Split and quickly began to advance on Rijeka.

Massive reinforcements then began pouring in, mostly brought in from Trento. The Germans had thinned their lines there to a mere 7 divisions and General Montgomery wasted no time in making them pay for their mistake.He quickly launched an attack on the region

He quickly managed to force the Germans out of the region.
Back in Dalmatia, however, Bradley had run into serious resistance.

Eisenhower feared that he might get bogged down and was desperate to figure out what to do about the situation. Then he came up with a brilliant idea. He would take advantage of the fact that the Germans and Italians had moved so many of there men into Rijeka and transport Bradley and his men by sea to Ferrara. They would then take part in a massive attack on Venice, hopefully before the Germans and Italians could realize what was happening and move men up to oppose them. The first part of the plan worked perfectly and the two pronged attack was launched.

Then the Germans did something rather unexpected. They moved men into Milan from Venice and seized the city, thus cutting off Montgomery in Trento.

However, what once would have been an unmitigated disaster was now little more then a nuisance. The advance on Venice ensures that the encirclement will not last long and then the men in Milan will be the ones who are encircled.
Not long after, Venice is occupied and Milan falls shortly thereafter

And so, after much hard fighting, all of Italy is back in American hands. This time, Eisenhower orders his men not to advance further so as to ensure that they do not overextend themselves. Bradley is also ordered to remain in Italy with his men for the time being to ensure the Venetia does not fall back into Italian hands. The campaign he was planning will have to wait until more troops are raised to replace the ones he has in Italy right now.

SovietAmerika said:

At least Italy stays in your hands.

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And Lets hope it stays that way

Nathan Madien said:

Can you build fortifications in Northern Italy to help you out? That is what I have done in the past.

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That is what I intend to do in this next update.

Zhuge Liang said:

Getting encircled in Trento could have been embarassing but all of Italy is finally free again. Hopefully it'll be easier to keep hold of it this time.

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It could have been a disaster. If they had reinforced Milan and manged to prevent Venice from falling, I would have had 34 divisions trapped behind enemy lines.

SovietAmerika said:

Hey man, could you mod the RSI to have democratic ministers as well? It would be interesting to see the US prop up a puppet Italy that was truly the true Italian nation.

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I could, but I doubt my computer would cooperate. I tried modding the RSI before to include only the Italians territories outside of Europe. The plan was to have the King move against Mussolini. However, Mussolini would get advance warning but have no time to marshal sufficient force to stop, so he would flee to Africa. He then would have taken command of the Italian Army in Africa and the Middle East and formed the RSI. Italy itself, now led by the King, would have then defected to me minus the bulk of their army that had defected to Mussolini. However, that did not work because my computer would not load the save after I edited it as such. It is also the reason Canada is still technically the Alliance leader. I cannot figure out a way to remove them from that postion.

Nathan Madien said:

Reminds me of that one time I tried liberating RSI as the US, only to see Mussolini as the American puppet leader.

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That would be comical.

Italy was now back in Italian hands and Truman and Eisenhower were determined to ensure that it remained in American hands. To ensure that that happened, Eisenhower ordered the construction of a massive network of fortifications in both Trento and Venetia.

He hoped that these fortifications would free up men for service in other theatres, but they would not be finished for at least a year or two.
Back in the Middle East, Truscot had been forced out of Gazientepp after making a grave miscalculation.

He had ordered the forces formerly commanded by Clark to transfer to Batman to try and help the North African forces in the region defend the region. This left him with only 12 divisions to defend Gazientepp, which had enemies both to the North and West of it. The Axis forces in the area capitalized on his mistake and forced him from the region. At first glance, this would appear to be a mistake, however, further examination would reveal that this was not the case. The North Africans comprised only 10 divisions and they lacked a single command structure. They hailed from all over North Africa and this led to command and control issues. Truscot had hoped that his men would be able to hold Gazientepp on their own and that had been his only real mistake. This issue clearly showed the problem in the area. The Americans lacked the troops to hold both regions and defend them both simultaneously. If Truscott moved his forces do defend one of these provinces, the other would fall. This dilemma would remain until new troops, which were on the way from Africa in the form of several African troops, arrived.
While this was going on, Oulton and Shepherd made another attempt on Kirkuk.

Unlike the last attempt, this one would manage to take and hold the region.
Back in Anatolia, Truscott waited until the Germans had entered the region to launche a counterattack from both Aleppo and Batman that was able to retake the region

An attack is also launched on Hilla. The region is captured.

This time, the Americans are able to hold onto the region.
Soon after this development, Batman falls.

An attack is then launched from Gazientepp, Dair Az Zawyr, and Van. The three dimensional attack succeeds in retaking the region

Soon after taking Kirkuk, Samaria also falls. Oulton then orders an attack on the city of Baghdad

Despite brutal fighting outside the city the Americans are able to force the Axis to flee the area.
Eichlenberg also launches another attack on Nasiryah.

He is able to force the enemy out of the city, but it would be a while before he could secure the region.
Following these victories, the Germans launch an attack on the region of Batman.

Though initially managing to hold off the German advance, Sadat ultimately fails to prevent the region from falling.
However, reinforcements are now well and trully on their way. Among these are four Egyptian divisions under the command of General Gamel Nasir

However, all of this is soon overshadowed by even bigger news. On October 16, 1956, Truman receives has a visit from Professor Robert Oppenheimer, the man in charge of the American nuclear program. After years of experiments, the scientists operating in Cleveland have finally succeeded in creating the world's first sustained Nuclear reaction. After conducting a test over Lake Erie, they have finally managed to produce the world's first atomic bomb and He informs Truman that this weapon will now be at his disposal.

However, Oppenheimer urges caution in its use, as it will be another year before they can give him another one. Truman called his cabinet,his top Generals, and all of the Allied heads of state to a conference in Washington. Along with the expected cabinet members, Also in attendence are General's Patton, Bradley, Truscott, MacArthur, and Eisenhower are also in attendence. Once the president enters, Patton instantly questions why they have all been summoned here. Truman then informs them that America now has in his possesion, the World's first Atomic bomb. Stunned silence immediately fell over the crowd. After the initial shock wore off, debate immediately began over what to do with this weapon. The two leading plans were put forward by Churchill and Patton. Churchill, who had several years prior seen his country occupied for 8 years by the Germans, wanted blood and he wanted vengence. He wanted to drop the bomb right on Hitler's head. He advocated a limited invasion of Denmark to gain an airfield withing range of Berlin to drop this bomb on the city. He hoped to decapitate the German leadership in one fell swope and punish the Germans for the war they had inflicted on mankind. Patton's proposal, was far more reasonable. He wanted to hold off its use for the time being until at least one more bomb could be procured. When that happened, he wanted Truman to put the bombs at his disposal. He then planned to drop them on Aux and Pau. The blast, he hoped, would decimate the German troops in the regions, allowing the American forces in the region to break out in at least one of the regions. Truman, rather unexpectedly, favored Patton's plan. He stated that he would, under no circumstances, drop one of these bombs over a major population center unless absolutely necessary. He stated that these weapons would reek untold habit on civilians, who had so far been spared the majority of the war. Truman had only used his airforce to support his ground forces by bombing regions that they were attacking. If one of these bombs were dropped on a city the size of, say, Berlin, the death toll would be catasrophic and most of those deaths would be civilians whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. "We are not barbarians, and we are not savages thirsty for blood" he explained. He therefore decided that nuclear weapons would only be used against large concentration of troops. Privately, he hoped that he would not have to use it for even that.

While this news dominated the military and foreign affairs arena, back home, the public was focused on a much bigger concern for them. The It was now election time and they would have to chose between Either Truman or Clark. Truman had been responsible for leaving America to some of its greatest victories since the last election, including but not limited to the liberation of Africa. Clark, by contrast was not a politician, but was responsible for the largely successful Middle Eastern campaign and was wildly popular with the American Jewish community for the liberation of Israel. This election looked like it might be very close.
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It is voting time. You can choose either Clark or Truman. A victory for Truman will mean this AAR continues in the same direction it is currently. A victory for Clark will see greater emphasis, and greater reinforcements, focused on the Middle Eastern Campaign.

Nathan Madien said:

What's the HQs for?

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Alot of my armies lack them. I am hoping that it will help them fight.

Nathan Madien said:

Nuking Lake Erie...I sense a toxic future.

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IT was only one test, and it was the largest open area in Ohio I could think of. With one test, they might have been able to localize the damage.

Nathan Madien said:

I vote for Clark. I think it is time for new leadership in the White House.

By the way, History_Buff, I can make you another election map.

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yes you most certainly can