We, the People -- A USA Interactive FTM AAR

Novatheorem said:

((If Shierholzer is amenable to taking a more active role, I could give up one of the three I've got :huh:. I can also understand if, with everything going on, he wants to take a slower pace on things.))

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((shierholzer? If you want a more active role, let us know.))

I'll let things stand for today, so we've got enough time for critiques, questions, etc. I'll update tomorrow night if there's nothing else.

son of liberty said:

((If shierholzer wants his old role back, I could take over one of Nova's roles. ))

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((I was trying to remember... you were Secretary of War at one point, but didn't you have another role too?))

I'll be updating later tonight, so we can finally resume this AAR!

Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate,

I am as surprised and horrified as all of you at the cowardly attack by the Soviet Union. Although American forces in eastern and central Europe have redeployed to more defensible frontiers, we remained aggressive against Vichy France and the Japanese, in addition to receiving some unexpected help.

At 1800 hours on January 1, 1944, the draft was formally reinstated with the full approval of Congress. We would simply need more manpower to deal with the Soviet menace. Army Group 'Italy' was ordered to redeploy to northern Italy, while some elements of Army Group 'France' occupied the former Siegfried line. A few divisions stayed forward for observation purposes. In Washington DC, President Willkie received the unquestioning support of Nationalist China and the remaining independent warlords against the Soviet Union. Even the Communists offered to pitch in, an offer the President accepted with alacrity and gratitude.

On January 2, the formal plans to annex Vichy France were drawn up and presented at a meeting in Paris. The input of General de Gaulle was most welcome and offered some much needed insight into the character of who he called "his traitorous brethren."



Only a few hours later, the invasion of Saipan began. By the evening of January 4, our troops celebrated a well deserved victory, the first of many in the Pacific.



January 6th saw aggressive movement by Admirals Halsey, Kalbfus, Spruance, and Mitscher into the Black and Baltic Seas. Admiral Halsey himself, insisting that "we have to stop those Commie bastards now before they rampage through Europe", got on a plane mere hours after submitting his budget. The first formal battle between American and Soviet naval forces saw the lost of Soviet destroyers and a transport squadron. The next day, the crew of the USS Mississippi reported a glorious victory of their own: the sinking of the pride of the Soviet Fleet, the Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya.



A victory at Marseilles on January 8 formally spelled the end of the Vichy Regime. ((It's at this point we technically "won" the game, BTW, even with the outstanding victory conditions.))



General de Gaulle and the other members of the French government in exile proudly marched through Paris with thousands cheering. A few days later, US Marines assaulted Marcus Island, taking one more naval base from the Japanese Empire. The invasion of Iwo Jima commenced January 20th, with a similarly flawless result. The fall of Iwo Jima resulted in a tense radio address by Emperor Hirohito, vowing that Japan would resist to the last man, no matter the cost to his people. ((They fired Kamikaze.))

Perhaps the most surprising news of January came on the 23rd, when Prime Minister Churchill gleefully called the President to share the news of Persia's surrender to the United Kingdom. Iraq would be liberated a couple of days later. This news was extremely welcome given the troubling advance of Soviet forces into Europe.





It was the Pacific Theater's turn for some good news when the IJN Nagato was sunk by the USS New York on January 24. Other battles had been continuing throughout January, and would continue into February, but none were so decisive as the Battle of Shinji Ridge.



February 4 and 5 saw momentous victories for Nationalist China over the Japanese puppet Manchukuo and the Soviet "ally" Mongolia.



By February 9, American forces reached Italy, and began forming their defensive lines.



Our scientists announced another breakthrough on February 12; they will have a prototype of the ultimate weapon in October of 1944, with usable weapons in early 1945. A small British force, showing their support for us, stopped by Boston and exchanged many a beer with our sailors in Boston Harbor. ((Seriously, for no reason, the British sent four infantry divisions to Boston, and they're still there. I had DC as an allied objective, but this is the first genuine response.)) February 17 saw a preliminary evacuation of American pilots from Budapest to Munich. Soviet progress is surprisingly slow. A few days later, the Chinese reported a failed bombing attempt on Nagasaki; although the President showed the utmost decorum, he was privately delighted that the Chinese were so aggressively attacking the Japanese.

A huge battle occurred on February 22, when CAG 'Saratoga' encountered the main body of the Japanese fleet. Both sides seemed equally surprised, and the battle was inconclusive. However, two Japanese carriers were sighted, something the US Navy had not encountered in weeks. A follow up battle on the 25th saw the Japanese retreating, but not without sinking the USS San Diego. The boys of CAG 'Saratoga' responded with a vengeance, sinking a Japanese escort carrier and a light cruiser of theirs.

Here is our best intelligence in Europe and Asia, as of early this morning.





Technologies researched: Civil Nuclear Research 3
Units built: 2 x STR (deployed to Boston, MA), 3 x TRG (to Norfolk, VA)
Ships sunk: 1 x BB, 1 x DD, 1 x SS, 1 x TR (Soviet), 1 x CVL, 1 x BB, 3 x CA, 3 x CL, 2 x DD (Japanese)
Ships lost: 1 x CL, 1 x TR (by Japan)
Convoys sunk: 40/23 (Japanese), 1/5 (Soviet)

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Finally, another update! Let's try to move along quickly; son of liberty, you may want to take a peek at shierholzer's Atlantic plans. Some of your orders were vague and assumed that we weren't still using AI to a greater extent. Tom's are also good. Novatheorem, if we can take down Japan in the next 60 days, let's do it. I think a second front in the Pacific might do some serious damage to the Soviets. Also, make sure to take into account manpower as well as IC; some of Gen. Marshall's artillery didn't get built so we could crew your ships.

Let's try to have plans up by Wednesday at 10 PM (-6 GMT).

EDIT: I've also created a 7zip file for the save on the front page instead of using MediaFire; son of liberty can access it easier that way.