MotF 128: To the Victor

Following the collapse of the US in 2070, several states declared independence. Washington and Oregon almost went cliché and formed Cascadia, but arguments between increasingly conservative Oregon and Washington led to an independent Oregon. California also went independent.

In 2090, California attempted to annex the country of Oregon once and for all. Making good yet slow progress, January 2092 saw the Battle of Mill City. Sources are spotty about when the firing started, but in general, the date and time of 3 pm on the 15th of January is given as a starting date.

By all means, the Oregon State Guard should have lost. Woefully undermanned and on the back footing, Klamath only recently lost for good. Luckily for Mill City, the 1st Paul Bunyan Unit of the Oregon Special Forces was in the area.
Initial gains by California were short-lived. Artillery placement on the banks of the Santiam was a godsend for the people of Mill City, and the entire town was rigged to explode. the entire Shetland Rangers Corps of the Californian 1st Army Group was lost, and on the east flank the Paul Bunyan Unit was capable of catching up with retreating infantry, their half-tracks providing a crucial factor to the battle.

Slightly less effective was the Flame Tanks of the Californian Army. Though initially highly effective, they were bogged down in a mush of their own making - leading to the retreat of only two divisions and the capture of two others. On the 16th at noon, the guns could fall silent. Oregon had forced a retreat, ruined an entire army Group, and by 2093, Oregon was in a position to threaten Sacramento, leading to the establishment of the Oregonian Territory of Jefferson and the rise of the State of oregon as the main power on the Pacific after Canada.

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From my dA upload as per the usual nowadays.

The Southern Campaign and the Battle of Bass Strait​

Full size -- PLEASE VIEW



“The Battle of Bass Strait is generally considered the decisive moment of the Southern Campaign, which is itself generally considered the decisive campaign of the Australian War of Independence. The battle itself was joined on the first day of August, 1881, when a formidable British contingent of 3 battleships, 2 armored cruisers, 3 light cruisers, and 2 destroyers encountered an even more formidable American contingent of 5 battleships, 3 armored cruisers, and 4 destroyers while sailing out of Melbourne. The American fleet, flush off its recent victory in a brief encounter in the South Pacific, was joined by a small Australian rebel contingent of 2 gunboats and 3 armed yachts. Despite the allied numerical superiority, the British felt confident that victory was inevitable, partly thanks to their assumption that British ships and sailors were simply superior. and partly thanks to evident damage on many of the American ships (which was, in fact, mostly cosmetic.) And so, both fleets threw themselves into the engagement with abandon, which turned out to be a poor decision for the British. By the end, they had sustained severe casualties throughout their fleet, and lost two of their three capital ships (one sunk and one so badly damaged its repairs were still not complete enough for it to sail as Melbourne fell to allied forces almost a year later.)

Emboldened by this great victory, Australian forces captured Adelaide from its demoralized British garrison and began what came to be known as the March to Melbourne. The occupying British forces, cut off from supplies even from nearby Tasmania, demoralized by seemingly constant American and Australian victories elsewhere on the continent and facing an increasingly hostile Australian population thanks to constant requisitions, crumbled in the face of even the admittedly quite scruffy Australian rebels. It took less than a year for allied forces to push the British not only out of the southern part of the continent, but out of ostensibly loyal Tasmania as well.

This map shows the direction and timing of allied advances in the final phase of the Southern Campaign. It also may seem from the map that American forces played only an incidental role in the land war. However, this is completely untrue. American forces played a crucial role in the taking of Melbourne, and indeed many historians outright credit its fall to them entirely. Melbourne was by far the most heavily-defended city in southern Australia, and the Australian forces who would have had to attempt its taking were overstretched and utterly exhausted. Without the American Expeditionary Force taking on the brunt of the fighting, it is likely that Melbourne would not have fallen when it did. The timing of Melbourne’s fall was extremely important to the course of the war—without the lightning March to Melbourne, it is unlikely that the British population would have begun to see the war as hopeless until much later, delaying the war’s end indefinitely or perhaps even allowing the British a chance to win it. Unfortunately, in the end there is no possible way of knowing what would have happened had the Americans not been present, or indeed if Bass Strait had turned out a different way, so it’s better to focus on what did happen instead of what might have.”


As a bonus, have some infoboxes:


EDIT: And, as another bonus, have a second map. This one shows the Great Lakes Front of the Australian War of Independence, characterized by a rapid American advance into Ontario, which was stopped cold outside of Kingston. The Americans considered it a secondary front, and thus did not send large amounts of troops to reinforce it after the Battle of Kingston, leading to the creation of the Big Red Line, which set an American defensive perimeter so that the U.S. could divert most of its forces towards winning the war in the theater that really mattered--Australia.

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Battle of Saint Paul

because of size, I have to leave a link to the image

(From a similar if not exact same universe as Njordr's own submission)

Following the collapse of the US in 2070, several states declared independence. Among these were Wisconsin and Minnesota. The former quickly fell to a strong but stern militaristic dictatorship, while the latter remained democratic but weak and incompetent.

With Wisconsin now a dictatorship, they hoped to expand and become the main power of the former American mid-west by forming a Greater Wisconsin (see: orig06.deviantart.net/8751/f/2…), and they first turned to Duluth and Minnesota, a falling power with land that could see some good use under a competent leadership. And thus for 5 years they prepared for war, and 2077, they were ready for war.

Wisconsin first went their demands for Duluth and the entire Minnesota coast of Lake Superior on October 11th, demanding their response by the 18th. Minnesota quickly scrambled to try to get recruits and volunteers to fight a war against Wisconsin, and on the 15th they declared they refused the demands, hoping that the other major power of the region, Illinois, would come to their aid. This didn't happen, and on the 16th Wisconsin moved in to occupy Duluth, quickly taking it with a minimal fight.

But Duluth wasn't the center piece of the ironically named Duluth War, rather the Saint Paul front was, that was launched on October 19th, with the main surges coming from Stillwater and Hudson, and only the next day they had artillery on the heights overlooking Saint Paul.

By October 30th, the fighting in Saint Paul was over with the capture of the Capital building and Minneapolis was in reach of Wisconsin. Minnesota knew that they had already lost, and surrendered. In the Treaty of Saint Cloud, Minnesota would cede the entirety of all land east of the Mississippi. In only 18 days, Wisconsin had destroyed Minnesota, and was the definite power of the former Mid-West. By 2087, Wisconsin had taken Chicago.

The Last Hurrah of Independence

(Full Map Here)

The Third World War had ignited with a bang on May 12th, 1983, as the first artillery shells and missiles ripped across the German border towards NATO fighting elements. In the air above, a limited series of surprise attacks had struck impacting both airfield and garrison alike impacting the movement of West German, American, and British elements. The war in Germany raged, and meanwhile across the world other NATO elements (primarily American) responded in kind with the outbreak of the global war. American convoys and aircraft began to be rapidly assembled as Operation REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) set itself underway for the movement of five divisions, three brigades, and a single regiment. For the Soviets, they knew they had to stop the American push and the main target for them was SLOC (Sea Line of Communications) which would compose the major convoys being moved. Struggling to move, the GIUK (Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom) Gap stood in their way with the American SOSUS network and they had to neutralize it to allow a full impact on the American SLOC. On May 15th, leading elements of the Soviet military engaged in the invasion of Iceland with the one-way crossing of nearly a full regiment of paratroopers to seize Naval Air Station Keflavik to prevent any ASW assets from operating and for additional reinforcements to arrive in. The surprise attack had caught many off-guard, and it opened up a series of impacts for NATO.

Across the world, NATO suffered impact after impact in the fight against the Warsaw Pact. On May 19th, the USS Midway (CV-41) was lost to Soviet Backfires with the breakout of Soviet surface elements in the Northern Pacific. In West Germany, NATO elements found themselves under fire and under a constant retreat. The war was shifting more and more towards the Soviet favor with the convoys under constant attack in the Atlantic, and something had to be done. An operation found itself rapidly planned out to turn the tide of the war, its name was Red Dragon. Operation Red Dragon had been drafted for the eventual retaking of Iceland to halt the continuous Soviet disruption of SLOC which had been impacting the war on Europe. Planned for mid-July, the ambitious Operation would have utilized a total of four carrier battle groups (USS Independence, USS John F. Kennedy, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, HMS Duke of Edinburgh) with the 6th and 8th Marine Regiments being carried for an assault directly at Iceland to retake it from the Soviets. The USS Alaska would have been in support, attached to the Eisenhower's Battle Group providing required fire support and protection for the amphibious transports. Unfortunately, on June 16th, two back to back Soviet strikes smashed the Duke of Edinburgh forcing her to return back to port and leaving the North Atlantic open. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Battle Group (having been delayed due to mechanical issues, with the USS Alaska and her escorts moving ahead across the Atlantic) and the Independence Battle Group (en-route from the South Atlantic) raced to protect the North Atlantic from further Soviet submarine and air threat while as to prevent any fear from a breakout from Soviet surface forces.

Reconnaissance photos from OPS 9627 confirmed the worst fears of NATO, the Soviet surface forces were preparing to break out from Murmansk directly into the North Atlantic to rage havoc on the American convoys. It was a matter of time as both carrier groups raced towards the North Atlantic, as the sole 'surface' group in Belfast also struggled to make herself ready following her 'dash' across the Atlantic. As all forces coincided, the Battle for Iceland was to begun on June 21st.


“The Battle for Iceland, lasting from June 21st to June 22nd, can be described as a stunning blow to the Soviet Union, and the turning point for the entire Third World War. The destruction of much of the Soviet bomber force combined with the loss of nearly all surface assets had been a devastating blow. Even beyond that, the failure to intercept Convoy NB-6 by any major Soviet bomber elements and the significant failure of Soviet attack submarines or cruise missile submarines against it, had played a massive blow in the German Front. The arrival of the equipment for the 42nd Infantry Division and 50th Armored Division at Brest on July 1st, was significant with the capture of Iceland by the 6th and 8th Marine Regiments on July 7th leading up to two 'blows' against the Soviet Union. The biggest blow by far in the span of nearly three weeks was the surrender of the 8th Guards Army to American forces after it was encircled, with the lead Soviet elements having been captured. The back to back blows had spelled a significant change, and talks between American and Soviet diplomats in Stockholm would continue for a hope of a ceasefire. On August 19th, the guns had stopped. A ceasefire had been announced, and the Third World War had been brought to a 'close' as the ceasefire found itself transmitted globally.”-Essay on the Battle for Iceland

The PoD of this TL is Darius III of Persia allowing Memnon of Rhodes to lead the Persian army a few months earlier than in OTL. A small PoD, but an influential one nonetheless.



Alexander III was arguably one of the strongest generals known to history, but his contributions were severely stacked up against him. His wars in Greece and the Balkans set up the founding of the Great Hellenic League, and his puppetization and subsequent absorption of Illyria and Magna Graecia was arguably one of the best diplomatic moves ever. However, things began to head south for him, especially after his invasion of Persian Anatolia. Memnon of Rhodes had suggested a scorched earth strategy, and Darius III was quite willing to let him attempt this. Instead of ignoring his advancements as other nations had done, Memnon went on the offensive, while flaking Alex’s armies from both sides.

As the war between Persia and Macedon continued, Alex’s armies slowly continued pushing forward. It took multiple months, but eventually he made his way to the center of Anatolia. Memnon was pushed back temporarily, but by mid-334 was back in fighting position. Persia sent in more armies, as many as they could to defend their land. Darius was not willing to let Alexander take over their land, and made sure they peasants wouldn’t join him. After Alexander tried to rally the support of the artisan class, Memnon implored Persia to promise monetary rewards in trade for loyalty. This tactic worked, and Memnon’s week-long march through Bithynia.

Alexander’s final battle occurred at Halicarnassus, near the south of Anatolia. He already held lands in the central and northern regions of the peninsula, but wanted to assure leadership over the entirety of it. Alexander attempted to send spies to see Memnon, but his men caught and tortured them. Soon enough, the entire Persian army met Alexander at this small city in Lydia. Alex was taken and killed in battle, while his men fled. Another general would win the battle for Macedon, but would not take any land past mid-Anatolia alive.


The eventual borders of Persia and Macedon after the war were arguably poorly-marked. Macedon was allowed to keep the coast but, since they lost most of the wars, the Persians got to keep a foothold in the east. However, the Persian Empire was a waning power, and the other members of the Argead family were warring for ownership of it.



The fight for succession had the chance to destroy the empire Alex spent his life to build. In the north, the Thracian kings wished to take over, while the members of Alex’s dynasty wished to lead as well. However, the general known as Antipater, who was appointed as leader of Macedon in Alexander’s absence, had the highest chance of taking up the throne. His regency was one of the most successful, and even though he was one to appoint tyrants and cruel leaders, he was amazing at diplomacy. He set up the assassination of the Thracian king towards the end of the Succession fight, and used his superior intellect to remove the Argead dynasty from the throne, as well as taking over the entirety of the Balkans in the process.

His biggest feat was making deals with the Persians, to let them keep the Greek-cultural areas of Anatolia. This was a large amount more than what Alexander had held, and Memnon was severely against the deal, but Darius knew it would only bring another war otherwise. Quickly after, Antipater attempted to set up the death of Darius himself, leading into a large civil war in Persia. This war led to the rapid expansion of Armenia, as well as Pontus becoming a vassal of Macedon. In the middle of the Persian Civil War, Antipater appointed one of the deposed members of the Argead family to the throne, in exchange for loyalty. This kept another succession war from occurring, and also kept Antipater from assassination at the hands of former royals.



As time went on, the people of Greece were becoming tired of Antipater’s tendency to put a tyrant on the throne. In each small vassal kingdom, he installed oligarchs or dictators, to keep the rebels at bay. However, in 328 BC, he promised to federalize his empire into a confederation, as long as his family would keep the throne, and the people would stay loyal. The vassal kings were quickly silenced, and more liberal supporters of Antipater were appointed instead. Places like Athens and Olympia became quite loyalist, after Greek troops were sent to protect the large cities.

Dissidence was a large problem in Greece, but it was kept at bay. The people living in the faraway parts of the empire (most notably Moesia and Antigonia) cared about the system of government severely, and the trade routes in the Black Sea (shown in light blue on the map) spread the seeds of discontent. Revolution had to seemingly be kept at bay for a long time, but the spread-out troops stayed loyal. By the time of Antipater’s death in 318 BC, the dissonance was reduced to a near-minimum.



The Latins, then known as the Romans, weren’t particularly pleased about the rapid expansion of Macedon, now known as the “Hellenic Confederation”. The Romans had their eyes set on interesting all of Europe, and the Greeks on their border weren’t making them too happy. Luckily, the Romans were expanding their reach, and believed they could take over mainland Sicily and possibly take Illyria. They declared war in 317 BC, a year after Cassander the Kind ascended to the throne. Cassander quickly returned the attack, however, quickly causing the Romans to retreat. The ally kingdom of Syracuse contributed considerably to Rome’s demise, and the Roman armies were destroyed by 315 BCE.

The outcome of the war brought very small changes, and many historians believe it should have been harsher in hindsight. The Romans were forced to rename themselves the “Latin League” as a form of humiliation, as the broadening of the ethnic group would only make it more difficult to center power. They also forced the Etruscans to be freed, as the Kingdom of Rasenna. They were allowed to vassalize the area, but it was fiercely independent. Tarchna was held by the Romans for years, however, causing much anger between the two snakes. Magna Graecia also expanded, mostly northwards. It took over two Roman cities on the border, and claimed many more up to the border of Rome. However, these claims were barely recognized, and were dropped for being too harsh. The biggest mistake of Cassander was not placing a loyal king on the throne; keeping the original republic in place only lead to them being better prepared for war.



The period of nineteen years between the First Greco-Latin War and the Second was quite eventful. Tensions between the Latins and the Greeks were constantly piquing, and shady spying tactics were used on both sides. Illyria was a place of frequent debate, as while the princess was married to a Greek diplomat, they had earlier ties to the Romans. The Greeks constantly had to put down the Latin-backed revolts around Apoulia and Lefkania. Even still, the Latins and the Hellenic Confederation kept a strict peace. Cassander actually believed that the next war would be the last for Europe, and thought a war between two powers this large would destroy them. However, Cassander died in 304 BC, at the end of a Roman spear. His young son Phillip ascended to the throne, but he had been scarred by years of abuse by Greek soldiers. His mind was broken, and his succession quickly stifled. After his assassination in 302 BC, his younger brother Alexander IV ascended to the throne. Things were going well, and Alexander was rebuilding the great Confederation Antipater had started. West Anatolia was re-confederated, and Persia was remade into a vassal. Pontus was already distinctly Hellenized, and the lands across the Euxine Sea were absorbed. Illyrian lands were quickly back in Greek hands, with the Roman troops being pushed away entirely. While the Hellenic Confederation had been winning before, Alexander brought a new air of military power to the 30-year-old nation.



Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, consul of the Latin League as of 297 BC, had witnessed the Greeks slowly influence them. He fought as a high-ranked general of the Greco-Latin War, and severely disliked having them on their peninsula. So, he sent his brother, Marcus Fabius Ambustus, to make a march on Magna Graecia. He was sent with thousands of troops, but attempted not to hit any major cities as to cause the least trouble. At the start, at least. After making it across the border into Magna Graecia from Formiae, Ambustus moved into the small town of Neapolis, and then to Volcet, a loyal formerly-Roman town. After securing those two towns for the Latins, he made a march on the second, larger Neapolis. Troops had been stationed there, as it was a major port city near the border. After hearing of the Latins coming from the east, they entered formation and started a battle. However, the Latins won within a week, and Ambustus marched on the ports. His troops stole all the major military boats, using them to cross the Adriatic into Epirus.

After reaching the city of Apollonia, another battle ensued. The Latin troops, on boat, were much weaker than the Greek troops on land. The move of visiting Epirus proved to be a bad one, as it only made the news of the war get out quicker. Alexander at Macedon found out soon enough, and sent backup legions to remove the final Latin troops. Ambustus fled with the remaining armies, going across the Adriatic on track to Latin possessions. He landed in the port town of Merinum, and quickly spent his time rebuilding his troops. By mid-296, his troops were mostly re-trained, and ready to make a march to secure more border towns. However, Alexander had received wind of this plan, and believed they would make a march only a few months after Apollonia. With the time it took Ambustus to retrain his troops, two heavily trained legions were sent up the coasts of Magna Graecia. They were originally supposed to converge at Neapolis, but a change of plans occurred until the general, after he found plans to invade the formerly-Roman city of Canusium.



The Battle of Canusium was one of the biggest points of the war, even if it had quite few troops fighting. It turned out to be a massive Hellenic victory, as the two legions massively outnumbered the now-scrappy troops led by Ambustus. Canusium lasted for three months at the end of 296, and ended with the death of Ambustus, and the scattering and subsequent capture of the remaining Latin armies. After receiving news of this, Consul (now dictator, as they were in a state of war) Rullianus came up with a new plan. Being a man of high military planning, he deciding to divide up the remaining armies, to send to the various border cities. After doing this, they’d fight off the Greek invaders, and then make an offensive on Magna Graecia.

A separate plan was to invade and capture Illyria, to use as a bargaining chip against Greece. Troops were sent from the majorly military-based city of Ariminum, across the Adriatic (with more supplies than they had last time). A march was planned on the capital city of Andetrium, but the plans were picked up. The queen of Illyria ordered troops to engage the Latins on the sea, performing any maneuvers necessary to keep from getting to the mainland. In early-294 BC, the Battle of the Adriatic broke out, after the Illyrian ships saw the Latin ones. This became one of the turning points of the war, as it saw the entrance of another force on the side of Greece. With Hellenic reinforcements, the Illyrian ships managed to beat out the Latins at sea. Soon after this, the Latins made peace with Illyria, putting their chances of conquest down to zero.



Soon after the Battle of the Adriatic, Rullianus’ plan was put into action in the south. Legions and legions of troops were sent to defend their borders, but the Latins didn’t expect a large offensive from the Hellenic. Soon enough, however, thousands of troops from Poseidonia (converted to a military town after the breakout of the war) marched on the town of Campeva. The Latins were overwhelmed, but won the battle, pushing the Greeks out of their nation. After hearing of the loss, Alexander was dumbfounded. Realizing the war was not going to be as easy as he first thought, he asked the more high-ranked generals to lead the armies. The 70-year-old Lysimachus was commissioned to lead the entirety of the remaining Hellenic army, in a state of total warfare against the Latins. Of course, defensive troops would still be stationed in the west, but the east became a more necessary focal point. Lysimachus was sent out of his home in Pella, sailing down to Xarax to collect Spartan troops. After gathering supplies to make the journey to Lefkania, he set off with nearly fifty thousand troops. He marched through Syracuse with them, gathering people to bring their amount up. After this stop, he sailed off again, up to the coast of the Latin League.

The Battle of Sipontum brought down the last defenses that the Latin League had. The town was the last heavily defended one, yet the battle was quick. The Hellenic troops lost only a few men, while the Latins lost thousands. While Sipontum was easy, toppling the other fiercely Latin cities was harder to do. Two years later, Lysimachus was heavily damaged, and nearly a tenth of his troops had been lost in the heavy battles, various conditions, and raids. However, the plan was still intact, and the Battle of Rome was ensued. The forty-five thousand Hellenic troops marched on the undefended Rome, who only had twenty thousand left after sending most of their legions into a defense position. Even so, Rome was not willing to give up the land of their home so easily, leading the battle to last for fifteen months. Lysimachus survived, but died two months later from an infection (related to this battle in particular). Eventually, after fighting a war of attrition, the Greeks finally destroyed the last of the Latin troops in Rome.



A peace deal was made, but Alexander had heavily destroyed the Latin identity. The Second Roman Republic was founded on the grounds of Athenian democracy, and only covered the land around Rome and Veii. The rest of the former Latin League joined the Hellenic Confederation as the Kingdom of Latiniká. Rome would basically become a vassal of the Greeks, while Rasenna would be free until the Greeks came for them as well (Eventually forming the Kingdom of Raska). Rome would be finally destroyed in 254 BC, after a revolution and final war incurred against Latiniká. Rome would go down to become the last rebels to the Greek system of government, and their legacy would live on in the many nations who followed their rebellion against the Hellenic. Overall, the Second Greco-Latin War was viewed to be one of the largest historical events, and went down as the final stand for Rome.


Full Map Here

Red Lines - Path of General Marcus Fabius Ambustus
Green - Hellenic Reinforcements (March of Magna Graecia)
Orange - Roman Reinforcements (Southern Latin Plan + Battle of the Adriatic)
Turquoise - Path of General Lysimachus (Battle of Rome)



Full Map Here

Red Boxes - Roman Infantry
Red Outlined Boxes - Roman Cavalry
Green Boxes - Greek Infantry
Green Outlined Boxes - Greek Cavalry