Ladies and gentlemen place your bets! Though seriously someone make this a collab already!
"What Madness Is This?" Volume I: The Union Forever
- Thread starter Napoleon53
- Start date
Notice I said "They have a reason to blame them." It's a matter of perception. Churchill doesn't need to spin anything in that regard and has a ready made reason to whip up Yankee levels of complete and utter hate among his people
We now have an official mascot! He's basically the WMIT version of Vault Boy or the Spacer's Choice Moon Man. Based on an actual statue I own from the Bicentennial, Falkanner presents us with LIBERTY LAD:
Here's the real statue I own. I found it at a flea market and it was so creepy-faced I had to have it, lol:
Here's the real statue I own. I found it at a flea market and it was so creepy-faced I had to have it, lol:
Come get you Liberty Lad Snack Cakes! He's always watching...We now have an official mascot! He's basically the WMIT version of Vault Boy or the Spacer's Choice Moon Man. Based on an actual statue I own from the Bicentennial, Falkanner presents us with LIBERTY LAD:
Here's the real statue I own. I found it at a flea market and it was so creepy-faced I had to have it, lol:
THIS IS THE WAR ROOM
THIS IS THE WAR ROOM
A Yankee soldier guards the Republican Union Capitol Building, home of the War Room, 1936
A Yankee soldier guards the Republican Union Capitol Building, home of the War Room, 1936
Joe Steele stormed into the chambers of the Capitol Building's War Room that morning of December 25, 1936, like a raging bear. He shoved open the massive double-doors and stood there, an arm on each knob, shaking violently, veins bulging on his graying forehead. "What in the name of the Prophet is going on, damn it?!" he shrieked, finally letting the doors close behind him. Two junior officers, terrified out of their minds, reluctantly moved back into guard position on the other side of the doors. It was the day after Patriot-Saints Day, but all was not quiet all through the house.
The War Room occupied the west wing of the Capitol Building. It had once been a conference room for Custer and his adjutants so many years ago. In 1929, it had seen a massive overall. One side of the room was a colossal map of the New World on a huge mahogany table trimmed with brass eagles and stars, while the other side of the War Room mostly consisted of various desks, telephones, and filing cabinets. The hardwood floors showed age but still gave off almost a mirror shine. Large MDP banners hung from the walls, spaced between the windows that allowed one to look into the Capitol Gardens. The Gardens both gave a pleasant view and also prevented would-be spies from photographing through the windows. But the only view anyone was getting right now was Joe Steele, in living color, about to have a stroke from pure boiling rage over the terrible news he had just received.
Acme Ashton, the 74 year-old Yale man and former Legate General of Lincoln's Hammer, had been promoted to Supreme Marshal by Steele following the "stress-induced murder-suicide" of Ambrose Jansen and his wife. While far beyond his glory years of torching entire swathes of Canada during the Great World War, Ashton still cut an imposing figure in his dress greens and khaki trousers, his peaked visored cap with a massive brass eagle badge on the front, and the white hair that framed his square face. But even the man behind the Kawartha Lakes campaign didn't know what to say to the enraged President without risking his own neck. About twenty other officers all stood silent, arms outstretched in salute, faces pale as sheets.
"Mr. President, we are honored with your presen-" began Ashton, also raising his arm, before he was promptly cut off by Steele.
"-Spare me, Ashton! This isn't a tea party, this is a war! Please tell me, right now, that the report I was just handed at the Presidential Mansion was incorrect."
The Supreme Marshal looked down at the floor a brief moment and licked his flat, cracked lips. The bags under his eyes were quite visible and the stress of playing pick-up in the middle of a war was clearly getting to the old man. "Mr. President, I am afraid it is true. The Canal... has been breached."
Steele reacted to this horrific news by running his fingers through his mane of slicked, greased hair and walking over to a chair near Ashton, where he promptly collapsed into the red velveteen cushion. "Ashton... this is unacceptable. The Canal is the lifeblood of this country." With a motion of his hand, two adjutants pushed his chair against the table where he slowly took out a simple pipe and began to pack it with Morton's Finest Pipe Tobacco. Steele smoked infrequently, remembering the lessons of his adopted father's demise, but he especially was prone to the habit in times of great stress.
The aging Supreme Marshal of the Grand Army of the Republic nodded his head in reluctant agreement. "Yes, quite, sir. I received news myself only moments before you did. I cannot possibly express my shock and dismay at this current turn of events, but I have my trust in Jehovah that we shall quickly prevail." The smoke puffing out of the President's pipe irritated his passageways, but he was just grateful Steele was not having one of his "pocket breakfasts." He had seen the man take greasy, hours-old strips of bacon out of his jacket pocket, wrapped in a handkerchief, and start munching.
"It is disgusting beyond all measure that those Neuties hold our own damn canal, the most vital trade hub in the hemisphere. What the hell happened to our boys at the border?" Steele asked in a depressed, quiet tone, as he was clearly trying to keep his blood pressure under control. "Legion XX is a Rock of Gibraltar. One of the finest units in the whole GAR and damn sure the best Army Group VI has to offer."
"Mr. President, if I may answer that question?" came the voice of a sturdy, middle-aged officer in the uniform of the Republican Union Military Police. His light blue eyes and youthful face stood in stark contrast to the sagging, bagging scowls of the older officers around him. He was probably about 40, but more than a little bit young to wear the rank of general on his sleeves.
Joe Steele raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who are you, my man? I don't recall meeting you before."
The young general clicked his heels and bowed slightly, replying in quiet dignity, "General Albrecht Durer Sanders, Iowai RUMP. We have not met before, Excellency, as I have been only recently promoted after the most... unfortunate-but well deserved!- demise of General John Harrison."
Steele raised a finger as if remembering everything. "Ah yes! Harrison. Good fighting man. Shame he ran around on his wife like that. You may proceed, General Sanders."
Sanders nodded. "Legion XX reported heavy Neuty presence along the border since the war began two months ago, but they had yet to see any real action beyond a few skirmishes." The General stepped over to the strategic map, picked up a stick, and pointed it at the toy soldier labeled "Legion XX," which was placed over the Panama Canal. Steele pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket to see more clearly on the huge map. "Now, we thought that the main fight was probably going to be in the Caribbean but we all could have guessed that the Neuties second target would be the canal. Multiple attempts at sabotage have been halted by the XXth and remnants of Navy Group V that are currently running protection routes in and around the canal area. It appeared perhaps the attack on Point Pierce was the best they had for us, and the Infee threat to the south was a paper tiger. Unfortunately, last night several thousand Peruvian and Colombian paratroopers dropped over the Canal Zone. We destroyed dozens of planes, but there were enough that got through that they were able to cause mayhem at Camp Gilbert, the Canal Zone chief fortification. They also utilized small, civilian aerocraft to more easily dodge our A-A grinders. The airdrop was preceded by a devastating full-on assault on the front line defenses on the border itself. The XXth boys were pushing on, full-steam, against the Neuties infantry assault. Unfortunately, with paratroops wreaking havoc in the rear and dismantling our antenna array, communication became difficult. A few paratroops got lucky and took over a few batteries of ours and used them to decimate our boys from behind. Split in two and with an estimated 70 percent of Legion XX's ranking officers dead, a rout ensued." Sanders knocked the American toy soldier out of the way and positioned a toy soldier carrying a Neutrality Pact flag over the Panama Canal. "That is where we are now."
Steele bit his lip from anxiety and said, with pain in his voice, "This is disgusting beyond all imagination. You say 70 percent of Legion XX's ranking officers are out. What are the casualties in total? What is the status of their Legionary Eagle?"
Ashton fielded that question and said, with a bitter somberness, "Mr. President, they appeared to be targeting our officers deliberately and those who were captured were strung upside down on walls and are being beaten mercilessly and used for bayonet practice."
"Jehovah-damned savages! These animals will pay for this atrocity!" shouted one nearby colonel, with a chorus of hearty cheers and table-smacks following his battle cry.
Ashton lightly tapped the table in discouraged agreement. "With Jehovah's help, yes. But back to your question, sir... Legion XX is reporting 5 cohorts captured or killed. Their Legionary Eagle's whereabouts are currently unknown. It was last seen at 0400 hours."
Steele's mouth dropped in shock. "No... That's impossible. That's 10,000 men! What the actual hell is going on? Have Legate General Stein bring up his men in reserve at Headerburg, and order all RUMP officers in the region to answer to him. That's just fifteen miles north of the Canal. That should be enough to push back against these vermin. They've got to be running low on manpower and ammunition after killing 10,000 of our damn boys."
Ashton paused for a moment before answering, his expression not unlike the one of a man about to punt a puppy into an oncoming truck. He knew the blood-curdling rage that was about to be unleashed. He crossed his hands behind his back, stood as straight as a board, and answered his Commander-In-Chief. "Mr. President... yesterday... yesterday was our holiday, as you are well-aware. Stein... Stein... Stein has already pushed ahead. Stein... Stein was drunk. Most of our boys were. It was a Patriot-Saints Day celebration that got a bit out of control. Stein... Stein is dead, sir. He was killed almost instantly. Legion XX does not have a commander." With that, he gestured at Sanders who removed the XXth Legion marker from the map.
Joe Steele shot Ashton a look that even the Supreme Marshal had never seen before. It was a look of such pure rage that it almost appeared calm. Slowly, a shaking hand gave away the anger as it moved to grab the arm of the glasses. With a slow, stuttering motion the glasses were removed and sat on the table. "Everyone but the following, leave the room. Ashton. Sanders. Harris. Cochran. Rockwell."
With an uncomfortable silence, all the men who were in the room, besides the few designated by the President, shuffled out, leaving an eerie silence in the great chamber. As soon as the door closed, like a bolt of lightning, Steele shot to his feet, grabbed the chair he had been sitting in, and began to frantically smash it against the map table, shrieking, "This! Is! Fucked!" with every swing of the disintegrating, splintering antique. He finally broke it down to just two remaining legs held together with a single piece of trim before hurling that across the room, striking a large painting of Strong Father Abe and sending it crashing down onto the floor, glass shattering everywhere. "This is fucked to the Void and back! What the actual fuck is going on with this man's military, Ashton?! I put you in charge of this shitshow, hoping you would do a better job than that Southron aristocratic hillbilly before you, and what do I get? A dead, drunk legate and a dead, drunk legion right on the fucking doorstep of the New Jerusalem! And those who aren't dead and drunk are fucking captured and hanging by their bootlaces off of MY canal, my fucking canal, gentlemen! Now tell me, Ashton, in no uncertain terms, exactly how and by what time today, and I mean this very literally, we will once again plant our flag over the most valuable real-estate on the planet!"
The remaining officers in the room were shaking in their boots (aside from Cochran, who almost seemed to be enjoying the show). Steele had never gone this far off the deep end before. Ashton spoke haltingly but did his best to reassure and calm the savage beast. "Your excellency... do not be without hope, for I... I have already received confirmation from Legate General Fleetwood that the entirety of Army Group VI is on the move to the canal and should be in the combat zone within three hours. You are welcome to remain in the War Room until we take it back, which we will. Due to obvious reasons we cannot use air power to push our assault forward, but we will take it back through the might and power of an entire Army Group bearing down up it. We will take it back and when we do no mercy shall be given to the Infee Voidmonkeys who desecrated our soil. And we shall retrieve the Legionary Eagle and have it cleansed by the Council. We shall rebuild Legion XX stronger than ever, and we shall redeem its legacy, Mr. President."
Suddenly, Ser. Bill Cochran, the AFC representative in the War Room and in Steele's clique of advisors, spoke up in a calm tone from the small table he sat at, arms crossed over his crimson uniform, a cup of coffee steaming next to him. He seemed entirely unaffected by the President's breakdown. "Mr. President, Supreme Marshal," he began, raising his right arm slightly, "If I may suggest that you call upon the Church to do its part in this fight to retake our sacred soil, I recommend Order 12 be implemented."
"Order 12?" Ashton raised an eyebrow. Cochran gave him the creeps, yet he couldn't figure out what it was that was so off-putting about the man. He was black, but Ashton wasn't a racist, of course. Maybe it was just his constantly calm demeanor which gave off the air of a serial killer in the Kissimmee flicks.
Steele suddenly seemed to calm himself as he recalled what Cochran was talking about. "Order 12... Yes. Yes. Order 12, my prerogative to nationalize HOST and send them to war. Excellent. We shall see how these vermin like it when the Holy Order of the Sons of Tobias are knocking on their door. I shall take everything from these animals. Everything!"
Ser. Cochran smiled wickedly. "I shall ring up the Reverend-Colonel immediately and inform him Order 12 is a go, then, Mr. President?"
Steele smiled back, coldly replying, "Yes. Give him a call for me."
Dammit. Ashton quietly cursed under his breath. Now the Church was interfering with his strategy. Just terrific.
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tfw the infees also have guns this time
What did happen to the 10k grunts though-- are they POWs or have they joined their officers in... contributing to the South American war effort?
The AFC have joined the fray now. Fingers crossed they make things an even bigger shitshow for the RU. All we need is for the security forces of the Economy Clans to make an appearance and we should have pretty much all the flavours of RU Madness. Imagine how pissed off an army grunt would be having to take orders from essentially a glorified bank security guard.
And the Neutrals better be using every damn second they have controlling the canal to pack in with explosives and turn the whole thing into a trap. If that’s Steeles reaction to hearing it being taken by the enemy, imagine how he’d act hearing the Neutrals effectively erased it from the map.
And the Neutrals better be using every damn second they have controlling the canal to pack in with explosives and turn the whole thing into a trap. If that’s Steeles reaction to hearing it being taken by the enemy, imagine how he’d act hearing the Neutrals effectively erased it from the map.
With the technology of the time...
A) How long would it take for the Neutrals to make the Canal unusable for 6 months after recapture?
B) How long would it take for the Neutrals to make the Canal unusable for 6 months after recapture *and* have it be a trap for when the RU does get there?
Anyone think the Neutrality pact could turn this into a Vietnam/Afghanistan style conflict? They might actually win by getting the RU to give up?
There is no way in the world that the netruls don’t blow up the Canal Zone, they will be working as quick as possible to destroy much as possible
Also this renforcemeant force are they gonna try to attempt a naval invasion because rushed naval invasion don’t go well so best case scenario after a lot of fighting they establish a small beach head there is only so much blind fantasims will do
Also this renforcemeant force are they gonna try to attempt a naval invasion because rushed naval invasion don’t go well so best case scenario after a lot of fighting they establish a small beach head there is only so much blind fantasims will do
Agreed that the Pact would have to be complete idiots to not blow the Canal. Their economies don't depend on it, the Union's does. Blow it and you stand a good chance of straight-up breaking the Union even if you lose.
I always feel sorry for Steele's subordinates. They have to suffer the anger of a madman every single day, without even the chance to say something that may upset him. Poor things.
About Order 12...why am I getting a particularly dark vibe from this?
About Order 12...why am I getting a particularly dark vibe from this?
I hope the RU has an religious civil war with the HOST being nationalized. I expect Steele to win but not without some major losses. I just want the RUs win streak to break since losing to infees would more-than-likely cause some mass suicides as people think the end times are coming.
Hahahahaha, the Yankees really got caught with their pants down on this one, didn't they? I mean Jesus Christ, their own troops killed a commanding officer on Patriot-Saints! Now, let's see if the Yanks can get the Canal back before the Neuties blow it.
EDIT: Also, what the hell is going on with HOST? Are they an elite unit now that Steele thinks can turn the tide? Or does he just want to kill the sons of his ex teacher?
EDIT: Also, what the hell is going on with HOST? Are they an elite unit now that Steele thinks can turn the tide? Or does he just want to kill the sons of his ex teacher?
I honestly don’t think he will win the war religious fantism can only do so much
If the take the canal zone back and the canal is still there in some form then the netruels due to military incompetence might deserve to lose the war
Here's the way I look at it. It sounds like the Canal Zone situation is still ongoing and fluid. It's also massive. If that Army Group gets there on time, I doubt the Neuties would have had time to rig the whole canal with explosives. But they have to actually repel the enemy for it to stick. It isn't impossible, especially since it sounds like the Neutrals are trapped behind Yankee lines. But this is a huge thing that Steele needs to resolve quickly.
It's also possible that the Neutrality Pact never intended to win the canal zone fight... they were just going to destroy it or render it impassable. The fight was not to win but to delay the RU until the Canal is nonfunctional. (It's very possible for them to render the canal inoperable even if they do not have time to blow the entire thing up).