THE CONQUEST OF NEW ZION: A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPERATION MANIFEST CLIMAX
I hope this helps everyone understand OpMC better. It's such a gargantuan topic to even broach. Let me know if you have any questions or ideas.
Australian troops share a moment with their American allies. Australia was the first member of the League to come to America's side, shipping out 20,000 Kanga volunteers to Panama in 1937. By 1949, almost 35,000 Australians had been killed in combat. Protector Alfred Hindmarsh passed away in 1938, with a general election in the Australian House of Common Welfare installing Wesley Rutherford as Protector, and it was Rutherford who would see out Manifest Climax to the end.
A Norwegian soldier in full kit in 1940. Norway would eventually change to a copy of the American uniform in 1942 to accommodate for the tropical conditions of South America, a far cry from Scandinavia. This included their weapons, which changed from old surplus Europan gear to modern Yankee guns. A total of 7,300 Norwegians would find themselves in an early grave by 1949.
Boys of the Carolinian Marine Corps a Neutie position sometime in 1942. The Vulture of the Confederation would lose the most troops in the conflict of any League member except America. By 1949, almost 100,000 Cokie boys and girls had given their all in the jungles and badlands of South America.
Soldiers of the West Germanian Army in tropical kit, circa 1943. West Germania would lose 16,000 sons to the conquest of New Zion.
The Mittelafrikan Reich was dealing with the aftermath of the Congo Sea Project and internal for most of Manifest Climax, but some men, like those pictured above, did go serve in South America.
Following the 1944 sale of Dutch Guiana, Dutchmen who did not return to the homeland or Dutch Indochina found ready employment with Beerensteyn Fortuneseekers, often known as the "Beerensteyn Bears" by their fellow fighters. Despite being rented soldiers fighting for pay, they were some of the most efficient and well-trained troopers of Manifest Climax. Many would remain in the old colony, which would become the foundation for the North Shore Development Area, sinking their profits into increasingly modern and urban homes and cities and finding ready employment as American corporations were given a free hand in the NSDA, sometimes colloquially called the "Nasdee."
MAJOR CAMPAIGNS:
THE FIRST AND SECOND SACKS OF BOGOTA
(League Victories)
February 20, 1937 - April 20, 1937
December 7, 1942 - December 18, 1942
BATTLE OF BLANCO CASTLE
(Neutrality Pact Victory)
July 3, 1937 - July 5, 1937
THE CARACAS CAMPAIGN
(League victory)
July 14, 1937 - January 10, 1939
THE BATTLE OF PORT RECALL
(League victory)
August 2, 1942
THE BATTLE OF LA PARAGUA
(Neutrality Pact Victory)
May 4 - 7, 1943
THE NUKING OF RIO/PEACEMAKER'S LIGHT
(League Victory)
(July 4, 1945)
(July 5, 1945)
(July 6, 1945)
(July 4, 1946)
(July 4, 1947)
(July 4, 1948)
(July 4, 1949)
THE FALL OF THE PACT
(1948-49)
THE CONQUEST OF NEW ZION:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPERATION MANIFEST CLIMAX
"This is Divine Prophecy moving out of the dark and into the light."
- Supreme Marshal Acme Ashton
"They say we cannot conquer and hold this much soil. We are not conquering it. We are taking what Jev has ordained, and through him victory is inevitable."
- President and Atheling Joseph Steele
"This is a triumph of the Pinnacle Man. This is a shaking, violent orgasm of American Essence."
- Director of Propaganda Errol Leonard (Public Affairs Office, Grand Army of the Republic)
USEFUL STATISTICS:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPERATION MANIFEST CLIMAX
"This is Divine Prophecy moving out of the dark and into the light."
- Supreme Marshal Acme Ashton
"They say we cannot conquer and hold this much soil. We are not conquering it. We are taking what Jev has ordained, and through him victory is inevitable."
- President and Atheling Joseph Steele
"This is a triumph of the Pinnacle Man. This is a shaking, violent orgasm of American Essence."
- Director of Propaganda Errol Leonard (Public Affairs Office, Grand Army of the Republic)
USEFUL STATISTICS:
- Operation Manifest Climax began September 11, 1936, and officially ended on September 11, 1949.
- It was the longest continual war in American history.
- Despite being "attacked first" and the vast scale of the conflict, the Republican Union's gov't chose to refer to it as an "ongoing national security operation" for morale purposes, although this eventually fell out of favor.
- The R.U. was joined by its fellow League of Nations members, the Carolinas, Australia, Norway, the Britannic Union, Holy Nippon, West Germania, and Mittelafrika.
- The Neutrality Pact was officially formed during the Great World War by Gran Colombia and Peru, seeking to avoid entrance into the conflict.
- Despite their initial goals, the Neutrality Pact formed the Cooperative Pact of 1913 and attacked the United Empire of Brazil and Rio de la Plata, after many years of disputes and seeking to keep the Americans from having to move through their land to fight the U.E.B.R.P..
- The revolutionary Republic of Argentina joined the Neutrality Pact shortly after its independence from the U.E.B.R.P., on April 1, 1913.
- By the end of the GWW, Brazil had transformed into an Eduist-Beutelist state by Reynaldo Edu, starting with his Green Revolution of 1913.
- Brazil was prone to conflict with its neighbors in the inter-war period, and thus did not formally join the Neutrality Pact until 1938, following the official fall of Gran Colombia.
- Several Beutelists and anarchist communes were dispersed through South America since the GWW. Most of these did not "officially" join the Pact, but they nonetheless fought as hard as anyone.
- Before Operation Manifest Climax, in 1936, the population of South America stood at 90,000,000.
- After Operation Manifest Climax, in 1949, the population of South America stood at 30-35,000,000, and dropping rapidly.
- The actual losses of Neutrality Pact combatant, non-civilian forces are unknown because much of the official records were incinerated or destroyed, but are estimated to range from 30-35,000,000.
- In 1936, the Better population of the Republican Union was about 120,000,000.
- In 1949, the Better population of the Republican Union was about 140,000,000 and rising rapidly as the wounded, retiring, and those at the end of tours returned stateside.
- The total losses of American combatant forces were about 4,500,000, with about 1,500,000 unaccounted for, AWOL, or MIA.
- An estimated 10,000,000 American soldiers were wounded in Manifest Climax. Approximately 1 in 10 of these were life-changing injuries.
- By 1970, a further 700,000-1,000,000 American veterans of Manifest Climax had died from exposure to Black Bliss defoliant, various, chemical and biological weapons and agents, and radiation exposure from Project Peacemaker.
- In 1936, the American GNP was around 100 billion.
- in 1949, the American GNP was at 400 billion.
- Manifest Climax cost the Union government an estimated 350 billion dollars, although that number is likely quite higher due to "black budget" projects and weapons R&D.
- By 1949, the Republican Union had dropped 40 atomic bombs on South American soil.
- While most nuclear attacks were small, especially in the early years of nuclear war, the largest atomic bomb dropped by the Union was Fat Bastard, at 50 Kilotons, onto the Patagonian People's Anarchist Republic, as part of Operation Happy Birthday in 1948.
- By 1949, Republican Union had dropped 8 millions tons of conventional explosives onto South America. The number of conventional small-arms rounds was never verified, and is likely inestimable.
- Around 15,000,000 men and women served in the various branches of the R.U. military machine, forming the largest land army on earth. Half of them would see combat in some form.
- An unknown number of people served in the Neutrality Pact forces, as by 1949, most able-bodied men and women (and even some who weren't) took up arms against the invasion. This gave the Union yet another reason to downplay the severity of the massacres being conducted, at least at first, portraying the enemy as everywhere and under every rock and tree.
- The American unit with the most losses was the G.A.R.'s 320th Cohort, which began the conflict with some 2,000 men, sustained 35% casualties under Legate General Mike Fleetwood's command in the early years of the war, and then were massacred to the last man in the dead of night on November 3, 1941. They were the only unit of cohort size or greater that was totally wiped out, with not a man left. Even Fleetwood perished that dreadful night. The 320th Cohort's number was retired from active duty in a ceremony and collective funeral a month later.
OPENING GAMBITS:
The Republican Union of the late 1930s was in a unfortunate position. Operation Manifest Climax had backfired following the Neutrality Pact's Sunday punch on Point Pierce before the invasion was ready. The Supreme Marshal of the Grand Army of the Republic, Ambrose Jansen, had been purged in the fall of 1936 in the face of lackluster offensive operations that did little to please the bloodthirsty President Joe Steele. Acme Ashton, the so-called "Torchboy of Canada" in the Great World War, had risen to the occasion, but the elderly man was nearing 80 years and wanted nothing more than a quiet retirement. He would watch with millions of others as the Panama Canal was seized by the Pact and demolished with heavy explosives, crippling the economy of the region and triggering an economic depression across the country. Despite the efforts of the Banking Clan to keep face and talk up the war effort, many were taking their banknotes and converting them to gold and silver and preparing for the worst. In 1937, a secret defoliating agent was deployed by the ORRA Torchboys, the elite troopers placed in charge of eradicating the Amazon rain forest and the guerrillas that hid withing it. This defoliant, code-named "Black Bliss," had the unintentional effect of joining the northward winds and formed a hundred foot-tall wall of ash and poison that swept across Old Mexico. As a future Prophet, William Graham, accompanied his friend Andrew, soon to be an Apostle, south to Metropolis to help Andrew's family, the two men would see the riotous and anarchic nature of life in the wartime mega-city. Farmers and ranchers and miners and ordinary folk were overwhelming the city and law enforcement as they desperately tried to escape the brutal and deadly ash clouds. The valley wherein Metropolis was located shielded much of the city from its effects, but the storms continued north all the way to southern Texas and even the swamplands near New Antioch, where it thankfully bogged down and dissipated. Unfortunately, it dissipated into the water and wildlife, causing death and mutations in the local fauna.
Philadelphia, in mid-1937, knew full-well that Acme Ashton was on his way to Steele's ash-heap if he didn't do something quickly. Acme Ashton knew this. As his forces pressed further into South America, his successes were made negligible by the ongoing crisis in Cuba, where rebelling Inferior laborers and political prisoners were attempting to set up an "Infee republic." When Steele took the drastic action of signing Executive Order 12, following the enemy seizure of the Panama Canal, and nationalized the Holy Order of the Sons of Tobias, the winds of change were finally blowing on the Cuban battlefield. HOST was one of the most elite and highly-trained private paramilitary units in the entire world and consisted exclusively of the many sons and grandsons of the Blind Christian Gentleman, Mr. Tobias. They were led by Edgar Gabriel Tobiason. Unlike certain other paramilitaries and soldiers of fortune, such as the Overton boys, HOST's loyalty to the Union was actually unquestionable, rivaled only by their loyalty to their own blood-brothers. HOST had never been used in an active war zone, having mostly been hired out as private security, but they had all been training for this moment. Each Tobiason considered his life the property of the Republican Union and Jehovah. In the summer of 1937, the Holy Order deployed in Cuba, landing at Point Pierce, still a stronghold of Union power on the island. Using their own self-funded weapons and equipment, and chanting their Enochian hymns, they declared Cuba to be the site of a black flag operation, meaning all Inferiors found resisting would instantly be executed.
Inferiors who failed to take up arms would be boarded onto prison barges and sold at auction in New Antioch around the clock to the Economic Clans. It was an ironic twist of fate to see men such as Huey Long, proprietor of the Kingfish Supermarket chain, bidding on human beings in what had formerly been New Orleans, the slaving capital of the Old South. But these weren't "slaves," --at least, according to the well-heeled men in white suits promenading the cages of Inferiors with their lady-friends and business colleagues. These were "indentured Infees," now sole property of the Clans and companies which purchased them. ORRA would no longer rent them out, using Cuba as a base of operation. Keeping so many Infees together was deemed to be to great a risk now, so it was now the responsibility of the individual companies and corporations to corral and lock away their Voidlings when not needed for shampoo testing, medical research, or general and varied menial hard labor. There was a second reason for this grand "close-out" sale by ORRA in the late 1930s to early 1940s, and that second reason was the looming prospect of millions of Inferiors currently awaiting conquering in South America. Most of North America's Inferior population had been killed by the Cleansing Month and by spaying and neutering subsequent generations to keep their numbers in check. One of the most desirable reasons for companies to buy, buy, buy during the "Great Inferior Fire Sale" at the dawn of the Pinnacle Future was that all Inferiors currently listed in the S.I.N. Number database spoke English. The South Americans would very much be a Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking lot, and ORRA would be needed to beat and whip understanding into the untold hordes of foreign prisoners.
But for the every-day Yankee in the late 1930s and early 1940s, at least north of the Black Bliss Dustbowl, life was still looking decent. The Destiny Road still connected the country, free land and government contracts were still ripe for the picking in the young states of Old Canada and Old California, and Johnny Gamble's Confederation of the Carolinas continued to exist as a quaint escape from the everyday mundane lives of wartime America. In places like Barnumsburg or Boston, aside from occasional reports of the neighbor boy from down the street being "KIA" in South America, life was still moving along. The regional layout of the GAR made sure local Legions fought in their territory, so most northern units had yet to deploy in South America until they were slowly marched south in the 1940s as the war picked up steam. When Eduist Brazil joined the fray in 1938, following the collapse of Gran Colombia, massively expanding the area of operations, it was clear to all Americans that the war was far from over and many more of their sons and daughters would fall in combat before victory could be achieved.
In Gran Colombia, the government was virtually nonexistent by late 1937, and Presidente Rolando Pliego was nowhere to be seen, possibly burned up by the Black Bliss and the Torchboys or perhaps lurking in a bunker somewhere hoping to live a few years on canned beans and boiled piss. The Gran Colombian parliament was, however, relocated to the much safer Peru. A military junta had been ruling Peru since the Lima Coup of 1891 and its subsequant 16-and-a-half purged generalissimos. For now, Juan Martin Freixa was the Atlas trying to keep the Neutrality Pact from falling, and his men seemed to have rallied around him in their noble crusade to prevent the eradication of their people, race, and history at the hands of the monstrous tyranny of the Republican Union. While Gran Colombia was a complete disaster and the forests were burning bright as day in the muggy southern nights, the Union was having far from a good time with the war, and hopes in Lima still focused on the idea that the Union could simply be exhausted and brought to terms. In a period of peace, Peru and what might remain of the the Pact could possibly lobby a foreign power to assist them in curtailing any further Yankee expansionism. The advent of the Great European Schism of 1934 made this feat more difficult, however, as roughly half the population of the Pact favored the Supercatholics, seeing them as an answer to Yankee fascism, and the other percentage favored the more moderate and modern Avignon Papacy and Caesar. Even in the face of complete destruction, Generalissimo Freixa worried that his Pact could eat itself through internal dissent caused by the divided papacy. Further complicating matters was Brazil's "People's Pope," the rabidly-charismatic Pope Stefano. Despite the fact that the Beutelists and the Pact had fought shadow wars against each other during the aftermath of the Great World War, the Pact was calling upon and receiving Brazilian military aide, first in the form of ships and weaponry, and later in the form of actual troops beginning in 1939.
Brazil, operating under its bizarre Eduist philosophy, was now being ruled by Reynaldo Edu's successor and right-hand man, Tito Branco, an aging revolutionary with a full head of white hair. It was suspected by many that, in the event of his retirement or death, the new and wildly popular People's Pope Stefano would actually assume the mantle of emergency power and declare the country to be an Eduist theocracy, as none of Branco's adjutants seemed to hold a candle to Stefano's popularity. Gran Colombia would hold out till early 1937, thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of it citizens, and guerrillas would tough-out Black Bliss and forest fires to continually make life for Americans there a living hell. When the Colombian collapse was obviously near, Brazil's Eduist People's Army began to march west to meet their new Anglo-Saxon foe. Brazil was accomplishing an amazing amount of industry in the late 1930s, but industry in Brazil was not infinite, and they could not make bricks without straw or guns without steel. As resources dwindled, American bombing runs became more frequent, and the lack of trade partners in the era of three popes and near-total blockade by the Yankee Navy put them at a great disadvantage, it became clear to many Brazilians that they should prepare for a war of attrition armed with their wits and farm tools. Using bows, pitchforks, pistols and scythes, they readied themselves for the bloodbath the 1940s would bring.
Philadelphia, in mid-1937, knew full-well that Acme Ashton was on his way to Steele's ash-heap if he didn't do something quickly. Acme Ashton knew this. As his forces pressed further into South America, his successes were made negligible by the ongoing crisis in Cuba, where rebelling Inferior laborers and political prisoners were attempting to set up an "Infee republic." When Steele took the drastic action of signing Executive Order 12, following the enemy seizure of the Panama Canal, and nationalized the Holy Order of the Sons of Tobias, the winds of change were finally blowing on the Cuban battlefield. HOST was one of the most elite and highly-trained private paramilitary units in the entire world and consisted exclusively of the many sons and grandsons of the Blind Christian Gentleman, Mr. Tobias. They were led by Edgar Gabriel Tobiason. Unlike certain other paramilitaries and soldiers of fortune, such as the Overton boys, HOST's loyalty to the Union was actually unquestionable, rivaled only by their loyalty to their own blood-brothers. HOST had never been used in an active war zone, having mostly been hired out as private security, but they had all been training for this moment. Each Tobiason considered his life the property of the Republican Union and Jehovah. In the summer of 1937, the Holy Order deployed in Cuba, landing at Point Pierce, still a stronghold of Union power on the island. Using their own self-funded weapons and equipment, and chanting their Enochian hymns, they declared Cuba to be the site of a black flag operation, meaning all Inferiors found resisting would instantly be executed.
Inferiors who failed to take up arms would be boarded onto prison barges and sold at auction in New Antioch around the clock to the Economic Clans. It was an ironic twist of fate to see men such as Huey Long, proprietor of the Kingfish Supermarket chain, bidding on human beings in what had formerly been New Orleans, the slaving capital of the Old South. But these weren't "slaves," --at least, according to the well-heeled men in white suits promenading the cages of Inferiors with their lady-friends and business colleagues. These were "indentured Infees," now sole property of the Clans and companies which purchased them. ORRA would no longer rent them out, using Cuba as a base of operation. Keeping so many Infees together was deemed to be to great a risk now, so it was now the responsibility of the individual companies and corporations to corral and lock away their Voidlings when not needed for shampoo testing, medical research, or general and varied menial hard labor. There was a second reason for this grand "close-out" sale by ORRA in the late 1930s to early 1940s, and that second reason was the looming prospect of millions of Inferiors currently awaiting conquering in South America. Most of North America's Inferior population had been killed by the Cleansing Month and by spaying and neutering subsequent generations to keep their numbers in check. One of the most desirable reasons for companies to buy, buy, buy during the "Great Inferior Fire Sale" at the dawn of the Pinnacle Future was that all Inferiors currently listed in the S.I.N. Number database spoke English. The South Americans would very much be a Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking lot, and ORRA would be needed to beat and whip understanding into the untold hordes of foreign prisoners.
But for the every-day Yankee in the late 1930s and early 1940s, at least north of the Black Bliss Dustbowl, life was still looking decent. The Destiny Road still connected the country, free land and government contracts were still ripe for the picking in the young states of Old Canada and Old California, and Johnny Gamble's Confederation of the Carolinas continued to exist as a quaint escape from the everyday mundane lives of wartime America. In places like Barnumsburg or Boston, aside from occasional reports of the neighbor boy from down the street being "KIA" in South America, life was still moving along. The regional layout of the GAR made sure local Legions fought in their territory, so most northern units had yet to deploy in South America until they were slowly marched south in the 1940s as the war picked up steam. When Eduist Brazil joined the fray in 1938, following the collapse of Gran Colombia, massively expanding the area of operations, it was clear to all Americans that the war was far from over and many more of their sons and daughters would fall in combat before victory could be achieved.
In Gran Colombia, the government was virtually nonexistent by late 1937, and Presidente Rolando Pliego was nowhere to be seen, possibly burned up by the Black Bliss and the Torchboys or perhaps lurking in a bunker somewhere hoping to live a few years on canned beans and boiled piss. The Gran Colombian parliament was, however, relocated to the much safer Peru. A military junta had been ruling Peru since the Lima Coup of 1891 and its subsequant 16-and-a-half purged generalissimos. For now, Juan Martin Freixa was the Atlas trying to keep the Neutrality Pact from falling, and his men seemed to have rallied around him in their noble crusade to prevent the eradication of their people, race, and history at the hands of the monstrous tyranny of the Republican Union. While Gran Colombia was a complete disaster and the forests were burning bright as day in the muggy southern nights, the Union was having far from a good time with the war, and hopes in Lima still focused on the idea that the Union could simply be exhausted and brought to terms. In a period of peace, Peru and what might remain of the the Pact could possibly lobby a foreign power to assist them in curtailing any further Yankee expansionism. The advent of the Great European Schism of 1934 made this feat more difficult, however, as roughly half the population of the Pact favored the Supercatholics, seeing them as an answer to Yankee fascism, and the other percentage favored the more moderate and modern Avignon Papacy and Caesar. Even in the face of complete destruction, Generalissimo Freixa worried that his Pact could eat itself through internal dissent caused by the divided papacy. Further complicating matters was Brazil's "People's Pope," the rabidly-charismatic Pope Stefano. Despite the fact that the Beutelists and the Pact had fought shadow wars against each other during the aftermath of the Great World War, the Pact was calling upon and receiving Brazilian military aide, first in the form of ships and weaponry, and later in the form of actual troops beginning in 1939.
Brazil, operating under its bizarre Eduist philosophy, was now being ruled by Reynaldo Edu's successor and right-hand man, Tito Branco, an aging revolutionary with a full head of white hair. It was suspected by many that, in the event of his retirement or death, the new and wildly popular People's Pope Stefano would actually assume the mantle of emergency power and declare the country to be an Eduist theocracy, as none of Branco's adjutants seemed to hold a candle to Stefano's popularity. Gran Colombia would hold out till early 1937, thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of it citizens, and guerrillas would tough-out Black Bliss and forest fires to continually make life for Americans there a living hell. When the Colombian collapse was obviously near, Brazil's Eduist People's Army began to march west to meet their new Anglo-Saxon foe. Brazil was accomplishing an amazing amount of industry in the late 1930s, but industry in Brazil was not infinite, and they could not make bricks without straw or guns without steel. As resources dwindled, American bombing runs became more frequent, and the lack of trade partners in the era of three popes and near-total blockade by the Yankee Navy put them at a great disadvantage, it became clear to many Brazilians that they should prepare for a war of attrition armed with their wits and farm tools. Using bows, pitchforks, pistols and scythes, they readied themselves for the bloodbath the 1940s would bring.
Australian troops share a moment with their American allies. Australia was the first member of the League to come to America's side, shipping out 20,000 Kanga volunteers to Panama in 1937. By 1949, almost 35,000 Australians had been killed in combat. Protector Alfred Hindmarsh passed away in 1938, with a general election in the Australian House of Common Welfare installing Wesley Rutherford as Protector, and it was Rutherford who would see out Manifest Climax to the end.
A Norwegian soldier in full kit in 1940. Norway would eventually change to a copy of the American uniform in 1942 to accommodate for the tropical conditions of South America, a far cry from Scandinavia. This included their weapons, which changed from old surplus Europan gear to modern Yankee guns. A total of 7,300 Norwegians would find themselves in an early grave by 1949.
Boys of the Carolinian Marine Corps a Neutie position sometime in 1942. The Vulture of the Confederation would lose the most troops in the conflict of any League member except America. By 1949, almost 100,000 Cokie boys and girls had given their all in the jungles and badlands of South America.
Soldiers of the West Germanian Army in tropical kit, circa 1943. West Germania would lose 16,000 sons to the conquest of New Zion.
The Mittelafrikan Reich was dealing with the aftermath of the Congo Sea Project and internal for most of Manifest Climax, but some men, like those pictured above, did go serve in South America.
Following the 1944 sale of Dutch Guiana, Dutchmen who did not return to the homeland or Dutch Indochina found ready employment with Beerensteyn Fortuneseekers, often known as the "Beerensteyn Bears" by their fellow fighters. Despite being rented soldiers fighting for pay, they were some of the most efficient and well-trained troopers of Manifest Climax. Many would remain in the old colony, which would become the foundation for the North Shore Development Area, sinking their profits into increasingly modern and urban homes and cities and finding ready employment as American corporations were given a free hand in the NSDA, sometimes colloquially called the "Nasdee."
MAJOR CAMPAIGNS:
In the decade-plus history of Operation Manifest Climax, the amount of battles, missions, and campaigns would be an overwhelming amount of information to take in. To help bring a greater understanding of the conflict to the reader, the following will be just eight of the most important and largest campaigns and battles of the war.
THE FIRST AND SECOND SACKS OF BOGOTA
(League Victories)
February 20, 1937 - April 20, 1937
December 7, 1942 - December 18, 1942
The First Sack of Bogota was, in no uncertain terms, the full rage of the wounded Republican Union bearing down on the first enemy capital in their direct path. Spearheaded by Fleetwood's battle-hardened, legendary 320th Cohort, the First Sacking was preceded by, at that time, the largest bombing run in human history. Uncaring of the fate of civilians, American formations were indiscriminately carpet-bombing the city of Bogota for 30 days and nights before the first ground forces went in on February 20, 1937. What followed was an orgy of bloodshed, looting, murder, and house-to-house fighting against the remaining defenders. Many soldiers reported feeling absolutely numb to it all, their fury over the "unprovoked" attack on Cuba and Panama sending them onward into the thickest urban fighting imaginable.
Colombian troops and civilian volunteers hid in the rubble and wreckage of their once thriving city and gave the Yankee invaders absolute hell for well over a month. ORRA torchboys were summoned to the front to roast guerrillas out of the huge sewer system, which is where most of the Colombian troops were holed up, safe from the majority of the overhead bombing. Fleetwood himself set up a command post in the sewers and personally oversaw combat operations day-by-day. Despite their overwhelming force, including several large formations of landships and bulldozers, the Colombians inflicted 8,000 casualties on the Americans, making them pay dearly for every inch. However, Fleetwood famously said that for every American killed, he would kill ten Colombians. Surviving civilians from occupied territory were being marched into massive holding camps, where every day the "crimes" against America were read aloud, with the number of Americans slain. Every inmate had a number, and a lottery would decide which ones would be executed as retaliation.
President Steele was wary of the huge numbers of civilians he had to deal with as prisoners, even without the ones regularly being culled by lottery, and by April ordered the general immolation of the populace by 75%, mostly of military age males or those with records of heavy resistance. If America's goal was to turn "New Zion," as South America was being christened, into a purged settlement area for Pinnacle Betters and veterans, like Mexico had been, the current residents would not be needed, and only served to bog down resources and manpower. Most historians consider the First Sack of Bogota the beginning of the Immolation of Gran Colombia. Presidente Rolando Pliego took most of his cabinet and escaped the city to flee into the jungle to southeast. He was never seen again. As mentioned earlier, the Parliament was relocated to Peru as a government-in-exile. Various military leaders would serve as central rulers of sort for the rest of the conflict, but no one else was appointed Presidente. Although he would remain on the ORRA and RUMP Most Wanted lists for a long time, Pliego was declared legally dead in 1973, following the discovery of an abandoned staff car in a swampy area of forest some 100 miles southeast of Bogota. The trunk contained the remains of Pliego's personal briefcases and records. No body was ever found.
The Second Sack of Bogota occurred on orders of Jehohanan Holyfield, following an attempt on his life. He was serving as Occupied Territorial Governor at the time, deployed with his Pacifican Legion known as the "Holy Hellraisers," when a group of Colombian guerrillas armed with American weapons tried to ambush his motorcade on December 6, 1942. He was struck in the left arm, but it was a superficial wound. Holyfield got out of his car, drew his sidearm, and began leading a counter-assault against the Colombian gunmen, killing eight out of the ten. He ordered all detention facilities to begin a complete purge of their prisoner population until the two remaining gunmen surrendered themselves. Riots broke out at the camps, with several devolving into a full-on attempt to kill the guards and flee into the night. Unbeknownst to the rioting prisoners, ORRA units had been positioned by Holyfield, fearing just such a reaction. Torchboys approached the perimeters of the camps and opened up with their Liberty Torches. The few remaining inhabited zones of Bogota, which were fenced off and completely surrounded by Union perimeter checkpoints, erupted into violence and protests, with Holyfield gleefully sending in his boys to put them down. By the end of the Second Sack, over 95% of the population of Greater Bogota had been "emancipated from breathing," as Holyfield himself put it in his memoirs. This was how he earned his nickname, the "Butcher of Bogota," which the Porcelain Petrol Sheikh sported with twisted pride.
Many have said that Holyfield always planned on turning Colombia into his personal fiefdom, long before he asked newly-minted President Chuck Oswald for permission to turn the former nation into Petroliana, though he never gave a sincere reply to this question when it was brought up. The few citizens who remained in Bogota and Colombia itself would find themselves either sold to disparate and sundry American megacorps, or turned into Holyfields personal slaves in Petroliana. Holyfield's personal security forces would police small walled communities of the those who survived, mostly women and children. Though they would continue to fight and die until the very end, the nation of Gran Colombia was utterly broken by the Sackings of Bogota and the failed, ignominious leadership of Pliego.
Colombian troops and civilian volunteers hid in the rubble and wreckage of their once thriving city and gave the Yankee invaders absolute hell for well over a month. ORRA torchboys were summoned to the front to roast guerrillas out of the huge sewer system, which is where most of the Colombian troops were holed up, safe from the majority of the overhead bombing. Fleetwood himself set up a command post in the sewers and personally oversaw combat operations day-by-day. Despite their overwhelming force, including several large formations of landships and bulldozers, the Colombians inflicted 8,000 casualties on the Americans, making them pay dearly for every inch. However, Fleetwood famously said that for every American killed, he would kill ten Colombians. Surviving civilians from occupied territory were being marched into massive holding camps, where every day the "crimes" against America were read aloud, with the number of Americans slain. Every inmate had a number, and a lottery would decide which ones would be executed as retaliation.
President Steele was wary of the huge numbers of civilians he had to deal with as prisoners, even without the ones regularly being culled by lottery, and by April ordered the general immolation of the populace by 75%, mostly of military age males or those with records of heavy resistance. If America's goal was to turn "New Zion," as South America was being christened, into a purged settlement area for Pinnacle Betters and veterans, like Mexico had been, the current residents would not be needed, and only served to bog down resources and manpower. Most historians consider the First Sack of Bogota the beginning of the Immolation of Gran Colombia. Presidente Rolando Pliego took most of his cabinet and escaped the city to flee into the jungle to southeast. He was never seen again. As mentioned earlier, the Parliament was relocated to Peru as a government-in-exile. Various military leaders would serve as central rulers of sort for the rest of the conflict, but no one else was appointed Presidente. Although he would remain on the ORRA and RUMP Most Wanted lists for a long time, Pliego was declared legally dead in 1973, following the discovery of an abandoned staff car in a swampy area of forest some 100 miles southeast of Bogota. The trunk contained the remains of Pliego's personal briefcases and records. No body was ever found.
The Second Sack of Bogota occurred on orders of Jehohanan Holyfield, following an attempt on his life. He was serving as Occupied Territorial Governor at the time, deployed with his Pacifican Legion known as the "Holy Hellraisers," when a group of Colombian guerrillas armed with American weapons tried to ambush his motorcade on December 6, 1942. He was struck in the left arm, but it was a superficial wound. Holyfield got out of his car, drew his sidearm, and began leading a counter-assault against the Colombian gunmen, killing eight out of the ten. He ordered all detention facilities to begin a complete purge of their prisoner population until the two remaining gunmen surrendered themselves. Riots broke out at the camps, with several devolving into a full-on attempt to kill the guards and flee into the night. Unbeknownst to the rioting prisoners, ORRA units had been positioned by Holyfield, fearing just such a reaction. Torchboys approached the perimeters of the camps and opened up with their Liberty Torches. The few remaining inhabited zones of Bogota, which were fenced off and completely surrounded by Union perimeter checkpoints, erupted into violence and protests, with Holyfield gleefully sending in his boys to put them down. By the end of the Second Sack, over 95% of the population of Greater Bogota had been "emancipated from breathing," as Holyfield himself put it in his memoirs. This was how he earned his nickname, the "Butcher of Bogota," which the Porcelain Petrol Sheikh sported with twisted pride.
Many have said that Holyfield always planned on turning Colombia into his personal fiefdom, long before he asked newly-minted President Chuck Oswald for permission to turn the former nation into Petroliana, though he never gave a sincere reply to this question when it was brought up. The few citizens who remained in Bogota and Colombia itself would find themselves either sold to disparate and sundry American megacorps, or turned into Holyfields personal slaves in Petroliana. Holyfield's personal security forces would police small walled communities of the those who survived, mostly women and children. Though they would continue to fight and die until the very end, the nation of Gran Colombia was utterly broken by the Sackings of Bogota and the failed, ignominious leadership of Pliego.
BATTLE OF BLANCO CASTLE
(Neutrality Pact Victory)
July 3, 1937 - July 5, 1937
The Battle of Blanco Castle occurred in the Venezuelan region of Gran Colombia on July 3 - 5, 1937. Part of a massive operation by multiple legions spearheaded by Legate General Stanley Whitehead, it would see Whitehead become the first American general officer to be fired during Manifest Climax. The Legate General was trying to link up with Navy and Marine units taking Caracas and Valencia to the northeast, but heard that the town of San Carlos (on the pathway there) was home to a beautiful castle built in the 1600s by Spanish conquistadors. Determined to take the "castle" as a command center, he ordered a small portion of his troops into the village to occupy it. He was blissfully unaware that a huge Neutrality Pact army was moving through San Carlos, and the two awkwardly met in the center of town, staring at each other in horror before exchanging fire.
The "castle" was, in fact, a single-story colonial relic that was crumbling at the foundations. Whitehead did not know this and his orders were to take the "castle," at whatever cost. To the north, the majority of his army came under attack by the rest of the Neutie forces, ambushing them from the foliage and foxholes. While this larger bulk of his force held out against savage assault, the men in the town were falling back in retreat. Focused on a glorious photo-op inside this presumed "estate," Whitehead ordered his men outside the town to fall back and regroup for an all-out assault on the town. This resulted in hundreds of his men being shot in the back by Neutie troops and initiated a total route, the first failed ground battle of the war for the Union. Whitehead was unable to reform his units until the late hours of the 5th, when the "Eightballs" of the 8th ORRA arrived and their commander, Giles Franklin, ordered his men to start pointing their guns at the Army boys running their direction. Instead, the still-terrified soldiers running through the night thought the ORRA officers were Neuties, and they opened fire on their fellow Americans. Over two hundred casualties were chalked up before order was restored and Whitehead's men realized their horrible mistake.
Blanco Castle was a horrific failure by Whitehead, and Franklin was ordered by the War Council to remove him from duty for incompetence. Franklin took command of the Army units present and phoned in for an airstrike. San Carlos and the precious "castle" were wiped out on the 9th, but most of the town and its valuables and equipment had been evacuated by this point, as an airstrike was an obvious and predictable solution. The Neutrality propaganda machine used the Battle of Blanco Castle as a morale-booster and punchline to keep people in fighting spirit in the wake of the First Sack of Bogota. In retaliation for Bogota, two hundred captured American servicemen were executed on the 10th, their bodies hanged from trees along the road to Valencia.
The "castle" was, in fact, a single-story colonial relic that was crumbling at the foundations. Whitehead did not know this and his orders were to take the "castle," at whatever cost. To the north, the majority of his army came under attack by the rest of the Neutie forces, ambushing them from the foliage and foxholes. While this larger bulk of his force held out against savage assault, the men in the town were falling back in retreat. Focused on a glorious photo-op inside this presumed "estate," Whitehead ordered his men outside the town to fall back and regroup for an all-out assault on the town. This resulted in hundreds of his men being shot in the back by Neutie troops and initiated a total route, the first failed ground battle of the war for the Union. Whitehead was unable to reform his units until the late hours of the 5th, when the "Eightballs" of the 8th ORRA arrived and their commander, Giles Franklin, ordered his men to start pointing their guns at the Army boys running their direction. Instead, the still-terrified soldiers running through the night thought the ORRA officers were Neuties, and they opened fire on their fellow Americans. Over two hundred casualties were chalked up before order was restored and Whitehead's men realized their horrible mistake.
Blanco Castle was a horrific failure by Whitehead, and Franklin was ordered by the War Council to remove him from duty for incompetence. Franklin took command of the Army units present and phoned in for an airstrike. San Carlos and the precious "castle" were wiped out on the 9th, but most of the town and its valuables and equipment had been evacuated by this point, as an airstrike was an obvious and predictable solution. The Neutrality propaganda machine used the Battle of Blanco Castle as a morale-booster and punchline to keep people in fighting spirit in the wake of the First Sack of Bogota. In retaliation for Bogota, two hundred captured American servicemen were executed on the 10th, their bodies hanged from trees along the road to Valencia.
THE CARACAS CAMPAIGN
(League victory)
July 14, 1937 - January 10, 1939
The Caracas Campaign saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war until the Peacemakers were dropped. Even with the capital fallen in the west, the Colombians fought on to defend their valuable northern coast. Despite months upon months of bombing raids and shelling by the Union Navy, Caracas and the surrounding region refused to open up for a Yankee invasion. The Blanco Castle misadventure to the south had only aided in their grim resolve to withstand the daily barrages and bombing runs. At last, Marine General Meriwether Lewis Camp led an amphibious assault of the port at Catia La Mar on June 14, 1937, with landing boats being met with entrenched grinder nests, mowing down his boys as their gangplanks went down and they poured out. It took over ten hours of brutal fighting to take control of just the docks. General Camp personally led a third wave of assault troops, riding a Potbelly landship, and this proved to be the morale-booster everyone needed to press on. By nightfall of the 16th, Catia La Mar was under American control.
Thanks to the disaster at Blanco Castle, a huge Neutie army was able to field considerable amounts of artillery and heavy guns against their invaders from the southwest. Even though the 8th ORRA was coming up from behind, they helped make life in Catia La Mar a living hell. Daily artillery strikes hit American marines and sailors, and frequent run-and-gun assaults on the Yankee perimeter made the outskirts of the port town a nightmarish no-mans-land, pocked and cratered by both sides and the bodies bloating in the tropical Caribbean heat.
Camp would lead an ultimately successful campaign to take Caracas, but it wasn't until January of 1940 that Caracas totally fell. Caracas saw absolutely hellish fighting and was one of the best showings for Colombian troops during the war, but it was still an inevitable American victory. Caracas saw much the same treatment as Bogota, but most of its populace knew about what happened in their capitol and thus kept low and quiet, burning anything of value inside the city they couldn't carry. Camp would become the first Marine General the first high-ranking officer to die in the war, shot through the forehead by a Colombian sniper known as the "Tropic Viper" by American troops. Even with the assassination, the cause was lost for the Colombians. By late 1939, virtually all resistance in the region was pacified and the surviving civilians packed up and moved into camps.
Thanks to the disaster at Blanco Castle, a huge Neutie army was able to field considerable amounts of artillery and heavy guns against their invaders from the southwest. Even though the 8th ORRA was coming up from behind, they helped make life in Catia La Mar a living hell. Daily artillery strikes hit American marines and sailors, and frequent run-and-gun assaults on the Yankee perimeter made the outskirts of the port town a nightmarish no-mans-land, pocked and cratered by both sides and the bodies bloating in the tropical Caribbean heat.
Camp would lead an ultimately successful campaign to take Caracas, but it wasn't until January of 1940 that Caracas totally fell. Caracas saw absolutely hellish fighting and was one of the best showings for Colombian troops during the war, but it was still an inevitable American victory. Caracas saw much the same treatment as Bogota, but most of its populace knew about what happened in their capitol and thus kept low and quiet, burning anything of value inside the city they couldn't carry. Camp would become the first Marine General the first high-ranking officer to die in the war, shot through the forehead by a Colombian sniper known as the "Tropic Viper" by American troops. Even with the assassination, the cause was lost for the Colombians. By late 1939, virtually all resistance in the region was pacified and the surviving civilians packed up and moved into camps.
THE BATTLE OF PORT RECALL
(League victory)
August 2, 1942
A similar amphibious assault was to occur at what the Americans called Port Recall, on the northern coast of Peru. By the summer of 1942, the Peruvian Armed Forces were stretched extremely thin and collapse was inevitable, but they were determined, just as their brethren at Caracas, to make the Yankees pay for every foot of soil conquered. Jehohanan Holyfield, as commander of the Pacifican Legion, would lead his first assault here, in the deadliest American landing of the war. Over 7,000 men lost their lives in just fifteen hours, entire landing boats dashed against the rocks and riddled with bullets.
Thanks in part to Holyfield's fearless and near-suicidal leadership, the Americans would carry the day by nightfall, but the losses were so great that it crippled the attack from any further progress beyond holding the beach for a good month, the Pacifican Legion licking their wounds as Aeroforce planes provided cover. Port Recall would see the highest number of American planes downed in a single engagement during the war. Over 140 planes were shot down. One Peruvian survivor said the AA guns fired until they were completely out of ammunition and had no choice but to fall back.
Thanks in part to Holyfield's fearless and near-suicidal leadership, the Americans would carry the day by nightfall, but the losses were so great that it crippled the attack from any further progress beyond holding the beach for a good month, the Pacifican Legion licking their wounds as Aeroforce planes provided cover. Port Recall would see the highest number of American planes downed in a single engagement during the war. Over 140 planes were shot down. One Peruvian survivor said the AA guns fired until they were completely out of ammunition and had no choice but to fall back.
THE BATTLE OF LA PARAGUA
(Neutrality Pact Victory)
May 4 - 7, 1943
The Battle of La Paragua would be the last pitched battle fought on Colombian soil in history. Led by the future Supreme Marshal Brigham John Barnes, then General of Legion X, the Americans found themselves outnumbered and outgunned, not to mentioned half-starved and exhausted. Barnes was personally ordered by Supreme Marshal Ashton to take La Paragua, but Barnes protested, saying that his men needed backup, refueling, and ammunition, and that half of his landships were broken down. To top it off, an outbreak of Yellow Fever was sweeping the men and Black Bliss ash was slowly poisoning them. Nevertheless, Ashton ordered Barnes to assault the city.
It was a disaster. The exhausted and sickly Americans tried their best but kept being repulsed by the Neutie defenses. When Barnes reported the failure to Ashton on May 5, the day after the first assault, Ashton infamously ordered "not one step back." "Not one step back?" Barnes queried. "My men are basically crawling. We are getting hammered down here and we need to tactically withdraw and regroup. We'll win this another day by living to fight another day." Ashton threatened to court martial Barnes if the attack didn't continue. Over 12,000 men would be killed or wounded, totally crippling Legion X for over a year. At several points, the Yankees pushed the Neuties back, only to find themselves staring down Brazilian landships. Even with Holyfield-produced Holyfire raining down like sticky lava rain, the Brazilians refused to allow La Paragua to fall. They suffered 8,000 casualties themselves, but it was a severe loss for the Americans and drove Barnes to hate Ashton, and he would one day be Chuck Oswald's choice to succeed him as Supreme Marshal.
La Paragua would eventually be the target of a nuclear attack. On September 1, 1945, the Aeroforce was able to get a formation through heavy flak and dropped a Peacemaker dubbed "Chubby Sal" onto the fortified city, incinerating five square miles of densely populated urban landscape. Ammo and fuel depots also went up in a chain reaction. In a flash, men, women, and children were turned into shadows in the blinding blink of an eye. Though this resulted in a Union victory and occupation, there was barely anything left to occupy. The nuking of La Paragua was the turning point in the war for Brazil, and saw them evacuate to behind their own borders. The rest of Operation Manifest Climax would slowly see the Brazilians be pushed farther and farther back.
It was a disaster. The exhausted and sickly Americans tried their best but kept being repulsed by the Neutie defenses. When Barnes reported the failure to Ashton on May 5, the day after the first assault, Ashton infamously ordered "not one step back." "Not one step back?" Barnes queried. "My men are basically crawling. We are getting hammered down here and we need to tactically withdraw and regroup. We'll win this another day by living to fight another day." Ashton threatened to court martial Barnes if the attack didn't continue. Over 12,000 men would be killed or wounded, totally crippling Legion X for over a year. At several points, the Yankees pushed the Neuties back, only to find themselves staring down Brazilian landships. Even with Holyfield-produced Holyfire raining down like sticky lava rain, the Brazilians refused to allow La Paragua to fall. They suffered 8,000 casualties themselves, but it was a severe loss for the Americans and drove Barnes to hate Ashton, and he would one day be Chuck Oswald's choice to succeed him as Supreme Marshal.
La Paragua would eventually be the target of a nuclear attack. On September 1, 1945, the Aeroforce was able to get a formation through heavy flak and dropped a Peacemaker dubbed "Chubby Sal" onto the fortified city, incinerating five square miles of densely populated urban landscape. Ammo and fuel depots also went up in a chain reaction. In a flash, men, women, and children were turned into shadows in the blinding blink of an eye. Though this resulted in a Union victory and occupation, there was barely anything left to occupy. The nuking of La Paragua was the turning point in the war for Brazil, and saw them evacuate to behind their own borders. The rest of Operation Manifest Climax would slowly see the Brazilians be pushed farther and farther back.
THE NUKING OF RIO/PEACEMAKER'S LIGHT
(League Victory)
(July 4, 1945)
(July 5, 1945)
(July 6, 1945)
(July 4, 1946)
(July 4, 1947)
(July 4, 1948)
(July 4, 1949)
Following the first successful test of a nuclear device by America on February 1, 1943, in Miskatonic, Joe Steele knew he wanted to use the "Gift from Jev" to utterly destroy the Neutrality Pact government once and for all. After a long-time plan to force the various leaders of the Pact into Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 4, 1945, was the special day that Steele had longed for. Almost all the top-ranking officials of the Pact were in town for a strategy meeting in a fortified bunker in the heart of Rio. America had been flying sorties almost daily for two years by this point, so when a few Aeroforce planes breached the airspace, it wasn't unexpected or unusual. Thinking themselves safe in their bunker complex, the leadership of the Pact let their AA guns greet the Americans and casually waited for the planes to turn around. Instead, a nuclear bomb was dropped, incinerating those exposed to the blast and cooking the Pact brass like popcorn inside their shelter.
Over the next two days, three more Peacemakers were dropped, killing an estimated 500,000 people. Downtown Rio was completely gone, dust in the wind, and radiation and contamination spread like wildfire into the surrounding areas. The bombs had been built to be as dirty as possible, as Steele wanted the city to be erased from history, an example to all who defied his power and the Stars and Stripes. The next year, on the one-year anniversary of the attack, more nukes were dropped. Operation Happy Birthday, due to it falling on July 4th, would continue every year until 1950, an annual nuking of Rio that rendered it completely uninhabitable. Radiation levels would not go down for fifteen years, and the entire ecosystem was annihilated. By 1950, over twenty Peacemakers of various sizes had been detonated in the area, turning the once thriving Eduist port city into a crater, a ghastly shell full of death and despair, a virtual testing ground for NUSA's Office of Atomic Matters (OAM) to study the side effects of nuclear war. Even in the 1970s, Rio was still a horrendously unsafe place to venture to, only populated by lead-lined barracks and shelters. It would eventually become known as "Peacemaker's Light."
Over the next two days, three more Peacemakers were dropped, killing an estimated 500,000 people. Downtown Rio was completely gone, dust in the wind, and radiation and contamination spread like wildfire into the surrounding areas. The bombs had been built to be as dirty as possible, as Steele wanted the city to be erased from history, an example to all who defied his power and the Stars and Stripes. The next year, on the one-year anniversary of the attack, more nukes were dropped. Operation Happy Birthday, due to it falling on July 4th, would continue every year until 1950, an annual nuking of Rio that rendered it completely uninhabitable. Radiation levels would not go down for fifteen years, and the entire ecosystem was annihilated. By 1950, over twenty Peacemakers of various sizes had been detonated in the area, turning the once thriving Eduist port city into a crater, a ghastly shell full of death and despair, a virtual testing ground for NUSA's Office of Atomic Matters (OAM) to study the side effects of nuclear war. Even in the 1970s, Rio was still a horrendously unsafe place to venture to, only populated by lead-lined barracks and shelters. It would eventually become known as "Peacemaker's Light."
THE FALL OF THE PACT
(1948-49)
The final two years of Operation Manifest Climax would see the total collapse of anything resembling organized resistance to the Union invasion. While plenty of guerrillas and army remnants were giving the Yankees hell, there was precious little communication between the post-apocalyptic city-states the Pact had become. President Oswald was trying to put a fresh new face on things and was preparing to unveil Operation Enduring Climax to the American people in time for the Declaration of the Reformed Republic (NUSA), and he was fine with protracted engagements as long as the enemy leadership was decapitated. While manhunts were underway for the People's Pope, Stefano, and a few surviving Neutie commanders, most people were looting and stealing from other Inferiors just to survive, or worse yet, actually fighting each other, every man for himself. This was the first example since Rome of a total societal collapse and breakdown on such an epic scale.
New Zion was now contaminated by blood, radiation, chemical and biological weapons, and unexploded ordinance. Packs of tribal hunter-gatherers roamed the jungles and the Pampas, trying just to survive and make life for occupation troops as terrible as possible. At the beginning of the war, Steele had promised soil and homesteads for those who would fight, but now Oswald's government was quite aware that the southern half of New Zion was a dangerous, medieval wasteland, and so the Office of Veteran Affairs (OVA) made up excuse after excuse to not allow settlement anywhere near there. Though huge new territories were formed from the occupied lands, most of them were marked off as "Quarantine Zones," which they said would open up for settlement in the "indefinite near future" when the effects of nuclear and chemical weapons dissipated. Instead, many of these areas were sold wholesale to corporations who agreed to provide private security and paramilitary forces to hold the soil. Many veterans were offered homesteads in the states of Custeria and Hudson, in Old Canada, in exchange for the promised tropical paradise homes in New Zion. As the years drew on, many frustrated veterans began to protest and grumble about the "fat cats in the Clans" dividing up the territories. The Clans hadn't fought the war, they thought, so why were they getting first dibs? Some even grew so bold as to say that they though the Quarantine Zones weren't actually contaminated at all, but were quite fully livable and safe, but it was obviously more profitable for the government to sell to the Clans than to dispense homesteads to veterans. This problem would never go away and was an incredibly tight rope for the Oswald administration to walk.
In reality, there were still very much active groups of guerrillas and freedom fighters in the Quarantine Zones, because the war for New Zion was always unwinnable. The NUSA government announced "Black Flag Seasons" would be active into the 1970s, a way for the government to say they were "culling the Infee population," without it seeming like they were still fighting Joe Steele's ego war for forty years. Manifest Climax was swapped out for Enduring Climax. The Army was swapped out for mercenaries and corporate troops, keeping the casualties out of the headlines. Black Flag Seasons would become an annual bloodsport, televised to American homes every year. The palms of the military-industrial complex would stay greased, their CEOs would stay fat, and Oswald would get to look like a victor. It was an infinite loop of money, weapons, and manpower, kept on the down-low outside of Black Flag Season. Instead of free homesteads, the Clans would offer veterans a "soldier's discount," on behalf of a "grateful nation," and former troops had to buy their cookie-cutter, mail-order houses. Making matters even worse, ORRA veterans were largely untouched by the problems of the lower-class G.I.s, with the "Boys in Blue and Khaki" being offered palatial estates and expansive, lucrative ranches. RUMP vets received the worst treatment of all. Only 10% of RUMP combat vets of Manifest Climax would receive their promised real estate, compared to 25% of the Army and Navy.
The Grand Army and RUMP would not forget this slight. An entire generation had marched to the beat of war drums for the glory of the god, country, and president, and were promised rewards that never came. Many GAR vets would become the backbone of the "Steelist" movement within the Manifest Destiny Party, while their children and younger generations would be known as "Pinnies," devout acolytes of Oswald. To the average Steelist vet, Joe Steele promised them soil, and he would have made sure they got soil. Joe Steele was, to them, a down-to-earth man who would have made good on his promises, while Oswald was more concerned with his business buddies and keeping the bloated, gargantuan economy from imploding. For the first time in well over a century, America was about to experience what it was like to have more than one political party, even if they were just opposite wings of the MDP. The Pinnacle Future was off to an interesting start.
New Zion was now contaminated by blood, radiation, chemical and biological weapons, and unexploded ordinance. Packs of tribal hunter-gatherers roamed the jungles and the Pampas, trying just to survive and make life for occupation troops as terrible as possible. At the beginning of the war, Steele had promised soil and homesteads for those who would fight, but now Oswald's government was quite aware that the southern half of New Zion was a dangerous, medieval wasteland, and so the Office of Veteran Affairs (OVA) made up excuse after excuse to not allow settlement anywhere near there. Though huge new territories were formed from the occupied lands, most of them were marked off as "Quarantine Zones," which they said would open up for settlement in the "indefinite near future" when the effects of nuclear and chemical weapons dissipated. Instead, many of these areas were sold wholesale to corporations who agreed to provide private security and paramilitary forces to hold the soil. Many veterans were offered homesteads in the states of Custeria and Hudson, in Old Canada, in exchange for the promised tropical paradise homes in New Zion. As the years drew on, many frustrated veterans began to protest and grumble about the "fat cats in the Clans" dividing up the territories. The Clans hadn't fought the war, they thought, so why were they getting first dibs? Some even grew so bold as to say that they though the Quarantine Zones weren't actually contaminated at all, but were quite fully livable and safe, but it was obviously more profitable for the government to sell to the Clans than to dispense homesteads to veterans. This problem would never go away and was an incredibly tight rope for the Oswald administration to walk.
In reality, there were still very much active groups of guerrillas and freedom fighters in the Quarantine Zones, because the war for New Zion was always unwinnable. The NUSA government announced "Black Flag Seasons" would be active into the 1970s, a way for the government to say they were "culling the Infee population," without it seeming like they were still fighting Joe Steele's ego war for forty years. Manifest Climax was swapped out for Enduring Climax. The Army was swapped out for mercenaries and corporate troops, keeping the casualties out of the headlines. Black Flag Seasons would become an annual bloodsport, televised to American homes every year. The palms of the military-industrial complex would stay greased, their CEOs would stay fat, and Oswald would get to look like a victor. It was an infinite loop of money, weapons, and manpower, kept on the down-low outside of Black Flag Season. Instead of free homesteads, the Clans would offer veterans a "soldier's discount," on behalf of a "grateful nation," and former troops had to buy their cookie-cutter, mail-order houses. Making matters even worse, ORRA veterans were largely untouched by the problems of the lower-class G.I.s, with the "Boys in Blue and Khaki" being offered palatial estates and expansive, lucrative ranches. RUMP vets received the worst treatment of all. Only 10% of RUMP combat vets of Manifest Climax would receive their promised real estate, compared to 25% of the Army and Navy.
The Grand Army and RUMP would not forget this slight. An entire generation had marched to the beat of war drums for the glory of the god, country, and president, and were promised rewards that never came. Many GAR vets would become the backbone of the "Steelist" movement within the Manifest Destiny Party, while their children and younger generations would be known as "Pinnies," devout acolytes of Oswald. To the average Steelist vet, Joe Steele promised them soil, and he would have made sure they got soil. Joe Steele was, to them, a down-to-earth man who would have made good on his promises, while Oswald was more concerned with his business buddies and keeping the bloated, gargantuan economy from imploding. For the first time in well over a century, America was about to experience what it was like to have more than one political party, even if they were just opposite wings of the MDP. The Pinnacle Future was off to an interesting start.
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