movement and that Federalist forces had surrendered and were under control of the Republic of Hawaii, including the recently arrived forces from the western Pacific. This prompted the Governor of the State of Washington to declare the Republic of Washington on September 1st. She was a retired Navy ballistic missile submarine commander who was purged when women were kicked out of the military.
Both of these actions gave the Republics possession of some nuclear weapons, but not the nuclear codes. It was at this point, the Commanding General of the United States Strategic Command, a Navy Admiral, declared that his command would remain neutral between Federalist and Republic forces. American nuclear attacks could be ordered by both the President and Washington’s Governor only for foreign threats. There would be no authorized use of nuclear weapons onto American soil.
With the technical institution of hostilities against the United States (Federalist), Japan and Korea were required to offer aid in accordance with the 2035 security agreement. We found in the presidential papers urgent requests from both the Departments of State and Defense to their Japanese and Korean counterparts, but no responses from the two countries. After Powers moved western Pacific forces to Hawaii in August 2037, it should be noted that both Japan and Korea reduced their monthly security payments in half, and then after November, to about 20% of the original amount, citing that the United States had failed to provide the agreed upon conventional levels of security to each country.
On September 5th, the Secretary of Defense ordered air attacks on the Governors’ offices in Austin, Honolulu, Olympia, and Sacramento on Labor Day. The attacking Federalist jets instead defected to the Republics, reluctant to fire on Americans. The Defense Secretary had several Federalist military commanders arrested and shot. Someone reported this onto a website. The Governors of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon joined the Republics on September 7th, including with them National Guard and Federalist forces in those states.
On September 8th, the National Football League announced it would not have any professional football games in the United States during the season, and all its 64 teams had relocated to international cities. It had to make money. Because of the closure of all colleges and universities, there was no college football season. Major league baseball had shut down after playing the All Star Game in July.
The Secretary of Defense still had firm control over Air Force world-wide drone operations in Nevada. He flew out to Nellis Air Force Base to ensure they followed his commands. Unknown to him, the drone operators substituted training tapes to make it appear they were attacking the Governors’ offices or residences. Edward observed what he thought was conventional and successful drone attacks on September 12th. He was then arrested by the military commander for treason when he could not produce any proof of a Presidential order to attack the Republics. For some unknown reason, he was transported to the California border, and turned over to Republic forces as a prisoner of war.
President Powers was infuriated by the turn of events. He directed Schmidt and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to provide plans to attack the Republic by conventional needs within thirty days. They returned to the Oval Office with a request to recall Federalist forces from Europe and Afghanistan. The President approved this recommendation. These forces started to arrive into the United States in early November, and did not complete their deployment until mid-December.
At this point, actual hostilities between Federalist and Republic forces had been almost non-existent. Local military commanders were reluctant to fire on any civilian targets. There were a handful of minor incidents during Federalist surrenders to state authorities, almost all of these individuals with some nationalist backgrounds. Pentagon records from November 16th of their estimated order of battle showed that the Federalist and Republic land forces (Army and Marines) were about evenly split when counting the returning overseas forces. The Federalists controlled almost all the non-nuclear Atlantic Fleet, while the Republics controlled the Pacific Fleet, with the Gulf of Mexico not controlled by either. On air power (including naval and marine air assets), the Federalist forces controlled only 30% of tactical aircraft. Strategic Command continued its firm control of ballistic missiles, missile submarines, and strategic bombers. One clear advantage the Federalist forces had was logistics and supplies – they had the bullets, beans, and fuel to fight for a long time.
During November, the Federalist forces began to gather in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana to attack west and south into Texas. By this time, Schmidt, the Acting Secretary of Defense, had replaced all military commanding generals with trusted nationalists. However, the chain of command was not that deep, and many companies were reluctant to attack Americans. A smaller force was organized in Utah near Salt Lake City to attack northern California across Nevada, which was considered a badlands not controlled by either group. Another force of three combat brigades was organizing in Iowa and Nebraska to potentially attack into Minnesota and the Dakotas. Unknown to the Federalist chain of command, the Republics had formed a unified command at Fort Lewis, Washington in control of all Republic forces.
In late November 2037, a coalition of Latin American countries attacked into the Southern Demilitarized Zone; completely overwhelming the remaining 5,000 military and Border Guards providing security. On November 28th, the force began to approach the Powers Border Wall along the borders of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
On December 1st, President Powers ordered his Federalist forces to move into Texas to travel to the Rio Grande Valley to defend the United States from the Latin American attack on its border. It was unclear what his forces were to do about the intervening Republic forces. And the National Guard units had erected some effective defensive barriers on the northern and eastern Texan borders. Schmidt had convinced the President that the Republic forces would provide safe passage for the Federalist forces. The Republic forces would not allow Federalist forces entry into Texas. A stalemate occurred for nearly two weeks, with only a handful of accidental shootings.
On December 15th, the Governors of California and Texas invited the Latin American coalition forces into the United States to provide security and protection to about 19 million Americans living within 50 kilometers north of the original border. This freed Republic troops for other operations. The coalition, with some Republic and local civilian help, began to demolish the Powers Border Wall.
On December 17th, under the advice and influence of Schmidt, President Powers cited the cooperation of the Republic Governors with the Latin American coalition forces as treason against the United States, and declared war on all succeeding states, citing as precedent President Abraham Lincoln’s own declaration of war (which was a falsehood). All Federalist forces in Utah, Iowa, and Nebraska began to move to attack California, Minnesota, and South Dakota. The forces crossing Nevada were harassed by Republic special operations forces and air power, and finally stopped near Reno on December 30th. Likewise, air power kept the forces in Iowa and Nebraska from moving into the Republic states, plus the two combat brigades that poised to defend against them.
Ten Federalist combat brigades (including one Marine Expeditionary Unit) attacked into Texas against seven Republic brigades on the night of December 17th. These were the first significant causalities of the second Civil War. For the most part, the Republic’s defensive forces and barriers, combined with air support, held their ground. One veteran Federalist brigade fresh from Afghanistan was able to breech the lines and attacked towards Galveston and Houston. As it approached the suburbs of Houston, the fight went house to house and began to bog down. Also, stay behind Republic forces began attacking the lines of supply and communications of the brigade in Texas and Louisiana. Finally, the situation stalemated around December 23rd, and Federalist commanders called for a Christmas Eve and Day truce, which the Republic accepted. The truce was extended until January 5th by both sides. At this point, the conflict
had cost the Federalist forces with 2,614 killed in action with 11,055 wounded, while Republic forces had lost 718 killed and 3,573 wounded.
During late December, the Latin American coalition forces entered the border towns and were greeted as heroes to protect Hispanic peoples. There were minor incidents with Federalist forces in Arizona and New Mexico, until a combined Republic and Latin American operation captured the cities of Phoenix, Tucson, and Albuquerque on December 29th. During the month of January, the coalition forces demolished the entire Powers Border Wall and began clearing out mines and other barriers in the former Southern Demilitarized Zone.
On December 30th, Schmidt fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and appointed Steve Edward as Commanding General of the Federalist forces. But Edward was still a prisoner of war at the San Diego Naval Station that morning. By the afternoon, the Republic Governors had jointly agreed to release him for a ransom of $5 billion dollars in gold, as authorized by the President. Early morning on New Year’s Eve, Edward arrived at the Pentagon to assume his new post.
Edward spent the next five days reviewing the situation, examining the entire chain of command and making replacements for men he did not trust. He had his intelligence sections draw up a list of military, government, and significant civilian targets to attack by air, cruise missiles, or drones. Land commanders were ordered to not get bogged down in urban areas and fight in the countryside. He reorganized the attack plans and ordered an attack at 4 am on January 4th, violating the cease fire then in effect.
The sudden land and air attack by the Federalist forces caught some Republic sectors by surprise. The Governor of Minnesota, his wife, and six children, were killed in his residence by a drone attack. About 30% of the air attacks were successful, but Federalist air losses were staggering against air defenses and Republic Air Guardsmen. The Federalists were able to enter about twenty miles into Minnesota, South Dakota, and California before being held around January 15th. Two Republic brigades retreated to just north of Dallas and Fort Worth, when the attacking forces went west and east around them. The Republic central military command committed its reserve, the 1st Cavalry Division (four combat brigades), to defeat them in brutal counterattacks in Abilene and Longview. The remainder of the Federalist attacks into Texas bogged down by the end of January.
At this point, nationalist groups gathered up the families of Republic National Guardsman in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana and placed them in formerly vacant detention centers. On February 9th, Schmidt, in a national announcement, declared the detainees as illegal combatants who would be executed within 48 hours if the four combat brigades did not immediately surrender to Federalist forces. The Governors of these four states were outraged and protested to the President. The Governor of Oklahoma was shot and killed, while Mississippi’s Governor was arrested and her family was put into the Jackson detention center. Only about two dozen Guardsman surrendered. On live national television on February 14th, an estimated 5,000 civilians were initially lined up against walls and shot at four detention centers. The next day, the shootings continued at the same pace.
On February 13th, the 45th Oklahoma Army National Guard brigade attacked up I-35 through scattered Federalist forces into Oklahoma and surrounded the Ardmore detention center that afternoon. The several hundred nationalist criminals surrendered without incident, freeing up almost 20,000 civilians. The head of this nationalist group claimed that Schmidt had ordered the detentions and executions under Presidential authority. On the same day, the Army National Guard brigades of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi attacked towards their detention centers, and five days later captured the nationalists and saved thousands of lives.
On February 25th, Schmidt reported that Edward had narrowly avoided assassination by Republic forces, but was hurt and should survive. Our review of the presidential papers suggested that Edward tried to commit suicide but seriously wounded himself. Schmidt announced that President Powers had appointed him as the new Commanding General of Federalist forces. Since the Federalist attacks had bogged down again, Schmidt decided to spend a few weeks working with leaders of nationalist groups on a new strategy.
Pentagon records from March 4, 2038 of estimated military strengths showed that the Republic land forces (Army and Marines) had about ten effective combat brigades compared to six for Federalist forces (other records shown the line-up as twelve against five brigades). The Federalists continued to control almost all the non-nuclear Atlantic Fleet, while the Republics controlled the Pacific Fleet, but the Republic now had control over most of the Gulf of Mexico. On air power (including naval and marine air assets), the Republic now had control of the air, though Federalist forces had a number of cruise missiles and drones. Strategic Command continued its firm control of ballistic missiles, missile submarines, and strategic bombers. The Federalist forces had significant logistics and supplies for over 18 months, and estimated that Republic forces would start having shortages by the summer of 2038.
The change from the mid-November assessment (besides the loss of forces due to combat) was the defensive nature of the March report. There was a focus on air defenses, due to the loss of air power, and protection of critical government, military, and civilian assets. All sites were vulnerable to cruise and drone attacks, but the Republic had few of these, mostly located at naval bases in California, Hawaii, and Washington. Because of the successful counter-attacks by the Guard brigades, the Federalist had lost eastern and central Oklahoma, all of Arkansas and Louisiana, and southern Mississippi. Federalist forces south of Houston (two brigades) were essentially surrounded, but forces in west Texas had lines of communications and supply to New Mexico and Fort Bliss in El Paso.
The combat situation during most of March remained static until the final week. On March 28th, the two Federalist brigades near San Antonio surrendered. The Republic was attacking the one remaining brigade in west Texas with two brigades from the 1st Cavalry Division. Federalist forces held the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and much of northern New Mexico and Arizona. A Federalist brigade occupied southern Minnesota while another operated freely in eastern South Dakota. The Federalist brigade operating from Reno was considered combat ineffective. The Republic Guard brigades from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi were pursuing retreating Federalist forces in northern Mississippi and into Alabama and Tennessee. The Oklahoma brigade had attacked a major nationalist training center near Wichita and was now turning towards securing eastern Kansas. Schmidt’s strategy briefed to the President during this time was to use his remaining land forces to slowly give up ground.
Schmidt’s analysis of Edward’s plans was that one who utilized land and air forces but failed to appreciate the power of naval forces. Up to this point, little activity on the seas had occurred, except for some Republic forays against naval forces in the Gulf of Mexico. Schmidt ordered Atlantic surface and sub-surface forces to transit the Panama Canal and attack the California coastline, while defeating any Pacific Fleet combatants. Except that the ships were met by a sizeable naval force on the western approaches to the Canal, and surrendered in mid-April in mass.
During the last week of April, the Republic military command launched a major attack along the I-90, I-80, I-15 to I-70, and I-40/I-59 to I-81 corridors. By May 10th, forces were just west of St. Louis, Chicago, and south of Nashville. Most Federalist resistance was crumbling. Calls were made by the Republics for President Powers to surrender, but they were ignored. Schmidt organized a final defense consisting of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions (active) with the Virginia (29th) and Pennsylvania (28th) Army National Guard Divisions in western Virginia to protect the capital. President Powers secretly went to the New Hampshire around May 15th, and left Schmidt defending Washington.
END OF DAYS (MAY 22, 2038)
On the morning of May 17th, elements of the Utah Army National Guard’s 19th Special Forces Group (now under Republic control) confirmed that
President Powers and much of his family were on the grounds of his summer home north of Manchester, New Hampshire. A battalion from Oregon was immediately flown in from a staging area in Ohio. Their orders were to capture but not kill them. Powers was defended by a Ranger battalion from Georgia that was mostly made up of nationalists. The Republic was able to establish communications with the battalion commander, who refused to surrender. Utilities were then cut off, as well as telecommunications and internet, except a connection to Strategic Command. The Rangers called for Federalist reinforcements from Massachusetts and Maine, but these Federalist forces formerly surrendered when they arrived on May 19th to the Republic forces commanding general. The general plan was to secure the facility and wait the President out.
On May 21st, the President, with his children, their spouses, and his grandchildren, gathered around the table for a formal dinner. Powers spoke about his successes during his Presidency, and how disappointed he was in the cowardice of the California Governor, who had lost the 2036 presidential election and decided to conduct a civil war. He was also disappointed in Texas for allowing foreign countries to occupy our southern border. The children’s memoirs mention that they collectively thought their father was quite depressed, but were not worried about anything, as the staff had estimated that they had enough to hold out until mid-July. Certainly, clearer heads would prevail, and the cavalry would come to the rescue.
The very large house (on a 50 acre estate) was surrounded, but no efforts had been taken by Republic forces to attack and enter it. About 4 am on May 22nd, there was a small explosion inside the house heard on the perimeter by the Republic forces. An accountability inspection was immediately done, but no Republic forces were missing and no one had fired any weapons. About 11 am, a staff member came out the front entrance holding a white flag. He carried a note from the Powers children that they would surrender at 3 pm to a member of the FBI. The Republic forces were able to find a senior FBI Special Agent, and accepted the surrender of the Powers children, their spouses, and their children, at 3 pm. About 150 staff members then streamed out and