German Dominion military. On their recommendation, Chancellor Kleist—the new Otto von Bismarck of the twenty-first century—reevaluated the situation he faced. He determined to hold back the GD military, letting the Chinese and Americans bled themselves white against each other. Afterward, he would seek easy objectives of opportunity. On that basis, the Chancellor weekly reassessed the war.
2039, June 15-July 6. The Invasion. Simultaneously along a 2,000-kilometer front, the onslaught started at 3:30 A.M. with the customary air and artillery bombardments. The Americans had expected an offensive and therefore the Chinese failed to achieve surprise, although several Swan missiles with tactical EMP helped the initial attacks succeed. In grinding attritional battles, the Chinese and South American forces reached the Pecos River in West Texas and neared San Antonio in the east. In the last days of June, armored thrusts broke through the American lines and swept around San Antonio. The pocket surrendered on July 6, and 160,000 Americans marched into captivity, with the Chinese capturing 500 tanks and 350 artillery pieces.
2039, July 6-August 3. The Big Push. Marshal Liang’s Third Front, which began operations at El Paso, battled relentlessly forward to Albuquerque, New Mexico and onward to Santa Fe. This Front saw some of the bloodiest fighting in the war and decimated the American forces. The Siege of Albuquerque bagged the Chinese 200,000 prisoners, 200 tanks and 400 guns, while the Siege of Santa Fe cost the Americans 300,000 casualties.
The Fourth Front made even greater territorial progress, shoving the American lines back to Houston and in the north to Dallas—as Marshal Wen sought to reach the Mississippi River. Both cities fell after Chinese armored thrusts bypassed the metropolises, although the troops’ fates were radically different. General McGraw fought his way free of Dallas, saving 130,000 soldiers, although leaving the majority of his heavy equipment behind. The trapped soldiers in Houston literally starved to death, refusing every offer to surrender.
In the last week of July, the South American Federation amphibiously invaded New Orleans, taking the place of the reluctant German Dominion military. It was a costly fiasco in terms of SAF blood and materiel, although the city fell to the invaders when the American forces finally retreated in good order.
2039, August 3-September 7. Hong’s Changes. After the costly and some believe pyrrhic victories of El Paso, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, Marshal Liang’s Third Front strictly followed Chinese operational plans, using the Rocky Mountains as its western wall and slowly battling northward.
At the same time, the Fourth Front reached the Mississippi River, linking with the SAF amphibious force in New Orleans. In the following weeks, Marshal Wen made rapid progress north, soon reaching Little Rock, Arkansas.
His primary problem was the South America Federation troops. Their task was to mop up the American forces in the center of the corridor. The Brazilian and Venezuelan soldiers proved unequal to the challenge as well-trained American formations often repelled their attacks.
To bolster his allies and seeking a vast haul in prisoners, Chairman Hong detached the main tank armies of Third and Fourth Fronts. Despite the vigorous protests of his field commanders, Chinese armor swung corridor-ward to support Field Marshal Sanchez’s First Front as it approached Oklahoma City.
The immediate results of this unexpected change proved favorable. In a grand pincer move, the combined PAA-SAF troops trapped three American armies on the southern side of the Canadian River. A period of confused fighting followed as General McGraw made his second historic breakout, managing to extricate the mobile formations. In the early days of September, however, 225,000 American troops surrendered in what became known as the Oklahoma Pocket.
2039, September 7-24. Reorganization. Sorting out the attacking formations and returning them to their parent Fronts took time. Tanks and other vehicles showed the strain of the terrific pace and long marches. This was a period of rest and reinforcement, including several mopping up operations.
It had become clear to both American and Chinese commanders the inferior quality of the SAF troops, and both made plans accordingly.
Newly formed U.S. Militia units finally began to arrive in number along the eastern side of the Mississippi River. This freed many of the regular Army troops there. The American command was divided about where to put these “added” forces. President Sims and the Joint Chiefs agreed to keep them east of the Mississippi River as a mobile “fire brigade” in case the Chinese crossed the great American river in force. General McGraw—a hero to many, though to others an unstable self-aggrandizer—argued otherwise. He urged the Joint Chiefs to