Eh, that’s fine. My beef was more with the fact the caption said “Stalingrad”.
For the Republic: A History of the Second American Civil War
- Thread starter The Angry Observer
- Start date
From this indepth look at the Battle for Philadelphia, I am getting the impression that the SACW is gonna end in a Jackboot victory. With a lot of reasons for why that is the case such as leadership, logistics and better tactics.
With the wildcard being Huey Long's fiefdom, since the Flu could spread down south and kill the Kingfish in a ironic twist.
With the wildcard being Huey Long's fiefdom, since the Flu could spread down south and kill the Kingfish in a ironic twist.
I'm going to guess that the consolidation of power by Mac will be his undoing.
Basically by killing off the people who can oversee the production sides of the war machine, it's going to start to cause the breakdowns in supply lines that will make mechanized warfare more and more difficult, meaning he has to pull more and more resources from reserves and rear areas, meaning that priority will be given to specific areas over others, weakening the overall ability to prosecute the war.
All it takes is Bradley or some other general managing to pull off another surprise advance for the Republicans to snap the logistic system of the entire nation in that case.
Basically by killing off the people who can oversee the production sides of the war machine, it's going to start to cause the breakdowns in supply lines that will make mechanized warfare more and more difficult, meaning he has to pull more and more resources from reserves and rear areas, meaning that priority will be given to specific areas over others, weakening the overall ability to prosecute the war.
All it takes is Bradley or some other general managing to pull off another surprise advance for the Republicans to snap the logistic system of the entire nation in that case.
From what I understood, the Natcorps don't really have a better advantage in terms of logistics, considering that the post stated neither side had full rations and nothing to go around to the civilians in the Philly-Chester front.
What advantages they had are slowly getting removed as the war continues. Airstrikes have become less effective against Republicans. Republicans are fighting in favorably defensive terrain, meaning whatever tanks the Natcorps have are either ineffective or destroyed as Republicans repulse breakthroughs, all-the-while obtaining their own armor for a counteroffensive.
We have this recurring conversation about MacArthur— whether he’s actually a competent war leader or not. I typically lean towards MacArthur’s decisions being mostly based in reason. I think a lot of the character traits that made him a problematic general, like his penchant towards theater and tendency to ignore details, are assets as a politician/dictator.
His political instincts (pare back the offensive in Philadelphia to plug other leaks and consolidate power) conflict with Eisenhower’s military ones (don’t let up until the city is captured). While Eisenhower is not wrong, and every second that the war continues is bad for the Natcorps for the reasons that you mentioned, the Natcorps there are also so miserable that pushing them further could have other disastrous repercussions.
MacArthur, ever the romantic, is also planning for Patton’s counter-offensive. As he sees it, Smith needs a counter-offensive to improve his own standing, so one will happen in the near future, and if MacArthur can intercept it the Republic is worse off than they were in 1934.
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MacArthurnomics are one of the most compelling parts of the war for me to write for this reason. As MacArthur seizes more and more power for himself and must tap deeper and deeper into the regime’s resources to win its war, his material situation gets even more tenuous.
Much like the First Civil War, the traitors are good at making propagandic battles, but when it comes down to it, MacArthur is tactically and strategically outmatched. I agree he makes logical sense for the most part, but his logic is quickly becoming more and more outdated and he doesn't seem like he's catching up enough to close the gap with the Republic's international politics or military.
There also just isn’t always a good move. MacArthur fighting the war itself is illogical. And of course the biggest problem is that what’s good for MacArthur isn’t necessarily good for the state/cause as a whole, which is a recurring problem with these kinds of personality-centered organizations.
Just wondering but what happened to Spain, because I remember an older update hinting at a possible coup. What has become of it and Spain in general?
Nothing since the last update, but the factions that will become the Spanish Nationalists are much weaker.
From what I gather, MacArthur is more inclined to "play it safe" and prepare for what he thinks may be in the inevitable counteroffensive in the Northeast (if I were in charge of the Republic and aware of this, I would do everything I could to keep this idea in his mind as long as possible and do what I could to counteroffensive the Natcorps in the Midwest), which would allow him to strike the killing blow on his terms, but this gives the Republic more time to prepare and arm and reform.
Yeah, and the more time MacArthur cedes to the Republic, the more obvious the regime’s internal problems become and the more time the Republic has to close the gap in other areas. Al Smith is also becoming politically stronger than he was at the beginning of the year, which endangers the Natcorp fail safe (Herbert Hoover winning the 1936 election off the backs of the west and internal Democratic divisions).
We’re moving in chronological order here, so we’re a little less than a year in-universe off from Spain coming back into play here. We have, however, made plans.
I mean would they even have presidential elections anymore? If they do they would just be formalities. Regardless I think he is going to put someone highly loyal as his number two maybe another general
MacArthur technically is the President, although since the Natcorp regime has no governing Constitution the question's not even an academic one. His "Vice President" is Nicholas Murray Butler.