Second American Civil War

Edited by Nicholas 1 on Discord

Prelude to War

The aftermath of the Third Yokai Invasion was fresh in the minds of the United States’ leadership, when the war to reclaim what was lost led to the establishment of military governors on the Mexican war front, and later justified to be elsewhere to quell possible insurrections. The continuous land grab war would cause shortages of food which caused starvation in many cities across the United States, and the government's approval rate would drop to new lows with rumors of corruption.

Early Social Unrest and the First Coup

By early July 2016, a government document leaked, revealing that members of the government had been guilty of corruption, stealing funds, and murdering citizens. An already desperate populace took this as an excuse to riot in several major cities, however, the riots in the nation's capital became extremely violent. With citizens outnumbering and overpowering police, local peacekeeping efforts were overwhelmed. The President requested nearby military governor Owen Duncan’s assistance, however, Duncan’s military forces did not respond until rioters set the White House ablaze. Washington DC quickly became an active war zone as the military cleared the city of civilians and rioters alike. In the aftermath of the battle, Governor Duncan promoted himself, Secretary of War and took over the government.

Owen Duncan’s control of the government would not go unchallenged and fearing the rival Governor-General of Greater Texas, Arthur Allencourt, may use his popularity to justify a coup, Duncan attempted to remove him preemptively. Allencourt would argue a Governor could only be removed by his constituents, however, Duncan argued the Secretary of War could remove a general. A war of words and legal challenges would last nearly a year, and having failed to reach a compromise, the Governor-Generals declared war on each other to settle the power grab.

Crossing the Mississippi and a Northeastern March to DC

In March 2018, Governor Arthur Allencourt and his army crossed the Mississippi River and without incident. Allencourt marched his army east, remarking to a subordinate,

The die is cast

— Julius Caesar

as the Arthurian army seized southern forts to secure his supply line. Upon reaching Nashville the main fortress of the Tennessee Valley, the city would refuse his army passage. Allencourt's battle-hardened troops responded by blockading the city by building a wall around the city within a month and reinforcing it with anti-air guns grounding any air counters by the Nashvillians. Due to inexperience with siege warfare, the city was unprepared for a long enemy occupation and Nashville surrendered, ceding the entire Valley to the Arthurian army.

Arthurian troops would begin to encounter Duncan’s forces as they crossed the Appalachian Mountains and would continue to engage in skirmishes until they were nearing Washington DC. Upon arriving Allencourt found that Duncan had dug in and was prepared for Allencourt's attempted siege of the capital as he was hoping for overdue reinforcements from the state armies to finally come under his command. The capital’s defenses were some of the best of the country and a siege of the city could last well over a year, according to Arthurian generals, and as at any moment, other Governors-General could join the conflict against him.

Allencourt's Siege of DC

Allencourt would send in special forces to stealthy sneak through parts of the walls which had yet to be repaired from the riots, once inside these forces opened the gates. After a week of fighting, Arthurian forces reached the old district’s walls, and due to deaths of the pro-Duncan Senate leadership in the chaos, pro-Arthurian House and Senate members of the US Congress who were trapped in the city, managed to gain control of the situation. The Senators surrendered the city, and the House leadership appointed Governor Arthur Allencourt as Secretary of War, with the addition of the title, ‘Lord Protector of the Republic’.

Establishment of the anti-Arthur Coalition

Following Allencourt’s crossing of the Mississippi, America slowly moved towards widespread civil war as Democrats, Republicans, and those who simply opposed Arthurian policies formed a coalition against him. The major contributors were Governors-General from the Great Lakes and Greater Florida who had been a supporter of Arthur originally.

Despite previously having been against him, the Governors of the Tennessee Valley, and the Capital Region would side with Arthur. The large US Pacific Fleet would side with the Coalition, whereas the Atlantic Fleet would join Arthur.

The Second Siege of Nashville

After several months of mobilizing, Coalition forces would declare war against the Arthurians. A combined force from the north and south would lay siege to Nashville, this time with the cities defenses being manned by Arthur’s veteran troops. With north and south exits blocked by the Coalition and the Mississippi River cutting off a western retreat, Arthur was on his own. Arthur would send what troops he could spare to cover other fronts and take the rest with him to relieve Nashville and the unusual tactic of enlisting the help of the West Virginia Yokai Clan, while other Yokai marches stayed neutral in the human conflict.

With his combined forces, Arthur arrived at the siege, and by carefully maneuvering his army he was able to take the forts surrounding the city cutting his enemies supply lines, forcing them to retreat. The ones who failed to retreat would be crushed between the two armies.

The Pacific Theater

Under orders from Arthur, the army of California would attempt to rush the Pacific Fleet stationed in San Diego and capture the fleet. The Arthurians failed to capture the city in time and were forced to lay siege. Meanwhile, the Coalition’s Pacific Fleet retreated with what ships they could during the Arthurian occupation, and scuttled the rest, preventing the Arthurians from using them.

About a month later Arthurian intelligence reports suggested the Pacific Fleet was taking shelter in the Pacific Northwest, in response, the Arthurians launched a campaign north. The Arthurian invasion north was slow-moving as the Arthurian army dismantled the Coalition’s Northwest naval supply lines, crippling the Pacific Fleet, eventually, leading to the region’s surrender to Arthurian forces. Upon surrender of the region and capture of the majority of the Pacific Fleet, the Pacific Fleet’s commanding officer fled to Hawaii, only to be captured by British forces for after resorting to piracy.

New York Theater

Parts of the old government had retreated to New York upon Arthur’s arrival in DC, and so when war broke out Arthur would assign a subordinate to deal to capture them and to hold an enemy advance from the North. An opportunity would arise when New England rebels overthrew their military governor and declared their support for Arthur. With the New Englanders, the Arthurians were able to lay siege to New York City, beginning one of the most bloody sieges of the war. With the additional support of the Atlantic Fleet, New York City was taken by force, and the rest of New York would soon follow. Would be Coalition reinforcements for New York were held up at Siege of Pittsburg, and the British naval blockade of the Great Lakes.

Southern Campaign

With success in Nashville and New York and the availability of reinforcements from the West, Arthur began to focus his push south. Arthur’s army advanced towards Atlanta, Georgia where the Coalition gathered to stop his push. The Coalition was unprepared when an Arthurian reinforcement army crossed the Mississippi and laid siege to Jackson, Mississippi. Arthur would use the confusion to break through the enemy defenses and seize Atlanta, forcing the Coalition into retreating further south to Florida, abandoning everything else to the Arthurians. Arthur would march to Savannah with little resistance, and join the Atlantic Fleet there.

Retreat to Florida and Bad Weather

The Coalition would make a fighting retreat down the Florida panhandle, where the Arthurians besiege multiple forts and cities until finally reaching Miami. The Siege of Miami would be interrupted with the arrival of a hurricane, which forced the Arthurian supporting fleet to withdraw for safety. The Arthurian camp was severely damaged and the siege preparation was delayed, however, the hurricane caused the cities flood gates to fail and cause a portion of the wall to cave in as its foundation was eroded by the storm. Arthurian engineers built a bridge across the flooded area, allowing Arthurian troops to take the city and capture the leaders.

The Northern Sieges

While the Great Lakes region had more forces than the south, they didn’t have any clear leadership. The governor-general of the Great Lakes had become ill, handing leadership over to the state governors, freezing most military campaigns against the Arthurians. Their indecisiveness allowed Arthur to deal with their allies first without any serious challenge. Arthur later redirected his New York Army to invade Ohio, and his California army to invade Illinois, eventually leading to the Coalition defeat in the region.

Arthurian Victory

With the country under his control, and the Yokai placated, Secretary of War Arthur Allencourt began to reorganize the government and recaptured lands, However, American nobles were favored due to the need for funds to pay the nation's debt. Eventually two decades later he would declare himself Emperor Arthur of House Allencourt, ushering in a new era of Imperialistic rule.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

2018 AD

Ending Date

2021 AD

Conflict Result

General Arthur cemmented his rule of the United States

Location

North America

Yokai in the War

As Yokai were still raiding across the world they were part of the war, however, they had no major roles. Many took advantage and raided vulnerable towns, and some took up arms as mercenaries for each side of the war. The Yokai to the south, which had previously conquered Mexico stayed out as they were busy consolidating their control and dealing with internal issues.

Atrocities of the War

Most armies involved were highly professional and their generals sought to actively lessen civilian deaths, However occasional these efforts failed. Sieges, in particular, were hard for Coalition generals to control, as in the chaos the assaults occasionally led to civilians being caught in the crossfire. The military order was maintained especially by the Arthurians, those who were believed to have committed war crimes were prosecuted in a quick military trial and then executed by a firing squad. No matter how terrible, indirect civilian casualties were common, with millions dying from starvation as food sources continued to be interrupted.