Nanyang Storm 1864

After succeeding in attacking the flanks on both the north and south fronts, the Northern Army of the Great Chu Empire launched a full-scale offensive with a fierce artillery barrage in the early hours of April 16.

In the previous month or so
The Royal Air Force carried out continuous and concentrated bombing of the strong defensive line built by the enemy in front of Chicago, which had long since cratered the American positions like the surface of the moon.

Any U.S. artillery positions, frontline fortifications, concrete bunkers, and pillboxes visible to the naked eye, as well as railway lines, bridges, supply distribution centers, and transport vehicles from the rear, were all targets for aerial bombing and strafing.

Before the attack was launched
The Royal Air Force has dropped tens of thousands of tons of aerial bombs on American positions, greatly weakening their defenses, and has destroyed nearly 10,000 American artillery pieces and a large number of ammunition depots.

However, while the Chu air force bombed during the day, the US military would rush to repair their aircraft at night and take advantage of the poor visibility at night to replenish weapons and ammunition to the front lines.

Before the full-scale offensive was launched
Marshal Zheng Zhongyi, the Supreme Commander of the Northern Army Headquarters, did not know how many artillery pieces and ammunition the American forces had replenished on the defensive line; this would only become clear once the fighting began.

Artillery and ammunition are not a problem for the United States' current strong industrial production capacity; that's the real headache.

Fortunately, several large chemical explosives factories located in Los Angeles, with more than a dozen production lines for artillery shells and bullets, are already operating at full capacity, continuously supplying ammunition to the front lines.

There are also dozens of weapons and ammunition manufacturers in the Los Angeles Bay Area, with a considerable production capacity. There is no need to transport them from the Empire to the mainland; ammunition production capacity can be solved entirely locally.

This greatly reduced expenses and provided ample logistical support for the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

The war between the two world's top industrial powers was also a contest of industrial capacity and comprehensive strength, and it became increasingly brutal in its third year.

In the deployment of the Imperial Expeditionary Force
1933 was the year of decisive battle. The plan was to completely occupy this fertile land in the American Midwest through the four-to-five-month Battle of Chicago, and forcibly separate it from America.

From the perspective of the United States as a whole

The economically developed eastern region of North America along the Atlantic Ocean is densely populated with towns and cities, especially the northern metropolitan area centered on New York and Philadelphia, which accounts for almost 40% of the total population of the United States.

The second largest cluster is the urban area centered around the Great Lakes heavy industrial region, which accounts for one-third of the total population of the United States.

Following the end of the Civil War in the 60s, the South did not receive significant development and construction from the federal government, and its economy remained primarily agricultural, supplemented by a small amount of light industry.

Its total population has grown from over 9 million during the war to less than 20 million after more than 60 years of development and reproduction, accounting for about 20% of the total population of the United States.

The remaining 10% or so of the population is located in southern Texas, the nine states on the west coast of North America, and the seven sparsely populated Midwestern states, all of which are currently under the military occupation of the Great Chu Empire, so there is no need to mention them again.

After the main attack begins
The Northern Corps split into two groups and launched a fierce attack on the fortified positions defended by the American forces.

One force launched an attack from Omaha toward De Main County, a key stronghold of the U.S. military. The battle was fierce from the start, with artillery fire illuminating half the sky.

One force advanced from Kansas City toward Kane County, attacking fortified areas heavily defended by U.S. forces, resulting in intense, back-and-forth fighting.

After the main attack begins
The Royal Air Force deployed more than 3,000 bombers to the two battlefields mentioned above, carrying out 16 hours of continuous bombing, with a group of aircraft taking off every half hour, numbering approximately 300 to 400.

Any exposed US artillery positions would be destroyed within minutes.

All routes for forward transport were blocked by the air; not even a fly could get through, let alone transport ammunition and personnel.

On the first day of the general offensive

The US positions along the Demein County front, which were under the responsibility of the 11th Front Army, were breached. By evening, the US forces launched a full-scale counterattack and, while suffering heavy casualties, recaptured the front-line positions.

From this
The U.S. Army in Chicago was also determined to fight to the death, continuously sending new troops to the front lines and engaging in fierce fighting with the Chu expeditionary force.

During the American counterattack, the Royal Expeditionary Force of the Great Chu Empire saw many Black faces.

this means

Under the pressure of massive casualties, the U.S. military has begun to use Black troops on a large scale to make up for the severe shortage of manpower and is determined to fight the fierce Eastern army to the bitter end.

The reason why the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary force was attacked by the American forces at night instead of holding their ground was that they were forced to retreat.

This was mainly the opinion of Marshal Zheng Zhongyi, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force. He demanded that the main attack on the front line be carried out to inflict heavy casualties on the American forces, regardless of the gains or losses of a single city or place.

Today, the US front-line positions have been largely destroyed by artillery fire and bombing, leaving only a trench; even the anti-artillery bunkers have been blown up.

No matter how many troops the US military sends to the front lines, how many will die under the combined onslaught of air bombardment and ground artillery fire?

While the United States is a powerful industrial nation, the Great Chu Empire surpasses it, boasting even stronger industrial production capabilities and a continuous stream of advanced equipment such as airplanes and tanks being transported over both land and sea.

The Royal Air Force of the Great Chu Empire has a total of 72 air wings, 56 of which are currently in the North American theater. They possess various types of fighters and bombers, totaling more than 8700 aircraft, firmly controlling the skies over North America.

The Pittsburgh plant in the United States also began mass production of fighter jets and bombers, but it never reached a significant scale.

After the main battlefield of the Battle of Chicago opened, the U.S. military had to bring out more than a thousand fighter planes and more than 300 bombers that had been lying low for a long time, and engage in a bloody battle with the Royal Air Force.

As a result, in just two days of the war, the U.S. military lost more than 70% of its meager air power.

The air power accumulated over the past six months has been almost completely exhausted, making it impossible to reverse the current battle situation or the situation of being constantly on the defensive.

On the other hand, the Great Chu Empire continued to send more than 500 warplanes to North America every month, which effectively replenished the losses and made the Royal Air Force's warplane inventory increase rather than decrease.

The U.S. military is not always passive. In the famous industrial city of Detroit, seven or eight aircraft factories have started production this year and will soon provide the U.S. military with more fighter jets and bombers.

The problem is that
The United States is running out of time. The invasion of the Great Chu Empire is advancing step by step, and has already reached Chicago, the core city of the Great Lakes, posing a direct threat to this world-class metropolis with a total population of more than 330 million.

If Chicago falls, both Pittsburgh and Detroit will be within range of Chu's bombers, and those newly built American aircraft factories may not live to see their production capacity reach its peak.

The three trial production "Flying Fortress" four-engine heavy bombers that rolled off the production line at the end of March in the Great Chu Empire will arrive in North America at the end of April after undergoing various flight tests.

The expeditionary force was able to receive eight Flying Fortress heavy bombers in May and eleven of these behemoths in June.

With the continued increase in production capacity at the Manila and Zamboanga aircraft factories, the North American Expeditionary Force is expected to receive a total of 80 Flying Fortress heavy bombers by the end of the year, giving it the capability to carry out strategic bombing against all key targets across the United States.

By then
Major cities across the United States, including New York, will continue to live in the shadow of air raids, with no safe place left and people living in constant fear.

After 11 days of bloody fighting, the U.S. forces on the outer defenses of Chicago suffered heavy casualties of more than 72, and the heavily fortified defenses in De Main and Kane counties were breached.

The Northern Corps also suffered over 183,000 casualties, 70% of whom were from the volunteer corps. Approximately 58,900 Chinese officers and soldiers belonging to the regular Imperial Expeditionary Force were killed or wounded, a considerable loss. In the following days...
The Third Army, located in the north, broke through the Milwaukee Line, inflicting heavy casualties on American defenders and forcefully compressing the entire front line southward.

Milwaukee is 163 kilometers south of the Chicago metropolitan area. If you break through Milwaukee and continue south, you will enter the densely populated satellite towns of Chicago.

Just two days later

The Southern Army also reported a victory, having defeated the U.S. forces in Nashville through a bloody battle and completely occupied this key Southern railroad city, which was of great significance.

Start from here

With its extensive rail network, it is possible to reach almost any city in the eastern and southern United States, with unimpeded travel.

Three major railway lines converge here, making it an important transportation hub city in southern North America.

more importantly

Tennessee in the American South has completely fallen, and the Imperial army can advance eastward along the unobstructed railroad lines to attack North Carolina, thus completely cutting off the American South.

North Carolina and South Carolina are the core states of the American South and the main Confederate states during the Civil War. However, their economic development has been quite unsatisfactory in recent decades.

These southern cities are small and dilapidated, with populations ranging from 20,000 to 50,000. Compared to the modern metropolises in the north that often have hundreds of thousands or even millions of inhabitants, they are far inferior.

This has led to resentment among southerners towards northerners and the rampant spread of various separatist forces.

With the support of powerful external forces, all the southern states are eager to make their move, and a new storm is about to break.

In just two weeks, the Southern Corps marched eastward by rail for over a thousand kilometers, successfully capturing all the towns along the southern route and implementing military occupation.

As the Imperial Army expanded, the separatist forces in the southern states of the United States also became active, engaging in close alliances and counter-alliances.

1933st January 5

Separatist legislators from Mississippi and Alabama met in Birmingham and declared the formation of the Republic of Mississippi, which Tennessee subsequently joined.

1933st January 5

Independence leaders from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia met and reached a consensus, forming the Confederate States of America.

some of

The Republic of Mississippi chose to sign an alliance treaty with the Great Chu Empire, allowing it to station troops. The contents of the treaty were roughly the same as those of the Republics of Texas and Louisiana, so I will not go into details here.

The Allied powers of the United States chose to sign a military alliance treaty with Britain, a treaty with the Great Chu Empire granting each other permanent most-favored-nation status, and a treaty for separate garrisons in the ports of Charleston and Wilmington.

This was actually a deal between the State of Chu and the State of England. The United States was a sphere of influence of the United Kingdom, which had a traditional influence there, and people of British descent had long held a dominant position in the government and economy.

The State of Chu acted as a helpful ally, intending to introduce British influence to balance the dominance of the north on the North American continent. It was a deal that seemed like a win-win situation.

The Empire had no intention of further expanding its influence in the Allied nations of the United States. Besides, the benefits should be shared among everyone; no one should monopolize them, or they would be punished by heaven.

After this lap

Only Florida, located in the far south, has not yet declared independence. This is not because Florida is unwilling, but because several separatist groups have been arguing and fighting, causing quite a stir.

Florida was a traditional Spanish colony, where the Spanish held considerable influence. Spanish-speaking whites and Mexicans made up more than half of the state's population, so the residents were naturally unwilling to join the English-speaking Confederate States of America.

The French also wielded considerable influence here. There were many French-speaking white people in Florida, and the French-backed separatist forces were quite radical. This was also a good opportunity for France to rejoin North America.

Therefore, they manipulated things from all sides, making the situation even more chaotic.

Such a lively occasion naturally wouldn't be complete without the British. Several separatist factions were arguing amongst themselves, their positions vastly different, resulting in a spectacular farce of infighting.

In the end, it was the diplomatic department of the Great Chu Empire that intervened, bringing all of its independent representatives to Miami. After several days of bargaining, an agreement was finally reached.

1933st January 6

The Republic of Florida was officially established, and the country fully embraced American-style democracy. The caretaker government planned to hold a presidential election a year later to elect its first democratically elected president.

The specific division of parliamentary power will have to be determined through open elections.

The French won the Supreme Court and the position of independent prosecutor, the Spanish gained power over the police and the Home Office, and the British became the provisional speaker of Parliament, wielding both financial and military power, making them the ultimate winners.

No matter where the spoils are divided, the British always take the fattest piece.

The Great Chu Empire only sought to sign a permanent most-favored-nation trade treaty between the two countries and to station troops in Tampa Bay and Orlando.

The British chose to station troops in Miami, Northport, and Duval County, separating themselves from the Chu state.

The three countries signed a military alliance treaty guaranteeing Florida's independence, but the treaty's scope was limited to Florida and did not apply to other parts of the world.

Thus, the dispute over the allocation of Florida's profits came to an end.

With the Southern states gaining independence one after another, the United States, preoccupied with the war, had no time to attend to them. Although it issued a public statement strongly opposing the independence, no one paid any attention to it.

The U.S. federal government makes a strong statement

We will spare no effort and use every possible means to safeguard the integrity of the Union territory, and we will resolutely reject any attempt to illegally divide the United States. May God bless America.

These words were actually weak and powerless, and could not affect the situation in the South at all.

More than 20 million people from the North American South were thus dramatically separated, reducing the total population of the United States from more than 86 million to more than 65 million, practically plunging it back to pre-liberation levels overnight.

The division of the five southern nations, coupled with the ongoing war in the American Midwest, has created a dangerous breach in America's once-proud food security dam.

Such a severe impact will continue to influence the fate of the United States for decades to centuries to come, becoming a persistent Achilles' heel. (End of Chapter)