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30/08/2010, 20:48
Victoria - AAR : The Civil War 1
Of all the military challenges Vicky has to offer, I have always found the Civil War on the Confederate side and Wold War I as Serbia to be the most interesting and involving ones. In both cases, being desperatly outnumbered, technically backward and having no help to look forward to, mere survival is a challenge.
The war starts on day 1, July 4th, 1861. Some POPs are converted to soldiers, all the armies are reinforced, a new division is set up and four volunteer divisions are created and immediately mobilized. I will need all the forces I can gather and I won't even try to save the economy, as the imports of clothes, weapons and food will be enormous. The treasure is basically doomed.
Because the Union always starts with a massive assault on Manassas, the Army of Northern Virginia and all armies in the east are gathered in Staunton, save for the Army of the Shenandoah which is sent to Charleston, as its mountains and forests make it an easily defendable position. If the Union reaches this province before we do, it will be almost impossible to dislodge its troops, and the Confederacy does not have enough men to suffer the heavy casualties a regular assault would surely cost.
All the armies of the west are gathered in Bowling Green and amalgamated as the "Army of the West". Our great plan is to push through Kentucky to the canadian border or the great lakes, breaking the communication lines of the enemy, divide his territory and isolate the western part.
Two problems however: pushing north will stretch our supply lines to almost unsustainable level and open a new front on each side. The United States having three times as much population as the Confederacy and a larger army from the beginning, it will have plenty of time to crush our attack and prevent us from advancing. At least three phases of the Confederate plan are based on major incompetence in the US military HQ.
Lee is intercepted by major Baker's troops but quickly retreats to Staunton. The Army of the Shenandoah arrives in Charleston exactly one day before a Union army does and benefits from the topology. After a small skirmish, the enemy retreats with heavy casualties.
Meanwhile, the Army of the West is split in three and each division is ordered to attack one of the remaining provinces of Kentucky. No enemy division is visible west of us, but we fear it's only a matter of time before they arrive.
In yellow, the limits of the State of Kentucky, which I want to rally to the CSA.
Union forces spotted in Cairo, just north-west of us, attack colonel Watts' division in Louisville. More soldiers from the east are threatening to attack us in Lexington and we are outnumbered in both provinces. The Norfolk garrison is detached from the army in Staunton and sent to Charleston where another attack takes time to be repelled. We need them to cross the mountains, support the Lexington garrison from the incoming attack and then help in Louisville.
Meanwhile, we receive a communication from general Lee. Troops from Maryland have been shifting west continuously to try and stop our advance in Kentucky and West Virginia, leaving only a tiny garrison in Manassas. He has decided to use his overwhelming superiority to take it back, leaving only the Army of Virginia behind.
On September 13th, the 4 conscript divisions recruited in the summer are deployed, divided between the First Conscript Army in Bowling Green and the Second Conscript Army in Lynchburg. Both are immediately sent to the front to assist in the battles of Louisville and Lexington.
Lee's army crashes into the Manassas Defense Force on September 22nd and routes them in 8 days. In the West, the siege of Louisville turns into a bloodbath, as the Ist Conscript Army arrives to support Watts' division. The Paducah army establishes control over Paducah and plans an attack on Cairo, hoping to cut the armies in Louisville from their supplies, but new US troops, pulled back from the west, are menacing our flank and any movement is canceled.
Lee chases the Manassas garrison up to Washington, hoping to seize the capital in a matter of days, as the Army of Virginia is ordered to take position in Manassas, covering his only supply line. Seing this, the US command starts gathering troops in Maryland.
In Kentucky, things look grim. The Paducah army is ordered to reach Louisville in order both to assist in the liberation of the city and to avoid the assault, coming from Cairo, of a northern corps twice as large. They will never make it however, as the US detachment attacks them a week after they left their entrenchments.
As the battles in Lexington and Louisville are draining our men and energy, we detach commander Chilton and his Texas cavalry from the Army of the Shenandoah and send them to Louisville through Lexington, leaving Charleston defended by only one division. However, hysterical gathering of all union forces in Washington to counter Lee's assault have weakened the army of Cincinnati, which is now retreating through Colombus. Lee's audacious chase of the routed army of Manassas is a complete success for now.
In Louisville, stubborn US resistance seems to be paying off. A constant stream of fresh troops from the west pours into Kentucky and Watts' losses now amount to half his initial strength, while the battle of Lexington still delays our eastern reinforcements. Help planned for Paducah won't be ready until November 4th, and without a victory in Lexington, there is no way for us to hold on that long.
Finally, good news: the hopeless Union resistance has been crushed in Lexington and the various corps are divided into four groups: one to Louisville, one to Cincinnati, chasing the demoralized US forces, two in Lexington to secure the province.
A new infantry division is deployed in Memphis and ordered to join the Army of Paducah. On November 7th, the continuously reinforced Union army starts overpowering the Army of Northern Virginia. Despite his resistance, Lee has to retreat.
The battle in Paducah is hopeless. Whatever is left of our troops there has to fall back to Bowling Green and the new division is ordered to hold its position in the fortress near Memphis, denying any further push in Confederate territory. A few miles away, the siege of Louisville proves a disaster and the divisions there are also ordered back to Bowling Green.
The end of the Washington battle sees troops from the east walking back towards Kentucky. Partly because of this and partly because of bad weather conditions in the end of November, the assault of Cincinnati is canceled. However, newly promoted commander Jackson, at the head of the newly deployed IInd Reserve Army, decides to use this moment of relative calm to attack the exhausted Louisville garrison.
On the eastern coast, the Confederate navy launches its three commerce raiders and our new secret weapon, the CSS Virginia, hoping to damage the US navy and prevent it from supporting ground forces from the coast. An old-fashion sailing fleet under admiral Farragut is this found in Chesapeake bay and the battle begins.
New armies are deployed in Memphis and an assault planned to get the Yankees out of Kentucky. While they cross the border, Jackson falls upon the Louisville garrison by surprise. The reorganized armies in Bowling Green are gathered and sent to Paducah too.
Paducah secured, the reformed Army of the West, composed of the four divisions from Bowling Green (including the IInd Conscript Army), are ordered to take the Louisville army from behind and thus force them to leave Kentucky under Confederate control. This is a complete success.
