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Oh... what a day... what a lovely day!
The arrival of the Stars n' Stripes to the shores of Texas was a sight of much jubilation for the beleaguered Texan loyalists of the Federal Government as they faced an unexpected tidal wave of tanks and infantry from the erstwhile enigmatic Texan Rangers. Thousands of servicemen of the D.C Federal Government, most of whom hailed from the Atlantic States, unloaded their heavy equipment and began redeploying across the front to deny the Rangers any more ground and excise these bandits off Federal land. Air reinforcements from the veteran airforce of DC arrived to Austin in earnest as the Texan forces reorganized themselves to mount a defense for San Antonio and Austin. Texan morale was wavering after their defeats at the beginning of the war but the assistance proved vital in restoring faith in the Union and the possibility of victory.
While the Federalists prepared themselves, General Creighton Abrams, General Staff Commander of the Ranger Armored Corps made a surprise visit to the front where he provided a speech for his men to raise morale for the upcoming storm. The Americans have arrived and their ultimate test is upon them. The Rangers will not go quietly into the night, they shall fight until Texas herself is free from Federalist occupation and racketeering. The time has come for Operation Thunderstruck with the goal of dealing a crippling blow to Federalist resolve and military capabilities in Southern Texas for good. Neither side were prepared for what was to come.
The Battle of Llano
The Rangers launched Operation Thunderstruck all over the frontline. The 1st Armored Division, composed of the creme de la creme of Abrams' School of Warfare and her supporting units advanced into the Llano sector, a relatively sparse grazing field on the outskirts of the city of Austin. What they found was exactly what the Rangers were looking for, a well equipped fully integrated land army of EMAAS equipped with the best the Federalists could offer. The size of the reinforcing army was enormous, far greater than what initial intelligence have anticipated. Many from within the Ranger leadership urged caution in attacking the EMAAS forces but as they gathered further intel of their redeployments, they knew the best decision was to strike when the iron is hot. As the tank units lined up on the hills overlooking the village, Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence "Bull" Marshall himself gave a radio call
"The Die is cast! All units advance!"
Thundering artillery barrages rained hell upon the EMAAS formations which reorganized themselves to put a stalwart defense. DC artillery smashed through Ranger mechanized infantry destroying many APCs and trucks in the process while they retrained for counter battery fire. The tanks held the line steadily maintaining formation and rolling into the EMAAS entrenched positions. The EMAAS commanders quickly demanded for air support to arrive in which DC Air Command responded with deploying their vaunted light bomber squadrons. This action was then countered by Ranger heavy fighters and tactical bombers. Llano was in smoldering ruin as a brutal slog in the air and on land ensued. The fighting went on so long that neighboring units joined the fight in an attempt to stop the bleeding and exact a breakthrough. The small size of the battlezone with the rolling hills, creeks and dry environment limited maneuvers and forced Rangers and DC troops to fight close quarters. In the end as the Ranger's infantry reserves dried up from the meatgrinder, Ranger armor was forced to make a fighting retreat back from Llano, managing to survive the ordeal largely unscathed due to the interdiction of bomber aircraft and lack of anti tank equipment capable of piercing the Ranger's thick plating. EMAAS forces were able to hold the Llano sector, saving the city of Austin from occupation but the massive cost it incurred on it's forces brings pause to EMAAS/DC leadership over their capabilities to actually fight the rest of the Ranger's armored divisions.
The Battle of Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg was the site of another major battle, this time between the Ranger 2nd Armored Division and the State of Texas's 114th Infantry Division. Unlike his more hot headed counterpart in the 1st Armored Division, Commander Sidney Bird's far more restrained strategy requisitioned the presence of the Ranger Infantry companies and artillery far greater than their logistical network could handle. The 114th Texan Infantry reorganized and ordered to make a stand at the town of Fredericksburg, the last major junction point before San Antonio. As both formations smashed into each other, a massive tornado storm erupted into the battlespace. The strong winds of the storm and the dust clouds from the sporadic artillery fire led to visibility of the battlespace crashing. Once again Rangers and Texan troops fought close quarters due to lack of visibility, The tornados caused significant damage to Ranger vehicles with only their heavy tanks surviving the winds. In the aftermath of the storm as the confused and bloodied Rangers looked around, the Texans attempted a counter push but were annihilated by Ranger tanks holding discipline and relentlessly firing at the poorly armed Texans. After a bloody battle that rivaled even the great battle of Llano, the Texans were forced to withdraw back to San Antonio. The Rangers managed to push all the way to the city's outskirts but the heavy casualties dealt by the Texans gave pause for the Rangers to await for reinforcements before they could attempt a siege of the city.
The Battle of Corpus Christi Sound
Meanwhile in the Texan coast. The Federal Navy imposed a blockade upon Ranger shipping sealing off trades to the Rangers from using the Red River or the Rio Grande. Hoping to break the blockade, the Rangers adopted a bold strategy. The Merchant Marine of the Rangers, now placed out of a job and mostly consisting of WW2 veterans offered to launch a blockade run operation against the DC government. Consisting of 48 jury rigged Liberty class transports and 12 River class corvettes, the assembled fleet sailed into Corpus Christi where they would attempt an ambush against the Federalist Navy. As they exited the Rio Grande however, the USS Philadelphia and the USS Syracuse and her escorts engaged the Ranger fleet. The Rangers attempted a boarding and ramming action against the Federalist navy but the raging fury of the Syracuse's 152mm guns and the Philadelphia's 8 inch guns cleaved through the cargo ship's hull like a knife through butter. One by one the armed merchant vessels were sunk or torpedoed. The jagged shoreline where the once bustling shipyard of Corpus Christi now sunk under the waves became a graveyard of Ranger merchant vessels. Torpedos from Ranger corvettes managed to strike into the USS Syracuse damaging it severely. Nevertheless most of the DC fleet escaped the engagement slightly wounded with the merchant vessels unable to perform a ramming maneuver against the blockading fleet.
Raiding in the Gulf
While hostilities were in place, Ranger ships that previously conducted raids in the Mississippi took refuge in Georgia where they took the opportunity to strike at undefended DC convoys flowing into Texas. Texan fuel tankers transiting into DC were struck first, sinking many oil tankers in the process.
[120 Fuel from Texas to DC destroyed, 4 Sea convoys sunk]
Other minor battles
The Ranger 3rd Armored Division crossed into the Hondo-Laredo sector where they found vanguard units who retreated in the initial push. Without any air or artillery support from their allies, the Texan militias were crushed by the Rangers without much effort.
The battles of Llano and Fredericksburg while incredibly brutal for the Rangers, pinned down several Federalist units crucial to the defense of Southern Texas. With the understanding that the Texan defense across the region is foundering, Ranger vanguard forces sweeped in across the flanks with the intention to knock out supply lines from Dallas-Fort Worth into Austin. The 5th Cavalry Regiment launched a daring raid against supply routes and cut off road networks between the two cities. forces in the Laredo sector advanced to occupy Camp Wood, Pearsall and Encinall in the immediate vicinity of San Antonio.
With the Federalist forces weakened across Southern Texas and the cities of Austin and San Antonio now on the frontlines, the situation is looking disastrously grim for Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and the Texan government in Dallas.
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