October 7, 1928, after a period of reorganization, the Australasia Army advanced eastward from Oregon, with their spearhead aimed directly at Idaho.
Geographically, the position of Idaho was still very important.
Although it wasn’t a coastal urban city with a highly developed population, Idaho’s west belonged to Washington and Oregon, which were part of the coastline; to the east were the agriculturally and pastorally advanced states of Montana and Wyoming; and to the south were Nevada and Utah, making it a relatively central and pivotal area in the western United States.
If Idaho were lost, Montana and Wyoming would be like fish on a chopping board, left at the mercy of the Australasia Army.
What’s more, just to the east were North and South Dakota, and past Minnesota lay the Great Lakes region.
Although the American Government had formulated a plan to abandon the west to hold the east, if the Australasia Army were to attack the Great Lakes, what would be the point of holding the east?
As a result, The United States Army Command drew a line in the sand for the USA Western Region: a defensive stand in Idaho, Utah, and Arizona.
However, the American army grossly overestimated the combat strength of the National Guard. The state National Guards were considered to have some fighting capability compared to the United States Army, but they were like paper tigers in front of the elite Australasia Army.
This couldn’t be blamed on America. Apart from World War I, the last major war they had experienced was the Spanish-American War over 30 years ago.
The passing of 30 years was enough to cycle through several generations of soldiers, and the same was true for the National Guard.
The state National Guards not only lacked war experience but even basic firearms training was scant.
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While they looked impressive in uniform, looks were all they had going for them.
In actual combat, the National Guard immediately became a disorganized mess, scurrying through trenches and bunkers like startled ants.
Moreover, Idaho’s population was not large. The entire state had just over 400,000 people, with the National Guard numbering barely 3,000.
How could 3,000 people fend off an assault by over ten thousand from the Australasia Army? After suffering more than a hundred casualties, the Idaho National Guard surrendered quite bluntly.
Yes, they surrendered.
Although the soldiers of the National Guard, after being brainwashed by the American Government, had dreams of performing heroic deeds and becoming generals, the reality was a different story.
Seeing enemy airplanes swarming the skies, and then looking up at their own bird-less heavens, the disparity was obvious.
Many soldiers with family and friends in Washington and Oregon had learned about their predicament.
If Australasia had occupied these areas without committing massacres and abuses, then why should they resist?
Perhaps a change of rulers could even help them recover faster from the economic crisis.
Many soldiers had heard about the construction situation in California. Although the economy wasn’t booming, a large number of the unemployed had found work—isn’t that situation better than before?
Under such reasoning, the National Guard soldiers surrendered very cleanly, even wearing a hint of relief on their faces as they did so.
War is indeed terrifying, with death and injury omnipresent, threatening the life of every soldier at any moment.
For those National Guard soldiers who had never experienced real combat, surrender might well have been a good thing—it certainly spared their hearts.
And because of the rapid surrender of these National Guard units, Australasia quickly took control of Idaho, and soon pushed the front line into Montana and Wyoming.
Of course, the main thrust was towards Montana. The current population of Wyoming barely exceeded 200,000, and the National Guard there didn’t even number 1,000.
Given such an overwhelming disparity in strength, upon learning of Idaho’s fall, the governor of Wyoming quickly ordered the National Guard to surrender to Australasia.
Even with 3,000 National Guard and militiamen, the idea of holding off the Australasia Army with such numbers was undoubtedly lunacy.
Forget about 3,000—if the population were increased tenfold, the governor of Wyoming still wouldn’t believe they could withstand the Australasia Army.
After all, the United States had intelligent individuals who would investigate the actions of the Allied Army after taking over the states.
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As long as their interests weren’t harmed, for those who already held high positions, who ruled the land was not significant.
Moreover, if they surrendered quickly, they might even be able to earn some commendation and continue to sit securely in their governor’s seat, serving the new rulers.
If the advance in the northwest could be described as smooth, then the campaign in the southwest could only be characterized by its swiftness.
Of course, that wasn’t surprising.
After all, the two most populous states to the southwest had a population of only 400,000 at most, with Nevada, the least populated, having just a few tens of thousands.
With such a small population, it was inevitable that they could not withstand the advance of the Australasian Army.
Especially Nevada, which surrendered its government without much resistance, but it took several days to take over and establish military control there, and it was actually the vast land area of these states that slowed down the progress of the Australasian Army.
After the successive falls of Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah, the western United States had already lost a large portion of its land to Australasia.
The remaining land was not so vital to the United States, as these areas were generally close to the eastern part of the country.
It was also at this time that the Russian army finally hurried to San Francisco.
Russia could be said to have assembled the slowest among the coalition forces. It took them nearly a month to gather domestically and almost two months to transport their troops from Europe to the western United States.
By the time the American army arrived in San Francisco, Australasia had already conquered the entire state of Utah.
However, at this point, Arthur wouldn’t say anything about the Russians’ tardiness, after all, there was only so much American interest to go around, and those who were late would inevitably get a smaller share.
In this offensive plan, the direction of the Russian army’s attack was in the northwest; they still had to rush from California to Montana and join the attack on North Dakota.
This also meant that they would have to continue traveling for a while. If it hadn’t been for the Australasian Army lending them some military trucks, the Russian army might as well have gone straight to Washington to celebrate the victory.
Of course, lending military trucks to the Russian army wasn’t without a price.
The biggest role of the Russian army was to serve as cannon fodder, reducing the casualties of the Australasian Army. United with the forces from the Philippines and Kalimantan, they would be the vanguard in the initial assaults.
To deal with the threat from the west, General Panxing led his newly trained 100,000 troops westward from Washington toward South Dakota and prepared to establish a defense line there.
East of South Dakota was Minnesota, capable of threatening the Great Lakes region; therefore, it was a priority to ensure Minnesota did not fall into the hands of Australasia.
This meant that these 100,000 troops must block the Australasian Army to the west of Minnesota, and ideally to the west of South Dakota, which was a daunting task for General Panxing.
General Panxing was born in 1860 and was now 68 years old, a considerable age for the time, and the fact that such an elder was in command of an army and personally engaged in combat was testament to the talent shortage in the United States.
Of course, General Panxing could not possibly control every aspect of the army at such an advanced age. Therefore, before setting off, he made a special visit to the famous George S. Patton Jr., one of his former residences.
This WWII historical figure in American history was only a moderately famous captain at this time.
Especially after General Panxing retired, George S. Patton Jr.’s position changed over ten times and he never found his direction.
This commander, who once stayed an extra year at West Point due to poor language skills, finally saw the dawn of his career under General Panxing’s reassignment, as a staff officer in the west with the rank of Major.
Under George S. Patton Jr., he also commanded an entire infantry brigade, responsible for protecting General Panxing.
Although the American military had taken action, the journey of these troops from Washington to South Dakota would take time, and currently, all they could do was pray that the National Guard and militia on the western front could hold out longer.
Otherwise, if South Dakota fell before these troops arrived, they could only set up the last line of defense in Minnesota and make a desperate stand against the Australasian Army for the Great Lakes Industrial Area.
However, relying solely on Minnesota to resist the advance of the Australasian Army seemed a bit unrealistic.
Moreover, if the whole of western Minnesota were to fall, it would not be much different for the United States than if all its territory fell.
The enemy’s airplanes could still threaten the Great Lakes Industrial Area and even, if they so wished, launch a large-scale bombing raid on Washington.
The American army’s immediate task was not only to repel the coalition forces’ offensive, but they also needed a significant victory to end the war with as minimal losses as possible.
After all, in a situation where states across the United States were either neutral or holding independence referendums, it was clear that the first to give in could only be the United States itself.
Regardless of who won or lost this war of attrition, the result would not be good news for the American government.
Even if they could hold back the enemy’s advance, they would still collapse from the chaos within, unable to change the ultimate outcome.