SAIGO-NO-HEATS
A drifter, returned
Chapter 1: The Washington Campaign
Once upon a time, America was a land of vast opportunity, but that was a long time ago..
"In the Days immediately following General MacArthur's coup America had entered a standoff. The Longists had retreated into the deep south and the Syndicalists had gathered in mass in their Steel Belt capitols. MacArthur issued a general six week deadline for both sides to stand down, but it was clear even from the start that neither side was willing to let the other go without a fight. Calls went out across the nation as states declared themselves as loyal to one government or the other and along side recruitment for loyal militias swelled and began to organize, especially as whole units within the us military began to defect and pick sides.Once upon a time, America was a land of vast opportunity, but that was a long time ago..
In the Early days of March, 1937, as spring came into bloom and MacArthur's deadline loomed overhead, both the Syndicate's newly christened Continental Red Army and Long's personal army The Minutemen announced that they would be marching on the capitol to depose the "tyrannical madman" and "capitalist guard dog" who had undone the democratic process and restore the lawful government of the united states. While not immensely important strategically, onlookers believed that capturing the capitol would add a level of legitimacy to their new regime that would lessen the eagerness of the opposition. Both sides had naturally anticipated a fight, but neither had expected the extent of the hell they were marching into. Long's Army had believed that the Syndicates were little more than a disorganized angry mob that would scatter once any real fighting started, the Red Army had believed their sheer numbers would be enough to make the southerners take pause, and neither had expected much from the Fragmented and undersupplied US Army trapped in the capitol.
But the Federal Remnant had not sat idle in the weeks leading up to the conflict, and as the Rival Armies crossed into Virginia, they found that MacArthur and those still loyal had turned the surrounding countryside into a veritable hell of hidden machine gun nests and fighting positions, leading all the way back to Capitol hill. By the time the would be conquerors finally met in battle around the outskirts of Arlington, they had already been harassed and harried by the dogged efforts of the Federals. Now both sides look for a way to both scatter the other, while finding a way to pierce the defenses around the capitol."
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Hill 15, West of Arlington, Virginia. March 14th, 1937.
Lt. Augusto Greco, 2nd Guards Rifle Division, PRC Red Guards.
"Keep digging unless you want your fuckin' head blown off!" August shouted to a scattering of militiamen as they desperately tried to shovel out a trench big enough to offer some level of protection.
The fighting had started easy enough for his company, they'd made contact with nothing but scattered groups of Longist Militia and had driven them off easily, at points even chasing them down with gunfire from the back of trucks or the inside of moving cars, but run ins with Federal mines had made that approach untenable and it wasn't long after that they started encountering much hardier Longest forces who had been moved up the line to counter their breakthrough. After two days of what felt like near constant fighting they had found themselves trapped on this bastard hill, dodging Federal Artillery from somewhere in the city and Longist skirmishers taking potshots at them. They needed reinforcement bad, but there weren't a lot of places on the front where things were going much better.
"Ah, hell, they're back!" One of the Guards up the line gave a shout, followed by the crack of a rifle. The other soldiers in the half built trench gave out a variety of their own curses and made for their own rifles, answering with a scattered volley of fire throughout the tree line. Far down the hill, August could make out a thin line of movement, just enough for him to identify as an enemy combatant.
"Left Side, Let'em have it!" He shouted over the ring of gun fire and motioned to the men closest to him before leveling is Thompson and opening fire. Even in a short burst the Thompson kicked against him, taking all his might to keep it steady, but the burst of fire hit its mark. After about 3 minutes the fighting had once again died down, and one man in the trench was injured and another dead.
"Alright. Let's get back to digging."
