CALIFORNIA
California can be easily divided into two regions. The large industrial and technological base and vast agricultural potential of Northern California is mostly intact, so much so that the region is MilGov's main hope for reconstruction in the future. As such, the military presence in NoCal is strong. The 5th Army Headquarters has been reformed in the state, centered in the southern Bay area and the Stockton/Sacramento area. North of the cities and away from the interstates, the land is held only tenuously in the federal grasp, limited to a chain of garrisons in a few small towns in the Sacramento Valley floor. Southern California is a mix of trashed, radiation poisoned urban areas and the wild deserts. The land in between is a no-man's-land guarded by military units trying to keep travel north and south to a minimum.
1) NUCLEAR TARGETS
Date----Type----Target---Notes
10/28/62 SS-7 Los Angeles
10/28/62 SS-6 San Diego
10/28/62 SS-N-4 San Diego
10/29/62 SS-N-4 San Francisco
10/29/62 5 mT bomb Dorris
10/31/62 AS-3 Vandenburg AFB
2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES
The 91st and 63rd Training Divisions were both destroyed in the nukings of the large cities, with only scattered men making their way into other units. The California National Guard was federalized in November of 1962 and numerous units were sent to the Far East. The largest, however, the 40th AD, was kept in the state to aid in recovery. Today the state is thick with military men. In the south are hold-out Marines and Mexican Army enclaves and in the north are the reconstituted 5th Army based in the Bay area.
5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)
------3rd Battalion/70th Armored Regiment--Camp Pendleton (900 men, 8 AFVs)
6th Infantry Division--Fort Ord (2,200 men, 8 AFVs)
25th Infantry Division
------HQ, DISCOM, 1st Battalion/14th Infantry--San Francisco (3000 men, 48 AFVs)
------2nd Battalion/19th Infantry--Sacramento (1000 men, 20 AFVs)
------------Platoon 1, Able Company--Davis (40 men)
------1st Battalion/27th Infantry--Redding (575 men, 11 AFVs)
------1st Battalion/35th Infantry
------------Able Company--Yreka (100 men, 6 AFVs)
------------Baker Company--Red Bluff (100 men)
------------Charlie Company--Chico (60 men)
------2nd Battalion/21st Infantry--Herlong (250 men, 2 AFVs)
------3rd Battalion/69th Armor--Madera (600 men, 4 AFVs)
------32nd Marine Battalion (Provisional)--San Francisco (900 men)
------221st Military Police Brigade--Stockton (400 men, 5 AFV)
40th Armored Division--Bakersfield (6000 men, 78 AFVs)
316th Engineer Combat Battalion--Camp Pendleton (300 men)
33rd Marine Battalion (Provisional)--Camp Pendleton (800 men)
899th Infantry Battalion--Travis AFB (300 men)
900th Infantry Battalion--Yuba City (320 men)
Mexican 2nd Army
---1st Brigada (Mechanized)--Ventura (700 men, 2 AFVs)
---2nd Regimento Caballeria--Santa Clarita (1000 men, 8 AFVs)
---La Paz Brigade--Escondido (1200 men, 2 AFVs)
---Ensenada Brigade--San Diego (800 men)
---Tepic Brigade--Pine Valley (2000 men, 1 AFV)
---Regimento Infanteria Activo Tijuana--Twenty-nine Palms (1000 men)
---Hermosillo Brigade--Mojave (1400 men, 2 AFVs)
3) NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Northern California has stabilized somewhat under MilGov control, and the weather pattern has made this region fertile again. The larger central valley towns are all under titular federal rule, but beyond that, the large areas of national parks and Indian reservations are dotted with small communities which live in almost total isolation. Cut off by easily blocked mountain roads and sheer distance, most small towns have seen few refugees and bandits, while those near major highways tend to be more defensive, since they see more traffic. Many communities have seen little or no outside contact since the bombs fell, and prefer it that way. The mountain population tends to be independent-minded, with little patience for urban life or central authority, and many have sympathies for the various "Mountain Confederacy" groups, in much the same way the Old South viewed itself in the Civil War. As a result, federal authority generally extends no further than line of sight in the mountains. A vicious war is brewing in the stunning forests of Northern California, as separatists of several stripes have acted to throw off any degree of federal control.
The Bear Republic: Most of these bands support a movement called the "Bear Republic", aiming towards independence for northern California. The "Bear Republic" is the name given to the diffuse network of militia groups that sprang up during the early Cold War era. After the nuclear attacks these militias stepped in to fill the vacuum left by the collapse of civil authority. These militias follow diverse leaders and particular ideologies, but all are devoted to the idea of an independent state of Northern California. Bear Republic militias tend to know their territory very well, and make use of ambushes, but will try to avoid stand-up fights or attacks against well-defended targets. They are generally well behaved towards the locals in their territories, relying on sympathizers for provisions and information. Support for the Bear Republic tends to be strongest in mountain country, away from farmland or towns. In these areas, the militias are able to move with impunity. A typical Bear Republic militia group might claim sovereignty over a single county, and will name itself after that area. It will usually consist of 50-200 fighters, with an equal number of family members and noncombatant supporters, with well-concealed encampments in a mountain valley, often near one of the myriad abandoned mines or caves of Northern California. Equipment is mainly civilian hunting gear, usually limited to sporting arms, police equipment, and the occasional bit of captured Army equipment. They rarely have a uniform or body armor, though many of the larger units have adopted a standard camouflage pattern or even patches and distinctive headgear.
The NAF:The truly dangerous people, however, are part of the growing White Separatist movement, the same which infests many parts of rural North America. The New Aryan Front (NAF) in Northern California is a Christian Identity paramilitary organization, a large, well-coordinated faction which has embraced Wotanism (the worship of Norse gods such as Thor, Odin, and so forth) in the years since the nukes. Like their KKK predecessors, the NAF is virulently racist and hateful and has rejected modernity entirely, following a creed of strength over all. They are not interested in creating an independent state, instead, they wallow in the chaos, believing that humans are better unfettered and unweakened by civilization. Those inclined towards intellectualism read the works of Nietzsche, Hitler, Franklin Hart, and others. In many ways, the NAF is more of a cult than a paramilitary faction. The code they follow is more Viking than anything else, but it makes them individually fierce fighters. NAF groups are usually known as "war bands", a typical war band will consist of 20-50 fighters, with a lesser number of dependents, slaves, or support personnel. They usually camp in mines or take over small towns in mountain valleys, and live by exacting tributes from surrounding communities. A few smaller bands are nomadic. An individual fighter is often an experienced fighter, well-trained in close combat, and equipped with light body armor and well-maintained military and civilian gear. Fighters in a war band tend to adopt similar camouflage patterns, favoring "tiger stripe" or old Nazi camouflage obtained from various sources. Interestingly, a few war bands have moved away from racialist ideology to focus more on the philosophical aspects of the warrior lifestyle. These groups are even more ferocious combatants, but tend to respect strength in their enemies, so even a black enemy might be considered honorable, but not an equal. The stereotypical image of an NAF fighter, however, is still a white man in a ghillie suit with a long knife.
The wayward nuke: Even in this area of isolation, the nuclear war came home. Late on October 29, 1962, a Tu-95M Bear A bomber flew in at 30,000 feet and dropped a 5 megaton nuclear bomb over northern California. The target is still unknown but may have been due to an accidental drop or a moral change of heart on the crew's part. Set upon by interceptors, the damaged Bear crashed mostly intact south of Red Bluff where locals captured one crewman alive. The bomb smashed into the ground and exploded, along Route 97 directly on the tiny town of Dorris right on the Oregon border. The crater formed is about two miles across, and in all directions radiate stands of fallen, charred timber and rubbled plateaus. The fallout cloud spread southwest, forcing towns from Macdoel, to Weed and as far south as Mount Shasta to be abandoned.
The Army in the northern Sacramento Valley: In 1964, the US Army has adopted a strategy of controlling the remaining infrastructure, the roads, the rails, and the airfields in the Sacramento Valley, and virtually abandoning everything else. The nearby mountain ranges and national parks are claimed by several NAF warbands, and federal forces rarely patrol beyond the major roadways. Nighttime travel is especially dangerous beyond the valley floor, and the locals claim to have an unusually bad problem with wolves. The valley is now home to three battalions of the 25th Infantry Division, detached from the main body this summer and spread out in the Sacramento Valley. The 1st Battlion/27th Infantry Regiment is in Redding, the 1st Battlion/35th Infantry Regiment has detached companies in camps in other towns, and the 2nd Battalion/21st Infantry Regiment has been sent to Herlong. Garrisons are set up in towns on vital road junctures, patrols are sent out along the main roads, and large forces are maintained only where necessary. Operations in the region are technically managed from the 5th Army's HQ in San Jose through the Regional HQ at Redding, but by and large the individual garrisons are left to their own devices unless in trouble. Because of the security they offer, the garrison towns have absorbed large refugee populations and have remained stable, but they still suffer predation by marauders on occasion. Most communities now turn away outsiders at gunpoint, federal troops or not, and few refugees try anymore. Interstate 5 and Highway 99 are used daily to run supplies and men from the northern garrisons, south to Sacramento and both are maintained very well by engineers and maintenance crews. Up until a few months ago, the string of garrison towns extended up into Oregon to Klamath Falls, but marauder attacks along the roads have stopped this. In many ways, the situation is more akin to the early 19th Century than the 21st Century...and away from the main roads, the situation is frankly more like the 8th or 9th Century.
Redding: The center of federal operations in Northern California, "Fort Redding" is formerly the Redding Municipal Airport. It is now home to three battalions of the 25th Infantry Division, detached from the main body this summer and spread out in the Sacramento Valley. The 1st Battalion/27th Infantry Regiment is garrisoned here. Manpower for this over-strength battalion is about 575 troops and recruits from the Redding population. Virtually all of the battalion's heavy equipment is obsolete 1940's vintage equipment stripped from depots and military museums around Northern California. The AFVs stationed in Redding include three M4 Shermans, an M5A1 Stuart, and seven M3 halftrack variants (AT, AA, etc). A newly-formed Artillery Platoon has seven guns, all towed and a mix of 155mm, 105mm, and 75mm. As well, there is the "Dragoon Company", composed of four "troops" of forty soldiers each mounted on police- and cavalry-trained horses with old Army Garand rifles. It is deployed in the mountains around the Central Valley, conducting patrols and ambushes against the numerous marauder and guerilla bands. Additionally, there are about 200 militiamen of one sort or another, armed with small arms and some rifle grenades, most of which are involved in transporting food and resources which are collected at the various points further south. Fort Redding has a fairly good medical facility and ample alcohol fuel for it's vehicles. Unfortunately, the population of Redding is restless and chafes under the presence of the Army and militia, and sabotage and outright guerilla attacks are a problem. There are some 14,000 civilians still in town, led by Mayor Harris.
Yreka: Yreka has about 12,000 civilians living here now. Led by a man known simply as Chuck, they are organized, and have a clinic, schools, some electricity, and water and sewer service back online. The US Army unit here is Able Company of the 1st Battalion/35th Infantry Regiment. It has 100 men with four M103 heavy tanks and two M48A2 Patton medium tanks. The unit has recently been showing signs of turning marauder, having been influenced by local survivalists.
Red Bluff: Further south, Red Bluff is a small town on the Sacramento River, at the junction of I-5 and State Hwy 99, the two north-south corridors through the region. Location alone makes it important and roughly 100 soldiers and some impressed former California Highway Patrolmen from Baker Company of the 1st Battlion/35th Infantry Regiment, are encamped at the "Idlewheels" RV campsite. The garrison has fifteen trucks and a single 105mm mortar to control the groves to the south as well as the approaches to the town, which they use in lieu of extensive patrols. Most of the opposition that the garrison faces comes from Bear Republic militias, though a single warband of NAF fighters is believed to be in the area.
Chico: Along the Highway 99 route, Chico is now a large fortress town of 9,000 citizens who walled off their city from refugees early on. "Camp Chico" is dug in on the campus of CSU-Chico, and consists of a garrison of about 60 soldiers from Charlie Company of the 1st Battlion/35th Infantry Regiment, plus a number of local recruits. The garrison has fifteen trucks, two 81mm mortars and two M101 105mm pack howitzers, all of which make their position quite secure. The population is a bit friendlier to the federals than other areas, and Chico can be considered fairly safe. The countryside to the east of Chico is infested with Bear Republic militia groups, however, and more than a few small marauder gangs. The main Bear Republic cell in the area has undergone a major leadership change in the past few months. The moderate leader was killed by a homicidal maniac that has began to attack the more isolated towns in the area, burning and pillaging them. So far they have completely razed several towns, including Graeagle, Cloverdale, and Quincy. The Army in Chico is making plans to hunt them down, something that no one feels like doing.
Yuba City: Yuba City itself has a lot of refugees, and the 320 troops of the 900th Infantry Battalion here spend a lot of time holed up in their impromptu fortress. This battalion was formed from excess personnel from Travis, Beale and McClellan Air Force Bases and are responsible for local security and escort for convoys. This group has had several skirmishes with marauders lately, though the marauders are of a more random sort than normal, mostly desperate refugees, escapee gangs, and so forth rather than the guerillas found elsewhere. Many of these marauders are escapees from Folsom and New Folsom Prisons, both located near Sacramento. About twelve miles east of Yuba is the ruins of Beale Air Force Base. This was formerly an ICBM and B-52 SAC base, though now it is mostly abandoned and in a state of disrepair, picked over a thousand times over the years. The empty Titan I ICBM silos are located three each near the towns of Lincoln and Chico and in the Sutter Buttes near Live Oak. The silo crews abandoned them soon after they fired their missiles.
Williams: To the west of Yuba, located at the crossing of I-5 and Hwy 20, the small agricultural town of Williams is garrisoned by about 20 soldiers rotated from Redding who are charged with protecting traffic on the interstate. This garrison is unusually busy, thanks to the proximity of the Mendocino National Forest and the numerous militia groups that reside there. The farm communities either sympathize or are frequently raided, so the garrison is often in action. The main asset available to them are three two-seater ultralights piloted by friendly local aviators. This allows them to scout and patrol the large expanses of open land. "Camp Williams", despite being fairly small, is very heavily fortified, built in a small business park along the side of the highway. South of the town is a large abandoned area where militia troops turned back a large refugee mob that tried to ambush a MilGov convoy a month ago, at heavy cost. Bones still lie by the roadside, as no locals will go there.
Lakeport: Lakeport is one of the most remote of the various MilGov outposts in the region. Lakeport is mainly used as a staging area for operations along State Hwy 101 and into the coastal mountain range. It doesn't control a particularly valuable agricultural area, though the lake is good fishing, it's purpose is solely strategic. There are 30 soldiers here rotated from Redding, including a squad of Rangers. The local populace is at best sympathetic to the Bear Republic, so the area is beautiful but hazardous. The garrison has a single UH-1 helicopter, and a large number of small mortars that they have to use more frequently than they'd like. The UH-1 is used mostly to deliver the Ranger squad to assault sites.
Herlong: This garrison is outside of the Sacramento Valley, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada chain even, but vital because of the Sierra Army Munitions Depot located here. The garrison is the 250 men of the 2nd Battalion/21st Infantry Regiment enclaved in "Firebase Nicholson". The 2/21st has three five-ton cargo trucks, an M3 halftrack gun truck with a bad motor, a few jeeps and LWB Land Rovers, and one "throw together" howitzer-on-a-farm-truck fire support vehicle (but despite all the tons of ammunition at the depot, only one shell for it). The battalion commander is Captain Richard Sutherling. Being a competent leader, Sutherling was transferred to the 2/21st when the former CO was killed when his jeep was ambushed near Genesee. In addition to the troops of the 2/21st, the town is populated by 500 civilians, mostly farmers and their families. It is rumored that there are still some stocks of chemical and biological weapons at the depot, and most see this as the reason for the garrison. They are now patrolling Highway 395 north to Alturas in an attempt to encourage more trade and travel. Alturas, however, is not willing to risk it as the area is thick with bandits.
Donner Pass: This high mountain pass east of Lake Tahoe (which is really beautiful and is a survivalist’s dreamland) is defended by a powerful farmer's militia, often patrolling a hundred miles into the desert to keep marauders at bay. A single-engine prop plane is used sporadically to patrol the vast swaths of desert, communicating with termination squads on the ground.
Sacramento: Sacramento is still the official capital of the state, with about 40% of the original population having returned and now living and trading within its defended walls. A state government council convenes here weekly to pass whatever legislation it can. In reality, of course, the Army has a final say in everything, although it is not uncommon for the two organizations' goals to be similar, creating an air of co-operation. The city is dirtier and emptier than it once was, and a slow process of decay is happening, creating large slum areas which both the Army and local police are having difficulty controlling. Sacramento's northern neighborhoods were the most badly damaged in the chaos, and a concentrated but slow process of rebuilding is taking place here. Sacramento has also tended to avoid the problems other cities experience in this post-war world due to the presence of constant trade, active political control and a large military body keeping the trouble to a minimum. The intelligent men on the staff of Sacramento State University are working with the local leaders to improve crop yields. The Sacramento area is protected by the bulk of the 2nd Battalion/19th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division. The battalion has around 1,000 men and is heavily mechanized with twenty M48A2 Patton tanks, two M75 APCs, twenty M59A1 APCs, four M20 armored cars and some mortar carriers. The battalion is commanded by Colonel John Callister, a former California National Guardsmen from the Bay area, who often sends his men out to look for missing members of his family. The city is the southern end of the supply chain supporting the garrisons up along the Sacramento Valley and is busy in this activity.
Davis: Garrisoned at the trashed campus of UC-Davis is the 40 men of Platoon 1, Able Company, 2/19th Infantry from Sacramento. They are currently overseeing the salvaging of the campus buildings.
Stockton: This agricultural city's large pre-war population suffered heavily from fallout from the San Francisco area strike. With losses replaced by refugees fleeing both San Francisco and Sacramento, Stockton has remained at about the same number since. The city is ruled by the US military, who have a strong presence here in the 400 California National Guardsmen of the 221st Military Police Brigade, which recently absorbed the remnants of the 63rd Infantry Division and is responsible for security and the distribution of foodstuffs in the area. This brigade is now attached to 25th ID HQ in San Francisco and takes it's orders from there. The unit's HQ is currently at the FMC fabrication plant, once known for building M113 personnel carriers. The 63rd ID was a Reserve unit originally from the Los Angeles area. When the nuke hit that city, the division tried to mobilize and assist in evacuating the civilians, but the chaos was too much and the division was crushed under the flood of refugees. A few dozen men of the unit made their way north and reorganized in Stockton. When the 221st MPB was moved to Stockton from San Francisco in late 1962, there were no armored vehicles to be had anywhere for the brigade other than one training tank, with no turret, from nearby Sharpe Army Depot. After realizing that there was no immediate need for all of the banks in Stockton or the armored cars that carried their money from place to place, the brigade CO ordered that enough armored cars be commandeered from the civilian sector to equip the brigade. The armored cars were then modified by the army engineers and turned into armored personnel carriers. The weird APC's are dubbed "Brinksmobiles" by the men of the brigade, and the other troops in the area call the men the "Golden Boys" because of their vehicles. The training tank has been armed with a 120mm mortar as well. The poor vehicle situation was alleviated somewhat when the 25th Infantry Division arrived in San Francisco in 1963. The 25th supplied the Stockton garrison with much equipment, including one M60 tank, one M48A2 Patton tank, two M41 light tanks, two M8 armored cars, one M113 APC, two 5 ton trucks, and four deuce-and-a-half trucks. Air assets at Stockton's modern airport include the 144th Fighter Wing with six F-86L Saber jet fighters and two C-123 Provider transports. The 144th FW was originally a California Air National Guard unit responsible for regional air defense. Activated following the nuclear strikes, the F-86s of the unit provided CAP for much of the west coast from San Diego to the Canadian border. As loses mounted in the war in Korea, many aircrew and aircraft were siphoned off to other units abroad. When the Mexican Army invaded in 1964, the 144th FW tangled with the small but rested Mexican Air Force. Upon achieving air superiority, the unit changed missions to provide interdiction strikes and close air support for the local garrisons until the fuel and targets became scarce. Most of Stockton's population lives in the crowded and dirty tent cities which surround the town, with food and water trucked in by the military. Large numbers of sick and radiation-scarred people can be found here, and mass graves and crematory pits dot the countryside. The MPs are no saints in these refugee slums. Called "white mice" for their white helmets, the refugees chafe at their heavy-handed rule. Known for their hoarding of resources and lack of regard for civilians, are just as hated in the city as the marauders and Mexicans are. Many believe that Stockton is only kept "online" because it keeps the refugees from overflowing into the valleys to the south. South of Stockton is a control zone, which is being mined and fortified, to prevent refugees from moving south without army permission.
Santa Rosa: A major refugee camp still filled with survivors from the San Francisco area. Just this fall the authorities are releasing large numbers of refugees from the camps. They say it is because the countryside is safer now, but the rumor is that the supplies have dried up and the town's leaders are afraid of the refugees rioting. People with homes in Santa Rosa have been making them into little forts with whatever they can find. The town is under martial law and everyone carries a gun.
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