TENNESSEE
The state today is a mix of survivor towns and open countryside. Tennessee is considered MilGov territory but is not physically held by them. The drought has not come as hard to large parts of the state, helping to support the population but also bringing in waves of hungry refugees.
1) NUCLEAR TARGETS
TARGET DATE TYPE SIZE
Fort Campbell 10/30/62 Bomb 1 mT
2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES
Federal MilGov units are limited to small patrols from the Cairo, Illinois garrison. Tennessee's National Guard units were called up in the weeks following the nuclear attacks, though attrition and desertion have thinned them out considerably. The state's biggest city, Memphis, is now held by a National Guard force, but they rarely step foot out of that city. Other than two garrisons at Nashville and Knoxville, and the men in Memphis, the rest of the state is virtually empty of any organized group of troops.
30th Armored Division--Memphis (1500 men, 13 AFVs)
------117th Infantry Regiment--Nashville (400 men)
------------Able Company--Knoxville (50 men)
3) MEMPHIS
In December 1962, during the height of the chaos, a brutal warlord named "Count" Forman Beaufort took over the city. The Tennessee National Guard was being mobilized at the time and the bulk of the Tennessee National Guard's 30th Armored Division was sent to besiege the city. The warlord and his men in the city held out for some eight months before being driven west into Arkansas. Though the military was successful in retaking the city, there was not much left of it. Two years of looting and neglect, the heavy hand of a strong a feudal-style overlord, and finally a siege by the military were enough to ruin this once fine city. Most of the buildings are vacant and dilapidated and packs of wild dogs run the streets and rule the nights. The residential districts of South Memphis have burned numerous times over the years, the mostly-wooden structures easy prey for wild fires. The business districts are wrecked and the residential neighborhoods are in disrepair--rusted, derelict vehicles are everywhere. While a lot of the rubble has been cleared away since the Army broke the siege, there has been little rebuilding. The 30th AD is still here with 1,500 men and thirteen M60 tanks, victors of the siege. While the large armored contingent is impressive, it is also a liability due to the amount of fuel needed to run them. Some fuel arrives downriver from the refinery at Robinson, Illinois, but that has slowed to a trickle since the fall. Without it, the tanks are increasingly relying on less-efficient methanol, or being left as stationary pillboxes. The Division HQ is located in the old Memphis Defense Depot. The soldiers keep to the areas they control, rarely venturing out of their compounds. The 30th's commanding officer has gone off the deep end lately. Never very stable, the rigors of the new world have made him crazy. Though still a dedicated officer and excellent soldier, he has taken up the persona of "The King" behind closed doors, and fancies himself as Elvis reincarnated. He has recently moved himself into the Graceland Mansion and is increasingly detached from the day to day operations of his unit. Civilian government is conducted from the partly intact Civic Center and a warehouse near the riverfront has been converted into a hospital, both are supported by the military. The total population of the inner city is now about 1,800 survivors occupying decayed, ramshackle structures in the areas along the waterfront. Around 20,000 refugees live in shantytowns east and south of the city, most, but not all, citizens of Memphis who have come back now that the warlord is gone. Ample land lies fallow, and it is unlikely that the Mississippi will ever run dry, therefore, many more refugees will undoubtedly relocate to Memphis in the coming year. Count Beaufort is rumored to have survived the siege and is holed up in a fortified mansion somewhere to the east of Memphis plotting his revenge.
4) WESTERN TENNESSEE
Fallout zone: North of Memphis is a virtual dead zone caused by the fallout from the Eaker AFB nuke in 1962. Many towns in the area, such as Covington and Union City, were trashed as the gangs of looters and thugs preyed on the confusion of the evacuation. By late 1964, however, people have begun to return to the area as the bandits have moved on and the drought has forced people to look for every possible way to get food. There are now several active communities in the area, such as the river trading town of Golddust.
Dyersburg: Home to a mangy bunch of survivors, some 800 strong, perhaps the largest surviving town in the area. constantly hassled by marauders and bandits. The town militia boasts around 300 effectives and has several one-ton trucks fortified with welded-on sheets of metal.
4) CENTRAL TENNESSEE
Nashville: Once the center of country music, Nashville is now the center of crazy people. In the aftermath of the nuclear strikes the city was mostly sacked and burned by a combination of marauders and rioters. Today, with a population of 8,000 (not counting slaves), Nashville is a struggling city of traders, gambling dens, gunfights, cage matches, and gang warfare. There are plenty of places for drink, barter, rest, and entertainment and most of them will get you killed. Just as before the war, religion is everywhere and twice as oppressive. Several new sects have arisen since the war, most common is "The Divine Church", who control quite a bit of the remaining police force and numerous businesses, and who claim to have a divine mission to redeem the world by prayer, fasting, and flagellation. Another sect, the "Armageddonists", have a rather large mission close to the Riverfront, a prime spot to bring in the downtrodden. Although the state government dissolved early in the chaos, the remnants of it still claim power in the city, though really just control the few square blocks around the capital building. Protecting this small enclave in the ruins are the 400 men of the 117th Infantry Regiment, a Tennessee National Guard unit detached from the main body of the 30th AD in Memphis. Currently Able Company is at Knoxville (see below).
Fort Campbell Military Reservation: Early on October 30, 1962, a Russian Mi-4-3M Bison B bomber, flying low over the ground to avoid the fighters, dropped a free-fall atomic bomb on this army post. The 1 megaton bomb ground burst in the base's parade ground, sending a huge mushroom cloud of radioactive debris into the sky. The raid was sort of a waste in that the post was virtually empty at the time of the attack, with its resident 101st Airborne Division being in Cuba at the time. It is now known to the locals as "Fort Crater" for obvious reasons, since all it is now is a big crater. Travelers are advised to be wary of it, since anything that gets within a quarter-mile of the crater is as good as dead. The fallout cloud left many area towns, such as Clarksville and Stewart, deserted ghost towns to this day.
Murfreesboro: A town unsafe to visit, as it is held by a strong force of around 100 marauders. These are not your average road-trash, however, they are mostly army deserters and are well-armed with mortars and a heavy machine gun.
Chattanooga: Chattanooga itself mostly died when Atlanta was nuked in 1962. Due to confused upper air wind patterns, the mushroom cloud full of radioactive fallout came to earth just over five hours later, with the swath of the primary fallout zone extending past Chattanooga. Almost 95% of those exposed in Chattanooga died before the end of the year. What was left was further depopulated after a plague outbreak in 1963, which the survivors called the "Fidel Flu". The city's outskirts have been the home of roving gangs since, and the entire area of the city north of the Tennessee River is demolished and empty.
5) EASTERN TENNESSEE
Eastern Tennessee between Nashville and the North Carolina border is a mountainous forest full of xenophobic rednecks and roving gangs and anyone who wants to remain safe has banded together for protection. Streams still hold fish and plentiful game is to be had in the forests, so this area will hold a stable population for the foreseeable future.
"Brown Mountain Boys": An extremely ruthless raider band that operates freely in the Great Smokey Mountains, severely hampering travel through them. They seem to be more like outlaw woodsmen than real bandits, wearing leather and skins and wielding less advanced weapons such as spears, bows, and axes and even frequently use dogs in combat. Evidence points to the raiders being holed up in some cavernous mountain stronghold.
"The Mongols": Another marauder band in the eastern part of the state, with some 60 effectives led by an ex-con named Douglas "Khan" Wyoming. They are a highly mobile group with three converted dump trucks used to raid isolated towns, overwhelming their defenses with sheer weight. The vehicles' engines and cabs have been armored with steel plating, and the sides have been sandbagged.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Following the nuclear attacks, waves of angry and frightened refugees stormed the facilities, looking for revenge on the scientists who split the atom. Overrunning the security guards, they killed off nearly everyone and ransacked the place thoroughly enough that there is nothing left of value anymore. Fortunately (or not, depending on your point of view), in the hours before the mobs came, the fissionable materials were crated up and shipped by air north to Griffiss AFB outside Rome, New York, where they remain today (see that state). The city of Oak Ridge has been smashed. Building foundations, steel girders, fire-blackened rubble, and blanched trees mixed with scrub undergrowth. Norris Dam, northeast of the city, has been burst, and the river has shifted south around the massive concrete structure. The majority of the former population, including many of the technical and engineering staff of the labs, scattered, many of them staying in the area. Today, there are some large Oak Ridge survivor concentrations at Olive Springs to the northwest and at Solway to the west. With the passing of time, the locals now sort of fear the ruins as a superstitious place of death. Perhaps because of the fear of radiation, much the area around Oak Ridge is still deserted. The wooded hills north Oak Ridge are still home to many small bandit gangs, however, the largest of which is 50 strong and led by a fifteen-year old boy named Ferret. Ferret has survived the past two years by his cunning and woodsmanship and, despite his age, is followed religiously by the older members of his gang.
Knoxville: This large city was trashed by riots and fires in the chaos, forcing the population to flee for their lives and reducing the city to just haunted, shattered ruins. The fires wrought unprecedented damage and today, Knoxville's main attractions are diseases and piles of charred bones scattered about. Hit by an epidemic of anthrax this past summer. A small MilGov enclave is centered on the Tellico Hydroelectric Dam on the Tennessee river just southwest of Knoxville, having moved here in a futile effort to reclaim Knoxville in 1963. It is the 50 Tennessee National Guardsmen of Able Company detached from the 117th Infantry Regiment in Nashville, who have converted the massive structure into a mighty fortress with several defensive howitzers on the roof.
Cookeville: A small city totally destroyed by neglect and forest fires. Today, only debris-filled basements and a few lonely brick chimneys stand above the grass.
Bristol: A notable exception to the anarchy rule in the Smokies is Bristol, a prosperous town of several hundred citizens up in the mountains. Home of some extensive mining operations, run by experienced coal miners from North Carolina and West Virginia, that keep the town lit and warm in the winter. Bristol is clean, organized, well-defended, and powered by a coal-fired generator. The townspeople have huge, well-cared-for gardens to feed the populace, and have reopened a small clothing factory to trade with local towns. Ricky Owens, a former USAF fighter pilot, is the town's undisputed leader and has organized the militia into an efficient fighting force.
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