[Olefin]

March 16, 2001

West Virginia

The 38th Infantry Division takes Harpers Ferry, securing the only bridge across the Potomac in that area, and then going on into Bolivar, where much to their surprise they find a large force of marauders, who they immediately engage. Early in the fighting they capture two school buildings and find that they have been converted into huge supply dumps, full of weapons, ammunition and other items. Most of the enemy gives up quickly, but around eighty men retreat into bunkers and fight hard.

New Jersey

The 78th Division, now reinforced with troops from Omega, begins operations to secure the approaches to NYC, sending in small patrols into the city itself to assess the current situation and to try to locate the missing cache of gold lost in the city during their disastrous pullout. They make contact with the Duke of New York and the New York government in the Bronx.

March 17, 2001

West Virginia

The 38th captures Bolivar after a hard two day fight, using artillery and TOW missiles to blast the remaining enemy bunkers and strong points. Some 500 enemy troops are either killed or captured in the fighting, along with huge amounts of fuel, ammunition, food and equipment.

Two gas stations in town are captured intact with their storage tanks having over 18,000 liters of ethanol and 50,000 liters of methanol fuel. Another 4000 liters of methanol is in an above ground tank. In addition two small storage tanks have 1000 liters of aviation gas and 2500 liters of diesel fuel. A total of three large stills are taken intact as well.

Of three major depots in the town, two are taken intact and one is heavily damaged. They contain tons of food, a dozen light anti-tank missiles, six 82mm mortars, 300 mortar shells, five recoilless rifles, 100 HE shells for the rifles, twenty light machine guns, and some 1500 M16 rifles, many of them brand new, as well as tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition. In addition there are dozens of crates of grenades, mines and other hardware as well as communication gear and other items.. Three converted armored bank cars are captured intact as well as over fifty trucks of various types and ten Jeeps. Clearly this was a major supply center, one that rivals anything that MilGov or CivGov still has left in the US.

As well as the supplies the town is a gold mine of information. Large amounts of documents on New America and its forces in West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio are collected. Most importantly, the Colonel in charge at Bolivar, who was taken alive and given a choice between twenty years hard labor if he talked or a slow hanging if he didn’t, gives information on the location of supply caches and depots. He also discloses, after a long and painful interrogation, that Carl Hughes, who has been on the most wanted list of the FBI for several years, is the leader of that force and that his HQ is nearby close to Charles Town.

A force of two battalions is sent immediately to where Hughes is to capture him, while the 38th licks its wounds and resupplies itself. From what they have found, New America has almost 7,000 men under arms in the immediate states, mostly organized in small company sized units. Many of them are men with no military experience but there are many renegade National Guard and Reservist troops who have joined them. Some thirty men from among the captured, found to be AWOL National Guard, reservists or active duty military servicemen, are executed by hanging after the battle.

March 22, 2001

West Virginia

Battle of Country Home

The two battalions of the 38th assault the New America HQ. Using the information obtained from Bolivar they manage to infiltrate both above ground houses and grab Carl Hughes, who is asleep in his bedroom, then penetrate into the underground complex before the alarm is sounded. After the alarm sounds, a deadly close in fight breaks out, with the men from the 38th outnumbering the defenders. The 38th eventually takes the whole complex, killing or capturing all in it, including many top New American commanders and supporters.

They find a veritable treasure of food, weapons, supplies (including a huge supply of paper). Large amounts of operational computer equipment including several mini mainframes are found. Most importantly of all the HQ center in the building was taken intact with the computer mainframes holding vital information on New America and its dispostions and plans. The New American commanders responsible for their destruction did not issue orders to destroy them, as they could only come from Carl Hughes himself, and thus they were not destroyed.

Information found includes information on enemy dispositions, supply caches and activities, including information on operations in Maine, Florida and the Ozarks, as well as complete files on New America operatives within MilGov and CivGov. With this information, the scale of the New America forces and plans is completely laid bare to see.

Later historians will compare this find to the British and Poles breaking Enigma or the US breaking the Japanese codes during WWII in terms of an intelligence find.

This all comes at quite a price – of the 600 men sent in to get Hughes and take the complex, 75 die and another 150 are wounded in some way or another, many seriously. Luckily the complex infirmary was also taken intact and is quickly put to use.

Illinois

The 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment arrives near Cairo, completing its mission. To the south, the 197th sends a new group, this time clandestinely, to find out more about what is going on in Arkansas after the failure of the two platoons to do so.

Texas

1st Armored has completed preparation of its vehicles, all of which are now ready to run on gasoline again. The first objective is to destroy the Soviet and Mexican forces dug in at Harlingen. The 85th stays behind to guard the refinery as the 43rd moves out to secure the McAllen and Rio Grande City area. The 4th and the 1st move north toward Harlingen.