keep in mind too what the 40th is protecting (and it shows the authors really didnt know the California that well)
The Soviets nukes the big refineries in the state and thus you cant get oil production out of LA or near San Francisco - but there are three smaller refineries in Kern County around Bakersfield - and those three refineries get their oil from the Kern oil fields around them - so that makes Bakersfield the last gas station in CA
so why is the 40th there? To keep the Mexicans from getting that oil - and to keep it for MilGov
that could also explain why they didnt counterattack - the 40th could have been tasked with hold on in Bakersfield no matter what and stop the Mexicans dead if they try to grab the oil or the refineries
and thus the Mexican forces come on, get their heads handed to them by the 40th and draw back - and the 40th just stays put and makes sure that Bakersfield gets held
thats why HW doesnt make sense - you dont go thru all that trouble to hold Bakersfield and then withdraw - not when if you do there goes the last oil on the west coast
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