[chico20854]

We've pretty much come up with the same ideas, Rae.

The Mexican invasion is really helped along by the massive number of illegals already in the U.S. (There was an additional flood after the nuclear exchange - I could imagine that the Mexican oil industry would be some of of the "major industrial and oil centers in neutral nations, to prevent their possible use by the other side" hit during the exchange). JCS, within days of the first Mexican units crossing the border, nukes Mexico City and the state of Mexico falls apart. The invasion continues, however, for several reasons. First, there is little organized opposition capable of stopping a regular military force - county sheriffs, border patrol offices, patriotic vets with a mishmash of small arms, the remnants of State Guards already stretched to the breaking point dealing with evacuees and an ongoing nuclear exchange, Army training units composed of crippled, service support instructors and raw recruits. Second, the American rear area is already infiltrated by Mexican Army sympathizers (biker and criminal gangs plus tens of thousands of disgruntled refugees), who act as a fifth column and in some areas effectively become the Mexican army. Third, the nuking of Mexico means that there is nothing left for the Mexican Army to retreat to. Continued advance means more rich territory to live off of/loot, retreat means having to scrape out an existence in a place worse than what was retreated from.

One example we have talked about is the Battle of San Diego. The Navy base puts up somewhat of a fight, but the sailors there aren't infantrymen and in many cases are unarmed. The USMC Recruit Depot in town doesn't have much ammunition on post and no heavy weapons - all the ranges are located north of town on Camp Pendelton. The Americans fight hard, but the issue is never really in doubt, especially after the convoy carrying ammo south into town is halted by a roadblock on I-5 and torn apart by hundreds of Mexican gangsters (at great cost).

Logistically, the issue the Mexican army faces is more fundamental than trucks (although that partially is how we answered the question of how the invasion is supported more than 20 miles over the border). Once the nukes (both Soviet and American) hit Mexico, there is NO logistical support coming north. They have to live off the land, which isn't such a stretch for them to do given the area of operations (lots of truck stops for parts, tons of pickups to replace broken down jeeps, small arms that accept common civilian calibers).

In the environment of chaos in the US following the exchange and invasion, I could see Division Cuba's intervention. (And as for where they get the lift - well, there's tons of Pact merchantmen sheltering in Cuban ports, unable to make it back to the USSR, just as others sheltered in Cam Ranh at the outbreak of war).

In the next week or so I'll put up the piece about VII Corps in Texas, which has some more details about how the Mexican invasion pans out.