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Old 04-30-2012, 01:08 AM
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Legbreaker Legbreaker is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James Langham View Post
Maybe the desertions are locals returning to their homes to defend them?
That makes perfect sense to me and goes a long way to explaining why the 49th deteriorate so quickly. As shown in the books, the 49th is away from home, the Mexicans have invaded, the Russians are in San Antonio, the countryside is in chaos and a number of areas have been nuked. Civil order has broken down and the law extends only as far as the end of a rifle barrel.

Many soldiers, having friends and family in this war zone, aren't going to like being stuck in another state fighting for other people when the situation at home is so grim. The fact that the entire Division is from Texas, and smaller units of battalion, company and even platoon size come from the same geographic regions or even towns is likely to work against the 49th staying together - entire subunits could well fade away in the night taking their vehicles with them to bolster their home towns defences.

In that light, even though they're all Texans, the 49th may well come apart even faster than units elsewhere made of of people from all over the country. Additionally, unlike many other units, home isn't beyond reach - a few weeks on foot could be sufficient to get them there, and Milgov isn't exactly in a position to chase after them.
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