The 7th Army, Texas: Operation: Don Juan

[kalos72]

Background : 7th Army returns from Europe in force to free Texas and use it as base to pacify the rest if the nation.

Operation: Don Juan: First Draft


One of Starks highest priority missions was to get a line open to the West coast as soon as possible. With that line, he could provide support to the troops on the West Coast and clear out the last few areas infested with the foreign invaders. Plus, he needed to get a port on the Pacific up if he was going to bring home the 8th Army from Korea or provide support to the 9th Army in the Pacific Northwest.

Luckily, there were already 2 rather direct paths to the West coast from Texas. One being rail and other major highways from I20 to I10 and then I8 to the coast. But he would still have to address large Mexican Army groups outside of El Paso, Tucson, Yuma, LA and finally San Diego.

These troops appeared to be a little bit better equipped and moral seemed to be much higher than with the Texas units. California at least was a lot easier location to eke out a life in even if you did have more US troops close by. Starks didn’t expect as much “cooperation” from those units as he had received from the others he had met so far.

Of course he would try, but he wasn’t expecting a lot so he had to make sure that the force he sent was large enough to quickly remove the threat while not getting bogged down and slowing the advance to the Pacific.

He selected the 1st Armored, 2nd Armored and the 1st Cavalry while the 6th Infantry was sent to pacify counties/towns along the way and setup a logistical supply line from Fort Hood to the Pacific. Come May 1st the 4 brigades were in Sweetwater Texas, the first depot of the supply line out of Fort Hood, and running.

They stopped in the Odessa / Midland area, again to pacify the two counties there but also to try and absorb what was left of the 42nd Hidalgo del Parral Brigade, roughly 100 men but they had almost 10 various DN type vehicles sitting in a grocery store, all with no fuel. With 12000 men advancing, it was an easy sell getting them to join with General Rivera in the lead.

From there, the 6th Infantry broke north, getting reports of 3 additional Mexican units held up just outside of Hobbs NM and near the Lubbock area, while the other three brigades kept moving down I20, and then I10 towards El Paso. Two of the three Mexican units surrendered without even getting the terms while the third had at least a little more fight left in them.

As the 6th came into Hobbs, they found the roughly 300 men of the 2nd Mexican Armored Cavalry Brigade held up in a large retail store and ready for a fight. The 6th lobbed a dozen 120mm mortar rounds into the store and then followed with CS gas and the 278 survivors came running out choking and throwing their weapons to the ground in surrender.

The 6th pacified Lubbock county and then sent the Mexican POW’s, and any salvageable equipment or vehicles, back to Fort Hood while they continued with the pacification efforts back along I20 to the West.

As the main force of the Operation, the 1st. 2nd and 1st Cavalry moved into El Paso, they stopped to scout out Fort Bliss and Biggs Airfield. There with the combined numbers of 3 brigades, they were able to secure the perimeter of the airfield and establish an FOB there in just 72 hours, leaving control and the continuation of the county pacification efforts to the 6th as it brought up the rear.

Since the 6th Infantry was working with the 1st Military Railway Services Brigade, the railway line to El Paso was cleared and rail service between Fort Hood and El Paso was open. This allowed the Operation to get resupplied and most importantly additional fuel for the 2nd half of the run to San Diego.

The area between El Paso and Tucson was lightly populated so any towns were small and many of them deserted at this point but it was also the area that had two major areas of concern for the Operation. One, Davis-Monthan AFB and two, almost 3000 Mexican army personnel.

The capture and control of Davis-Monthan would be a huge win for the 7th Army but with almost 3000 Mexican’s sitting right outside of the city limits, they needed to be handled first. So the commander of the 1st Cav sent a recon squad to Fort Huachuca to see if they could get some intel, or maybe even some help.

The Fort Huachuca troops had been steadily harassing the self-proclaimed “Sonoran Army” for months now, finally gaining the advantage in numbers and starting to inflict some damage with guerrilla tactics and nights raids.
These raids would however make it very difficult to slip quietly into position at night without the Mexicans knowing about it, they were alert and expecting trouble. So the 7th Army forces needed to be slick about it and work a little finesse into their approach.

As the 1st and 2nd AD get into position coming from the East along I10 from Benson, the 6th IB worked up from Green Valley along I19. These would be the two offensive forces used to move up into Tucson with.

The trick was, the 1st Cavalry trying to slip around the city and move from the west along I86 from the small town of Three Points. This forced them to take a significant detour and move south into Mexico so they could work around Tucson and come from the west in ambush.

The assumption here was that once the Sonoran Army realized the extent of the fight they were facing, some if not most, of the force would try to retreat down I86 rather than try to work through Tucson and every growing number of rebels causing them issues from inside Tucson. And Phoenix beyond that was even worse still.

But as they turned to retreat down I86, they would find the 1st Cav ready and waiting creating another morale check for the Mexicans. From there, the Mexicans would have to make a choice, either face attackers from 3 different directions OR move through Tuscon and then further through Phoenix and risk attack from the gangs that have taken over that city as well.

As the 1st, 2nd and 6th opened up with artillery fire that morning, it caught the Sonoran Army totally off guard. They hadn’t had to deal with artillery in months and they had no idea who could possibly be hitting them with artillery much less 155mm Howitzer rounds from out of view. The barrage lasted about 2hrs before the tanks started moving forward and into sight.

At that point, morale of the Mexican started to falter. Reports were coming back to the Sonoran Army command that “at least a dozen American armored divisions were attacking with hundreds of tanks”. Their command staff was completely baffled, “where did they come from?” And then reports came in of the frontline desertions…

Hundreds of Mexican Army troops broke north, too scared to face the Americans and not confident enough in their commander’s ability to lead them to victory. By 9AM that morning, most of the Sonoran Army was on the run North, through Tuscon and almost into Phoenix. There, they met a determined force of gang members waiting their arrival, prepositioned and ready. For some reason, they were under the assumption it was a move by the Mexican’s to claim Phoenix and clear it of the gang members.

Fort Huachuca scouts were seen leaving the outskirts of Phoenix that morning before the attack…

By the end of the day, Tuscon was cleared of Mexican hold outs and the 7th forces had captured the motor pool as well as what was left of the armory, providing the 7th a nice unexpected bump in working vehicles and heavy weapons.

Also, they captured most of the command staff of the Sonoran Army, in particular one talkative General de División Emanuel Huerta and one other rather large surprise, a KGB Captain Yuri Chernenko who was sent back to Fort Hood under heavy security.

Captured Mexican soldiers were given the same option as the other Mexican units from Texas, denounce Mexican citizenship, accept US citizenship and you could continue military service within the 7th Army. Otherwise, you would be removed from the US back to Mexico.

About half accepted the offer after sitting with General Rivera to discuss how he felt about what the 7th Army was doing and the political ramifications for Mexican nationals as well as Mexico itself long term. A lot of the Mexican soldiers were starting to become pretty resentful of the Mexican government at this point, seeing how the Americans were treating them and wondering if their own government would treat them as well. To many, it was like the government was intending to just ignore them once they left the country.

Resentment with their old government was growing, and Starks acknowledged the concerns and met with Rivera often to discuss his long term options.

For the remainder of the Sonora Army that made it out of Tuscon, most didn’t make it past the Phoenix ambush from the gang members. For those that did, they were picked up a few at a time trying to make it back to the West Coast and the remainder of the Mexican forces in the US.

Some hostages were traded for with the Phoenix gangs in exchange for food or fuel. These trades opened a dialogue between the 7th Army and the gangs that would be reinforced when able, with Starks looking for an amicable resolution to the problem that would be Phoenix.

As soon as Tuscon was secure, the 6th took over pacification operations and the other 3 brigades continued West along I8 to Yuma.

[kalos72]

Well, I guess this is bad aye? 66 views and not a comment?

Maybe I should put it in a project plan and leave the creative writing to the experts.

[.45cultist]

It's a good read, still mulling it over. Perhaps a DIA plan to use Mexican Americans to exploit the rift can be another story or a campaign hook.

[kalos72]

The thought there is, to either back a Mexican puppet regime for a take over the Mexican government OR offer membership into the US for each individual Mexican state, again riding the disconnect between the Mexican government and its population.

My group feels strongly that now is the time for American expansionism even as the US is struggling to keep its own head above water.

[.45cultist]

A lot of potential WWII style behind the lines action. I guess one could stat the "Airlords" style airships for supply drops and the like.

[kalos72]

Originally Posted by .45cultist

A lot of potential WWII style behind the lines action. I guess one could stat the "Airlords" style airships for supply drops and the like.

Well, in our campaign air power isnt as rare but the airships will be a large part of the storyline. With Amarillo and the National Helium Reserve in control at least...

What do you mean WWII action?

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by kalos72

The thought there is, to either back a Mexican puppet regime for a take over the Mexican government OR offer membership into the US for each individual Mexican state, again riding the disconnect between the Mexican government and its population.

My group feels strongly that now is the time for American expansionism even as the US is struggling to keep its own head above water.

IDGI. There's a lot of hostile territory filled with literally infinite unknowns, so moving "pioneers" (read: invaders) into absorbed Mexican territories is suicide. Whatever the US's industrial base is like after TDM, Mexico's is still likely far worse, so resource wise you're gaining nothing. Telling 50+ million (or more) Mexican citizens that they're now US citizens after decades of the US looking down their collective noses at them will at best bring howls of derision. Even if it doesn't, now what do you do with millions of more mouths to feed? How do you convince them that words, on an incinerated piece of paper, thousands of miles away, mean a single thing to them. Oh yay now you have all these rights and freedoms granted to you by the Constitution...! Whee, tell that to the guy whose sole source of family support, his son the Engineer, was cremated when a Soviet ICBM hit Mexico City. If you've decided to absorb Mexican states, and if you have to do it by force, how are you going to have anything like a mechanized army to do it with, post TDM? Your supply lines are going to be a thousand or more miles long depending on which states you're going to absorb, and they're ALL going to be on the ground. Remember the problems Rommel had? What was it, five gallons of water and fuel to deliver a single gallon of water or fuel? Plus there's a massive language barrier, and don't pretend there isn't: here, in the South, where we have a higher population of hispanics from both Mexico and the Caribbean, I know far fewer people who do not speak spanish than do.

There's no realistic way for a post-nuke US to "absorb" Mexico, unless the US just says "Hey, you guys wanna be part of us" and out of sheer apathy the Mexicans go "Yeah, sure." and that's it, that's all that happens.

[.45cultist]

Disruption and infighting between the factions was my intent. A real coup would be to offer the Division Cuba a couple of transports from Task Force 34, and keep their heavy stuff.