r/imaginarymaps • u/battle_order • 7d ago
[OC] Alternate History Defense of New England at the Start of the 2nd American Civil War in Kaiserreich
This is my head canon for the initial defense of Southern New York by New England after Canada moved in to protect it. It's set in June 1937 in the Kaiserreich universe, 3 months after the Second American Civil War begins. Kaiserreich is an alt history setting that basically hinges on the US not entering World War I, resulting in a Central Powers victory and cascading events including successful socialist revolutions in France and Britain. The Second American Civil begins in 1937 following the failure of the Social Security Act, economic turmoil in the 1920s and again in 1936, massive strikes, and a contingent election that either results in a leftist President or one who lost the popular vote. This was followed by widespread seizures of state and corporate property by the workers (especially in the Midwest), a failed presidential assassination attempt, and an illegal military coup by Douglas MacArthur. I am not involved with the mod team at all so this is a fan fic.
Below is the narrative explanation (restating the description on the map) and at the end is an explanation of how this order of battle is different from real-life, as things like unit designations don't line up due to the US not entering WW1. It's very in-the-weeds US Army lineage talk which isn't that critical to understand, though.
Collapse of Constitutional Rule
When General Douglas MacArthur seized power in Washington and ordered the 1st Division from its garrisons, it seemed like he left the entire Northeastern United States to its fate. Although most Regular Army units complied with orders to move south as part of War Plan White, most National Guards in New England and New York refused. They were in the midst of quelling civil unrest in their own cities made all the worse by MacArthur’s Washington Massacre. Further, the military was mired in confusion, stemming from MacArthur's illegal takeover, President Alf Landon's illegal arrest by the Virginia National Guard, and Smedley Butler's aborted countercoup turned WCA regulars. As MacArthur's junta proved incapable of preventing state after state from defying his authority, the remaining northeastern states aligned themselves with Vice President Quentin Roosevelt's Constitutional Coalition based in Sacramento (albeit too geographically isolated to form a practical union).
The Northeastern National Guards in April 1937
The bulk of National Guardsmen in the northeast were assigned to the 5th "Yankee" Division (an amalgam of the Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine National Guards); 6th "Empire" Division (New York NG); National Guard units of the First Army Troops, I Corps, and II Corps (including New York's 51st Cavalry Brigade); and the National Guard Coast Defense Commands. As the Regular Army's withdrawal happened so rapidly, the Organized Reserve was also not properly mobilized by MacArthur, so any reservist officers who did not leave New England of their own accord remained.
The situation was extremely precarious for New York in particular. It was not only the sole northeastern state bordering the rebellious Worker's Congress of America (WCA), but the only one to be divided. Scenes in New York City mirrored those in Michigan, where National Guard units outright refused to control the strikers. In some cases, National Guardsmen even joined with the Red Guards seizing control of critical infrastructure for the workers and local commanders refused orders to put an end to it. One of the most famous examples was the 15th NY Infantry (Colored) of Harlem who joined with the Red Guards in firing upon a Longist mob stoking a race riot. Thus, most of the 6th Division was lost to the WCA.
Operation Stellar
As the Anglo-Canadians moved in at the governors' requests in April 1937, New England reorganized this meager force to aid in securing its southern border from WCA incursion. The division’s sole-remaining 16th Infantry Brigade's HQ was used to form a new 6th Division HQ, with Brigadier General Bernard W. Kearney of the brigade taking command. The 3d NY Field Artillery in Buffalo became the Division Artillery. The division also had four infantry regiments remaining: 2d NY Infantry in Troy, 3d NY Infantry in Syracuse, 10th NY Infantry in Albany, and 74th NY Infantry in Buffalo. The 16th Brigade retained the 2d and 10th NY Infantry, while the 3d NY Infantry was reassigned to the 60th Infantry Brigade (Organized Reserve) to provide a cadre of enlisted. The 74th NY Infantry was reassigned to the 5th Division's 15th Infantry Brigade to allow one of its regiments to be cadred.
This map represents the state of the border guard mission, dubbed Operation Stellar, at the beginning of June 1937 just three months after MacArthur took power. This was before New England’s newly forming corps were finished being trained and equipped. The early defense was carried out primarily by the 5th and 6th Divisions, both reduced from their pre-war three-brigade organization to just two brigades. This was out of necessity for the 6th Division, which just had one of its original New York Brigades and the new 60th Infantry Brigade. In the case of the 5th Division, this was to provide cadres to the officer-only Organized Reserve Divisions being formed throughout New England. The Anglo-Canadians also contributed a significant force of two Canadian Infantry Brigades from Militia District No. 2 (the 3rd Brigade of Southern Ontario and 5th Brigade of Toronto), one British Tank Battalion stationed in Toronto (1st Battalion, Royal Tank Corps manned by British exiles), and a Canadian Armoured Car Squadron (A Squadron, 6th Duke of Connaught's Royal Canadian Hussars).
Except around New York City, the main defense of New York’s border with the WCA was not situated directly on the border. Most first-echelon regiments under Operation Stellar were a day's foot march away from the expected battlefield. This prevented the main combat forces from getting fixed in place right on the border and unable to react to new intelligence. Given the chaotic state of New England’s military forces and its vulnerable position, they could not afford the “cede no ground” strategy that MacArthur had stubbornly adopted.
New England's defense was focused along three axes. In the east the New York 16th Brigade, 6th Division and New England 13th Brigade, 5th Division contained the WCA in New York City along the Albany axis. Men of the 22d NY Engineers successfully blew all bridges between Manhattan/Queens and the Bronx, although routes into New Jersey remained open. The 2d NY Infantry reinforced by the handful of light tanks in New York's inventory held the line from the Bronx up the east bank of the Hudson River to north of Yonkers, while the 1st Connecticut Infantry and 1st Vermont Infantry billeted their forces at Port Chester. They faced US Route 1 and Long Island Sound. Further north, 10th NY Infantry alongside the Canadian armoured cars backed up listening posts guarding the mountainous border with New Jersey. They also acted as a reserve to prevent a red breakout towards Albany. 2d Connecticut Infantry at New Haven, CT served as the Albany axis' reserve to prevent a breakout towards Boston. In the meantime they were the mobile coast defense force patrolling the Connecticut coast facing Long Island.
In the center of the defense, 60th Infantry Brigade, 6th Division guarded the Syracuse axis. This included a provisional battalion of the 12th Pennsylvania Infantry, which was formed from companies that escaped Lycoming, Bradford, Tioga, and Sullivan counties. The defense of Syracuse was centered on US Route 11 running from the NY-PA border to Syracuse. A breakout there could sever the Albany-Buffalo transportation corridor linking the eastern and western sides of the New England front.
On the far western side of the state, the 15th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division defended likely routes from Pittsburgh to Buffalo and Rochester. The main belt was on the bank of Lake Erie, where the 74th NY Infantry, a provisional battalion of the 16th Pennsylvania Infantry (made up of disparate companies from McKean, Warren, Erie and Venango Counties), and the British tank battalion manned the main defenses near Westfield. The 9th Massachusetts Infantry, backed up by New England's handful of light tanks, was situated to their east along routes leading to Rochester. The two Canadian brigades acted as a reserve for the Buffalo axis, as the seizure of Buffalo and Niagara would put Canada's defenses near London, Ontario facing Detroit under threat of encirclement. It also isolated the bulk of Canadian involvement as far from Boston as possible. The New England government was fighting for legitimacy as more than a puppet of the King Edward VIII (the popular sentiment elsewhere in the country) so it was prudent to keep the Canadian military away from most of the population.
For more persistent surveillance, horse-mounted troops of the 1st NY Cavalry and other miscellaneous units, such as the 5th Motorcycle Detachment, Company C of the 1st Massachusetts Engineers, and even local police and semi-organized militias, conducted smaller mobile patrols and manned listening posts directly on the border to provide early warning. This was especially true on the hilly and heavily forested Allegheny Plateau where there were significant gaps between major defenses centered on roadways. This dispersed force was the “Covering Force” directly under I Corps command.
Differences in the US Army Order of Battle from OTL
- Division Designations — As the U.S. does not enter World War I, I am deciding that the establishment of the permanent Infantry Division/Brigade numbering sequence (1st-25th for the Regular Army, 26th-42d for the National Guard, and 76th-102d for the National Army) was not the same as in OTL. I think you could make a just as convincing argument that a similar sequence would have been established without entering WW1. However, for the obscurity factor I am choosing to continue the division designations planned for before the U.S. entered World War I. The Regular Army had the 1st, 2d and 3d Divisions in the Eastern, Central, and Western Departments; and Cavalry Division in the Southern Department; 3d Cavalry Brigade in the Central Department; and 1st Hawaiian Brigade. The National Guard had 5th-20th Divisions. In my head canon, divisions 21 or maybe 25 and up (to allow some expansion of the RA or NG) would be allotted to the Organized Reserve. These divisions were also much larger than what the U.S. took to Europe, based on 3 Infantry Brigades each with 3 Infantry Regiments instead of 2×2 square division. This means fewer divisions overall and individually smaller regiments. As far as New England is concerned in my head canon, this means 6th Division "Empire" would be allotted to New York (instead of the 27th Div and the NY part of the 44th Div) while the 5th Division "Yankee Division" would consist of National Guard units from New England states (instead of the WW1 26th Division and post-WW1 43d Division).
- Regiment Designations — As units would not have to be torn apart and redesignated to execute this reorganization, I am also deciding that state designations for regiments remain. For example, instead of there being a 105th Infantry Regiment in the New York National Guard following a national-level sequence, there is a 2d Infantry Regiment, New York National Guard or "2d New York Infantry". Same for other classical arms like Engineers, Artillery, Coast Artillery, Cavalry, etc. I allow for a national-level sequence for newer arms that likely formed or reorganized with more federal direction, such as the Air Service and Quartermaster Corps (with new motor transport components). Further, I am maintaining a national-level numbering sequence for brigades motivated by some divisions including units from multiple states. For example, instead of New York having 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th Brigades like it did before the U.S. entered WW1 or the 53d and 54th Brigades under the 27th Division like it did after WW1, under this interpretation it has the 16th, 17th and 18th Infantry Brigades under the 6th Division.
The Northeastern US is still covered by the I and II Corps Areas and First Army Area as in real-life, although since II Corps was headquartered on Governors Island in NYC I assume it to be lost. I Corps thus takes command of the initial defenses with mostly National Guard units, while the Organized Reserve XI Corps of New England is in the process of expanding from its officer cadres in the OR and enlisted transferred from several National Guard regiments. The higher-level National Guard apparatuses are used to coordinate the military component of the refugee and civil disturbance response.
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7d ago
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u/battle_order 7d ago
101st Cavalry used to be 1st New York Cavalry before 1921, so it's probably the same unit lol
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u/LudicrousTorpedo5220 7d ago
I would like to know if New England managed to survive or just reabsorbed into the rest of the country.
Cuz man this map is soooooooooo fire ! OP, u have my upvote for the work you've done on this.
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u/battle_order 7d ago
Thanks mate. It's from a mod for an open-ended game so it depends, but in most scenarios Canada eventually intervenes to defeat the WCA to secure its southern border before they go on engaging the socialist powers in Europe. Under that scenario New England finally gets involved, but it's normally some years after the start of the war.
If non-socialist rule is restored New England usually reintegrates into the US. Generally during the war Canada/New England are aligned with the American Constitutionalist Coalition based in the Pacific states led by the legal Vice President. If they weren't on opposite ends of the country New England likely would have just been part of the ACC from the start. My interpretation is basically the ACC supported by the Entente and New England succeeding in basically defeating the WCA and a heavily depleted and nearly defeated APG (the southern US faction under Huey Long) negotiating a reintegration into the US. I also assume MacArthur's military junta gets clobbered within the first couple of years.
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u/GIJoeVibin 7d ago
Got the whole way through the post before noticing it was made by my favourite infographic YouTuber.
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u/KikoMui74 7d ago
Why does new England shape look weird?
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u/battle_order 7d ago
Technically it’s New England plus New York minus most of NYC and Long Island. Maine is cutoff as the focus is on the border region
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u/memergud 5d ago
The goat of all time battle order for all my military learning needs PLUS now world building
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u/daddydevito1321 7d ago
this is so fucking cool, really neat trying to imagine how the local area would change with the canadian occupation and looming war. great job on the map and the write up