The Grand Republic of the South

Smarter than your average Confederate Fascist State!

Clay also began to actively support the growth of Pro Sports attending every game of the Cherokees-Crusaders Dixie Series. He pushed for the organization of Football clubs, chose Basketball as a method of keeping soldiers fit recreationally and created the National Soccer League. However this was just in hopes of distracting the world and the people from his true intentions.

Clay immediately ordered a purge of the high ranking generals around him, installing friends he trusted to implement his actions to the fullest. This purge of the military was a sign of things to come with Free Speech and Freedom of Press gradually being destroyed. Across the South, Government officials of the old regime were found dead but the murderers were never caught. But then most of the deaths were ruled as suicides. He united all people of the South forcing Blacks and Whites to integrate in certain neighborhoods in all major cities. This caused violence, and the so called Friendship Districts of major Southern cities became the most dangerous and were under constant police scrutiny.

Abroad Clay began to foster a relationship with Japan and Italy. Although some assumed he would befriend the Nazi’s, Clay was disgusted by their racial attitudes. However Clay was a great admirer of Benito Mussolini and postured into a semi alliance with the Germans. However he never fully signed a military agreement. He had plans for expansion though.

Three areas were under his scrutiny at the time. West Florida, still under Spanish occupation with a strong pro Clay terrorist insurgency. South Florida, still in British hands, and Mexico, a former satellite state of the CSA. On June 20th, 1934 on the GRS-Mexican border shooting erupted between two border patrol squads, one from each nation. Both claimed the other fired first and that they were only reacting defensively. On August 3rd 1934, Clay issued an Ultimatum to Mexican president Alberaldo L. Rodriguez demanding that Mexico claim responsibility for the incident at the border. Rodriguez refused and let the ball keep growing. As tensions mounted, Mexican neighborhoods across the South were razed by Blacks and Whites, brought together by a new common enemy.

On November 7th, 1934 Clay unveiled the District of Davis to the nation. On this joyous occasion he also announced a Declaration of War against the United States of Mexico. Two days later Southern ships began shelling the Mexican cities of Veracruz, Coatzacoalcos and Alvarado. The GRS also mounted an invasion of the land directly across from Texas. Although the GRS had militarized more in his 4 years as Chief of State, it was still miniscule in comparison to the large amount of people that Mexico could draw upon if neccesary. However Mexico was divided and the Invasion by the GRS was met with panic as the Mexican army was forced to attempt to stop better equipped invaders as well as the people from destroying themselves Spain, which had interests in keeping the GRS down and Mexico stable sent a regiment of their best trained “volunteers” to assist the Mexican military at the Northern Front (Tamulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila). The United States were forced to remain neutral because of being bogged down in the midsts of depression. British Prime Minister MacDonald firmly disapproved of Southern actions but was not prepared for war and in an act of defiance allowed the Mexican President to set up operations in Miami after the war.

By 1935, GRS forces breached the Rio Grande and much of the East Coast was rendered totally useless by constant shelling. All Spanish aid was received from Western Ports. The US refused to allow War ships to use the Panama Canal however so it took quite some time for the Southern Fleet to reach the West Coast to blockade it. After the coasts were rendered entirely useless the invasion was put into full swing. The leader of the Grand Army of the South was Oliver Murphy, a so called “hill billy” who was a rising star in the military before the PCE Putsch. His tactics were nothing special but his willingness to get his hand dirty is what made his march to Mexico City exceptionally. He ordered his troops not to steal “as these are our future brethern, why would we want to harm them”. This did not mean that GRS forces were not brutal, executing all army units that they capturd on the march into the capital.

By June of 1935, Murphy’s army was stalled at the Battle of Queretaro, where Mexican forces staged a final front. The battle, the longest of the war
went on for two weeks until the Mexicans were forced to retreat to defend Mexico City from the advancing forces under the command of Lionel Bridge, a mulatto from Louisiana who was a good friend of Clay and leader of the Unity Corps, the military wing of the Equality Party. The Unity Corps were comprised of veterans of foreign wars and were amongt the best troops in the Grand Army of the South. Under Bridge’s command, the UC committed atrocities against their enemies including the massacre of 300 citizens after they captured Perote in Pubela. On September 6th, Mexico City was captured by Grand Republican forces and the Mexican government fled to Oaxaca de Juarez before finally setting up govenrment in exile in Miami on New Years Day, 1936.
The United States of Mexico was dissolved and Mexico was divided into 6 states, Sonora, Rio Grande, Durango, Mexico, Oaxaca and Yucatan. Each state was given equal representation in the Grand Southern Congress. However, only Black and White’s could vote and so the Mexican population were excluded unless they could prove Anglo or African ancestry to the Unity Court’s in Mexico. Clay was personally responsible for this because he felt that while Mexicans were capable, they were not trustworthy enough to become citizens yet.

Clay was quick to declare victory, regardless of the vast anarchy that plagued post war Mexico. Victory celebrations were held across the South, including in British occupied Miami and Spanish West Florida. In Pensacola, the capital of the West Floridan occupation force, the Spanish troops fired into the crowd that quickly gathered in downtown Pensacola. This lead to rioting and a planned rising by Pro-Clay dissedents. The rioting lasted for 3 days and the occupation forces of West Florida killed 5 citizens for every soldier killed during the riots.

The brutality of the Spanish lead to a denouncement from the League of Nations, which the Spanish dealt with by withdrawing from the League. Chief of State Clay declared the occupation of West Florida null and void as a result. Clay threatened but could not back up his claims for war as the Grand Army of the South was busy pacifying Mexico. The Spanish mobilized however, and 4,000 fresh troops arrived to West Florida from Cuba. Meanwhile, pressure began to mount in South Florida for a plebiscite. The British authorities promised an election by June of 1938 and offered the options of remaining a British Protectorate, joining the Grand Republic of the South and independence. Clay authorized his agents within South Florida to use force in order to win the plebiscite.
This move was not entirely neccesary. While the British rule had been quite liberal since the late 1920’s, the population remained quite loyal to the government in Richmond. Even when the CSA ceased to be, South Florida’s population remained largely in favor of reunion. When the plebiscite came, South Florida voted for reintegration with the rest of the state of Florida. British forces evacuated South Florida for the Bahamas by January of 1939. Calls for a similar plebiscite in West Florida were ignored by the Generalissimo of Spain, Armando Ramirez, who increased crackdowns on guerilla’s in favor of joining the Grand Republic of the South. Ramirez even went so far as to order the building of a series of defensive walls to keep a huge army at bay, while flooding West Florida with fresh troops in anticipation of conflict.

Second World War: September 3rd, 1939-?
In Europe, war was seemingly unavoidable, with both Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany making inroads to start a fresh conflict. In March of 1939, the Germans invaded Czechoslovakia and established two puppet governments. In September, the Soviet Union and the Greater German Reich invaded Poland, resulting in the declaration of war between the Allies (France, Great Britain and Poland) and the Axis (Germany, Italy and Japan). Taking advantage of the situation, the Grand Republic of the South launched its invasion of West Florida two days later on September 3rd.

Initially, the Grand Republic of the South faced tremendous losses. The Spanish defenders held strong and gave the Southern Army large losses in the first week of combat. However, the Spanish were unable to compete with Southern air power. The Grand Southern Air Force launched daily bombing raids, decimating Spanish airfields and the fleet of ships docked in Pensacola. On September 20th, Southern forces broke through the defensive line and began the march to Pensacola. During the same time, Southern naval ships intercepted the Spanish reinforcement fleet in the Battle of the Gulf. The Southern ships routed the Spanish fleet and formed a blockade around Cuba. After the Southern Army captured West Florida on October 1st, 1939, the Spanish High Command expected an invasion of Cuba, an invasion that would never come.

Chief of State Clay, remembering the Confederacy’s lack of success in Cuba in the Confederate-Spanish War and the disaster of the First World War, ordered the Southern Navy to blockade Cuba and deter any attempt to launch an invasion fleet to Florida. With West Florida captured and the British occupied in Europe, Clay layed his eyes on the Bahamas, the jewel of the Caribbean. However, before he could turn his attention to the Caribbean, he had to deal with the giant to the north.

The United States had always had strained relations with the Confederacy. But when the Grand Republic of the South was formed, it was seen as a new nation, eager to separate itself from its past. Clay was very popular in the United States and was considered a good leader. When Southern forces captured West Florida, most Americans saw it as a good thing. Even President Roosevelt viewed Henry Clay as an ally, which was why no one expected the events of Christmas, 1939.

On Christmas, 1939, Clay launched Operation Hamlet. The first move was the air attack of New York City from aircraft carriers. the planes managed to blow out several bridges and severely damaged the Brooklyn Bridge. Immediately afterwards, Unity Corps paratroopers fell from the sky into Manhattan, causing panic. Several hours later, the Southern Army began heavy shelling of Washington DC, which had been re-instituted as the capital of the United States in 1936. Meanwhile, a Southern force under the command of Commander Oliver Murphy strove into Northern Indiana, headed for Chicago.

The invasion caught the United States completely off guard. With the exception of some minor fighting in Hawaii, the US Army had been completely dormant since 1920. Small and untrained, the US forces were no match for the superior, yet smaller force of the South. By January, Manhattan Island, Washington and all of Indiana were under Southern control. Clay attempted to use this as a bargaining chip to force the United States into a puppet state of the South, demanding that California, New Mexico, Arizona, Maryland and Delaware be ceded to the South. Clay also demanded annual tribute from the United States. The very idea was considered ridiculous to President Roosevelt who, from his bunker in Philadelphia, urged every American to fight to the last for American freedom.
While Roosevelt preached for Americans to stay strong, Clay celebrated military victories. At the Battle of Peoria, Oliver Murphy’s force met with a smaller force commanded by General Austin Rales of the US Army. Rales put up an excellent defense but was defeated none the less. By May of 1940, the Grand Army of the South was laying siege to Chicago and the Army of Northern Virginia was launching an attack on Baltimore.
From Philadelphia, Roosevelt began to plan the United States counterattack, starting with the US invasion of Texas. Clay had forseen this move, he assigned the Oklahoma Army Group to perform guerilla warfare in the face of a massive American invasion. However, Roosevelt did not launch a gigantic invasion, instead launching a small coordinated armored group into West Texas. The main invasion was launched from Kansas into Missouri. The American plan was to capture Little Rock and cut off the main supply line for Murphy’s army.

The invasion, known as Operation Hare, was lead by Douglas McArthur, the son of a military legend. The American’s large scale attack on Kansas City, which had been ignored by Southern military strategists as to hard to capture, was successful and was the first major military victory for the United States in the Second World War. The army was then bogged down in the Battle of Westport Landing, where the Missouri Militia put up a decent defense and guerilla attacks from auxillary forces.

By September, the Southern forces were bogged down in Chicago, where fighting took place from city block to city block. To the south of Chicago in Central Missouri, US Forces had come to a halt in the face of a large home force at the Battle of the Rhineland, which took place outside of Jefferson City. And in the east, Baltimore had been captured and the Southern Army Group East was moving through towards Philadelphia as the US Army began to shell Manhattan Island.
The decision to shell New York City came from the necessity to root out the most northern held territory in the grasp of the Southern military. Since the island had fell in January, Roosevelt had stayed orders to shell the iconic American city in order to preserve American morale. However, after Southern forces entered Chicago and began to threaten Philadelphia, Roosevelt needed to recapture the largest city in the United States.

After Manhattan had been captured, the Southern troops had expelled most of the citizens and forced them off the island. A few thousand had been kept as hostages. The Southern troops then destroyed all links to land and set about making Manhattan into a fortress. However, by October, the US Navy had cut off the re-supply line and Manhattan was becoming a death trap. Seeing no means of survival other than to attack, Southern troops, lead by the Unity Corps, struck out of Manhattan into the Bronx, forcing the Battle of Sputyn Devil. Across the Harlem River, where US Troops had been stationed, held off by Southern barricades and artillery. However, once the troops left their barricades US firepower over took the Southern commando’s, who were hungry and ragged. The United States recaptured Manhattan on October 4th, 1940. In Chicago, Southern troops had been forced into a stalemate with the American forces. And in Missouri, US Forces were steadily progressing past Southern lines.

With the surprising turn around in the American war effort, the Spanish sent a communique to the Powell House offering to send Spanish divisions to the United States to fight the Southern forces. This concept, known as Plan North, was devised by the commander of Spanish forces in North America, Emilio Mola. Mola, realizing that the Spanish could not break the Southern embargo on Cuba, theorized that Spanish ships carrying troops from Europe, where Spain was neutral, could be used effectively in the North American campaign. The plan, with the support of Mola and President Ramirez, was put into action and 1,000 Spanish troops under the command of General Vincente Lluch. The Spanish troops were sent to Chicago, where they helped lift the fighting.

To coincide with the liberation of New York, a large force amassed in California, struck southward in an attempt to capture Mexico. Although American forces were stalled by border defenses, Clay and Southern military leaders were worried by the American military resurgence. Difficulties in the capture of Philadelphia and Chicago had pushed back the planned invasion of The Bahamas. As a veteran of the old campaign, Clay badly desired to annex the islands just off Florida. However, with the brunt of the Spanish and United States navy levied against its coast, the South couldn’t hope to engage in a new military theatre.

In look of an ally, Clay extended overtures to the Japanese. Japan, who was winning handily in the Pacific, had lost a large amount of its oil supply when the US stopped exporting oil to help with the war effort. Clay orchestrated an alliance between the GRS and Japan, hoping to open a new front in America, promising Japan control of Hawaii, Alaska and the city of Portland, Oregon. They also threatened to cut off their oil to the Japanese. As a result the Japanese capitulated, and declared war on the United States, attacking the Aleutian Islands and moving their navy towards Hawaii. As the year of 1940 came to and end, the United States seemed to be up sh-t's creek.

Just a note, if anyone can help me with scheduling, I could do a TL about the PFA.