American Caesar Part 3

The first two months of the war went poorly for the US to say the least. The Syndicalists were closing in on Washington D.C. from the north, while the AUS troops were approaching from the south. Further north, the Canadians peacefully occupied New England and Alaska. MacArthur opted not to press the issue for the time being, privately admitting that it was probably for the best, considering that he had no troops in the region, and that without the Canadians, New England would likely have fallen to the Syndicalists. On the West Coast, there were fears that California, Washington State, and Oregon would secede from the Union, but a tense meeting between California governor Frank Merriam and MacArthur resulted in them agreeing to join forces.

By December of 1936, it was clear that MacArthur's strategic position east of the Mississippi River was indefensible. AUS troops had captured the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, while Syndicalist troops took Baltimore after a bloody battle. With the fall of Washington clearly inevitable, MacArthur made the difficult decision to retreat his troops westward to the Mississippi River where they would regroup and form a new defensive line. Vowing to return, MacArthur and his wife and son boarded a biplane and flew to the new temporary capital of Denver, Colorado. By January of 1937, most of his troops had made it to St. Louis, Missouri, which MacArthur had chosen as the center of the new front line.

To make things even worse, the syndicalist government in Mexico decided to take the chance to declare war on the United States in order to regain lost territory. For the most part, MacArthur tried to limit the war with Mexico to small border clashes, but it hardly made his position easier. It was difficult to see how he could accomplish victory now...