Re: Blood and Iron - Chapter 844: Sic Semper Tyrannis

Chapter 844: Sic Semper Tyrannis

In Richmond, Virginia, the banners of the New Confederacy flew over its capital, while State legislators gathered to discuss matters of importance.

In the wake of America’s internal collapse, and the death of the Union. The South had indeed “risen again.” As many had said it would since the Civil War ended decades prior.

But with the Union dead and buried, the former United States now found itself broken up into many smaller factions, each of which was more antagonistic to one another than they were friendly.

The New Confederacy held its own borders proudly. And for the most part, it prospered. Early on, there were some riots as its formation was proclaimed in Richmond, which sparked unrest in certain minority communities.

But they were quickly cracked down upon with the right arm of the law. And those who remained now cowed to Richmond and its unstained banners.

The senators gathered and spoke of what was transpiring outside their borders. The District of Columbia found itself in an unusual situation, as both Frankling Roosevelt’s rump state, still named the “United States of America,” official claimed it as its capital on paper.

While the New Confederacy claimed it was a rightful part of Virginia’s sovereign borders. In truth, neither side actually occupied the city, only portions of it, where their soldiers faced off against one another each day.

Not with bullets and explosives, but stares. Until now violence had largely been contained on the New Confederacy’s borders.

But news from the District of Columbia threatened to spark an all-out war between the New Confederacy and what little remained of the old Union.

“Blood in the streets, upon Capitol Hill no less! Those Union boys still think they’re the guardians of anything but a small remnant of the power they once held! And in doing so ruthlessly gunned down our citizens when they refused to comply with their self-proclaimed authority! Blood must be met with blood! Sic Semper Tyrannis!”

Another senator was quick to give his own voice to these thoughts.

“The Great Basin Empire and its band of raiders eye our southwestern borders. They have begun passing through the Mojave and have penetrated deep into the Sonoran with no signs of stopping. If we were to focus our might on ending Roosevelt’s reign of terror once and for all, Western Texas will bleed!”

The Great Basin Empire… A nation with no truly defined borders, and no governing body at a national level.

They were a coalition of raiders, picking up more men to follow them into battle with each trespass against the innocent. After sacking a town or city, all they demanded was a king’s ransom for their departure, and continued tribute thereafter.

In truth, they were an empire in name only, and acted more like a Mongol horde than they did a true nation state.

It was because of this reckless abandon of civilization itself that so many of the successor states considered them a constant thorn in their sides.

It was not that these raiders possessed the might individually to topple any of them. But they were nomadic, and hard to intercept or destroy. And because they survived off of tribute, the only true path to victory would be to scorch the earth they treaded upon.

Even if the United States had collapsed as a union, the idea of such a savage solution was inconceivable to any of the successor states that actually tried to govern.

Another senator finally gave voice to his proposed solution to this problem.

“I would recommend we do not escalate things further with Roosevelt’s regime, instead we focus our efforts on crushing the so-called Great Basin Empire once and for all, and once they are gone, we can move our attention towards the District of Columbia, and wherever that wheelchair ridden rat is hiding!”

The hall went silent as the chatter died down to nearly inaudible whispers. No one objected. No one called him to order. That alone spoke volumes about what the chamber had become.

Each caucus simply debated among themselves whether this was the wisest course of action.

Whatever consensus could be had was however, shattered in the next moment as someone dared to remind the hall of a particularly brutal memory in recent history.

“You expect us to send an expeditionary force into the Great Basin? And to do what exactly? Did the Pacific Union not undertake such an endeavor already? And with catastrophic results, I might add!”

Once more, the hall found itself without voice. The Senator was right; the Pacific Union shared a direct border with the Great Basin Empire, one might even say the largest border with them.

It was because of this that they frequently found themselves suffering from raids by the Great Basin Empire more than anyone else.

And yet even when they mustered a large punitive force to squash the Great Basin Empire once and for all, the Pacific Union ended up not victorious, but humiliated.

Nobody had yet proven capable of countering the Great Basin Empire and its nomadic tactics.

In the end, the senator from Alabama stepped forward and gave his opinion.

“The Pacific Union failed because they tried to march straight to Reno with an armored column, and in doing so walked into repeated ambushes. By the time they even reached their target, nearly half of their force had already been whittled down by Maddox and his raiders. Our best opportunity to defeat them is to send a diplomatic message to the Pacific Union and express our desire to take on this challenge, which continues to threaten both of our borders, together, on a two-war front. That way the Pacific Union can take the brunt of the attacks, and we can take credit for annihilating those bandits once and for all!”

His message was met with overwhelming support from the senators in the chamber. Out of all the plans discussed, temporarily aligning with another post-successor state, and taking out the most immediate threat to their borders, before eventually targeting Roosevelt’s regime, was the best course of action they could decide upon.

A vote was held, and later that day it was determined that the New Confederacy and its army would be going to war with the Great Basin Empire.

As for the Pacific Union, its response was assumed to be in support of this proposed alliance. An assumption that had the potential to cost the New Confederacy dearly.