Allen made his way back to the line of artillery (captured from a surprisingly intact and unraided army armory) and gave the order to begin the bombardment of the initial attack zone. As he made his way back to his three companies, he could hear the thumping sounds of artillery firing and soon, distant, loud explosions were heard as they impacted the border zone, but due to the distance, they wouldn't quite know the damage to the enemy until they advanced, which would be a few hours away..
The music played alongside the faint yet loud explosions that seemed to rock the tower. 1812 Overtune was an appropriate choice of music, the cannons that were used in Tchaikovsky's original version seemed fitting for Allen's artillery. Rhys just sat there, watching the explosions that dotted the landscape. Using binoculars occasionally, he watched the panic and terror of the Raiders and Slavers as the artillery shells hammered into their positions and obliterated them, giving Rhys a satisfaction that warmed his heart. Watching the animals that 'killed' him finally getting put down. Despite the fact that he cant drink, he poured a glass of wine and raised it into air. "This one is for you, Allen." Rhys spoke to himself in the new language before relaxing and watching the slaughter, and he had the best seat in the house.
After a two hour bombardment, the eastern brigade moved forward, crossing into the now heavily damaged border zone, and we're immediately caught off guard by the quietness. With three squads to a major street, they carefully moved along, quickly going from cover to cover, expecting the enemy to pop out of nowhere, but nothing ever happened. But Allen, remembering reading about a Japanese tactic in World War 2 of letting the Americans lead with next to no resistance then hit them from more faborable, entrenched positions inland, sent out strict orders to proceed with extreme caution and keep an eye out for an ambush.
Rhys watched the display unfold until nothing remained but silence, in which he took his binoculars to scout any survivors. As he expected, many were taken by surprise from the artillery and were killed, but Rhys could scout at least one or two hiding from view in the ruins of buildings. If he was in an able condition, and if he was within range, he could have picked them off. However, there was not much he could do. After experiencing 'death', he never wanted to go back into the force again. To make matters worse, he had a radio to contact Allen with. If he were to call him now, it would give away his position to the raiders/slavers and would result in the death of several soldiers. But trusting in the ability of his friend, he knew that he would manage to pull through. Somehow.
Suddenly, as the group was passing through a heavily wooded (but dead) park, Allen noticed a grenade land at his fee. Out of instinct, he quickly kicked it back just in time for it to explode in the forest and it to come alive with gunfire, "AMBUUUUSH!" Allen yelled as he hit the ground, watching several soldiers get torn to shreds by the sheer volume of gunfire as they they were they were Inavale they were unable to get down in time. Allen quickly rolled into a small ditch off the nature trail and pulled out a smoke grenade, pulling the pin, he tossed it up and waited until the area filled with smoke, reducing everyone's visibility to none, but the ambushes continued to fire wildly. "Go go go!" Allen yelled over the noise of the exchange of gunfire before leading a blind charge into the woods, going from cover to cover. When they finally killed the the last the last of the last of the ambushers, Allen too time for his men to regroup and collect the dead. Out of the fifty men who who had entered on the nature trail, 10 laid dead, with 20 in various degrees of wounded. Allen sighed and ordered ordered for ordered for the ordered for the bodies ordered for the bodies to ordered for the bodies to be withdrawn to behind behind the forest where the support teams could evacuate the dead and wounded. After that, he ordered ordered his ordered his men ordered his men to stay off the trail, and advance through the dead forest, it was slower, but safer. 2 miles down, 15 more to go. And they had already taken heavy casualties.
Rhys was watching the ordeal play out through his binoculars, watching a battle take place and seeing a total of 30 Republic soldiers that were unable to fight, or dead. It was going to be heavy fighting from this point onwards, something that concerned him greatly. He looked down back at the republic's courtyard, noticing the reinforcements preparing themselves if they were to be called into action. The Republic certainly had the firepower and training, but lacked the numbers to totally turn Fort Worth into their favor. Taking another sip of his wine, frustrated at the already heavy losses, cursed himself for ever being sent on that damn mission. Even with a successful assassination of a major Fort Worth slave master, he believed that nothing had changed.
While Allen's forces crawled forward in the face of heavy resistance, taking 30-50% casualties in some cases, and the small amount of reinforcements wouldn't make much of a difference, John's forces found themselves having to fight back wave after wave of Ghoul attacks, but taking comparatively few casualties. Little did the Republic know, the majority of the raiders and slavers had focused in the 5 mile band Allen's forces had slammed against, but all defenses faced east...
Rhys watched the ordeal play out in silence. He had thought that once Fort Worth was 'safe', he could relax for a while. But he joked around at the thought, knowing that his work would not be done for quite a while. The hairs on Rhys's arms stood up, he had the feeling that something big was about to happen and was not sure if it would have been for the better or worse.
(I'm gonna skip ahead a few days as it would take a while to advance through the whole city) In the eastern half of Fort Worth, all progress had ground to a halt with an average of nearly 50% severe (being removing from battle/dead) casualty ratio for only a couple miles advance in most spots. It seemed as if the defensive line set up by the raiders and slavers had worked, and the eastern brigade had been left demoralized by the heavy casualties for such little gain. The only thing they could take heart in was that for every Republic soldier killed, at least 3 slaver/raiders were confirmed killed. Likely, both sides had about equal numbers, but the enemy had the upper hand in morale due to their apparent success. Then, on the fourth day of the offensive, John's brigade slammed into the rear of the enemy, refreshed from a day's rest and few casualties due to the fragile, melee only nature of the feral ghouls they had faced until then. Unprepared for the attack from the rear, the enemy was thrown into disarray, and as the save of panic spread to the eastern side of the belt of enemy fortification, Allen managed to rally his troops for one more attack. Soon, the two sides began breaking through to the other's lines, and by the end of the fourth day, Fort Worth was secured, even though it was at a terrible toll.
Rhys had been busy filling in documents throughout the past few days. Upon hearing that Fort Worth had been secure, there was a bittersweet feeling in the Republic. While many had perished in order to secure the territory, it had removed the burden that came with it's hostile life. While many had celebrated, many also mourned the loss of their soldiers. Still, it was a victory for the Republic, and now, the prospect of future campaigns in North Texas would follow.
The following week "As of this moment, on October 5th, 2264, I, John Trueman, hereby step down from my post as ad intermin leader of the Republic of Texas. A consitutional assembly lead and chosen by Colonel Allen and Rhys shall oversee the creation of the new government. I must continue on the journey that has brought me here, and I have only the highest of expectations for the continued success and prosperity of the Republic. However, the new generation of leaders, whomever they may be, should turn their attentions away from expansion, and to consolidation and economic growth. All my regards and wishs, John Trueman." Allen finished reading to Rhys. He had just received a note, one that apparently John had prepared to pass out among the Republic's 75,000 citizens, enough so that the news could spread quickly with minimal paper waste. Allen looked up at his friend and sighed, "Whelp. He's gone. I guess it's time for us to begin designing the new government..." Allen said slowly. He hadn't expected John to leave so quickly after the taking of Fort Worth, but he guessed it made sense. The Republic now had no major threats in its vicinity, and It was soon enough to avoid a cult of personality from forming around John. With that, Allen pulled out his notebook, "Alright. I want 3 military men, 3 economists, and 3 people experienced in government, but they need to agree with us, as no doubt they'll want to skew the system to favor their interests."
Rhys shrugged slightly. "With what we've just been through, I doubt that there would be few who might disagree with you. Of course, they have to be approved by us first." Rhys then thought about a design for a new texan flag, but figured that the older one would have been more appropriate. "I might as well appoint myself as something. Vice-President, Senator, I don't exactly know. But saying that, you've been laying the foundations of a country for years. It's up to you."
Allen chuckled slightly, "Well, you see, the system I have in mind us much different from the one before." Allen said simply, "It's split into three branches. There's the Council, which is the legislative branch. It's made up of 5 representatives from each district, which I was hoping to base on the former counties but keeping in mind to make sure the established settlements are at the heart of them. The Council will also have an advisory board of three generals, three businessmen, and three "people's voicers", basically guys at the left, middle, and right of the political spectrum that are actively pushing for reform. The Council will have the duties of passing laws, confirm taxs set by the President, make a budget for the year, confirm presidential appointments, that sort of thing. Councilors serve 4 year terms, with, a limit of 5, they also need 50% of their vote to avoid avoid a runoff. Then the president, commander in Chief and "head diplomat". Directly elected elected by the people, needing a 51% majority to avoid a runoff election, and has a referendum vote every 5 years but serves a full term of 10 years they avoid being kicked out in the refurendum vote. The president has the powers of leading the military, though all major military operations(such as starting a war) have to be confirmed by the Council. He also sets the tax rate(confirmed by Council), they can draft laws, approve or veto laws passed passed by the Council, but a veto can be overturned by a 3/4ths majority in the Counsel. The President also makes appointments to the Supreme Court which makes sure everything fits within the constitution and the rights given by the Constitution, like freedom of speech, press, religion, peaceful assembly, rights to equality under law for all citizens, happiness, to bear arms, to a fair trail, etc. And Justices rule for life or until they abdicate. But there also needs to be 3 conservative judges, 3 independent judges, and 3 liberal judges, to ensure equal voice on all positions of an issue."
Rhys just stood there taken back for a brief moment in amazement in exactly how detailed the new system of government was. He stared at Allen, wide-eyed until he spoke. "Well then....um.....that could work." he joked before laughing briefly. "Now...we're shall we start?" (Wanna wrap this up soon?)
(Sure) Several years later, in 2281 By the time the NCR finally defeated Caesar's Legion and took the Mojave, the Republic of Texas was entering its 17th year since John left and President Allen was wrapping up his second term in office. In that time, the Republic's population had increased greatly to nearly 500,000 between immigration from surrounding areas to the safety of the Republic to natural increase. The Republic had also expanded greatly, expanding north to the Red River, east to the Mississippi, south to the Gulf of Mexico and reaching into the west Texas plains. Even though the Republic still was weak by numbers compared the likes likes of Caesar's Legion, its focus on excellent training for its troops and development of economy made it a strong, unified nation none the less. Under Allen, a three time draft was introduced. The first was at the birth of a child, when a small number of the healthiest babies were taken from their parents (in exchange for compensation) for a lifetime of training to be the elite of the elite (the Republican Guard; the first of whom were a year 2 years from entering full service) in the Republic, followed by a second, slightly larger draft at 11 when a slightly larger number of kids was to be brought in to be the elite special forces of the nation, the so called Elite Guard. Then a final draft at 18 for a year or two active duty for all of that age. It was also decreed that full citizenship could only obtained from completing this duty. All this lead to a strong, committed force, despite its size. Meanwhile, Allen made sure that the nation was imbued with the sense of duty and belonging to the nation, but the encouragement of individualism as well. And he was determined to try to stay in office ands long as he could to make sure these ideals remained in place...all the while fearing the day when the Legion, desperate to find a new enemy with the loss of the Mojave, would turn its attention to the nation...
Rhys, now aged 37, had spent the last seventeen years as the Mayor of Dallas, which since it was taken by the Republic was already 15% rebuilt. No longer needing the use of a walking stick, he was a healthy man who was able to walk perfectly unlike the first few months since he 'died'. Under his leadership and Allen's, Dallas was cleared of all hostile life and was habitable, to some extent. Radiation pockets still existed within the city but was believed to vanish within the next five years. The style of living in these areas reminded Rhys of a 5 star hotel, but it was only the very rich who could currently live in the rebuilt skyscrapers while the rest of the population got by easily in their towns. Rhys himself still wore a brown suit, but now had longer hair that went to his shoulders and a rough beard. Spending his time on rebuilding efforts, he was still however a major figure in politics
(Hm...you know what? The end of my post gives me an idea. Like, fast forward a few decades and the Legion has finally regained enough strength to go back to expanding, this time with a leader who is not just military minded, but administration as well, kinda like Augustus Caesar from Rome, and their target is the Republic of Texas?)
(That sounds good. This idea might not get past to keep originality in this RP, but what if that instead of the Legion that the Republic fights, what if it's a 'smaller' version of Nova Roma with John and Damien? I'm happy either way.)
