Turning Point - Sekigahara: Toyotomi's Global Expansion and its Consequences

Phase 26 - Great War (3)

The fighting in North America began suddenly on October 25, 1914.

The United States, surrounded by its most formidable hypothetical enemies, was believed to have no strategy other than fortifying its border defenses. However, as soon as the US entered the war, it surged into Canada, deploying all its surplus forces, much like the German army did at the beginning of the conflict.

. . .

The reason why the United States chose Canada was quite simple.

It was because Canada had the least military power and population among its neighboring countries, and the suzerain state, Britain, was unable to provide immediate support. Furthermore, it was believed that even if other countries like Yamato were to send reinforcements, there would be a minimum of three months of time for such support to arrive. This was considered unchanged even if they attempted to forcefully cross the major rivers that served as borders, such as the Mississippi River or the Ohio River, which separated regions like Yamato and the Confederacy.

In everyday life, both countries had large armies facing each other and had essentially fortified their key strategic points. All nations understood that without employing significantly large armies or some groundbreaking new weapons, it would be impossible to easily breach these fortified positions. Especially in the case of the US and the Confederacy, whose border was defined by the Ohio River and the Potomac River with the Appalachian Mountains in between, they had several divisions facing each other even during peacetime. While the US and Yamato did not share a direct border, they also had two divisions facing each other during peacetime. These divisions would expand to more than triple their size during wartime, eventually forming new strategic units known as "army groups" to keep each other in check, so it was said.

However, the US, instead of fortifying its border defenses, concentrated its forces within the country and swiftly moved into Canada, making extensive use of its domestic railway network.

. . .

At that time, Canada was a British Dominion. As a result, it was fully cooperating with Britain in the war effort, with many soldiers and supplies being directed to Britain and France. Because of this, Canada, with a population of less than 10 million, was essentially defenseless against the United States. Therefore, Britain had made a prior agreement to delegate a part of its defense to Canada in anticipation of a conflict with Yamato, and they planned to execute this agreement once the war began.

However, the American forces swiftly invaded Canada much earlier than Yamato made any moves.

Furthermore, Canada's heartland stretched along the St. Lawrence River and the shores of the Great Lakes, making it very close to the US border. About a century ago, during the War of 1812, the border had moved considerably south, but those regions were mostly sparsely populated areas.

However, the fact that many regions were sparsely populated worked in Canada's favor in a sense. During this era, armies had to rely primarily on foot movement, except for railways. As seen in the example of the German army, when soldiers advanced a certain distance, they would become tired, supply lines would slow down, and the rate of advancement would significantly decrease. This could lead to a situation like the German army faced when facing an enemy.

In the case of the US army, their advance was in a form where they hardly encountered the enemy. Along the way, many small cities declared themselves undefended, leading to bloodless surrenders. There were hardly any large-scale battles until they reached the St. Lawrence River. This was partly because the British side had resigned themselves to the fact that if the US were to invade Canada, there would be little they could do about it. From the British perspective, the strategy in case of an American invasion of Canada was to hold off the enemy's advance at the St. Lawrence River, such as in Montreal, and endure until the Yamato forces arrived to provide support. However, they were determined to defend Nova Scotia Peninsula, which served as a major export port from Canada, and the key port city of Halifax on Newfoundland Island at all costs. Therefore, a certain size of military forces had been stationed there from the outset.