[CENTER][B][SIZE="4"]The Battle of Chicago and the Western Theater[/size][/B]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/HCb7z.jpg[/IMG] [I]The Scorching of Chicago[/I][/CENTER]

By January of 1863, Concord forces succeeded in stopping the Martian advance south and established the Potomac Line, a string of fortifications similar to Europe's Bismarck Line. The small Martian force attacking Charleston was driven back by Confederate forces, and with the aid of the United States Navy the Confederates were able to wipe out the Martian force in the Battle of Fort Sumter. In the West, Californian militias, settlers and Native Americans banded together against Martian cavalry and infantry moving out from the Great Basin Desert, but this front was almost unreachable for the Union and Confederate governments and they had to be responsible for their own defenses. The attention of the war turned to the Midwest, where considerable resources remained in human hands.

The city of Chicago became a center of activity for the United States. Many refugees from the scorched cities of the east moved to Chicago, one of the greatest transportation hubs in the Midwest. Men were drafted en masse to replace those falling on the front lines, sometimes causing riots when groups of men resisted. Ad hoc arms factories were established to churn out rifles, cannons and ammunition for the war; refugees, the elderly and any other "idle hands" were frequently sent to work in these factories, if they were not conscripted. Chicago was also used to distribute men and materiel to the front lines throughout America.

Chicago's importance made it a prime target for Martian attack. The city was the centerpiece of a new offensive, designed to sweep through the Midwest and then down the Mississippi, crushing the new center of Union strength and then splitting the Confederacy in half. This maneuver, if successful, would then sweep through Georgia, up the Carolinas and then lock in the Concord armies in Virginia and secure the New World for Mars. The Martians were opposed by 200,000 Concord troops, including sizable contingents of veterans that had been fighting one another just a few months before.

The Martians began their main offensive in February 14, 1863, striking through the lowlands of Ohio. Concord forces continuously assaulted the Martians throughout their advance, slowing them considerably. The Martians severely underestimated the humans capacity to take casualties, and an offensive intended to reach Chicago in a month instead took three. By May, the Concord successfully built a series of concentric trenches around the city, with British and American gunboats watching the

city from Lake Michigan. Heavy machinery was gradually moved out of the city and arms production continued in Canada. Large fortresses were constructed on the outskirts of town and equipped with massive, rifled cannons intended to destroy tripods from a distance. The Concord was eager to get another victory against Mars.

As expected, the Martians assaulted the city head-on, believing that the Americans were unable to successfully fortify the city. The Martians were surprised to be met with massive trenches that forced their tripods to move slowly, lest they trip, only to be destroyed by human artillery from the distance. Martian infantry were cut down by their Concord enemies hiding in trenches and black smoke became ineffective when gas masks were widely distributed among the Concord troops. Concord artillery churned up the soil, turning the land outside of Chicago into an ocean of mud that Martian fighting machines had difficulty traversing. The Martian offensive was stopped dead in its tracks.

General Herakleios, the Martian general in charge of military operations in North America, could not tolerate the continued human defense. A loyal follower of the Superior Civilization school of thought, Herakleios believed that Martian civilization was supreme and that it should never be defeated by savages. During his time on Earth, he gained a burning hatred for humanity for its stubborn refusal to submit to the Will of Sea and Void. Allowing Chicago to remain in human hands would be an offense to nature itself; more practically, it would give the Concord a way to launch an offensive behind his salient and encircle his forces should his advance stop further along. Herakleios was sure that the humans primitive defenses would eventually fall if he just applied enough pressure to them. He ordered continuous assaults against Chicago, draining troops from other parts of the North American front and from Martian garrisons throughout the Solar System.

The Battle of Chicago would last for nine months, the longest single battle in the entire Martian War. The Martian assumption that the humans would eventually starve was proved faulty when food was brought in from Canada through Lake Michigan. Few humans surrendered to the Martians, as stories of Martians laying eggs in prisoners stomachs or using them for gruesome medical experiments spread. Concord forces moved in from the south to periodically assault the Martians attacking Chicago, ensuring that the Martian forces are sandwiched between two Concord armies. Herakleios asked for more and more reinforcements from Mars proper, but as the battle dragged on Earth moved further away from Mars and Martians throughout the entire planet had to rely on domestic resources. Venusian auxiliaries were sent in the Martians stead, but while Venusian warriors were far stronger than their Martian counterparts they were no substitute for tripods and they frequently defected to the Concord out of hatred for the Martian Empire.

However, the Martians did make incremental gains against the Concord defenders, and by November of 1863 they were at the outskirts of Chicago. The furious General Herakleios ordered the city burned to the ground and black smoke canisters launched around the Lake Michigan coast to prevent escape. While gradual evacuation of the city began months before, tens of thousands of civilians perished in the Chicago fire. The Martians were victorious, but their victory was empty: the Concord had moved the operations that made Chicago important to other parts of the continent, and the battle cost Mars far more. The battle marks the beginning of the end of Mars in North America.