Battle of New York City
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 The late stages of the battle, with US aircraft hitting FREDS positions in Brooklyn.
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20 November - 3 December 2096 CE | ||||||||||||||||
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Tactical US victory
Secessionist propaganda victory
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The Battle of New York City was a major battle between the forces of the United States of America and the secessionist Freedoms First organization that took place in and around New York City, New York during the early stages of the Second American Civil War. Following Liberty Destruction Day and the subsequent US military operation to suppress and arrest key members of the Freedoms First organization, which ultimately failed, Freedoms First retaliated by invading West Virginia, using it as a launchpad from which to launch a surprise attack on Washington, D.C. The subsequent siege, called the White House Siege, saw the deaths of two of President Avery J. Hill's daughters plus the First Lady, and the siege continued for a few more days before US forces finally counterattacked and drove FREDS from the city, but not before significant damage had been inflicted upon city infrastructure. In response for the brazen attack, President Hill authorized Operation Liberty's Revenge, a military invasion of Puerto Rico, where a major FREDS base of operations was present. The invasion was a decisive success, with the US arresting 2,000 FREDS operatives and seizing millions of dollars worth of equipment. The attack was a small setback for FREDS however, and in retaliation for the invasion of Puerto Rico, FREDS amassed a large number of troops in West Virginia, whilst also assembling some 12,000 of its troops in Canada for a multi-pronged attack strategy.
Mobilization of FREDS forces in West Virginia continued until the 20th of November, whilst FREDS forces mobilizing in Ontario, Canada continued to mobilize. From the 10th to the 20th, some 1,000 FREDS ships, 40 of which were large cargo vessels and the rest of which consisted of speed boats, barges, express cruisers, cape islanders, cabin cruisers and other types of civilian watecraft, departed from their ports in Texas and made their way towards New York, utilizing their civilian profiles to evade US Coast Guard and navy patrol ships to reach the city largely undetected. As they passed through the Sargasso Sea, the fleet was joined by 17 repurposed narco-submarines purchased from Colombian drug cartels and armed usually with three torpedoes per sub. The fleet was also meant to be joined by an old Russian Typhoon-class submarine which had been purchased by the FREDS but had failed to reach the US in time to take part in the battle. By the 19th of November, the FREDS fleet was holding position just 14 kilometers outside of New York Harbor. At this point only a handful of frigates and a destroyer of the US 2nd Fleet was present in the harbor, awaiting the arrival of the rest of the fleet. US intelligence managed to crack the FREDS communications network and received warning of the attack on the morning of the 20th, but by then it was too late to muster forces to counter it. At 8:15am on the 20th of November, a light contingent of the FREDS naval strike force lashed out and attacked the USS David G. Farragut while the ship was docked with speed boats strapped with TNT, while similar attacks occurred against the other two frigates and destroyer in the harbor who were not currently docked. News of the attack on the Farragut was hastily relayed to the captain of the destroyer USS Mark P. Fitzgerald which ordered his remaining two frigates, USS William H. McRaven and Edmund P. Giambastiani, to form up near the mouth of the harbor and counterattack the FREDS fleet. Simultaneously, FREDS forces crossed through Pennsylvania and launched a ground assault into New York City. The assault was sudden and vicious, overwhelming the NYPD and National Guard. FREDS forces from there spread out deeper into the city, knowing that US air support would be negated by the tighter streets, civilian population and skyscrapers. Kill zones were established to counter deployment of troops by helicopter, with spike strips and improvized explosive devices set up on strategically important roads and intersections to slow down enemy vehicular access.
In the harbor, the FREDS naval assault was slowed down by the Fitzgerald and its frigate escorts, utilizing their close-in weapons systems to neutralize FREDS speed boat attacks and guided missiles to damage the FREDs flagship. However, the sheer amount of attacks only increased, and eventually a boat managed to slip beneath the Fitzgerald's defensive net and explode along her starboard side, killing 28 crewmen and severely damaging the ship. The McRaven was soon struck in her side by a rail gun blast from the damaged FREDS flagship, and despite attempts to salvage the ship, she soon sunk in the harbor, killing 50 crewmen. The Giambastiani retrieved survivors from the McRaven and provided cover fire for the damaged Fitzgerald to limp from the harbor and retreat. In the process the Giambastiani was able to destroy one of two of the flagship's rail guns with a harpoon anti-ship missile, and sunk sixteen more speedboats before vacating the area, suffering only small damage and minor crew injuries. Despite suffering substantial losses, the FREDS had won the initial naval engagement, and quickly moved to secure the harbor and prepare for the inevitable naval counterattack, whilst also deploying an additional 4,000 troops onto Staten Island to reinforce FREDS forces there. By the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st, FREDS had captured Staten Island, half of Brooklyn, Manhattan and begun their push into the Bronx. The National Guard and NYPD tactical teams had fallen back to defensive positions within Queens, Bronx and the eastern half of Brooklyn, their efforts significantly slowing down the FREDS advance and effectively blunting it. The FREDS fleet secured the mouth of the Hudson river, mining it to ensure relief forces could not reach the beleagured National Guard units by sea. They also managed to capture the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, allowing them to cut off Staten Island and Brooklyn from each other. On the 22nd, additional FREDS troops arrived by air, with additional air support moving to resupply their troops along the Brooklyn frontline, and allowing them to capture Fort Hamilton.
The US counterattack was large and coordinated, and came on the 26th. By this time, half of the US 2nd Fleet had arrived 15 kilometers east of New York Harbor, regrouping with the Giambastiani and damaged Fitzgerald. The Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller scrambled its fighters to launch hit-and-run strikes against the FREDS fleet waiting in the harbor, while two submarines launched an attack on the damaged FREDS flagship, resting near Liberty Island. In the land phase of the battle, elements of the 10th Mountain Division of the US Army based out of Fort Drum linked up with the US Army's 82nd Airborne and the USMC's 1st Battalion, 25th Marines from Massachusetts and 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines from Garden City as they linked up with beleagured National Guardsmen in the Bronx. The fighting was heaviest in the northern tip of Manhattan, as the FREDs' well prepared killzones allowed them to inflict heavy casualties on the marines of the 1st Battalion as they attempted to push through the borough. By the 27th however, they had managed to break through and, with their capture of Times Square, had managed to isolate a large pocket of FREDS forces from their southern contingents. This forced the FREDS to give up their position, and by nighttime, they withdrew completely from Manhattan.
Back in the harbor, the FREDS flagship was successfully sunk by the USS New Hampshire, and repeated aerial assaults had resulted in three US aircraft being lost in comparison to the dozens of FREDS vessels destroyed and sunk. From here, the 2nd Fleet advanced and cut off FREDS retreat from the harbor, and began sinking the entire fleet. A number of corvettes were damaged by narco-submarines, but these were successfully countered and sunk. By the morning of the 28th, the US Navy had full control of the harbor, and US air strikes began against Staten Island, slamming FREDS positions in Fort Hamilton and their forward operating base at Heartland Village. On the 29th, the 82nd Airborne and US marines from the 2nd Fleet began their assault on Brooklyn, inflicting heavy casualties on FREDS forces, who were soon forced to withdraw. By the afternoon, the situation had deteriorated so badly that FREDS forces were evacuating across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and planned to destroy the bridge in order to cut Staten Island off from the US advance and inflict heavy casualties upon the enemy at the same time. This attempt failed when a Navy SEALs NCDU team was deployed to the bridge and successfully managed to kill the demolition crews, saving the bridge. This was followed up by gunship attacks upon retreating FREDs forces, which continued to harass them all the way back to Staten Island, where they were finally forced to retreat in order to remain out of range of hostile anti-air. From their position in the harbor, the 2nd Fleet launched repeated ballistic missile attacks against FREDS positions on Staten Island, which was now their final stronghold. FREDS waited patiently for what they believed was an inevitable US assault, weathering the constant attacks. By the 1st of December, it became clear their enemy would be content simply hammering them with repeated air and naval strikes, and FREDS began a full withdrawal. A frigate managed to catch and capture several groups of FREDS attempting to escape by boat, while the same SEAL team from before was deployed to neutralize ground-based radar and kill a top FREDS lieutenant, both of which were successful, with only one SEAL member being injured. By the 3rd, FREDS completely withdrew from the city, and the battle was over.
The Battle of New York City was a significant wakeup call for the US, who had believed Freedoms First would be defeated by the end of the year, and was nowhere near capable enough of launching the kind of military operations that had been witnessed in New York. The public and military had underestimated the adaptability and intelligence of FREDS, who had utilized tactics used against US forces in the early 21st century such as IEDs, guerrilla warfare and surgical strikes in their war upon the US. Meanwhile, while New York became a war zone, the Canadian capital city of Ottawa had also come under attack from Freedoms First forces, in a manner similar to New York but without the naval support, which had been committed entirely to New York. The Canadian response to this attack was much slower than the US, and it would be a few days before the Canadian military even agreed to launch a counterattack. However, despite FREDS success in the first days of the battle, the battle had been a significant tactical blunder for them, and had proven a costly defeat. FREDS forces suffered 15,000 losses during the battle, including 10,000 wounded. Their fleet was completely obliterated, although the absence of their only Typhoon-class sub had probably saved it from destruction. Despite sinking a US frigate and severely damaging another and a destroyer, FREDS had failed to inflict significant enough damage against the US Navy, and disagreement among their leadership about how to counter a US naval strike into the harbor had allowed the US to destroy their flagship with near impunity, despite them having the necessary equipment to detect and stop the New Hampshire before it got that close. This incompetence affected their ground units as well who, despite capturing a large swath of New York in a relatively short amount of time, had failed to destroy their enemy outright, allowing them time to receive reinforcements. In the end, the battle was a tactical US victory, but proved a FREDS propaganda victory, who had now proven they could go toe-to-toe with the US military in an open engagement, despite being ultimately defeated.
It is worth historically noting that Marcia G. Shepard, the great-grandmother of Marcus L. Shepard, took part in the battle on the side of the US forces, flying numerous sorties as a pilot for the United States Air Force.