CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

By July, German troops were flooding into Egypt.

Britain captured Alexandria and the kaiser attacked the city. In one of the biggest infantry assaults of the war, 50,000 German infantrymen attacked the city at once. Overwhelmed by sheer numbers, the British moved toward the center of the city. Finally, making an heroic last stand, 10,000 redcoats fought to the death.

In Europe, Germany occupied Luxembourg. France countered by sending yet another army across the Rhine into the Fatherland.

At this time, philosophers began to question the entire war as being anything but an explosion of alliances and the post-1815 generations wanting to prove their manliness in combat. They said Louis-Napoleon had overreacted to the Ems Dispatch and they laid the blame squarely upon him. Many said that if Napoleon I was alive, he would be hurling the ugliest blasphemies at his brother's son.

Regardless of who started it, the Franco-Prussian War had become the Great War. Thousands of lives had been lost and a drunk French emperor, who was pathetically trying to imitate his much more famous genius uncle, could do nothing about it now.

In Washington DC...

Lincoln handed his book to Mr. Jones the publisher.

Jones looked at the title over his spectacles, "'The American Manifesto or My Beliefs about Slavery by Abraham Lincoln.' Yes, sir, Mr. Lincoln, we'll start printing it right away."

Lincoln looked at the red-faced, pudgy publisher; Lincoln was anything but red-faced and pudgy. He knew he did not have long to live so he wrote all he could and brought his papers to Jones to have them published. Lincoln nodded and scratched his famous "Lincoln beard," even though it was now white, "All right, I appreciate your swiftness. By the way, since you are an avid reader, Jones, I thought I'd prescribe two good books to read. I've been reading a lot of writings by a man named Karl Marx lately; he has some most interesting ideas, especially about the working class, or, what he calls, the 'proletariat.' I realized that his books Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto could apply very well to the negroes in the CSA. I hope my book reaches the South and the slaves, and that they realize how well they might apply Marxism."

The publisher raised his grey eyebrows, "A red revolution in the South? Hmmm...I guess it could happen. So, do you have another book in the works? Your stuff sells like hotcakes!"

"You know, I've been thinking about writing a rather large essay speculating on what might have happened had we won the War," Lincoln said while putting on his derby hat. He had stopped wearing the top hat because Mary said it made him look too thin.

"Hah," laughed Jones without smiling, "Yes, things'd be different, and that's for sure. By the way, Mr. Lincoln, I never did blame you for the rebs getting their independence. Luck was on their side since Bull Run and it never left them. 'Nothing you could've done differently."

Lincoln smiled, "Thank you. I never go one day without meeting someone on the street who cusses at me over the War. Recently I've been recieving letters from some madman who says he fought in the War and his sacrifices were in vain. If you ask me, he sounded a little loopy. Good day to you, Mr. Jones."

The publisher chuckled, "Good day, Mr. Lincoln!"

When Lincoln exited the building and closed the door, the publisher heard the former president's slow steps on the sidewalk. Suddenly, he could also hear a sprinting person. A cry of "God save the Union!" from whoever it was was followed by three gunshots and shrieks of terror from pedestrians. Jones frantically opened his door to see what had happened. There lied Lincoln, with a shot to the stomach and two to the chest, dead on the sidewalk in a pool of his own blood. Jones could see the assassin run into a back alley.

A nearby soldier dashed after the gunman. Soon, all over the city, a full-fledged manhunt was underway. President Gordon was escorted to safety by the Presidential Guards, just in case there was a wider plot.

By the next morning, the killer was tracked to an abandoned home on the outskirts of the city. Police and soldiers surrounded the building. At one point, five officers were sent into the building. Only two returned alive to report that the murderer had barricaded himself inside a dining room and that he had enough ammunition to last for a while if a direct assault was made.

One policeman came up with an idea to tunnel underneath the house and come up through the floor and take Lincoln's killer by surprise. They went ahead with the plan which cost that officer his life. He was the first to come up and the killer shot him in the head with a Springfield at close range. In the fight that ensued, three more officers and soldiers were wounded, but they managed to shoot and kill the assassin.

That evening's New York Times' headline read: "PRESIDENT LINCOLN SHOT BY DISGRUNTLED ARMY OFFICER." It also stated that the man was an officer who led an obscure life, but was a Union fanatic who blamed Lincoln for defeat, sending angry letters to him every day the week before the assassination. This is why we remember the name of William McKinley, the half-crazed assassin from Ohio, who was shot in a dramatic battle with the authorities.



In case not everybody remembers obscure American presidents, in reality William McKinley was the 25th President of the US and the last Civil War veteran to be elected to that office.

Holy crap dude, (not that crap is holy... <_<.......>_>) this is crazy! You've put a lot of thought into this, I can tell.

Danke, Oreo! Yes, I think it through before I write a new addition and I always pull out my massive historybook collection. The toughest part is...well...I'm not really sure...it's all a challenge, but it's very fun.

EDIT: I just did a bunch of editing to the first post. Enjoy the proper English!

Oh, I almost forgot! Here is the Nation Divided video: http://napoleonsalternatehistory.webs.c ... al-trailer

Enjoy!

Wow, you've added a lot more!
Hoping to have a chance to sit down and read tomorrow

Yup, and I just have to finish another section I'm workin' on in Open Office before more is ready. I hope you enjoy the new stuff!

Good stuff!!

Do you keep a timeline of all the different countries and major events ... to help you keep everything in order? I would have to, it'd be a cool idea if you don't. If you ever published this the timeline would be a great asset to the readers who get lost easy.

Very Nice.

Hmm...good suggestion! That would be handy. I'll see what I can come up with.

A majorly important chapter!

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

In August, 1871, the Germans crushed British assaults into Egypt. Cairo became a German fortress. Britain's Army of North Africa was in full retreat.

Farther east, Anglo-Indian forces tried to keep Iraq firmly under their control, and, thus, was far too busy to invade Egypt or Syria.

When Germany had Egypt under its control, it declared war on weakling Persia. Easily defeating the shah's troops in a few minor battles, Persia soon yielded and joined the Quadruple Alliance. Now, Germany was on the borders of Victoria's most prized possession: India.

Horrified at the thought of a German invasion of India, Britain declared that every British citizen should rally to save the colonies. Focusing almost all of their energy and money on protecting India, Britain raised an enormous army and liberated Persia. By October, the Germans were in full retreat and heading to Syria.

The Persian Empire was now defunct and the English added it to it's long list of colonies and territories. Finally reinforcing troops in Iraq, the British were finally able to invade Syria. Routing a large Syrian force, the British said they were now on “the long road to victory in Asia.” But, as upcoming battles with actual German soldiers were to prove, that road often would seem untravelable. In mid-October, the British suffered massive casualties at the hands of the Germans. But victory in Syria seemed imminent.

In Europe, Napoleon finally achieved a long-awaited breakthrough. Kicking the Quadruple Alliance out of Luxembourg, the French army smashed into upper Germany. The kaiser became enraged and started throwing armies out to slow Napoleon down.

By December, Germany seemed ready to fall. Bismarck's speeches and military parades were not going to hold the fledgling German Empire together.

One week before the next major event of the war, Kaiser Wilhelm, after the death of his son and heir, Frederick in battle, was ready to ask the Allies for peace. But what happened next gave him reason to fight on.

In late 1870, a year earlier, the Indian Territory had declared itself the Indian Confederation of Oklahoma. While not taken seriously by the US, the tribes on the reservations took it seriously. On May 24th, 1871, Sitting Bull, chief of the Indian Confederation of Oklahoma, began training and equipping all of the Indians on the reservations with high-tech weaponry from sources unknown.

The cataclismic event occurred on Christmas Day, 1871. In what became known as the “Christmas Crisis,” a band of Indians attacked an army outpost using Confederate rifles, and, unbelievably, a 12-pounder cannon. It was a massacre. All of the soldiers were killed,
Gordon made a speech the next day just hours after learning of the incident be telegram. In the speech he said: “Christmas Day, 1871; a day which will forever live in infamy. Yesterday, Indians from Oklahoma fell upon our base at Naponee, Nebraska and massacred our military personel living there. They were equipped with Confederate weapons, including one cannon used to batter down the fort's doors. This act of aggression must not go unpunished.

“I have consulted with Congress and they wholeheartedly agree with me. I hearby declare war on the Indian rebels and the Confederate States of America. I repeat: the United States is now at war with the Indian Confederation of Oklahoma and the Confederate States of America. The United States is under attack.

“The Grand Army of the Republic has been moblized and we are poised to punish Sitting Bull's rabble-rousers and Stuart's Confederates. Rally around the flag, boys! Rally once again!”

Crazy ... and then?