1. [Description] In 10 PA, Generals and high authority figures of the Great Lakes Coaltion banded together and ultimately made the decision to send a considerable amount of military personnel to expand the borders of the faction by travelling and establishing military posts southward of the Illinois Division capitol, Rockford, IL. The expedition lasted for 4 years, and many sub-expeditions bloomed from the expansion effort, such as the New Chicago Armory Expedition, which used most of the expedition's resources until it was cut short by massive casualties in early 12 PA. The main expedition resulted in even more hostility between the Coalition and Tennessee Expeditionary Forces.
2. [Origins] On May 3rd 10 PA, the GLC allocated ammunition and soldiers to venture southward of Rockford for the purpose of land expansion. The campaign started in August of 10 PA and recruited as many as 1,200 men. On August 16th, the campaign began, and was initially met with little resistance from raider groups north of Livingston County. However, as the expedition ventured deeper into the south, the urban terrain diminished and transformed flat plains, exposing convoys to sniper fire and raider groups. The path going into Champaign County was called by many "The Road To Hell" and a noticable amount men died or fled, leaving the Illinois Division short 340 men.
3. [Armaments] The majority of expeditionary forces of the Coalition were equipped with XM-45A1 carbine. Known for being manueverable and sufficient at suppresive fire, the XM-45A1's versatility in combat and in urban areas was key in securing many important locations, such as the Sangamon River Compound and the City of Champaign. Due to the large scale of the expedition, The Illinois Division borrowed approximately 75,000 rounds of .45 ACP from the general stockpile of the GLC. Manufacturing of the weapon was based in Minnesota, but was redirected to the New Chicago Armory after its founding.
4. [Sub-Expeditions]
a. [Indiana Expedition] As a result of the main expedition's success, a sub-expedition was planned for eastward movement aiding Indiana. However, the GLC denied this request as too many resources were being strained for expansion across the midwest.
b. [Iowa Ammunition Plant Expedition] In 9 PA, a group of civilians under the leadership of [REDACTED] discovered a small warehouse in Western New Chicago. The warehouse was in a section of the city that was clear and not demolished or obstructed by debris, and the warehouse was full of empty crates and some mechanical supplies. Under The GLC Act of 5 PA, Subsection 12.5, they were required to report this find to the GLC's Govermental Institution. As a result, the group was compensated and the site of the New Chicago Armory was born. Before a large sub-expedition for manufacturing supplies (the New Chicago Armory Expedition), the GLC allocated 300 troops from Minnesota to aid in a small venture west into Ashland Iowa consisting of 400 other troops from Illinois, for the sole purpose of obtaining ammunition reloading and manufacturing equipment. The target was the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant located near Des Moines County, Iowa. Due to the location of the plant in relation to the ashfall, the site was relatively untouched, with some raider encounters surrounding the county. The journey ended on March 23, 12 PA, with the Illinois division obtaining substantial resources to manufacture ammunition and small arms for the militia and the civilian population.
c.
Map of Illinois Counties, circa 2018
[New Chicago Armory Expedition] In 11 PA, while the GLC was assembling a manufacturing plant, the Illinois Division of the Great Lakes Coalition pooled resources on a sub-expedition with the intent of finding hardware for small arms manufacturing in said plant. Many of the resources allocated to the New Rockford Expedition were redirected to this expedition, resulting in approximately 3/4 of the ammunition reserved for the main Rockford Expedition being taken for the New Chicago Armory Expedition, and 2/3 the manpower being taken from the main expedition as well. The New Chicago Armory Expedition was planned to last 2 years, but was cut short not much longer than a year after from mass casualties and starvation. The strainage of equipment and manpower did not go to waste, however, with the expedition resulting in almost 5,000 lb of hardware material. The convoy back to New Chicago was well-defended, however, once all manufacturing material was consolidated into the warehouse, on January 12th 12 PA, a group of raiders following the convoy ambushed the unguarded armory. As a result, approximately 650 lb of material was taken by the raiders due in part to the slow response time of the Coalition, which had many soldiers pre-occupied. In response to this, the Coalition retrieved a relatively small amount of troops from the Iowa Ammunition Plant Expedition and placed them on security duty. The armory was not attacked after that. With enough security to fend off offending forces of any kind, the Illinois Division held a meeting with the GLC committee to allocate 500 non-combat personnel responsible for operating manufacturing equipment and shipping. The GLC allowed this in exchange for a small part of weapons manufacturing going to the rest of the GLC. Construction of the New Chicago Armory began on June 10th, 12 PA, and was complete about a year later. In July of 13 PA, manufacturing of the XM-45A1 Carbine, and the NCA-M22 began, along with production of ammunition in .22lr, .45 ACP and 5.56x45 varieties.
5. [Main Expedition]
a. [Battle of Champaign]
In May 17, 13 PA, slightly before manufacturing began in the New Chicago Armory, the GLC Illinois Division allocated veterans of the New Chicago Armory Expedition for an offensive in the City of Champaign. Intel reports suggested that a large group of raiders took shelter in the University of Illinois building, with a significant amount of various small gang activity scattered throughout the city. The battle was won by planting chlorine gas canisters throughout the building, forcing the raider occupation to be driven out and promptly shot. Many notebooks and letters from before and after the battle were recovered, explaining in detail the savagery of the raider population that occupied the City of Champaign. It wasn't long after the capture of the University of Illinois building that the Illinois Division spread throughout the city to combat gang activity, which was quickly wiped out.
b. [Battle of the Sangamon]
Not unlike the Battle of Champaign, the Battle of the Sangamon involved massive amounts of raider activity, but in larger scale spanning the entirety of the areas surrounding the Sangamon River. The battle was initiated midway through the Battle of Champaign, as the Illinois Division still had excess forces from the New Chicago Armory Expedition, and lasted until late 13 PA. Raider fortifications spanned across the river, located in parks and buildings, even reconnaissance squads floating through the rivers, scouring the water and landscape for intruders. The central compound was located just north of Springfield, which was finally infiltrated after months of spy activity and intel collecting.
c. [Tennessee Expeditionary Forces control of Vermillion County]
In early 14 PA, with the new New Chicago Armory in place and manufacturing, with a surplus of weapons and materials from the Battle of Champaign and Sangamon, the coalition planned in January a large offensive into Vermillion County. In March, the plan was put into action. Coalition forces moved in north from GLC-occupied Iriquois County, and personnel from the newly-captured Champaign County moved in and flanked TEF from the west. This resulted in a number of battles that lasted until October of the same year, in which Tennessee surrendered and withdrew froces from Vermillion and consolidated them into lower Illinois counties.