PAL follows suit. All factions begin to mobilize forces. The ESC announces that it wishes to keep relations open but that it is tied to Eastern American and Canada by a mutual defense pact. PAL strategists misinterpret the announcement as on of reluctance to intervene and plan an attack against PREA forces scattered thinly across the Great Plains. With the coming of the Spring, PAL and SAU armies crash across the Eastern American border, driving back the outnumbered and ill-equipped ESC and PREA divisions of the Rio Grande and Platte Fronts.
Fighting breaks out in Asia.
Spread far too thinly, the ESC is unable to hold all fronts adequately on its own and so more and more of the burden of defense in America falls on the shoulders of American and Canadian troops. By the end of the year the first wholly American army is formed in the Mississippi Valley. Units may deploy anywhere within the boundaries of Canada. Units may deploy anywhere within the Eastern United States and Canada. All units must be deployed in supply within their respective zones.