Following the battles of January 1868 there was a lull in fighting as both sides took stock of the new situation and planned their next steps. On the UNION side that situational review concluded that the Mexican army would never been sufficiently cohesive or motivated to stand alone against the Arab supported terrorists. Mexican troops and police would be able to hold pacified towns and villages but it would be up to the UNION army to defeat the terrorist threat.
With that in mind it was decided to establish two fire bases near the south western border with Iran, within easy reach of the railway line serving Acapulco. At one would be the headquarters of a Heavy Artillery battalion with one battery of guns and three companies of Infantry as security. At the other base would be the headquarters of an Infantry battalion with three companies and the other heavy artillery battery. Both bases would be able to bombard targets several miles inside Iran and each would have facilities to hold additional troops for search and destroy missions along the border region. The UNION strategy would be to attempt to seal the border with interdicting artillery fire while conducting constant search and destroy missions to prevent terrorists getting into the heartland of Mexico.
The Iranians and the other Arab states realised that they could not win a toe to toe battle against UNION army firepower without the benefit of over whelming numbers. Clearly a continuation of hit and run attacks offered the best, indeed the only way forward. It was thought that seemingly endless conflict and casualties may cause UNION public opinion to force the UNION government to give up the struggle. Arab military production capability was very limited, in fact other than bladed weapons only muzzle loading muskets could be made. Therefore they jointly undertook to seek better weapons from foreign countries to improve their striking power. Despite their collective hatred of all foreigners, they now hated the UNION even more and were determined to drive them from Mexico and seize the land they believed theirs by right.
It quickly became apparent to the Arabs that they had a poor international reputation and with one exception no nation would sell them arms. The Chinese however were prepared to sell them the best guns they had, single shot breach loading rifles along with plenty of ammunition and dynamite for bomb making. The biggest problem was transporting the weapons from China. Eventually the first of what became a regular flow of caravans found a practical route across the wilderness of north Africa from China into Iraq. Although the flow of weapons would never be large it would enable the combined Arab forces to maintain a guerrilla war in Mexico.
By the autumn of 1868 both sides had completed preparations for resuming their conflict. The apparent peaceful interlude had even made the UNION wonder if Iran had decided not to continue the battle. This idea was soon shattered when on 10th November Iranian Revolutionary Guards, with the few remaining Mexican terrorists, launched a series of small scale attacks on a number of towns and villages along the border region. These attacks were simple hit and run assaults whereby houses and other buildings were blown up and any police or even local inhabitants found were shot down with the sole idea of creating panic and terror.
As soon as the first reports of attacks were received the UNION fire bases commenced interdicting fire on the few roads leading from Iran into Mexico and on all the border villages in Iran known to the Mexicans or found by reconnaissance. Additionally UNION Infantry battalions started sweeps in the areas between the terrorist targets and the border in attempts to cut off and destroy the terrorists as they made their way back to Iran. Most of the UNION sweeps came up empty handed but two were successful and caught Iranian terrorist groups, there were no survivors of these groups. Also the constant but irregular UNION artillery fire caused many casualties among Iranian civilians and much damage to roads and buildings.
The Iranians were generally pleased with the reports they received from the groups that returned and decided that the campaign would continue along the same lines but future groups would seek to penetrate deeper into Mexico before launching their attacks. Over the winter and into the new year both sides settled into a regular routine of hit and run attacks by the Iranians with UNION search and destroy missions and constant artillery barrages into Iran with each side seeking the defeat of the other by simple attrition.
By spring 1869 military planners in the UNION had started to consider alternative strategies perhaps even including a full scale invasion of Iran when without warning the greatest ever threat to the UNION suddenly burst on the scene. Settlers from the region south west of Denver rushed into that city in panic with reports that large numbers of Chinese troops had crossed the border into the UNION.
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