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THE REIGN OF MURAD IV (1622-1639) AND THE REGENCY OF 1639

The Second Polish War 1621-1623)

On October 10th, 1621, two and a half months before the premature end of his reign, Sultan Osman II declares war on Poland, and while he has time to give the first commands in the war, most of the fighting is done under the leadership of Sultan Murad IV. Persia, an ally of Poland in an unholy alliance that is an insult to the One True God and His faithful followers, intervenes on Poland's behalf immediately.

First battles in the war are fought in Polish Krakow and Ottoman Silesia in November 1621, and Allah's faithful soldiers are victorious in both. First, a siege force under newly appointed army commander Prince Sokolli (2/3/2) attacks the defenders of Krakow, defeats them utterly, and starts siege operations. Meanwhile, a Polish army force sneaks past the border patrols and attacks Silesia. The siege is short-lived, as an Ottoman siege force on its way to Posen slaughters the numerically inferior force in late November. The siege of Posen starts in December.

Our territories bordering on Persia are under tight surveillance by Ottoman border patrols. Despite their watchful eye, rumors tell of a large Persian army group of around 40000 men moving north along the coast of the Caspian Sea, through Azerbaijan and possibly towards the gold mines in Armenia. A large field army is ordered to the latter province to keep our gold mines safe, and another army force consisting of infantry and artillery moves to the Persian province of Kirkuk, under orders to capture the province to force those Shiite snakes out of the war.

In January, 1622, our scouts report that the Persian army moving northwards has passed Armenia, and split into two roughly equal divisions. One of these is ambushed by our Crimean patrols, and defeated in Kouban. The few survivors flee into Armenia, just to be slaughtered by the defenders of that province. The other half of the army group continues towards Crimea.

On the Polish front, a large Polish army force is reportedly moving in from Warsaw towards our siege forces in Posen and Krakow. The Sultan orders reinforcements sent to both provinces, but it is clear early on that they will not make it in time to fight the next battle. Posen surrenders on February 9th, 1621, and it becomes more and more clear that the Poles are in fact content to let that province be under our control for the time being; instead, the large army our scouts spotted heads to Krakow.

The conquerors of Posen move on to the Polish capital province Mazovia and start a siege in March, while the Krakow siege force is attacked by a numerically superior Polish army: they have an estimated strength of over 35000 men, while our siege force has less than 25000; however, we have the Only True God and an artillery regiment of some 60 cannons on our side. Prince Sokolli's army takes heavy casualties, but manages to beat the attackers back; the Prince and his soldiers praise Allah as the desperately needed reinforcements arrive before the Polish army is able to take advantage of their exhaustion and depleted ranks.

With Posen captured, our forces have now easy access not only to Mazovia but also one of our primary targets, the trading town of Danzig. A small artillery regiment from Thrace picks up an infantry division from Austria, moves to Danzig and starts sieging the fortifications in the provincial capital in April. Meanwhile, another large Polish army group has again marched to Silesia, and the province is under siege. The King of Poland, Sigismund III, has taken another large army under his command, but while they march west, they are ambushed in Galicia by an Ottoman cavalry regiment. Heavy casualties keep the group back for a while, but eventually they march to Silesia as well.

The Polish provinces Danzig, Krakow, and Mazovia as well as our Silesia all hold on through the summer of 1622, but Krakow finally falls on September 2nd. Meanwhile, it has become increasingly clear that the best and fastest way to crush Polish resistance would be to annihilate their main army, the force of over 500000 men that is sieging Silesia. We combine two field armies of over 25000 men each, and thus get an army group equal in number but superior in spirit, faith, and technology. The largest and perhaps also most decisive battle of this war fought in the last days of September in Silesia, where through the grace of Allah the mighty Ottoman army proves victorious again; the Polish attackers are defeated, and they flee in terror north to Western Prussia. Only two weeks later Mazovia falls, and Danzig starts showing signs of faltering morale.

The victorious heroes of Silesia march on to hunt the Polish survivors who escaped their wrath in September, but the fleeing Polish army has received reinforcements from Pommerania. Together, these two troops manage to break the morale of Allah's faithful servants, and drive them back to Silesia. There they meet their reinforcements and also receive a new leader to replace the old one whose faith was not enough to guide our ferocious soldiers.

In early December, both Polish Danzig and Persian Kirkuk fall, but our peace treaties are not accepted; Poland refuses to give us Posen, Krakow, and Danzig, and the Persians refuse to release control of Kirkuk. The reason for the Persian refusal is unclear, but the Poles are clearly gathering strength for another offensive on Silesia. However, the attacking infidels are beaten back and take heavy casualties. On January 9th, a Polish peace envoy sens us a peace proposal which is identical to ours, and we accept; our people are gradually growing weary of this war, and while the Sultan wants to teach a lesson to those Persian dogs as well, now is the time for peace. Those Shiite heretics will still be there in the years to come, but only until we show them the might and wrath of the true servants of Allah.

While we still regard the Polish as our enemies, the war has taught us a new respect toward them. For Christians, they fought honorably and bravely; of course, they cannot show such dedication and valor as soldiers of the One True God, but they fought without fear, unlike those cowardly soldiers that served the Habsburgian worms that led the Austrian Empire.

As peace comes, the rebuilding our our army starts immediately, and our diplomats in Poland tell us that the Polish king is also busy recruiting new soldiers. Our rebuilding is blessed and helped by the One True God, but this time He chooses to use surprising tools: our new neighbors in Central Europe have noticed the superior quality and craftmanship of Ottoman goods, and the increased demand keeps our workers busy and fills our coffers with ducats. As we use that money to upgrade the infrastructure of our newly-acquired territories, we cannot help but wonder how those infidel Christians can work in Allah's plans and yet be unaware of His guiding hand; how can they be so sensible in trade, yet so foolish in faith?

As making money off the infidels is thus an enterprise sanctioned by the One True God, the Sultan decides to build a distillery on the new provincial town in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a province where sugar cane grows amply. We also build trading posts throughout the Horn of Africa, thus marking Eastern Africa officially as Ottoman territory. The East-African colony in Issas reaches town status in 1623.

With both of our colonies in Sri Lanka flourishing, the Sultan sets his eyes on mainland India. An expedition in 1626 finds a large but relatively peaceful native settlement in Mandurai, just east of the southern tip of the peninsula. We send in settlers to form a colony and convert the pagans to the One True Faith, an undertaking which is not easy but most certainly blessed by the One True God.

In the same year, the wise men of the Empire finally succeed in replicating the light but deadly muskets that some unbelievers have used in Europe for several years. The upgrading of our infantry troops starts immediately and soon the Imperial army has a whole new look. The upgrading of forts in our border provinces also commences at roughly the same time, when our engineers devise a new way of building thicker, stronger walls. Naval research takes sudden leaps forward as well; the years of the late 1620s mark the beginning of the golden era of Ottoman research. This is certainly a blessing from Allah, a reward for our unfaltering devotion and unquestioning faith.

In1635 natives in the Madurai area finally convert to the True Faith and accept the Sultan as their authority on Earthly matters. Explorers sent north along the coast in India to Pondicherry, where they meet a Danish conquistador. They are also approached by representatives of a heretofore unknown nation, Mysore, whose leaders are our brothers in Faith. We agree to a royal marriage and an alliance, which benefits both nations; infidel Europeans, who reportedly have trading posts and colonies in the area, should be less likely to attack Mysore, since they know that the faithful Sultan would unleash the mighty Ottoman war machine on them in Europe. At the same time, should we find ourselves in a war in Europe, we trust the Mysore army to protect our meager troops in India.

We also exchange maps with our brothers from Mysore, and find another Sunni ally in the area, Hyderabad; the Moghul Empire, however, does not warm to our advances. The mighty Ottoman Empire now has two faithful allies, while our old enemies in Poland have none.

The Third Polish War (1636-1639)

The Sultan declares war on Poland on August 18th, 1636, in order to further honor the name of the One True God by establishing a firmer foothold on the Baltic Sea. First battles are fought on our home ground, as Poles attack Silesia and Posen, but are beaten back. At the end of the year 1636, Western Prussia is under siege, but scouts report large Polish army forces moving in towards Posen and Krakow from the east. These forces combine, sneak past our border patrols and start a siege in Silesia in the winter of 1637, as we siege Mazovia. The defenders of Posen are ordered to Silesia to liberate the province; they ride in and almost slaughter the entire army of over 40000 men; a few thousand manage to escape to their death in Western Prussia.

With Polish resistance temporarily crushed, a newly recruited siege force marches to Eastern Pommerania in October 1637. On November 13th the same year, Mazovia surrenders, and Western Prussia follows only four days later. The conquerors of Western Prussia are ordered to wait for reinforcements and then head to Western Pommerania, while the force in Mazovia is ordered to stay put, as we expect the Polish army to launch some attacks on their capital province. This they do several times in the winter and spring of 1638, only to be beaten back each time. We cannot help but notice that the strength of these attacking forces diminishes as time goes by; the spirit of those infidels is clearly about to be broken.

In June 1638, we hear surprising news from Douala, our West-African colony: a small Polish force had landed in the province and tried desperately to assault the defenders. Our colonial troops prevailed, as do the faithful soldiers stationed in Fernando Po in August, when Poland tries to attack that colony.

In early August, Eastern Pommerania finally falls to our troops, and the siege force that defeated the defenders in Western Pommerania in early summer also reports that the local fortress is starting to weaken. Meanwhile, a small Polish army group successfully sneaks to Silesia, where it is slaughtered by our border patrols.

While our conquest is going well, the home front does not react well to a continued war. Tabuk rebels in January, 1639, and the rebels manage to kill a small local army group before being subdued by the cavalry ordered in from the Persian border. We see this incident as what it really is, a sign from Allah that our hostilities with Poland must come to an end. When Western Pommerania surrenders on February 9th, 1639, Poland sends an envoy offering Western Pommerania and Western Prussia for peace. We refuse, but as the Sultan wants to end the war now, we send a generous counter-offer demanding both Western and Eastern Pommerania, which they accept on March 2nd, 1639. The religious advisers of the Sultan note that Western Pommeranians might be willing to adopt the One True Faith, if proper missionary guidance were to be provided; missionaries are sent, and before the end of the year, the majority of Western Pommeranians renounce that lecherous infidel of Rome, the Pope, and become devout servants of Allah.

On the morning of October 14th, 1639, Sultan Murad IV is found dead in his bed. The unexpected death of our ruler has the entire Empire in mourning, even though at the same time we rejoice in our certain knowledge that he will join his predecessors in the eternal joy of Paradise under the watchful eye of the One True God. Preparations for the crowning of the next in line for the throne, Prince Ibrahim, start immediately, but a regency is established for the next few months.

During the regency our nation mourns in peace. However, infidels fight among each other, as is their custom; on November 3rd, 1639, the Russo-Danish alliance decides to take advantage of the depleted ranks of the Polish army and declares war.

THE REIGN OF SULTAN IBRAHIM I (1640-1647)

As the One True God had sent us a warning in the last stages of the Third Polish War, Sultan Ibrahim I refrains from military action during the early years of his reign. Instead of warfare, funds are directed to building a mighty trading empire with high manufactoring capabilities, as both trade and handicraft are most certainly activities blessed by Allah. Colonization is not forgotten, either, as the colony in Pondicherry reaches city status in the summer of 1641, when the local natives decide to join the Empire. The Indian provinces of Madras and Goa are soon colonized as well.

The war between the Russo-Danish that started during the months of the regency before Ibrahim I's reign, lasts until June 1641, and the peace treaty pushes the south-western borders of Russia significantly westward. This does not bother the Sultan, but he is concerned about the troop movements near our Persian border. His wise and faithful advisors have only one recommendation, in fact the same one they have had for years: the most faithful servant of the One True God must send his mighty armies to strike a deadly blow to those dogs, those Shiite heretics who defile the name of Allah and twist the Holy Words of His Prophets in their preachings. This time, the Sultan agrees to put an end to their blasphemous existence.

The Third Persian War (1647-1648)

The most faithful Sultan declares war on the Shiite snakes of Persia on March 13th, 1647, and our troops charge through the deserts like a storm to the Persian provinces of Kirkuk, Hamad, and Bain Al Hajar. Only the defenders of Hamad offer some resistance, but even they are forced to flee when confronted by the righteous fury of the soldiers of Allah; all three provinces are under siege by the end of June. The Persians try attacking Iraq, but the local garrison handles heretics with ease; where, oh where is that famous Shiite bloodlust now?

During the summer, Iraq is repeatedly attacked by small Persian forces, all of which are either slain or beaten back. A larger Persian army force manages to defile our territory and enter Syria, where they are slaughtered in August by a back-up force after a short siege. Our colony in Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf, is also attacked, but our local garrison is victorious.

The sieges of Kirkuk, Hamad, and Bain Al Hajar are still going on in the autumn of 1647, when our Imperial army hears of the sad news of Sultan Ibrahim I's premature death. The soldiers and their leaders vow to honor his name by continuing the war against heretics with the kind of valor and dedication the late Sultan expected from them. The new Sultan, Mehmed IV, praises the morale of his troops and takes the throne on New Year's Day, 1648, promising to carry the holy mission of Ibrahim I to the end.
 
A quick look at what has been happening elsewhere in Europe during this first half of the game:

The most significant alliances in Europe in 1648 are the Franco-Scottish alliance, the English alliance with Sweden and the Netherlands as the most significant members, and the Russo-Danish alliance. Spain, Poland, and Portugal are unallied; some fo the small states in the HRE and in Italy are also allied, but do not hold significant power.

The clearest winner in the European stage so far is the Russo-Danish Alliance. Together, they have carved up Sweden, which only has four territories left; two in Sweden proper (the capital province and the one directly north of it), Finland, and Eastern Prussia. The rest of modern Swedish territory is Danish, and everything east of the Gulf of Bothnia is Russian. Russia has also taken half of what used to be the Teutonic Order

France has also managed push its border eastwards by annexing Lothringen and Savoy, but has made no significant progress elsewhere (except conquering Calais, which is more or less given). It has fought a series of wars against Spain, and in those the two countries have pushed their borders back and forth without either one emerging as a clear winner. The Netherlands is surprisingly strong, as they managed to time their independence war perfectly, to a time when Spain was already fighting France.

The loser of the bunch for now is clearly Sweden. Poland has conquered half of the Teutonic Order and Kurland, and almost managed to hold its own against Russia; the loss of those prosperous western provinces will hurt them in the long run, and as the Russians are growing stronger, the future of Poland looks bleak.

Of the small states of the Holy Roman Empire, Hessen and Saxony have emerged as medium-sized powers. Italy is still almost as much a patchwork as it was in the beginning, although the Papal States have at some point managed to take Mantua from Venice.

There is not much I can tell you about other parts of the world; the Ottoman Empire knows very little of the Americas: Spain and France have colonies in the Caribbean, and France and England have a couple of settlements in the north. India is being divided up by three nations: France, the Netherlands, and the Ottoman Empire. The Empire has not had an explorer for ages, so we have no idea what lies east of our easternmost colony (Madras).

Africa is mostly Portuguese, except for the Horn of Africa, which is entirely Ottoman. France, Sweden, and Denmark also have a presence there, but only in the form of trading posts.

I still don't have web space where I could put screenshots, so if you want those, you'll probably have to wait until the year 1792. I'll try to arrange something before that, so I can show what the Empire looks like in the end.

In case you're interested in victory points, the Ottoman Empire is second. Spain is in the lead at this point, although only by 100 points or so. Of course, I have, in a way, cheated: I've taken royal missions, mostly ‘holding' missions which tend to give you an easy 20 points every 5 years.
 
Nice! Colonial wars between Poland and Ottoman empire. Even because of that the game looks so promising. How did they dare to attack one of your colonies? And from where did they get the maps? You must have a traitor in your army/navy.
Russia looks to be growing too powerful... you should attack it and tame it a bit (once you get the casus belli of course, no dishonourous stab in the back).
Oh, and the traditional nice AAR, keep them coming a well :)
 
Originally posted by hjarg:
Nice! Colonial wars between Poland and Ottoman empire. Even because of that the game looks so promising. How did they dare to attack one of your colonies? And from where did they get the maps? You must have a traitor in your army/navy.

Thanks. Hmm... traitors in the Imperial court? I never thought of that. Good thing you pointed it out -- now heads will roll.
 
It pleeses me to see you finally bringing the Persian heretics low. I was wondering when they would take the oportunity to strike you. I think when I get the game they will be my first target and I will chastise them early, events permitting.

As always, great AAR. You have convinced me to make the Turks my first GC country to lead.
 
Kekkonen you're the man. This AAR is incredible, im pratically salivating waiting for the release date in the US 43 days, 2 hours 40 minutes and 32 seconds by my unofficial estimates. :)
 
Kekonnen,
I have always wondered what you did the first few years before your first war with the Persians. Four years of game time passed before your first military move so I am curious. As someone who doesnt have the game yet it seems that the Ottomans should really come out of the gate fast and furious early while they still have the army size and tech advantage and before their many enemies can make alliances. Just wondering since for the next six weeks thats all I can do.
 
Originally posted by Arinvald:
Kekonnen,
I have always wondered what you did the first few years before your first war with the Persians. Four years of game time passed before your first military move so I am curious.

I think I was basically just trying to get the feel of things, trying to figure out which ones of my starting provinces were the most valuable ones, and looking around for good early targets for expansion. I hadn't played in that general area before, so much of it was unknown to me. I had left the game running for some reason (probably because I recruited more army, hired bailiffs, upgraded fortresses in key provinces etc.). I guess the 4 year waiting period was more or less something left over from my previous games, I had never tried a country with a strong starting army before.

As someone who doesnt have the game yet it seems that the Ottomans should really come out of the gate fast and furious early while they still have the army size and tech advantage and before their many enemies can make alliances. Just wondering since for the next six weeks thats all I can do.

Yeah, that is true. The Ottoman army starts out strong, but the Empire is also fairly large, which makes it tough to defend. As the Ottomans, one thing you always have to be on guard against is seaborne invasion, especially since the starting navy is not that great. Sure, they have tons of galleys for troop transport, but e.g. the Venetians could probably blow the entire fleet to smithereens -- heck, Sultan Selim I couldn't even take Rhodes. But basically you're right; with a lot of other nations, it pays to be patient early on and build up your strength before getting aggressive, but the Ottomans can go on the warpath very early -- on January 1492, if you want.

[This message has been edited by Kekkonen (edited 17-01-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Kekkonen (edited 17-01-2001).]