Ayutthaya - The March of the Elephant

Chapter 10d - Maha Chakkrap'at (fl1566-1568), Mahin (1569) & Maha Thammaraja I

The Third Chinese War

The war with China developed swiftly. Maha Chakkrap'at called on his allies of Cambodia and Arakan, while the Chinese Emperor was supported by his lapdog of Brunei. But the main contest would be between the Elephant and the Dragon (1). Despite the superior equipment of the Chinese, Ayutthaya's northern armies did well in the first encounters. Lao Cai province was invaded and besieged, and Ayutthayan troops bested Chinese recruits in Yunnan and Sichuan Pendi.

But Ayutthaya had no answer to the sheer mass of the Chinese armies. In February 1566, 25,000 Chinese soldiers laid siege to Luangphrabang in Mekong province, by April Assam was under siege as well. And still the Imperial legions grew. In March, the Emperor had 80,000 men in the field, by the end of April the number had grown to more than 110,000. Vastly outnumbered, the beleagured Ayutthayan armies could only fall back before the tide and try to cut off stragglers where they could.

Ayutthaya's only remaining hope lay with her diplomats. From the first day of the war, the messengers went north, offering ever-greater bribes to the Emperor and his mandarins. Twice they were refused, but in May 1566, on the edge of defeat, the offer of a massive indemnity - equal to almost half the annual revenue of the Kingdom (2) - persuaded the Emperor to stay his hand. The Imperial armies returned home, Ayutthaya was left to her other wars, and to the hope that one day there would be a reckoning.

India and Indonesia

Those other wars had not been inactive. In India, the Orissans quickly destroyed Ayutthaya's trading posts - Palakimedi in February 1566, Pondicherry in April and Madurai in September. Meanwhile, the Ayutthayan expeditionary army, victorious in Makassar, landed on Bali to capture the island from the Hindu rebels who had driven out the Atjans (3). From early 1566 until the end of the war, the Expeditionary Army would spend more time fighting against local warlords, rebels and tribesmen than against Ayutthaya's organised enemies.

In the west, Atjan warships and Ayutthayan galleys clashed repeatedly for control of the vital sealanes between Ayutthaya and Sumatra. On the whole, the Ayutthayans came off better, but they could not prevent yet another landing in Malacca that summer. The raiders were defeated, but not before they had done significant damage.

The Home Front

The war was becoming unpopular at home. In October 1566, a delegation of peasants and artisans from Kwai province trekked all the way to the capital to petition Maha Chakkrap'at for relief from war taxes and arbitrary conscription (4). The King's response was to have the delegation arrested and dispatched to the army in Bali. Few ever returned. When news of this reached Kwai, peasants and townsmen erupted in fury, fury that quickly coalesced into armed rebellion. Before the King could respond, there came an unexpected intervention.

Late in October, apparently unaware of the situation in the province, six thousand Atjan troops landed in Kwai (5). They were not met with welcome. The rebellious peasants were Ayutthayans still, and they swiftly turned their improvised weapons on the invaders. By mid-November, the Atjans had been driven out of Kwai, and turned instead on an easier target - the capital itself. Maha Chakkrap'at found himself besieged, though not for long. Before the end of the year, the Ayutthayan army had arrived to defeat the invaders, before sweeping on to Kwai province to put down the remnants of the revolt there.

The War Goes On

Early in 1567, Bali was finally secured. The expeditionary army re-embarked - to return to the Celebes, where a small group of fearless pioneers had finally managed to place a settlement in the wilds of Manado (6). Spurred on by their example, the expeditionary army had the province pacified by April.

Two months later, yet another Atjan army landed in Kwai. This time finding no peasants to oppose them, the invaders marched unhindered towards Bangkok. In the capital, Maha Chakkrap'at refused to order the city put in a state of defence, concentrating instead on the celebrations accompanying his daughter's marriage to a prince of Delhi. It was perhaps fortunate that the Ayutthayan army reached Bangkok province before the Atjans. Maha Chakkrap'at marked the victory by accusing the Cambodians of cowardice for not marching to the defence of Ayutthaya, once again forgetting that they had not been invited (7). A diplomatic marriage was hastily arranged between the two nations, but the alliance was now distinctly shaky.

By midsummer, the Expeditionary army had embarked from the Celebes, leaving a standing garrison in Makassar to control the province. It was hoped that the long-delayed invasion of Atjeh could finally be conducted before winter, but events decided otherwise. Revolts convulsed Bali and Makassar in July and August, and while the Makassar garrison proved capable of handling the local uprising, the Expeditionary Army had to break its voyage to re-pacify Bali. No sooner was that accomplished than the Hindus of Surabaja rose. With this further delay, the Expeditionary Army did not reach Sumatra for several months, finally landing in Palembang in March 1568.

The First Sumatra Campaign

The Expeditionary Army finally marched north from Palembang in April 1568, recovering Jambi and laying siege to Riau. Meanwhile, the Fleet sailed north, defeating a weak Atjan flotilla en route, to embark the Ayutthayan Home Army from Malacca. In June, the Home Army was successfully landed in Sumatra and joined the Expeditionary Army before the walls of Riau.

Riau was well-fortified, and the surrounding area too poorly developed to support such a large force. Disease quickly broke out among the combined armies, rapidly reducing their strength (8). Rather than withdraw, it was decided instead to march north in strength and challenge the main Atjan forces in Ajeh proper. In July 1568, the combined Ayutthayan armies emerged from the jungle to do battle under the walls of the Sultan's capital.

It was a disaster. Hunger and disease had reduced the Ayutthayan force from almost 30,000 cavalry to barely 22,000 before swords were even crossed. To face them, the Sultan had conscripted a host of more than 40,000 (9) - mostly peasants, but on their home ground and well supplied. Disorganised and half-starved, their horses too weak to raise a trot, the Ayutthayans were overwhelmed. Barely half escaped, and many more were to fall victim to the jungle before they could reach safety (10). It is a credit to their training and dedication that they rallied to twice defeat Atjan detachments that attempted to intercept them, but when the retreat finally ended, fewer than 12,000 men mustered in Palembang.

Sumatra Campaign ongoing at the death of Maha Chakkrap'at. I've had plans work better...


Mahin

The end of the First Sumatra Campaign also saw the end of Maha Chakkrap'at. Broken-hearted at the failure of his beloved army - or simply worn out with drink and dissipation - he died at the end of 1568, and was succeeded by his son, Mahin.

Little is said about Mahin's qualities as a ruler, because there is little good to say (11). He had but a brief time on the Elephant Throne, and he followed the example of his father at his worst.

The most significant act of his reign was his decision to promote an obscure adventurer from the provinces, one Moktar (12), to the command of the battered Expeditionary Army over the heads of several more experienced generals. This rash decision proved surprisingly successful. Although Moktar was but poorly educated - and, it turned out, an indifferent battlefield commander - he had a natural aptitude for the details of logistics and supply. These qualities stood Ayutthaya in good stead in the campaigns to come.

The Second Sumatra Campaign

By August 1569, Moktar was ready to move. Reinforced to over 30,000 men the combined Ayutthayan armies struck north from Palembang and fell upon the Atjan advance guard, which had occupied Jambi. Few Atjans escaped, and Moktar drove on to Riau, where the Ayutthayans again faced the main Atjan army. The destruction of their advance guard deprived the Atjans of the advantage of numbers, and this time it was the Sultan's forces that could not stand. Dispatching ten thousand cavalry to pursue the broken army, Moktar settled down to prosecute the siege of Riau.

The pursuit was a success; in November the fleeing Atjans were brought to battle in Ajeh, defeated and scattered (13). Attempted sorties by the Riau garrison faired no better, and before the end of the year both the Sultan's citadels were under siege.

King Mahin did not live to hear of the victory - he died unexpectedly at the end of October and was succeeded by his younger brother, who took the throne as Maha Thammaraja I

Maha Thammaraja I

It is a measure of the strain the war had put on Ayutthaya - and the decline of the Court under Maha Chakkrap'at - that his sons were able to inherit without opposition. With the civil administration virtually abandoned to the provincial governors, and those nobles gifted with vigour and ambition mostly dead in battle or abroad with the armies, the Court had become an enclave of ineffectual functionaries. On Mahin's death, there was no-one in a position to contest the succession, and so the Elephant Throne fell to Thamaraja, a man inadequate even by the paltry standards of his dynasty (14). One commentator charitably noted that the new King had never been the same since his nurse dropped him on his head when he was a baby. That unfortunate woman earned the ire of a generation of Ayutthayans, for not having dropped him hard enough.

The new King could offer no great change in policy, indeed the start of his reign was marked only by a worsening of the general situation. Orissa and Vijaynagar had finally agreed to end their fruitless war in October 1569 (just before Mahin's death) and Ayutthayan traders had once again set sail for the West. Their enforced absence had made them no more popular - within days of their arrival, they were attacked by the Indians, this time under the banner of the Sultanate of Delhi (15). The new Ayutthayan trade posts on the mainland were swiftly overrun, only the establishment in Colombo, on the island of Sri Lanka surviving.

Meanwhile, Bali was once again in revolt and the sieges of Ajeh and Riau were making no progress. Maha Thammaraja's response was to call for a general reorganisation of the army (16), an ill-thought-out measure which provoked opposition throughout the land, and which touched off another uprising in Ayutthaya proper, this time in Sarakham province.

The End of the War

Fortunately, Ayutthaya was not the only nation suffering from the war. In February 1570, the Sultan of Ajeh abruptly gave up the struggle, offering up Bali and much of Sumatra for peace (17). This offer was conveyed to Moktar in Riau, and he accepted without troubling to contact the King. Shortly thereafter, liberal bribes and a craven promise to claim no more land in India induced the Sultan of Delhi to cease hostilities (18).

This was the end of the war, but not the end of the fighting. While the domestic army put down the revolt in Sarakham, Moktar and his much-travelled Expeditionary Army once again sailed East, successively defeating local insurrections in Surabaja (which had risen the year before, during Mahin's brief reign), Bali, and Makassar, where persistant opposition had finally overcome the local field forces. By the end of 1570, no hostile forces remained within the borders of Ayutthaya. The Elephant Kingdom could now hope for a period of peace.

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Notes
(1) Brunei did invade Cambodia - with 4,000 men against 30,000. Snicker.
(2) I had a (temporary) positive warscore, but the Chinese (curse them) successively refused 250 ducats and 375 ducats before finally settling for 450. The peaces are getting more expensive.
(3) It would, of course, have been much smarter just to let Mataram revolt back into existence, but I'd forgotten it could. I was obsessed with the risk of a government collapse in Atjeh if I went after Sumatra while Bali was rebel-controlled.
(4) What a wonderful time for a Petition for Redress.
(5) I was building more galleys and patrolling the sea-zones of the coast of Malaya - which ended up pushing the Atjan landings further and further north.
(6) I switched to trying for a colony rather than a TP because colonies take longer to fail and so don't run out my stock of colonists so quickly. Sometimes they even succeed...
(7) Scandal At Court (again), -50 relations with Cambodia (again). Relations were now so bad that they would accapt a royal marriage.
(8) This was the first campaign where attrition really bit me. Trying to build up strength in Riau (support 6 and a small fort) was just painful.
(9) And I'd love to know where he got the money from. Atjeh started the war with 30,000 troops and I'd killed more than 40,000 already, I was not expecting them to have so much left.
(10) OK, not my finest hour as a general. I'd hoped that with cavalry against mostly infantry, I could at least cut them down a bit. But no such luck, and the attrition was brutal.
(11) Adm Very Poor, Mil Very Poor, Dip Poor. OK, I know Paradox adjusts the monarch stats to reflect the efficiency of the general government system, but did Ayutthaya have a Royal Farm for Morons or something?
(12) Colonial Dynamism event, November 1568. +3 Colonists and a Conquistador.
(13) To be strictly accurate, they stood around the province under a white flag, destroying my army through attrition. %^&*$#!! bugs!
(14) Adm Very Poor, Mil Very Poor, Dip Very Poor. <censored>. I was so tempted to edit the monarchs file...
(15) Literally the day after I set up the first TP, Delhi breaks a royal marriage to declare war on me. I was beginning to get seriously worried about endless-war-syndrome.
(16) +1 Quality (now Quality 4).
(17) I had been planning to force-vassalise Atjeh, but even with the conquistador, my sieges in Ajeh and Riau were attriting faster than I could reinforce them, plus I couldn't keep a blockade on Ajeh. I needed peace, the AI offered Riau & Bali, I grabbed them.
(18) Paid Delhi 50 ducats for peace.

Radagast - Thanks for the confidence, unfortunately India is a little too far away for decent power projection. Maybe once I've got Indonesia nailed down...
jwolf - Actually, it had only been 2-and-a-bit years of war when China came to the party (it had been 6 years when Delhi DOWed me), but your analysis still holds. There was just no way I could start to fight them with most of my army tied down in Malacca and Bali.
And I've still managed to avoid getting Portugal as a neighbour, though Manado got a bit close. There aren't too many places left for them to go
Director - I think the cost-analysis of diplomacy versus losing a major war is fairly obvious. Sadly, all my rebellions were in places like Makassar and Surabaja where the Chinese weren't likely to go.

I will be away for the weekend, so no more updates until next week. Ciao.

Chapter 11a - Maha Thammaraja (fl1571-fl1576)

The Freedom of the Seas?

Following the long-awaited end of the Six Years' War, all Ayutthaya desired to return to the path of peaceful trade and colonial expansion. Early in 1571, the King decided to make his contribution by dispatching his own Royal Expedition to the East. In contrast to the Expeditions of his predecessors, Maha Thammaraja chose to grant his favourite commander only one regiment and a single squadron of ships with which to 'find glory in unknown lands' (1).

Closer to home, the Ayutthayan Navy, much expanded over the course of the war, was reorganised and redeployed. The anti-piracy patrols were now divided into nine squadrons covering the approaches to most of the Kingdom's major ports, and the opportunity was taken to improve the ships' rigging and equipment (2).

These events passed off without any notable mishaps, and in June, Moktar became the first Ayutthayan to set foot on the unexplored island of Mindanao. Lacking resources, he could achieve little more and was swiftly driven back to his ships by hostile and savage natives. Nevertheless, when the news reached the Court, the King was prompted to declare that Ayutthaya stood on the brink of a new Golden Age.

Within days, China and Brunei had again declared war.

The Fourth Chinese War

From the Elephant Throne, Maha Thammaraja grandly called his allies and his armies to battle. His allies were unimpressed, however, neither the King of Cambodia nor the Sultan of Arakan wanting any part in the conflict. In a desperate attempt to restore relations, one of Maha Thammaraja's daughters was hastily dispatched to the Sultan's harem, but the Arakanese remained determinedly neutral.

Maha Thammaraja's armies served him better, advancing into Sichuan Pendi and Lao Cai provinces and doing battle with local Chinese forces. Following a victory in Lao Cai, the governors of the northern provinces took it upon themselves to offer a hefty bribe to the Chinese General of the South (3). This had the desired effect, and the Fourth Chinese War ended less than a month after it began. The only permanent loss to Ayutthaya was the trading post in Sarawak, which had been levelled by raiders from Brunei (4).

Interlude

By contrast, the next year and a half was a quiet time. Following the end of the war, the alliance with Cambodia and Arakan was patched up. Moktar sailed north from Luzon and in July 1572 became the first Ayutthayan to set foot on the fabled island of Taiwan, from which he was rapidly expelled by savage and hostile natives. Late in the year, attempts were made by the Merchant Guilds to exploit the general's discoveries, but their traders were frustrated by the savagery of the inhabitants.

Abroad, the Nipponese burned Enryukuji (whoever or whatever he was) in October 1571, and the Portuguese fought another war - with the strangely-named nation of Zimbabwe - in 1572.

The Indonesian Rebellions

Early in 1573, there was an abortive revolt in Makassar, swiftly put down by the Army of the East. No-one in Court regarded this as any sort of threat, and so life continued as before. A delegation from the Merchant Guilds prevailed upon Maha Thammaraja to grant them export licenses in March; Moktar sighted, landed on, and was driven out of the land of Sorong around the same time. In June, news came from Jaffna that the King(?) of England had declared himself Defender of the Protestant Faith. Opinion among Ayutthayan scholars remained divided on what Protestant Faith was, by they were certain that neither the Elephant Kingdom nor its neighbours possessed any.

Also in June, a revolt broke out on Bali. The Army of the East duly embarked from Makassar to put down the uprising - and no sooner had they left than the Makassans again rose in arms. Despite this, the Court remained serene - until the next month, when disastrous news came from Bali. The rebel warlords were skilled soldiers, many blooded in the service of the Raja of Mataram, and the Army of the East had beeen ambushed in a steep-sided valley and wiped out to a man (5). Before any coherent policy could emerge, yet a third uprising took place, this time in the former Atjan territories of Sumatra.

The English War

Matters grew worse at the start of 1574. The Sumatran rebellion grew in strength, and the English, having just conquered Manhattan and Delaware (wherever they might be) from the mysterious Lenape, launched an unproked war upon the Kingdom. Maha Thammaraja responded to the challenge in characteristic style - with high words and no action.

Meanwhile a new Expeditionary Army, equipped with the finest weapons the Sarakham foundries could produce, was sent against the revolting Makassans (6). The new weapons, however, did not prevent another defeat at rebel hands, though the bulk of the army was saved. Shortly afterwards, news reached the capital of a massacre of Ayutthayan traders on the island of Palawan. Moktar, meanwhile, had sailed to the far South. In April, he landed in Manunda, where the inhabitants demonstrated their isolation from the cultural mainstream by failing to attack him on sight.

Around this time, as news of failures abroad spread through Ayutthaya, a delegation of monks from the major temples visited Court. They blamed the sequence of disasters on 'an imbalance in Heaven reflected on Earth' and called upon Maha Thammaraja to 'repent his aimless and dissolute ways and return to the Rightful Path'. The King could not be returned to the Rightful Path long enough even to give them a coherent answer and they departed coldly. 'The only true fool is the one who will not hear wisdom,' one is said to have said. (7)

Victory and (mostly) Defeat

In July 1574, the Expeditionary Army finally managed to suppress the uprising in Makassar. This good news was more than cancelled out next month, when the garrison in Riau surrendered to the Sumatran rebels. Summoned back west, the Expeditionary Army landed in Palembang early in 1575, and shortly afterwards advanced into Jambi, where it met the rebels and was defeated by them. Jambi was pillaged, and the army withdrew to the security of Palembang.

During this time, Maha Thammaraja appears to have lost all contact with reality. While his soldiers battled to hold his empire together, he took his ease in the palace, indifferent to the military situation, concentrating instead on elaborate and expensive Court ceremonies. These entertainments at least helped to convince the ambassadors of neighbouring powers of Ayutthaya's lack of hostile intent, so perhaps the money and effort expended was not wholly wasted (8).

It did not, however, provide even moral support for the war effort. Late in the year the Expeditionary Army was routed by a rebel band in Palembang, and English forces from Jaffna burned Colombo, the Kingdom's last outpost in India.

The Old, Old Story

Matters improved slightly in the spring, when a reinforced Expeditionary Army managed to clear the bandits from Palembang and Jambi and laid siege to rebel-held Riau. Attention at Court, however, was focussed on the actions of the loudmouthed ruler of Pegu, who had revived his ancestor's ancient claim to Shan and Mandalay. Claiming that the King of Ayutthaya lacked 'the strength to protect them, or to enforce his will, or indeed a will to enforce,' he invited the governors of the Burmese provinces to turn traitor to the Kingdom and join his petty realm. There was a method to the Loudmouth's apparent madness, though - he was in possession of guarantees from both China and Orissa. Knowing this, Ayutthaya's diplomats managed to persuade Maha Thammaraja that a dignified silence was the best response.

Matters became much simpler (in a way) in October 1576, when the Dragon Emperor again declared war... (10)

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Notes
(1) Moktar finally got the chance to be a conquistador.
(2) Reform of the Navy, February 1571 (+250 Naval Tech).
(3) At +1 warscore, I offered 125 ducats for peace, which was accepted. China had about 60,000 troops visible, and I was losing the battle in Sichuan Pendi.
(4) I chose not to resettle Sarawak - the province is core for Brunei, and I didn't want to give the Chinese alliance any free CBs.
(5) I landed the army by sailing the fleet straight into the harbour - and forgot to put to sea again. My army was duly routed with no retreat available. Rats.
(6) Land 4 reached in March 1574 (not that it helped).
(7) Unhappiness among the Clergy, April 1574. I was happy to take -1 Stability to get +1 Innovativeness.
(8) Great Reputation, April 1575. Sometimes I think the Random Events generator has a sense of humour.
(9) 12,000 troops were attacked and defeated by 4,000 rebels. I was not impressed.
(10) Stop me if you've heard this one before...

jwolf - Thanks for the sympathy. I too am looking forward to better times.
Machiavellian - You'd think so, but unfortunately, the 'neighbour bonus' applies only to countries in your own techgroup (Chinese for me). So all I'd gain from a border with Portugal would be more wars with high-tech opponents.

Chapter 11b - Maha Thammaraja (fl1576-fl1580)

The Fifth Chinese War (and others)

Maha Thammaraja barely acknowledged China's aggression, so obsessed had he become with avenging the insults from Pegu. On being told that the Imperial Legions were marching against Ayutthaya, his response was to smile and declare 'Now we are free to strike him down'. His advisors were not greatly reassured to learn at length that the King was referring to the upjumped ruler of Pegu rather than the Dragon Emperor.
Nevertheless, Maha Thammaraja was eventually persuaded that the Chinese war deserved some sort of response. Once again, the Elephant King grandly called his allies to battle, and once again they ignored him. Unabashed, he declared war on Pegu anyway (1).

More practical than their monarch, the generals of Ayutthaya's northern armies led their men against the Chinese threat, striking into enemy territory in Yunnan and Sichuan Pendi. In Sichuan Pendi, the Chinese frontier forces were quickly overcome, but the Imperial reinforcements which came to their aid were another matter. They brought not just handguns but also mighty cannons, the first time Ayutthayan soldiers had faced such weapons on the battlefield. The valiant Ayutthayan cavalry wrought havoc on the Emperor's troops, but the fire of their cannon was too much to withstand and the army was driven back from Chinese territory (2).

The Cambodian Betrayal

Less than a month after the start of the war, the Court of Ayutthaya received news more shocking than any lost battle. The Kingdom of Cambodia, friends and allies for more than a century, had turned traitor and declared war on the Elephant Throne in support of the low-born braggart of Pegu! (3) In addition to the fire-throwing Imperial Legions massing against the northern frontier, Ayutthaya was now threatened from the east, where the Cambodian army numbered in the tens of thousands, the west, where the braggart had assemble a significant force, and the south, where the pirates of Brunei continued in their role as China's jackals. Faced with this combination of threats, Maha Thammaraja took refuge in mental collapse (4).

The nation's diplomats needed no second chance to start sending bribes and peace offers to the Chinese. The Emperor's generals, however, ignored the blandishments and ordered the Legions forward. More than twenty thousand Chinese advanced into the Mekong hills, forcing the defending army to withdraw.

The Rising Tide

Ayutthayan forces managed several minor victories in the winter of 1576. At sea, the navy scattered the gimcrack flotillas of Pegu, and a cavalry raid into Sichuan Pendi destroyed the dreaded Chinese cannons. More good news came in the January 1577, when the rebel garrison controlling Riau was finally starved into surrender, freeing up another army for the main conflict.

Good news was in sore need, though, early in 1577. The navy of Brunei, evading Ayutthayan patrols, landed a considerable force in the Malayan penninsula, where they laid siege to Perak. Meanwhile the army of Pegu struck into Burma, eventually reaching Mandalay. The last Ayutthayan army in enemy territory, which had found the defences of Yunnan too strong and advanced into Lao Cai (5), found itself surrounded by enemies and engaged by equal numbers and superior weapons. And still China's mandarins and generals rebuffed the increasingly desperate offers from Ayutthaya (6).

The Luck of Fools

In the midst of his nation's greatest danger, Maha Thammaraja hardly attemptted to provide needed leadership. Court records show that in April, even as Chinese marines stormed ashore in Flores, he was meeting with the leaders of the Merchant Guilds to berate them for the decline in trade with Cambodia! (7) However, Fortune was about to step in and save the Elephant King from himself.

Late in May, a Chinese diplomat arrived in the capital with an extraordinary offer. For a mere token indemnity and right of passage for his army (8), the Emperor offered to cease his aggression against Ayutthaya. Legend recounts that the aged secretary into whose hands the missive was given 'took it aside' and stamped it himself without taking time to consult his superiors, still less the King. Some historians have suggested that the Emperor was really demanding (or thought he was demanding) the vassalage of the Kingdom, so perhaps the trusty secretary did more than just stamp the document. However it happened, peace was made, and the armies of China and Brunei withdrew from the war.

Ayutthaya could now take the offensive. In June, ignoring the Peguese force still besieging Mandalay (and suffering badly from shortage of supplies), the reconstituted northern-western army marched into Irrawaddy and laid siege to Pegu itself. Meanwhile the north-eastern army was reinforced by troops from the south, and Moktar himself, now returned from Australia, took command. In September he led more than 20,000 cavalry into Cambodia, shattered the Cambodian army (which exceeded his in numbers but was deficient in equipment and fatally short of horsemen) and pursued it as far as Da Lat.

Shourtly afterwards, the Emperor of China, in a move worthy of Maha Thammaraja himself, abruptly cancelled his treaty with Ayutthaya (9). Perhaps he had finally learned what it said, but the disordered state of his Empire prevented him acting on his anger, and the moment passed.
The rest of the year continued to go well. The capital of Cambodia was placed under siege and Moktar's cavalry ranged the country, hunting down the surviving Cambodian regiments. In December, the army of Pegu, much reduced by hunger and disease, abandoned the siege of Mandalay.

The Year of Many Happenings

The good news did not continue into 1578. The retreating Peguese army was still strong enough to drive off the besieging army in Pegu, in distant Da Lat Moktar was ambushed by a small Cambodian force and driven into embarassing retreat, and the Muslims of Sumatra revolted once again. Nevertheless, the reduction of enemy forces threatening the Kingdom allowed Maha Thammaraja to return to his customary passive pleasure-seeking, and thus permitted his ministers to begin to re-establish effective government over northern Ayutthaya (10).

News from the battlefield continued to be mixed. In April, Moktar was once again defeated by inferior forces, this time retreating from 'Cambodian reinforcements' that turned out to be a herd of water-buffalo (11). The Western army returned to Pegu in May, winning two battles and again laying siege, only to be again driven off in August. Only late in the year did Moktar finally get Cambodia under control, the countriside pacified, the fortresses under siege and himself free to turn against the vexatious Peguese. Meanwhile in Sumatra, Riau again fell under rebel control and the insurrection pressed south through Jambi.

These were not the only conflicts of the year. In August, the Portuguese announced a new crusade against infidels in Africa, to general indifference throughout the civilised world. More importantly, the Hindu alliance of Orissa and Vijaynagar turned against the faithless Muslims of Arakan. Their aggression led directly to the long-awaited clash of superpowers, when the Dragon Emperor, supported as ever by his lackey of Brunei, declared war on the Hindu bloc (12). From the sidelines, Ayutthaya's emissaries watched with interest.

Late in the year, a wandering monk passed through the capital, teaching that 'each man must find his own Way' and gathering a considerable following. His message was widely held (by the cognoscenti) to be contrary both to maintenance of public order and to good interpretation of the Buddha's teachings and there were calls for his arrest, but Maha Thammaraja roused himself to take a personal interest. By the time his incoherent ramblings had been edited into something approximating a coherent set of charges, the monk had long since wandered off to continue spreading confusion, dissent and bad koans across the Kingdom (13).

On matter at least was resolved. At the end of the year, the English declared peace with as little apparent reason as they had earlier declared war.

The Year of Resolution

1579, by contrast, was year in which everything happenend to plan. The Sumatran rebels were defeated in the field in January, and a month later Moktar shattered the last Peguese army and laid final siege to Pegu. One by one the cities fell, and by the end of the year both Pegu and Cambodia had surrendered their treasuries and submitted to vassalage. Peace and victory set off another wave of expansion in the colonies, and news came to the mainland of another brave adventurer from the islands to follow in Moktar's footsteps (14).

If they had know that Zuwara of Ceram would become known as 'the Butcher', they might not have celebrated so freely.

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Notes
(1) I thought that since I couldn't avoid war with China I might as well take the chance to get Pegu vassalised again.
(2) The Chinese had four cannons left (no troops) when my men broke and ran...
(3) It's so nice to be popular.
(4) No, I did not get a 'Temporary Insanity of Monarch' event. How could Maha Thammaraja get worse than he is?
(5) China has built almost all its provinces up to medium forts. I forsee many rebels in the future.
(6) This was where I thought they had me. I couldn't get a positive warscore and the AI refused four successive bribes, up to 575 ducats.
(7) In the middle of war with Cambodia, I get a 'Merchants Harrassed by Cambodia' event. I chose 'resolve' and took the free relations boost. Why not?
(8) Never underestimate the mindlessness of the AI. Out of the blue, with me on the ropes, China asks for 50 ducats and military access. That's 31% when their warscore was 1%, but I'd have paid double to give them the MA.
(9) See previous note. China cancelled the MA after five months, cutting themselves off from India and dropping themselves to -3 Stability to do so, when the truce between us still had 4+ years to run?!
(10) Good Government Policies, February 1578 (+1 Stabilty, +250 Trade, +250 Infrastructure).
(11) This was getting silly. There were 17 (count them) whole Cambodians left standing when Moktar's 6,000 decided to run away.
(12) The Chinese had somehow set up a TP in Cochin, though I didn't find this out until later.
(13) Uncooperative Philospher, November 1578. I turned him loose for +1 Innovative (now Innovative 4) and -2 Stability.
(14) Colonial Dynamism, November 1579. +3 Colonists and another conquistador.

Evil Knevil - Good to have you aboard - and I like your sig
I think you're right - It was a case of BB-induced wars (too much BB, too little military strength), which tend to turn into dogpiles.
Machiavellian - My best guess is that the only thing an alliance with Japan or (especially) Portugal is likely to get me is more wars - I don't think they'd actually contribute anything to fighting China.
Radagast - Thanks for the support. I'm hanging in there!
jwolf - Tibet is an interesting suggestion (they're still around, with their starting provinces plus Kachin). I have them slated for eventual diplo-annexation, but currently they aren't talking to me - relations have been stuck at -200 for decades and Maha Thammaraja isn't going to improve them.
I have Land Tech 4, working on 5. China has 12 (they've slowed down recently, probably spending on stability instead of research); Portugal has 13.

Chapter 11c - Maha Thammaraja I (fl1581-fl1586)

In The Absence of War

The coming of peace allowed the Court of Ayutthaya to return to normality, or what pased for it under Maha Thammaraja. Early in 1580, he finally responded to the failures of the army in the previous decade - by ordering that future resources would be preferentially allocated to the navy 'which has gained more victories at lesser cost' (1). This decision aroused the usual opposition throughout the Kingdom, but fortunately Ayyuthaya's neighbours were too preoccupied to exploit it.

In February 1580, Portugal accepted the government of the King of Spain - much to the confusion of the Ayutthayan ambassador, who thought that they had done it before - and the followers of Hayzos held a great council in Trent. The Indian war continued to spread, Atjeh joining the Chinese alliance (2) and Delhi taking advantage of Orissa's distraction to declare war on Jodhpur. Later in the summer, the Sultan of Arakan successfully bought a peace with the Maharaja of Vijaynagar, but the Orissans were not included and so the war went on.

At the Court of Ayutthaya, 1580 was a quiet year, only disturbed in September, when a dispute flared with Tibet over the exact partitioning of Assam (3). War threatened briefly, however Maha Thammaraja was not consulted and the matter was soon resolved amicably. A month later, Moktar finally recovered Riau from rebel control. A few weeks later he was dead, worn out by the privations and exertions of his campaigns.

The Troubles in Indonesia

Whatever the Council of Trent decided, it was not to the liking of the Dragon Throne, who expelled the followers of Xavier from China early in 1581 (4). Shortly thereafter, in depressingly familiar fashion, Makassar revolted, swiftly followed by Bali. The Army of the East put down the Bali revolt and took ship for the Celebes to perform the same task there. Meanwhile in distant lands, the English were briefly at peace, Delhi was at war with Russia, and Oda Nobunaga, would-be Shogun of Nippon, was murdered by Akechi Mitsuhide.

The Army of the East landed in Makassar in July, only to be defeated (also in depressingly familiar fashion) by the rebels. Shortly afterwards, the Hindus of Bali rose again, and a traitor in the garrison gave them access to the capital, where they massacred Buddhist monks and burned their shrines (5). Not until the end of the year could the Army of the East put down the uprising in Makassar. Wearily, they embarked for Bali. Meanwhile, news came from abroad that England was again at war with the Lenape, and in October 1581, Arakan surrendered to Orissa, granting the Maharaja Santal province, an large indemnity and free passage for his armies.

It took most of the next year to restore order in Bali, and by that time the Muslims of Sumatra were once again in arms. Only at the end of the year could Zuwara take command of the new Expeditionary Army in Ceram. His intended mission was to finally pacify the still-unsubdued natives of Mindanao and Palawan (who had massacred another Ayutthayan trading mission in September). His actual first assignment was to restore order in Makassar, where a fresh revolt broke out at the start of 1583.

Wessera's Early Voyages

Six months earlier, another skilled sea-captain had come forward to offer his services to the Elephant Throne. Wessera, like Nasser before him, chose to sail to the West, hpoing to expand Ayuthaya's knowledge of India. In this he was initially successful, discovering the Chinese settlement of Cochin - the flashpoint of the Chinese-Orissan war - in February 1583 and the city of Mangalore two month later. However, the hostility of the Indians and the presence of numerous Chinese warships in Indian waters made the whole region appear unpromising to Wessera's backers in the Guilds (6). From late 1583 until 1586, he voyaged into unexplored regions to the south of known seas, charting much open ocean but failing to find significant land (7). By late 1586 he was in Australia, preparing to sail East.

The Mindoro Factory

One of the few positive develpments of this decade took place in 1583, when the sugar merchants of the Philippine Guild, tired of their dependence on the Royal Factory in Jakarta, decided to construct an alternative. The chosen site was Mindoro, which had been raised to provincial status only a year earlier. Despite (or possibly because of) its remoteness from the centres of power, the Factory was successfully completed in 1585, on time and under budget (8). The local Governor promptly confiscated the surplus to improve the defences of the province (9).

Path of the Butcher

By mid-1583, Makassar was quiet and the Expeditionary Army finally ready to move. In August, Zuwara lead his men ashore on Mindanao, and plunged into the jungle in pursuit of the inhabitants.

Not all the skill of the Court dramatists can paint what followed as anything other than a disaster. In less than a month, hunger, disease and constant ambushes in the Philippine jungle effectively destroyed the Expeditionary Army. Zuwara barely made it back to the ships, and ordered the fleet to sail immediately without waiting for other survivors. In all, fewer than 1,000 men out of more than 10,000 returned to Ceram (10). Shortly afterwards, as if heartened by the news, the Balinese rose again and the inhabitants of Palawan destroyed the trading post on the island.

Everyone expected Zuwara to be summoned home, to receive his earned reward on the scaffold or at least to be removed from command. Instead, Maha Thammaraja dispatched honours, supplies and reinforcements to 'that most valiant champion of our nation'. Perhaps it was the sighting of a Portuguese fleet in the channel between Manado and Mindanao (11) that inspired his action, perhaps it was the generous subsidy paid his advisors by Zuwara's friends in the Guilds (12).

Whatever the reason, not even a fresh uprising in Makassar was allowed to delay the return of Zuwara to Mindanao. He led his troops ashore in May 1584 - and once again he led them to ruin and disaster, 7,000 men out of 8,000 perishing in less than a month (13). Zuwara slunk back to Bali, where despite fresh weapons (14) and supplies dispatched by his indulgent monarch, he was defeated by local partisans in December. Reinforced yet again, he sailed for Makassar, arriving too late to prevent the surrender of the garrison in May 1585.

Trouble Abroad

For some years, no news of great significance had come to Ayutthaya from overseas. Delhi was at peace with Jodhpur, England at war with Scotland, but this mattered little to the Elephant Kingdom. In February 1585, the Portuguese, having recently made peace with Hannover, abruptly closed their markets to Ayutthaya's merchants. No reason - other than the dictates of their bizarre religion - was ever given (15), and with Portuguese fleets still menacing Ayutthayan settlements in the Celebes and the Philippines, no military response could be mounted. The damage to Ayutthaya's trade was severe, and a few weeks later war threatened anyway, when Maha Thammaraja inadvertantly compared the Sultana of Brunei to a duck (16). Fortunately the pirates of Brunei were busy in India and the matter was smoothed over. Foreign affairs then receded again from the forefront of the Court's attention. England annexed the Lanape later in the year, but that was of no import in Bangkok.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes
(1) +1 Naval, January 1580 (Now Land 2)
(2) And I kicked myself for not vassalising them earlier. Atjeh has a permanent CB on me...
(3) Boundary dispute w/Tibet, September 1580
(4) China Rejects Foreign Ideas in Arrival of the Jesuits, February 1581. They're quite advanced enough already, thank-you.
(5) Heretics Event, August 1581. Revolt in Bali. If I was bitter, I'd compare the frequency of 'Heretics' events to those of 'Conversion' events.
(6) Particularly since the trade from everything west of Trivandrum goes to Kutch, which I can't see.
(7) Done for lack of any better ideas. The short range of my ships was getting to be a serious handicap.
(8) It was not, however, free. I had the cash for a manufactory, and Mindoro was my other sugar province.
(9) Fortification Effort in Mindoro, May 1586. Sometimes the random events make sense.
(10) I had 10,000 cavalry against 8,000 mostly infantry, with Offensive 10 and a conquistador. And the natives, aided by attrition, carved me up in three rounds.
(11) I'm not even going to guess what the AI thought it was doing, but I had a high-tech foreign fleet - carrying troops - hovering off my coast for years.
(12) Gift to State, +200 ducats, April 1584.
(13) Since Mindanao natives reproduce at a rate usually reserved for bacteria and telemarketers, you have to wipe them out completely inside a month or two. Getting them down under 2,000 and then losing the last battle is ... annoying.
(14) Land 5 reached in September 1584. I'm trying to reach Land 9 before China gets to Land 14.
(15) I hadn't even sent any merchants recently. I guess the AI was just feeling bitter about being shut out of Indonesia.
(16) Scandal at Court, March 1585. -25 Relations with Brunei. As if they could go much lower...

Thanks for the support, everyone. Things may be looking up - you'll notice that this installment does not contain a war with China
(And yes, I really want Land 9 before the Chinese Revolts kick in - just in case.)

Chapter 11d - Maha Thammaraja I (fl1586-1590)

The End of the Revolts?

Despite everything, Maha Thammaraja still put his trust in Zuwara to end the revolts now wracking Indonesia. To the surprise of almost everyone except the King, this task was performed promptly; Makassar being recaptured in May 1546, Bali pacified in September and Sumatra restored to order in February 1587. That spring, the Kingdom knew internal as well as external peace for the first time in Maha Thammaraja's reign. Zuwara, aided by generous support from his indulgent monarch, immediately began to plan his next expedition, on a grander scale than before.

New Neighbours

Other countries were not so pacific. Late in 1586 a local Vietnamese clan seized control of Da Lat province and declared independence from Cambodia. After a brief war, the King of Cambodia was forced to recognise the new state of 'Annam', in return for the ruler of Annam acknowledging the overlordship of the King (1). On Ayutthaya's other frontier, the latest ruler of Pegu, foolish and ambitious like his predecessors, attempted to stir up trouble in the border districts. Fortunately the Ayutthayan ambassador was able to restore him to sanity without military assistance (2).

Further abroad, the English (at war with the Scots), chose to hand over the captive mother (?) of the Scottish King to the notorious Guise tribe, an act of primitive revenge worthy of barbarians. Meanwhile the Shogun of Nippon, in accordance with prevailing fashion, issued harsh edicts against the followers of Hayzos in his country. Many of them appealed to the Portuguese, who still maintained large fleets in the eastern seas, but their cries apparently went unheard, for no action followed (3).

Return of the Butcher

Meanwhile, Zuwara's Great Expedition, the largest yet dispatched from Ayutthaya, was approaching readiness. Blessed by Maha Thammaraja in person, it sailed in the summer of 1587.

Back in the spring of 1586, the trading post on Palawan had once again been destroyed by an unprovoked native attack. A replacement mission was dispatched that summer, only to fall victim to the headhunters within the month. Following this double disaster, no more traders could be found willing to venture onto the island, and the Guild of Philippine Trade vowed revenge. Thus it was that Palawan and not Mindanao was the first target of of Zuwara's forces.

This time there was no mistake. More than twenty thousand regular soldiers followed Zuwara ashore, the headhunters were killed on the beaches or pursued into their jungle refuges and the whole island vigorously pacified. Pleased with his success, Zuwara sailed at once for Mindanao, landing in July 1588. Once again battle was joined in the Philippine jungles and once again Ayutthayan blood flowed freely. More than six thousand soldiers fell in the savage fighting, but they sold thier lives dearly, and this time weight of numbers could not be denied (4). As the smoke from burning villages blackened the horizon, Zuwara wrote to the King: 'The whole of the Island awaits your Majesty's pleasure.' Permanent settlements on Palawan and Mindanao had been established by the end of 1588 (5).

Wessera's Later Voyages

While Zuwara was covering himself with blood and glory in the Philippines, the explorer Wessera was also busy, albeit in less dramatic fashion. In a series of voyages east and north from Australia, he sought out more lands for the Elephant Throne to conquer. Sadly, while he reached Timaru (1586) and mapped the Coral Sea, the coast of New Guinea, and Melanesia as far north as the Viliaz Straight (1587-90) (6), those lands he sighted offered little potential for exploitation, being variously desert islands, inhospitable coast or filled with hostile natives. By 1590, Wessara had added much to the Kingdom's knowledge but little to its wealth.

News From Abroad

The last years of the decade brought reports from distant lands of both greater and lesser import. Early in 1588 the Maharaja of Vijaynagar paid tribute to the Dragon Throne, ending the war in southern India. Once again Ayutthaya's generals looked to her northern borders, but the spies they sent north reported not armies massing but a terrible famine that had gripped the lands of China. The Emperor chose to expend his resources in the aid of his suffering people, and the Court of Ayutthaya praised his virtue and hoped that the peace would long endure.

The news from distant Europe was the same as ever. The English defeated the Scots, claimed two provinces, and found another war within days. The King of Spain and his Portuguese subjects were at war with yet another anknown nation, Saxony. As long as it kept his eyes from the east, the sages of Ayutthaya concluded, it was good.

Business as Usual

The serpent of revolt was not yet slain. Early in 1588, even as Palawan fell to Ayutthaya, another uprising wracked Sumatra. Zuwara, on his return from Mindanao, put it down swiftly, but the same month (April 1589) saw the Muslims of Johor in arms at some imagined slight to their religion (7). Order was quickly restored, but many of the ringleaders escaped, joining the bands of bandits which ravaged Phuket province the next year (8).

Or Not

After all he had done - and not done - in his twenty years on the throne, it was ironic that Maha Thammaraja I should fall by a simple clerical error. Specifically, the error that withheld several months' back-pay from the frontier armies at the end of 1589. Muttering among the troops began almost at once, and at the New Year's celebration in 1590, the General of the North, Naresuen, was saluted by his troops not as 'the King's General' but as 'King' (9). After consultation with his brother generals, Naresuen, a descendant of Rama T'Bodi III, chose to formally claim the crown.

Naresuen's march south was more of a triumphal procession than a military campaign. At every town and village, more men joined his banner. His followers proclaimed him 'the King of the Morning' and declared obedience to the servants of the Court an outworn tradition, no longer suited to this great new age (10).

Within the Court, Maha Thammaraja at first ignored the threat, then denied it and only at last sought to avert it, playing the King in a pathetic flurry of Court ritual, prayer, petition, bribery, empty commands and even emptier threats. Finding no-one willing to listen - not even his beloved Zuwara would fight for him - Maha Thammaraja took poison rather than fall into rebel hands. Despite everything, the strength of the Kingdom had grown under his rule (11), and Naresuen granted him a royal funeral.

Ayutthaya at the death of Maha Thammaraja, 1590



Naresuen, the King of the Morning, was officially crowned on the first day of July, 1590. The contrast between him and his predecessor could not have been more marked.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes
(1) Actually, the original rebels came over the border from the Mekong Delta. I'd hoped Champa would reappear, but Brunei recaptured the province in time. And incidentally, Annam is Hindu.
(2) Border dispute with Pegu, March 1587 (Resolved).
(3) The Portuguese were still cruising off Manado. I wish they'd find somewhere useful to go and go there.
(4) If brute force doesn't solve your problems, you're not using enough.
(5) Thus securing the last unclaimed territory in Indonesia/Philippines. Eat your heart out, Portugal.
(6) For lack of anything better to do, I went looking for the gold province in New Guinea.
(7) Once again the 'Heretics' event (Johor, April 1589).
(8) And an Unprovoked Revolt to go with it.
(9) I got a 4/2/3/1 Monarch Leader in January 1590, six months before Maha Thammaraja's reign ended.
(10) +1 Innovative in January 1590 (Now Innovative 5).
(11) Now 37 provinces, 8 Colonies, 3 TPs. Monthly Income 110, Inflation 3%, Tech Levels 5/2/3/3.
(12) Adm: Good, Mil: Very Good, Dip: Ave. I have a KING at last! <happy elephant dance>
Of course, he won't live to see the Chinese revolts, so his military incarnation is worthless unless I want to invade New Zealand; but at least I can try to convert the &$*^%!! minority religions.

jwolf - Zuwara got (a bit) better as he went on. The rebels gave him a lot of practice
And no, the refinery in Mindoro was not an Unexpected Invention event - I paid for it. (I gave it a write up, realised it could be taken as referring to an event, so I put in the note in an attempt to make things clearer. Sorry about that.)