Chapter 23: The War of the Botanical Expedition
September 21, 1881: Let's start this update off with a bang.
By bang, I mean 'my occupation brigade dies in a hail of bullets".
November 1: Did I say the war with Spain was pointless? Yes. However, Spain got military access from France (since she's in France's sphere), and has decided that just because a war is pointless, doesn't mean you can't march all the way across Europe. My armies, being deployed elsewhere, actually can't stop the Spanish from spilling through the French border and through the south. It is very disconcerting to look up and see a Spanish brigade in Northern Venice...
November 7: France annexes Egypt. Another place for France to amass large armies so they can invade my African holdings.
December 17: Lindi Region is colonized. Austria celebrates by getting a giant wave of rebels.
December 28: I manage to scrape together an army to stop the Spanish invasion - there's this army that gets beaten at Karlsruhe, as well as 42K more Spanish trying to occupy Saarsbrucken. This doesn't handle the sprinkling of Spanish brigades heading towards Istanbul in separate armies. I actually have to strip an army from the Russian/Armenian frontier to protect my capital from a Spanish army that is coming from France!
January 17, 1882: France and Russia simultaneously discredit us in Holstein. Heh.
February 1: The Spanish army at Saarbrucken is kicked out. They retreat north, and are eventually wiped out.
March 4: South Cameroon is colonized. We add the Dutch Muralewe Region (Borneo) and Singapore region to our goal of Friesland.
Here's a look at the rebel/Spanish situation.
March 20: Some of my recruits can't get out of the Spanish army's way and get beaten badly for it. Yes, that's a battle between Spain and Turks in Croatia.
April 2: The Dutch agree to give up Friesland, southern Borneo, and their single province in Singapore.
April 13: We colonize Togo. In Kirklareli, a Spanish army of a little over 6000 men heading for Istanbul is wiped out.
May 2: Bamako is colonized. My goal is to cut the other colonizing powers off from the interior, so I can mop that up later. So I don't let Stuyvesant down, a belated War of the Botanical Expedition is declared. My big worry are the Austrian rebels - there are still quite a lot of them.
June 22: Kazembe region is colonized, and a brigade of recruits is trained up and put into action right in front of 42000 Austrians in Gyor. Whoopsie!
July 12: Some of those Austrians that killed my recruits in Gyor don't get out of the way before 52,000 Ottomans show up and are promptly beaten and forced to retreat, albeit with disturbing losses. Unfortunately, since my army was held up in Gyor, it couldn't get to Vienna to save the 9000 men there from getting ravaged. The Austrians seem to have a slight tech advantage, which would be worrying if I didn't outnumber them 5:1 in theatre.
August 3: The war of maneuver continues to be a problem:
August 15: We discover Inorganic Chemistry, and move on to Interchangeable Parts. I want canals!
August 24: The Austrians make a huge mistake in the south, and pay for it, losing their entire southern army.
August 29: Darn rebels. My army in Graz is screwed (to use a technical term). However, as a result, I learn about nitroglycerin, so not all is lost!
September 26: Battles, battles, everywhere!