Enewald: That I do, but hopefully that’ll change as Alexandria grows in power
Tallfellow: It does cost a lot of money and probably isn’t worth it in the long run, but I’m not trying to play this optimally.
BootOnFace: I think you’ll like Theodoros. His character’s shaping up to be into that sort of thing.
Thanks to everyone else who replied! I’ve decided I’ll be aiming for an update once every three days instead of two. These days I have less time to play EU3 and I’m not quite as into the game as I was before.
The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR
Chapter Six: Marching on Medina
Hedjaz, or more accurately the Tribes of the Hedjaz, was a loose affiliation of various Muslim tribes and cities that was steadily on the rise in Arabia. With Jerusalem paralyzed by its commitments to Alexandria they had expanded out and made major gains against their rivals in Najd and Yemen. That was about to change.
Theodoros had his eye on an accomplishment that rivalled his grandfather’s founding of the kingdom and his fathers integration of Jerusalem. The Muslim holy city of Mecca was his goal and Hedjaz was all that stood in his way. Their aggressive expansion had not won them many allies amongst Muslims, so he saw no need to bring his allies into this fight. He personally lead the bulk of the army along the Red Sea coast while a smaller force split off to seize desert villages and prevent the advance from being flanked.
Meanwhile, Greeks were continuing to flood into the country. As the next most important city in the country, Cairo was one of the most popular destinations. As the locals began to cater more and more to the waves of immigrants, they too were absorbed into encroaching Greek culture.
More good news came from much further west. A succession crisis in Portugal had been resolved with the placement of Theodoros’ cousin on the throne. He had been considering expanding Alexandrian influence into Europe somehow, and this was as good a chance as any to earn some allies among the Catholics.
Things did not go as well on the campaign trail. Despite positioning himself strategically in the hills of Tabouk, a large force of tribesmen was able to dislodge his forces and force him back. No one was entirely sure of the reason, but it was ultimately blamed on Muslim sympathisers sowing discord and reducing morale in the ranks.
(I’m not sure either. A general, -4 modifier in my favour, equal numbers and I lost with minimal casualties. It’s possibly a result of the mod rebalancing units and Muslims getting an early advantage in morale damage.)
Castille’s terrible situation was further confirmed when an advisor excitedly told Theodoros that they now outnumbered the Iberians. Apparently his father had put in a directive to expand the fleet to prevent a repeat of earlier invasions but the money to carry it out had never been gathered. Instead, the Castillians had been forced to sell off most of their navy and brought it down to Alexandria’s level.
The tribes had pursued Theodoros back into his own territory, but this time they no longer had the advantage of knowing the terrain and he was able to decisively defeat and then totally rout the army. With that out of the way there was nothing stopping him from reaching Mecca.
To the north, disputes regarding the overland trade routes between Constantinople and Alexandria through Armenia had led to the local governor declaring that all of that land should belong to the Kingdom. This diplomatic outburst caught the king’s attention and he was quick to offer his support for the claim.
Theodoros laid siege to Mecca, but the conquest was not to be. New uprisings that required the army’s immediate attention in Syria and the rallying tribes assembling a new army were an indication that he was pushing his luck. He decided to pull back and settle with his current gains that included the other holy city of Medina. That would sate his desire for glory for the moment.
Immediately he began financing the construction of churches and deployment of missionaries to the region. While he still had an agreement with the Jerusalem nobles to leave their lands Catholic, it did not apply to these Muslims. There were some minor setbacks such as a large Shiite force migrating from Syrian Iraq and burning the local church before it could be completed but soon things were progressing well. Elsewhere, the Arabs of the Levant continued to prove troublesome despite the Catholic nobles constant assurances they had their populations under control.
Southern Egypt had been calm and peaceful for decade and was now considered a part of the country as much as any other.
Theodoros was not the only one on the march. The Emperor continued to consolidate Greece with an invasion of nominally independent Corfu. The Knights were the only ones to offer support, and found themselves subjugated once Corfu had been annexed.
To the south, Ethiopia was on the march as well. The struck at the weakened Hedjaz to gain a foothold on the Arabian Peninsula and advanced south into territories Alexandrians had never even heard of to conquer them.
It made Theodoros somewhat jealous, so he decided it was time to pick up that claim that had been waiting around. Armenia had become a tributary of Qara Koyunlu a long time ago, when Alexandrian and Byzantine attentions had been focused elsewhere. They would not stand for Greek intrusion on their territory and would surely come to stop the invasion.
That was proven right when an unexpectedly large army descended from the east and forced out the invading Alexandrians. The Emperor offered his land as a safe place to recuperate, but was not interested in providing direct support. A second attempt was forced back as well before Theodoros decided to take matters into his own hands.
Leading the attack personally, he marched through Armenia with minimal opposition and no sign of the massive army that had beaten them back before. He considered himself blessed by God for this luck, although his ruthless sacking of Orthodox towns on his way east gave him a different image in the eyes of many others.
Eventually the battered and beaten remnants of the Qara Koyunlu army were found and crushed on the shores of the Caspian Sea. They had probably been caught in a battle with the Timurids or opportunistic rebels, although no record exists of exactly what happened. Whatever the case, the enemy leader offered surrender.
They were forced to pay tribute as reparations for all they had stolen while overlords of Armenia and give up that position too. Armenia was free, although it was questionable how long that would last with Theodoros eagerly planning his next campaign.
The year is now 1461.
To be continued…