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Hungary was just a big cuddly paper tiger! :p

(Ow, papercut.)
 
(This will be a double update; had too many pictures to cover the whole war in one post.)

2nd Turko-Egyptian War 1561-1566 (part 1)

Seated upon his throne in the palace at Smyrna, Sultan Ishak II looked out over his assembled generals. His newly-forged sword (gifted to him by a Bulgarian weaponsmith after their liberation from Hungary) rested upon his legs; his hand gently stroked the woven grip. The generals waited quietly, knowing that they had just won a great victory in the west and anticipating their next orders. They all knew what was coming; indeed, the whole nation had been waiting for this day of reckoning to arrive.

"We all know the insults visited upon us by the Egyptians nearly a century ago. They dared to impose their will upon our lands; to contest our sovereignty over Anatolia, which God has seen fit to guide into our hands. Since that day they have hidden behind buffer states and the power of the Persians, and even the Saruhanoglu family name, placing a cousin of mine upon their throne. Now, though, our strength has been fully assembled, and our star is firmly rising."

The sultan gripped his sword, and standing up he raised it above his head.

"The day has come for us to take our revenge for these acts. To tell the world that this land will live under the White Hand for eternity, and that we will not be subject to the whims of other nations."

He pointed his sword down at the generals, still kneeling before him.

"I will lead our grand army against the Egyptians, and you will stand beside me, and we will all know glory!"


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Spies had infiltrated the administration of the Mamluks' army, seeking information on their troop dispositions. As it turned out, the bulk of the Egyptian army was in the north, fighting against steppe nomads and attempting to expand their holdings further. The timing of the launch of the war could not be better.

The buffer provinces flying a false Ottoman flag were immediately overrun; many more battles would be fought here, and it would take some time for the land to recover from the devastation.

To take further advantage of the Egyptian and Persian forces being in the north and east, a detachment of troops sailed south from Greece to land in Libya. These troops would raid through the Egyptian homeland, diverting defenses from the main axis of attack out of Anatolia.

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The first true battle of the war took place in Mus, where a Persian army attempted to dislodge Saruhanli forces from a defensive position. The Persians failed to do so, the two heads of state watching each other from across the battlefield.

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After landing troops in Libya, the small Saruhanli navy sailed back north to secure the Bosphorus Strait to allow Bulgarian and Croatian forces to cross and aid in the war. This important task completed, they maintained station there, though they would eventually be driven into port by the much-larger Egyptian fleet.

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Meanwhile back in Anatolia, Saruhan armies laid lightning sieges upon a number of Mamelukan provinces before the first Egyptian army made its way back from the north. This army, if it managed to catch a depleted Saruhan army after a siege, could be a threat to the offensive. To avoid such a problem, the two main armies of the Hand maneuvered south before merging and coming after the enemy together.

This resulted in the retreat of the Mamluk-Persian army, allowing the Saruhan forces to position themselves perfectly for the first major engagement of the war in Esrerum.

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In Esrerum, 40,000 men on each side met in battle. This fight would give one side the upper hand in the war, as it would take control of the central theater.

Saruhan would win this battle. The Persian and Mamelukan armies retreated into Van, where they were both utterly broken and scattered. The White Hand had secured a major advantage in the war.

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(Part 2 incoming)
 
2nd Turko-Egyptian War 1561-1566 (part 2)

After the Battle of Erserum, the Persians seemed to have lost the heart to fight. They still had sufficient forces to pose a threat, but Ishak II spoke personally with their leader. Afterwards, Ishak spoke gloriously to both his men and the assembled Persian delegation of the honor that the Persians had displayed in the war and the gifted fighters that made up their armies. The two leaders made it clear that there was no animosity between them, and that it was merely the expectations of alliances that had put them against each other.

With honor satisfied, the Persians agreed to withdraw from the field, leaving the Mamluks without a major ally in the war.


After the Persians withdrew from the war, three other major nations made a move to secure portions of the failing Egyptian nation. The Poles invaded the northern reaches in Georgia; Oman moved to take the remainder of Arabia, and England sailed a fleet for Libya, eventually claiming Alexandria.

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The final battle of the war took place at Damascus. The Egyptians raised another army from their holdings in the South; this army defeated the small army that the Saruhanli had landed in Libya. After lifting sieges there, it moved through the Levant to attempt to drive back Saruhan's armies. Outnumbered 2:1, however, they attempted to retreat before being caught at Damascus and scattering.

This battle finally lowered the Mamluks' army to a size smaller than that of Saruhan's.

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After the battle, the Saruhan army continued South, taking land as it went.

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As the war slowly came to a close, the three powers dividing up the Mamelukan lands held large portions of territory. Poland would choose to occupy much of Georgia for itself; the Saruhanoglu demanded that the false Ottomans be released from the Mamluks' protection and that the Syrian people would be freed from Egyptian rule. The Omani people took control of Arabia.

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When the war concluded, the shape of the Middle East had been redrawn.

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Your pictures are fantastic! My mere editing through paint is Etch-A-Sketch compared to yours.

Oh yeah -- the updates were pretty good, too! ;)
 
I am most impressed by your maps. So easy to follow, so clear! :)

The Mamluks have been humbled. The White Hand has struck hard!
 
Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone, especially regarding the maps. I'm enjoying having a reason to play around with Photoshop again. :)

how did you take a picture of the map? I mean so that it has nation names on it

I'm taking my screenshots through Steam; they added a function where hitting F12 takes a screencap of whatever you're playing. It kind of sucks a little bit with EU3 because that ALSO takes a screencap of the world map (filling up my hard drive with big BMP files) but the convenience factor far outweighs that minor issue.

In general, that last war looked like it helped everyone else more than it did Saruhan :(

Short-term it appears that way, but it sets the table for several good things in the next segment, including:
-Annexing the Ottomans and grabbing straggling Mamluk provinces in Georgia
-Driving through a weak Syria to take Judea
-Having Oman as a buffer between Saruhan and Great Britain
 
A cunning plan! Let's hope that you can keep the expansion going!
 
The Coup of Hizir the Impatient 1566-1572

After the triumphant war with Egypt, Ishak II entered Smyrna to cheers. His son, named Hizir following a family tradition, watched the procession with pursed lips. He had just reached the age of manhood, and was eager to feel the joy of such reverence falling upon him. The young man was the apple of his tutors' eyes, brilliant in many ways, both in the library and on the training fields. Many of them had whispered to him that they looked forward to his reign with wonder and would be honored to serve him.

His father, the Sultan, was still vigorous despite his years. Worse, the Sultan's brother, Ibrahim, walked next to him as Ishak entered the city. Ibrahim's dull eyes looked over the crowd, a smile on his lips as he clearly was enraptured by the crowd's cheers. Hizir shook his head, thinking: his uncle would not willingly step aside after this. If the Sultan died before Ibrahim, there could be war for the throne.

The next morning, Hizir walked into breakfast with his military tutor, carrying a musket. He smiled at his uncle Ibrahim and offered him the firearm. "After such a triumph, uncle, allow me to escort you today on a hunting trip. There is much game in my father's forests in Antayla, and I would enjoy teaching you to use this new weapon, which I give to you as a gift."

Ibrahim smiled and accepted, leaving to accompany Hizir on the hunt.

He would not return to the city.


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A hunting accident claimed the life of Ibrahim, the Sultan's brother, as a new musket exploded upon his attempt to fire it for the first time. Hizir sadly brought his uncle's body back to Smyrna, presenting it to his father with a great show of tears. Within 3 years, however, the Sultan became ill, gradually wasting away until passing quietly in his sleep.

Hizir IV took the throne, lifting his father's sword, and commanded the armies to immediately take the remainder of Anatolia for the glory of his father's memory.

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The false Ottoman territories fell within a month; the isolated provinces of Erserum and Van, still flying the Mamluk flag, were invaded next. Erserum was taken by Saruhanli forces... but the mountains of Mus prevented a quick assault and the allied forces of Syria laid siege to Van, claiming it for themselves. This was taken as a minor insult in the court of Hizir IV, but upon looking at a map they accepted it as creating a buffer between Saruhan and Persia, still posing a potential threat in the east.

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Saruhan's next war was not of their own making, however: their allies in Syria moved to liberate the remainder of their peoples from Omani rule, calling for the aid of the Hand. Saruhan's aid was hardly needed, but Hizir was happy to aid the Syrians in the hopes of securing their aid in the future as a strong ally.

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Unfortunately, those efforts were for naught when a diplomatic misunderstanding led to war between Persia and Saruhan...
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Damn! A strong ally is a good thing. However, being so close often leads to war no matter what the intentions are. Bulgaria followed the Hand, as did Croatia. I wonder how much Croatia can aid you, though. Syrian land would be a fine treat, as payment for their betrayal.
 
That is the biggest Ryazan I have ever seen. o_O

Good thing they weren't allied with Persia as well. I imagine you'll have enough on your hands fighting the two behemoths you already have to deal with (good luck)
 
Hey,

a little suggestion about army composition. I might be wrong, but as far as I saw you use only one cavalry, you need at least 2 to have the flanking effect to take place. Moreover, in the forum it was argued that artillery is not an essential part of army before land27 or so. Even after that it is preferable to have an army of 2 to 4cav and even numbers of inf and art.

Other than this, a joy to read. Keep it up. :)