EPISODE VIII
In which the final battle is fought...
The war against Poland must be concluded. We have seized their Arabian outposts and turned back their assault on Cyprus but they still hold the Black Sea provinces of Bujak and Bessabarabia.
April 1572 - General Ibrahim(3/2/3) has taken command of the combined armies(24/13/1) and leads them north across the Danube into the deserted province of Bujak. A Polish Army(29) watches from Bessabarabia
June 1572 - The Bujak fort is assaulted and Ibrahims Army(17/10/0) is ordered to wait for reinforcements before proceeding into Bessabarabia.
August 1572 - French squadrons storm through the Bosphorus and into the Black sea. They presumeably carry French reinforcements to the Allied force(38) in Bessabarabia. Our fleet sets out from Cyprus to intercept them.
September 1572 - Poland offers a White Peace. We decline.
October 1572 France offers peace demanding Bessabarabia. We decline. Our fleet reaches the black Sea and drives off a small French Squadron. A second french fleet of 86 (eightysix!) warships is spotted and our galleys row into the port of Thrace. We can't face that firepower.
November 1572 - The Polish Army in Bessabarabia suddenly marches to the Northwest. A border skirmish in the Baltic ? A coup in Warsaw ? No matter ! Ibrahim marches into the deserted province only to find that the French have landed 85,000 men in Dobrujda, south of Bujak. Poland offers a white peace which we decline. Can we take Bessabarabia before France takes Dobrujda.
January 1573 - We take Bessabarabia's fort, but the French refuse our offer of 250 for Peace. We cannot face these French at sea and they are too strong on land. Their army(attritted down to 65,000) is only two provinces from our capital.
February 1573 - Ibrahim takes his Army(21/11/3) into Podolia and assaults the fort(10/0/2). If we can drive Poland out of the war then France will follow. The assault fails.
March 1573 - Nussaybin revolts(15). The garrison that we normally deploy there was used to reliev the seige of Cyprus, so we must march the Kirkuk garrison(12/6/0) north to meet the revolt.
April 1573 - Bessabarabia revolts(12). This must be a Papist plot. A combined Franco-Polish fleet(15) is spotted off the south coast of Crete, but the island has a strong garrison(9/2/1) so we are not concerned.
May 1573 - Jordan revolts(16) and a second revolt flares in Nussaybin. Nussaybin is pacified and the garrison army(10/6/0) marches for Jordan.
June 1573 - The French force beseiging Dobrujda has shrunk to 16,000 and we send 11,000 cavalry into the province. We lose half of our force and the French lose 2/0/0. Another victory for the enemy.
September 1573 - The remaining French(11,000) in Dobrujda pack up and board ships. How can an Army of 85,000 men fail to take a Level One fort ? We're not complaining, but we are amazed. The Podolia fort falls in the same month, but we will need more victories if we are to demand Quatar and Hormouz from Poland.
October 1573 - Somalia(2) and Jordan(16) revolt. How can we get an army to Somalia when we only have 4 ships in the Red Sea? Ibrahim returns from Podolia to crush the revolt in Bessabarabia. Barely is the last rebel slain when the 11,000 French from Dobrujda storm ashore. Ibrahim is equal to the task and they are destroyed. There are 18,000 Poles marching southward towards Ibrahim. More reinforcements are ordered and our Army(12/11/0) digs in.
November 1573 - Mekkah revolts(5) and it appears that our war will not succeed.
January 1574 - Murad III ascends to the throne in Turkey.
April 1574 - France and Poland seperately reject our offers of a White Peace. Kirkuk revolts(22) and we have no manpower left to face the Rebels.
May 1574 - Yemen(5) and Arabia(22) rebel. The French land in Dobrujda, successfully assault the fort and march north towards Ibrahim
June 1574 - Ibrahim annihilates the French and moves down to retake Dobrujda while Rebels(12) and Poles(10) are fighting over Bessabarabia.
October 1574 - We retake Dobrujda and offer Poland a white Peace. The war has cost untold thousands of lives and mountains of gold. Cyprus and the Arabian penninsula are in revolt and we didn't gain any provinces. Only the fact that Poland started the war stops me from shooting myself. At least I can blame them!
November 1574 - England declares war on Spain, but we are too weak to declare war on Venice. The pain of the missed opportunity.
October 1575 - Cypruse has been pacified and Ibrahim prepares to lead an Army(24/12/2) into Arabia to reconquer our revolting provinces(totalling 53,000 rebels).
November 1575 - The Hedjaj reform as a nation in their original provinces and declare war on us. History will record them as the aggressors...although some of the more astute among them may ask why we had an army already marching towards the border at that time
1576/7 - Various adventures crushing the Hedjaz armies and assaulting their forts.
July 1577 - England and Spain end their war with the English receiving the province of Murcia on the southeast coast of Spain. The Dons Empire is weakening...
January 1578 - The last Hedjaz force is beaten and we annex the remains of their empire. Yemen is still in revolt so Ibrahim pushes south along the Red Sea.
April 1578 - Bosnia, at the north west corner of our empire becomes Sunni. Our Mahdis move further into Christendom, spreading the Word of our Prophet.
December 1578 - The Netherlands declare their independence and DoW Spain.
January 1579 - General Ibrahim dies and Euldj Ali takes charge of the army in Arabia again. Do we send him against Oman ? Or should we push against Venice ? Or Spain? Venice has no alliances. We will continue with the overland route to the Papacy. A new army is raised in Kosovo.
March 1579 - The Venetian Army(10) in Illyria boards ships and sails for Venice. How fortunate for our plans!
April 1570 - Netherlands and Spain accept a White Peace.
May 1579 - We DoW Venice, and drop to +1 stability. General Pechlivan's Army (18/1/1) marches into an ungarrisoned Ragusa. The fort has been strengthened(10/0/2) so we settle down for a seige while more reinforcements are raised in the Balkans.
October 1579 - We take Ragusa from the Venetians and they take Bosnia from us. They offer a White peace which we decline. Venice invades Crete, but our garrison Army drives them into the sea.
January 1580 - The Illyrian fort surrenders to Pechlivan and the Venetians are cut off in Bosnia. They march into Illyria to meet our Army.
February 1580 - The Venetian Army(18/0/0) tears into Pechlivan's force(12/1/4) in Illyria but they are defeated and Bragadin leaves half his men as casualties before retreating. Venice offers us Illyria, but we decline. A few more victories and we can claim two provinces at the Peace talks. We're on a roll here!
June 1580 - We lose a battle in Istria, but the Venetian army is down to 7,000 men while we have over 40,000 converging on that province. If the Venetian fleet was weaker we could risk a stab at Corfu, but for the moment we will not risk the battle at sea.
August 1580 - Venice wins a battle in Illyria and pushes us back to Kosovo. We still hold their province of Ragusa and are winning the war of attrition. We decline their offer of a white peace.
January 1581 - Nuyssaybin revolts(16). This is a sign that we have been at war too long.
February 1581 - Venice invades Crete again and fails to take the island. Pechlivan's Army(19/10/1) is making no headway against the small Venetian forces holding the Balkan front. Every battle is lost and he retreats further east despite having more troops that the enemy.
June 1581 - The final Venetian Army is destroyed in Illyria. Pechlivan's task is to take the forts in Illyria(5/0/1), Istria(10/0/2) and Venice(10/0/2). Illyria falls and Venice offers Illyria as a peace settlement. We decline.
July 1581 - Istria looks a tougher job fir Pechlivan's shrinking army(14/8/0) and we settle down for a seige until reinforcements can be mustered.
January 1582 - Pechlivan fails to take the fort by storm.
May 1582 - The Istrian fort falls and Venice lies before us. The enemy offers Istria as a token of peace, but we will push forward.
June 1582 - Sweden and Crimea offer us a military alliance but neither of those nations is focussed in the Mediterranean so we decline.
July 1582 - The first assault on Venice fails. The enemy offers Istria and Illyria in exchange for Peace. EU will only allow a victor to takes two provinces unless you have won an overwhelming victore (ie completely occupied the enemy). We accept. Venice is left with their capital province plus Mantua (adjacent to the capital on the west) plus Ragusa and Corfu. Our two new provinces are both Catholic and will need strong garrisons to contain the inevitable revolts. The next task is to build a navy for the final battle with Venice. Inflation is at 5% and stability is at +3 so all of our investment will go into Land technology. The graphs show that we have the highest Land technology of all the major powers, but there is no way of determining what level Venice is on.
May 1584 - Istria(10/3/0) revolts but Pechlivan's Army(8/3/8) is equal to the task. We promote Bailiffs in Istria and Illyria to hasten their assimilation into our Empire.
June 1584 - Spain declared war on England. Cyrenaica and Prussia leap to Englands defence and we decide that this is an excellent time to get a foothold in southern Italy. Spain does have 25,000 troops in Naples and a fleet of thirty ships near Malta so we must tread carefully. Troops are assembled in the Balkans and new ships are laid down.
August 1584 - Spain moves her fleets(30) to the Cyrenian coast and engages in an inconclusive battle with her enemies fleet(5). They reoccupy Murcia and the English seem powerless to stop them.
January 1585 - Most impressive! Cyrenaica evades the Spanish fleets and invades Naples with an Army of 10,000 men. Unfortunately for her, Spain has invaded Cyrenaica with 20,000 men. The two armies have just swapped places.
April 1585 - Our preparations are complete. Our fleet(0/16/5) will take an expeditionary force(17/10/5) under General Iskenderun across the Adriatic to assist our new allies in Naples. Illyria choses this time to revolt, but our garrison is equal to the task.
February 1586 - Naples falls to the combined Turko-Cyrenican seige and we march south to Apulia. Our Adriatic fleet (0/16/5) is sailing south to link up with the Aegean squadron(015/0) before turning west towards Spain.
May 1586 - Apulia falls and Iskenderun marches south to Messina. Our fleet is turned back by the Spanish and we ask for Naples as the price of Peace. Spain refuses and the war continues.
July 1586 - A random event gives us a Causus Belli against Portugal. They have a trading post on the east coast of Africa just south of our Empire.
August 1586 - Spain offers us Naples in return for peace. We gratefully accept, scratching our heads and wondering what bought about this change of heart. No matter. This frees us to turn against Portugal in the south and best of all... Pope Greven has a new neighbour
December 1586 - Euldj Ali's Army(5/5/0) is poised to march south through Portugal's African Empire. Our fleet is berthed at Naples and Iskenderum's Army(7/7/3) is poring over maps of Rome. Portugal has an alliance with the Papal States, Tuscany Parma and Savoy but those so called allies abandon Portugal and agree to seperate peace treaties. Navarre, The Hansa and Courland are also at war with us, but we have no diplomats remaining. Navarre is boarding her Army(26), but we hope for the war to be over before she can reach the Mediterranean Sea.
June 1587 - The Navarren fleet(26) is sailing past Algiers. We have reinforced Naples(21/9/3) and moved our fleet (0/26/5) to guard the sealanes off Malta. In Africa Malindi has fallen and we are marching through a vacant Kenya to the next Portuguese provice of Mombassa. Kirkuk falls to Rebel scum and the Nuyssaybin garrison is sent to deal with the situation.
August 1587 - Kirkuk is pacified and the Navarran fleet arrives at the gates of Rome. Their commanders are obviously unaware that the Papacy pulled out of the war many months ago. While they wait at anchor our fleet sails up the coast towards their fat troop transports.
September 1587 - Naples(20/7/0) revolts but our army is equal to the task. The fleets meet off Rome and the Navarran Admiral Del Cano loses three ships and retreats. Euldj Ali has taken Mombassa and we offer peace to Portugal. We ask for no tribute but regret to inform the Portuguese ambassador that their two trading posts were burnt during native attacks. Fortunately a new (Turkish ) trading post is being built in Mombassa and Portuguese ships are welcome to come and trade there. Portugal rejects our offer of peace.
October 1587 - Two new fleets are spotted in the Mediterannean. Courland(12) and the Hansa(8) are heading for Rome. Admiral Daoud takes our fleet(0/23/4) north to regroup.
November 1587 - The Hansa land a small Army at Naples and are driven into the sea. Admiral Daoud returns and engages the Courland fleet(12) under the unfortunately named Admiral Kluczberk. Both fleets lose three ships, but Kluczberk retreats. The Navarran and Hansa fleets are also sailing west and Daoud goes to Port Naples for some R &R.
January 1588 - Istria and Naples both revolt but the garrisons win the battles. We offer Portugal 250 to end the war but they refuse. Very well, we must win some battles.
April 1588 - After four years of war Prussia is annexed by Spain, however since Prussia was down to the single province of East Prussia the potential economic bonus to Spain is probably outweighed by the requirement to defend a single outpost on the Bazltic Sea. Of more importance is the lessening of the coalition against Spain
May 1588 - The Portuguese fleet(5) is defeated off ROme. We lose Naples to an uprising of Rebel scum and a second revolt in June brings the rebel army to 36/12/0.
July 1588 - An army from Navarre lands in Naples, defeats the rebels and besiges our fort. We prepare another expidition in Illyria.
September 1588 - The Portugues fleet(12) sails into the Adriatic to disrupt our preparations, but they lose two ships and retreat.
January 1589 - The Army(25/7/0) lands in Naples and confronts the force from Navarre(28/0/0). The battle is lost and our Army reboards the ships. A force from Portugaul forces its way through the Bosphorous and lands in Dobrujda. The local garrison Army forces them to retreat.
June 1589 - Cyprus revolts and our Army(17/5/0) returns to Naples. We are victorious there and in a rapid succession of victories we defeat Portugal in Cyprus and The Hansa in Dobrujda. Diplomats are dispatched to the Baltic and The Hansa and Courland retire from the war without tribute.
July 1590 - Navarre is defeated at sea near Messina. An interesting point is that a rebellion has broken out in that province but Spain has not moved to quash it. Spanish fleerts circle the British Isles, but there have been no landings yet while in the Mediterranean Cyrenica is still defiant. Perhaps Spain has bitten off more than she can chew?
September 1590 - Crete(14/5/0) rebels against us and we have no troops available to restore order. All this fuss over two lousy Trading Posts!!!
October 1590 - A Portuguese fleet(5) is annihilated by our forces(9/0/0). and a second Portuguese fleet(10) is sunk off Naples. Portugal rejects our offer of peace and we regretfully prepare for the invasion of Portugal..
July 1591 - Navarre seizes Naples but our fleet is ready to assault Portugal. Barely have we set course for the Gulf of Cadiz when the Portuguese offer a White Peace. We agree, and our invasion force is diverted to garrison Naples.
August 1591 - A random event improves our relations with the Papal states by +25. Rather ironic given our long term strategy.
October 1591 - Spain pays 250 to England in exchange for peace. England retains the province of Murcia in southeast Spain.
June 1592 - Naples revolts and Poland, France and Lorraine declare war on Turkey. The Naples revolt is easily crushed, but Poland will take longer. Lorraine accepts an immediate peace but France rejects our offer. A Polish Army of 60,000 marches towards Bessabarabia.
July 1592 Poland takes Bessabarabia and storms the fort. They move south.
September 1592 - Poland takes Bujak and storms the fort
October 1592 - General Mugla's Army(14/7/0) meets the invading Poles(15) in Dobrudja. General Radimir loses 9,000 sons of Warsaw bwefore he returns north. Our losses are 2,000. The Poles have been stopped for the moment. A French Army(15/0/0) has stormed ashore at Naples and engages our garrison army(25/3/3). Our army is annihilated and only 4,000 French die in the battle.
November 1592 - Our attempt to relieve Crete fails and the troops reboard the transports. We offer France 250 to end the war, but they refuse.
March 1593 - A second landing in Crete is successful and we destroy the rebel army before settling down to beseige the fort.
June 1593 - A Polish strike into Dobrujda catches our army reorganising and we fall back to Rumellia.
July 1593 - A Polish fleet(31/0/0) is beaten by our fleet(0/31/5) off Naples.
September 1593 - Hungary declares war on Turkey.
November 1593 - Naples revolts(23) catching the French garrison(9) by surprise. An attacking Hungarian Army(20) is beaten in Illyria and retreats into Hungary. The French are wiped out.
December 1593 - Poland offers peace and is willing to pay 140 for the priviledge. We accept, and turn our energies to destroying Hungary and retaking Naples.
January 1594 - Our invading Army(18/12/4) finds a massive Hungarian defence(75/0/0) in Croatia. Our forces defeat the enemy and force it(60/0/0) to retreat and then our battered army(12/12/3) beseiges the fort(10/0/2).
January 1595 - Persia finally declares war on our fair land. It had to come. We have an army in Hungary's capital and that persuades them to accept a white peace. Our fort in Bessabarabia is strengthened to hold back any future Polish assaults and we turn our attention to the East.
June 1595 - Persia has trampled our eastern provinces into the dust while we assemble an Army in Syria. The Edict of Tolerance is passed and eight countries return to Catholicism, including Spain and the Papal States.
May 1596 - Persia has taken over half of Turkey, but her armies are exhausted. Our troops are starting to win battles and liberate provinces. Persia sees the writing on the war and offers us 250 for Peace. We accept and turn back towarsds the Papal states.
May 1598 - Our fleet has arrived in the Adriatic with our Army from the east. The Papal states have 60,000 troops spread across three provinces. Can we march across Italy before they can assemble as one force. Will the Papal State's allies stand by the crumbling Empire?
June 1598 - Only Portugal stands by the Papacy as our troops come ashore in the northernmost Papal province of Bologna.
July 1598 - The opposition retreats before us and our Army(14/7/1) reaches Rome with no opposition. A steady flow of reinforcements are shuttled across the Adriatic. The Roman Army(27/1/0) turns to face us but are annihilated without mercy. The Papacy offers 125 for peace but we are too close to give up now.
April 21st 1599 - ROME: After a year of seige and despite three seperate relief attempts by the Papal armies the Eternal City falls to General Pechlivan's Army of Austria. The people are calm and the streets are patrolled regularly by the Turkish garrison(8/23/1). The whereabouts of Pope Greven are unknown...
September 29th 1599 - The Papal States are annexed by Turkey. It doesn't get better than this. Time to retire and think about my next campaign
THE END
Victory Points
TOTAL
Spain(1470) Turkey(1108) France(651) China(641) England(626) Portugal(559) Poland(446)
MILITARY
Turkey(533) Russia(56) Courland(21) Poland(20) Hessen(20) Spain(20) England(19)
ECONOMY
Spain(1225) China(553) France(502) England(461) Turkey(454) Portugal(437) Poland(305)
DIPLOMACY
Spain(224) Brandenberg(207) France(169) Denmark(152) Portugal(148) England(144) Crimea(127) Turkey(0)