Iron Cross: The Last Crusade of the Teutonic Knights

The crusade continues...

Although we had now received the vassalage of the Prussian elector, our economic problems persisted as loan interest drove inflation past the 20% mark and a work slowdown by artisan's guilds as a protest against high taxes caused a sharp drop in production during 1518. The royal marriage with Russia that had provided such useful intelligence expired with the death of the Russian archduke, and on an ominous note, the Russians snubbed our envoys who sought to arrange another. We were able, however, to forge a new marriage contract with the Danish court (a useful hedge against the hated Swedes), and I was careful to correspond regularly during this period with the Hansetag. With the uncertainty of the international situation I was most anxious to keep my friends close at hand.
There were some minor setbacks during this period; small-scale rebellions broke out in Nyland in 1520 and 1523, and in the spring of 1521 one of our galleys inexplicably caught fire and sank while at anchor ( We suspect agents of the Swedish crown). On the positive side, though, my austerity program was beginning to bear fruit; by the start of 1522 we had paid off two of our loans, leaving only one still outstanding. Moreover, meaningful discussions with the ambassadors of Denmark and Prussia and a new royal marriage with the ruling family of Brandenburg strengthened our national security.

In January of 1525 Albrecht von Hohenzollern, the Grand Master, was thrown violently from his horse whilst pursuing a hare at breakneck speed across an icy field. Within days he succumbed to his injuries and the Knights of the Order were convened once again to choose a new Hochmeister. In a dramatic scene at the Great Hall that valiant old warrior, Walter von Plettenburg, was elected by the acclamation of his peers. Shortly thereafter, I issued instructions to the exchequer to pay off the last of our loans. It seemed that a new era of peace, prosperity and strength lay ahead for our ancient brotherhood. At the beginning of 1526, however, it would all change.

January 1, 1526- As I pored over the daily reports whilst enjoying a leisurely breakfast, an agitated courtier arrived at my rooms with the news that the bishop of Dorpat was angrily demanding an audience with me. Angry at being disturbed, I nevertheless recognized the bishop as a powerful figure and reluctantly pushed aside my plate and made haste to the audience hall to meet with him. The bishop was in high dudgeon when I met him, and I would soon find out why. It seemed that the royal family of Prussia had chosen to celebrate the New Year by openly attending a Lutheran chapel, where the duke publicly proclaimed his conversion to the Protestant faith amid scenes of unrestrained rejoicing by his subjects. "What", thundered the bishop, "do you intend to do about this?" In truth, there was only one thing to be done- the Grand Master must summon the general council of the Order to secret session.

By the time the meeting was convened, heralds had confirmed that the Prussian elector had repudiated his allegiance to the Grand Master and unilaterally denounced the treaty of alliance. As stormy debate swirled between the assembled Knights, three distinct schools of thought emerged. Some of the brotherhood believed that we should follow the example of our longtime friends, throw off the tutelage of Rome and forge a new Protestant confederacy in northern Europe. Others, more cautious, urged that we remain nominally Catholic for the moment, await developments and gradually repair our links with the Prussians through the usual diplomatic channels. The third party was represented by a grizzled old Knight, a veteran of the Russian and Swedish wars. "This is our chance!", he roared, slamming his fist down on the oaken council table. "Mobilize the army at once, march on Prussia, crush them and annex their lands! No one will lift a finger to help the heretics!" Others shouted him down, and the meeting broke up after midnight, with our course still undecided.

I retired to my rooms to consider the matter. Before I did, I pulled aside a herald and gave him two messages. One was for the kitchen; a flagon of Rhenish wine was to be sent up to me. The other was to the military commanders in the east; they were to be ready to move at a moment's notice.

Wow, reading all the great new AAR's (and the conclusion of Pat's England game) got me itching to get this one going again...so here goes.

Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Prussia.

The argument of the battle-scarred knight at the great hall resonated with me. After conferring with Hochmeister von Plettenburg, I was resolved to crush our former allies by force of arms and annex the lands of ducal Prussia (which, according to my legal advisers, rightfully belong to the Order) to our realm. In the spring of 1526, under conditions of greatest secrecy, the Hochmeister's army was gradually withdrawn from the Nyland front facing the Swedes and replaced by other troops. By summer our plans were ready. Von Plettenburg, with 13,000 troops and a dozen cannon, would drive for the Prussian capital at Konigsberg, whilst a second force of 8,000 men Invested Memel to the north. On August 25, our herald delivered the declaration of war to Duke Albrecht's court.

Albrecht's response was bold and impetuous; at the head of 10,000 horsemen he swept across the borders of Kurland, riding hard towards Riga. The speed of his advance upset our timetable, but in September his army dashed itself against the rock which had so often wrecked our enemies...von Plettenburg. The Hochmeister's skillful use of his small artillery force shattered the ranks of the valiant but doomed heavy horsemen of the enemy, and our victory was so complete that Duke Albrecht's field force for all intents and purposes ceased to exist. By October both Konigsberg and Memel lay under the long shadow of our siege engines.

As our engineers set about the tedious task of undermining the enemy's walls, the Protestant doctrine continued to spread like wildfire through northern Europe. As 1526 became 1527 the King of Sweden and the Duke of Wurttemberg both converted to the new faith, and word reached us that the cities of the Hanse had also officially adopted the Lutheran creed. We expected to shortly hear word that they were repudiating their alliance with us, but the word never came. Perhaps they felt it dishonorable to abandon an ally in time of war...even an ally that still professed allegiance to Rome. Even so, I felt that it would be prudent to do what was necessary to keep the League in our camp, corresponding regularly with the Hansetag. And when, in March of '27, the Hanseatic fleet was battered by a Prussian flotilla in the Baltic Sea, I dispatched our small (10 galleys) navy to their aid.

By April Konigsberg had had enough, surrendering to the Grand Master's forces. Von Plettenburg immediately wheeled north to assist with the capture of Memel, the enemy's last remaining citadel. The Prussians, unfortunately, were not quite ready to quit; in May 2 of their warships sent our fleet scuttling for the safety of Riga harbor, and in June an assault against the walls of Memel met with a bloody repulse. Nevertheless, without allies or hope of succor, their defeat was only a matter of time.

Christmas 1527- With our mangonels smashing ever larger gaps in the city wall, von Plettenburg and I decided that the Christmas holiday would be the perfect time to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's defenses. At dawn on Christmas Day, a single flaming arrow arched across the sky toward Memel-at this signal 15,000 Knights rose from their trenches with blood-curdling yells and thundered toward the gates of the city. By midmorning all rsistance had been smashed and the banner of the Black Cross once again streamed in triumph over the enemy's battlements. Duke Albrecht, it was said, had taken refuge at the Swedish court, and the lands of Prussia resumed their rightful place as provinces of the Order.

That day, I rode through the streets of Memel with my personal bodyguard, past piles of butchered corpses, smouldering ruins and emaciated scarecrows pleading for a crust of bread. At the doors of the cathedral I dismounted, and bade my knights wait for me as I pushed through the massive oaken doors into the cool darkness of the sanctuary. Kneeling before the altar in my blood-spattered armor, I prayed to God for forgiveness for the course I had chosen. Soon, I promised Him, I would do what I could to make our nation righteous in his eyes.

Major Braganca-

Thanks for your interest. Yes, it's true, if you like fighting war after war on a shoestring budget, the Teutonic Order is a blast to play.

At this point (1528) we've managed to carve out a decent little Baltic Empire, from Konigsberg in the west to Ivangorod in the east and northward to Viborg. Oddly enough no one as yet has seemed much concerned with stopping us- the Russians have been busy subduing the khanates and Sweden seems preoccupied with Denmark...and of course each has already gotten a black eye from us. The Poles, meanwhile, have thankfully been unable to build an effective alliance (their only ally being the Pope). Maybe I can look around the forums here and figure out how to put up a screenshot.

And yes, you're right...I have been a bad boy...perhaps the time has come for a "Reformation" of my ways...

"...this weak piping time of peace..."

January, 1528...

Although the Prussian campaign had been victoriously concluded, several pressing matters absorbed my attention at this time. Foremost among them was the religious question, a controversy which grew more acute with each passing day. Consulting with the Grand Master, I suggested that the general council be called to session to settle the matter once and for all. I did not tell him that I had called in every political favor owed to me to assure that the Lutheran faction would win the day...I was determined that my promise to God would be made good.

The session was a stormy one, but the Knights voted to renounce Catholicism and adopt Protestantism as the official faith of the realm. There was much bitterness, however, amongst those who wished to remain Catholic, some of whom were the most powerful members of the Order. The result was that something close to chaos disrupted the workings of the state for a considerable time.

Although our military campaigns had been crowned with success so far, it seemed that our (ahem) aggressive approach to diplomacy had led to a serious problem; we began to find ourselves to be something of an international pariah. Suddenly we were without allies, and our emissaries reported that we were cordially detested by virtually every crowned head in Europe. Apparently we were universally regarded as not only bloodthirsty warmongers, but now as heretics as well. It seemed to me that the time had come for a shift in policy...I convinced the Hochmeister that we should lie low for the time being, and try to repair some of the bridges we had so cavalierly burned.

To this end I began an earnest correspondence with the Hansetag and Joachim of Brandenburg, who were no longer our allies but with whom we still managed to maintain a somewhat civil relationship. When Ludwig V, the Elector Palatine, joined the Protestant community I immediately began to correspond with him as well, presenting him with a superb sword crafted by Riga's most famous smith.

June, 1529...

At my weekly meeting with our finance minister, I arrived to find the normally staid ledger-keeper twitching with excitement. He told me that two successive bad harvests had led to a severe shortage of wheat throughout Europe. Our provinces, on the other hand, had not been affected and our storehouses were bulging with good Baltic grain. He had arranged the sale of a large portion of the stuff, a deal which had netted us close to 3,000 ducats! I very nearly fell over...our coffers had never seen anything close to that kind of coin.

Immediately I began to scheme...what to do with all that money?

Re: What to do with $$$

Originally posted by Morpheus506

1. Buy good relations with everyone else.
2. Buy fortress and bailiff-type upgrades.
3. Buy a huge army.
4. Buy a slightly less huge navy.
5. Invest uber-heavily on tech, esp. Military & Naval.
6. Go conquer the world!!! (But leave SIBIR alone!!!)
   [/list=1]

Click to expand...

1. 
   
   Morpheus-
   Those are generally the lines I'm thinking on right now, except I may put a bit more emphasis on the navy. For a nation consisting entirely of coastal provinces, our sea power is pretty much a joke.
   
   And don't worry...I'm fairly sure we don't even know where Sibir is yet.

In the spring of 1530 I met with the aging Grand Master von Plettenburg (who by now had retired from active service in the field) and outlined to him my plans for disposing of our windfall. A number of long-cherished projects could now be set afoot. The fortresses of Reval and Ivangorod were to be strengthened and brought up to date. A consortium between the state and a number of merchants would begin construction of a distillery in Kurland, which would bring in much needed revenue. We could afford a modest increase in our military forces- especially the navy, which was thouroughly inadequate to defend our long Baltic coastline. But the largest part of the money was to be spent on a diplomatic offensive aimed at bringing security to our realm, presently encircled by implacable enemies. It promised to be an expensive undertaking, made even more difficult by the fact that we of the Order are bred for war and conquest, not the exchanging of pleasantries. Nevertheless, we resolved to make the attempt.

To that end, the Elector Palatine and the margrave of Brandenburg became the regular recipients of expensive gifts and letters of fulsome praise from the palace of the Hochmeister. When Philip of Hesse and Ernst I of Hanover declared for the Protestant cause in 1532 I saw to it that each received tapestries which depicted the famous deeds of their respective houses. Then, in 1533, Henry VIII of England made his break with the Church of Rome. I made haste to assure the great king of the admiration he enjoyed among the Teutonic Knights, sending him 100 oaken casks of schnapps manufactured at our newly-finished refinery. Other gifts followed, for I was most anxious to win the friendship of the English- for one simple reason. I had heard reports that the English knew of, and had even begun to colonize, a vast stretch of untamed wilderness far to the east, beyond the Atlantic sea.

I wanted those maps.

January, 1535...

After long and valiant service to the Order, the great von Plettenburg finally breathes his last this month. The Knights continue the (to my mind) unfortunate tradition of electing soldiers to the office of Grand Master by choosing Hermann Brugsenei, von Plettenburg's longtime lieutenant, to be the new Hochmeister. Brugsenei is undoubtedly an accomplished field commander, but his lack of administrative skills and soldier's contempt for the diplomatic profession do not make my job any easier.

This period was marked mostly by continued negotiations with the Hanseatic League, Brandenburg and Henry of England. As a show of largesse we handed over our maps of the East to the Hansetag and the Brandenburgers, an act which was rewarded by their adherence to a military pact in December of 1537. In the succeeding few years we further cemented relations by arranging royal marriages with all three powers. In the meantime I decided that our internal security would be well served by offering incentives for German Protestant settlers to move into Orthodox Ingermanland. This project was so successful that within a short time, the majority of the inhabitants of Ingermanland were of the true faith.

September, 1543...

While on an inspection tour of the armies on the Swedish frontier, I am informed that our ambassador to England is waiting outside my tent for an audience. Surprised, I order my guards to admit him.
"What are you doing here?", I ask him. "Why are you not in London?"
"My lord", he replies, " I thought it best that I deliver these to you personally. A gift from His Majesty, Henry of England."
The ambassador begins to spread out a number of parchments on the conference table.
"What are these?"
"Maps, my lord. Maps of the land beyond the ocean. And there's also this."
The ambassador took from his pocket what looked like a bowl with a long handle. He held it to the taper, then put it to his lips. I recoiled as he seemingly inhaled fire and exhaled smoke, like a dragon.
"They call it tobacco, lord. It is grown in this New World. It is quite...enjoyable."
"Indeed? Give me the bowl. And get out. I wish to study these undisturbed."
"Yes, Lord."

I lit the bowl as I had seen the ambassador do, exaling a plume of bluish smoke into the air.

Hmm. Not bad. Not bad at all.