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Nice job handling Bohemia and mighty kind of you to let Austria have some of the spoils of war.
Indeed - I often wish the AI were so generous. Especially as Scotland allied with France against the English - you do all the work and then they take all the goodies.
You didn't take Wrocław?!?!
(it's my second-favourite Polish city) Good luck, and well done on reasserting the Union.
Im hoping for a Boundary dispute or the "Claims on our rivals" event for some free cores before i rush of the conquer stuff.
Ah. Very wise. I got lucky in my pre-AAR practice Poland game and got an early Claim on Wrocław/Breslau, Ersekjuvar and one in Brandenburg: I wanted the first two provinces, and wanted a CB so I could vassalise Brandenburg. Hope I get simialrly lucky when I actually get round to AARing it.
Good luck. I'll be taking notes
Ah Poland, nice to see you regained the Union and fended off the encroachments of your neighbours...for now
Charge!!!
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The peasant war
The peasant war in Poland began when several villagers decided to join togheter and attempt to put preasure on the regency council to make som concession towards the lower classes in Poland.
In the begining the Regency council refused the peasants demands out of fear of the nobles in Poland resisting and maybe even taking up arms against the council. Two major revolts sparked in 1407. 5000 peasants took up arms against the local noble lords in Sandomierz. Zyndram led his army of veterans from the Bohemian war against them. The battle was very onesided but Zyndram himself following the example of the late king Wladyslaw led from the front and fell victim to a stray crossbow bolt. The rebellion was put down but Poland had lost one of its most skilled Generals.
The other revolt was of no concern, 4000 peasant took up arms in Plock but was slaughtered by Polish cavalry. This would effectievly put an end to peasant revolts in Poland, atleast for a while. The break could not have come at a better time. The Muslim hordes in the East once againt threaten Lithuania and Moldavia.
While the Lithuanians has the military manpower to resist the hordes they lack coordinated leadership (Lithuanias armies run around like confused cattle)
Meanwhile at home the regency council yet again refuses the peasants of Poland their demands. Another 4000 peasants are massacred in Plock.
Poland now faces both internal strife and external threats. The hordes seem unstoppable and several lithuanian towns and villages have been pillaged and burned. This forces the regency council to go against the wishes of the other nobles and actually grant the peasants some minor concessions.
Shortly after this The regency council fells secure enough to dispatch 8000 men (half of Poland men under arms) to Lithuania in a desperate attempt to restore order and halt the Hordes aproach.
In late December 1408 the regency council feels forced to once again defy the nobles and grant further rights to the lower classes.
The war in the east
In March 1409 16000 Poles attempt to drive out the Horde from Podolia, however the Polish comander Zbigniew (Really??) z Brzezia is nowhere as competent as Wladyslaw or Zyndram and he is defeated.
However Zbigniew returns to Podolia in and the skeleton garrison left by the horde is overcome in September.
Zbigniew Marches noth towards Kiev but is ambushed by horde cavalry and is forced to retreat. The war looks grimmer and grimmer by the day. Zbigniew resorts to simply following the hordes armies and liberating the towns that the horde attempts to garrison. This continues untill March 1411 when the horde gives battle in Mogilyov. The horde is severly exhausted and lacks food. Zbigniew finally achives a victory.
Despite this victory, if it can be called that? The golden horde still holds much Lithuanian territory, the serfs in both Lihuania and Poland gets more and more agitated as more and more families lose Fathers and sons in a hopeless war.
To be continued.
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Ouch, it seems that lithuania will fracture, the only thing left to hope for after that is that Golden horde fracture as well.
You need to stop the horde, otherwise they'll pour into the balkans and by 1550 Austria will be in China.
It is, and with all those rebles half of their sizable army is stuck in meaningless sieges.
The Lithuanians sure need assistance. Too bad you can't spare more men but you have problems at home...Time for the Lithuanians to be the receipient of a Dowding/Churchill moment?
Well I wouldnt know what a "Dowding/Churchill moment" is, and even if I did I doubt it would happen. Lithuania cant simply focus on one thing, it seiges a rebel province, then marches al the way across the land and sieges a GH territory, just to walk all the way back again.
Charge!!!
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Ever the Hordes, we shall not waver or fall
As the war in the East drags on the situation for Lithuania is looking grimmer and grimmer by the day. The horde has reached Minsk, not far from the Lithuanin capital of Vilna. Zbigniew leads an combined Polish Lithuanian army to Chernigov in an attempt to cut off the hordes reinforcements, he fails as the hordes massive cavalry charges splinter and routs his infantry with little effort.
Distraught by his losses and his inability to push the hordes back Zbigniew commits suicide in March 1412. Poland now stands without a clear military commander. The Regency council emideatly begins looking for a suitable replacement but very few men wants the position.
By June 1412 Zbigniews replacement reaches the Polish army in Lithuania. Zygfryd Ostrorog. A calm and collected man who rarely takes risks, personal or armywise. He gives Poland its first victory over a horde army in a long time. By now the Regency Council has commited all of Polands forces to the war effort.
This victory is celebrated heavily across Poland and its citizens finds renewd focus. This combined with the Regency councils willingness to accept the peasants demands on no less the two occations leads to an effective end to the peasant war.
This victory is emediatly followed by an additional in early July. It seems like the tide of the war is turning. However the Horde still has substantial forces in Lithuania and the Lithuanian army still lacks focus.
The war drags on with partisan warfare going on in the trails of the hordes. No real battles are fought until March 1413. Outside Kiev Zygfryd meets a sizable Horde army. Conventional tactics calls for a withdrawal and regrouping of forces in face of a superior force. But in a rare and unfortunate differention in charachter Zygfryd decides to attack. It is a costly mistake and in just a few hours the situation is back to what it was in early 1412
The war reverts to its old partisan warfare days and little of note happens until April 1414 when the Republic of Novgorod attacks Lithuania. Poland along with all her allies answers the call to arms in face of such blatant aggression.
The work of subduing the Russians is mostly carried out by the teutonic knights who fight valiantly and with clear purpose. The Teutons make short work of the Novgorodians and a Status quo ante bellum is signed in December 1414.
The partisan war wages on with little or no gains for either side untill the battle of Polatava in July 1415. The armies meet on a field just outside the city walls and as the midday sun gazes upon the battlefield the Polish army is utterly crushed by the Horsemen of the horde. 9000 of them thunder across the plains and smash into the Polish lines. The battle is over before it even began.
The scattered remains of the once proud Polish army limps back to Lublin. The 8th of July 1415 will forever be rememberd as the day god turned his back on Poland.
However not all is Dark. In August crown prince Stanislaw reaches the age of 15 and is officially crowned "King of Poland-Lithuania and protector of Moldavia." Stanislaw 11 year old brother Henry becomes the legal heir.
But not even the coronation of a new king can dampen the feeling of darkness and despair that now sets over Poland and its subjects. The Hordes are unrelenting and no end to the war is in sight.
To be continued.
To me it seems like you are toast, but hopefully you can turn it around. and also maybe the horde will get new enemies on other borders so it does not commit all their forces against you
derahan
Cheerios!
derahan
Cheerios!
Hmm. A tough one. A vassal or two might come in handy for dealing with the Horde. Any chance of getting into a fight with, for instance, Pommerania or Thuringia and vassalising them? An extra 6000 men might make all the difference.
Edit: I know this will rely on driving the Horde out of Ukraine, but if you could colonise Zaporozhia and Kharkov, you could then release the useful Zaporozhia. Might not get the chance any time soon, but helped me a lot in my current game.
Edit: I know this will rely on driving the Horde out of Ukraine, but if you could colonise Zaporozhia and Kharkov, you could then release the useful Zaporozhia. Might not get the chance any time soon, but helped me a lot in my current game.
Scorch earth and keep retreating and fighting the horde when you feel like you have a chance. My Russia game had a very similar beginning, except I was even smaller and poorer and was sure that I was a goner at least a dozen times before the horde finally started falling apart. Good luck!
When France was going down for the count in 1940, Churchill wanted to commit a large number of RAF aircraft to try to stem the tide. The head of Fighter Command (Hugh Dowding) questioned the commitment, raising the concern that British defenses had already been weakened and that aircraft destroyed fighting in France would be unavailable to defend Great Britain from the inevitable air attack. A "compromise" was reached but it was recognized that the RAF would fight to the last plane over England not France.
It seems to me that Poland needs to decide what it needs out of Lithuania. At least the TO took the Novgordians out but there will be more vultures circling. And I see that your manpower pool is depleted.
Not toast, toast is your department. French toast.
I cant colonise as I dont border the Horde
I cant scorch Lithuanian land.
Its annoyng, I cant give the horde a few of Lithuanias territories for peace, Im stuck in the war untill I can ask for a cencession of defeat.