Rifal: Thanks for the first reaction! Im well aware of Burgundy's tread. So I played ahead a little to make sure this AAR doesnt die after update 1!
UnitRico: Burgundy is quite annoying, however it wasn't them who stomped Holland here. See the update!
Tim: Thank you very much, hope I wont fail! Although Ive done it before.
Derahan: Thanks, senator!
Onwards, to the sea!
The Duchy of Brabant and the surrounding nations
'S Hertogenbosch, Royal Palace, 10-01-1356
Queen Jeanne sat in her throne room. Although the so-called royal palace wasn't nearly as royal as the name suggested, she liked the chambers. She considered herself lucky for the fact that one of her ancestors liked big windows. For the time of the year, it was actually quite warm outsides and she briefly considered going out for a morning walk in the palace gardens. But there was a lot of work to do still. The door opened and the Royal Advisor entered the room, Orland Debruyne. Although he had studied production efficiency in one of the more famous Italian universities he mainly had the task to help her govern the Duchy and more.
''There you are, Orland.'' Jeanne spoke. She jumped on her feet and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
''Goodmorning, your royal highness!'' he said with a smile. ''I'm sorry if I kept you waiting but I had to finish the payrolls first.'' He produced a map of the Duchy from his pocket and spread it out on the table.
''I had our finest artist draw this map for us. Here are our lands, surrounded by squabbling Dutch and German city states, all wanting a piece of our nation. Actually they probably want a piece of any nation that surrounds them.'' he explained.
The queen nodded in assessment. ''We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves like this. The Burgundians can strike any moment and once the English and French are done they might both turn their eyes to us. ''
Orland stared at the map for a moment and then pointed towards the bishopric of Utrecht. ''Utrecht is a wealthy city, but more importantly it has access to naval trade routes. In recent years a lot of our merchants already settled there for that exact reason. If we were to incorporate the city into our realm they will make sure that civil unrest will stay at a minimum.''
The queen smiled, maybe her idea of a united Low Countries wasn't that unrealistic after all. ''We will have to use diplomacy though, our armies aren't strong enough yet.'' she said.
''Don't worry, dear. I've already given orders to the captain of the guard to start recruiting more men.'' he once again produced a number of papers from his other pocket this time and spread them out on the table. ''Take a look''
Overview of the Royal family and their advisors
Sliders and movement to Free Trade
Current mission from the Court, the conquest of the Archbishopric Utrecht
Jeanne looked over the data. '' Excellent, this will give us a legitimate cause to declare war on Utrecht. We will need support though.''
''Consider it done, your majesty.'' Orland grinned.
Maybe I should consider myself lucky with him, the queen thought. ''Come walk with me'' she spoke after looking outside again. He quickly fetched some coats to protect against the cold and proceeded to open the door. One of the guardsman followed the pair when they stepped outside to enjoy the wintery sun.
Alliance offers from Cologne and Trier (not shown), offering alliance to Friesland
The Army of Brabant getting some practice against Friesian rebels.
S-Hertogenbosch, Royal Palace, 31-07-1356
''Our army was competent in dispatching the rebels raiding our Friesian allies.'' Orland spoke to the queen.
''A young captain named Guy de Bruxelles proved himself, although rounding up peasants might not be the most difficult task he showed promise.'' he continued.
Jeanne nodded. ''Excellent, once our armies are complete and our allies are ready we can start. Although I am a little worried about the Luxembourg and Liege signing an alliance with Utrecht, the Germans agreed on taking them out.''
She felt a little excited. What if she could actually succeed? Even the city of Utrecht alone would expand her little duchy considerably. Once the new army regiments would be done their standing army would have doubled from before. However with the Frisian insurgents running rampant across their countryside it would take at least a year before they were ready for war.
Jeanne then looked up at Orland, it was a public secret now that they were seeing each other and the young queen couldn't help but smile. Soon, she thought. When Orland noticed her smiling like that she felt a little stupid but kept smiling nonetheless. ''Come here,'' she whispered as she grabbed his hand. She briefly noticed the guards politely turning their backs towards the pair before her mind got occupied with something else.
War with Utrecht and its allies!
Army Barracks, outside 'S-Hertogenbosch, 25-06-1357
One year later
Queen Jeanne de Reginar and her husband emerged from a carriage that just stopped in front of the troops. Captain Guy de Bruxelles saluted the royal pair.
''Your majesty, I present you the Army of Brabant!'' he spoke proudly.
The queen inspected the troops briefly and then walked over to a small stage which had been built for her visit. With a powerful voice she then addressed the men.
''Soldiers! Today is the day we have been preparing for one and a half year! Today we begin uniting the Low countries under our banner! We will we start with our Utrechtian neighbours! We will start small. But we will not stop there! Maybe it won't be us, maybe it won't be our children but one day our descendants will rule over Europe!'' The queen had to pause there because the men had erupted into wild cheering.
Guy had to admit that the queen spoke powerful words. Words that could potentially include lots of wealth.
''Let's go forth and claim what is rightfully ours! Under the capable command of Captain de Bruxelles go and bring home the city of Utrecht!''
Ten days into the conquest of Utrecht the Scots annexed Brabant's neighbor Holland in a stunning move, everyone expected the lands to go to Burgundy
The Dutch state of Holland surrendered to the Scottish and Burgundian troops besieging their cities. They were directly incorporated into Scotland. The armies of Brabant and Utrecht are still fighting outside the city. Meanwhile rumors of Burgundian troops marching near Brabant's border reached the court.
An overview of the warring alliances, Gelre joined later and Aachen would join Luxembourg near the end of the war
The local population in occupied territories is getting upset
Ten months into the war the Liegian armies had occupied Brussels and moved on to besieging Maastricht. The local population did not take this occupation kindly and regulary rioted againt the occupiers. However not all protests were directed against the enemy. Peasant mobs wanted to end the war and also rose up in Breda. Other fronts were more successful though. The Friesian army was occupying Gelre and Utrecht was about to fall. The Luxembourgian army was soundly beaten and their country was occupied by Trier, but the cities kept stubbornly resisting. The Liegian capital of Liege was being besieged by Cologne's army.
May, 1358, The city of Utrecht has fallen, direct annexation was demanded.
s-Hertogenbosch, Royal Palace, 15-05-1358
A messenger stormed into the Throne Room. ''Your majesty! The city has fallen! Utrecht is ours!'' he shouted.
The queen, now more than eight months pregnant jumped on her feet the best she could. ''Finally! Demand their annexation at once. '' she ordered the messenger.
The messenger nodded once and immediately left for the stables, with a fresh horse he could be back in Utrecht within two days. The queen sent a servant to bring Orland the good news. What could go wrong now? They would order the army to march for Maastricht, finally relieving the city. Within a month the Duchy would have a new heir and she could already feel the income increase with the new sea routes.
The Royal pair's first child.
s-Hertogenbosch, Royal Palace, 25-06-1358
Queen Jeanne and Orland Debruyne already got married back in October 1357. It wasn't the most opportune time maybe, with Brabant occupied and Limburg besieged. But sometimes one has to do what one has to do. Nine months later followed to birth of Guillaume. Finally the Duchy had an heir. However from the start it was painfully obvious that the baby didn't have good health. The royal surgeon couldn't do much but to ease the suffering. Their only hope was praying, praying that fortune would keep favoring them.
Guillaume dies of a fever.
Ten days later Guillaume died. Quenne Jeanne was heartbroken and locked herself into the royal bedroom, refusing to speak to anyone but her husband. However more dark tidings were yet to come. In a stunning move the army of Liege had destroyed Brabant's troops which were sent to Maastricht in a series of attacks. Captain Guy de Bruxelles managed to escape the onslaught and fled to Den Bosch a couple of days later. Brabant was without an army now. Hope was not lost completely though. Cologne and Trier occupied Luxembourg and Friesian troops finally conquered Gelre. A messenger from the German forces reached Den Bosch soon after. The city of Luxembourg was about the fall, would that happen the enemy's coalition would surely agree to a white peace.
The end of the war
In December word reached both fronts that Luxembourg had finally fallen. The Luxembourgians, now without army and land quickly dispatched a messenger to s-Hertogenbosch. Debruyne signed white peace on behalf of the queen immediately. Their first goal had finally been accomplished. However the costs had been greater than anyone could have thought. Their army would need rebuilding to protect against larger nations and the queen... Debruyne hoped time would both heal her wounds and give her back her spirit.
The Duchy of Brabant three years after Jeanne's plan