To Live by the Sword

Salonica--Next Evening

Sorry, but I've been busy all day. When did I leave off? 1419?

Thank you.

...but in 1419, Mehmed struck. His target was the city of Antalya on the southern coast of Anatolia. Within eight days of his arrival in February he had completely destroyed the local military and beseiged the city.


The gate of Antalya

The siege was painfully slow. The expense of keeping an army out in the field for such a long time forced Mehmed to take out a loan within a year. Eventually, he died in May 1421 before the city fell.

Mehmed was succeeded by Murad II. Murad immediately took command of the beseiging army and quickly forced the city to surrender.

Next on the list of conquest was the outlying areas of the Byzantine Empire--to be exact, Morea. Murad personally led an army south to Greece while Turkish cavalry swept through Thrace and the Ottoman navy cut off the sea. Morea was about to fall when urgent news arrived:

The Turks of Karaman had attacked.

Oh, it's getting late, isn't it? Until tommorow, then.

[Don't worry. Once things start heating up, updates will get longer. Such as this one. ]

Northwest of Langadhás--Two days later

Have you ever heard how the Turks began? Legend says that Satan (that's where the Turks get Sultan, the word for their leader), one day, came across a beautiful Mongolian woman.

Overtaken with lust, he first took the form of the woman's husband, who was off at war. But he failed to correctly adopt his mannerisms and the woman saw through the ruse. The second time he made himself out to be the leader of another tribe. He burned the village and raped the woman. She bore twins: one male, one female. Those two were the first Turks.

Now that you know that these men are half-demons and half-Mongols, their actions make more sense, now don't they?

It should come as no surprise to find the Turks fighting each other. The old saying goes, Evil always defeats itself. Thus it was with the Turks. Murad quickly made peace with the Byzantines, then brought his army across to fight Karaman.

However, as he brought his army past Antalya, he was ambushed--by the Knights of St. John.

Murad quickly led his army out of the trap--he was greatly outnumbered, and Hugh Middleton, the Knights' general, was a quite able commander. However, as Murad rushed up into the Anatolian mountains, he found himself face-to-face with an army from Karaman beseiging Ankara.

Murad was forced back into the plains around Bursa. With Karaman besieging Ankara, the Knights beseiging Antalya, and new reports of revolts in Bulgaria coming over, the Sultan found himself in a bad place. However, he quickly found an ally--the Turks of Candar to the northeast.

At first, this seemed fortunate--not only was there someone to fight off Karaman, but Candar was at war with Byzantium and Murad could take the valuable area of Constantinople easily.

Murad decided that would be the best option. Too weak at first to fight either Karaman's or Rhodes' armies, Byzantium was the best choice. Murad immediately struck for the city. Constantinople fell in May of 1425.

Unfortunately, Murad suffered from treachery. Candar ended the war in exchange for a small tribute. Murad was at first enraged, forcing Candar's ambassadors from his court--though he soon allowed them back.

Now, the Ottoman Turks were back in a bad position. Rebellion was growing, Karaman and the Knights continued their sieges, and Venice kept the Turks off the seas. Finally, Murad gave in. Ankara was ceded to Karaman, and the Knights were given Antalya. Bulgaria broke away, and in July of 1426 the Vezir-i Azam (that is, the Grand Vizier), Amasiali Bayezid Pasha, led a palace coup that made Murad a mere puppet of him and the Beys (well, more than he already was).

Originally posted by skkrrt
stupid candar

there getting in your way

you know the drill

Click to expand...

I'll remember that once I have some money and an army.

Here's a screenshot: (let's just say Duke Antonio drew a map)



A bit more about the current position: I'm flat broke, just had my government collapse; I've taken out two loans, and just lost most of my starting territory. Oh, and I'm at very hard/furious, so it's going to be a bit difficult bouncing back.

This is going to be a very bumpy ride--but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Next Day

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire came as a complete surprise to the neighbouring countries. Now, they decided to ignore the Ottomans--they weren't any threat anymore.

That was their mistake.

At the end of 1426 the Ottomans, not very picky when it came to allies at this point, joined in an alliance with Karaman and Candar. For several years the Ottomans rebuilt and prepared for their rebirth. Meanwhile, everyone else continued their squabbles, ignoring the Turks.

Of course, the recovery was neither swift nor easy. The Turks continued to take out loans to keep the country running. But the army was rebuilt, and, in 1430, the first phase of the rebirth of the Ottoman Empire began.

Turkish armies poured into Thrace and surrounded Constantinople. The Byzantines had just lost to Bulgaria and paid a severe tribute, so they were completely unable to defend themselves. In little over a year the city fell and the Byzantine Empire was destroyed.

Chandarli-Ibrahim Pasha, the new Grand Vizier, quickly used the capture of Constantiople to his advantage. Now that he had control over the lucarative trade route between the Black and Mediterranean Seas, he could charge ships for travel in the straits. The city of Constantinople became the crown jewel of the Ottomans. Murad (acting on his own for once) transferred the set of his power to the city. Meanwhile, the Vizier shut the Patriarchate of Constantiople down and confiscated its properties, melting them down or selling them for badly-needed money. Patriarch Joseph barely escaped with his life and fled to Orthodox Bulgaria. With the power of Greek Orthodoxy in the area broken, the Ottomans now had a more stable, Muslim base from which to draw power.

The Turks rebuilt again for seven years. The loans were paid off, inflation began to ease, and the Ottoman army, feared in the past, returned to its former glory. Next on the Vizier's list of revenge was the Knights of St. John...

[I'll get to them... eventually...]

Same Day

It should be noted that the war was not started by the Turks, but, in fact, by the Knights. They sent a letter to the Sultan, reading as follows:

"To Murad, son of Mehmed, Prince of the Ottoman Turks and leader of their Infernal Army:

"Know that God has ordained your destruction as He has ordained the destruction of all who attempt to destroy those of the True Faith; and that He has condemned all those who follow the false teachings of Mohammed to the fire.

"Therefore, I, Anton Flavian de Ripa, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, and those who have signed along with me, announce that your authority over your lands and people is to come to an end, and shall use military force to affect this. Anton Flavian de Ripa, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John; Francesco Foscarini, Doge of Venice; Jean II, King of Cyprus. 5 June 1436."

The Vizier wasted no time in collecting an army to fight the Knights, who marched directly into the Ottoman heartland. However, Anton pushed aside a first weak Ottoman attempt to break his siege of Smyrna. A second battle had a similar result. Finally, the enraged Sultan went out to battle himself with a massive force.

Murad led the cavalry force that surprised and burned one of the Knight's supply trains at Torbali on 15 February 1437, starting a week-long battle around Smyrna. The battle's climax came on the 21st, as Murad's light cavalry and Anton's Knights met on a field just north of the city. Murad drew the Knights out of their position with a rain of arrows, then sprung a trap: he led his personal guard in an encirclement. The savage Turks butchered every last one of them, even those who surrendered. The Grand Master himself was one of the casualties.

At this point, a Turkish servant you just noticed starts frowning, then bursts out:

We did no such thing! We took many prisoners, and treated them with respect!

Duke Antonio sighs.

Don't listen to his lies. Now, as I was about to say, the Knights, with the death of their leader, broke and ran the next day. It was only through the work of a second leader, Jean Bonpar de Lastic, that they were able to rally at Antalya and not board the ships for Rhodes. Once safe from the Turks, the Knights proclaimed him the new Grand Master.

Jean defended the mountainous area for several months. But finally, in October, Mehmed Nizamuddin Pasha, a new Grand Vizier, led another army and forced the Knights into the city itself, starting a siege (though Jean fled on his ships south to Rhodes).

The siege took two and a half years. Finally, the city fell. Meanwhile, the Knights rebelled against the Grand Master, indicting him for cowardice when he fled from Antalya. Jean was thrown out of the Knights and exiled. A delegation from the Knights offered peace to Murad in exchange for Antalya. He very happily accepted, relieved that he did not have to invade Rhodes.

However, the war against Venice continued (Cyprus left the war when the Knights did). Doge Foscarini had his sights set on Morea, the Ottoman possessions in southern Greece. He was quite happy when Murad gave him just that. The Vizier realized that the Venetian armies were too strong to fight, and Morea was too isolated an outpost to defend effectively. Peace came once again.

Two days later--heading northeast

Ohh, I'm starting to get tired of this journey. At least once we get to Adrianople we'll be able to rest for a while.

The question on the mind of the Beys was whether the recent war had been a victory or defeat. The Sultan and Vizier, of course, were convinced that they had gained a great victory over the knights, and the loss of Morea was a minor problem. "The Venetians shaved my beard," said Murad, "but I have cut off the Knights' right arm."

Many of the Anatolian Beys, however, were unconviced. The Vizier barely stopped a revolt in August 1440 by signing a petition.

The Ottoman rulership had a further stroke of luck when 1442 turned out to be an excellent year. The harvest in Ocotober was incredibly good. Murad was quick to attribute this to himself and the Vizier. And the Vizier brought Karaman and Candar into a close alliance with the Ottomans, intending to slowly absorb them into the Empire.

1445 is a sad year for me. On 12 December my predecessor, Nerio II, was forced to surreneder the Duchy to the Albanians. It has taken my family decades to regain the throne.

Also in that year was another revolt of the Beys. However, the Vizier was quick to crush it. Skulls were stacked in several pyramids around the city of Bursa, where the revolt began.

The rest of Murad's reign was uneventful. He died on 3 February 1451, leaving the throne to his son, Mehmed II, who would become known as "The Conqueror."

Mehmed's first goal was to break the power of the Beys and especially the Vizier. But he would need some way to do it carefully, lest he face another coup such as that in 1426. Mehmed knew exactly what. Another war.

So, on 11 August 1454, Mehmed sent this simple message to Jaques de Milly, new Grand Master of the Knights of St. John:

"I will not be as merciful as my father. You had best hope that Allah will be."

Mehmed delivered the message himself, at the head of the Ottoman army that was landing on Rhodes.