Brandenburg - the little kingdom that could

chapter one, part one

1419, Brandenburg...
We are about to witness history in the making. For King Friedrich I of Brandenburg has great plans for his small kingdom. Walking in the big halls of his palace, he suddenly decides:"This year will mark the beginning our rise to European supremacy. Maybe not in my time, but the Hohenzollerns will be feared and respected throughout the world" He turns to a servant who always followed him: "Quick, send for my advisors. I shall meet with them this very day". The servant left and Friedrich proceeded slowly toward the room his advisors were told to gather in. "Glory awaits..." he whispered.
Friedrich knew the council had no power over him and that he was the one dictating all the Branderbugian military, commercial and administrative policies. Still, he did not want the nobles to have any reason to start plotting behind his back. The aristocracy would still be one of the most important pillars of his kingdom, but it would not be the most powerful. In fact, he already took the first measures to increase centralization the same day. In his views, the Brandenburg of the future will be a technologically advanced, well organized state. Such advances over their neighbours would get Brandenburg more and more lands over the years, up to realizing his dream. But there was a thing Friedrich loved more than his lands, and it was his army. He decided the military would get the largest part of the budget, while increasing the infrastructure would still be a main goal.
The meeting was not long at all, for everybody trusted the king and his decisions were highly respected. After the meeting with all his ministers, Friedrich dismissed all but his marshall and chancellor. A plan was being brewed.
While maintaing his current alliance with Saxony and Pommern, the plan was to get Stettin into the alliance and move towards Bohemia, already in turmoil because of the Husite uprising. A royal marriage was arranged the same month with the ruling house of Stettin.
In spite of the gift they have received from Friedrich as his daughter's dowry, the king of Stettin refused to ally with Brandenburg and instead entered an alliance with the 3 kingdoms of the North. Royal marriages were established with the king's dear friends in Pommern and Saxony. In August the Hussite Wars broke out. Germany was in flames.
Friedrich waited until December, but no decisive outcome came in the war in Bohemia. That is when, the attention moved towards the kingdom of Meissen. War was declared and the Brandenburg Army, led by Friedrich I himself, started from Brandenburg to Meissen on December 11th 1419. Friedrich could count on his faithful ally Pommern and on his friend and vassal (since November) Saxony. On the other side, Hesse joined the war on the same side as Meissen.
It took some time for the whole royal army to gather, so the Meissen king (called Freidrich I, too!) attacked Branderburg in late December. They lost the battle and retired from the battlefield. Seeing this fortunate turn of events, Friedrich of Brandenburg marched his army to follow the Meissen troops back to their country, not waiting for the 3 thousand man being recruited. Morale was high and the army went to battle singing.
Apparently the king should have waited. Although the Meissen king was crushingly defeated and the 9 thousand fresh recruits in Meissen driven away, the enemy's armies regrouped in Magdeburg and re-attacked. Friedrich's smaller army had to withdraw to Brandenburg on March 20th 1420. Things were not looking good for the Hohenzollerns.
By June, Saxony's army have been defeated by Hesse and Friedrich had been pushed back to Magdeburg. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So king Friedrich took a loan from one of the many italian banchers at his court. Brandenburg was being besieged, Magdeburg looted looted, allies defeated. Things could not get worse. In fact, things got a little better. In August, an army of 32 thousand Brandenburg soldiers led by their king, plus a 14 thousand Saxonian army was besieging Meissen. The end of 1420 sees three sieges taking place at the same time. Meissen was sieging Berlin, Friedrich Hohenzollern and his vassal were sieging the Meissen capital, while growing Hesse forces were sieging Anhalt. The situation got critical and another loan was taken. Clearly Friedrich started his european domination plans on the wrong foot. All the cities fell and so Friedrich moved his troops back to Brandenburg, sending his vassal to stall the Hesse attack from Anhalt to Magdeburg. The Brandenburg army reached Magdeburg, where a few days later the Hesse army arrived too, after having completely destroyed Friedrich's ally. Fortunately, the Meissen king had camped in Berlin to reorganize his army. The Brandenburg army crushingly defeated the Hessens and then split up, so that Friedrich could move to assault Hesse's capital and his general could move to reconquer Berlin from the enemy. General Allenstein (generic commender) suffered a clear defeat at the hands of Friedrich of Meissen and retired to Magdeburg, although had not lost many troops. On the other front, Friedrich Hohenzollern barely stopped a Hessen counter-attack aimed at breaking the siege of their capital. A new loan was taken and the kingdom's economy seemed to collapse. In January 1422, general Allenstein destroyed all the Hessen army, leaving the king to continue the siege undisturbed. Then he proceeded to getting rid of the Meissen nuisance. In March Friedrich of Meissen was defeated and the Magdeburg army sieged Berlin, still in Meissen hands. Meanwhile, the Brandenburg army cut off all the supply lines to the Hessen capital and it must be a matter of one or two months before the city would surrender to Friedrich. Indeed in May Friedrich's victorious Branderburg army entered Hesse. Then it was off to Meissen, where the other Friedrich tried to get his old capital back. This time the battle was fierce, thousands of brave men died, and in the end, the Meissen army had been anihilated. Friedrich proceeded to liberate Anhalt, while general Allenstein maintained position in the siege of Berlin. The sun had finally come out to shine. Friedrich's beloved Berlin was finally liberated in October. On November 23rd the king of Saxony, Brandenburg's vassal, had died, leaving his kingdom to the king of Meissen. Fortunately Friedrich was sieging Anhalt as this happened, so probably at the end of the war this province will pass in the hands of Friedrich. By April, the war was over. Brandenburg annexed Hesse and the province of Anhalt from Meissen, plus Meissen had become vassals of Friedrich.
After signing the peace treaty, Friedrich sent everybody away. He laid down on his bed, tired of everything, tired of the war, tired of fighting, tired of killing: "God, was it all worth it? Thousands of people butchered for what? What does Hesse or Anhalt mean to me? Once the war had started we could not stop fighting, no peace terms would seem agreable, what has happened to me? From now on i shall be known as "Friedrich the Warrior" no more! I will strive to improve my beautiful kingdom, and i will make Berlin the capital of Europe without using military force! Please God, let this be my final military campaign. This old man has seen enough blood." In fact, all was not well in the kingdom of Brandenburg. The economy was crippled, inflation was up to 8% and there were 3(three!) loans to repay. Things would get pretty complicated.
(I know it looks kinda bad, but i promised myself not to reload no matter what. Plus i am writing along as i play, so your guess to what would happen next is as good as mine.)

chapter one, part two

On a grey autumn day (in November), the marshall asks to see Friedrich. C"Sire, i have to inform you of an unique opportunity" "What is it? Speak up" "It is about the Bohemians, my lord. They have already lost control over two of their provinces and they will surely lose the war. Their Hungarian and Austrian allies are no good against the Hussite force" "So you suggest we punish the Hussites for fighting our Bohemian friend?" "No, sire, quite the contrary. I suggest we attack Bohemia and seize some of their rich lands. The people will love you for it, my lord, and the nobles are already gathering their subjects and sharpening their blades. Shall we fight, your Majesty?" "Why, i would never think of betraying my good friend, the king of Bohemia. I would get excomunicated. The Catholic world already frowned upon our 'incursion' in Meissen lands two years ago. Besides, the king still has an army of 23 thousand stationed in their capital. A war is out of the question!" "But, sire..." "Silence! I will have no more of your instigating!" then in a lower voice "You fool! the Bohemian ambassador is in the next room. I believe he will ask for my second daughter's hand in marriage to his prince, the heir to the Bohemian throne. I need you to send for my chancellor and tell him........" Meanwhile, in the next room, the Bohemian ambassador was having a glass of Bordeaux wine, waiting for the king. Friedrich entered the room. The ambassador put the glass down and approached the king: "Your majesty, i could not help overhearing your conversation with your marshall. I am so happy to see you share my lord's feelings of love and respect. This is why..." Friedrich coughed loudly. The chancellor entered the room, bowing in front of the king: "Sire, our Meissen vassal asked for your daughter's hand. I have already assured him that you would agree, since it is of utmost importance we consolidate relations with them, especially after our war." "Of course"said Friedrich, "you did well. We must show him that Brandenburg is merciful. Send out the good news. Tonight we feast, for a friend will become my son." Turning toward the Bohemian ambassador:"Now, let us get on with our business, for tonight we feast. What did you say my brother wanted to ask me?". The Bohemian ambassador, obviously at a loss for words, managed to say:"Y-Your Majesty, my lord has told me to...umm..assure you of his deepest affection and ask if he...ummm..could count on your assistance in defeating the Hussites" The king, visibly shocked by this request, smiled towards the diplomat and said: "His majesty my brother king of Bohemia has nothing to fear. But I have taken an oath to God to refrain from making war, if not absolutely necessary. From what I understand you still have a great army in Silesia. If the Hussites dare only to approach Silesia with an intention different than surrender, I personally give you my word that Brandenburg will fight!". The diplomat nodded in appoval with this informal declaration of friendship and alliance: "I shall communicate the good news to my king", and thinking:"Well, the marriage won't be done, but at least we can count on them if the situation gets desperate at home". The out loud: "Thank you Your Majesty. I shall toast tonight for the young couple in the name of the king of Bohemia." He then bowed to Friedrich, and left the chamber. The marshall, listening to the conversation behind a secret door, entered and expressed his surprise to his king:"Sire, why did you join a lost cause? Why aid the Bohemians if they lose against the Hussites?" "Oh, you fool, your place is on the battlefield, you obviously know nothing of politics. I told him 'Brandenburg will go to war', i did not say on what side! Hahahaha!" And the three men started to laugh, already thinking of the rich Bohemian provinces in Branderburgian posession. "Come now, let us celebrate tonight like we had a success today." The marshall said:"Well we did, did we not? We managed to not tie ourselves with the Bohemians in order to be able to attack them later, no?" The chancellor turned to him and replied:"Yes, but keep in mind that the Bohemians have to lose some battles first. And the bad news today is that the king of Pommern declined to become our vassal. The man is only interested in our money, and God knows we cannot afford to buy his loyalty now. Maybe another war would not be good for us."
A year passed by and the situation in Bohemia was just as complicated. The Bohemians were down to one last province, their capital Silesia, but the Hussites had lost their southern province to Austria, which grew stronger by the inheritance of Ansbach. As the king was meeting with the chancellor and the marshall one day in March 1425 trying to figure out what to do, the steward entered. "What is it?" the king asked."It's the Venetian banker, Sire. He demands his money back." "Do we have that ammount?" said the king "Sadly, no, your Majesty, but I have discovered a tactic we could use so that our interest rates do not go high. We can take another loan and repay our current one with the money from our...." "Bah! A king's place is on the battlefield, in the crusades, in the palace, at a banquet. I do not need to know any of this petty money business. Now leave! I have some more important matters to attend to!". The same plan was applied six months later, in October 1425, when another loan was pstponed this way. Fortunately, 1426 proved to be a bit better than the previos year. The king gained the services of Johann der Alchymist, a brilliant Lt.General, eagerly waiting for his first battle, and the third loan was finally paid off in October 1426.
June 1st, 1427. The Hussite siege of Silesia has begun. The chancellor bursts into the marshall's office and shouts:"Have you heard the news? The Bohemians are down. It is time for our move. It will either be brilliant, or stupid. We must notify the king. The two walk down the corridor to the king's chambers and, after being announced by a servant, enter while Friedrich is having lunch. "Your Majesty", marshall Johann said "we must move out at once. The Hussites have attacked Silesia and Austria has almost liberated Moravia. What shall we do?". King Friedrich slowly chews a piece of steak. "See this? This piece of meat is Bohemia. I will only take one bite." He takes one bite from the steak and throws the rest to the two dogs that always accompanied him. "You see? Silesia will be mine, i will let those Hussite dogs take the rest. Their time will come too. But now there is no time to waste. We leave for Silesia at sunrise. You may leave now."
June 20th, 1427. The armyled by king Friedrich was on its way to Silesia, when a terrible news arrives:WAR! Mecklemburg declared war, and their allies joined them. Brandenburg and Pommern were fighting on a second front: against Mecklemburg, Holstein and Bremen. The king turned to marshall Johann and said:"Quickly, take 9 thousand men and go to Magdeburg. Await there the recruiting of 3 thousand soldiers and do not allow anyone to invade Brandenburg. Do you understand?" "But Sire, this is almost half of our forces, i would advise a strike at Bohemia with all our forces and then turn Northward." "Nonsense. You will obey me. Your king has spoken. Now go. Brandenburg needs you." "I shall see you in Berlin when you return victorious my King!" Then to the troops:"Men, we move to Magdeburg. We are forced to abandon our king in such a time of need and fight the cowards who attacked us behind our back. Follow me! For king and country!"
One month later, July19th 1427. A day to be remembered. Marshall Johann's 9 thousand men heroicly pushed back a wave of attackers from Mecklenburg. The 19 thousand Hussites besieging Silesia had defeated a 43 thousand Austro-Hungaro-Bohemian army sent to break the siege. It is only a matter of days before Friedrich would arrive. Pommern entered the war and moved its 30 thousand men army to Magdeburg in an attempt to help marshall Johann. On the 24 of the same month, Holstein forces (22 thousand) attacked Johann in Magdeburg. They fought like lions, but were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the opponent. Just when all was lost and morale was breaking, Zborowski's Hinterpommern Regiment arrived to save the day. The Hussites are breaking the siege of Silesia, which Friedrich has begun. November saw a failed attempt to invade Mecklemburg from marshall Johann, while the Hussites had more and more problems fighting off the Austrians invading Ostmark. In December Stettin declared war, so Brandenburg found itself fighting the entire Northern alliance (Sweden, Denmark,Norway). The winter of 1427-8 had its share of deaths due to excessive weather, especially during the siege of Silesia. King Friedrich's army was reduced to 8 thousand soldiers, but 5 thousand more recruits arrived from Berlin. Meanwhile, Johann had retired to Anhalt, waiting for reinforcements. Pommern was left to fight alone against the other two alliances. On March 19th 1428 Friedrich took Silesia, but settled for a 75 ducat peace, as the 30 thousand ohemian army to the south looked kind of dangerous. In the meantime, Pommern drove Bremen, Stettin, Holstein and Denmark forces out of Hinterpommern and now were heading toward Stettin. Johan was also going the same way. Friedrich left Silesia directed toward Mecklemburg. On the way there he and Johann crossed paths. Johann greeted the king: "Your Majesty, my compliments on the siege of Silesia. You had those Bohemians begging for peace. Now we have other urgent matters down there.." he said, pointing towards the sea. "You did good, Johann, stopping the invaders. You deserve a great battle like the one i foresee in Vorpommern. If i die, remember t serve my son just as well as you served me." "My king, we have many more days to live and battles to fight. God is our witness that we are going to war ligh-hearted, for we did not want this war, but we fight it for our families and for our country. Fare well my lord". They parted, one for Vorpommern, the other for Mecklemburg. Preparing to cross the river to invade Macklemburg, Friedrich received news of a big fleet from the north approaching the shores of Pommern. He then realised that Zborowski's regiment will go back ome to defend their country rather than conquer Stettin. So the king left for Vorpommern, deciding to help marshall Johann, and then with the combined forces, strike at Mecklemburg. Cleves declared war on August 22nd, and Burgudy, Brabant, Brittany Lorraine and Luxembourg joined the war on their side. Things are looking grim for Brandenburg this time. To counteract the extreme measures of continuous warfare, another loan has been taken in October. Taking advantage of the situation, a Cleves-Brabant-Luxembourg 54 thousand soldier army invaded Hesse. New armies are recruited in Magdeburg and Anhalt, while Berlin is sieged by a combined Norwegian-Swedish-Danish army (23 thousand). The year is 1429.

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Maybe i should change the title to : "the little kingdom that could NOT"