Agh, my bad. My greek-fu is quite weak. Happy tohave you following though.
About Trebizond, you'll see in the update. And yes, I can reclaim Cyprus, but the time has not yet come since they're protected by EVERY CATHOLIC COUNTRY IN EXISTENCE and that would easily end my game.
Also, thank you for the appreciation, but I've read my AAR again and it's full of typos and unnecessary commas, dang.
Happy to have you following too
Hah, I'm half greek and I don't know a word of greek, this is getting every post more humiliating. By the way, it's me that derped, I was pretty aware of the meaning of Nisia, I just didn't pay attention while writing the AAR. About the teme, I just forgot to add it. I'll do it in this update.
I really derped up with the islands, didn't I? About Samos, I really didn't inquire much as the name seemed greek and the theme on that area was also called Samos. I'm afraid is way too late to fix that tho, I'm pretty far in the gameplay as we speak.
(You should be happy about the new images then. Probably I'll fix the older ones tomorrow).
Now, for the next update! Huzzah for Byzantium!
Part 5 : How we finally defeat our fears and start kicking some ottoman ass
As the young Emperor rose, he started to make sure his name was never forgotten in history, as he was already planning this from a long time. He started to solidify relations with the Russian kindgoms, marrying the daughter of the Muscovian prince and giving trading rights to the Novgorodian merchants. Great relations were obtained also with the other Orthodox kingdoms, with the exception of the Serbian Princedom. The young Emperor was quite stirred by the claim on Constantinople raised by the serbian prince, and was positive about having him pay for his insolence. His fist move was the writing of a letter, whose context is known only in little part but among the remains, the phrase "I see and comprehend your with to be part of the history of the Romans. And I, as a friend of the Serbian people, offer you friendship and security under the protection of the Roman Empire.". The Serbian prince, however, saw this as a menace to his indipendence and as an insulting claim. While being isolated by the Orthodox world, who completely sided by the "Lieutenent of Christ's" words, he got some simpathy in the Latin world and decided to convert to Catholicism.
This, however, only gave Ioannes a reason to use the army to attack the serbs on the 7th march 1412 War was formally declared to the Princedom of Serbia.
As the latin world saw the Serbs as "devout catholic", even if they did convert only some months before, this caused a great loss of prestige and respectability for the Empire, leading to the cancellation of the alliance between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Roman Empire. This, however, was the biggest difficulty encountered in the serbian campaign, as no ally helped the Serbians militarly.
While the campaign itself was rather dull and explained by Herakles Phokas as "An exercitation with pillaging", the troubles did come by the hand of the most unexpected, at least at the time, enemy. The Turks, after having received a report form the scouts claiming that "The romans are engulfed in a war they cannot win and have alienated their allies", decided to attack and reconquer their anatolian lands on 24th October 1412.
The results, however, were embarassingly disastrous for the turks, who had been heavily outmatched in the last years in the military camp by the romans: The quality and training of Romans professional and modern army was too much for the turk levies to contain. While they had a ponderous army at least in number, they seemded to have used every last able man to form that army, including child and old mens, mostly probably to get a "bluff" effect and to demoralize the romans with the sheer number. This didn't work, and the Ottoman armies were completely wiped out. The Ottomans, seeing as the Romans didn't fall for the bluff and were able to siege Serbia and fight back at the same time, tried to stop the conflict asking for the return to the Status Quo. Ioannes refused and aswered that this was "Christ's Wrath" that was coming into their lands.
After this foolish attack, the Ottomans were completely in the hands of the roman troops, who were able to pillage and raid every town and village in the hands of the turks. What had appeared to be the beginning of a possible Ottoman resurgence, became later a crushing defeat, and is known to historians as the most disastrous invasion of all time.
Meanwhile, the city of Badin, who resisted for 3 long years, finally opened its gates to the Roman troops. It was the capitulation, and the end, of the Serbian Princedom. The Serbian Prince was then escorted in Constantinople, where he, riding a camel and dressed in ham's dresses with his hands and legs tied, was then presented to the population as the "Emperor of the fools". While this helped the Empire's morale, it gave the Empire a rather bad image to the latin world. The image his father build, Ioannes was able to destroy in less than 6 years. However, the Serbian kingdom was formally part of the Roman Empire by now, and the cities were divided among the Faristrion and Bulgaria theme.
[
]At the same time, the Emperor thought that the war against the Ottomans had to end too. It was nothing but the romans raiding undefended lands by now, and the emperor was finally able to forec the Sultan to sign a harsh peace. They were to cede Manisa, Sogut, Bolu and Cankiri, renounce on their claims on the Greek lands, pay 5000 perpers as war reparations and accept the presence of Roman counselors and governors in the Bursa region, the only one who was left in their control. The Sultan couldn't do nothing but sign. The date was 8th August 1414, in two years Ioannes the Young had conquered the two biggest enemies of his father. The stunning victory against the Mongols even made the HRE recede and ask for alliance to the Romans again. Ioannes realized that now the romans were "Not anymore some exotic state claiming a dead title. Now the Empire was respected by his friends and feared by his enemies"
Peace, however, did last but a few days. the 14th August of the same year, the Muscovian prince asked for the Roman help in his war against the Ryazan khanate. Ioannes obliged, but this lead to a deterioration of the standing of the empire among the other turk Beyliks. The fall of the Ottomans, as the Seljuks before them, left a hole in the anatolian game of power, with the remaining Beyliks willing to take it. All of them, reunited in the "Turk League", called a jihad against the empire. It was a bold and risky move, but also a desperate one, since most of the roman troops, while weared down by the wars, were all present at once in Anatolia, not being able to return in Greece.
Not only bad news came with the new month, as the Bulgarians of Faristrion and Bulgaria finally accepted the Roman uses and the Greek language as part of their heritage, with some of them starting to even use Greek dresses and Greek uses.
The wars against the beyliks, much weaker than the ottomans and extremely disorganized, were cleared out rather simply. While the romans didn't ask for territory, they did indeed ask for heavy war reparations and made them revoke their claims on the Roman land.
The smooth victories obtained by the romans in these years did also reinforce the idea of the Roman Might in the latin world. Hums started to sing about their valiantly and bravery in combat, and how their enemies fleed at the sound of the marching roman troops. A ballad from the italian poet and humanist (raised, to be honest, in Constantinople) Guarino Veronese, namely "The Greek Soldier", that told the epic story of a greek soldier prisoner of the turks who ultimately excaped from their prisons when the romans were sieging the "turk castle", only to defeat with the help of God and a medallion figuring the Emperor the entire garrison and raise the Roman flag on the main tower, only do die after having done that and being carried to heaven by angels, was amongst the most appreciated ballads of the era.
The Eretanoglu beylik, however, wasn't lucky as the others. Having they annexed some years ago the Empire of Trebizond, the romans asked for them the restituition of those lands to the empire and the "concession of a corridor amongst the heathen lands". This was a disguised comma, but definitely led the Eretanid Bey to cede the city of Amasya to the Romans.
On the 1st of November 1416, the roman territories were depicted to extend in this way.
With the recent victories and raidings, the romans were able to steal and pillage a great number of goods, including a copy of the Qu'rah completely foiled in gold, swords encrusted with jewels, great quantities of jewels and ivory, extravagant dresses made of the most exotic animal's pelt and some weird animals including several tigers and two elephants.
The rule of Ioannes was, even with the constant wars and the consideration of the latin countries going from friendly to almost hostile, wise and enlightnened. He reformed the land, tried to ease the conditions of the serfs by lowering taxes, fought and won against the corrupt bureaucracy (effectively centralizing the state even more), proposed a new mint in the anatolian land, financied merchants, poets and artists. Famous is a portrait in western style, who depicted and his court while going to firm the peace resolutions with the Eretanid bey.
On the 9th August 1419, the Emperor decided that the Ottoman state didn't have no reason to exist anymore as Bursa was considered Roman territory by most latin states and fearing the allowance to existance of the small ottoman tribe would cause loss of image for the empire. He sent a formal request to the Bey, who outrageously refused. Ioannes sent another letter, claiming at the end that "A refuse would not be a wise move, as the next time you shall receive steel and not paper". The Bey refused again, claiming that "This will cause the wrath of Allah and the islamic brothers". As promised, Ioannes came with steel.
However, the Bey wasn't lying when he claimed that his islamic brothers would come to help him. Almost all the Islamic world allied in the defence of the beylik and restoration of the Turk lands in the empire. While they couldn't clearly attack the empire itself, the Fezian, Hafsid and Sirian pirates laid destruction on the Aegean islands, raiding them constantly for two years.
Tired of this condition, Ioannes decided that was wise to concede to the Fezian sultan a cospicuous sum of money to make him stop the raids. The negotiations were succesfull, and the Romans bought the security of their islands fot the sum of 10000 gold perpers and an Elephant.
Date is 26th October 1420, and here ends part 1.
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