Resting whilst on the road towards Burhanpur, Khandesh; Sandesh Damle discusses with his protege Pranjal Shimpi the recent negotiations they participated in with Gujarat and Deccan.
SANDESH That my boy, is a master diplomat at work. Note how I dazzled their parties with my sublime oratory. I befuddled them with my charm and wit. These are the skills of a diplomat, learn them well.
PRANJAL Yes master, truly it was quite a spectacle to behold. I do not think you could have been more subtle than when you told the Gujarati diplomat to, 'damned well accept the peace deal you have been offered, or expect even more of a whipping.'
SANDESH Exactly my boy. Subtly encouraging an opposing side into an acceptable peace is the best way. If you are too heavy handed, your opponent will simply seek revenge whenever they get the chance.
PRANJAL ah, then it becomes clear why you told the Deccan delegation that, 'we'll continue thrashing you from now until the end of time unless you accept this overly lenient peace deal.'
SANDESH Exactly! Anyway, ready the horses, we'll likely be travelling down to Vijaynagar sometime soon. Lets only hope we are arranging Vijaynagar's surrender, rather than begging for them to accept our own.
Pranjal saddles the horses.
Things have been going astoundingly well thus far in the war. The Vijaynagar force to the west must have rightfully reasoned that my risibly small army was not worth the bother of crushing. Instead they set back off to the east, desperately attempting to aid the other Vijaynagar force which was defeated by Delhi's large army. Therefore I took the choice to bravely assault barren Vijaynagar provinces, whilst leaving Delhi to enjoy all the fighting. Truly I am a model ally.
SANDESH Once more your master shows his great ability, we have secured our nation great gains.
PRANJAL As ever I am in awe master. I truly could not believe it when you threatened to have the Vijaynagar diplomat executed for his daring to suggest a slight ammendment to the treaty.
SANDESH Well you do need to be flexible my boy, but you cannot let the other side take advantage of you.
PRANJAL Indeed master. His motion for a spelling error to be corrected was clearly proposterous.
SANDESH Quite. Make sure to see to the horses.
Pranjal feeds and waters the horses.
Delhi managed to crush the routed eastern Vijanagar force before the western unit arrived. Her large army then routed the western force as well, and I ended up sending part of my army to help shatter the broken remnants of Vijaynagar's forces, happy to courageously aid in the fighting when against a broken and routing force. Beyond mopping up the fleeing Vijaynagar soldiers, all I then had to do was settle down to some siege warfare. I was, of course, hugely thankful to Delhi, they turned a nightmare war into a walk in the park. They were thus rightfully rewarded in the peace deals with...well...nothing. However Delhi's army was allowed to return back north to their homelands via my land, which is clearly ample recompense for their efforts.
The war itself has proven an expensive one in terms of its infamy cost. If I had declared war on Vijaynagar with the 'Holy War' casus belli, I would need only pay a mere one infamy per province. As it is, this considerably more expensive rate of three infamy per province is rather vexing, and will curb my future aggression to a certain extent. However the chance to weaken the mighty Vijaynagar from what has proven a ridiculously lucky war was too much to pass up.
SANDESH Now a key aspect of diplomacy is to always have every country believe your nation is all powerful. Never show yourself to be weak. Other nations are like vultures, just ready to prey on any weakness. Therefore if anyone asks about this Battle of Bastar, just tell them that we were the ones wearing red and black.
PRANJAL Of course master.
Pranjal exercises the horses.
Uhm yes, the small yet doughty Khandesh army, which has humbled powerful nations such as Deccan and Vijaynagar, was defeated by a pack of rebels. Those faux realistic swords must still be infesting the army. In rather better news, I gained a very useful mission to conquer one province minor, Mysore, some months ago, having cancelled a 'Create a Proper Fleet' mission.
SANDESH Now remember to be courteous when delivering a declaration of war to your enemy. Its either that or having your head lopped off by an irate ruler.
PRANJAL As ever, I follow your lead master.
SANDESH Good man, good man. Oh and a word of warning, for some reason nobody in Rajputana appreciates being called a lickspittle oaf, barely capable of being a serf for the mighty Khandesh.
PRANJAL I can't think why master.
Sandesh falls from his horse.
Both Bihar and Rajputana are of similar size to me in terms of army strength. The plan is to simply crush Bihar and then have them white peace out. Rajputana is the real prize, as their provinces are filled with citizens of the Rajput (surprise, surprise) culture, which is in the same culture group as Khandesh's Marathi culture. They should thus prove valuable provinces once cored.
Also worth noting is that Deccan succumbed to revolts, leading to a rebel taking the throne. Amusingly enough, the rebels have Vijaynagar sympathies, as the Deccan army is unable to do anything but sit by and watch as Vijaynagar occupies their country.