Chapter 13: England throws down the gauntlet
November 3, 1446:
Unfortunately for England, they picked a very bad time to attack - the Emperor's armies were idle, and he was able to recruit 2 excellent and 1 very good general to help crush the English army.
On the other hand, there was an angry mood in some of the Emperor's new holdings, and on January 27th, 1447, Loys di Riquetti rose up as a pretender to the throne. Within a couple of months, Loys was crushed underneath the hooves of Imperial cavalry, like many before him.
On April 19th, the Emperor decided to let France and Burgundy surrender so he could focus on the English, who were wandering throughout the countryside. France gave up Toulouse, Languedoc, and Lyonnais, and Burgundy gave up Picardie and Cambray.
Throughout the Emperor's lands, Pretending was fast becoming the national sport, with Pretenders popping up in Avignon and Languedoc. Apparently, they didn't want to wait for Halloween...
In September, the Emperor visited a local festival in Nevers, going incognito to see how things were going in his new empire. Lo and behold, an unsavory carnival operator was letting peasants pretend to be Emperor!
"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Come step behind our backdrop here, and you can pretend to be Emperor. For 20 ducats, our painter will paint your likeness on the Emperor's backdrop. 20 ducats for this novel one-of-a-kind keepsake!"
In January, the Emperor declared war on the Duke of Bourbon again, drawing France into yet another war it couldn't win. Further, in December, the Emperor and the King of What Was Left Of France had a dispute on the boundary between the French ex-Breton province of Armor and the Emperor's province of Anjou.
After the marriage in Brabant, God had made it clear to the Emperor that he needed a fleet. God apparently, cannot read maps, or note that with only one coastal province that had been in his control recently, the Emperor could only build 1 ship at a time...so in 1451, God was asked for something different. Something like...throwing money at Salzburg in return for a vote.
The war in England had flared up and died down quickly - the English armies marched into Imperial territory, got squashed by cavalry, then learned that infantry cannot outrun cavalry. England then learned that it's very hard to fight a continental war with no army. Eventually, both sides tired of the inactivity, so England agreed to release Wales on September 17th, 1452. The Welsh celebrated their independence by setting a record for fastest time to get their king excommunicated...by the English controlled pope.
Explanations:
* Darn those lost screenshots! I keep having to refer to the save game for some of the dates and events, since I forgot to take screenshots.
* Without a navy, I can't take England out. However, by having Wales independent, I may be able to station enough cavalry there at some point to invade England and beat them down. We'll see.
* Since I have a core on Bourbon from a previous Boundary dispute, and a core on Maine, I get CB on them to keep declaring war. Useful!
* I am leaving Maine with France to keep my CB.