War, huh, What is it good for?
The Iroquois continued steadfast in their endeavours to subdue the Portugesse. The fighting had mostly been done and the Nation had started to feel the strain. People mourned their sons, dead and buried in hastily santified burial grounds, high in the mountains and in hospitalble places. The nation's exhastion had risen but not tragically so, not in anyway by comparision with the bad old days:
Now all the major army corps of the enemy were defeated, the native's expeditionary forces broke down into several small armies and siege warfare began. There being no immediate need to tear down the walls a safer straegy was employed by the Iroquois. They were used to fighting this old old war.
As the last portugesse fort in south East USA finally gives out, the Navy ships troops south into the Irish held lands in the Andes. Minimal resistance was meet and the colonies were seized while the cites fell one by one to the Iroquois now so used to seige warfare.
Portugal attempted to land a handful of troops from their remaining transports. Desperatly they tried but were engaged by the Pacific squadron. However, despite being beaten, the fleet failed to retreat to any port or sail away! The enemy must have faked their retreat using subtefuges of war! Once the troops were delivered the Pacific squardon found their possitions and destoryed them.
[screen shot was taken after their first defeat!! Cheating AI]
Inca had not yet been invaded by Scandinavia and the peace treaty between former and the Republic was up. The time had come to 'protect' them from European agression. The army streamed out from Lima, capturing all of Inca in a few short months. They then pressed on further south, seigeing Portugesse Arcia and buring two more colonies further south, bordering lands settled by scandinavia. Seeing the Incan coastal provenices fall to the Irouquis the Scandinavians made a white peace with Inca.
It was once again time to elect a man to lead the Council of the Nation. The current encumbant had not been disasterous but a new man was called for, any peace would outrage the world and so a highly capable diplomat was required. This time a worthy candidate came forward and roused enough support to ascend to the position.
Sadly his term is set at 4 years. Hopefully, the Iroquois would be in a position to end this war by then.
Spain had recently founded a colony dangerously far up the west coast of South America. Bordering Inca lands. She had also started to reinforce:
No one in the Incan campagin wanted to fight Spain on Incan soil. The enemy could easily seize Incan territory and the money would run dry. Long term strategist start to talk about annexation of some Incan territory, to protect her from Spain and other Europeans.
Sooner than anyone could think the Spainish move:
They immediately start to march into Incan territory held by the Iroquois their intentions unknown. Would they annex the territory directly or hand it back to the beleagued Incan government in exile? Peace would be the only way to prevent the Spainish from causing major problems.
This forces the Spainish to go north into Iroquois colonial territory and the areas occupied from Ireland. To ensure how this force will move a sepperate peace with Ireland was made.
A small sum of money and Choco was demanded: a fort from which to defend the Iroquois colonies in South America. The Irish were also compeled to release Munster back in their homeland this would have far reaching effects. Altogether a good settlement. Theyanoguin Oquaga (the leader) would then make a crucial decision, no peace with Portugal would be accepted until the infamy from forcing Choco from Ireland had been worked off. This would be mean that the war would strectch beyond his term. This was a sound suggestion, while a good peace could be demanded and the infamy accurred from it could be handled, it would mean where Patriotic and National sentiment existed, the revolt risk could shoot up. In a War with spain this would be very bad.
This decision would also mean the council would know whether they could rely on Oquaga's silver tonuge to make their acts of annexation more palatable to the rest of the world. This giant of diplomacy decided it was time the Iroquois had a friend somewhere in Europe, preferably one with a Spainish border and so a policy of Burgundian Friendship was started:
Over the coming years many such gifts raised relations between the two sides as high as possible, but the Burgundians could not be tempted into an alliance. After all she'd have had to fight Spain on her own ground, and while the Iroquois could hurt her fleet, they could not project sufficent power into Iberia to assist the Burdungians.
Fighting against Spain was short lived. Their initial 6/5/2 stack moved northward, to meet the 4/8/1 stack the iroquois had hastily put together. The Spainish crushed with almost no loses. This was devasting news. More troops were ordered to Choco, where the shamed army was retreating to. Thankfully the Spainish contented themselves with seizing the colony and turning east into the second Iroquois colony. Once they had siezed this, the Iroquois moved thier reinforced army into the west most colony ready to cut the Spainish off and force them to fight on the offensive. This was one of the largest forces the native americans had put in one place, and certainly attrition was high in those mountainous terrians. The 7/16/2 army accidentally destroyed the fledgeling colony, merely by occupying the province.
The order was not sent to retreat. The Spainish had just managed to land another 6/6/2 army into their colony! If there was any chance of victory these armies needed to be fought in piecemeal. The Spainish came out of the east to fight and a costly victory was won.
The council met to discuss this problem. How was it that their enemy could do so well in battle. While this battle had been won, the army, in no way, had sufficent morale to fight another stack like this, let alone the two combined. The enemy retreated back to her original province, and not back into her recently sieze colony, in the East, as hoped. The two stacks would now combine and nothing could be done to prevent it.
The Iroquois moved east to retake their colony and hopefully draw out some of the Spainish. However the Spainish wouldn't take the bait, they prefered to hold position. Even once the Iroquois moved back to Choco they would stay locked up in their colony. Unable to take action without a border.
Life continued in the rest of the Republic unabated and the people of Iroquois decided to respond to the loss of their colony in a reasonable way:
This brought the number of colonies being supported to a very high number. The council was well aware of the drain this was placing on the countries finanaces and after much wrangling decided to mint a little more money, but still not so much to halt the slight defaltionary policy they had previously insitutued. Further colonists would be sent to convert captured colonies whereever they could be, and then to complete colonies as quickly as possible to reduce the pressures on the state's purse.
In the same gargantuan council meeting two further policies were enacted. Firstly one of army building, another 20 regiments would be built, 3-4 at a time. to raise the nation closer to her support limits. It was not felt that the Iroquois were defenceless, but that other nations may perceiver her thus. This decision was heavily influenced by spies reports confirming the councils worst fears. The Spainish Gustovian infantry were wiping the floor with our own Terico infantry. Iroquois had fallen behind in the Army and Naval arms race. (land tech 23 vs 31 naval tech 24 vs 29) As the coutnries stability returned to normal, all funds were sent into Army reform.
The second great decision was to run a risk. Assumeing that the Spainish doom stack in her colony was going to stay there indefinately a blockade was set up on the colony. This colony could only be giving the Spainish enough supplies for 20 regiments at best, once blockaded this would drop. The stack there was around 30 regiments. This bloackade would slowly bleed Spain of her sons and exhaust her efforts to fight. To expolit this further, units would be despatched to take her overseas proveince, where ever they can. The navy was split up. A large section sent to assist with the blockade adn destory any transports trying to take troops in or out. The rest would play the old cat and mouse game, long found effective since the last war with Great Britain. This would mean the fleet in Cuba would be destroyed by drawing it out in piecemeal.
As these policies were announced the naval lobby, far from being offended by the new emphasis on Army reform decided to aid the Iroquois as they best could. Naval technologies was not as far behind as that of the army but still needed much improvement.
Portugal had been totally subdued by now, her transports destroyed and her forts overcome. The war dragged only because the Iroquois chose for it to do so: thereby letting the scandal felt by hypocritical Europeans, over the annexation of Choco, to pass and allowing the taxes raised by the occupation to pay for colonial maintance. The council was then gathered together once again to discuss the general policy of the nation and it was decided to further centralize the government.
Anything to make the acquisition of new technology quicker. A pretender rose with aonly 2 regiments to support them, the effort was so laughable, the pretender was forced to complete their sentence dressed as a European court jester and forced to do humilating tricks for the amusement of the council. No one even remembers his name.
The Spainish had been trying deperately to get transports through to their blockaded colony but all this did was offer the Iroquois naval wolves something to feed on. Never did they Spainish think to send the transports with protection.
The continued strain placed on them by the lack of supplies had driven thier country to lament. Stories of revolts in the mainland and colonial risings were whispered all over the world. War erupted in Europe, the new nation of Munster was attacked and the various confusing power blocks ended up at war. Burgundy did not enter it but gave Spain miltiary access so she could fight the French. Any chance of an alliance was in tatters. The French lost and was forced to release England and Champagne. Both ofcourse allied to Spain... it looks like int he future Burgundy may go to war with Spain for Champagne and GB for her old capital of London back! The munster war had grown and GB and Scotland were at war with Ireland. The Iroquois watched with growing fear as the Irish cities in South America fell to GB.
In this last year a few Canadian provinces, such as Cree and Nunavik become much more integrated into the Iroquoian [hehe] Republic, the passage of time erasing the effects of pervious ownership. This allowed the overextension to pass, but probably only until peace with Portugal is signed.
The effort to draw out Spainish ships was working, it had cleared out Cuba and Hispanola and was now drawing out Brazil. If the Brazilian and Argentina squadrons could be defeated in this way then landing in these area's were possible though the fighting would be hard. It would also make any overseas fun very difficult for Spain, hopefully focusing her on Austia and Europe. New also arrived in America that the Great Scandinavia had been defeated in some war and Denmark and Norway had remerged protected by an alliance with Bohemia.
Either way both wars were well in control. To celebrate the people of Mohawk finally converted back to the old traditional ways, giving up their queer obessions with animal spirits. Hopefully the missions to enlighten the reformed population of Ungava and the Catholic population in Micmac would soon see progress.
The country was talking of peace, though she no longer felt any ill effects of being at war, but the council were divided. The Portugesse delegates offered all and more than the Iroquois wanted, and the infamy of her past actions was also almost entirely gone. Oquaga won his relection campaign and so diplomacy would serve for another 4 years. (infamy limit is at 20) The portugesse offers of vast territories were dismissed out of hand. A considered peace was proposed, five territories plus Tenesse would create another awful outcry that would take the best part of 20 years to undo. Oquaga proved his worth though by finding documents that contained claims to Yamasee in SE USA as well as Tenesse. The proposed solution was to take these two provinces, and the two gold producing provinces in Mexico along with another to contect them to our lands. This would possible leave the Iroquois just shy of being considered the most dishonourable scum on the planet. It would also come with over 4000 ducats, a cancelation of portugals treaties with Spain and the revocation of claims to any lands owned rightfully by the Iroquois.
The council were still in deliberation at the time that the Republic's historian wrote this account of the last few years.