Chapter Eighteen - Joining the Kingdoms
At this point, my two territories are tantalizingly close together - I only need one or two provinces to pull them into a united whole. Unfortunately, Persia has managed to get itself tangled up in China. Persia is a fair sized power and is much closer to me tech-wise than my Asian friends. Of course, I have been planning on connecting my lands for a long time now, so no one can stand in my way. I kick things off by declaring war on the small Qin faction that has emerged. They are allied with the Ming and are guaranteed by Persia, so a general war looks likely.
I end up at war with Persia, Ming, Qin, and Tibet. The major stumbling block is Persia, who has manpower to spare. The other nations are just snacks for me to gobble up! My first couple of battles against the large Persian force under the command of its king, Ja'far I, are a bit of a nasty surprise - I win them, but my casualties are much higher than I have become used to. Ja'far has a decent shock score and great maneuver, so he's hard to trap.
Having kicked the Persian forces out of the area, I conquer Jizhou and the Qin lands quickly. The forces I had near Tibet are giving out free demonstrations on why small two province countries shouldn't attack superpowers as well
Qin is soon forced to agree to full annexation, but Persia's control of Jizhou and the continued Ming presence means I am still short of connecting my lands.
Soon, massive Persian forces start pouring into the captured Tibetan lands in the hopes of liberating them from me. A small (3000 man) garrison force of mine is annihilated by the Persians, but my larger force manages to turn back the invading force under Ja'far.
I annex Tibet, which leaves the Persian province of Amdo sticking into my kingdom - it borders on four of my provinces, which allows the Persians to launch attacks all over the place. I am forced to go on the defensive against the Persian hordes.
I crush an invading Persian force in Lanzhou and send the victorious army into the neighbouring Persian province of Gansu. I also send a 16,000 man army to push the Persians out of Dangla. Unfortunately, I misjudge the effects of the terrain on my invaders...
I take heavy losses for almost no casualties on their side. I start to assemble a large force to make good on that loss. In the meantime, I have an army absolutely rampaging through the Ming lands - at least they can't stop me!
The battle for Dangla has become something of a focus for both Persia and Korea. This allows me to send my Ming-crusher army into the Persian province of Yumen and my occupying force in Gansu down into Amdo. They take both provinces while the Persians focus on my oncoming threat to their army in Dangla. I finally decide to move my doomstack into Dangla...with mixed results.
Soon thereafter, the last province of Ming falls before me and I can annex them for what feels like the tenth time in this game!
Persia is not content to sit back on its heels - they send a relief army to Amdo and a massive force into Dangla once again. My general arrives too late and is forced to attack instead of defend - fortunately, he holds on to drive them off, but just barely!
A quick wipe of an 11k strong Persian force in Gansu, and my forces are ready to move on again. At this point, I feel like I need some time to recover from the war. I also want to make sure that I am more ready to take on Persia the next time - I underestimated them in this war and took unnecessary losses. I peace the out at the price of them giving up Jizhou, which finally connects my lands! Hurray!
In a fitting tribute to the many Korean soldiers lost in this last war, I establish a veteran's home in Jinan.
Also note that my BB is now 160 and rising...
