This Chapter’s Mood Music
“We’re in it deep now, brother.”
“Oh shutup Gábor. How exactly was I supposed to know the Scandinavians were going to actually honour their position as Holy Roman Emperor? Besides, it’s not as if we’re doomed…how many men do we have under arms?”
“Nearly half a million. And you could have at least prepared for them honouring the call to arms.”
“If I prepare for everything I’ll not have the time to do anything else. This Empire wasn’t built on timidity, brother, and by God it won’t be preserved by such,” Ákos paused for a moment to drum his fingers on the table, “Recall all the armies in Arabia and Persia, bring them to the Austrian border. I fear we will need them.”
--------------------------
The war against Austria began on the 6th of February, 1629, and a day later it already looked like Transylvania was in deep waters as the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Scandinavia honoured the call to arms from one of the German member states – Austria. Transylvania stood with its allies against two of the largest military powers of Europe, forced to fight a war on three fronts – one in Austria, the other in Russia, and the third in the Hindu Kush.
The Second Excommunication war between the Transylvanian Empire and the Austrian Reich, February, 1629
Transylvania was not alone however, as their allies, union states, and vassals readily joined the fray until it seemed that all of Central and Eastern Europe was at war. Lithuania, Georgia, Crete, and Prussia stood beside the Transylvanian Empire in the conflict, and their help would be sorely needed indeed.
The beginning of the war began well for Transylvania, as armies flying flags emblazoned with the seven Saxon fortresses of Transylvania swept across the border into Austria and Scandinavian Central Asia like battering rams, easily smashing aside the tiny border guard forces. The Scandinavian province of Herat fell just 5 days after the war began, and the Austrian provinces of Sopron, Erz, Poznan, and the capital of Vienna fell shortly after that, but there were already signs that perhaps this war would not be such an easy victory against Austria as before, when they had been suffering from a severe manpower crisis as a result of their war against France. Even Transylvania’s long list of renowned Generals might not be enough to stem the tide and force a victory…
Transylvania’s Commander Roster, February, 1629
The first real engagement with Austria is a defeat for the Army de Plater and Transylvania, and the war on the Eastern Front fares no better
The Internal Government screamed for a peaceful agreement that would end the conflict, but Ákos was mad at the Austrians and Scandinavians now, and vetoed anything that even hinted at resolving the conflict peacefully. The victory at Czizo in June of 1629 only strengthened the Emperor’s conviction that the war could be won, as nearly 20,000 dead Austrians in Croatia proved that. The Emperor ordered a renewed offensive against the Austrians and Scandinavians, adding the armies recently recalled from Arabia into the offensive.
In June the push began as General Leopold Apafi led three Transylvanian armies against the Austrian force at Erz which stood just above 30,000 strong. The Austrians were no match for the professionalism of Transylvania’s armies and the overwhelming numerical superiority, and General Leopold succeeded in breaking the Austrian army and opening the way for the Pomeranian Offensive. The goal was to take the Slavic provinces in Northern Austria, while three of Transylvania’s armies held off the Austrians from advancing into Croatia or Hungary.
The Austrian response was to renew their offensive into Bohemia and Hungary, and the Austrian King himself, Leopold Johann von Kapfenberg led the Austrian 12th army into Bohemia, where he was met by the Transylvanian Army de Ferenc commanded by Emperor Ákos Plater. Despite overwhelming cavalry superiority the Transylvanian soldiers refused to give ground under the Emperor’s watchful eye. He was a God to the soldiers in the Army de Ferenc, and they showed their love for him by riddling the field with Austrian dead.
Transylvanian and Austrian cavalry clash at the Battle of Bohemia, August 8th, 1629
The Butcher’s Bill for the Battle of Bohemia
The Pomeranian Offensive was a success, taking a number of the Slavic provinces under control of the Austrians, but Ákos was forced to abandon the offensive and recall the armies back to Transylvania as Austrian and Scandinavian armies started to overrun Transylvanian Poland, and even General Bethlen’s stunning victory at Pecs was not enough to dissuade the Austrians and Scandinavians from striking into the Empire’s core lands.
The Battle of Pecs and the Austrian advance into Transylvanian Poland
The offensive into Scandinavian Central Asia was faring much better however, due to the spare concentration of Scandinavian forces in the region. Reports of victory after victory flooded into Koloszvár from messengers – a Scandinavian army destroyed entirely at Balkh, and then just weeks later another destroyed in Quetta. The situation in Asia was well under control, and Transylvanian armies were pushing deeper into Scandinavian lands, but the Austrian advance into Poland was becoming worrying, even more so when the Transylvanian garrison that was holding Vienna was forced abandon the city when the citizens took up arms against them. Even more concerning to the Empire was Prussia’s surrender to Scandinavia, cedeing the province of Danzig to the Austrians.
The Transylvanian advance into Scandinavian Central Asia, December, 1629
The Treaty of Memel, removing Prussia from the war, December 7th, 1629
The Second Battle of Bohemia, January 20th, 1630
The Battle of Moravia, February 1st, 1630
But as Leopold Apafi was defeated in Moravia, his brother Dávid descended upon the victorious Austrians shortly after, and routed them and their allies from Wurttemberg.
The Second Battle of Moravia, February 28th, 1630
Despite these victories, Transylvania was on its last legs. The warfare on three separate fronts – in Austria, Russia, and Central Asia, had taken its toll on the Empire’s manpower reserves. Simply put, there was nobody left who could fight aside from what Transylvania had. Ákos managed to cover up this massive problem by withdrawing entire armies from the frontlines, reforming new battalions and then marching them back under new colours so the Austrians and Scandinavians wouldn’t know, but if the fighting continued much longer Transylvania would be defenseless. The fighting still continued though, with Transylvania losing another army in Istria in March.
The bottom of the barrel, no manpower for the Empire, March 12th, 1630
Ákos knew that peace was needed, and it was needed quickly, and so he sent out diplomats to the Austrians and Scandinavians. The Austrians however did not wish to even speak of peace, and the diplomats were turned away from the Austrian court before they could even utter a single word. The Scandinavians however were the weak link in the alliance. They had entered only as their obligation as the Holy Roman Emperor, but had not expected such a devastating war. Further, there were rumours that Ming China was readying its armies to take advantage of the weakened Scandinavian titan and reclaim their lost lands. However, Scandinavia too was willing to hang on for a little longer, as they didn’t truly feel threatened.
The extent of Transylvania’s advance into Central Asia before manpower shortages halted the offensive, March, 1630
What ended up happening next was probably one of the most remarkable special operations in military history, as under complete secrecy 12,000 Transylvanian soldiers were loaded aboard transport ships and sailed through the Mediterranean, around Europe, through the Scandinavian controlled Kattegat, and landed just outside of the Scandinavian capital of Stockholm, under the command of General Lorand Bocskai. Under the cover of nightfall they assaulted the city with nothing but ladders and took the Scandinavian capital and the Swedish King hostage. After that, the Scandinavians almost pleaded for peace, now that their core homeland was under threat and their capital taken by the Transylvanians.
The last battle before the war ended was in Steiermark, where Transylvania’s remaining four armies left on the Austrian front managed through sheer desperation to beat back and nearly destroy the Austrian 2nd Army. However, Transylvania was on the verge of being over-run by Austrian armies, and the peace that Scandinavia signed with Transylvania angered the Austrian King and the German people incredibly.
Transylvania on the very precipice of destruction, July 9th, 1630
The Treaty of Stockholm, July 10th, 1630
Though technically a victory for Transylvania, the Second Transylvanian-Austrian Excommunication War would definitely have been won by the Austrian-Scandinavian alliance had the Scandinavian king held out for peace just a few more months. What was worse for Transylvania, was that following the war, the landscape in western Transylvania had been so devastated, and the population so depleted that cuts were need in the budget, though owing to the Austrian people’s seething anger over the peace, Ákos wisely chose to cut production investments instead of military (Event: National Decline, ‘Cut Production Investments’).
The Emperor was on his last legs though. The stress of the recent war had accentuated his various illnesses, and he knew he was close to his deathbed. His last couple years alive he spent reforming the military of Transylvania so that it would not face such a monstrous threat so unprepared ever again (Event: Military Development, ‘Invest in Higher Quality Troops’ – Quality Gain 2), and ensuring that a Transylvanian cardinal would be Pope upon his death. What also happened that the Emperor had not planned upon was that upon his death on February 22nd of 1632, the Kingdom of Lithuania ceased to be a client kingdom, and the nobles within nearly unanimously agreed to absorption within the Transylvanian state.
The Death of Emperor Ákos the Great, the absorption of the Kingdom of Lithuania, and the election of a Transylvanian Pope, February 22nd, 1632
The Emperor is carried from a port in Budjak to his final resting place in the Citadel of Tarten, February, 1632
Whatever his faults may have been, Ákos would be forever remembered as one of Transylvania’s titan Emperors. Taking the throne at the age of 14 in the middle of the first war with Austria, Ákos had fought nearly every state on Transylvania’s border by the time of his passing, and expanded the Empire more than twofold in his lifetime.
The Transylvanian Empire, February 23rd, 1632
Last edited: