4. A Rude Awakening
General Pok Tong leads the imperial armies home in triumph. Thanks to him and his brave comrades, the glory of the Khmer Empire is world renowned. The atmosphere in Angkor is one of optimistic anticipation. Crowds already line the streets and swarm the temples waiting for the armies return. Surely this is a new and prosperous dawn for the Empire? The only possible way is up.
The Khmer army is only some 15 divisions in size. Paying off the pensions of feudal lords and their own tendency to skim a bit off the top has proved a massive strain on the Empires finances. Fortunantly with the new lands and the implementation of free trade, there is now room for some expansion. Current technology is limited, flintlock muskets are still not widely available. The army is thus primarily irregulars fighting with the traditional weapons and dress of the Khmer people, with a spattering of antiquated matchlock muskets. As an interim measure to improve the army without new technology, the king commissions a number of new elephant brigades to support the standing army.
Infamy is high, but it'll come down with time. 5 or 10 is all thats needed to annex a new country. Khmer is placed world wide just between Taiping and mongolia at 58th. As an uncivilized nation we are limited to 56th despite our high prestige and modest military.
Khmer has always been closer to india than to china, in terms of art, religion and politics. So it makes sense to bring the light of Angkor to india first, strip them of their islamic tyrants and unite them with their brothers. And in return the Empire will have more manpower than it can ever need and a bottomless tax base.
The key to india however is Taungu.
Its army isn't much to worry about but it has powerful friends: Taiping the second largest chinese state which has more brigades than bare counting, Shun (quite large but blocked from participating due to ming) and Tibet. Tibet has lost the mandate of heaven somewhat but it still has an army of roughly equal size to Taungu.
These allies make attacking it a bit of a fools errand at the moment. But there is still plenty of time to plot while the army grows and infamy drops.
Here is a quick look at the budget, all taxes are at max which is only 10% effective tax. Tarrifs are at 0% so there is a bit of....
hmmm actually we'll leave the budget for now, something rather more pressing has just come up...
I was afraid this might happen, we now have a land border with the Scandinavian port of Singapore and obviously proximity is reason enough for europeans to make war.
The number 4 great power is nothing to be sneazed at, it is a cultural union of norway, sweden and denmark (capital copenhagen). With lands in germany, Livonia, scotland, india and africa not to mention south east asia. It suffers from a low population at home, but it makes up for it with colonial manpower and a very high literacy.
Its 33 divisions are probably much more advanced than mine, its navy currently isn't too large, which may mean a lack of force projection. Thats all i can hope for for the moment. Scandinavia was in a major war with poland and bohemia earlier in the game over east prussia, looks like they didn't win it.
General Ang Chan and the Imperial army was left behind in Malaysia to squash any hint of Malay impertinence. His army was immediately redirected to the un-garrisoned port of singapore. Before long elephants trampled the cities markets and squashed the Scandinavian governor like a melon. Ang Chan took the initiative and crossed into the nearby Scandinavian island of Tangjungpinang to take it by surprise.
There is currently no way to tell when or where the Scandinvian army will land, the armies of Champa and Angkor are immediately halted, their triumphal return to the capital is canceled. Pok Tongs eldest son Pok Tong II is promoted to general and put in charge of the Army of Angkor. A deliberate and pragmatic leader, Pok Tong II makes a nice contrast to his fathers unflinching heroism and brashness.
Unfortunately, Pok Tong dies of dysentery in the jungles of Sukhothai the day after his sons promotion.
A nation already panicked and apprehensive about the prospect of invasion, is now in morning for its national hero. Moral couldn't be lower...
well i guess maybe it could be. Sure enough the Burgundians also have a port in Malaysia, that i border. Not to be outdone by Scandinavia, Burgundy declares war.
Ang Chan springs into action, and marches his armies from the trampled wastes of singapore to the Burgundian port of Penang.
The king is in no mood for poetry.
Here you can see Burgundy is even more formidable than Scandinavia, although it also has a similarly small fleet.
You can also see the progress of the two wars i'm in, capturing those 2 ports did little for my warscore.
One year after the occupation of singapore the scandinavian response arrives.
Its a fleet of 4 war ships...and no transports. The fleet moves around to the gulf of siam and waits.
The people are fearful, the military is static and the great plans of the Khmer Empire are put on hold, all for the greed of some distant European potentates. This will not do, the King orders an unprecedented rally outside Angkor Wat. A large expectant crowd gathers. The king appears on top of the elephant that was to be a gift to the late Pok Tong. He raises his arms to the sky and proclaims "TO HELL WITH THIS NOISE". The people are confused at first, but rejoice anyway. The Imperial army is withdrawn from malaysia (after securing the burgundian port) and begin the long march to the interior. A new plan is struck, and the eyes of Khmer look north.
to be continued...