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Athalcor

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Aug 8, 2010
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Prologue

China_Qing_Dynasty_Flag_1862.png


The right to rule China is granted by Heaven.

There can be only one legitimate ruler of China.

The right to rule is based on the virtue of the ruler and his good performance as a steward for Heaven.

The right to rule may be passed down from father to son, but only on the conditions established above. Once the Mandate is lost, the will of Heaven towards a successor will only be known by the working out of the imponderable force of events in human history.

----------------------------------------

Hi and welcome to my second AAR! Since I am waiting for the expansions of the PI games I am currently playing to fall in price a little bit (The Old Gods and A Heart of Darkness, I am looking at you), I've decided to take a look at Europa Universalis III once more. The truth is that I haven't played since times of In Nomine. But because PI was so kind and gave me the last two expansions for free, well, let's see what has changed.

The first thing I noted that there is some sort of a new mod in the subforums called Death and Taxes so I decided to give it a go as it looked much more alive than Magna Mundi (which I had been used to playing). I had already planned that I wanted to do an AAR, a gameplay one to be accurate, with it since it is now after my exams and I have to burn some free time.

At first I wanted to play my favourite colonising nation - the Duchy of Kurland but after the Latvian nationalists annihilated my standing army, I decided against it. So...how about something...more fun? I quickly went through the timespace of the world and finally focused on something that looked very promising - the Jurchen tribes. I assumed that D+T (sorry, the Czech PC keyboard does not have an 'and' symbol on it) is totally OK with the lack of balancing, considering that not only the Jurchens are much weaker than the Chinese, they also start disunited. Well, it's going to be fun. I chose the 'most powerful' of the three - the Jianzhou Jurchen clan in 1356.



The Jurchens are Shamanist and stuck with a Tribal Khanate. Korea hates them, Yuan hates them and so do the Chinese. And they all enjoy allying against us. As the only brethren willing to join us in our righteous fight are the other two tribes we are planning to destroy...well, I do not dare to hope you'll bet on us.

In other news, we have Nomad troops and Asian technology but also some good stuff:



Together with a constant CB against both other hordes and settled countries we border on. Finally I'd like to show you my initial goal:



----------------------------------------

Well, I think that this was enough chitchat and the horde can set off!

But before we start, I would like to be honest with you:

This is actually my third try as the Jurchens - first time I chose wrong starting moves (attacking Jin instead of the other two tribes) and second time I conquered my tenth province and then my infamy limit got decreased by ten - and the over-limit events are a bit harsh (like getting fifteen points of inflation).

I also modified the decision to form Qing not to require a core on Beijing as I doubt that the Jurchen tribes would sack the Northern Capital, sit down and wait a few decades (while suffering some succession crises) and THEN form the Great Qing. It would be more of a decision of a moment than anything else.
 
Uniting the clans - part one

As I already wrote, my opening move was to declare war on both other Jurchen tribes. Even though I will lose possible allies, obtaining their territory is the only way to stay on par with the Chinese and Joseon.



I will exploit my military superiority and their inability to work together. I will be also aiming to rely on cavalry. It might be costlier but it will help me when the numbers speak against me.



I start the war by attacking the more powerful enemy - the Haixi clan.



Their army flees north to the unprotected provinces and I chase them. I also use a small force to capture the western province while the recently risen revolutionaries in Yakesa will help me in quickly containing the Haixi.



The Haixi army is, again, defeated and after some ping-ponging I finally take them down in Albazinsky. I am playing against time at the moment - I am running out of money, the Wild Jurchens are near capturing one of my provinces and from my past experience I know that the Kingdom of Joseon enjoys coming knocking in the worst time possible.



While my small swarm group defeats one of the Wild Jurchens' reinforcements, my main stack attacks the rebels in Yakesa as they have just taken the province so the garrison is still small. With only three hundred defenders, I'll try to storm the fortification.



In March 1357, the inevitable happens. Let's finish the wars as soon as possible.



Yakesa fell with almost no resistance. Meanwhile, I've united my remaining units and forced the Wild Jurchens to abandon the siege as they have already managed to create a breach.


(epic battle between Bukuri Yongson Aisin Gioro and Bukuri Yongson Yuanwen...and the Haixi chief is called Bukuri Yongson Nara - well, that's for the Jurchen imagination)

Note: Aisin means gold, as does Jin. Hence the Aisin Gioro clan became Later Jin dynasty and finally - Qing.

The following months are rather smooth. I hunt down one Haixi unit trying to recapture the unfortified provinces, relocate the main stack to crush the Wilds and move towards the Haixi capital to end their suffering.

I was starting to think that victory is just a matter of time. But then:



The Koreans attacked and brought Jin to the party. Oh well. The poor Jianzhou clan now seems to be rather small when you look at it from a bigger perspective...

To be continued!
 
Looks interesting, subscribed :)
 
Well, I wonder if this AAR will be lasting for very much longer, now =) Good luck!

By the way, is your proposed CK2 succession AAR still going ahead, or not? I'd like to know, so I can decide whether I should do anything CK2 related which might interfere.
 
Looks interesting, subscribed :)

Thanks and welcome :).

Very fun start. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Which is right here!

Well, I wonder if this AAR will be lasting for very much longer, now =) Good luck!

By the way, is your proposed CK2 succession AAR still going ahead, or not? I'd like to know, so I can decide whether I should do anything CK2 related which might interfere.

I will try to do my best (which is actually a little bit better than my worse!)

Well, TBH, the succession project is sadly on a hiatus right now. But I'll come back to it one day, that's for sure.
 
Uniting the clans - part two


I decided to ignore the southern invasion and focus on consolidating the Jurchen territories instead. The 11,000 Joseon soldiers (from which 4,000 are mounted) led by their dangerous general Jeon Wang (3/3/2/1) besiege my capital at Haixi (that's kind of strange, considering that I am playing the Jianzhou clan). Jin sends its relatively minor force to conquer Ninguta.



In March I also received 100 ducats from nobles to support my cause. It is like a miracle coming in the best moment possible. It will allow me to stop minting and be on a deficit for quite a while and I can field some more units also. All in all: Thank you, noble lords!



In April I finally win at Heilongjiang and oust the rebels there. Sadly, the assault fails so I have to continue sieging it for a while.



On the other hand, June brings the victory of my secondary stack in the Wilds' capital, resulting in:



I send the stack to aid at Heilongjiang and in July I try yet another assault.



Well, it worked. I now have seven regiments of infantry and five of cavalry free to take care of the invaders. With almost ninety ducats in my coffins, I will reinforce the army with yet another two regiments of swarm cavalry - quite a costly endeavour (fifteen ducats plus 0.5 monthly each) but I desperately need numerical advantage.



I move onto Ninguta to take down the small Jin army. But just after my arrival there, Haixi falls by an assault and Wang orders his army to march north. If he manages to get there before I defeat the Jin, it'll get messy.

Fortunately, the Chinese flee in October and I can welcome the Koreans with open hands. Full of bows, that is.


(note that I hired a new general as I cannot afford a succession crisis due to some stupid arrow in the eye)

My army was smaller and with a worse general but the simple fact that I am the horde (and maybe that I was defending) helped me to win the day. I then pursue them to Hinggan in the west and rout them again. They flee south to one of the Jin provinces - that means that I won't see them for a while (travelling times are hell in Manchuria).



1359 sees my total failure in assaulting Haixi. Jin sees that as an opportunity and attacks my exhausted army.



I endure. For the horde! Note that my units' morale bar is so drained that the green is invisible and that from the west the Joseon menace advances once more. I am somehow surprised that my entire war machinery did not simply brake down at this moment and I'm worried that skill has nothing to do with these victories.



Anyway, I follow the Jin army to Korea proper and after two battles I wave them goodbye at Pyeongan.



While Zhifang's army returns to defeat Wang at Ninguta, Jurchen nationalists (kind of ironic) revolt in Nerchinsky. Yes, that's the province without a fort.



Opposed by no one, they quickly advance towards the other unprotected province.



In June, the Koreans are finally pushed back to their homeland.

To be honest, I kind of started panicking at this moment. The war with Joseon was exhausting and I needed my entire army to keep them at bay. Jin had just trained a brand new army nearing my lands. My capital was still occupied, rebels were running rampant in parts of my country so distant it takes months to get there (and if they succeeded, I would have to wage another war), majority of my provinces were uncored and with revolt risk in double digits...and I desperately wanted to be at peace to unite the Jurchen. So when the Jin sent me this peace offer...



...I accepted. Maybe it was not necessary because a month later at Gangwon, deep in the Korean territories:



I was definitely too hasty with handing over my entire treasury to Jin. Oh, nevermind. But on the bright side, the war should be a cakewalk from now, no?

To be continued!
 
Oh, it looks like you survived after all! Now you just have to get rid of Yuan and skip that other silly pretender dynasty altogether.

By the way, if you're really putting your succession AAR on hold, it would be appropriate if you could post a message there to that effect so that the other proposed players who might not read this will know about it.
 
Definitely going to follow this. I'm interested to see how you'll cope with some radical changes between in nomine and divine wind, as well as my favorite mod in the universe D&T.
Looking forward to a long running series after reading your CK2 aar.
 
looks very interesting indeed. will b following closely.
also does forming Qin change religion to shenism?

Welcome ;).

No, it is actually the other way round - after becoming Qing you can abandon Shamanism when it is no longer a dominant religion.

What are the requiments for uniting the tribes?

Simply owning the provinces of all the three clans. Actually, I only have to sign a peace treaty to be able to conduct it atm.

Oh, it looks like you survived after all! Now you just have to get rid of Yuan and skip that other silly pretender dynasty altogether.

By the way, if you're really putting your succession AAR on hold, it would be appropriate if you could post a message there to that effect so that the other proposed players who might not read this will know about it.

Yes, a cakewalk.

I'll do it right away.

And the cavalry saved the day :) I'm sure you'll be able to get that money back from Jin later... or even right now from Joseon.

Welcome, aldriq :).

Yay for cavalry! Hopefully, yes ;).

Definitely going to follow this. I'm interested to see how you'll cope with some radical changes between in nomine and divine wind, as well as my favorite mod in the universe D&T.
Looking forward to a long running series after reading your CK2 aar.

Welcome here as well :).

Yes, some of the changes are...interesting. I have decided to learn-during-AARing as that is the best form of meeting new mechanics :D.
 
Uniting the clans - part three



I divide my army to small contingents in order to speed up the siege and four cavalry regiments are sent northwest to crush the uprising there.



They liberate Nerchinsky and in turn get attacked by the rebels. Because they lack a leader, the causalities are much more even than it would be desirable.



Anyway, the rebels are defeated and during the next battle they surrender.



But the situation is still far from perfect - another nationalists rise up on the opposite end of the country. I would end the war at this moment even without any gains...



...if Joseon was not so stubborn and did not refuse even white peace.



As I was focusing on my homeland, the development in Korea got quite out of my control - Joseon has managed to field a three-regiment army and lifted the siege of Pyeongan.



They proceed to Uiji and continue massacring my troops. I try to 'fix' it by abandoning the siege of Gangwon and sending my shock cavalry from there after them.



Too late. Even though the new Korean regiment in Pyeongan is trampled under the hoofs of my horses, the army in Uiji is lost. Nevertheless, I hope that my unbeatable cavalry can yet again win against the odds and triumph in Uiji.



Well, maybe not. Jeon Wang's presence is such a big factor that even the skilled horde riders cannot defeat him.



At least in the North the things are still as they ought to be - my outnumbered force attacks the rebels in the mountains of Wusuli and even though it fails to inflict any losses, the rebels are ousted from the province and fully defeated afterwards. Note that I was so desperate to even put the Khan in charge of the stack.



In October 1360 my capital is finally liberated. My subjects celebrate it by rebelling in Nerchinsky and Yakesa.



I decide that the 25 ducats I could take from Joseon in a peace deal are not worth continuing the struggle and end the war.



And so the glorious moment is here! I officially unite the Jurchens and thus complete the first step on my way to dominate the Middle Kingdom. The rebels are so confused by the change that they disappear.



I start using my magistrates to erase any Jianzhou heritage still left in my country and prepare to finally enjoy the period of peace...



...oh, who am I kidding?

To be continued!
 
Forging the dynasty - part one

I have ended the last chapter by attacking the Yuan without any further clarifications. Well, let's fix it.

Four years since 1356 and Yuan still controls almost all of its starting possessions. Their army is also twice as big as mine so on the paper the balance is not looking good. On the other hand, their country is infested with uprisings so I doubt they will be able to mobilise their forces against us. Both of my other immediate neighbours - Joseon and Jin - also have truce with me so I am in much safer position than when I attacked the Jurchen tribes four years ago. I also want to exploit my local military superiority as much as possible.

My goal is to take the single province that is a core of mine. Other than that, this conflict is not really necessary in the whole process of becoming Qing - which requires me to take two provinces from Jin and Beijing from Yuan (that's a tough one) which, to be honest, did not seem possible to me at this moment.



Anyway, I decided to split the stacks to conquer the Yuan territory faster (and hopefully not failing in it as it had happened in the war with Korea), the battle you are seeing is actually me against some Yuan rebels in Rehe.

Almost immediately after the start of the war, another revolt occurs in the unfortified belt of provinces in the north. That leads me to an ill discovery that Saghalian Oula and Deren did not become my cores when I became Jurchen and the revolt risk there (considering the lack of forts) is quite insane.



For this moment, I'll ignore the rebellion for a while as the sieges are progressing well. Just after I smash the Rehe insurgency, a very pleasing dispute grants me a core on another Yuan province. The war is going to be expanded a bit, then.

Also note two other interesting things in the picture - that I am sieging the Imperial capital at Beijing unopposed (it is currently controlled by Chihan patriots - I cannot afford it defecting to any of the southern dynasties) and that my infamy of 6.4 is already in red. The limit is about nine at this moment.



June brings the fall of my new core Dornod carrying this pretty event - at this moment I realised that war is quite profitable for the horde. The army there is sent northeast to deal with the nationalists.



In September 1361 Dai Viet signs white peace and in October Beijing is sacked by the Jurchen hordes. In the background you can see how bad is the shape Yuan is in.

From this moment, the rest of the war is unremarkable. The rebellion is crushed, I continue promoting cultural unity around my national focus, just after the New Year of 1362 Bayisingtu, the second aim of the war falls under my control and finally in May Zhangjiakou and Rehe surrender which is enough for the great Yuan to accept their defeat.



The unfortunate fact that I have truce with all my neighbours forces me to stay at peace. Hm. I guess the soldiers could actually not be fighting for a while.



In June I sell off some of the newly acquired titles and gain this nice sum of money...



...which is just the right motivation to start building the Great Jurchen Wall around my lands. While the fort is being built, I left a token force of 3,000 to guard it so that I do not lose the progress by another uprising.



As exactly nothing happens during the entire next year - tradaa, here is the fortress.



I try to repeat my success in the second non-cored province, Deren, in the farthest northeastern corner of my country but a Wild Jurchen rebellion, 4,000 men strong decides to cross my plans.



At first I did not believe that the four points penalty of mountainous terrain for the attacker and the fact I had more cavalry led by a better general would not be enough to fend the enemies off but I am proven wrong. Anyway, my main stack soon corrects the fault.



This event is not so extraordinary, I just wanted to show you its effects as they are present in the provinces on the borders with Joseon almost all the time. I do not know whether there are any negatives in supporting the raids but I assume so.



In August 1364 Jin warns us which is the sign that the truce is over. I would really, really want to attack them at the moment but they are dived deep in the system of Han alliances that I could simply declare war on all of China. And that is not a wise idea.



So I simply wait another year, position my troops and knock on the Joseon doors (Korea has always been the odd man out, protected only by few Chinese states).



Both Tianwan and Jin rush to defend their pal and the war can begin. This time I am not the one surprised.

To be continued!