1579-1584 - Humiliation
The court unanimously favoured joining the French war against Bar and its allies. With their support, King Ferran IV accepted the call-to-arms and joined the war. Austria, as Emperor, called in more of its allies, although most of them were insignificant northwestern German powers such as Cologne, East Frisia, and Aachen. Austria and Hungary were the only significant threats. The focus was to be placed on assisting France on their eastern border and protecting Byzantium. The armies in Iberia were ordered up to northeast France, where the fighting seemed to be occurring, along with the army in Provence. The main fleet was already on its way to blockade the Austrian and Hungarian coast to eliminate any potential naval threat. The army in Greece was to join forces with the Greeks, while the army in Napoli was to later join them after the transport fleet arrived.
The main Austrian army appeared in Luxembourg alongside Bar and Hainaut. Together they had roughly 45k, although the French had 60k in the area. A clash was likely if either could gain the initiative. For now, Austria was content to siege the province.
The war led to a slight breakdown of communication between ministers. Crown Prince Pere initiated a mass construction plan, building temples in Cantabria, Roussillon, Cosenza, and Lucania. What he wasn’t made aware of was that the Crown had taken out a loan earlier. This information was not shared with the Steward for quite some time. ((This is the problem with breaks between updates. I forget what I was doing earlier, such as trying to pay off a loan.
))
As expected, the Hungarians decided to make a move on Byzantium, with their army of 35k marching into Vidin and heading south. The combined forces of Byzantium and the Greek army were not strong enough to remove the threat, but they could keep them from pushing further into Greece if need be. A lack of communication between the Byzantium and Hispanian army in Greece led to problems. The Greeks marched off on their own without warning, not leaving enough time for the Hispanians to catch up. By the time the Hispanians arrived, the Greeks were already on the run. General Niccolo Limmona and the Napoli army arrived in time to assist, but the odds were against them. He was forced to order a retreat before his army was crushed. One army tried to protect the Greek’s flank while the other headed to Athens. ((Not sure what happened here. I had the one army set to follow Byzantium’s army, but when I checked Byzantium was fighting the Hungarians and our army was heading the wrong way. Weird. I also missed screenshotting the battle results. My bad.))
While the eastern front was a mess, the west was much more agreeable. The Austrians had 40k men sieging Luxembourg, but Barrois was wide open. Generals Louis Clément de Montségur and Wolfgang Oliver Lübeckerlaunched a joint attack on the province and Bar’s army. The small nation couldn’t withstand the onslaught. Their entire army was slaughtered in the assault, opening the province for siege.
During this battle though, the French made a move on Cologne’s army in Liege. France had the numbers and better general, but then the Austrians managed to capture Luxembourg. Now 40k Austrians were marching north to aid their allies. France had another army nearby to assist, bumping their numbers up to over 60k. The arrival of the Austrians led to a battle with over 100k combatants. Liege became a bloodbath. Montségur and Lübecker attempted to help, but the captured fort in Luxembourg kept them from reaching Liege. There were only 280 men garrisoning the fort, but they prevented the army from moving past. Over 33k Hispanian men started besieging the province in the hopes of crushing the garrisoned forces and aiding the French. Their help wasn’t needed in the end. The French managed to pull off a victory, even though a bloody one. Austria fled past Hispania’s army on its way home, while Cologne fled northeast.
Over in Greece, the Greeks had fled across the straits where the Hungarians could not touch them. Niccolo Limmona and his army joined forces with them as they crossed back over the straits and marched around the Hungarian army currently besieging Macedonia. The army that had fled to Athens caught up and joined them in Sofia. With the Hungarians so intent on taking Macedonia, they managed to march straight to the fort in Hunyad uninterrupted.
A major setback occurred for the diplomatic corps. The building where many documents were held, including the forged claims created by Hispania’s spies, was burnt down. Overnight Hispania had lost its claims to over two dozen provinces. A few claims survived the blaze, mainly the ones on Portugal, a few on Venice, and one or two in Genoa and Tunis. ((Another weird occurrence. Not sure why we lost almost all our claims on the same day.))
In May of 1580, Luxembourg was reclaimed. With Galicia having moved on into Bar to take down the tiny nation for France, Hispania could focus elsewhere. Cologne, Hainaut, and Aachen’s army had returned to Liege and France was chasing them down. Generals Montségur and Lübecker pursued the threat as well, intending to crush the enemy in the west. Combined they more than tripled the number of the enemy. Without Austria to help, the enemy was doomed. They were forced on the run, fleeing to Cologne which could not be reached as easily. France took the long way around by marching through Brabant, but the two Hispanian generals decided to stay near France instead of wasting manpower rampaging deep into enemy territory. The three Hispanian armies set out to besiege Hainaut’s three provinces instead.
The French’s chase into Cologne paid off. They caught the enemy army outside Westfalen and dealt them a fatal blow. The Germans states could not hold off the French onslaught any more.
The Austrians had failed to make a reappearance in the west, but it soon became apparent why when their entire army appeared in Hungary as it bore down on the combined Hispanian and Greek army sieging Hunyad. The Austrians were too strong and General Limmona was forced to call another retreat with everyone heading for Constantinople. The Austrians pursued and it was hoped they would not interfere further.
Things were going more smoothly in the west. Galicia had taken Barrois and France now held the province. Cambray had fallen in Hainaut, leaving two provinces left. An exceptional business environment and excellent harvest contributed to a hike in tax income, something of great benefit when running a war. Queen Isabel also established the Casa de Contratacion to aid with Hispania’s colonial endeavours.
The Austrians were in hot pursuit of the armies in Greece, and Hungary had managed to take Macedonia and were moving on to Edirne. The armies were trapped in Constantinople. The transport fleet had been sitting in Athens and sailed for the straits. Hopefully it could ferry enough troops across and out of harm’s way. The Austrians arrived first and forced a battle. The men were too exhausted to put up much of a fight and fled for the ships when things turned against them. Unfortunately, the ships could not fit both Hispanian armies. In a great act of bravery, General Niccolo Limmona led the remnants of one army in a suicidal assault to hold back the Austrians while the second army fled across the straits. His gambit paid off. The second army was able to get away, but at the cost of Limmona’s forces. The general himself was rumoured to have been dragged away by his most loyal men at the battle’s end and ferried across the straits in a fishing boat. Few know if the rumours are true, but the general survived the battle met up with the army on the other side of the straits.
With the Napoli army gone, recruitment efforts were launched back in Iberia for a new army to replace it. Things went further downhill as the Greek army fled to Silistria and was bested by an army half its size. They were forced to flee to Hungary, abandoning their home. When Hainaut fell in January of 1581, a decision was made. With the entire Hungarian and Austrian armies in Greece, Byzantium could not be retaken, at least not by Hispania alone. The way to win this war was to crush the enemy from the west where France could pull its weight. If the west fell, the war would end and Byzantium would be safe once again. With 70k men sieging Edirne and Constantinople, the Greeks were abandoned to their fate in the hopes that the war could be won in the west.
With the eastern front abandoned, the army hiding in Anatolia was shipped over to Provence. Once there, the transport fleet returned east. It was tasked with blockading the straits. Even if the army was not strong enough to save Byzantium, the navy could at least keep their Anatolian provinces free. The Greek court had already fled to Biga, with Constantinople no longer safe.
In April, France managed to force Cologne out of the war, removing one of the biggest threats in the west. Lübecker at the same time also crushed a small Hainaut resistance force of 4k men.
Once the recruitment of the new army was done, it joined two more armies under the command of Generals Montségur and Limmona as they pushed up through Savoy and into western Austria. The Emperor would pay for his assault on Byzantium.
Just as Edirne fell to the Hungarians, a wisp of hope appeared in the form of Poland declaring war on Hungary. Hungary and Austria were now at war with most of Europe, with Sweden and Venice backing up the Poles. This could only aid the war effort.
Aachen was the next power to be forced out of the war. France was generous enough to ensure Hispania received some funds from the vanquished enemy.
The Greeks’ attempt to pester Hungary went sour as Hungary’s army returned home and wiped out their entire army. Poland watched from the next province over.
Efforts to bring Malta more under the Sicilian administration paid off. This would lead to better governance with the island and cooperation with the holy order that operated on it.
Breisgau was the first Austrian province to fall. As things started turning Hispania’s way, Hainaut lost Namur, which the French gladly gobbled up in the resulting peace. The two armies in Hainaut split with one headed up to East Frisia and the other under Lübecker heading over to Austria.
Things in the east had gone downhill yet again. The great city of Constantinople had fallen to the Austrians. The Greeks were furious at this, especially since Hispania had abandoned them to fight in the west. The so-called “Protector of the Greeks” had failed in its duty.
Even if the Greeks were not pleased with events, the plan was working. 39k Frenchmen had snuck into the Austrian capital of Wien. After Wurttemberg fell, France decided it had done enough to secure a peace. However, it was not the peace Hispania expected. France decided instead to pilfer Bar’s treasury and leave them untouched. King Ferran IV was not amused that his ally had started a war to conquer Bar and failed to do so. At least the French were quite grateful. Perhaps that could be used for leverage in one of Hispania’s wars. For now, trust had improved between the two allies and the Hispanian armies could return home. As for Austria, Chancellor Marti declared that any friendly attitude that had been pursued beforehand was now gone. There would be no friendship between the two nations.
With peace settled, things could return to normal. Despite the presence of a loan, Prince Pere as steward ordered the expansion of the forts in Navarra and Girona. The debacle in Byzantium had proven that Hispania was not invincible, and such a thing could never be allowed to happen in Iberia. The improved forts would ensure the region was properly protected.
Efforts to improve the technology of the kingdom occurred as well. Experimentation was encouraged to find new ways of production and ideas that could benefit the kingdom as a whole. Perhaps Hispania could find a new focus for thought. ((We’ve unlocked our fourth idea group and will be voting on that later.))
Efforts to reforge the lost claims were going smoothly. Claims on the Canaries were already complete and more were being made on mainland Morocco, as well as in parts of Venice.
Despite setbacks during the last war, the army was in better shape than it had ever been. Countries around the world recognized it for its unprecedented skill and quality.
One group that wasn’t doing so well was the nobility. Squabbles amongst various nobles and their decreasing influence over the army had weakened their position at court. King Ferran IV did not have the patience to deal with their petty disputes.
Efforts to formally integrate Galicia into the realm suddenly leapt forward when the duke of Galicia, Ramiro IV, suddenly died without an heir. The only two claimants were Ramiro’s sister Branca, the wife of Prince Marti, and the previous duke’s bastard son. The title was to go to Branca when a letter was found from the late Duke Garcia II declaring the legitimization his bastard son, which the duke had not been able to make public before his death. Thus Ramiro the Bastard become the next duke, although Galicia finally fell under control of Hispania. His claim was weak though and would have little backing if the king turned against him. In subservience to the crown, Galicia’s army was disbanded and its two ships merged into the navy. ((This is my way of making the province available for players to claim instead of making it a Crown province.))
The colony in Gabon came to fruition in June of 1582. At the news, the colonist in Tandil left for Camana to start a colony there for Duke Montségur. The colony bordered three separate native nations and was bound to interact with them in the future.
While Hispania had been focused on the war in Europe, Nueva Granada had taken the opportunity to form an assembly to manage some local affairs such as tax legislation and budgets without proper authority. They claimed to be better situated to handle such things, but it also meant less to be controlled by the Crown. A careful eye would have to be kept on the colonies.
Austria’s loss against France apparently had not endeared it to the electors. In a surprisingly twist, Lambert II of Brabant was elected the next emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Such a nation would be much easier to handle than Austria.
A prominent philosopher had been publicly sharing his new theories that in some ways contradicted religious truths. The Church was furious and the Inquisition was ready to lock the man up or burn him at the stake as a heretic. The king, however, was intrigued by these ideas and intervened. He brought the man to court and had him share his ideas. Some of them, perhaps, could aid Hispania in the long run. The clergy were not pleased with this decision.
The increasing power of Hispanian trading companies was bringing in vast wealth to the kingdom. These chartered companies were encouraged, especially as they pumped more money back into the kingdom. They encouraged the improvement of the navy, and one prominent merchant working for the TATC even acquired some new ships designs for transports, supposedly borrowed from the British or Flemish.
Word reached Iberia that Morocco had officially declared Hispania a rival of theirs. There had been little love between the neighbours, especially after Hispania took Fez from Morocco. With Venice’s power waning, the sentiment was returned. Morocco would be watched carefully. ((Venice kept losing and gaining power randomly, so they never stayed a stable rival. I chose Morocco once they did the same to us.))
Army reforms went alongside the many others. The number of men in a formation was adjusted to prevent men from standing idle while the men up front did most of the fighting. By adjusting the size of the formations, each man could be more effectively utilized.
Austria sparing Ravensburg years ago turned out to be a bad thing for Switzerland. They lost three provinces to their tiny neighbour, an embarrassing situation.
In February of 1583, the substantial loan was finally paid off, leaving the kingdom debt-free.
The previous two stewards had left extensive construction plans and it was only in 1583 that the late Sastre’s plan was finished with a temple built in Cuenca.
The colony of Havana became self-sufficient and was transferred to Nuevas Baleares for governance. Colonist Miguel Villanova set off on a long journey across the Atlantic and around the Cape of Good Hope, eventually landing in Menabe on the island of Madagascar.
Tuscany continued with its near heretical actions by declaring war on the Papal State. King Ferran IV was just glad he was not forced to decide between the two, for such a decision would be difficult.
A grand performance was planned and paid for by the Crown to perform across the country. Ideally it would please the people and keep their mind off other matters. One such thing that needed attention drawn away from it was the Laws of Burgos. These laws had been established far back during the initial colonization efforts of Hispania. They stipulated rules and regulations for the use of native labour. Most of the time, though, these laws were ignored. Rumours of its lax enforcement kept making their way back to the king’s ears. Seeing as the court had decided upon a policy of coexistence years ago, Ferran IV felt it best to maintain good relations with the locals, and that required not abusing them as forced labour. Efforts to enforce these laws were increased.
With Austria’s loss of the imperial crown, the Protestant League continued to grow. Catholic nations continued to join it, seeing the league less as a group of religious brethren but as a means to strike against their rivals. Tuscany, Venice, Great Britain, and others were willing to abandon the Church for a little revenge. Perhaps now more than ever the Catholics of Europe needed Hispania’s help.
Presenting His Majesty, Ferran IV de Trastámara, King of Hispania and Protector of the Greeks & the Knights.
The French work in such mysterious ways. First they can’t decide whether they love us or hate us, and now they start a war over Barrois and don’t even take the province. Fools. At least now they may be more willing to aid us in our own efforts.
I fear though that this last war has shattered some of the trust the Greeks had in us. We failed to protect them, even if our efforts did end the war. We must attempt to make amends with them.
I also have more joyous news. My daughter, Princess Clara, has come of age. I believe it is time that she be presented to the court. Suitors from across Europe will be coming to Valencia to win her hand and I encourage you all to attend the debutante to get to better know my dear daughter. ((This will be our event for this week. Don’t worry, I have something planned to spice it up a bit.
))
((Sorry for the delay. Work took up more time than expected and the holidays are always a mess. Anyway, on to business as usual. I will give all ministers until
Friday at 12pm PST to post plans. Anyone may propose laws in that time too. There are some ministries that haven’t had proper plans in some time, so I suggest every minister do so even if it’s just keeping things the same. It should be noted that anyone may request we join one of the HRE religious leagues at any time if they want to redo the earlier vote.
Also, I didn’t notice until the end of the update that our conquistador, Hernando Francisco de Leon, has been sitting in the western tip of Alaska for who knows how long. I believe we’ve officially explored all of the Americas.
@zenphoenix, you may want to consider a new occupation.
Pensioners:
@Luqueasaur
@cheif bearpaw
@Andre Massena
Dying:
@TJDS
@EmperorBasilius
@GreatUberGeek))