January 1, 1419 - A busy day for me indeed. First, I "convinced" Mehmed to reform the army, giving our offensive capability a larger emphasis, and that was before breakfast. Secondly, after a long and spirited debate in the Inner Council, I was tempted to destroy them down to the last man, I was put in charge of bridging the gap between our Muslim brethren. What's the big difference? After all, they are all going to burn in the end. My official response to the decision was actually, "Praise Allah!" The result is that now, officially, we love of Shiite brethren, and both Catholic and Orthodox practitioners are to be despised throughout the land. I also had a discussion with General Denizli. He and I both agreed (he didn't really have a choice on this one) the army in Turkey needed restructuring. I divided them into two forces, one of infantry and one of cavalry. It is my vision of hordes of cavalry riding across, terrorizing the land. With the infantry moving behind, cleaning up the survivors. I also called 5,000 more conscripts of each. Oh, and I almost forgot we declared war on the Duchy of Athens. Let the bleeding begin.
January 2,1419 - Two minor setbacks, first Tuscany it appears was allied with the duchy. They have joined in the war. Secondly, Austria has joined the alliance of Hungry, Bohemia, Luxembourg, and Siebenburgen. They will have to be taken care of, in due time. The feeling around the royal palace is that this is of no consequence to us. Fools. These talking piles of flesh have no concept of the future. Even the wisest of them can only plan out a year or two in the future. Anything else is beyond them.
January 5, 1419 - Another minor Italian state has decided the map is better off without them. Sienna now desires to save Athens from the infidel Turks. Let them try.
January 26, 1419 - At long last Denizli has met the Athenians on the field, and he has crushed them. I do fear if they had a larger force (they only totaled 6,000) Denizli would of not been so successful. The man stands out, even by mortal standards, for his stupidity. He has initiated a siege and I have ordered, oops I mean Mehmed (it's easy to get that confused) has ordered him to split his force and prepare for further action if needed.
March 5, 1419 - A revolt has broken out in Macedonia. It appears the children of the cross there don't like it when you burn their cathedrals to the ground. Too bad. As luck would have Denizli was station in the province and quickly, and quite brutally I might add, put down the little rebellion. This man may have his uses after all.
April 1, 1419 - The faithful ones just don't learn. Another revolt has sprung up, this time in Dobrudja. It appears the local magistrate angered the population when he desecrated a holy artifact. Denizli has been dispatched to show them the folly of their way. Praise Allah!
April 5, 1419 - Lucifer must be smiling on me. The Papal States has the audacity to join in the cause of saving poor little Athens. Welcome to the fray, Rome.
April 7, 1419 - Curses! I was not able to persuade Mehmed to assault my ancient enemy, Rome. He claims we must focus on the task at hand, Athens. Of course I could have "persuaded" through other means, but several leading members of the Inner Council were also present. I must get that fool alone.
April 14, 1419 - The first bit of Italian blood has been spilled. How I long for more. It seems Tuscany has taken this "saving Athens thing" seriously and landed in Hellas. The sieging forces there didn't even have to miss lunch over this so called battle.
May 1, 1419 - It seems Rome will have to wait, for now. I had just managed to get Mehmed to see the error of his ways regarding Rome, when a pair of revolts broke out in Macedonia and Bulgaria. Both succeeded in killing the local authorities and taking control of the towns. Yasser, who was to be sent to Rome, is now on his way to quell this rebellion.
June 1, 1419 - Word of this so called "holy revolution" has spread. Now Dobrudja is up in arms. They have not taken the town, but are laying siege. It appears a commoner by the name of Antonias has taken the lead in this revolt. His head will look nice on my nightstand.
June 18,1419 - Yasser, who was on his way to Macedonia, was ambushed by Antonias just outside Thrace. He easily defeat the rabble, but Antonias managed to escape. I've put a bounty of 100 gold pieces on his head.
June 22, 1419 - Yasser has arrived in Macedonia. He has split his force and will soon arrive in Bulgaria shortly. Denizli also made it to Rumelia in time to stop the infection from spreading. Once this rebellion is over, the followers of the One will know my wrath.
June 27, 1419 - Tuscany has a real love for seeing her sons put to death. Another force landed, but this time in Smyrna. Fortunately I stationed Krisantem there, to protect our flank. The Italians never made it past the beaches.