Well now, on 4 Oct 1535, the issue is settled at the Kremlin, and we jump on the Polish bandwagon, supported by our allies Georgia and Denmark; the scups offer us a truce on the 20th, which is obviously declined. On the 30th, Igor precipitated a Political Crisis by trying to kick me and my supporters, various baronesses known collectively as the Dixie Chicks
, out of the regency (-3 Stability and values =2 for 6 months, although the computer never caught on to that time limit
). I immediately direct all investments into restoring stability.
Then it became our turn to be jumped on as Sibir and Sweden declare against us, on 19 Nov and 27 Jan respectively. We had planned on a war with Sibir, but not at a time of their choosing, and our troops were out of position. The Swedish declaration was too much to handle all at once, and so we immediately offered a truce, which they accepted.
In early Apr the Teutonic Order joined our seige of Welikia, but we insisted on retaining command and the city surrendered to us on 15 Jul. The next day we turned down their 4th offer of a white peace. Alga fell to Sibir on 4 Jul, and in early Sep they torched our trade post at Aralsk. Attrition was wrecking havoc on our troops beseiging their cities, so with no real hope of victory we I forced through an offer of a truce against Igor's hysterics, which offer was accepted by Sibir on 1 Nov.
On 13 Feb 1537 Poland cedes Galacia and Krakow to Hungary. Smolensk surrendered on 17 Mar, and on 7 Apr Poland offered to cede it to us. We politely said 'Not yet'
. About this time Denmark abandoned their seige of Donetsk to us, which surrendered on 12 Jul. Two days later, the Poles added it to their offer of Smolensk, but we would prefer something with Welikia. Kursk fell on 13 Oct, and TND we demanded Welikia, Donetsk, and cash, gaining 47 gold. They would go on to cede Kurland and cash to the Teutonic Order on 2 Mar '38.
In the meantime, however, Crimea (backed by Iraq and the Mameluks) declared against us on 20 Jun; Georgia and Denmark came to our aid. Kouban switched hands a few times, falling to Georgia in mid Oct, being recaptured by Crimea in late Dec, and finally falling again, this time to Denmark, in mid Aug '38. In late Dec Denmark abandoned the siege of the capital to us, and the city fell on 20 Apr '38. The day after Kouban fell to the Danes, Crimea offered us a truce, to which we replied "
HA!" The only places they can raise troops are Kaffa and Kerch, both of which were building ships.
Azow surrendered on 28 Oct, and TND they paid off Georgia with 89 gold. Kalmuk surrendered on 9 Dec, and they offer it on 2 Jan '39. By this time our stability has returned to its standard high. On 28 May they would offer it and Azow for peace, but we're holding out for complete conquest. Kaffa fell on 14 Jul, and TND Crimea accepted Denmark's demand for Kouban and cash (29 gold). All that remained now was Kerch, but soon they were beseiging their capital. Our rushed assault failed to take the city, and their capture of their capital extended the war a good many months.
Good news came in mid Mar 1540, when we pooled enough capital to open a National Bank, allowing for bigger loans. Kerch fell on 9 Apr, and when they offered Kalmuk TND we replied "Pshaw!", not because it means anything but because it's fun to say.
When their capital fell again on 1 Jul, we annexed the country, gaining a Black Sea fleet of 19 warships and additions to our army of nearly 6700 inf and 40 cannon. I sent settlers to force convert Azov and Kaffa, both actions successful.
Unfortunately, we discovered that we were still at war with their allies, and our offer of a truce was declined.
So we loaded some of the troops on our new navy and sent them off to Egypt to force the issue. But then we found ourselves in yet another overlapping war, as Persia declared against us on 23 Aug, our allies joining in. The Mameluks offered us the same truce they refused earlier when they found out about our invasion plans, on 7 Jan '41.
About that time Denmark abandoned command of the seige at Azerbadzian to us so as to fight for their province of Kouban, which would fall to the Persians in early May. In late May-early Jun we held off an attempt to lift our seige, and the city surrendered on 17 Jun. Immediately after defeating Persia in a big battle on 5 Nov, we demand tribute, gaining 81 gold.
We got out of that war because on 17 Jul, for the second time in this series of wars, we found ourselves attacked by Sweden. They had no armies on our border, so we figured we'd chance it this time and called upon our allies. Unfortunately, they managed to get a large army with an excellent commander to Ingermanland before we could do anything to them. This army repelled all our attempts to lift their seige, so with the city weeks away from surrender we offered a truce on 13 Oct '42 and they accepted. It took just over seven years, but we were finally at peace again.
-Pat
I'll talk about all the revolts along the Black Sea next time.
