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Thank you! 
Playing the Horde is a lot of fun, although I'm not sure I can get to my goal this game. I'd do so much better if I started again!
We'll see. If I can, then I think I also want to pick off the Islam united mission... Honestly the way it's going, that looks more likely then China.
Playing the Horde is a lot of fun, although I'm not sure I can get to my goal this game. I'd do so much better if I started again! We'll see. If I can, then I think I also want to pick off the Islam united mission... Honestly the way it's going, that looks more likely then China.
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Lesson 11: The Muscovite War
So, last we left the Commonwealth, Mamluks, and myself had divided up the Ottoman Empire. Constantinople, the prize, fell to the Commonwealth. Most annoying. Muscovy had expanded east and started demolishing the tribes it found there in its attempt to reach the Pacific. The Oirat Horde and Tibet formed a solid plug in Central Asia that I had yet to test my armies against. But I was tired of hiding from my neighbors and a recent dip in Muscovy's armies had me jumping all over the declare war button. I'd called up a mercenary horde along the border, set my vassals (Crimea (annexing), Khazakh, Persia, Uzbek, Ryzan) to support, and ...
The opening moves of the war were all offensive by the Golden Horde. Mercenary companies crossed the border in over a dozen points, composed of small roving bands, never numbering more then 1000 infantry to a group. Their orders were simple - find the enemy, avoid them, loot everything. If you lived, you kept the loot. It was a remarkably effective campaign promise, which would influence future Golden Horde military policy for some time. The initial outlay of funds for mercenaries paid for itself before the first year of the war had even resolved and a second, and later a third set of mercenaries were sent on similar expeditions.
A small army was sent to begin siegeworks on the capital. The main army was held back, looking for the decisive engagement.
Using the visibility of the small mercenary companies the Golden Army was able to force an already divided Muscovite army to engage in under poor terms and with the advantage of numbers. Mid-sized conflicts like this one rarely destroyed the Muscovite army outright, but kept them from ever uniting as an organized force.
A map of the early stages of the war.
Notice the strange rebellion in Timurid lands marked on the map. These rebels were Timurid rebels, who simply didn't take over the province - we think because the Oirat Horde vassalized the Timurids and they weren't sure who to fight. Later they were completely absorbs by Oirat and.. they continued to not fight. That is, until real foreign invaders came calling later.
The Golden Horde's vassals actually proved quite useful during this conflict. .. To be honest, one of the few times we can say this after the nation modernized.
The fighting was also fierce, if involving much smaller armies, in the eastern portions of the Horde, around the Uzbek and Kazakh provinces.
This strategy allowed territories near both the Ryzan border and, in the east, the Kazakh/Uzbek to be claimed while troops were rushed to any conflict.
Such as Vetluga Crossing, where the initial Muscovite Army had the advantage but reinforcements and military technology quickly turned the tide.
With Muscovy weakened, the dogs circled. The Oirat Horde was the first.
As the war progressed, governmental practices continued to borrow ideas from their neighbors and improve upon the systems.
Military doctrine, so effective at the beginning of the war, cracked, with the military splintering on the next step until the Sultan intervened.
Reorganized, the military proposed ways of increasing the always horribly low manpower and force limit situation of the Horde.
Eventually, the Pomeranian allies showed up and were defeated as well.
Despite the ongoing war, Crimea was integrating into the Golden Horde. This integration freed up valuable resources that had been devoted to the vassal which were immediately put to other uses. The integration had the side effect of putting Steppe culture at the forefront of the Horde again.
The Commonwealth took their own swipe at a weakened neighbor.
Followed by even the less-then-mighty Livonian Order.
The war was going well enough to pick off the last Aydin province for the Ottomans.
Tragedy struck in the year 1600 when our Sultan Ali I died just as the war was winding down. His heir, Timur II was quite the leader by comparison but it remained to be seen if he had the force of will so strong in his father and grandfather.
Muscovy was taking a beating on every front.
And finally agreed to a peace. Many suggested that the peace could have been more powerfully in favor of the Horde, but they did achieve most of the goals they'd laid out for the war.
Military power analysis after the war showed that the Mamluk-Horde alliance could put more troops in the field then anyone else - unless the Commonwealth and it's allies were directly attacked. Also, the Horde's manpower, despite extensive use of mercenaries was drained.
More, the war had allowed nationalist sentiments in Georgia and Shivan to blow open again. And Persia had another Shia rebellion taking place. It was time for peace. For the next several years the Golden Army put down rebellions.
Advancements were made following the war even during the mass rebellions.
Oh, and the Aydin war was finished.
At the end of this time period the national borders of the Horde and its vassals and allies.
Okay everyone, we're out of time for today. Next week we'll discuss the 1st Commonwealth-Horde War.
Thanks for reading!
So, last we left the Commonwealth, Mamluks, and myself had divided up the Ottoman Empire. Constantinople, the prize, fell to the Commonwealth. Most annoying. Muscovy had expanded east and started demolishing the tribes it found there in its attempt to reach the Pacific. The Oirat Horde and Tibet formed a solid plug in Central Asia that I had yet to test my armies against. But I was tired of hiding from my neighbors and a recent dip in Muscovy's armies had me jumping all over the declare war button. I'd called up a mercenary horde along the border, set my vassals (Crimea (annexing), Khazakh, Persia, Uzbek, Ryzan) to support, and ...
The opening moves of the war were all offensive by the Golden Horde. Mercenary companies crossed the border in over a dozen points, composed of small roving bands, never numbering more then 1000 infantry to a group. Their orders were simple - find the enemy, avoid them, loot everything. If you lived, you kept the loot. It was a remarkably effective campaign promise, which would influence future Golden Horde military policy for some time. The initial outlay of funds for mercenaries paid for itself before the first year of the war had even resolved and a second, and later a third set of mercenaries were sent on similar expeditions.
A small army was sent to begin siegeworks on the capital. The main army was held back, looking for the decisive engagement.
Using the visibility of the small mercenary companies the Golden Army was able to force an already divided Muscovite army to engage in under poor terms and with the advantage of numbers. Mid-sized conflicts like this one rarely destroyed the Muscovite army outright, but kept them from ever uniting as an organized force.
A map of the early stages of the war.
Notice the strange rebellion in Timurid lands marked on the map. These rebels were Timurid rebels, who simply didn't take over the province - we think because the Oirat Horde vassalized the Timurids and they weren't sure who to fight. Later they were completely absorbs by Oirat and.. they continued to not fight. That is, until real foreign invaders came calling later.
The Golden Horde's vassals actually proved quite useful during this conflict. .. To be honest, one of the few times we can say this after the nation modernized.
The fighting was also fierce, if involving much smaller armies, in the eastern portions of the Horde, around the Uzbek and Kazakh provinces.
This strategy allowed territories near both the Ryzan border and, in the east, the Kazakh/Uzbek to be claimed while troops were rushed to any conflict.
Such as Vetluga Crossing, where the initial Muscovite Army had the advantage but reinforcements and military technology quickly turned the tide.
With Muscovy weakened, the dogs circled. The Oirat Horde was the first.
As the war progressed, governmental practices continued to borrow ideas from their neighbors and improve upon the systems.
Military doctrine, so effective at the beginning of the war, cracked, with the military splintering on the next step until the Sultan intervened.
Reorganized, the military proposed ways of increasing the always horribly low manpower and force limit situation of the Horde.
Eventually, the Pomeranian allies showed up and were defeated as well.
Despite the ongoing war, Crimea was integrating into the Golden Horde. This integration freed up valuable resources that had been devoted to the vassal which were immediately put to other uses. The integration had the side effect of putting Steppe culture at the forefront of the Horde again.
The Commonwealth took their own swipe at a weakened neighbor.
Followed by even the less-then-mighty Livonian Order.
The war was going well enough to pick off the last Aydin province for the Ottomans.
Tragedy struck in the year 1600 when our Sultan Ali I died just as the war was winding down. His heir, Timur II was quite the leader by comparison but it remained to be seen if he had the force of will so strong in his father and grandfather.
Muscovy was taking a beating on every front.
And finally agreed to a peace. Many suggested that the peace could have been more powerfully in favor of the Horde, but they did achieve most of the goals they'd laid out for the war.
Military power analysis after the war showed that the Mamluk-Horde alliance could put more troops in the field then anyone else - unless the Commonwealth and it's allies were directly attacked. Also, the Horde's manpower, despite extensive use of mercenaries was drained.
More, the war had allowed nationalist sentiments in Georgia and Shivan to blow open again. And Persia had another Shia rebellion taking place. It was time for peace. For the next several years the Golden Army put down rebellions.
Advancements were made following the war even during the mass rebellions.
Oh, and the Aydin war was finished.
At the end of this time period the national borders of the Horde and its vassals and allies.
Okay everyone, we're out of time for today. Next week we'll discuss the 1st Commonwealth-Horde War.
Thanks for reading!
Lesson 12: The Commonwealth War and the Great Embarrassment
So, the update is as such: the Golden Horde is fresh off of a victory against Muscovy. It is rivaled by and rivals Muscovy, Oirat, and the Commonwealth. Venice is also rivaling the Horde, for no reason I can figure out. We hold steady in our alliance with the Mamluks and hold vassals of: Uzbek, Ryzan, Kazakh, Persia, and the Ottomans. Recently the Crimea joined Circassia and Nogai in being annexed by the Horde. The goal is to get to China, so obviously I'm going to fight the Commonwealth next - well the opportunity was too good and I wanted Constantinople. Our ideas are Admin (finished), Influence (midway), Quantity (barely started). I'm thinking hard about getting to religious as fast as possible so I can start using the Holy War cb as I move east. Iraq has formed a coalition against us...
Hello again class, we'll dive right in today, lots to cover.
The Commonwealth ended there war with Muscovy for almost nothing. At home they were wracked by internal issues. There manpower and standing army counts were dropping steadily. The young Sultan Timur II, wishing to be as forthright as his forefathers began planning a grand campaign and set about readying the nation.
His desire to play a great power worthy of the victory over the Muscivites led him to send a delegate to the lands of the HRE, where he joined secret pacts to aid the Protestant League. This decision is questionable in retrospect, if only because what business did the Horde have worrying about who ruled the HRE? However, the thought at the time was - the Commonwealth had joined the Catholics and anything that hurt the Commonwealth was good for the Horde. This would have been true under other circumstances. Also, when the Horde joined they were merely promising aid to France, Sweden, Muscovy, Great Britain, and an assortment of minor HRE powers.
With rebels actually more of a threat to other rebels then the Polish armies the time was obviously right. Even better... the Commonwealth joined the coalition against us. Headed by Iraq.
Sultan Timur II quickly forged a claim on Iraq and used it to justify war. Of note, claims were also held for a couple of Omani provinces, but not the ones that directly connected our lands through the Iraqi corridor. Instead, they were the trade port provinces, accessible from our current lands only by sea. As it happened, Oman and Iraq were allies - Allah was practically smiling on this endeavor.
A mercenary strategy similar to the one used in the just fought war against Muscovy was utilized - minor troops looting, locating Commonwealth armies, and almost as important, pinpointing rebel strong points so our forces didn't blunder into them.
Honestly, the biggest threat was a 40 unit army bouncing between Biga and Constantinople, slaughtering any army it came across by marching the long way around EVERY TIME. And an 80ish stack of Noble Rebels in the interior that I almost had my main army caught by at one point.
Iraqi forces were quickly put down and Baghdad was besieged. Meanwhile more mercenaries flooded into Oman where they were not as successful - hard to keep small armies alive with no room to maneuver within that small coastal country.
This maps illustrate how many territories and armed insurrections the Commonwealth was dealing with..
Mercenaries held post, waiting for the forces to start a siege. And dodging rebels.
Eventually a large Commonwealth army was caught after doing battle with a rebel group. The first large victory of the war.
This was followed by catching another army at the Muscovy border with no where to run to.
Problems with production caused the Horde to rely even more on mercenary reinforcements as the war ground on.
Victories were piling up.
Muscovy obviously felt recovered from the mass wars it had recently gone through and moved east again.
For some reason the Baghdad siege took forever. It finally ended, giving us the ability to enforce peace on the coalition.
And then the Horde realized it was in a religious war. Only France wasn't there. And Great Britain wasn't. While the numbers looked ok, it...wasn't. The Protestants never massed there troops and were rolled one by one by an Austrian-Venice-whatnot army.
The first Catholics the Horde fought were the Serbians. An easy win.
Mercenaries were sent into Austria and Venice through the Commonwealth, looking to loot and spy. They were... less successful. Without the room of the eastern nations to maneuver, Europe simply couldn't be approached that way and the main Golden Army was rather busy.
Commonwealth provinces were falling, but Austrian and Venetians were beginning to pay attention. One by one, minor powers were being ground out of the alliance by the Austrians boot with no one capable of stopping them.
Although the Horde did develop it's first religious ideals at that point in counter-point to the Catholic Leagues oppression and evilness.
And then one of the Golden Armies main divisions was smashed without much doubt by the Catholics. The writing was on the wall.
The people rallied, but it wasn't going to be enough.
Oman agreed to peace terms.
Knowing that the religious war was going to be the doom of him, Sultan Timur II ordered one last act of defiance, and looted the Holy City of Rome before losing that army.
Then the Iraqi's agreed to the peace the Horde demanded - giving vast Polish lands to the Horde. Including Constantinople.
The ideals of Influence that the Horde had been pursuing advanced.
Meanwhile, rebels began springing up as the Sultan cast about for any way to end the war. Eventually he realized that the Catholics would never deal with him.
And he .. retired himself, leaving the country in the hands of Muhammad the I.
The Austrians proved willing to deal with Sultan Muhammad I, although the peace deal was somewhat humiliating with lands lost to Circassia of all foes.
The whole affair has gone down in history as the Great Embarrassment - no doubt you've seen the tragic play more times then you care to and have rent your hair, "Remember, remember the 8th of November," after all.
Next time we'll talk about the 1st Oirat War and better things, at least briefly.
So, the update is as such: the Golden Horde is fresh off of a victory against Muscovy. It is rivaled by and rivals Muscovy, Oirat, and the Commonwealth. Venice is also rivaling the Horde, for no reason I can figure out. We hold steady in our alliance with the Mamluks and hold vassals of: Uzbek, Ryzan, Kazakh, Persia, and the Ottomans. Recently the Crimea joined Circassia and Nogai in being annexed by the Horde. The goal is to get to China, so obviously I'm going to fight the Commonwealth next - well the opportunity was too good and I wanted Constantinople. Our ideas are Admin (finished), Influence (midway), Quantity (barely started). I'm thinking hard about getting to religious as fast as possible so I can start using the Holy War cb as I move east. Iraq has formed a coalition against us...
Hello again class, we'll dive right in today, lots to cover.
The Commonwealth ended there war with Muscovy for almost nothing. At home they were wracked by internal issues. There manpower and standing army counts were dropping steadily. The young Sultan Timur II, wishing to be as forthright as his forefathers began planning a grand campaign and set about readying the nation.
His desire to play a great power worthy of the victory over the Muscivites led him to send a delegate to the lands of the HRE, where he joined secret pacts to aid the Protestant League. This decision is questionable in retrospect, if only because what business did the Horde have worrying about who ruled the HRE? However, the thought at the time was - the Commonwealth had joined the Catholics and anything that hurt the Commonwealth was good for the Horde. This would have been true under other circumstances. Also, when the Horde joined they were merely promising aid to France, Sweden, Muscovy, Great Britain, and an assortment of minor HRE powers.
With rebels actually more of a threat to other rebels then the Polish armies the time was obviously right. Even better... the Commonwealth joined the coalition against us. Headed by Iraq.
Sultan Timur II quickly forged a claim on Iraq and used it to justify war. Of note, claims were also held for a couple of Omani provinces, but not the ones that directly connected our lands through the Iraqi corridor. Instead, they were the trade port provinces, accessible from our current lands only by sea. As it happened, Oman and Iraq were allies - Allah was practically smiling on this endeavor.
A mercenary strategy similar to the one used in the just fought war against Muscovy was utilized - minor troops looting, locating Commonwealth armies, and almost as important, pinpointing rebel strong points so our forces didn't blunder into them.
Honestly, the biggest threat was a 40 unit army bouncing between Biga and Constantinople, slaughtering any army it came across by marching the long way around EVERY TIME. And an 80ish stack of Noble Rebels in the interior that I almost had my main army caught by at one point.
Iraqi forces were quickly put down and Baghdad was besieged. Meanwhile more mercenaries flooded into Oman where they were not as successful - hard to keep small armies alive with no room to maneuver within that small coastal country.
This maps illustrate how many territories and armed insurrections the Commonwealth was dealing with..
Mercenaries held post, waiting for the forces to start a siege. And dodging rebels.
Eventually a large Commonwealth army was caught after doing battle with a rebel group. The first large victory of the war.
This was followed by catching another army at the Muscovy border with no where to run to.
Problems with production caused the Horde to rely even more on mercenary reinforcements as the war ground on.
Victories were piling up.
Muscovy obviously felt recovered from the mass wars it had recently gone through and moved east again.
For some reason the Baghdad siege took forever. It finally ended, giving us the ability to enforce peace on the coalition.
And then the Horde realized it was in a religious war. Only France wasn't there. And Great Britain wasn't. While the numbers looked ok, it...wasn't. The Protestants never massed there troops and were rolled one by one by an Austrian-Venice-whatnot army.
The first Catholics the Horde fought were the Serbians. An easy win.
Mercenaries were sent into Austria and Venice through the Commonwealth, looking to loot and spy. They were... less successful. Without the room of the eastern nations to maneuver, Europe simply couldn't be approached that way and the main Golden Army was rather busy.
Commonwealth provinces were falling, but Austrian and Venetians were beginning to pay attention. One by one, minor powers were being ground out of the alliance by the Austrians boot with no one capable of stopping them.
Although the Horde did develop it's first religious ideals at that point in counter-point to the Catholic Leagues oppression and evilness.
And then one of the Golden Armies main divisions was smashed without much doubt by the Catholics. The writing was on the wall.
The people rallied, but it wasn't going to be enough.
Oman agreed to peace terms.
Knowing that the religious war was going to be the doom of him, Sultan Timur II ordered one last act of defiance, and looted the Holy City of Rome before losing that army.
Then the Iraqi's agreed to the peace the Horde demanded - giving vast Polish lands to the Horde. Including Constantinople.
The ideals of Influence that the Horde had been pursuing advanced.
Meanwhile, rebels began springing up as the Sultan cast about for any way to end the war. Eventually he realized that the Catholics would never deal with him.
And he .. retired himself, leaving the country in the hands of Muhammad the I.
The Austrians proved willing to deal with Sultan Muhammad I, although the peace deal was somewhat humiliating with lands lost to Circassia of all foes.
The whole affair has gone down in history as the Great Embarrassment - no doubt you've seen the tragic play more times then you care to and have rent your hair, "Remember, remember the 8th of November," after all.
Next time we'll talk about the 1st Oirat War and better things, at least briefly.
Lesson 13: The First Oirat War
Hello everyone (or at least 3 people who I know read this). When we left off the Horde had successfully taken advantage of the Commonwealth's internal struggles and then gotten themselves crushed by interfering in European politics. Really horrible decision that I can't defend well - but I really thought I'd be going to war side by side with France and England... Oh well. The Horde's long-time ally the Mamluk's are still staunch. The vassals of Persia and Kazakh have both grown nicely (although Persia has serious religious issues) and after years of being a barely useful diplomatic slot Ryzan finally picked up some extra land. The Uzbek's and Ottomans..well, they are vassals too. We've beaten the the Commonwealth and Muscovy and carved out a lot of territory along the edges of some minor states. Circassia is a nation of minor note again, smack in the middle of my north-south corridor. I'd like to do something about that soon, but the truce means I'm headed for either India, or, my actual goal, China. Losing to the Austrians and their 100k stacks... well, so it goes. We've now picked up Religion as the newest idea group in the hopes of finally not using up all of my diplomatic power every time I make a peace deal (if the vassals are supposed to pay it, why do they never do so?)
The first few years following the Embarrassment involved the newly elevated Sultan Timur II coming into his rule. With his first actions forced to be a peace deal, he had to pick up a lot of the government on the run, as it were. Rebellions were put down, various administrative fires squashed, vassals soothed.
Also, advancements in military strategy continued to be highly sought after. Larger, cheaper, more effective armies were going to be needed if the Horde was ever going to challenge European powers successfully.
And then the event that proves that the Golden Horde simply doesn't understand Europeans. The Peace of Westphalia - basically the Catholic League somehow didn't finish the war, despite; after the Horde's removal, only needed to defeat Muscovy and Denmark. Making it stranger/worse, the Horde's spies had seen the Catholics utterly destroy two 50k unit Muscovite armies. Europeans - sometimes characterizations come from somewhere.
Influence and homegrown culture advanced again during this rebuilding time.
A minor war was quickly waged on Baluchistan to claim the territory of Chabahar - - reachable by sea for Golden Horde administrators for coring (on the cheap for being overseas). Documents from the time reveal that the plan called for an immediate follow up war on Multan. However, at the exact same time as the Baluchistan peace went through, Great Britain took a province and turned Multan into a protectorate. You can see their small red, interfering color through the peace deal on the attached slide. This halted the Horde's Indian ambitions for some time.
Cheap to core regardless.
My file for the start of the Oirat conflict seems to be mising, but you can see the initial army moves into Oirat territory here. The war started over the province of Kypshak. Of course, those long present, do nothing rebels fought for the nation that they were rebelling against.
The Oirat Army actually sneaked in an early victory. Afterwards the Sultan threw a sword at his generals feet and was said to say, well, I can't repeat it here. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.
New generals drove back the Oirat forces.
Again - the Oirat forces with vassals and allies outnumbered the Horde with vassals at almost every turn, but the Golden Army had years of experience campaigning against Western foes and equipment that was well above the Oirat. Once the battle-line was stabilized they drove back every Oirat thrust.
Muscovy changed its name to Russia in 1624.
To be honest it was a matter of grinding out enough provinces by siege to convince the Oirat's Khan to surrender.
The vassals did their part as well.
Tibet, the Oirat's major ally, was driven out of the war with little gain for the Horde - we simply didn't touch them and didn't want disconnected lands.
The battles slowly moved across the vast steppe, closer to the Pacific with every fight.
As is tradition, Timur II passed away just as the war was wrapping up. He died young. Fortunately, his heir Shiban I, was a very able ruler and well prepared to take over the reigns of government, prepped by a father who didn't want what happened to him to happen to his son.
War always spurs additional invention.
The Horde's ability to wage wars against other large powers in success caused their reputation to go up with the world.
The decision was made to copy the west again and studies into better diplomacy suggested that an Embassy could be useful. Advancements were made and a common pool of funds was set aside to start begin funding such an endeavor.
With the Golden Horde's government finally giving them some attention, the merchant class tried to prove that they could compete with European interests. There initial foray paid off handsomely.
The diplomatic corp also responded favorably to the new Sultan's rule.
Deus Vult - learned from the Austrians and their ..cough.. ways.
1627 saw an end to the war with the vassals gaining new lands and the Khan of Yarkland being told to find his own destiny.
This was quickly followed by the forcing Iraq to give up its last territory.
During this time the Horde economy wasn't just showing positive growth, but actually thriving. The change to western government had allowed much greater control and organization of the provinces.
The nation at the end of this time period, with assorted vassals and the Mamluk alliance of course.
War was declared on Oman again, to increase the Horde's holdings around the Gulf of Oman, hoping to put it's hand into the rich Indian and Chinese trade routes.
At the same time - Russia put a coalition on us. The Horde made a major mistake and did not immediately act on the threat.
Military tech was advanced again.
The Omani army was fought in a series of running battles.
The Sultan was an extremely talented diplomat. His guidance led to additional gains.
A genius with a blind spot.
The Commonwealth joined the coalition.
The Commonwealth declared war.
As you all know - this was not good.
We'll resume next class with the War of Polish Aggression
(Hint, stop reading if you dislike watching the train wrecks)
Hello everyone (or at least 3 people who I know read this). When we left off the Horde had successfully taken advantage of the Commonwealth's internal struggles and then gotten themselves crushed by interfering in European politics. Really horrible decision that I can't defend well - but I really thought I'd be going to war side by side with France and England... Oh well. The Horde's long-time ally the Mamluk's are still staunch. The vassals of Persia and Kazakh have both grown nicely (although Persia has serious religious issues) and after years of being a barely useful diplomatic slot Ryzan finally picked up some extra land. The Uzbek's and Ottomans..well, they are vassals too. We've beaten the the Commonwealth and Muscovy and carved out a lot of territory along the edges of some minor states. Circassia is a nation of minor note again, smack in the middle of my north-south corridor. I'd like to do something about that soon, but the truce means I'm headed for either India, or, my actual goal, China. Losing to the Austrians and their 100k stacks... well, so it goes. We've now picked up Religion as the newest idea group in the hopes of finally not using up all of my diplomatic power every time I make a peace deal (if the vassals are supposed to pay it, why do they never do so?)
The first few years following the Embarrassment involved the newly elevated Sultan Timur II coming into his rule. With his first actions forced to be a peace deal, he had to pick up a lot of the government on the run, as it were. Rebellions were put down, various administrative fires squashed, vassals soothed.
Also, advancements in military strategy continued to be highly sought after. Larger, cheaper, more effective armies were going to be needed if the Horde was ever going to challenge European powers successfully.
And then the event that proves that the Golden Horde simply doesn't understand Europeans. The Peace of Westphalia - basically the Catholic League somehow didn't finish the war, despite; after the Horde's removal, only needed to defeat Muscovy and Denmark. Making it stranger/worse, the Horde's spies had seen the Catholics utterly destroy two 50k unit Muscovite armies. Europeans - sometimes characterizations come from somewhere.
Influence and homegrown culture advanced again during this rebuilding time.
A minor war was quickly waged on Baluchistan to claim the territory of Chabahar - - reachable by sea for Golden Horde administrators for coring (on the cheap for being overseas). Documents from the time reveal that the plan called for an immediate follow up war on Multan. However, at the exact same time as the Baluchistan peace went through, Great Britain took a province and turned Multan into a protectorate. You can see their small red, interfering color through the peace deal on the attached slide. This halted the Horde's Indian ambitions for some time.
Cheap to core regardless.
My file for the start of the Oirat conflict seems to be mising, but you can see the initial army moves into Oirat territory here. The war started over the province of Kypshak. Of course, those long present, do nothing rebels fought for the nation that they were rebelling against.
The Oirat Army actually sneaked in an early victory. Afterwards the Sultan threw a sword at his generals feet and was said to say, well, I can't repeat it here. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.
New generals drove back the Oirat forces.
Again - the Oirat forces with vassals and allies outnumbered the Horde with vassals at almost every turn, but the Golden Army had years of experience campaigning against Western foes and equipment that was well above the Oirat. Once the battle-line was stabilized they drove back every Oirat thrust.
Muscovy changed its name to Russia in 1624.
To be honest it was a matter of grinding out enough provinces by siege to convince the Oirat's Khan to surrender.
The vassals did their part as well.
Tibet, the Oirat's major ally, was driven out of the war with little gain for the Horde - we simply didn't touch them and didn't want disconnected lands.
The battles slowly moved across the vast steppe, closer to the Pacific with every fight.
As is tradition, Timur II passed away just as the war was wrapping up. He died young. Fortunately, his heir Shiban I, was a very able ruler and well prepared to take over the reigns of government, prepped by a father who didn't want what happened to him to happen to his son.
War always spurs additional invention.
The Horde's ability to wage wars against other large powers in success caused their reputation to go up with the world.
The decision was made to copy the west again and studies into better diplomacy suggested that an Embassy could be useful. Advancements were made and a common pool of funds was set aside to start begin funding such an endeavor.
With the Golden Horde's government finally giving them some attention, the merchant class tried to prove that they could compete with European interests. There initial foray paid off handsomely.
The diplomatic corp also responded favorably to the new Sultan's rule.
Deus Vult - learned from the Austrians and their ..cough.. ways.
1627 saw an end to the war with the vassals gaining new lands and the Khan of Yarkland being told to find his own destiny.
This was quickly followed by the forcing Iraq to give up its last territory.
During this time the Horde economy wasn't just showing positive growth, but actually thriving. The change to western government had allowed much greater control and organization of the provinces.
The nation at the end of this time period, with assorted vassals and the Mamluk alliance of course.
War was declared on Oman again, to increase the Horde's holdings around the Gulf of Oman, hoping to put it's hand into the rich Indian and Chinese trade routes.
At the same time - Russia put a coalition on us. The Horde made a major mistake and did not immediately act on the threat.
Military tech was advanced again.
The Omani army was fought in a series of running battles.
The Sultan was an extremely talented diplomat. His guidance led to additional gains.
A genius with a blind spot.
The Commonwealth joined the coalition.
The Commonwealth declared war.
As you all know - this was not good.
We'll resume next class with the War of Polish Aggression
(Hint, stop reading if you dislike watching the train wrecks)
Lesson 14: The War of Polish Agression
When we left off the Commonwealth had joined the Russian Coalition and then brought said coalition, plus it's own allies and vassals into the war. That is - Venice/Russia/Commonwealth/Livonian Order/Naxos/Riga/ and, ah, I don't know, the Kitchen Sink. So, ah, we'll just get to it...
Sultan Shiban I was not a tactician, but he gathered his Generals and clan leaders and a campaign was set out that it was thought would stem the horde of enemies.
The Russian front was engaged with the nearest vassals in the hopes of keeping the Russians from linking from the Commonwealth. This was successful. This would allow time for the Mamluk and Persian forces to reach the front.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth's main army was crushing resistance in Constantinople and it's combined fleets shut down the straights.
Mercenary companies were once again sent across the border with a loot and spot mission. The fund set aside to modernize diplomacy in the Sultanate by building an Embassy was immediately transferred to the War Dept to fund the new upkeeps and hire more men. The Golden Army quickly grew larger then it could realistically support and payments that would be crippling in normal times were accepted.
Early engagements went well. The Russians and Livonions were.. not capable of defeating the Golden Army and its Kazakh/Ryzan/Uzbek armies without support. However, the Russians brought a lot of men to the field and began seiging down Uzbek territories that the Horde could not afford to defend in depth.
When a small Commonwealth reserve group was sent, it to was sent reeling in retreat.
However, the Golden Army couldn't pursue any of these armies to their destruction without leaving the entire border defenseless. More, it was wearing away. Worse, the main enemy army was free in Anatolia, with Venetians and allies suggesting 70,000 men at arms on Horde soil.
This image shows the scope of the conflict.
A detachment of the army was sent south, around the Black Sea, to get behind Commonwealth forces and link up with Persian and Mamluk forces. It won a couple of quick victories.
Before the main Commonwealth army smashed it. Notice how the Mamluk forces were late to begin moving towards the battle. Not easy to see - Persian forces also failed to arrive.
Wrapping up the Omani War for less then total annexation wasn't the first choice, but the need to end the war was high.
Another northern battle against smaller Commonwealth divisions attempting to link up with the Russians.
But the tide was turning, badly, in the north...
Another picture of desperately needed Mamluk army waiting for a sign from Allah before moving to engage. They'd wait until long after the critical battle and another defeat.
From the south word came of more crushing defeats, a combined Persian and Mamluk forces had let themselves be caught and routed in Anatolia.
The war was being lost, every Golden Horde army larger then a single division was currently in retreat.
And then a ray of hope.
Russia was pulled into a war against the Commonwealth on behalf of Denmark. They were forced out of the coalition. Uzbek and Kazakh territories that had been lost were returned with a note from the Tzar to the Sultan - "Sorry about that" it was rumored to say.
Patriots in Constantinople tried to rise up behind the lines. The Sultan tried to send word to stop them. It was a slaughter, 4000 rebels lined up and were crushed when the Commonwealth Army returned - 70000 vs 4000. With no way to cross the straights, even if they had dared, they were doomed.
The Commonwealth began using the shorter distance around the Black Sea to its advantage. They would siege were our army was not, and every time our army split to attempt to recover land it would move to the weaker and strike.
In desperation the Sultan figured out a way to get Venice and it's vassals out of the war, through the small country of Morea.
Another Anatolian defeat for the Golden Army. The Commonwealth, even without it's allies still was bringing more men to the war. And worse, its military technology was better then the Hordes.
Defeat followed defeat. Loans were taken to support the army, 1 after the other. Mercenaries made up most of the forces, manpower within the Horde would take a generation to recover. The Sultan authorized a peace deal - any peace deal that would end the war.
They were refused.
Losses in Crimea even against the united strength of the Horde and its vassals. Well, except for Persia that stood around half of the time due to poor communications. And usually the Mamluks showing up early and preventing an ambush, or late, after the Golden Army had suffered another loss that should not have occurred.
The main Mamluk army was smashed in Anatolia twice more and then they sorrowfully turned in their swords. The Sultan forgave them immediately - much blood had been shed, beyond honor's need.
War fatigue set in among everyone. Persian Shia's revolted again. Kazakh entered a period of internal strife. Rebel factions thought long discarded seized control of provinces.
The fighting moved closer and closer to the Golden Horde's original homelands. The Commonwealth had ground the Horde to pieces and was working on picking up those pieces and smashing them with little hammers.
And then, they offered peace.
It had been 15 years of war. Constantinople, the gates of the Black Sea, returned to the Polish dogs.
So, I don't think I've ever been quite as disturbed as to get this offer. I'd run the last few years at 4 speed trying to get to the point where they'd accept ANY a peace deal. I'd offered pretty much this same deal 10 years earlier. At this point they could have forced me to abandon all of Anatolia or something. So, we kept our territory for the most part. But the nation.. I'm not sure how many loans, no manpower, negative 90 prestige... basically if it had a way to be counted, I'd lost it, excepting only Legitimacy. I gave moderate consideration to restarting from the beginning given that I wasn't sure I'd be able to meet my original goals anyway. But, perhaps a plan can still be implemented...
This AAR has officially caught up with the live game.
When we left off the Commonwealth had joined the Russian Coalition and then brought said coalition, plus it's own allies and vassals into the war. That is - Venice/Russia/Commonwealth/Livonian Order/Naxos/Riga/ and, ah, I don't know, the Kitchen Sink. So, ah, we'll just get to it...
Sultan Shiban I was not a tactician, but he gathered his Generals and clan leaders and a campaign was set out that it was thought would stem the horde of enemies.
The Russian front was engaged with the nearest vassals in the hopes of keeping the Russians from linking from the Commonwealth. This was successful. This would allow time for the Mamluk and Persian forces to reach the front.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth's main army was crushing resistance in Constantinople and it's combined fleets shut down the straights.
Mercenary companies were once again sent across the border with a loot and spot mission. The fund set aside to modernize diplomacy in the Sultanate by building an Embassy was immediately transferred to the War Dept to fund the new upkeeps and hire more men. The Golden Army quickly grew larger then it could realistically support and payments that would be crippling in normal times were accepted.
Early engagements went well. The Russians and Livonions were.. not capable of defeating the Golden Army and its Kazakh/Ryzan/Uzbek armies without support. However, the Russians brought a lot of men to the field and began seiging down Uzbek territories that the Horde could not afford to defend in depth.
When a small Commonwealth reserve group was sent, it to was sent reeling in retreat.
However, the Golden Army couldn't pursue any of these armies to their destruction without leaving the entire border defenseless. More, it was wearing away. Worse, the main enemy army was free in Anatolia, with Venetians and allies suggesting 70,000 men at arms on Horde soil.
This image shows the scope of the conflict.
A detachment of the army was sent south, around the Black Sea, to get behind Commonwealth forces and link up with Persian and Mamluk forces. It won a couple of quick victories.
Before the main Commonwealth army smashed it. Notice how the Mamluk forces were late to begin moving towards the battle. Not easy to see - Persian forces also failed to arrive.
Wrapping up the Omani War for less then total annexation wasn't the first choice, but the need to end the war was high.
Another northern battle against smaller Commonwealth divisions attempting to link up with the Russians.
But the tide was turning, badly, in the north...
Another picture of desperately needed Mamluk army waiting for a sign from Allah before moving to engage. They'd wait until long after the critical battle and another defeat.
From the south word came of more crushing defeats, a combined Persian and Mamluk forces had let themselves be caught and routed in Anatolia.
The war was being lost, every Golden Horde army larger then a single division was currently in retreat.
And then a ray of hope.
Russia was pulled into a war against the Commonwealth on behalf of Denmark. They were forced out of the coalition. Uzbek and Kazakh territories that had been lost were returned with a note from the Tzar to the Sultan - "Sorry about that" it was rumored to say.
Patriots in Constantinople tried to rise up behind the lines. The Sultan tried to send word to stop them. It was a slaughter, 4000 rebels lined up and were crushed when the Commonwealth Army returned - 70000 vs 4000. With no way to cross the straights, even if they had dared, they were doomed.
The Commonwealth began using the shorter distance around the Black Sea to its advantage. They would siege were our army was not, and every time our army split to attempt to recover land it would move to the weaker and strike.
In desperation the Sultan figured out a way to get Venice and it's vassals out of the war, through the small country of Morea.
Another Anatolian defeat for the Golden Army. The Commonwealth, even without it's allies still was bringing more men to the war. And worse, its military technology was better then the Hordes.
Defeat followed defeat. Loans were taken to support the army, 1 after the other. Mercenaries made up most of the forces, manpower within the Horde would take a generation to recover. The Sultan authorized a peace deal - any peace deal that would end the war.
They were refused.
Losses in Crimea even against the united strength of the Horde and its vassals. Well, except for Persia that stood around half of the time due to poor communications. And usually the Mamluks showing up early and preventing an ambush, or late, after the Golden Army had suffered another loss that should not have occurred.
The main Mamluk army was smashed in Anatolia twice more and then they sorrowfully turned in their swords. The Sultan forgave them immediately - much blood had been shed, beyond honor's need.
War fatigue set in among everyone. Persian Shia's revolted again. Kazakh entered a period of internal strife. Rebel factions thought long discarded seized control of provinces.
The fighting moved closer and closer to the Golden Horde's original homelands. The Commonwealth had ground the Horde to pieces and was working on picking up those pieces and smashing them with little hammers.
And then, they offered peace.
It had been 15 years of war. Constantinople, the gates of the Black Sea, returned to the Polish dogs.
So, I don't think I've ever been quite as disturbed as to get this offer. I'd run the last few years at 4 speed trying to get to the point where they'd accept ANY a peace deal. I'd offered pretty much this same deal 10 years earlier. At this point they could have forced me to abandon all of Anatolia or something. So, we kept our territory for the most part. But the nation.. I'm not sure how many loans, no manpower, negative 90 prestige... basically if it had a way to be counted, I'd lost it, excepting only Legitimacy. I gave moderate consideration to restarting from the beginning given that I wasn't sure I'd be able to meet my original goals anyway. But, perhaps a plan can still be implemented...
This AAR has officially caught up with the live game.
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Lesson 15, The Sultans Diary:
In 1952 Histories discovered that the Shiban I kept a diary in which he outlines potential plans to recover from the Commonwealth's thrashing of the Horde. These thoughts are laid out for your thoughts here. As you know, most of these threads of thought are utilized, but some aren't. Students, I expect a paper analyzing these courses for pluses and minuses within the knowledge of the time and possible outcomes. Lets play some make-believe history here and tell me what the Sultan should have done next given access to his inner thoughts!
Option 1) Continue with the plan hatched by taking Oman -- forge a claim on Ethopian provinces and use the Mamluk alliance to gain lands in Africa. Once in East Africa, conquer south until we can absorb the Gold Mines and the trade node of Zanzibar.
Option 2) Persia is an..ineffective vassal at this point. There armies rarely did as they were told, they have internal issues, and are not well placed to absorb additional territories. They should be annexed.
Sub A, Opt2: Release the Mughals?
Option 3) The Mamluks are, sadly, ineffectual allies. They show a certain lack of elan shown by their generals by simply avoiding battle when we needed them to join. And stupidity when attacking when we needed them to wait. Also, they are technologically behind the time. Yes, their paper numbers perhaps help keep enemies from attacking. But absorbing their lands would give us those numbers to ourselves - and give our Ottoman vassal something useful to absorb because they certainly aren't getting into the Commonwealth-Balkans.
Option 4) Return to pounding the Oirat Horde (and other assorted central asian Khanites, like that one we broke free from the Oirat's last war starting with a Y) and continue to press our ancient destiny to re-unit all of the tribes and bring the riches of China under our control.
Option 5) We need more money to compete with the Commonwealth. Absorbing India at a faster rate could provide both manpower and funds for the next war.
Option 6) Muscovy - take them on. They are currently at war with the Oirat, they may be distracted still when our armies finally recover.
Option 7) Find another Ally - preferably Great Britain and/or Austria. Maybe Sweden. Perhaps pry Venice out of the Commonwealth alliance?
Option 8) Is there any other way to go to find either friends or easily absorbed lands?
In 1952 Histories discovered that the Shiban I kept a diary in which he outlines potential plans to recover from the Commonwealth's thrashing of the Horde. These thoughts are laid out for your thoughts here. As you know, most of these threads of thought are utilized, but some aren't. Students, I expect a paper analyzing these courses for pluses and minuses within the knowledge of the time and possible outcomes. Lets play some make-believe history here and tell me what the Sultan should have done next given access to his inner thoughts!
Option 1) Continue with the plan hatched by taking Oman -- forge a claim on Ethopian provinces and use the Mamluk alliance to gain lands in Africa. Once in East Africa, conquer south until we can absorb the Gold Mines and the trade node of Zanzibar.
Option 2) Persia is an..ineffective vassal at this point. There armies rarely did as they were told, they have internal issues, and are not well placed to absorb additional territories. They should be annexed.
Sub A, Opt2: Release the Mughals?
Option 3) The Mamluks are, sadly, ineffectual allies. They show a certain lack of elan shown by their generals by simply avoiding battle when we needed them to join. And stupidity when attacking when we needed them to wait. Also, they are technologically behind the time. Yes, their paper numbers perhaps help keep enemies from attacking. But absorbing their lands would give us those numbers to ourselves - and give our Ottoman vassal something useful to absorb because they certainly aren't getting into the Commonwealth-Balkans.
Option 4) Return to pounding the Oirat Horde (and other assorted central asian Khanites, like that one we broke free from the Oirat's last war starting with a Y) and continue to press our ancient destiny to re-unit all of the tribes and bring the riches of China under our control.
Option 5) We need more money to compete with the Commonwealth. Absorbing India at a faster rate could provide both manpower and funds for the next war.
Option 6) Muscovy - take them on. They are currently at war with the Oirat, they may be distracted still when our armies finally recover.
Option 7) Find another Ally - preferably Great Britain and/or Austria. Maybe Sweden. Perhaps pry Venice out of the Commonwealth alliance?
Option 8) Is there any other way to go to find either friends or easily absorbed lands?
This is brilliant! And please don't restart from before the war - I think you can still make your initial goals, although I'm sure the time you'll have to spend recovering will be painful. As you move East, the only people who will care will probably be Russie (since they are also out there), but with the Commonwealth getting their hands back on Constantinople, perhaps they'll be distracted elsewhere. And if they have a coalition against Russie, maybe you can join that and become the best of frenemies...
But I love your style, the pics, the info you share, and I've picked up some excellent game techniques from reading this! Thanks!
But I love your style, the pics, the info you share, and I've picked up some excellent game techniques from reading this! Thanks!
Thank you! I appreciate the comment and compliment. I'm flattered that you can learn something from my play.
I only thought about restarting for... um, lets say an hour (most of an evening..). Mostly what bothered me was the waste of time when I was ready to hand the Commonwealth what they wanted and more just to end the war. Now I know how the AI feels when I really grind them down. But at least I ask for everything I can afford when I do it.
Lesson 16: Recovery Part I
The Horde enters this session in free-fall. Loans, inflation, prestige, forces, manpower, naval light ships, relations with anyone... it's all trashed. Let this be a less on to anyone who's thinking about playing the Horde - do anything to crush out part of the Commonwealth early before it becomes..this. Don't alienate the Ottomans, ally the Austrians, something, anything.
But, recovery can happen in time...
Lesson 16: Recovery
Okay everyone, sit down. I've looked over your papers. Some of you are quite imaginative. Most mostly your responses are lacking in real insight into the problems of the time. For example, I'm sure developing a nuke and touching it off in Warclaw would face some difficulties in implementation and delivery. Let's try to pay attention today, this will be on the test.
With the war over, the government enacted a few programs and returned to the development of several ongoing projects. First with it's vassal management.
Then a desperately needed boost to its military. A bit late perhaps, but in time for the next war.
While the Horde dealt with rebels and economic issues, the Russians continued to push east. At least they didn't take the loss to the Commonwealth as a sign of weakness - because it was. Most historians agree that if the Russians had attacked they would have gotten anything they wanted in a peace deal.
Meanwhile, the Sultan put just about every plan he could think off into the fire.
His ambassadors brought off a minor coup and allied Hejaz, one of the Mamluks long term allies.
The situation in 1648 was as shown. The Horde stretched from the Siberian plans in the north and all the way down the Arabian peninsula.
The Sultan took a page from his grandfather and modernized the government - the assumption being that reigning in provincial authority would help with the financial situation and give great flexibility when dealing with rebels.
With that taken care of and the armies chasing down the rebel forces in former Oman lands, Anatolia, and Iraq, the Sultan began implementing the fabrications/cores needed to move the Golden Horde back into positive growth. First up, a strike into Africa for Kilwa and gold and an easily controlled trade center that will have the side benefit of hurting the Western Europeans. To do so a claim is needed on Ethiopia - easily done by hopping the waters across from the Omani holdings, just like had been done to open India. This would have also allowed, if necessary/desired, a second front against the Mamluks should all of Ethiopia fall to the Horde.
Of course, there were difficulties with that proposal, discovered once the Sultan sent his operatives to set the plan into motion.
Please feel free to imagine me inserting whatever curse-words seem most appropriate. I used several.
Things were getting better though. Admittedly, other nations considered our nation at the time much as dirt and our own people still weren't thrilled.
Horde and the quantity military philosophies took another step forward in these times.
Continuing with the idea of weakening the Mamluks, we brought Hejaz into the fold as a vassal. They were happy to agree to our proposal. Which made them stand out compared to our own people at the time.
Another step forward in the Sultans push to understand and duplicate the fervor with which the Austrians had fought.
The nation was still dead broke, but the Sultan was somewhat whimsical and thought that a modern palace would help the people forgot the humiliation. It didn't really work, but you can still see it off the GH-90 just north of the capital.
Relations were improved enough that Great Britain forged an alliance with the Sultan. The agreement was brokered over tea in a small park next the British Indian Trade consulate. Religion was not discussed.
You can also see in that slide that the British protectorate of Multan and dissolved into smaller states, opening a path for Horde progress. As part of the Golden British Pact, the British gave their okay to the expansion of the Golden Horde's Indian Sphere of Influence. The Sultan may have indicated that the Horde had no interest in the western coast of India.
Eventually the last Crimean rebellion was put down. The nation was at peace with itself.
The Horde enters this session in free-fall. Loans, inflation, prestige, forces, manpower, naval light ships, relations with anyone... it's all trashed. Let this be a less on to anyone who's thinking about playing the Horde - do anything to crush out part of the Commonwealth early before it becomes..this. Don't alienate the Ottomans, ally the Austrians, something, anything.
But, recovery can happen in time...
Lesson 16: Recovery
Okay everyone, sit down. I've looked over your papers. Some of you are quite imaginative. Most mostly your responses are lacking in real insight into the problems of the time. For example, I'm sure developing a nuke and touching it off in Warclaw would face some difficulties in implementation and delivery. Let's try to pay attention today, this will be on the test.
With the war over, the government enacted a few programs and returned to the development of several ongoing projects. First with it's vassal management.
Then a desperately needed boost to its military. A bit late perhaps, but in time for the next war.
While the Horde dealt with rebels and economic issues, the Russians continued to push east. At least they didn't take the loss to the Commonwealth as a sign of weakness - because it was. Most historians agree that if the Russians had attacked they would have gotten anything they wanted in a peace deal.
Meanwhile, the Sultan put just about every plan he could think off into the fire.
His ambassadors brought off a minor coup and allied Hejaz, one of the Mamluks long term allies.
The situation in 1648 was as shown. The Horde stretched from the Siberian plans in the north and all the way down the Arabian peninsula.
The Sultan took a page from his grandfather and modernized the government - the assumption being that reigning in provincial authority would help with the financial situation and give great flexibility when dealing with rebels.
With that taken care of and the armies chasing down the rebel forces in former Oman lands, Anatolia, and Iraq, the Sultan began implementing the fabrications/cores needed to move the Golden Horde back into positive growth. First up, a strike into Africa for Kilwa and gold and an easily controlled trade center that will have the side benefit of hurting the Western Europeans. To do so a claim is needed on Ethiopia - easily done by hopping the waters across from the Omani holdings, just like had been done to open India. This would have also allowed, if necessary/desired, a second front against the Mamluks should all of Ethiopia fall to the Horde.
Of course, there were difficulties with that proposal, discovered once the Sultan sent his operatives to set the plan into motion.
Please feel free to imagine me inserting whatever curse-words seem most appropriate. I used several.
Things were getting better though. Admittedly, other nations considered our nation at the time much as dirt and our own people still weren't thrilled.
Horde and the quantity military philosophies took another step forward in these times.
Continuing with the idea of weakening the Mamluks, we brought Hejaz into the fold as a vassal. They were happy to agree to our proposal. Which made them stand out compared to our own people at the time.
Another step forward in the Sultans push to understand and duplicate the fervor with which the Austrians had fought.
The nation was still dead broke, but the Sultan was somewhat whimsical and thought that a modern palace would help the people forgot the humiliation. It didn't really work, but you can still see it off the GH-90 just north of the capital.
Relations were improved enough that Great Britain forged an alliance with the Sultan. The agreement was brokered over tea in a small park next the British Indian Trade consulate. Religion was not discussed.
You can also see in that slide that the British protectorate of Multan and dissolved into smaller states, opening a path for Horde progress. As part of the Golden British Pact, the British gave their okay to the expansion of the Golden Horde's Indian Sphere of Influence. The Sultan may have indicated that the Horde had no interest in the western coast of India.
Eventually the last Crimean rebellion was put down. The nation was at peace with itself.
Lesson 16: Recovery Part II
Lesson 16: Recovery Part II
The War of Circassian Reclaimation of 1652 was the first step. Portugal stepped in as Defender of the Realm, rather unexpectedly, but was ineffective as most of its powers were tied up in its American colonies.
One large, quick land battle and a small naval victory and the sieges started.
Meanwhile, the Horde continued to grapple with inflationary problems and reformed the currency to try to get ahead of the matter.
The Circassian rebels that had managed to stay in existence since they had initially rebelled against the Horde was a bigger threat them the Circassian army.
The war spurred further advances in the quantity school of thought. Long past were the discussions about the worth of bows.
This is just one example, but the diplomatic abilities of the Horde were increased 4 times during the war against Circassia as the nation continued its emergence from the dark period following the War of Polish Aggression.
A quick peace was signed. The war recovered just a part of the Circassian territories lost, but the Sultan thought it best to not engage Portugal and move on to another target.
Note that Armenia was formed as well. I'd like to tell you that was meaningful to history, but sometimes things just aren't.
Next up was Balachistan, for it's coastal Indian provinces. Along for the ride - Yarkland - very convenient for the Golden Horde who had them next in draft order for their soccer league, as it were. While there were battles, none were particularly notable.
The sieges began in Yarkland in this slide. You can also see that Russia is continuing to tear into Oirat.
Military access allowed Horde troops to engage Melwar in it's own lands, which, led to this:
The three enemy nations (and 1 vassal) were down to 1 military unit under arms.
The first peace deal was with Yarkland - somewhat expensive in diplomatic cost for the Horde, which in turn meant that:
Only Marwar was sought in the next peace deal.
Also, the Golden Horde's return to prosperity inspired our vassals.
At some point during this time period it is known that Persia and the Horde began negotiations towards the complete annexation of that country into the Horde itself.
Marwar was an important take, it opened up some new options for Holy War as per the nation's new(ish) willingness to discuss religious war options.
And then Baluchistan gave up its coastal territories.
With one war over the Golden Horde did not wait, but declared war on the Omans in order to finish off the conquest of Arabia.
A small Indian country with no friends quickly fell.
The Horde's new religious philosophy was paying dividends, and for the first time in its history it converted a province - and was quickly working on more.
And the Oman's signed a peace deal giving up most of the rest of their lands.
Finally, in 1658, the Horde paid off the last of the debts from the War of Polish Aggression.
With issues at home under control the Horde was even able to put a fleet of trade ships to see again, overseeing the important Black Sea trade.
A quick war against Sind, an Indian minor nation and their current ally Afghanistan followed.
And was resolved, reuniting the Horde's lands.
Military technology advanced again following these small wars as the military regained confidence in themselves.
The Golden Horde had been pursuing religious matters for some time. It seemed like a good idea for the Horde to claim the mantle of Defender of the Faith for the Sunni people's of the world. If the Horde couldn't protect them then no one would be able to as Catholics ran roughshod over the globe.
Great Britain pulled the Golden Horde into a war with France. The Sultan was said to shrug and say, "The Horde does not dishonor itself." Rumor has it that was followed by a question of 'Where is France?' but that seems unlikely.
The Horde had pulled itself out of its misery. The people of the time had regained faith in their government and indeed, in their faith. Allies were worthy friends, vassals were well behaved, science and technology were booming. The Sultan ignored the war with France and began to prepare for another target, a large target. The world had choices:
(player map)
There was no need to wait, the next target was juicy, open lands with no army guarding them to speak of and no allies to care. It was simple....
...or this. The 2nd War of Polish Aggression would begin when the Commonwealth sent men across the border in a surprise raid on a small military outpost in Anatolia. The barbarians had come to the Golden Gates a second time.
(after allies were called in)
Next class we'll discuss the 2nd War of Polish Aggression.
Thanks for reading!
Lesson 16: Recovery Part II
The War of Circassian Reclaimation of 1652 was the first step. Portugal stepped in as Defender of the Realm, rather unexpectedly, but was ineffective as most of its powers were tied up in its American colonies.
One large, quick land battle and a small naval victory and the sieges started.
Meanwhile, the Horde continued to grapple with inflationary problems and reformed the currency to try to get ahead of the matter.
The Circassian rebels that had managed to stay in existence since they had initially rebelled against the Horde was a bigger threat them the Circassian army.
The war spurred further advances in the quantity school of thought. Long past were the discussions about the worth of bows.
This is just one example, but the diplomatic abilities of the Horde were increased 4 times during the war against Circassia as the nation continued its emergence from the dark period following the War of Polish Aggression.
A quick peace was signed. The war recovered just a part of the Circassian territories lost, but the Sultan thought it best to not engage Portugal and move on to another target.
Note that Armenia was formed as well. I'd like to tell you that was meaningful to history, but sometimes things just aren't.
Next up was Balachistan, for it's coastal Indian provinces. Along for the ride - Yarkland - very convenient for the Golden Horde who had them next in draft order for their soccer league, as it were. While there were battles, none were particularly notable.
The sieges began in Yarkland in this slide. You can also see that Russia is continuing to tear into Oirat.
Military access allowed Horde troops to engage Melwar in it's own lands, which, led to this:
The three enemy nations (and 1 vassal) were down to 1 military unit under arms.
The first peace deal was with Yarkland - somewhat expensive in diplomatic cost for the Horde, which in turn meant that:
Only Marwar was sought in the next peace deal.
Also, the Golden Horde's return to prosperity inspired our vassals.
At some point during this time period it is known that Persia and the Horde began negotiations towards the complete annexation of that country into the Horde itself.
Marwar was an important take, it opened up some new options for Holy War as per the nation's new(ish) willingness to discuss religious war options.
And then Baluchistan gave up its coastal territories.
With one war over the Golden Horde did not wait, but declared war on the Omans in order to finish off the conquest of Arabia.
A small Indian country with no friends quickly fell.
The Horde's new religious philosophy was paying dividends, and for the first time in its history it converted a province - and was quickly working on more.
And the Oman's signed a peace deal giving up most of the rest of their lands.
Finally, in 1658, the Horde paid off the last of the debts from the War of Polish Aggression.
With issues at home under control the Horde was even able to put a fleet of trade ships to see again, overseeing the important Black Sea trade.
A quick war against Sind, an Indian minor nation and their current ally Afghanistan followed.
And was resolved, reuniting the Horde's lands.
Military technology advanced again following these small wars as the military regained confidence in themselves.
The Golden Horde had been pursuing religious matters for some time. It seemed like a good idea for the Horde to claim the mantle of Defender of the Faith for the Sunni people's of the world. If the Horde couldn't protect them then no one would be able to as Catholics ran roughshod over the globe.
Great Britain pulled the Golden Horde into a war with France. The Sultan was said to shrug and say, "The Horde does not dishonor itself." Rumor has it that was followed by a question of 'Where is France?' but that seems unlikely.
The Horde had pulled itself out of its misery. The people of the time had regained faith in their government and indeed, in their faith. Allies were worthy friends, vassals were well behaved, science and technology were booming. The Sultan ignored the war with France and began to prepare for another target, a large target. The world had choices:
(player map)
There was no need to wait, the next target was juicy, open lands with no army guarding them to speak of and no allies to care. It was simple....
...or this. The 2nd War of Polish Aggression would begin when the Commonwealth sent men across the border in a surprise raid on a small military outpost in Anatolia. The barbarians had come to the Golden Gates a second time.
(after allies were called in)
Next class we'll discuss the 2nd War of Polish Aggression.
Thanks for reading!
Lesson 17: The 2nd War of Polish Aggression
When we left off the Golden Horde faced another invasion from the Commonwealth. The AI was no doubt still jealous of our early victory against them in the opening/middle stage of the game and were convinced it was their duty to smack us around. Also, we were their only real neighbor to choose among - with Russia and Austria as your other choices... Regardless, we'll be defending the Horde from the Catholic Commonwealth once again - and its friend Venice whom ranks as #8 in total armies. However, their fleet disappeared at some point, my defensive alliance holds the advantage and may be able to shut the Bosporus down. The Horde counts the Mamluks and Great Britain as it's allies, although Britain is currently taking it on the chin against France.
The Sultan immediately implemented war taxes to pay for defending the realm against the invaders.
Military recruitment centers across the Horde are filled to bursting, the populace was fairly frothing at the mouth at the chance to fight the Commonwealth again and regain lost pride. The Sultan, sorrowfully, immediately dumped the treasury savings into the program of outfitting the new soldiers. Thus putting to end (again) the dream of building a modern Embassy in the capital. Additional galleys were also ordered in the Black Sea, hoping to use naval superiority and blockades to influence the war.
The war opened with some hope, another strange naval victory.
The Commonwealth sent 40k troops over the straights before the Golden Horde "fleet" shut down access to Anatolia. If the armies could close fast enough, this army could be overwhelmed while cut off from support.
But, the Horde wasn't able to keep dominance of the sea on it's own and was driven from the straights before it could utilize the trap to its fullest potential.
Meanwhile, the Mamluks devoted some of its forces along with Hejaz to taking care of the Ethiopians. The Ethiopian PU, while annoying to the Horde, was not the most effective of allies for the Commonwealth.
On the other hand, Venice was, and the 40,000 men it put into Anatolia forced the Horde into rethinking its troop deployments.
Meanwhile, the north side of the Black Sea was being marauded by Commonwealth soldiers at will. Crimea wouldn't recover for a decade from their ravages. Although, to be fair, the Golden Horde sent single unit mercenary companies deep into the Commonwealth with reward contracts stipulating that the Horde would match any loot they took from the Commonwealth as additional pay.
Eventually the additional troops in Anatolia were all drawn into a battle that came down to the wire. The Horde and its allies lost. This was the first blow, and it left little doubt who the dominant powers were in this war.
Venetian forces pursued the retreating Horde forces, trying to slay as many heathens as they could.
The overall situation wasn't good either.
A rare victory occurred when some of the pursuing Corfu soldiers were caught in the mountains of Trebizond. Here the allies poured in men and defeated the Commonwealth alliance, proving they weren't completely outclassed.
And the straights were shut down again.
We still can't find record of the orders that sent Kazakh soldiers to vacation in Mamluk lands...
The Horde meanwhile, settled out of the British-French war for a White Peace. Doing so, however, cost the Sultan the Defender of the Faith title. The loss of the title when involved in what could be another grueling war upset the Sultan greatly.
Losses were reported across the Crimean front when the Sultan tried to liberate some of the taken territories.
A win with a fresh army provided hope that Crimea could be freed.
The British army eventually showed up, helping to free the Ottomans from the Commonwealths oppression. What's that? Yes, it was only 1 artillery unit. I'm sure that's all they could spare from their war against the French.
Unfortunately, the Crimean front collapsed when another loss was reported.
Venice exited the war in exchange for Serbian trade and money. Their armies left the war, reducing the Commonwealth's available forces by a third.
In fact, the Golden Army and allies doubled the number of infantry and cavalry but enjoyed only a slight edge in total artillery. Sadly, some of this existed in far off British islands and colonies and would be of little use. Worse, the Polish arms were better made and their armies more organized.
(pic omitted because I didn't feel like splitting posts)
Still, the mountains of Trebizond allowed the defeat of another Commonwealth army.
Another victory was won in central Anatolia. Technically the Golden Army was defeating the Commonwealth as often as they lost now. However, the fighting was all in central Anatolia and the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Vast parts of Crimea had been completely abandoned. The war was reversing yes, but the tide had come in too far and couldn't be pushed back.
Scattered small forces were making strides in taking over Commonwealth territory, but the Commonwealth was well known for not caring if a few provinces were taken, both here and even to the south, where Constantinople and the surrounding territories were grabbed. These victories in the later part of the war helped to offset some of the huge military victories that the Commonwealth had scored.
Peace was agreed upon for a mere 100 ducats. Some historical documents suggest that the Sultan wanted to continue to fight, but war exhaustion had drained his manpower and left him with more revolutionaries springing up then actual soldiers. The Commonwealth seemed to be suffering as well, because they certainly were not defeated by force of arms and still held vast swaths of Crimea when the peace was signed.
After the war the Horde began to repair itself as best it could. Loans were repaid, soldiers given leave and the core army sent to deal with revolts.
Two jumps in administrative technique were enacted immediately following the war.
Persia was brought into the Golden Horde proper. At the same time more revolts met with some amount of success before the army could get there. Along with the Iraqi provinces and Omani, there were also Peasant revolts in the Golden Horde proper, Crimean revolts, Nogai revolts, Armenian rebels, Eretnu Patriats, and a partridge. These were eventually put out; all save one which was successful.
After this heartbreaking loss of face, our Sultan passed away. Timur III rose to the throne.
This seems like a fitting point to pause; a brief review of the world at this time.
At the end of this period of our history the Golden Horde's territories stood as shown above.
Eastern and Central Asia
India and SE Asia
Indonesia - being invaded by Castile
Africa
South America, dominated by Portugal's colonial states.
North America
And finally, Europe
Thanks for reading
When we left off the Golden Horde faced another invasion from the Commonwealth. The AI was no doubt still jealous of our early victory against them in the opening/middle stage of the game and were convinced it was their duty to smack us around. Also, we were their only real neighbor to choose among - with Russia and Austria as your other choices... Regardless, we'll be defending the Horde from the Catholic Commonwealth once again - and its friend Venice whom ranks as #8 in total armies. However, their fleet disappeared at some point, my defensive alliance holds the advantage and may be able to shut the Bosporus down. The Horde counts the Mamluks and Great Britain as it's allies, although Britain is currently taking it on the chin against France.
The Sultan immediately implemented war taxes to pay for defending the realm against the invaders.
Military recruitment centers across the Horde are filled to bursting, the populace was fairly frothing at the mouth at the chance to fight the Commonwealth again and regain lost pride. The Sultan, sorrowfully, immediately dumped the treasury savings into the program of outfitting the new soldiers. Thus putting to end (again) the dream of building a modern Embassy in the capital. Additional galleys were also ordered in the Black Sea, hoping to use naval superiority and blockades to influence the war.
The war opened with some hope, another strange naval victory.
The Commonwealth sent 40k troops over the straights before the Golden Horde "fleet" shut down access to Anatolia. If the armies could close fast enough, this army could be overwhelmed while cut off from support.
But, the Horde wasn't able to keep dominance of the sea on it's own and was driven from the straights before it could utilize the trap to its fullest potential.
Meanwhile, the Mamluks devoted some of its forces along with Hejaz to taking care of the Ethiopians. The Ethiopian PU, while annoying to the Horde, was not the most effective of allies for the Commonwealth.
On the other hand, Venice was, and the 40,000 men it put into Anatolia forced the Horde into rethinking its troop deployments.
Meanwhile, the north side of the Black Sea was being marauded by Commonwealth soldiers at will. Crimea wouldn't recover for a decade from their ravages. Although, to be fair, the Golden Horde sent single unit mercenary companies deep into the Commonwealth with reward contracts stipulating that the Horde would match any loot they took from the Commonwealth as additional pay.
Eventually the additional troops in Anatolia were all drawn into a battle that came down to the wire. The Horde and its allies lost. This was the first blow, and it left little doubt who the dominant powers were in this war.
Venetian forces pursued the retreating Horde forces, trying to slay as many heathens as they could.
The overall situation wasn't good either.
A rare victory occurred when some of the pursuing Corfu soldiers were caught in the mountains of Trebizond. Here the allies poured in men and defeated the Commonwealth alliance, proving they weren't completely outclassed.
And the straights were shut down again.
We still can't find record of the orders that sent Kazakh soldiers to vacation in Mamluk lands...
The Horde meanwhile, settled out of the British-French war for a White Peace. Doing so, however, cost the Sultan the Defender of the Faith title. The loss of the title when involved in what could be another grueling war upset the Sultan greatly.
Losses were reported across the Crimean front when the Sultan tried to liberate some of the taken territories.
A win with a fresh army provided hope that Crimea could be freed.
The British army eventually showed up, helping to free the Ottomans from the Commonwealths oppression. What's that? Yes, it was only 1 artillery unit. I'm sure that's all they could spare from their war against the French.
Unfortunately, the Crimean front collapsed when another loss was reported.
Venice exited the war in exchange for Serbian trade and money. Their armies left the war, reducing the Commonwealth's available forces by a third.
In fact, the Golden Army and allies doubled the number of infantry and cavalry but enjoyed only a slight edge in total artillery. Sadly, some of this existed in far off British islands and colonies and would be of little use. Worse, the Polish arms were better made and their armies more organized.
(pic omitted because I didn't feel like splitting posts)
Still, the mountains of Trebizond allowed the defeat of another Commonwealth army.
Another victory was won in central Anatolia. Technically the Golden Army was defeating the Commonwealth as often as they lost now. However, the fighting was all in central Anatolia and the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Vast parts of Crimea had been completely abandoned. The war was reversing yes, but the tide had come in too far and couldn't be pushed back.
Scattered small forces were making strides in taking over Commonwealth territory, but the Commonwealth was well known for not caring if a few provinces were taken, both here and even to the south, where Constantinople and the surrounding territories were grabbed. These victories in the later part of the war helped to offset some of the huge military victories that the Commonwealth had scored.
Peace was agreed upon for a mere 100 ducats. Some historical documents suggest that the Sultan wanted to continue to fight, but war exhaustion had drained his manpower and left him with more revolutionaries springing up then actual soldiers. The Commonwealth seemed to be suffering as well, because they certainly were not defeated by force of arms and still held vast swaths of Crimea when the peace was signed.
After the war the Horde began to repair itself as best it could. Loans were repaid, soldiers given leave and the core army sent to deal with revolts.
Two jumps in administrative technique were enacted immediately following the war.
Persia was brought into the Golden Horde proper. At the same time more revolts met with some amount of success before the army could get there. Along with the Iraqi provinces and Omani, there were also Peasant revolts in the Golden Horde proper, Crimean revolts, Nogai revolts, Armenian rebels, Eretnu Patriats, and a partridge. These were eventually put out; all save one which was successful.
After this heartbreaking loss of face, our Sultan passed away. Timur III rose to the throne.
This seems like a fitting point to pause; a brief review of the world at this time.
At the end of this period of our history the Golden Horde's territories stood as shown above.
Eastern and Central Asia
India and SE Asia
Indonesia - being invaded by Castile
Africa
South America, dominated by Portugal's colonial states.
North America
And finally, Europe
Thanks for reading
Lesson 18: Sultan Timur the III
Okay, so out of the last update the Horde was in recovery mode again from another war with the Commonwealth. This time, we basically fought to a draw (although paying a 100 duct peace) but it still caused massive unrest issues internally. My Sultan has died but is replaced with a pretty decent ruler for once. My vassals, are the Ottomans, Hejaz, Kazakh, Uzbek, and Ryzan. Russia, the Commonwealth, and myself all hate each other. I currently have allies in Britain and somehow lost the Mamluk alliance - perhaps they peaced out separately and I didn't notice it, or I gave it up in the Venetian peace by accident but I can't renew it. In India, Orissa, Punjab, and Marathas have an alliance which makes advancement difficult against any of the larger powers. I could probably do it, it would just be time consuming. And in the meantime, it seems to have served to cause European powers besides Britain to fail to break into the sub-continent.
As for the nation, we've finished Admin and.. we're into Quantity, Religious, and Influence.
Sultan Timur the III's first action is to allow the crazy rebellion in Oman to end. Some 300,000 revolutionaries and rebels suddenly disappear, replaced by a handful of Omani soldiers...
Our army, which had been outnumbered, retreated off foreign soil to our vassal Hejaz's lands, recovered, and the Sultan declared war upon the newly reborn Oman. Let's face it folks, the Horde was powerful enough at this point that abusing a new nation shouldn't be an issue, we won't refer to this again until the peace deal later. One point, they'd managed an ally, Ajuuraan, on the east coast of Africa. This let us attack an ally of the Mamluk's without directly engaging our historic friend.
It is noted here that Great Britain is no longer our ally. It took a long time for us to realize why - the state of Great Britain was now under the personal union of the Tzar of Russia. An interesting paper might be made of the craziness of the Christians and their Personal Unions.
War was also declared on Yarkland and Tibet. No waiting for recovery from the Commonwealth's war this time.
Iron costs were way down as the European glut from their massive cannon programs finally reached the Horde. The Sultan ordered his supply of artillery to be doubled. Such lofty goals were not reached, but there was a substantial increase over the next 10 years in the artillery trains of the Horde.
Baluchistan garnered another war - both provinces were placed under siege. Meanwhile, Orissa assaulted the poor state of Afghanistan.
During the wars diplomacy and trade received additional upgrades under Timur III.
Baluchistan found peace, for a time, for a province.
Peace with Yarkland brought many new provinces to the Horde and it's vassals.
Given much was made of the Commonwealth's military doctrine, the Golden Army slowly developed their own take on the extra power the Polish army brought to the field.
Ethiopia did not share the Commonwealth's hate for us and allowed our troops to cross their lands.
Peace with Tibet turned them into a minor power.
Oman's ally was now able to be assaulted. Their army was of no relevance.
And their nation was quickly put under siege.
The armies did not rest, war was pushed north and east into Oirat.
A slight mistake here - the Sultan let his pen slip and called Da Viet and it's ally into the war as well as co-belligerents.
Oirat armies dissolved in front of the Golden Army
But southeast Asia invaded the Golden Horde's new Tibetan provinces unopposed. Fortunately, Ryzan will send an army south, most of the way across Asia, and crush an army 3 times it's size.
Peace with Ajuuraan brought holdings in East Africa to the Horde.
And with that peace, Oman was finally absorbed back into the Horde. Mostly, one province is left.
At war it took a bit of extra time, but the last loan from the 2nd Commonwealth War of Aggression was finally paid off.
Oirat armies destroyed themselves utterly in 3 separate engagements trying to prevent the Golden Army from claiming more land.
This slide shows three items of note - the first is that wide-spread religious conversion was taking place within the Horde during these times. This was fueled not be fear as the early Hordes had done, but by slow persuasion. Defender of the Realm is reclaimed by the Horde. Finally, a Khazakh army was slowly occupying central Da Viet. All on it's own - our vassal was more powerful then the dominant SE Asian power.
Peace deals were easily obtained in the Horde's favor.
Unfortuantely, the great Timur III died young, as has any Horde ruler of note to this point in history, and his heir was not yet of age.
Da Viet was brought to the peace table by the Regency Council.
Followed by peace with the Oirats.
With these peace deals, the Horde had stretched itself both south and, finally, east, towards the destiny originally seen as a mandate from Allah.
The Golden Horde's lands.
Four years of peace would follow, as an incompetent regency council held sway. However, that regency council did do one thing right - repaired and built international relations.
Of note though, the Golden Horde finally began building an Embassy.
An alliance with Orissa, the dominant Indian power and 3rd largest military in the world, was formed.
The new Sultan, Abdul-Karim I, came of age and began laying plans to continue his father's legacy. His words upon being named Sultan, "There shall be no power in Asia that is not us or our Friend."
We'll stop there today. Next class, be prepared to discuss the 3rd War of Polish Aggression.
Thanks for reading.
Okay, so out of the last update the Horde was in recovery mode again from another war with the Commonwealth. This time, we basically fought to a draw (although paying a 100 duct peace) but it still caused massive unrest issues internally. My Sultan has died but is replaced with a pretty decent ruler for once. My vassals, are the Ottomans, Hejaz, Kazakh, Uzbek, and Ryzan. Russia, the Commonwealth, and myself all hate each other. I currently have allies in Britain and somehow lost the Mamluk alliance - perhaps they peaced out separately and I didn't notice it, or I gave it up in the Venetian peace by accident but I can't renew it. In India, Orissa, Punjab, and Marathas have an alliance which makes advancement difficult against any of the larger powers. I could probably do it, it would just be time consuming. And in the meantime, it seems to have served to cause European powers besides Britain to fail to break into the sub-continent.
As for the nation, we've finished Admin and.. we're into Quantity, Religious, and Influence.
Sultan Timur the III's first action is to allow the crazy rebellion in Oman to end. Some 300,000 revolutionaries and rebels suddenly disappear, replaced by a handful of Omani soldiers...
Our army, which had been outnumbered, retreated off foreign soil to our vassal Hejaz's lands, recovered, and the Sultan declared war upon the newly reborn Oman. Let's face it folks, the Horde was powerful enough at this point that abusing a new nation shouldn't be an issue, we won't refer to this again until the peace deal later. One point, they'd managed an ally, Ajuuraan, on the east coast of Africa. This let us attack an ally of the Mamluk's without directly engaging our historic friend.
It is noted here that Great Britain is no longer our ally. It took a long time for us to realize why - the state of Great Britain was now under the personal union of the Tzar of Russia. An interesting paper might be made of the craziness of the Christians and their Personal Unions.
War was also declared on Yarkland and Tibet. No waiting for recovery from the Commonwealth's war this time.
Iron costs were way down as the European glut from their massive cannon programs finally reached the Horde. The Sultan ordered his supply of artillery to be doubled. Such lofty goals were not reached, but there was a substantial increase over the next 10 years in the artillery trains of the Horde.
Baluchistan garnered another war - both provinces were placed under siege. Meanwhile, Orissa assaulted the poor state of Afghanistan.
During the wars diplomacy and trade received additional upgrades under Timur III.
Baluchistan found peace, for a time, for a province.
Peace with Yarkland brought many new provinces to the Horde and it's vassals.
Given much was made of the Commonwealth's military doctrine, the Golden Army slowly developed their own take on the extra power the Polish army brought to the field.
Ethiopia did not share the Commonwealth's hate for us and allowed our troops to cross their lands.
Peace with Tibet turned them into a minor power.
Oman's ally was now able to be assaulted. Their army was of no relevance.
And their nation was quickly put under siege.
The armies did not rest, war was pushed north and east into Oirat.
A slight mistake here - the Sultan let his pen slip and called Da Viet and it's ally into the war as well as co-belligerents.
Oirat armies dissolved in front of the Golden Army
But southeast Asia invaded the Golden Horde's new Tibetan provinces unopposed. Fortunately, Ryzan will send an army south, most of the way across Asia, and crush an army 3 times it's size.
Peace with Ajuuraan brought holdings in East Africa to the Horde.
And with that peace, Oman was finally absorbed back into the Horde. Mostly, one province is left.
At war it took a bit of extra time, but the last loan from the 2nd Commonwealth War of Aggression was finally paid off.
Oirat armies destroyed themselves utterly in 3 separate engagements trying to prevent the Golden Army from claiming more land.
This slide shows three items of note - the first is that wide-spread religious conversion was taking place within the Horde during these times. This was fueled not be fear as the early Hordes had done, but by slow persuasion. Defender of the Realm is reclaimed by the Horde. Finally, a Khazakh army was slowly occupying central Da Viet. All on it's own - our vassal was more powerful then the dominant SE Asian power.
Peace deals were easily obtained in the Horde's favor.
Unfortuantely, the great Timur III died young, as has any Horde ruler of note to this point in history, and his heir was not yet of age.
Da Viet was brought to the peace table by the Regency Council.
Followed by peace with the Oirats.
With these peace deals, the Horde had stretched itself both south and, finally, east, towards the destiny originally seen as a mandate from Allah.
The Golden Horde's lands.
Four years of peace would follow, as an incompetent regency council held sway. However, that regency council did do one thing right - repaired and built international relations.
Of note though, the Golden Horde finally began building an Embassy.
An alliance with Orissa, the dominant Indian power and 3rd largest military in the world, was formed.
The new Sultan, Abdul-Karim I, came of age and began laying plans to continue his father's legacy. His words upon being named Sultan, "There shall be no power in Asia that is not us or our Friend."
We'll stop there today. Next class, be prepared to discuss the 3rd War of Polish Aggression.
Thanks for reading.
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Lesson 19: The 3rd War of Polish Aggression
Lesson 19: The 3rd War of Polish Aggression
With the rise of Sultan Abdul-Karim I, the Golden Horde was once again able to engage in interstate activity. That is, go to war.
The Sultan's first action was to ready the army.
The second was to declare war upon Kilwa, in pursuit of gold. Ajuuraan somehow made the mistake of allying with Kilwa and agreeing to enter the war. As far as the Horde was concerned, that was perfect.
The first victory for the new Sultan was the destruction of Ajuuraan's military forces.
Followed by destroying the Kilwa..Kilwaen? army.
Armenia was attacked and put under siege when their army was also destroyed in a single engagement.
Three battles, three complete victories, it is said that Sultan Abdul-Karim was quickly getting cocky.
The option for some easy cash did not tempt Abdul-Karim I and the nation responded to his firm decisions about what was right.
With 200,000 men waiting to join the army, manpower was no longer an issue for the Golden Horde. In addition, Sultan Abdul-Karim was known to be of a far more pious bent then any of his predecessors.
He would engage in a conversion spree throughout the Golden Horde, bringing the Sunni faith to millions, or so it is said.
With two wars under control, the Golden Army rushed to central Asia and war against what was left of Yarkland and Baluchistan was begun.
It didn't take long for Armenia to be absorbed back into the Golden Horde, Sultan Abdul-Karim I's first new province of many.
With one war completed and the army already in place, Afghanistan was the next target.
Peace with Yarkland left them only a province within the Oirat's lands.
The dominoes were falling, peace with Ajuuraan brought more of east Africa under Golden Horde control.
Kilwa land's were brought into the Horde as well, but the Horde did not manage to gain control of the Gold Mine - turned out to be the capital city and Kilwa was reluctant to part with the province at this time.
This spat of peace deals led to some problems - the Horde had vast new lands to administer and simply wasn't prepared for more. Additional peace deals were slowed down to enable the Sultan's government more time.
Meanwhile, the Sultan cast his eyes upon the power politics of the region. The top armies were all involved in one way or another in the local face off between Russia (with Britian's PU), the Commonwealth (with the Venetian alliance),
and the Horde/Orrisa/Mamluk trible Alliance. Austria hated the Commonwealth, and the Catholic Defender of the Realm was either Portugal or Castile (it bounced between them fairly often). Only France, of the top 10 armies in the world didn't care about the region.
If one uses the arbitrary 'national scoring system' developed by the Swedes and applies it to this time period, the Golden Horde was the 11th most prestigious power at that time.
We could argue with the facts, but the merchant class of the Horde was still deplorable and there wasn't much history to back up our recent power.
Afghanistan was given a peace. Kazakh picked up a province they'd never be able to administer but the Horde couldn't afford to integrate it at the time.
Then, in a diplomatic coup, the Sultan traveled to Venice itself and spoke with the Doge at St Mark's Cathedral and convinced the Venetians that they could trust us to defend them.
Afterwards, he toured the Arsenal and watched some of Venice's famous bridge wars and was said to have lost 1000 ducats in the betting.
When Sultan Abdul-Karim I returned home he was greeted with panicked news: The Commonwealth had declared war again.
... But Venice honored the new alliance over the old. With the Venetian fleets the straights could be shut down. With their high-tech armies and the numbers from Orissa...well, this time perhaps things would be different.
A single Commonwealth army invaded Anatolia before the straights were closed. Two armies moved to intercept and keep it from swinging around the Black Sea to reunite with the other Polish armies in Crimea.
That didn't happen. Indeed, the initial engagements showed that the Polish army was simply to advanced, to disciplined and had too much morale for the Golden Army to break without vast numbers.
Well, vast numbers was something we had in spades and so did our allies. A battle plan was formed - Venice would provide a backbone, everyone else would just rush the Commonwealth from every direction.
It wasn't really a good plan, but Orissa and the Mamluks had their own ideas about combat.
The Commonwealth very quickly occupied their purported goal of the war.
That, plus the initial series of military losses in the opening phases of the war while troops were brought to the front lines from distant corners of the Horde (and Orissa), caused many to wonder if the war could actually be won.
Religious ideas were advanced again, tolerance, in recognition of the valiant Venetians who won a major engagement in Kosovo, for the first Allied victory.
Followed by the clipping of a Polish division outside of occupied Crimea and another Golden Army victory in Anatolia. They could be beaten.
This lead to a great bout of patriotism within the Golden Horde and, according to reports, a sudden desertion of the front ranks by the Commonwealth soldiers.
The Golden Army - and it's allies, had the Commonwealth on the run, Constantinople fell, the Crimea was being retaken. Horde armies were operating on Commonwealth soil. Looters even found their way into Warsaw.
The Venetians broke the back of another Commonwealth army, everything was turning. Reports of riots breaking out in Commonwealth cities were growing common.
And then Venice accepted a horrible peace. The Sultan was disturbed - he had wanted the Venetians to take land, or break out a vassal, or something more then a few years of income.
And the Commonwealth proved they still had plenty of fight in their armed forces.
The Commonwealth, war exhaustion high, requested a white peace. As if we could forget.
The Sultan demanded that the war be fought - with Defender of the Realm and the government's use of massive internal programs, the Horde was still united in its desire to humble the Commonwealth.
For another two years the war raged, but the initial loses and shattering defeats of our major armies had created a lack of depth - the Golden Horde was winning the war, but could not force a peace wherein they claimed anything of value.
The Sultan finally agreed to a white peace. The Golden Horde was doing fine, but:
Scenes like this were common throughout the allied and vassaled home countries. The will to war was no longer there.
Next class we'll talk about the later years of Sultan Abdul-Karim I leading up to the First War of Revenge.
Thanks for reading....
So, I only just realized that I had to take Russian lands for the other achievement I wanted out of this along with the Chinese and other Horde provinces.
I had thought was back on track, but I wasn't really prepping for destroying the Russian/British. Guess things are going to have to get interesting.
Hope to get the next lesson published soon, would love some advice on the peace deal I'm about to push.
Lesson 19: The 3rd War of Polish Aggression
With the rise of Sultan Abdul-Karim I, the Golden Horde was once again able to engage in interstate activity. That is, go to war.
The Sultan's first action was to ready the army.
The second was to declare war upon Kilwa, in pursuit of gold. Ajuuraan somehow made the mistake of allying with Kilwa and agreeing to enter the war. As far as the Horde was concerned, that was perfect.
The first victory for the new Sultan was the destruction of Ajuuraan's military forces.
Followed by destroying the Kilwa..Kilwaen? army.
Armenia was attacked and put under siege when their army was also destroyed in a single engagement.
Three battles, three complete victories, it is said that Sultan Abdul-Karim was quickly getting cocky.
The option for some easy cash did not tempt Abdul-Karim I and the nation responded to his firm decisions about what was right.
With 200,000 men waiting to join the army, manpower was no longer an issue for the Golden Horde. In addition, Sultan Abdul-Karim was known to be of a far more pious bent then any of his predecessors.
He would engage in a conversion spree throughout the Golden Horde, bringing the Sunni faith to millions, or so it is said.
With two wars under control, the Golden Army rushed to central Asia and war against what was left of Yarkland and Baluchistan was begun.
It didn't take long for Armenia to be absorbed back into the Golden Horde, Sultan Abdul-Karim I's first new province of many.
With one war completed and the army already in place, Afghanistan was the next target.
Peace with Yarkland left them only a province within the Oirat's lands.
The dominoes were falling, peace with Ajuuraan brought more of east Africa under Golden Horde control.
Kilwa land's were brought into the Horde as well, but the Horde did not manage to gain control of the Gold Mine - turned out to be the capital city and Kilwa was reluctant to part with the province at this time.
This spat of peace deals led to some problems - the Horde had vast new lands to administer and simply wasn't prepared for more. Additional peace deals were slowed down to enable the Sultan's government more time.
Meanwhile, the Sultan cast his eyes upon the power politics of the region. The top armies were all involved in one way or another in the local face off between Russia (with Britian's PU), the Commonwealth (with the Venetian alliance),
and the Horde/Orrisa/Mamluk trible Alliance. Austria hated the Commonwealth, and the Catholic Defender of the Realm was either Portugal or Castile (it bounced between them fairly often). Only France, of the top 10 armies in the world didn't care about the region.
If one uses the arbitrary 'national scoring system' developed by the Swedes and applies it to this time period, the Golden Horde was the 11th most prestigious power at that time.
We could argue with the facts, but the merchant class of the Horde was still deplorable and there wasn't much history to back up our recent power.
Afghanistan was given a peace. Kazakh picked up a province they'd never be able to administer but the Horde couldn't afford to integrate it at the time.
Then, in a diplomatic coup, the Sultan traveled to Venice itself and spoke with the Doge at St Mark's Cathedral and convinced the Venetians that they could trust us to defend them.
Afterwards, he toured the Arsenal and watched some of Venice's famous bridge wars and was said to have lost 1000 ducats in the betting.
When Sultan Abdul-Karim I returned home he was greeted with panicked news: The Commonwealth had declared war again.
... But Venice honored the new alliance over the old. With the Venetian fleets the straights could be shut down. With their high-tech armies and the numbers from Orissa...well, this time perhaps things would be different.
A single Commonwealth army invaded Anatolia before the straights were closed. Two armies moved to intercept and keep it from swinging around the Black Sea to reunite with the other Polish armies in Crimea.
That didn't happen. Indeed, the initial engagements showed that the Polish army was simply to advanced, to disciplined and had too much morale for the Golden Army to break without vast numbers.
Well, vast numbers was something we had in spades and so did our allies. A battle plan was formed - Venice would provide a backbone, everyone else would just rush the Commonwealth from every direction.
It wasn't really a good plan, but Orissa and the Mamluks had their own ideas about combat.
The Commonwealth very quickly occupied their purported goal of the war.
That, plus the initial series of military losses in the opening phases of the war while troops were brought to the front lines from distant corners of the Horde (and Orissa), caused many to wonder if the war could actually be won.
Religious ideas were advanced again, tolerance, in recognition of the valiant Venetians who won a major engagement in Kosovo, for the first Allied victory.
Followed by the clipping of a Polish division outside of occupied Crimea and another Golden Army victory in Anatolia. They could be beaten.
This lead to a great bout of patriotism within the Golden Horde and, according to reports, a sudden desertion of the front ranks by the Commonwealth soldiers.
The Golden Army - and it's allies, had the Commonwealth on the run, Constantinople fell, the Crimea was being retaken. Horde armies were operating on Commonwealth soil. Looters even found their way into Warsaw.
The Venetians broke the back of another Commonwealth army, everything was turning. Reports of riots breaking out in Commonwealth cities were growing common.
And then Venice accepted a horrible peace. The Sultan was disturbed - he had wanted the Venetians to take land, or break out a vassal, or something more then a few years of income.
And the Commonwealth proved they still had plenty of fight in their armed forces.
The Commonwealth, war exhaustion high, requested a white peace. As if we could forget.
The Sultan demanded that the war be fought - with Defender of the Realm and the government's use of massive internal programs, the Horde was still united in its desire to humble the Commonwealth.
For another two years the war raged, but the initial loses and shattering defeats of our major armies had created a lack of depth - the Golden Horde was winning the war, but could not force a peace wherein they claimed anything of value.
The Sultan finally agreed to a white peace. The Golden Horde was doing fine, but:
Scenes like this were common throughout the allied and vassaled home countries. The will to war was no longer there.
Next class we'll talk about the later years of Sultan Abdul-Karim I leading up to the First War of Revenge.
Thanks for reading....
So, I only just realized that I had to take Russian lands for the other achievement I wanted out of this along with the Chinese and other Horde provinces.
I had thought was back on track, but I wasn't really prepping for destroying the Russian/British. Guess things are going to have to get interesting.
Hope to get the next lesson published soon, would love some advice on the peace deal I'm about to push.
Lesson 20: Sultan Abdul-Karim's 2nd Round of Expansion
Lesson 20: Sultan Abdul-Karim's 2nd Round of Expansion
When we'd left off the Horde had fought the Commonwealth to a draw in their last attempt to conquer our lands. We'd been winning the war sort of, but massive losses in large battles had given the Commonwealth too many bonuses to overcome and continuing the fight just to drive up the Commonwealth's war exhaustion, while perhaps tickling my humor at the time, wasn't going to get me anywhere quickly. And I felt a great deal of need to get moving - if I'm going to conquer China I needed to get started (little long Russia).
The Golden Horde had vassals - Ottomans, Ryzan, Kazakh, Uzbek, Hejez, and...I think that's it at the time. Allies: Orissa and the Mamluks. Our three-way staring match with the Commonwealth (plus the PU with Ethiopia) and Russia (with the Great Britain PU) was quickly going no where.
My goals in this run - conquer quick on a rotation. I start close to home since I it doesn't matter how much I annoy the Commonwealth with AE at the moment.
Once the rebellions begin to be toned down Sultan Abdul-Karim I launches another phase of interstate war and conquest, similar to the one that started his reign.
The first to be targeted was the long independent and ignored nation of Theodora.
There army was overwhelmed by the Golden Army and the province put under siege within three weeks. The delay was because the Theodorian general was brilliant and managed to load his army onto a ship just a day before our army arrived and then dropped them off in Crimea, forcing the army to backtrack.
Oman was next, for the last of our former territories lost after the previous 2nd War of Polish Aggression.
Tibet was the last of the initially declared wars.
Wars did not prevent the government from pushing forward reforms in it's naval development.
The Theodoric War ended with the Golden Horde choosing to honor a well-fought foe by making them a vassal.
Ajaaruun made the mistake of honoring it's alliance with Oman, and lost some additional lands.
With its ally folding, Oman gave up its last territory.
The 2nd Kilwa War was a naked power grab for territories unclaimed in the first war. No one really believed that the Golden Horde had an ancient and incontestable right to the provinces of Kilwa - especially given that until a hundred years before the Horde had never heard of Kilwa, but the other great powers smiled and looked away.
For some bizarre reason, Ajaaruun honored the call of its other ally - Kilwa and engaged us in war again.
The Sultan's goal was a whirlwind of conquering before anyone could respond. Because the Omani War was completed, he shift the troops to another minor nation - Ardalon.
Tibet was folded into the Horde entirely.
With the army in central Asia already, the small nation of Koch was invaded. It brought its ally Punjab along, which allowed the Golden Horde to engage one of Orissa's allies without directly antagonizing our ally at the time.
Meanwhile, on the home front, the University of Saratov was founded. The Golden Horde was admittedly behind the times in funding its own center of learning compared to many of the European powers, but was the first Asian power to do so.
Punjab armies were ill-equipped to fight the Golden Army with tactics honed over a dozen battlefields and against the Commonwealth, the most feared military in the world.
Ardalon was given to Kazakh as a gift to thank them for their service. They couldn't actually administer the province, but it ended a war and the Golden Horde was having trouble absorbing all of its new provinces and needed somewhere to stash it. Projections indicated that the annexation of Kazakh would happen at about the right time for the Horde to be able to take the additional over-extension.
Constant fighting always pushes military inventions, even against foes who weren't necessarily the Golden Army's equals.
Kilwa agreed to become our vassal, adding another nation to the Golden Horde's network of allies and close..friends.
Doing so dragged us into war against Sus - a north African power that had copied Spain and Portugal and colonized around the South African cape in pursuit of riches. Instead it found the Golden Horde's armies.
Additional steps in administrative technology were badly needed as the government scrambled for solutions in administering all of the new lands.
The Punjab peace was extremely lenient, probably due to the fears of over-extension that were mounting at home. Also, there was a significant lack of diplomatic will to inflict additional suffering upon Punjab - spurred by requests from Orissa to be lenient.
Peace with Koch quickly followed now that their larger friend was out of the war.
The war with Sus was ended in exchange for its colony. Many suggested that the Sultan should have used this as an opening to invade northern Africa, but the opportunity was not acted upon. There was a great deal of pressure to end the current slate of wars quickly.
At the end of Abdul-Karim's 2nd round of expansion the Golden Horde's borders were as shown in this slide.
Ally and vassal map.
The year was 1710 and the Golden Horde was ranked as the 10th nation in the world at this point, per the previously mentioned Swedish system.
Their was a reason that the Sultan was shutting down his spate of war early and hadn't moved into the China region per the initial plan. The truce with the Commonwealth was up and:
The Commonwealth was experiencing a sharp drop in citizens willing to serve in the army. The vast amounts of war exhaustion built up in the previous war had left their mark.
Be prepared for our next class and read the chapters on the 1st War of Revenge.
Thanks for reading!
Lesson 20: Sultan Abdul-Karim's 2nd Round of Expansion
When we'd left off the Horde had fought the Commonwealth to a draw in their last attempt to conquer our lands. We'd been winning the war sort of, but massive losses in large battles had given the Commonwealth too many bonuses to overcome and continuing the fight just to drive up the Commonwealth's war exhaustion, while perhaps tickling my humor at the time, wasn't going to get me anywhere quickly. And I felt a great deal of need to get moving - if I'm going to conquer China I needed to get started (little long Russia).
The Golden Horde had vassals - Ottomans, Ryzan, Kazakh, Uzbek, Hejez, and...I think that's it at the time. Allies: Orissa and the Mamluks. Our three-way staring match with the Commonwealth (plus the PU with Ethiopia) and Russia (with the Great Britain PU) was quickly going no where.
My goals in this run - conquer quick on a rotation. I start close to home since I it doesn't matter how much I annoy the Commonwealth with AE at the moment.
Once the rebellions begin to be toned down Sultan Abdul-Karim I launches another phase of interstate war and conquest, similar to the one that started his reign.
The first to be targeted was the long independent and ignored nation of Theodora.
There army was overwhelmed by the Golden Army and the province put under siege within three weeks. The delay was because the Theodorian general was brilliant and managed to load his army onto a ship just a day before our army arrived and then dropped them off in Crimea, forcing the army to backtrack.
Oman was next, for the last of our former territories lost after the previous 2nd War of Polish Aggression.
Tibet was the last of the initially declared wars.
Wars did not prevent the government from pushing forward reforms in it's naval development.
The Theodoric War ended with the Golden Horde choosing to honor a well-fought foe by making them a vassal.
Ajaaruun made the mistake of honoring it's alliance with Oman, and lost some additional lands.
With its ally folding, Oman gave up its last territory.
The 2nd Kilwa War was a naked power grab for territories unclaimed in the first war. No one really believed that the Golden Horde had an ancient and incontestable right to the provinces of Kilwa - especially given that until a hundred years before the Horde had never heard of Kilwa, but the other great powers smiled and looked away.
For some bizarre reason, Ajaaruun honored the call of its other ally - Kilwa and engaged us in war again.
The Sultan's goal was a whirlwind of conquering before anyone could respond. Because the Omani War was completed, he shift the troops to another minor nation - Ardalon.
Tibet was folded into the Horde entirely.
With the army in central Asia already, the small nation of Koch was invaded. It brought its ally Punjab along, which allowed the Golden Horde to engage one of Orissa's allies without directly antagonizing our ally at the time.
Meanwhile, on the home front, the University of Saratov was founded. The Golden Horde was admittedly behind the times in funding its own center of learning compared to many of the European powers, but was the first Asian power to do so.
Punjab armies were ill-equipped to fight the Golden Army with tactics honed over a dozen battlefields and against the Commonwealth, the most feared military in the world.
Ardalon was given to Kazakh as a gift to thank them for their service. They couldn't actually administer the province, but it ended a war and the Golden Horde was having trouble absorbing all of its new provinces and needed somewhere to stash it. Projections indicated that the annexation of Kazakh would happen at about the right time for the Horde to be able to take the additional over-extension.
Constant fighting always pushes military inventions, even against foes who weren't necessarily the Golden Army's equals.
Kilwa agreed to become our vassal, adding another nation to the Golden Horde's network of allies and close..friends.
Doing so dragged us into war against Sus - a north African power that had copied Spain and Portugal and colonized around the South African cape in pursuit of riches. Instead it found the Golden Horde's armies.
Additional steps in administrative technology were badly needed as the government scrambled for solutions in administering all of the new lands.
The Punjab peace was extremely lenient, probably due to the fears of over-extension that were mounting at home. Also, there was a significant lack of diplomatic will to inflict additional suffering upon Punjab - spurred by requests from Orissa to be lenient.
Peace with Koch quickly followed now that their larger friend was out of the war.
The war with Sus was ended in exchange for its colony. Many suggested that the Sultan should have used this as an opening to invade northern Africa, but the opportunity was not acted upon. There was a great deal of pressure to end the current slate of wars quickly.
At the end of Abdul-Karim's 2nd round of expansion the Golden Horde's borders were as shown in this slide.
Ally and vassal map.
The year was 1710 and the Golden Horde was ranked as the 10th nation in the world at this point, per the previously mentioned Swedish system.
Their was a reason that the Sultan was shutting down his spate of war early and hadn't moved into the China region per the initial plan. The truce with the Commonwealth was up and:
The Commonwealth was experiencing a sharp drop in citizens willing to serve in the army. The vast amounts of war exhaustion built up in the previous war had left their mark.
Be prepared for our next class and read the chapters on the 1st War of Revenge.
Thanks for reading!
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Lesson 21: The 1st War of Revenge
Lesson 21: The 1st War of Revenge
The Golden Horde status: Vassals: Ryzan, Ottomans, Kazakh (being annexed), Uzbek, Kilwa, Theodora. Allies: Orissa, Mamluks. Problems: Russia(+GB), Commonwealth (+Ethiopia)
Ideas - Administration, Influence, Quantity, Religion, Offensive (not finished with the last two)
So, I indicated at the end of the last write that I was about to strike back at the Commonwealth. But I decided I was a coward. And my armies weren't ready. And I could use another ally. So, we actually start with the strike on China (and more) that I indicated didn't happen. Honestly, I completely forgot that I held off
So, we cut off a bit early last time. Even teachers can lose their place I guess.
Anyway, the Sultan did begin preparations for a possible war against the Commonwealth, documents indicate he became very active in European diplomacy following the conclusion of the Horde-Koch war.
In the meantime, he picked his first Chinese targets and the Horde invaded with an army still fresh off of victories in Tibet and Koch.
Let's face it, Sultan Abdul-Karim I never settled for one war when two would work. The Oirat was a natural path for additional expansion.
Of course, three wars was more his style - the last Afghanistan war that the Horde would fight was declared just a short time later. Really, as soon as the diplomats could be given new orders.
The Afgan war was over quickly.
When his heir came of age, Sultan Abdul-Karim indicated that it was Allah's will that he led his forces to victory personally, to reclaim the Holy Mandate given to his ancestors. No one mentioned he was twice removed from that fateful ruler of 1444 by two revolts against children.
Turns out, the Sultan was an exceptional general.
He used these abilities to declare war on Circassia. Castile, the Defender of the Faith, came to their aid. But the Horde had actually laid down plans for that.
First, the Sultan-General destroyed the Circassian forces (and of course, put all of their territory under siege).
Afterwards, forces in Kilwa moved on an exposed East African Castilian province and managed a naval invasion of Castile-held Indian Ocean Isles.
War taxes were implemented to begin building up a bank for the coming Commonwealth war.
The Oirat Horde surrendered. Two coastal provinces were taken by the Horde, before they realized that they lacked the range by ship to effectively control them. One was returned to their ancient owners, the other was placed under the direct control of a Lt and 11,000 men. Their tales are told in the historic sage, The 11,000. You'll read it in college in the original, never fear..
The East Indian Trade Company was founded at this time - their trade in East Asian and Indian goods would help the often neglected Golden Horde merchants begin the process of enriching the country. From this time forward the Horde was pulling in 15 to 50 ducets of profit a month. Between Indian trade and collecting taxes in Zanzibar and Constantinople, or at least, our half of the straights at that time.
A minor peace deal with Qi followed.
There had been peace so long between the Horde and Russia that the rivalry was ended. The longest border in the world, the least war. A strange twist of history there.
Diplomatic tech, often 50% of their neighbors abilities, was increased - the waterways were becoming more important to the Horde with every war.
Castile landed an army in Theodora. It was quickly destroyed.
The Circassian peace gave Theodora some provinces... and forced Castile to give up lands that the Horde probably never could have gained in direct conflict without a much more involved war in order to spare the country it had sworn to protect from outright annexation. The Horde would use this tactic again in the future.
With those wars completed, it was time for the next step. War against the Commonwealth required another front to be sure of victory. The Venetians and Austrians accepted the call to Alliance.
Venice, however, had been weakened since the last time they'd fought the Commonwealth.
War was declared, the 1st War of Revenge. Austria, Orissa, and the Mamluks were happy to help. Venice declined the opportunity at the last moment. The alliance with St Marks was discarded.
The Austrians proved immediately useful, marching across the width of the Commonwealth and shattering armies as it went. The Golden Army moved to support and engage in numerically favorable areas.
This was the first outright victory of the war of straight out Golden Army forces and the Commonwealth while defending a Ryzan city. It is long remembered as the point at which the army regained its pride. Although, admittedly, they so heavily outnumbered the Poles that it would have been really embarrassing if they had lost..
Mamluk, Kilwi, and Golden Army forces quickly made the Ethiopian army incapability of interfering.
As shattered Commonwealth forces retreated they were often caught against the straights and picked off.
The Battle that broke the Commonwealth was at Pest. It started as a minor altercation between Austrian and Polish troops, about 5,000 men each, before swelling in size. Eventually over 300,000 troops would fight here and the Polish army was broken for all time.
We say for all time - certainly the Commonwealth fought again and indeed scored victories again, but they would never put that many troops in the field ever again.
There are many famous battles that followed, the Horde even winning some straight up, almost even number conflicts. But the eventual winner was never in doubt after this moment.
What made it worse for the Commonwealth was that they'd annoyed so many of their neighbors. By the time the 1st War of Revenge ended, the Commonwealth was fighting Brandenburg, Russia, Sweden, Pomeria, and Silesia.
Theodora was annexed during the war.
Note, Portugal was part of the war as Defender of the Faith. Troops attacked the gold province in South Africa eager to send loot home. Milan, as a Commonwealth ally, was also placed under a carpet siege.
The eventual peace gave out a bit to everyone. The Golden Horde was content with a province and the pride of knowing it had finally brought the Commonwealth to its knees.
To celebrate, a Fine Arts Academy was built in the capital.
And many joined the Horde in the celebration of Eid al-Fitr.
Of course, as mentioned, the Commonwealth's problems weren't over.
The Commonwealth would, over the course of the next 5 years, lose direct control of Bulgaria, a small Lithuania, it's PU with Ethiopia, the Teutonic Order, and lands along the coast to Sweden and Brandenburg.
Next class, Sultan Abdul-Karim I's 3rd Round of Expansion and the preparations for the 2nd Russian War.
Thanks for reading!
Lesson 21: The 1st War of Revenge
The Golden Horde status: Vassals: Ryzan, Ottomans, Kazakh (being annexed), Uzbek, Kilwa, Theodora. Allies: Orissa, Mamluks. Problems: Russia(+GB), Commonwealth (+Ethiopia)
Ideas - Administration, Influence, Quantity, Religion, Offensive (not finished with the last two)
So, I indicated at the end of the last write that I was about to strike back at the Commonwealth. But I decided I was a coward. And my armies weren't ready. And I could use another ally. So, we actually start with the strike on China (and more) that I indicated didn't happen. Honestly, I completely forgot that I held off
So, we cut off a bit early last time. Even teachers can lose their place I guess.
Anyway, the Sultan did begin preparations for a possible war against the Commonwealth, documents indicate he became very active in European diplomacy following the conclusion of the Horde-Koch war.
In the meantime, he picked his first Chinese targets and the Horde invaded with an army still fresh off of victories in Tibet and Koch.
Let's face it, Sultan Abdul-Karim I never settled for one war when two would work. The Oirat was a natural path for additional expansion.
Of course, three wars was more his style - the last Afghanistan war that the Horde would fight was declared just a short time later. Really, as soon as the diplomats could be given new orders.
The Afgan war was over quickly.
When his heir came of age, Sultan Abdul-Karim indicated that it was Allah's will that he led his forces to victory personally, to reclaim the Holy Mandate given to his ancestors. No one mentioned he was twice removed from that fateful ruler of 1444 by two revolts against children.
Turns out, the Sultan was an exceptional general.
He used these abilities to declare war on Circassia. Castile, the Defender of the Faith, came to their aid. But the Horde had actually laid down plans for that.
First, the Sultan-General destroyed the Circassian forces (and of course, put all of their territory under siege).
Afterwards, forces in Kilwa moved on an exposed East African Castilian province and managed a naval invasion of Castile-held Indian Ocean Isles.
War taxes were implemented to begin building up a bank for the coming Commonwealth war.
The Oirat Horde surrendered. Two coastal provinces were taken by the Horde, before they realized that they lacked the range by ship to effectively control them. One was returned to their ancient owners, the other was placed under the direct control of a Lt and 11,000 men. Their tales are told in the historic sage, The 11,000. You'll read it in college in the original, never fear..
The East Indian Trade Company was founded at this time - their trade in East Asian and Indian goods would help the often neglected Golden Horde merchants begin the process of enriching the country. From this time forward the Horde was pulling in 15 to 50 ducets of profit a month. Between Indian trade and collecting taxes in Zanzibar and Constantinople, or at least, our half of the straights at that time.
A minor peace deal with Qi followed.
There had been peace so long between the Horde and Russia that the rivalry was ended. The longest border in the world, the least war. A strange twist of history there.
Diplomatic tech, often 50% of their neighbors abilities, was increased - the waterways were becoming more important to the Horde with every war.
Castile landed an army in Theodora. It was quickly destroyed.
The Circassian peace gave Theodora some provinces... and forced Castile to give up lands that the Horde probably never could have gained in direct conflict without a much more involved war in order to spare the country it had sworn to protect from outright annexation. The Horde would use this tactic again in the future.
With those wars completed, it was time for the next step. War against the Commonwealth required another front to be sure of victory. The Venetians and Austrians accepted the call to Alliance.
Venice, however, had been weakened since the last time they'd fought the Commonwealth.
War was declared, the 1st War of Revenge. Austria, Orissa, and the Mamluks were happy to help. Venice declined the opportunity at the last moment. The alliance with St Marks was discarded.
The Austrians proved immediately useful, marching across the width of the Commonwealth and shattering armies as it went. The Golden Army moved to support and engage in numerically favorable areas.
This was the first outright victory of the war of straight out Golden Army forces and the Commonwealth while defending a Ryzan city. It is long remembered as the point at which the army regained its pride. Although, admittedly, they so heavily outnumbered the Poles that it would have been really embarrassing if they had lost..
Mamluk, Kilwi, and Golden Army forces quickly made the Ethiopian army incapability of interfering.
As shattered Commonwealth forces retreated they were often caught against the straights and picked off.
The Battle that broke the Commonwealth was at Pest. It started as a minor altercation between Austrian and Polish troops, about 5,000 men each, before swelling in size. Eventually over 300,000 troops would fight here and the Polish army was broken for all time.
We say for all time - certainly the Commonwealth fought again and indeed scored victories again, but they would never put that many troops in the field ever again.
There are many famous battles that followed, the Horde even winning some straight up, almost even number conflicts. But the eventual winner was never in doubt after this moment.
What made it worse for the Commonwealth was that they'd annoyed so many of their neighbors. By the time the 1st War of Revenge ended, the Commonwealth was fighting Brandenburg, Russia, Sweden, Pomeria, and Silesia.
Theodora was annexed during the war.
Note, Portugal was part of the war as Defender of the Faith. Troops attacked the gold province in South Africa eager to send loot home. Milan, as a Commonwealth ally, was also placed under a carpet siege.
The eventual peace gave out a bit to everyone. The Golden Horde was content with a province and the pride of knowing it had finally brought the Commonwealth to its knees.
To celebrate, a Fine Arts Academy was built in the capital.
And many joined the Horde in the celebration of Eid al-Fitr.
Of course, as mentioned, the Commonwealth's problems weren't over.
The Commonwealth would, over the course of the next 5 years, lose direct control of Bulgaria, a small Lithuania, it's PU with Ethiopia, the Teutonic Order, and lands along the coast to Sweden and Brandenburg.
Next class, Sultan Abdul-Karim I's 3rd Round of Expansion and the preparations for the 2nd Russian War.
Thanks for reading!
Lesson 22: Sultan Abdul-Karim I's 3rd Wars of Expansion
Lesson 22: Sultan Abdul-Karim I's 3rd Wars of Expansion
We left off with the Commonwealth humbled. Nothing else is important... well, alright:
Vassals: Hejaz, Ottomans, Kazakh, Uzbek, Kilwa - - Kazakh is about to be annexed.
Allies: Austria, Mamluks, Orissa
Goals - another set of blitz wars and the beginnings of a plan to attack Russia. Multiple times. I've got about 100 years and missed that I needed the Russian territories to get that other achievement... I THINK I can pull it off, but I the only way to to smash Russia into tiny bits as quickly as possible.
Ideas: Admin, Influence, Quantity -- all finished. Religion, Offensive
With the 1st War of Revenge over, the Golden Horde implemented its final governmental Act regarding religion.
The military used the lessons from the war to rewrite it's doctrine on sieges.
The Sultan immediately moved his armies east and shortly after the end of the War of Revenge, declared war on the small Indian state of Mewet and its assorted allies.
As we are aware by now, one war was never enough for the Sultan. War was declared on Oirat and its vassal Shun. The Horde had hopes to utilize that vassal in the future, so the Oirat Horde needed to be cut down again.
Punjab was the next target, taking advantage that Orissa was already fighting by our side against Mewet and could not or would not honor their mutual defense pact.
For the first time in our nation's history, religious unity was achieved. Every province - although still allowing basic religious freedoms, reported a majority following the faith, inspired no doubt by our Sultan's long standing role as Defender of the Faith. He'd three times beaten the Catholics Defender, a feat no one else in history could boast of.
After a long process, the lands of Kazakh were formally incorporated into the Golden Horde.
Indian states began dropping out of the war and the defense of Mewet.
And another - the assumption being that the territory could be linked later.
Another of the minor Indian states bowed out of the war, leaving Mewet alone.
The end of the Oirat War dramatically increased the size of Uzbek.
The population of the Golden Horde was fully in support of Sultan Abdul-Karim. He could do no wrong. Demonstrations across the Horde urged him to keep the armies fighting for the glory of the Golden Horde.
Mewet had westernized its country during the preceding years, making it akin to the Horde as one of the few countries to learn the ways of the Europeans. The Horde took Mewet as a vassal as the realm would be much easier to maintain given its inherent abilities.
(An Indian vassal! I hadn't even noticed, but desperately wanted one so I could quit coring these lands myself. Unfortunately, because the Punjab war was already ongoing, I couldn't transfer occupation to Mewet, nor could I call them into the war. Still, good for the future).
Unfortunately, with the joint conflict against Mewet over, Orissa was somehow called into the war on Punjab's side in betrayal of our own alliance.
During this third round of expansion, advancements in agriculture spread across the Horde. The practices were spread by prodigious government spending - money was bankrolling at a very quick rate.
Additional military doctrinal evolution led to the ability to field even larger armies. In addition, the first battles against Orissan forces proved that the Golden Army had nothing to fear from the best India had to offer.
Diplomatic and trade relations continued to improve, leading to even more funds flowing through the lands of the Horde.
Worried that Bulgaria would form an unfriendly alliance if left.. intact for too much longer, the Sultan ordered an invasion. Portugal was called in as Defender of the Catholic Faith. Plan to invade South Africa were immediately implemented with more anticipation then the Bulgarian front.
The Horde had, somehow, managed to gain trade dominance over the flow of silk throughout the world. This manifested in real gains throughout the Golden Horde's lands.
(Actually, it had no effect what-so-ever)
The Sultan was never one to let opportunity pass. An invasion of the Chinese state of Chu was ordered, with it's southeast Asian ally. Unfortunately, the ability to administer all of the gains would become the main issue to resolving this war.
Meanwhile, the call went out for mercenaries. They were hired in newly built barracks across the entire Russian border. And then ordered to do nothing except collect their pay.
Orissa accepted a peace deal with minor losses.
Followed by a harsher peace levied against the state of Punjab.
Word filtered back to the capital of the destruction of the Chu army and that the first Portuguese territory in South Africa had fallen at about the same time.
Once again, new territory had been absorbed faster then the government could dispatch new administrators. The pool of trained bureaucrats was surprisingly limited. If only we had the same problem today, eh?
Note that the treasury, even with the hiring of absurd #'s of mercenaries was still climbing with more banked by the government then ever before.
Needing peace to deal with this, the Sultan began taking less then complete peace deals.
The goal of the peace with Chu was to force a path to the Pacific Ocean. Our first port directly connected to the capital upon that far sea. This also let the Horde, finally, core the long held province of Shandong and relieve the 11,000 soldiers stationed there.
Peace with Portugal, ah, Bulgaria, followed. The Ottomans gained some land and the Golden Horde took another province in South Africa - it bordered a gold province that the Sultan indicated he would have during the next war. This statement didn't exactly make the Portuguese diplomat more friendly.
The Horde as at peace and stretched from the Black Sea to the Indian, to the Pacific.
Another advancement in Offensive doctrine brought the military up to date - although still somewhat behind the time compared to some of our neighbors at the time. But we did outnumber them.
Japan and Sweden were brought into an alliance. The Sultan even sent Sweden enough money to pay off debts it owed to the French Crown.
More and more mercenaries were hired at the border, complimented by an additional levy of 25,000 infantry. There was no doubt - a Russian campaign was in the air. Spies pried for, but could not locate the Russian army.
And then Sultan Abdul-Karim passed from this world. A year of morning and no war was declared to honor the Sultan. He died as the most successful Sultan ever - and also the longest lived.
Finally: I'd had him in charge of wars since his heir came of age - 25ish years previously)
Administration ideas advanced again and the Horde found itself with the ability to develop a new branch of ideas. The young Sultan declared that they would not be chosen for two years in honor of his father.
Mostly, I just have no idea what idea to bother with at this point.
With the plans in place, the Horde delayed no further. War was declared on Russia. Sweden came along but Japan could not be persuaded to do so and the alliance was dropped.
A look at the forces involved - the largest armies in the world at that time were clashing. Backed up by Britain and and fairly equal Sweden. Plus the British colonies, who while in the war, would never leave the Americas.
Okay class, next week we'll discuss the 2nd Russian War.
(..and I'm still fighting that war, but I'll try to get the first half up asap. Thanks for reading!)
Lesson 22: Sultan Abdul-Karim I's 3rd Wars of Expansion
We left off with the Commonwealth humbled. Nothing else is important... well, alright:
Vassals: Hejaz, Ottomans, Kazakh, Uzbek, Kilwa - - Kazakh is about to be annexed.
Allies: Austria, Mamluks, Orissa
Goals - another set of blitz wars and the beginnings of a plan to attack Russia. Multiple times. I've got about 100 years and missed that I needed the Russian territories to get that other achievement... I THINK I can pull it off, but I the only way to to smash Russia into tiny bits as quickly as possible.
Ideas: Admin, Influence, Quantity -- all finished. Religion, Offensive
With the 1st War of Revenge over, the Golden Horde implemented its final governmental Act regarding religion.
The military used the lessons from the war to rewrite it's doctrine on sieges.
The Sultan immediately moved his armies east and shortly after the end of the War of Revenge, declared war on the small Indian state of Mewet and its assorted allies.
As we are aware by now, one war was never enough for the Sultan. War was declared on Oirat and its vassal Shun. The Horde had hopes to utilize that vassal in the future, so the Oirat Horde needed to be cut down again.
Punjab was the next target, taking advantage that Orissa was already fighting by our side against Mewet and could not or would not honor their mutual defense pact.
For the first time in our nation's history, religious unity was achieved. Every province - although still allowing basic religious freedoms, reported a majority following the faith, inspired no doubt by our Sultan's long standing role as Defender of the Faith. He'd three times beaten the Catholics Defender, a feat no one else in history could boast of.
After a long process, the lands of Kazakh were formally incorporated into the Golden Horde.
Indian states began dropping out of the war and the defense of Mewet.
And another - the assumption being that the territory could be linked later.
Another of the minor Indian states bowed out of the war, leaving Mewet alone.
The end of the Oirat War dramatically increased the size of Uzbek.
The population of the Golden Horde was fully in support of Sultan Abdul-Karim. He could do no wrong. Demonstrations across the Horde urged him to keep the armies fighting for the glory of the Golden Horde.
Mewet had westernized its country during the preceding years, making it akin to the Horde as one of the few countries to learn the ways of the Europeans. The Horde took Mewet as a vassal as the realm would be much easier to maintain given its inherent abilities.
(An Indian vassal! I hadn't even noticed, but desperately wanted one so I could quit coring these lands myself. Unfortunately, because the Punjab war was already ongoing, I couldn't transfer occupation to Mewet, nor could I call them into the war. Still, good for the future).
Unfortunately, with the joint conflict against Mewet over, Orissa was somehow called into the war on Punjab's side in betrayal of our own alliance.
During this third round of expansion, advancements in agriculture spread across the Horde. The practices were spread by prodigious government spending - money was bankrolling at a very quick rate.
Additional military doctrinal evolution led to the ability to field even larger armies. In addition, the first battles against Orissan forces proved that the Golden Army had nothing to fear from the best India had to offer.
Diplomatic and trade relations continued to improve, leading to even more funds flowing through the lands of the Horde.
Worried that Bulgaria would form an unfriendly alliance if left.. intact for too much longer, the Sultan ordered an invasion. Portugal was called in as Defender of the Catholic Faith. Plan to invade South Africa were immediately implemented with more anticipation then the Bulgarian front.
The Horde had, somehow, managed to gain trade dominance over the flow of silk throughout the world. This manifested in real gains throughout the Golden Horde's lands.
(Actually, it had no effect what-so-ever)
The Sultan was never one to let opportunity pass. An invasion of the Chinese state of Chu was ordered, with it's southeast Asian ally. Unfortunately, the ability to administer all of the gains would become the main issue to resolving this war.
Meanwhile, the call went out for mercenaries. They were hired in newly built barracks across the entire Russian border. And then ordered to do nothing except collect their pay.
Orissa accepted a peace deal with minor losses.
Followed by a harsher peace levied against the state of Punjab.
Word filtered back to the capital of the destruction of the Chu army and that the first Portuguese territory in South Africa had fallen at about the same time.
Once again, new territory had been absorbed faster then the government could dispatch new administrators. The pool of trained bureaucrats was surprisingly limited. If only we had the same problem today, eh?
Note that the treasury, even with the hiring of absurd #'s of mercenaries was still climbing with more banked by the government then ever before.
Needing peace to deal with this, the Sultan began taking less then complete peace deals.
The goal of the peace with Chu was to force a path to the Pacific Ocean. Our first port directly connected to the capital upon that far sea. This also let the Horde, finally, core the long held province of Shandong and relieve the 11,000 soldiers stationed there.
Peace with Portugal, ah, Bulgaria, followed. The Ottomans gained some land and the Golden Horde took another province in South Africa - it bordered a gold province that the Sultan indicated he would have during the next war. This statement didn't exactly make the Portuguese diplomat more friendly.
The Horde as at peace and stretched from the Black Sea to the Indian, to the Pacific.
Another advancement in Offensive doctrine brought the military up to date - although still somewhat behind the time compared to some of our neighbors at the time. But we did outnumber them.
Japan and Sweden were brought into an alliance. The Sultan even sent Sweden enough money to pay off debts it owed to the French Crown.
More and more mercenaries were hired at the border, complimented by an additional levy of 25,000 infantry. There was no doubt - a Russian campaign was in the air. Spies pried for, but could not locate the Russian army.
And then Sultan Abdul-Karim passed from this world. A year of morning and no war was declared to honor the Sultan. He died as the most successful Sultan ever - and also the longest lived.
Finally: I'd had him in charge of wars since his heir came of age - 25ish years previously)
Administration ideas advanced again and the Horde found itself with the ability to develop a new branch of ideas. The young Sultan declared that they would not be chosen for two years in honor of his father.
Mostly, I just have no idea what idea to bother with at this point.
With the plans in place, the Horde delayed no further. War was declared on Russia. Sweden came along but Japan could not be persuaded to do so and the alliance was dropped.
A look at the forces involved - the largest armies in the world at that time were clashing. Backed up by Britain and and fairly equal Sweden. Plus the British colonies, who while in the war, would never leave the Americas.
Okay class, next week we'll discuss the 2nd Russian War.
(..and I'm still fighting that war, but I'll try to get the first half up asap. Thanks for reading!)
Lesson 23: The 2nd Russian War, Part I
Hello class, we're limited on time today due to the assembly, so lets get to it. Yes, yes, lets go Riders.
Note that the first Russian War was actually against Muscovy, but history seems to have named it such. That is, there is no 1st Russian War. That said, the plans for the war had been laid out by former Sultan Abdul-Karim I. Sultan Ilsuk basically said - "Go."
The initial plan along the western front. The hordes of mercenaries and infantry was ordered to spread out to every Russian province. This was backed up by two larger divisions of the Golden Army.
The central strategy mirrored this. Two more large divisions of the Golden Army would follow behind the initial rush.
In the far east the call for mercenaries and infantry companies hadn't been quite as complete and only 1 detachment of the Golden Army waited in the wings.
The war started as planned - mercenary companies occupied enemy provinces and the largest Russian force in the west was caught by the Golden Army in Tver - and quite outnumbered.
And, with no where to retreat to, completely destroyed in one battle. Another large western army was spotted in the deep north and forces were sent to cut it off from moving into the central theater.
In the far east, of course, the largest Russian army was found, along with a second division that was equal to the Golden Army's existing commitment to the zone. Additional troops were sent to support the far east from the central sector of the war, where the only combat had been small and quickly defeated Russian regiments.
The Commonwealth declared war on it's ally Lithuania. To this day no one is sure why, but it is the first example of Imperialism as a motive for war in recorded history.
The blanket of covering infantry was just a bit shy between the central and western theaters due to some losses taken by the larger Russian armies paths.
In the far east the Russian forces let themselves get overconfident and detached from each other. One of them smashed themselves into our forces in the mountainous terrain of Qaraqoram and was defeated.
A broad view of the military map in the western sphere with the blanket plan fully in place.
In the east the failure of the blanket to be implemented as speedily and easily meant that Russian reinforcements were springing up where the infantry plan fell short. The war would be quite as quick as hoped as the Russian armies that survived began to be reinforced. 100,000 Russian soldiers disappeared during the opening battles of the war, but over 100,000 were still under arms... plus the British armies. As for the Russian's Danish allies, Sweden had taken their province but they still had an army and its colonies were undisturbed.
Determined to live up to his father's legacy Sultan Ilsuk decides to take on Circassia and their Defender - Portugal. A move that was certainly brimming with confidence.
Peace for cash was offered to Denmark. It was rejected. In Denmark the people took to the streets in protest. This happened three more times.
British armies were smashed in Anatolia and in in South Africa shortly after landing. The Horde couldn't challenge the British at sea, but they could defeat them when they sent in their army.
The war had lasted long enough that the Horde was finally on top of it's provincial problems. Sultan Ilsuk freed all of his slaves and ordered the realm to cease being involved in the slave trade. More, slaves who managed to reach Golden Horde territory would immediately be declared free.
The people celebrated this bold and popular move with wine and dance.
Military reforms, for once, spurred the military to greater deeds, advancing training and new weaponry designs that would see use very soon.
One of the two last of the major Russian armies was finally met in battle in the far east and routed.
The final Russian host moved to engage the Golden Army in the far east, but it was too little too late.
We'll resume next class.
Thanks for reading, we're officially caught up live again, although I'll have some time to play tonight. Any suggestions on which idea would be useful?
Hello class, we're limited on time today due to the assembly, so lets get to it. Yes, yes, lets go Riders.
Note that the first Russian War was actually against Muscovy, but history seems to have named it such. That is, there is no 1st Russian War. That said, the plans for the war had been laid out by former Sultan Abdul-Karim I. Sultan Ilsuk basically said - "Go."
The initial plan along the western front. The hordes of mercenaries and infantry was ordered to spread out to every Russian province. This was backed up by two larger divisions of the Golden Army.
The central strategy mirrored this. Two more large divisions of the Golden Army would follow behind the initial rush.
In the far east the call for mercenaries and infantry companies hadn't been quite as complete and only 1 detachment of the Golden Army waited in the wings.
The war started as planned - mercenary companies occupied enemy provinces and the largest Russian force in the west was caught by the Golden Army in Tver - and quite outnumbered.
And, with no where to retreat to, completely destroyed in one battle. Another large western army was spotted in the deep north and forces were sent to cut it off from moving into the central theater.
In the far east, of course, the largest Russian army was found, along with a second division that was equal to the Golden Army's existing commitment to the zone. Additional troops were sent to support the far east from the central sector of the war, where the only combat had been small and quickly defeated Russian regiments.
The Commonwealth declared war on it's ally Lithuania. To this day no one is sure why, but it is the first example of Imperialism as a motive for war in recorded history.
The blanket of covering infantry was just a bit shy between the central and western theaters due to some losses taken by the larger Russian armies paths.
In the far east the Russian forces let themselves get overconfident and detached from each other. One of them smashed themselves into our forces in the mountainous terrain of Qaraqoram and was defeated.
A broad view of the military map in the western sphere with the blanket plan fully in place.
In the east the failure of the blanket to be implemented as speedily and easily meant that Russian reinforcements were springing up where the infantry plan fell short. The war would be quite as quick as hoped as the Russian armies that survived began to be reinforced. 100,000 Russian soldiers disappeared during the opening battles of the war, but over 100,000 were still under arms... plus the British armies. As for the Russian's Danish allies, Sweden had taken their province but they still had an army and its colonies were undisturbed.
Determined to live up to his father's legacy Sultan Ilsuk decides to take on Circassia and their Defender - Portugal. A move that was certainly brimming with confidence.
Peace for cash was offered to Denmark. It was rejected. In Denmark the people took to the streets in protest. This happened three more times.
British armies were smashed in Anatolia and in in South Africa shortly after landing. The Horde couldn't challenge the British at sea, but they could defeat them when they sent in their army.
The war had lasted long enough that the Horde was finally on top of it's provincial problems. Sultan Ilsuk freed all of his slaves and ordered the realm to cease being involved in the slave trade. More, slaves who managed to reach Golden Horde territory would immediately be declared free.
The people celebrated this bold and popular move with wine and dance.
Military reforms, for once, spurred the military to greater deeds, advancing training and new weaponry designs that would see use very soon.
One of the two last of the major Russian armies was finally met in battle in the far east and routed.
The final Russian host moved to engage the Golden Army in the far east, but it was too little too late.
We'll resume next class.
Thanks for reading, we're officially caught up live again, although I'll have some time to play tonight. Any suggestions on which idea would be useful?
...Hello class, we'll have a study session today.
IE - I forgot to upload photos...
IE - I forgot to upload photos...