The first War of Turkish Agression (Jan 1 1492 to June 20th 1496)
In the year of our lord 1492 A.D. the General Assembly met in Byzantium, the capital of the venerable Byzantine Empire. Nearly 40 years had past since the armies of the Ottoman’s had pounded the walls of the capital and nearly sealed the fate of an empire.
Arcadius the last emperor of Byzantium was crowned by the dying whispers of an emperor in the final day of that great siege nearly 40 years ago. It was said by some that God himself chose the young general and gave him the strength to turn the wave of the Turkish horde, and bring victory to the war torn empire.
The nations of the west applauded the efforts of the Byzantines, and many ambassadors paid homage to the court of Byzantium, but under their breaths they wondered how much longer the weakened empire could hold against the awesome might of Islam.
It was shortly after the siege of Byzantine had broken that Arcadius abdicated the throne and bestowed the power of the empire to the people. Byzantium was to be a republic once again, but it would take many strong people to hold together their weakened nation and to maintain the freedom that they so valiantly fought for.
The next few decades were far from quite. Although Turkey never pushed a major offensive towards Thrace and the Byzantine Empire they were far from quiet. Venice had lost a major war ceding some of its island holdings including the Cycllades and Cyprus. Border skirmishes had occurred around Southern Thrace and Smyrna, and to make matters worse the Mamelukes had sent word to the Assembly that they had scouted large Turkish forces gathering near Aleppo.
It seemed to the General Assembly that the Turkish menace would not simply fade away, and that if the Byzantium Empire were to survive it would have to establish a set of objectives and set about completing them.
For nearly two months the Assembly hammered out a series of short and long-term objectives that had been agreed upon by a unanimous vote. They were as follows:
1. Fortify major cities against possible foreign armies from both Turkey and Europe.
2. Build and effective army for the purpose of expansion should the opportunity arise.
3. Fight a defensive battle against the Turks aiming to tire them out rather then to try and gain any land or money from that Islamic nation.
4. Take the offensive to Wallachia and Moldavia, who had both betrayed Byzantium and had seized Byzantine territories in the last Great War.
5. Use our strong alliance to surround and invade Hungary in hopes of regaining lost territory, which by rights should be back under Orthodox control.
6. Lastly conduct an aggressive campaign against the Turks capturing their major cities and routing their armies.
Some of the long term goals were as follows:
1. Conquer and annex Hungary and Turkey.
2. Fight a successful campaign against Poland reclaiming lost Orthodox provinces and returning them to Byzantine control
3. Conquer and annex the Crimean’s in hope of gaining a stronger hold on the Black Sea area.
4. Return the Holy Land to Christian hands and re-establish the four patriarchs of the old church in Byzantium, Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome. Preferably for all of these to be under our control.
5. Lastly to have all peoples of the Orthodox faith safely under the rule of the Byzantine Empire.
With these objectives voted for and agreed upon by the General Assembly word was sent through out the empire and a new hope was born…
January 1st 1492
The assembly allocates the adequate funding the upgrade fortifications of the major cities in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Hellas.
February 1st
The assembly turns to the empires old nobility for help with the diplomacy with Western powers. The de la Gardie family sends two young girls. One to Venice and one to Georgia to be wed and further strengthen our alliance with those two countries.
April 9th
Spain announces an end to the reconquista with the annexation of Granada.
August 8th
Russia declares war on the Kazan Khanate. Later that day our diplomats in Moscow are able to hammer out an agreement and Russia joins our alliance. The Assembly was quite pleased to hear of the uniting of two great Orthodox powers, and all agreed that we had certainly made great inroads to accomplishing our objectives with the Russian power in the north to aid us.
February 16th 1493
The relationship with our Russian allies continues to blossom as we agree to a lovely marriage between a beautiful Muscovite princess and a fine lad who is the nephew of the late Arcadius by blood.
September 1st
Military Officers invite Assembly members to an out of the way field just North of Byzantium to demonstrate the first Byzantine developed artillery. (Land Tech Level 3). All senators in attendance agree that funds must be allocated for the development of more of these weapons for the inevitable sieges that are sure to come.
November 20th
The first great to erupt in the west for some time begins as Cologne (Lorraine, Spain, England, Milan, Naples, and Poland) declare war on The Palitinat.
Jan. 1st 1494
The assembly takes measures to improve the army and allocates funds for the recruitment and training of over 12000 soldiers. Volunteers where turned way in droves as the goal of 12000 was met quickly. Merchants and other citizens in the capital also banded together to create a war fund that allowed for the building of 30 artillery pieces.
Jan 27th
Panic spreads through the empire as the Mameluk ambassador pleads that we as allies aid them as the Turkish hordes have spilled over into their borders and besieged Aleppo. The General Assembly quickly meets to discuss a course of action. We are informed by the Georgian and Russian ambassadors that they will take no part in this war, and we must dispatch ambassadors of our own to these nations capitals to repair relations.
After two days behind closed doors the Assembly announces that the Byzantine Empire must stand by their ally the Mameluks and declares war on the Turkish Empire. The Venetian ambassador sends word shortly afterwards that they will back Byzantium and also declare war on Turkey.
Publicly the Assembly and Venice declared support for their ally but the real purpose behind joining the Mameluks was the hope that Turkey would be forced to divide its forces which would prevent it from over running the Mameluk territory and annexing that country. (As Venetian spies had confirmed would be a likely outcome) By keeping Turkey in the Byzantine alliance “Vice” The Byzantines themselves could insure their own survival…
Mar. 9th
A 14/26/30 Turkish army marches unopposed through Thrace and lays siege to Byzantium. The assembly had ordered the retreat of its own forces in Thrace some two weeks before. As the Byzantines began to bear what would undoubtedly be a long siege, they began to hatch plans of their own.
June 19th
The Russians now safely back in our alliance beam with pride as they notify the Assembly of their successful conquest of Kazan. The Assembly sent their regards, but was obviously more concerned with the Turkish army on their doorstep then in any conquest in the far north.
September 1st
Our Merchants have been very aggressive developing new trade routes and exploiting new revenue sources. (Trade Tech Level 2)
October 17th
Byzantine army goes on the offensive in Southern Greece by laying siege to the Turkish province of Morea. The citizens of that area eagerly aid our army in their attempt to beat the Turkish garrison and capture the province.
November 9th
12000 brave Byzantium soldiers attack the Turkish siege army outside the walls of Byzantium. A fierce battle commences.
November 22nd
We meet our first failure in the war as we fail to break the siege in Thrace. Over 6000 of our soldiers lay dead on the fields outside Byzantium.
March 16th 1495
The Knights draw the attention of Europe as their lightning assault on mainland Turkey is a stunning success and the shocked Turks agree to pay 61000 ducats and cede the province of Konya to the Knights.
This is most amazing news indeed as the Assembly was not even aware that the knights had declared war Turkey, nor was it known at the time that they had defeated a 35000 man Turkish army that was head for Byzantium.
March 26th
The army marches from Macedonia again in an attempt to break the siege in Thrace. Another 5000 foot are also recruited.
April 15th
The people of Byzantium dance in the streets as Vincintius de la Gardie leads the Macedonia army to victory at the walls of Byzantium and forces the survivors of the Turkish army to flee back to Anatolia.
April 18th
As de la Gardie is being briefed by the assembly a messenger brings even further good news as our forces in Southern Greece with the Morean citizens help have managed to accept the surrender of Turkish forces and have taken control of Morea. The messenger is sent back with word from the council for the army to continue on to the Cyclades.
June 8th
The southern army lays siege at the Turkish fort in Cyclades.
July 25th
(Random Event) The economy in Byzantium kicks into full gear due to the Assemblies deft handling of the war effort. (Stability +1 792 in trade and infrastructure)
September 9th
The southern army sends another messenger with the good news that the fortress in the Cyclades has been demolished, its walls pulled down, and its defenders put to the sword. All the massacre of the garrison in The Cyclades is frowned upon in the Venetian court, all our allies can agree that the only good Turk is a dead one…
November 22nd
The southern army arrives in the capital and is joined to de la Gardie’s force. Together they march south towards the Turkish capital.
Feb 15th 1496
De la Gardie sends word that he had arrived at the Turkish capital Bursa and has commenced as siege. Let us pray to God that it is a quick one and the Turks will sue for peace rather then attempt retaliation.
June 20th
De la Gardie sends word that on the morning of June 18th the armies of Byzantium stormed the walls of Bursa and forced the surrender of the Ottoman capital. The Turks also sent a messenger that arrived in the Assembly hall that day. Peace was negotiated and the Turks agreed to cede Morea, the Cyclades and also paid us 250000 ducats!
A critical victory was won on this day. The Turkish empire was humbled but it was far from down. Despite the Turkish menace many Byzantine historians look back on this victory as the turning point for the Byzantine Empire…
