Interlude – The Long Peace, Part the Fifth and Final – January 1633 – December 1643
January – December 1633
Tax 507d. We decide the time has come to develop Ireland's economic standing and so appoint tax collectors in all five provinces. The Teuotonic province of Livonia falls to Poland in February. Trivandrum fails to expand again and there is another native rising, which we are sore pressed to contain, but once the situation is back under control we send another expedition in March. There is good news in April when Charleston, Carolina, is inaugurated. We now have twelve full cities and four level one colonies in New England - an exceedingly strong position.
In May the Teutonic Order pays 250d to Poland for peace. Perhaps not the result the Poles had intended to achieve, but they seem happy enough with the outcome. Also in May the Russians capture Donetsk from Astrakhan and the Mameluks record an actual success as they take Jordan from Tripoli. The Persians' early victories have fizzled out to the extent that the Crimeans have captured Azerbaijan and Turkey now holds Kars. In August Trivandrum successfully expands and we send another group. In November Turkey lays siege to Armenia and Tripoli recaptures Jordan from the Mameluks. On December 22nd the Mameluks pay Aden 72d for peace and Russia captures Uralsk from Astrakhan the week after and then Tripoli defeats the Mameluks in Judea.
January – December 1634
Tax 513d. We send a personal gift to the leader of the Iroquois (-9 to +59). We again fail to expand Trivandrum but still send another mission. To continue our policy of Irish improvement we appoint Governors in each of the five provinces. Persia re-takes Kars from Turkey, the natives in Trivandrum attack our garrison again and 1,000/1,000 reinforcements are sent from Madurai to help control the situation.
Admiral Button dies on February 17th, the same day that Persia signs a white peace with Turkey, leaving the Mameluks to fight on alone. The Mameluks buy off Oman with 29d in April. The Persians re-take Azerbazjan in May and the Russians besiege Astrakhan. Again we fail to increase our colony size in Trivandrum in June and again we despatch another expedition. And again we are attacked by the natives and take losses. 2,000 infantry are sent from Madurai and 4,000 recruits commissioned.
Then, abject disaster. The natives in Trivandrum rise again and this time they succeed in driving off the garrison after heavy losses and in an orgy of blood and violence, they massacre the entire colony.
The King is absolutely livid, flying into a rage worthy of Good King Harry, and vows that from this day forth such a defeat will never be inflicted on English armies abroad again. He commands, nay absolutely insists that we see to the clearance of the entire Indian sub-continent, no matter how long it should take. Thus it is that in September when the tattered remnants of our army limp back to Madurai, they join with the 9,000 strong garrison to plan the campaign of extermination against Trivandrum.
Meanwhile, Orenburg has fallen to Russia and it would appear that a full annexation of Astrakhan could be in the offing. Egypt falls to Turkey in November. They hold no other Mameluk territory, so unless they intend to push for full annexation, we expect to hear of a surrender demand in January. In November our army of 8,000/4,000 under colonel Bridgewater marches into Trivandrum and massacres the native population in two short engagements. The last colony mission we sent arrives at the same time, avoids the fighting and successfully establishes a foothold. Then, as another group of colonists is despatched from England to Trivandrum to reinforce our presence there, our army turns its attention to the next province to the north - Pondicherry.
January – December 1635
Tax 537d. Two new commanders await the King's command, brothers it would seem - Vice Admiral Monck takes command of the home fleet in Kent, whilst Lt. General Monck takes command of the Romagna garrison. On January 2nd, our military alliance with Spain, Naples and the Incan Empire expires. We immediately send a diplomat to Spain to propose that the alliance be reformed, but this time on our terms.
They accept our lead, which now gives us the perfect opportunity to build an anti-French alliance to our own specifications – an important step forward for our influence overseas. We decide to let Naples and those faithless Incas go their own way, but extend the olive branch to Brandenburg – perhaps their anti-French sentiment will lead to their putting aside of their unreasonable dislike of England. But, no. We are refused, politely but haughtily. Very well, we tried.
We recruit 3,000/1,000 in Madurai to aid in the clearances. Bridgewater arrives in Pondicherry and proceeds to annihilate the natives there. It takes three skirmishes and a pitched battle in which we lose some 4,000 men but the desired result is acheived and a colonist is sent to the province. In March Alexandria falls to Turkey and the Mameluks pay 30d to get the Cyrenaicans off their backs. Trivandrum expands in May. Reinforcements arrive in Pondicherry and in June the army of 12,000 marches on Madras. Bridgewater subdues Madras in a series of skirmishes, and another colonial expedition is sent. His supply lines stretched, Bridgewater then returns to Cochin to prepare for the next campaign.
In August the Malacca Company donates ten of its merchant vessels to be converted to warships at our naval manufactory in Cornwall, for which we warmly thank them (random event - enthusiasm for the navy, 10 new warships). We send the new squadron to Kent to join the Home Fleet, now 40 warships strong under Monck. Our expedition to Pondicherry fails to arrive and so another has to be sent. Bridgewater's 4,000 recruits arrive in November and another 4,000 are trained in the meantime. Bridgewater prepares to march on Keram, to provide a link between our southern Indian territories and our existing colony in Bangalore.
Dudley passes away in Savoy in November. Then, in an apparently sudden move, the Mameluk dynasty comes to an abrupt end as their entire realm is annexed by Turkey and her allies. Arabia and the Egyptian provinces go to The Sultan, whilst Tripolitania siezes Judea and Samaria. The map of the east is irrevocably altered and we must now abandon any plans we might once have had to take advantage of the Mameluks’ weakness ourselves to drive a corridor from the Mediterranean to Red Sea. The Turkish hegemony in the area is now surely too strong for us to challenge. On December 1st, Bridgewater marches on Kerala.
January – December 1636
Tax 518d. Another 4,000 recruits are raised in Madurai. The fight for Kerala is long and bloody - an initial pitched battle is narrowly won by Bridgewater and it takes another six engagements before the natives are suitably subdued. At the end of January, Spain declares war on our former ally the Incan Empire, but thankfully declines to invite our assistance.
Then, Poland-Lithuania (Bohemia, Austria, Hannover, Saxony, Papal States) declares war on isolated Brandenburg in February. We gave them a chance to join us and they refused. Now they might have to pay the price of their arrogance and folly.
Bad news as our colonial mission to Madras fails. We try again. Astrakhan surrenders Donetsk, Uralsk and 32d to Russia for peace. Another colonist becomes available in March so we send them to Kerala. Our colony in Pondicherry is established in April. We have expanded as far as we can without taking ship further up the east coast of India and so decide to call a pause to the proceedings whilst we establish cities, build our forces and then plan to annilhilate Hyderabad, who we are sure has been supporting the native attacks on our expeditions. Colonel Bridgewater, now affectionately known to his men as the ‘Butcher of India’ marches the bulk of his troops south to rendezvous with reinforcements in Cochin.
Turkey (Cyrenaica, Crimea, Algiers, Tripoli, Oman, Aden) now turns greedy eyes towards Venice (Portugal, Morocco), declaring war on the 27th of August. Tusnisia and Mysore refuse to help the Christians fight the Turkish war machine, and frankly who can blame them? As long as the Turk does not manage to annex Venice entire, he should be able to snatch Bosnia and Cyrpus at least, leaving us the three mainland provinces to take for our own at some point in the future, perhaps? We will watch the developing situation with great interest. Further good news on the 19th as our Madras colony finds its feet on the second attempt and Kerala follows in September. We decide that Madras will be developed to city status first as it borders the region's principle prize - Yanam - and so another colonial expedition is sent.
The Venetians begin the war boldly - attacking Kosovo, defeating a hastily-assembled Turkish army there and besieging the city. In December Brandenburg surrenders Madgeburg to Bohemia along with 222d. We smugly tell the Bohemian ambassador to London that we told him so. The Turks throw a succession of small relief armies at the Venetians but the men of Venice stand firm.
January – December 1637
Tax 518d. Ferdinand III becomes King of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor. By early February the Turks manage to drive the Venetians from Kosovo although their first attack on Cyprus is a failure. Madras expands in February and another expedition is sent. The Turks lay siege to Illyria in March. We order 3,000 infantry recruits for Ragusa, just in case the Turk develops ideas in our direction. Morocco pays Algiers 250d reparitions for peace.
On April 26th Denmark (Russia) declares war on Brandenburg, no doubt seeking the return of the Jyllan peninsula. Algiers turns their attention to the Portuguese presence in Tangiers and the province falls to the Moslems on July 13th. On the 14th our Madras colony expands again, so we send another expedition out.
On the 17th of July, Brandenburg pays 171d indemnities to Poland for an end to their war, allowing them to concentrate instead on repelling the Danes. Our scouts inform us that the Dutch have tried but failed to emulate our native-killing policy in Cuttack, a province along the coast from Madras and Yanam.
The Turks now have a force of 50,000 besieging Illyria. Our commander in Ragusa grows understandably nervous, so we commission another 30 guns for the province's defence. On September 20th the Incan Empire is fully annexed by Spain, consolidating their power base in the New World. We wish our allies well in their endeavours – the New World is a large, sprawling place and there is plenty of living room there for the both of us.
By November 67,000 Turks and their allies besiege Zara in Illyria. Denmark captures Jylland from Brandenburg, although we doubt they will stop there. Denmark clears the province of Kuala Lumpur - Malacca's northern neighbour - so we quickly send a colonial expedition. Our latest mission to Madras is a failure. We will send another group in the Spring - Denmark is attacking natives in Tang Noah as well, so we might be able to steal another province there.
January - 1638
Tax 518d. France clears the province of Jambi, south of Malacca, so we send an expedition. Algeria invades the Portuguese capital but the defenders are victorious. Illyria falls to the Turk on the 1st of March. We wait to see where they will attack next. We lose sight of the Turkish armies as the land becomes hazardous for our scouts and so a transport ship sails up the Adriatic to see if the Turk has attacked Bosnia or Istria.
Denmark seems to have lost interest and an army in Tang Noah and so we send another expedition to Madras instead. Word arrives that the Venetians have defeated an Omani army in Bosnia. Worse news from our perspective, though, is that Istria is indeed under attack by the Turk. We now have a potentially difficult decision to consider. If we attack and take Venice before the Turk gets there we may be able to share in the spoils and hold the city, but if the Turk feels provoked into attacking us instead we may lose Ragusa. Or, if we do nothing and the Turk annexes Venice it will be a true disaster for all Christendom.
We decide to wait and only act if and when it appears that the city is truly threatened. The Turk assaults Istria but fails to take the town. Venice continues to hold her own against Oman in Bosnia. In August the Omanis gather their forces to assault Istria but fail to take the city and now are not strong enough to re-initiate a full siege. Our colony mission to Kuala Lumpur fails and so we send another, but our mission to Jambi is successful. The Omanis assault Istria again in September with the addition of reinforcements but fail to take the town for the third time and settle in for a siege.
Madras colony expands again in October and now 400 English souls live there. Again the Omanis fling themselves at the city walls in Istria and again they fail. Turkey finally gains a foothold in Bosnia on November 11th and they lay siege to the city, and another Omani assault in December is no more successful than the first four although some 18,000 Tripolitanians are on their way to assist. Surely Venice must sue for peace soon or risk losing all?
January – December 1639
Tax 522d. 25,000 Tripolitanians, Cyrenaicans and Omanis assault Istria yet again, and yet again they are repelled. How long can the city hold, and will the capital be next? Reinforcements arrive throughout February and March until some 50,000 heathens seem to have settled in for a protracted siege.
Our second mission to Kuala Lumpur is a success and so we send additional colonists to Madras. Istria continues to hold firm throughout the Spring as attrition slays thousands of the heathen, but reinforcements continue to pour in. We need to know how goes the fight for Cyprus and so we send a ship to spy on the situation. We reorganise our armies in Mantua - sending more cannon and men across from Savoie, in case we are called on to do our duty for Christendom. We also raise a fresh force of 7,000/3,000/10 in Milan to act as general reinforcements in the event of war.
Then our ship arrives off Cyprus to find the island in good hands - 51,000 Venetians stand ready to repel any attack. This changes the outlook completely. If Venice can hold Cyprus then it removes the possibility of Turkish annexation - at the worst they will lose Istria, Illyria and Bosnia - still a serious blow, but surviveable and so it looks as though we will not need to risk all to keep Venice out of heathen hands. In September Madras colony expands again and another mission is sent. A Crimean contingent joins the siege in Istria just as the walls are finally breached and in October more damage is inflicted on them. In November Iraq joins the Portuguese alliance and Nubia joins with Tunisia. December is eerily quiet as the war in Venice grinds on.
January – December 1640
Tax 519d. Joao III rises to the throne of Portugal and Ibrahim I becomes ruler of Turkey. A new Centre of Trade opens in our Southern African colony in Table. We of course immediately take steps to monopolise the market there. There are currrently over 1400 ducats in the English treasury. The King thinks long and hard before deciding to spend a goodly proportion of them on our armies in Italy. We still have half an eye on the Venetian situation, and our enemies in the region will surely seek to take advantage of our distraction if we do indeed go to war. Consequently 5,000/3,000/30 are recruited in Milan, 4,000/2,000 in Florence and 6,000/3,000 in Provence. We also commission four new transports in Genoa, Modena, Corsica and Nice and new warships in Ragusa, Corfu and Romagna.
Initial reports of the size of the Table market indicate a disappointing 70 ducats, but the market will gorw as southern Africa becomes more densely populated and a monopoly there cannot hurt in any case. We also commission a fortress and 4,000 infantry to defend the province.
Madras expands again in February and we send our (hopefully) final group of colonists. France clears the province of Sunda, south east of Malacca so we nip in with a colonial mission. Portugal retakes Tangiers in March. In April Venice raises a force of 21,000 in their capital, presumably in an attempt to relieve the siege of Istria. They launch their counter-attack in May but are defeated in short order and 18,000 limp home, although they do manage to inflict large numbers of casualties on the besiegers, reducing their numbers until they are too few to continue a full siege.
In July we successfully inaugurate a city in Madras and Bridgewater takes up station there. Then on September 16th, Bosnia falls to the Turk and suddenly there are 30,000 Turkish Janissaries heading northwards to assist in the siege of Istria.
In November our generals proudly hand the King the first examples of a new type of firearm - the musket. We are the only nation in Europe to have these weapons, and in addition we have also worked out how to strengthen our fortifications. We immediately build a stronger (lvl 3) fortress in Ragusa. Our mission to Sunda fails and we cannot afford to send another this year. We will try again in January. The first Turkish contingent arrives in Istria in November and the siege is immediately resumed. The situation is looking grim and both the King and I think we may have to intervene soon.
January – December 1641
Tax 529d. We save our income for possible military expenditure and hold our breath. In February Istria falls to the allied heathens and the Omanis take control of the city. We fear for the future of Venice but are confident that their hold on Cyprus will prevent a full annexation and so decide to continue to hold our peace for the time being. Denmark suffers a reverse towards the end of March as Brandenburg recaptures Jylland - these Germans are tougher than we thought.
In May the allied Heathen armies march an army into Venice itself, defeat the defenders and lay immediate siege to the town. Venice responds by paying 125d indemnities to remove Crimea from the war. In May Denmark pays 237d to Brandenburg for peace. In June, Venice pays off Cyrenaica whilst their retreating army lays counter-siege to occupied Triest in Istria. In July the Turks counter-attack and drive the Venetians back towards Venice. The situation slipping beyond their control, the Venetians try to reduce the odds against them by who paying off Tripoli with 19d. The retreating Venetian army are beaten again within sight of the walls of Venice – the city faces a bleak prospect.
On September 18th Russia declares war on Astrakhan yet again - surely this time they intend full annexation? By October a force of 51,000 allied heathens besieges Venice. The Venetians again couter-siege Triest and once more we send a ship to Cyprus to guage the condition of their forces there. Then on the 2nd of November the war is brought to its maybe inevitable as Venice cedes the provinces of Illyria and Bosnia to Turkey.
Ragusa is now an island of Christianity in a sea of heathen evil and we immediately boost the garrison with 3,000 infantry. The power of Venice is surely broken forever and if the systematic destruction of the Mameluks is anything to go by, the end of Venetia independence can surely be only a matter of time.
We have a surfeit of colonists at the moment and as we send missions to Penobscot, Alleghany and Sunda.
January – December 1642
Tax 525d. Two new leaders come forward - Prince Rupert now commands our forces in anglia, whilst Lt. general Cromwell is now in charge of our army in Savoie. I like Cromwell not at all - I suspect him of being a Protestant sympathiser - and I will watch him like a hawk. We send him to take control of the garrison in Provence. Another 8,000 infantry are commissioned in Milan and 1,000/2,000 reinforcements for Bridgewater in Madras, where construction of a lvl 1 fortress is also begun.
In April our Alleghany colony successfully expands and Poland suffers a revolt in Rhodes - it would seem the Knights there are still militant after all. Astrakhan buys their way out of the latest Russian war with 79d. It transpires that Venice is still fighting Algiers, who have troops in Istria. We send another observer to the Adriatic coast so we may better assess the extent of the damage being done, but by the time we arrive the Algerians are gone. Poor news in July as the Netherlands, their alliance with Sweden sundered since April, signs a fresh agreement with France. In August our colony in Sunda is established. We send another colonist to Alleghany. We also split our forces in Malacca, sending half to explore further along the peninsula and then raising another 4,000 infantry to help the other half hold the important Centre of Trade. In November an automatic white peace as signed between Morocco and the Turkish alliance. In December an Algerian force arrives back in Istria and besieges Triest. Alleghany expands again on the 26th so we send another mission.
January – December 1643
Tax 529d. We see to the further development of the Mediterranean fleet with the ordering of 2 warships and 2 transports in Ragusa. We send another colonist to Nandewar in Australia - once we have a city there we can raise troops and send them to explore the rest of the continent. We also begin to raise additional troops in New England - our experiences in India have shown that sometimes peaceful co-existence with native populations just isn't feasible - if clearances are required then, in the name of England's greatness and glory, clearances we shall have... 1,000/1,000 in Kebec, 2,000/1,000 in Bayou, 1,000/1,000 in Conneticut, ready to burn the French from Massachusetts at a moment's notice, and 2,000/1,000 in Savannah.
Our expedition reaches Phuket and is attacked by the natives. We fight them off and continue on to the continental interior. A Venetian force successfully relieves Istria and sends the Algerian survivors fleeing northwards.
Then on February 8th, Spain declares war on Persia and rather rudely does not invite us to participate, although perhaps it is for the best. The Algerians arrive in Venice, then promptly turn around and head back to Istria. Alleghany expands in May so we send another colonist. On May 15th, Anne d'Authriche rises to the throne of France. Our expedition on the Thai mainland arrives in Bangkok and is attacked by the highly aggressive natives there. We land another detachment of troops from the Malacca garrison in Jambi to explore the province to the south and then the rest of the islands in the region, all being well.
The Teutonic Order joins Denmark as a member of the Russian alliance in July. Alleghany successfully expands again in September and another colonial party is sent. We explore Panembang to the south of Jambi in October, and Laos later the same month. The natives in not particularly friendly in either province - they may need bringing to heel before we can expand our Empire here. Venice is victorious again in Istria on the 26th. Nandewar colony expands in November. Our troops are shipped from Panembang to our colony in Sunda and then sent to explore the rest of the island. At the end of the year we send a scout mission eastwards to ascertain the strength of the Cyprus garrison and discover that Venice still has 60,000 troops stationed there, with more reinforcements on the way. This latest information gathering trip has been ordered by the King. I suspect he has something on his mind…
. I shall take developments as they come. I already have a few ideas for the direction I'd like the long-term to strategy to take, we'll just have to see how well they work. I agree with you completely though that my position does seem entirely too precarious for comfort... I'll sort out a religious screenshot of England for you over the weekend. 
