Part 1, Chapter 7:
On August 23, 1440, we crushed the rebel scums in Shan, and the kingdom was finally at peace again.
“- Now, Susenphâ King, what do you think of the situation of the kingdom ? Could we conquer a Garden soon ?
- Great King Assam, I am sure you have noticed that, apart from Taungu, our relations are now bad with all our neighbours, even very bad with Tibet, Myanmar and Dai Viet, and extremely bad with Bengal, Orissa and Arakan. Remember the proverbs: << Very lonely is the buffalo without the herd >> and << Even the elephant will accept the mouse in its alliance when at war >>. Also, we should appoint a Tax Collector in Kachin, because our armies of 12000 men and 3000 cavalry is above the 9000 men that the country could support.”
And that was words of wisdom, as the world was soon in turmoil again:
On January 17, 1441, Dai Viet, Vientiane, and Taungu declared war upon Champa.
So, on January 18, 1441, We entered the military alliance of China, Tibet and Korea, and declared the war to Chagatai Khanate, and their allies of the Timurid Empire and the Kaliphate. This makes us discovered the legendary provinces of Samarkand, Iraq and Dsungaria.
Susenphâ King has absolutely no intentions to spoil the lives of our braves in this foreign war, and keep our men in Santal. That was a good move, as the peasants revolted there in May, and were immediately crushed.
On May 28, 1441, our foolish vassal of Myanmar declared war upon Taungu, and bring the wrath of Vientiane and Dai Viet on him. We will not help him.
On August 2, 1441, The peasants in Shan are revolting, and we are obliged to send the Great Assam Army to crush them in July 1442.
On December 7, 1442, Chagatai Khanate accepted peace with China, paying 26 gold coins and giving the Qilian Pendi province to the Middle Kingdom (and we have no idea where it is).
“<< When the elephant makes peace, the mouse should not stay at war aside the cat >>” says Susenphâ king, so on February 12, 1443, we signed a White Peace with Chagatai Khanate and its allies, as we don’t care to anger Tibet
On May 28, 1443, Champa accepted peace with Dai Viet, paying them 18 gold coins in indemnities, and Myanmar would feel very lonely now…
“- Now, King Assam, I think it is time we take the initiative.
- I prefer that, Ô Susenphâ King ! What are your plans ?
- First, <<If the mouse wants to stay a friend of the elephant, she should not called him if she ever decide to battle the tiger >>. Second, <<If the mouse has the key of the cellar, she will never be hungry again >>.
- So Bengal is next, mh ? Aaaaah, I could smell the perfume of blood and battles in the jungle again…
- Let’s invade Bengal, and take all provinces north of the Gange River. The plains should be ideal for our cavalry, while the marsh and the river will protect our soldiers from counter attack. Then we should try to have the opportunity to take Howrah, which is swampy as well, and from there, launch an attack to sack the capital. We should steal their knowledge of the world if we want to discover the hidden Gardens.
- You propose, I lead the armies”, and Great King Assam departs for the battlefields again in a whirlwind of fury.
On August 1, 1443, Assam declared war upon Bengal, but we don’t call up our ally. Delhi and Hyderabad, decided to protect Bengal and honoured their alliances.
Arakan decided not to be the only country at peace in the area, and declared war upon Myanmar (and our poor vassal, he is definitely lonely now).
We took a loan to enrol more knights, and our armies began to move all over the place, winning, losing, fighting battles after battles: Koch (captured on July 23, 1444; lost again on May 27, 1445), Ganges (captured on August 2, 1444), Santal, Tirhut (captured on December 8, 1444), Howrah (captured on September 3, 1445), and Bihar.
Delhi does not seem to be eager to fight, and although they win a battle in Santal, they immediately proposed us to end the hostility against 23 gold coins, and we gladly accept, on January 1, 1444.
Hyderabad never really helps Bengal, and we sign a White Peace with them on December 20, 1444: The future looks grim for our foe now…
The drawback of this war was that it proved exhausting for the country:
On February 1, 1445, the peasants in Chin and Santal revolted ! As we concentrated on the West front, we are obliged to ignore them for a while (We lost control over Santal on September 3, 1445, and over Chin on November 3, 1445).
During this time, Myanmar was forced to accept peace with Dai Viet, and was fully annexed on February 1, 1445.
Dai Viet begins to emerge as a major power that benefits from a trustful alliance with Vientiane and Taungu:
On March 1445, another war breaks out, and we joined Korea and China in their war against Manchu and Nippon. This makes us discovered the legendary provinces of Kansai and Jilin.
The war did not last long for the treacherous Chinese, as they makes a separate peace with Manchu on August 5, 1445, receiving 43 gold coins in indemnities.
On August 29, 1445, the country much rejoices in this time of war, as Susenphâ becomes the proud father of a new
heir to the Crown. The little son is named Suhenphâ (How original!), and Assam the Great is godfather for the first time of its afterdeath…
We are at war since 2 years now, when we finally captured and sacked the capital of Bengal in Bihar, on September 21, 1445.
The Bengali maps are immediately sent to our archivists in Assam:
“- Look my lord, this grey country on the West is the fragile Timurid Empire.
- Big they are, first archivist...
- And here, Susenphâ King, is one of the divine Garden that was unknown before: Sambalpur in Bengal.
- So my war against Bengal is even more righteous than before. Have we discovered the other two hidden Gardens ?
- Only one of them, I am afraid my lord, on this island. Look here, it is not claimed by any country for the moment, but alas...
- Alas what ?
- Colombo is inhabited by fierce uncontrolled warriors:
- They will recognise the true faith of Buddha in due time, don’t worry great archivist. You have done an excellent job, gathering these maps from Bengal, and will be rewarded accordingly.”
The war continues to rage across Bengal: in Koch (captured on May 12, 1446), Tirhut (lost on December 15, 1445, recaptured on April 3, 1447), and Sambalpur.
On January 27, 1446, Susenphâ King call Assam the Great for help, as the Rebels begins to besieged the capital.
On July 1, 1446, China decided to crush Dai Viet, as they have became too powerful for their own good (to Chinese taste). Korea dishonored our Military Alliance, but Taungu dishonoured their (to turn to Ayutthaya and Cambodia), so we joined the war on the same side as China against Dai Viet and Vientiane. Susenphâ’s hope is to have the opportunity to conquer Mandalay back from them, to have a land route to Irrawady. Arakan joins the war against Dai Viet on October 24, 1446 (petty opportunist again), and Vientiane declares war on them.
On October 3, 1446, Korea finally accepted peace with Manchu, paying 21 gold coins in indemnities, giving up military access, and becoming Manchu’s vassal. This hopefully also ends the war for us.
The first attempt to lift the siege of Assam is a failure on November 24, 1446, and the Great Assam Army is obliged to retreat in Kachin. Undoubtedly the long march across the Jungle Mountains exhausted our soldiers and their horses. The second attempt, on May 1, 1447, was successful, and we execute all the traitors.
Meanwhile, on January 2, 1447, China claimed they will now guarantee our independence (thank you very much), and on April 7, 1447, we signed a White Peace with Vientiane. We are now only at war with our real enemies: Bengal and Dai Viet.
The Great Assam Army, lead by the ghost, becomes to retake one province after the other from rebels hand, as their defection costs too much for our country, which has now difficulty to sustain all our armies during the war.
On September 2, 1447, we discovered the province of Tabriz, as Qara Koyunlu makes peace with Timurid Empire, winning the provinces of Isfahan & Elbruz.
On October 29, 1447, Susenphâ King is obliged to
refuse our merchants
Export Licences, as it would have cost the kingdom 50 gold coins that we really need for the war, although this upset them.
On December 17, 1447, we finally captured the last province of Sambalpur from Bengal, and we begin to make them peace offers:
They refuse to give us Tirhut, Koch, Ganges and Howrah on December 19, 1447.
They refuse to give us Tirhut, Koch, and Ganges on January 23, 1448.
Finally on February 1, 1448, we accepted their offer of 193 gold coins, and the province of Koch, Howrah and Ganges, because we have a loan to repay...
“- We still don’t have any Garden…”, sighed Assam the Great.
“- At least we know where all of them are, now.”, replied Susenphâ King.
“- All ?
- But one, you are right Great King... But one...”
