XX: Welcome to the Big Leagues (1462-1466)
Choices
After four votes over two days the Conclave remained deadlocked. Joseph von Richtenberg's supporters, as well as Friedrich von Holstein's, remained entrenched while distant runner up Isidor von Keyserling refused to abdicate and so allow for the simple majority that the Order's Code and Charter required.
On the third day Papal Legate Sancho de Toledo ruled against von Keyserling and ordered him to stand aside. On the fourth he proved his mastery over his followers:
Conclave of 1462 said:
Joseph von Richtenberg: 27 votes
Friedrich von Holstein: 27 votes
(Abstain) 1 vote
Grosskomtur von Keyserling knew this couldn't go on, nor did he really want it to. He felt that the election was tainted by the fact nine electors, most if not all loyal to him, couldn't vote because they sat in Constantinople awaiting word over whether to proceed against Moldavia. He also believed those electors would have a disproportionate effect on the election as they swung entire bishoprics to his cause. He knew he couldn't prevail, but Keyserling wanted the best deal available for his cooperation.
In the end it proved simple enough. In his journal he wrote:
Isidor von Keyserling said:
(I met with...) von Richtenberg. A young man with no real understanding of politics or of the situation we face. He believes in the righteousness of our cause, and that God will see us to victory over the Turk. Apparently no one told him that God helps those who help themselves. I do not like the way he speaks about Michael (von Anhalt)...
Von Holstein doesn't impress me but at least his ideas are sound. I'm not convinced he will do as well against the Rus as he thinks, but at least he won't have to denude our defenses to try. I believe he will see the need for keeping people with more pragmatic opinions around...
Conclave of 1462 said:
Friedrich von Holstein: 29 votes
Joseph von Richtenberg: 26 votes
Pragmastism and Faith
Friedrich von Holstein was born in 1416 along the Danish border. He was second son of a minor noble family that suffered cruelly in the constant back and forth skirmishes with the Scandinavians and entered the Knighthood in 1434. He focused less on force of arms and more on the spiritual side of his duties mastering Latin and Catholic theology while generally giving sound, if not brilliant, counsel to those in distress. Late in von Anhalt's career he gave several significant Masses in Marienburg suggesting a return to the Order's founding principles.
These principles, he felt, dictated the Order's next course: To bring the Rus into the Catholic fold by peace where possible and force where necessary. He didn't hate them, nor did he delude himself into thinking that sending an army rampaging through the Russian steppes was doing them any favors. They were simply in the way of his God, and that was the only casus belli he required.
In short, von Holstein wasn't a remarkable man, but at least he didn't share von Anhalt's autistic indifference nor von Plauen's manic episodes. He was quiet, competent, reasonably solid and most importantly (according to his followers) - sane.
Within the first week he reappointed von Keyserling as Grosskomtur and ordered the
Hermann von Salza back to sea to bring von Mecklenburg home. Then he sent Rittermeister von Erlichshausen and 6,000 "missionaries" to convert Novgorod.
The first three months of von Holstein's reign passed rather quietly, though tension steadily ratcheted up along the Muscovy border as more 'missionaries' entered Ingria to supposedly help convert the population there. Some last gifts from von Anhalt's reforms bore fruit as improved drainage in Osel allowed for more food and therefore more people, while locals discovered a large coal deposit in Livonia.
(Agricultural Revolution: +1 Tax, Minerals Discovered leads to new trade good in Livland)
Then, in December 1462, riots broke out in Riga over the Order's forced annexation. Locals captured several priests and forced them to appoint Dietrich von Schwann their archbishop. Von Schwann immediately declared independence and excommunicated the entire Teutonic Order in the Pope's name.
Rather than move soldiers from the Muscovite border, Hochmeister von Holstein chose to wait for von Mecklenburg to arrive. Other than a perfect storm of letters from Riga demanding his surrender to a local canonical court he didn't need to do much. Brash, infuriated younger knights and their retainers took it upon themselves to keep von Schwann busy through the winter.
In April 1463 Komtur von Mecklenburg, the rightful lord of Riga, arrived from Constantinople with 5,000 men. On the voyage home he'd mulled over how to voice his strenuous objection to the election, but he put aside all rancor upon word that someone wanted to usurp his title. He marched on 'Archbishop' von Schawnn who gathered his own army to repel the 'invasion.'
Von Mecklenburg brought more
cavalry to the battle than von Schawnn's entire army. He outnumbered the rebels nearly 2:1 and shattered their line within the first hour. 'Archbishop' von Schwann retreated into the city only to be captured by burghers eager to escape retribution. One week later executioners drew and quartered him. Komtur von Mecklenburg sent the body parts to Vilnius as a gift since he suspected they supplied weapons and supplies to the enemy.
While Lithuania's role in Riga is open to debate, none doubted Muscovite spies helped spark anti-Catholic sentiment in Novgorod. Rioters under Feofilakt Biblikoff seized the Kremlin on May 17 and tried to assassinate von Erlichshausen. Battles erupted in the streets of the beleaguered city as the Order put down the riot by force. After three days of fighting which nearly destroyed the city's trading market as well as one Catholic and two Orthodox churches the Teutons prevailed. They lost 1,800 killed or wounded, while the zealots lost 4,000 before fleeing the city.
Responding to their failure to liberate Novgorod, the Muscovite regencts sent a stern
warning to the Order against future treachery.
Muscovite Letter to the Grossgebetiger said:
...and know that, even should your mission prevail (in converting Novgorod), all you will ensure is that the streets run red with the blood of traitors (to Orthodoxy.)
Von Holstein responded by ordering von Mecklenburg to march into Ingria. This put the entire standing army of the Ordenstaadt on or near the Muscovite border. Once Novgorod converted, he reasoned, the path would be clear to subjugate Russia.
Wrong.
Neighborly Greetings
Ladislav II, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, had many reasons to punish the Teutons. Under Michael von Anhalt they'd abandoned the empire in all but name, vassalized Brandenburg, conquered Flanders and helped Austria seize valuable lands on their southern border. Put together these gravely weakened Bohemia's claim to the Imperial crown. He'd recovered somewhat in the eyes of the electorate in recent years, but needed the prestige an easy victory could bring to restore his reputation through the Empire. He could rely on the Lithuanian regents who didn't need an excuse to weaken the Order. Cologne went along as well, while Brandenburg, Pskov and Ingria joined the defense.
The Emperor had every reason to be confident. With Lithuanian support they could mass some sixty thousand soldiers to the Teuton twenty, and those twenty were based on the Muscovite border. He ordered 25,000 men in two armies to seize Danzig and the capital of Marienburg, while a third army moved into the Neumark to break the Brandenburgers.
Hochmeister von Holstein chose a 'Bohemia first' strategy. He reasoned that since the Order couldn't realistically defeat both of their neighbors, he'd focus on defeating each in detail. He also believed his place, as well as that of the Grossgebetiger, was in Marienburg leading the defense. Since his enemies lacked a navy he could safely leave one galley in port at Konigsberg in case they had to retreat. He sent the rest to the Gulf of Finland to pick up von Campenhausen and von Mecklenburg's fifteen thousand men, while Adam von Erlichshausen invaded Lithuania at Kholm.
In the early days of this latest round of war the only ones to suffer were merchants and traders with operations in both realms. Burghers complained bitterly as the respective armies first turned back their wagons, then seized them outright for the war effort.
(Dueling Trade Embargos.) Ulaszlo of Hungary didn't love the Order more than anyone else, but he saw them as a necessary counterweight to the powerful Bohemian/Lithuanian alliance and paid rogues well to smuggle supplies to the beleaguered knighthood.
(War subsidies)
By September the Teuton army, reinforced to 23,000 by a vast host of mercenaries gathered in Memel. Hochmeister von Holstein left the relative safety of Marienburg to rendezvous with his army. This proved wise as his generals argued bitterly over who should lead the relief effort. Though nominally in command, von Holstein listened to their advice as the largest host in Teuton history pushed towards the capital.
On October 4 the two armies met five miles east of Konigsberg on a low flatland dotted with copses of pine trees, The Teutons split into three wings with von Holstein on the vanguard and von Campenhausen in the middle.
In 1464 the Teuton army itself was more or less uniform, with sword and crossbow armed infantry wearing breastplates supporting heavy cavalry. Mercenaries added longbowmen and raiding light cavalry from the Anglo-French wars as well as a Swedish axe-wielding regiment which wouldn't have been too far out of place with their Viking ancestors.
Similarly the core of the Bohemian army consisted of sword-and-crossbowmen as well as heavy cavalry, but Imperial auxiliaries added their own flavor. Veterans from German/Italian skirmishes added spear and pikemen to the fray, while several Lithuanian horse companies relied on lighter armor and sabres.
The Teutons held a 3-2 advantage on their enemies and an almost 4-1 advantage in cavalry. It didn't take long to secure the army's flanks while raiders pierced the Bohemian line and attacked their reserve. The infantry collided along a mile-long front and the borders of each wing quickly vanished closely followed by any organization whatsoever. The Teuton left, consisting of the army's least experienced troops, buckled before the Bohemian vanguard. This didn't last long as closely packed Teuton knights slammed into their flank. On the other end of the field, von Holstein's 'wing' needed no help breaking up the Imperial contingent as pikemen met their match against swordsmen willing to press close.
Around sunset the Bohemians retired towards the border leaving nine thousand behind while the Order suffered four thousand wounded or killed. Over the next two months von Campenhausen pursued and annihilated them while the Hochmeister stayed behind.
It was here, in the winter of 1464, that the war took an ugly turn. Rittermeister von Campenhausen made it his business to study warfare and reached the bloody conclusion that a nation with no soldiers couldn't fight. He drew lessons from a half dozen decisive battles including Tannenberg and simply stopped taking prisoners. Several thousand Bohemians who might otherwise have survived met with God and soon the grieving, furious Imperial army matched their tactics.
(My strategy in the war was to defeat, then chase around and annihilate their death stacks. As you'll see it didn't do much for my warscore, but seeing Bohemia bled dry did give me a certain savage satisfaction.)
During this first third or so of the war it looked like the Teutons might prevail. Not only did the Emperor lose a valuable army, but his rash declaration of war apparently surprised the Lithuanians who didn't cross the border until October. Finally, in December the Danes and Norwegians took advantage of Imperial weakness and attacked the Hanseatic League incurring the wrath of all of northern Germany, Bavaria and the Emperor. Christoffer III personally led an army into Berlin to defeat the Bohemian force ordered to subjugate Brandenburg.
The tide turned in January when Cologne backed patriots declared an independent Estonia and sieged Reval. Lithuanian Arturos Gostautas, their most experienced general, arrived in Kholm days later to crush von Erlichshausen's army before moving on Pskov. A single regiment returned to Marienburg to once more cut off the capital.
On February 11, von Campenhausen gathered his army from its destructive raids and descended on Danzig. Losses and splitting his army lowered the Teuton army to some thirteen thousand against ten thousand Bohemian siegers. This battle wound up being much closer, for von Campenhausen lost his cavalry advantage while ice and snow conspired to make any tactic beyond a frontal assault impossible. The ensuing battle offered little in the way of quarter or mercy and both sides left over three thousand men on the crimson, slick fields. Once more the Teutons pursued the retreating army. Once more over the course of months von Campenhausen destroyed them.
Lithuania Wakes Up
While Rittermeister von Campenhausen was busy earning his new nickname of 'Butcher,' the Lithuanians advanced through the sparsely defended east with ease. Wenden fell in March, while a cover force arrived at Allenstein in Warmia. Von Erlichshausen made a final stand outside the gates of Pskov but saw his army evaporate under him. A soldier's broadsword failed to breach his armor, but was still wielded with enough force to stave in several ribs and he spent the rest of the war healing in the Rus city.
While they threatened to overwhelm the east, however, the Prussian majority appreciated their masters' stubborn defense of the 'real' homeland west of Riga.
In April, von Holstein felt safe in ordering his remaining commanders to switch tactics and occupy Bohemia to win a favorable peace before Lithuania forced the Order to the table. Von Mecklenburg led a detachment to liberate Allenstein then siege Warsaw. He overreached, however, trusting that the Bohemian army was no more. That much was true (more or less), but Gostautas left Pskov in good hands, rushed west with twelve thousand fresh levees and crushed him.
Von Campenhausen meanwhile learned of a fresh Bohemian army still active in the Brandenburger Neumark. The ducal army swelled his army to fourteen thousand where he met seventeen thousand Bohemians. With Brandenburg's help the Teutons regained an overwhelming cavalry edge and inflicted over ten thousand casualties before they retreated on April 23. Once more he pursued, killing five thousand more Bohemians before forced to retreat before Gostautas.
In July Pskov fell to the Lithuanians, while Bohemian nobles rose up and destroyed the rest of von Mecklenburg's army at Sieradz. Von Holstein called for more mercenaries, but Gostautas learned of his plans and advanced on Marienburg.
On September 23, von Holstein's new mercenaries crushed the token force sieging the capital.
On September 26, Gostautas arrived and annihilated the mercenary force.
In October Livonia fell to the Lithuanians. Riga followed in November.
Negotiators met with Ladislav in December to discuss terms. For his part, the Bohemian was eager for peace. His alliance with Lithuania - a very fruitful alliance thus far - was based entirely on the idea that the two nations remained roughly balanced in terms of power. Neither wanted to be junior to the other. Now, however, Ladislav lost most of his army while his 'friends' would soon be able to force a favorable peace.
(I have a house rule: If the AI offers me a deal which is 'better than I can expect,' I must accept. I was at about -17 warscore at this point.)
On Christmas Day, Grosskomtur Isidor von Keyserling signed the Treaty of Prague. The terms, driven by desperation on both sides, amounted to a Teuton admission of wrong doing. The Order formally disavowed von Anhalt's desire to leave the Empire and confirmed their obligations to the Emperor dictated by the Golden Bull of Rimini.
In short, over sixty thousand men (not including non-combatants) died...for an apology.
