Goal 1: Connect the Nation
Upon taking control of the nation, Philippe orders his most trusted general, Jean de Pressy to move his Bourgogne Armee to French Comte, in preparation for a strike against the Duchy of Lorraine, to which Philippe had hereditary claims. Before Philippe could mobilize his military, he pressed to reform the outdated tax system within the realm. Over the next six months, he instituted tax collectors in all provinces. With this accomplished, he recruited five thousand infantry in French Comte at de Pressy’s request. Furthermore, the Army of Holland was moved to Zeeland, within striking distance of Luxemburg, the other province to which Philippe had claims. The Army of Flanders was also brought to Zeeland, and merged with the existing Army of Holland. The new force (16,5,0) marched to Burgundy’s vassal Brabant, in preparation for a strike on Luxemburg.
By February, 1419 the plan was set in motion. On February 9, war was declared upon Luxemburg. They had allies in central Europe, but none who posed a threat to Burgundy. The stability of the nation plummeted as a result of good relations and a royal marriage. When Philippe was informed of the close national ties, he simply responded “Good, they may well accept our rule then.” This would become typical of Philippe’s foreign policy, as he rarely heeded the opinion of other nations. It took two full weeks for the Army of Holland to annihilate the 5k members of the Luxemburg army, but on March 9, Luxemburg was besieged.
An interesting development took place in June, when Luxemburg and Lorraine went to war. Lorraine moved 15k to Luxemburg to help the Burgundy-lead siege there. It also served to kill many of their men, weakening them further. On November 9, the province fell and was immediately annexed. There would be little else of consequence to happen during that year, and fall turned to winter, winter turned to spring.
The year 1421 opened with a new domestic budget. Philippe believed that it was necessary to improve the infrastructure of the nation, and he set all but 10% of funds to further that venture. The remaining 10% was devoted to the treasury. This would become Philippe’s default budget, only to be adjusted in extreme emergency. With this done, Philippe continued his expansionistic plans. Lorraine, the Palatinat, and Mainz were in an alliance, and Philippe sough to take advantage of this. “It’s like killing three birds with one stone” he exclaimed to a few trusted nobles. On May 1, the declaration of war was delivered to Lorraine.
The Bourgogne Armee was dispatched to Lorraine, with de Plessy at its head. The Army of Holland was moved from Luxemburg to Pfalz. The Palatinat possessed a large army, but it had already been dispatched to the province of Alsace. On the 20th of May, de Pressy arrived in Lorraine and besieged it. The next day the Palatinat would lay siege to Alsace. The second prong of Burgundy’s assault, the Army of Holland, arrived in Pfalz on June 8. An appropriate siege force was detached, and the remainder of the army was marched across the Rhine to lay siege to Mainz. The rest of the year was spent fighting off skirmishes and reinforcements, and all forces settled in for the winter.
Pfalz was the first to fall, and did so on February 8, 1422. A diplomat was sent to their ruler, but apparently got lost on the way. Before he reached their capital, the Palatinat captured Alsace, thus preventing peace from being settled on “proper” terms. The siege force in Pfalz moved to Lorraine, and the Palatinate’s army moved to their capital, in an effort to liberate the city. March came, and with it the fall of Lorraine. General de Pressy gathered his men and moved to the enemy force in Pfalz, and Philippe annexed the country. Around the same time, Philippe ordered eleven thousand men raised in French Comte to be used as a siege force in Alsace.
April brought another surprise, a declaration of war from Bavaria. This was most odd because they had no allies and shared no border with Burgundy, but apparently their ruler was bored and didn’t notice such details. The last day of April brought the defeat of the Palatinate’s army in Pfalz. Jean de Pressy moved his men to Alsace to reconquer that province. This victory raised concerns abroad, and it brought an Italian alliance lead by Tuscany into war with Burgundy (*yawn*). In June the Bourgogne Armee arrived in Alsace to face four thousand weakened Palatinat defenders. De Pressy was promptly beaten and send back to French Comte (*expletive*). Two months later the situation was rectified and de Pressy besieged Alsace. The year would close with the Army of Holland capturing Mainz, but Philippe held out suing for peace.
By January, 1423 Philippe had decided not to annex Mainz, but rather sued for 150,000 patards and Mainz knelt before the Duke and became a vassal. The ceremony would become a very familiar one for Philippe the Good. In March a noble dispute rocked the province of Artois, as the Duke of Gloucester married the Countess Hainut, yeah, whatever. The Army of Holland, newly reinforced with (9,3,0) moved to crush the rebels.
The summer would bring better news, as August brought the fall of Alsace came to the capital of Dijon. Philippe sued for peace, and the Palatinat was forced to kneel before Philippe as a vassal. This did not bring all conflicts to a close, as the country was still at war with several European states, but none offered a serious thread. Philippe’s first goal had been with amazing success. He now focused on internal policy, spending the rest of the year improving the infrastructure {level 2}, and sending gifts to Burgundy’s three vassals.
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Philippe was not a peaceful ruler though, and in January of 1424 he took to the field himself. The armies were reconsolidated with de Pressy in charge of the French Comte Army, and Philippe leading the Bourgogne Armee, between the two of them, they controlled almost 70k. By April, offers of white peace were beginning to come around from the other nations who had declared war upon Burgundy, and by summer only Brittany remained. They were an interesting breed, as they continually landed forces of four thousand on the shores of Zeeland, only to be slaughtered by Philippe’s 44k.
By September, Philippe had tired of peace, and he issued a declaration of war to the next logical target, Cologne. It was an added bonus that they were allied with Kleves, who Philippe had no qualms about subjugating, but that’s a story for another chapter. The country had been connected, and the first goal was met.
