1451-1455 – Holy War
With the support of most of his court, Joan II accepted the Venetian call to arms and joined in on their war against the Ottomans. Sebastián de Loarre, a recent arrival at court known for being the descendant of the ravishing
Lucrezia de Loarre, offered his services as a general, which the King promptly accepted to help fill the ranks of the army leadership. The King also ordered that the fort in Messina be garrisoned again, just in case the Ottomans attempted a naval invasion. With that out of the way, the new General Sebastián de Loarre boarded the fleet with four infantry mercenary regiments and two cavalry regiments to be sent to Greece. Much to the surprise of Joan II, Tunis dishonoured their alliance with the Ottomans, leaving the heathens to fight alone. That was almost as surprising as hearing that Scotland defeated England and snubbed France by arranging for the independence of Normandy instead of handing the provinces over to France.
The first battle of the war was at sea. The Venetians had sent a small fleet into the Aegean, which proved a mistake when a much larger Ottoman one attacked. The Venetian fleet was eliminated, although it was but a small piece of the entire navy. The battle in the Ionian Sea was much more in the Christians’ favour. A combined Aragonese-Venetian fleet clashed outside Achaea. They were soon joined by the Neapolitans and more Venetian ships. The Ottomans didn’t stand a chance. A significant portion of the Ottoman navy was sent to the bottom of the Mediterranean that day.
With the fleet not much of a threat anymore, General de Loarre boldly ordered an attack on the Ottoman capital of Edirne, even though others in the army said he could not take the province. ((I didn’t notice until later that it required 9 regiments to siege)) The Aragonese navy was to remain in the Bosporus to keep any Ottoman troops in Anatolia from crossing over into Greece. With an 11-regiment army spotted on the other shore, this seemed a wise idea. Another 9 regiments were rumoured to be besieging Corfu. Fortunately there was only one regiment in Edirne and it fell easily.
Much to the surprise of Joan II, word reached court that Tunis had managed to win their war with Touggourt. The North African nation was clearly a threat.
At the suggestion of Treasurer John Kendall, war taxes were raised to help rid the kingdom of the monthly deficit it was experiencing. Another sound mind, Leonardo de Abruzzi, realized that the Ottomans had made a fatal mistake by attacking Corfu first. He separated a small navy of three ships to blockade the island, trapping the Ottoman army in enemy territory.
The war was having a negative effect though. So many bright minds had gone east to find glory in the war with the heathens. That left the kingdom in a sort of a slump. Steward Felice Castelozzi did his best to keep things in order.
In June of 1452, an attempt was made on General Lino Adrià María de Agramunt’s life while he was training men outside Valencia. In the midst of a drill, an unknown assailant attempted to stab the general, but de Agramunt was still as sharp as ever and dodged the death blow. He was able to incapacitate his opponent in battle, but not before taking a deep cut to the leg. The wound would take many months to heal and left de Agramant with a slight limp. He’d live, but his days as a general were over. ((Generals seem to die awfully quickly in this game)) As for his assailant, he was given to Alfons de Trastámara for interrogation. Within less than an hour, the Prince managed to get the assassin to reveal that he had been sent by Castile. It took much longer to clear the bloodstains off the dungeon floor and walls.
With the possibility that Castile was preparing for a war with Aragon, Joan II arranged for the alliance between Aragon and Portugal to be restored. He believed that if it came to war, Portugal would side with Aragon as the defender.
With Edirne refusing to fall, all the transport ships were sent back to Aragon to start transporting more troops over to Greece. Three more infantry mercenary regiments were hired back home to bolster the army. Aragon’s enemies were growing stronger, as shown by England’s vassalization of Tyrone.
With such an important role for the navy, the ship-building industry was truly starting to flourish. The one problem was that supplies were short. Several merchants suggested purchasing foreign wood, but when one stated that the best source was Castile, King Joan II declared that he’d sooner have the Aragonese fleet built from rocks than buy wood from Castile. Aragon would manage on its own.
In March of 1453, a plague broke out in the capital of Valencia. The king immediately evacuated the court to the Baleares and quarantined the entire city. He hated to see the city ravaged by disease, but he could not risk the plague spreading.
The spread of plague was almost as infuriating as learning that the Venetians had not sent a single troop to Greece since the start of the war. Ferran de Trastámara, who had signed on with the Venetians, was short on patience as he sat in the wealthy city waiting for the Venetian army to get off its fat ass. If they planned to do it any time soon, he didn’t see any evidence of it.
In August, Naples made the mistake of landing a small army in Anatolia. The Venetians followed their example. Both armies were wiped out. It was as though neither understood tactics at all.
Civil war was brought to England again as the Lancaster and York families decided to have another go at each other. This time the House of York ruled the country instead of the House of Lancaster. Joan II thought it was foolhardy for them to keep fighting over the throne like that. Such a fight over the throne would never happen in Aragon. ((I have no idea why the War of the Roses fired twice, but it’s certainly amusing.
))
More mercenaries were hired in Aragon, this time with the intent of increasing the forces at home in case of war with Castile. The army at home reached 15,000 men, and also brought up the total size of the army to its pre-Castilian-war level. This put some strain on the economy, which was offset by mothballing the fort in Messina. The Ottomans weren’t breaking the blockade any time soon, so Sicily was safe for now.
In March of 1454, Edirne finally fell. This opened the way for the Aragonese army under General de Loarre’s command to rampage through Ottoman territory. Kirkkilise fell next, followed by Silistre and Nigbolu. Naples even managed to take Yanya, better known as Epirus.
While the war was going well, things at home weren’t so much. The peasants were getting uppity again, and Joan II feared another uprising with half the army in Greece. He agreed to spend some funds on alleviating their burden, funds the treasury did not have. Treasurer John Kendall nearly tore his hair out try to arrange a loan to cover the losses.
By July, Venice finally made a major appearance. They attacked the Ottoman army stationed in Elbasan, or Albania. Finally, Ferran de Trastámara had a chance to experience some action. He participated in the initial attack, where waves of pikemen swarmed at the enemy. The Ottomans had similar numbers, but their leadership was lacking. It was a strange experience, very different from his battles in Italy. These Ottomans yelled at the Venetians in a barbaric tongue and fought with a fanatical ferocity. Ferran could respect their fighting skills, if not their religious beliefs. Despite that, the Venetian had the upper hand and forced the Ottomans to retreat.
General de Loarre received word of this retreat and decided to intervene. He ordered his army south to Selanik, where the enemy army had retreated. By this point the Ottoman army was exhausted and severely outmatched. The Aragonese smashed against them like an unstoppable wave, crushing them utterly. Greece was completely open now, but de Loarre decided to remove the last fort in the region at Selanik first.
The Christian alliance continued to make progress. Naples took Kesriye for Aragon, while Venice moved into Uskup and later Tirhala. The Ottoman names of these provinces were rough on the tongue and Joan II wanted nothing more than to Christianize them.
In April of 1455, Venice and Naples decided to make a bold attack. They crossed over into Corfu to attack the trapped army there. The Christians certainly had the numbers, something that Ferran de Trastámara appreciated. The crossing over onto the island was tense, with the men rushing out of their boats and onto the shore to face the heathen foe. The enemy was pinned though, facing superior numbers. They broke after multiple assaults, but had nowhere to go. Reminiscent of crusades of the past, Ferran revelled in the slaughter of heathens. God was with them today.
Selanik fell at the start of July, presenting Joan II with an interesting dilemma. The Ottomans were defeated, there was no doubt about that with Greece wide open. However, there was a bitter taste in his mouth after the last war alongside Venice. The Venetians had arranged a peace without considering Aragon’s involvement. He would not allow that to happen again. When rumours arose that Venice was considering a peace just for Albania, Joan II knew he had to act. He had the assurances of his military advisors that the Ottoman army was not strong enough to contest the Venetians now, and that the Venetians could hold their own at sea. With that in mind, Joan II sent a peace offer to the Ottomans. They would cede Epirus to Aragon, rekindling the kingdom’s old presence in the region, as well as return two provinces to the Byzantines. Joan II had always felt guilty about the earlier war with the Byzantines, but now he could revive the Christian nation against Ottoman aggression. He also made sure that the Ottomans paid Aragon a war indemnity, since the economy was floundering with such a large army raised. This let him pay off the loan Aragon had acquired. Now Aragon had a chance to recover.
The end of the Ottoman War, at least for Aragon, just happened to coincide with a Portuguese adventure into North Africa. Portugal had decided to test out its new alliance and ask Aragon to join their war against Morocco. This did present the possibility of war against Granada as well, which fit Aragonese interests, that is if their ally did not screw them over in the process or Granada abandoned Morocco like Tunis had the Ottomans. The king would need to consult his court on this one.
((Now for a bunch of random information to help with plans and to tell everyone know how we’re doing because I’m too lazy to write a narrative for it.
))
Presenting His Majesty, Joan II de Trastámara, King of Aragon, Naples, and Navarra.
We stand before you today proud in our kingdom and our people. After our somewhat disastrous war with the Castilians, who would have thought we would ever achieve such a momentous victory so shortly after. We have shown the heathens of the east that we Aragonese are not ones to be trifled with, and that to fight with us or any of our Christian brethren will bring the wrath of God down upon them. Not only have we defeated them, but we have strengthened the Byzantines. Once they stood as a gateway to the Christian world, a gate that was bashed open by the heathen Ottomans. Perhaps now they can be restored to their former glory, maybe even under the guidance of Aragon and the holy Church in Rome. Only time will tell.
Now we are faced with yet another decision. The Portuguese, who we have allied as a defensive measure against the Castilians, have asked us to join them in a war with Morocco. While we do not appreciate being used by our allies so often, this is yet another chance to bring down the heathens. The fact that Granada may join alongside Morocco is yet another incentive to come to their aid. We will leave it up to the court to help decide if we should honour such a call-to-arms. May Aragon continue to prosper for many years to come.
((We are officially voting on the call-to-arms now, in this format:
Honour Portuguese Call-to-arms:
Yes/No/Abstain
You have until
Wednesday at 12pm PST to vote, and all ministers have until that time to propose their plans. Assume these plans are for when the war is over or for if we do not go to war. Ministers may also include conditions to be followed in the result of war. Remember that now all plans will be considered automatically passed 48 hours after they’re posted if no one openly objects to them, so if you don’t like them say so. Please
bold your vote and include your character name and class.))