Chapter 9: War of the Polish Succession
Cathay of course was in a perfect position to challenge the Iberians and English for control of the New World on paper. In reality however the chaotic nature of early new world exploration and colonization had made things far less simple. However a far more major reason for Cathay's lack of dominance in early colonization was simply the fact that Cathay had commitments on the continent which were far more pressing.
With the Ferrara-Cathay alliance expected to middling princes of France had become an increasingly relevant issue. The Lords of Southern France saw Cathay as a state as actively working to subjugate France yet again and thus treated it accordingly, this meant the denial of military access to Ferrara. Since the only other passage into Italy was through germany this simply could not be allowed to stand.
Diane wishing to send a message declared war on the most powerful of the French states, the Archduchy of Poitou who had recently taken the Avalonian Capital of Rennes in defiance of Cathay's sphere of influence.
In America Cathay's first major colony, the Island of Trinidad named after the Holy trinity of the Christian Faith had become a major base for the kingdom. It's largest settlement Georgetown would become arguably the most important port within the new world for several decades and would long be considered afterwards to be the gateway to the caribbean. The success of the Trinidad colony came as a result its warm climate, allowing for the growth of Sugarcane, something previously restricted to a mediterranean climate. To grow the Sugarcane in large amounts however a source of manual labor was needed.
At first Governor Liao George tried to impress the natives into performing sugar cane duties, however disease soon killed this idea, literally as the Island of Trinidad's native populate dropped down to nearly a tenth of its original size due to the spread of smallpox and other illnesses. Without a labor force, Calais turned to indentured servants, and eventually after studying the success of the brazilian colonies of the Iberians, Calais turned to african slaves.
With Trinidad complete the focus for Cathay turned to Bermuda and also the Island of Cuba. The Lack of Cathayan settlement on the mainland was mostly a practical concern, as the Imperial fleet could defend Island colonies far easier than coastal settlements surrounded by wilderness. There was also a distinct lack of support for deploying actual armed forces thousands of miles across the sea and thus leaving the mother country defenseless.
Speaking of the MIlitary, Diane's last great military innovation would be the final implementation of a professional officer corp into the military. Progress to this end was already being made in Cathay since the reign of Uther, but as all traditions were, the landowning nobility were well entrenched. Diane resolved this issue by simply ignoring it, organizing the nobility and their armed forces that still remained from the Imperial Guard.The nobles of Cathay of course were not happy about being sidestepped but were allowed to retain their influence and retinues, even if they were growing smaller and less significant in comparison to the growing Guard.
The Champion of the new Officer corp would be Field Marshall Alan Ellyn. Ellyn was a member of the minor nobility brought into relevant through the military and now was a prominent commander of the Imperial army under Diane II. Favoring quick decisive tactics Ellyn would spend years trying to perfect an army doctrine that could intermix the use of cavalry with cannon, pike and shot. It would not be until Diane II's death that Alan Ellyn became the favorite of House Cathay.
Diane II now well into old age died quietly in her bed and was succeeded by Catherine. The succession however was not simple, Catherine had an older bastard brother by the name of Alfred of Ireland who upon the death of Diane arrived in Brittany with Elite Galloglaigh infantry. Upon hearing news of such an occurrence Ellyn on his own initiative turned north, as all of the Imperial army was currently busy within the Alps or Southern France.
At armor Alfred found himself outnumbered and outmaneuvered by the more experienced General Ellyn and was promptly defeated and captured. Ellyn would deliver alfred to the Imperial Capital and in reward be named supreme commander of the armed forces by Catherine for his loyalty and help preventing a potentially costly civil war.
Victory in France was soon to follow, returning all of Brittany to Cathay as well as the duchy of Berry. Poitou was humbled and the French princes reminded of their place in the world. The Fortress at Berry would be a major reminder of such a war, as now Cathay could easily move into Toulouse directly.
With access restored to the Italians the war over switzerland ended in short order resulting in half of the Duchy of Ivrea to be ceded to Ferrara. The expansion of the Ferraran King north however would have consequences later down the line, as without the Rhine as a natural border, the temptation of controlling the Upper Rhineland would color the foreign police of Ferrara going forward as their Italian and Balkan ambitions were slowly sated.
Of course one commitment would lead to another, as they often tended to do. In Bohemia the Marriage between the Czech and Polish peoples had come undone following a series of tax disputes. Sensing opportunity to find a powerful ally in the Baltic, the Kingdom of Sweden sided with the Poles while Catherine sided with the Bohemians.
Things came to a head when the Polish Sjem, in defiance of Bohemia elected Chiano Wisniowiecki otherwise known as Chiano Wisnik as King. King Wilhelm of Bohemia responded with an immediate declaration of war with intend to abolish the Polish Sjem and arrest and kill the pretender. Sweden responded with its own declaration of war, thus forcing Catherines own hands and soon all of Northern Europe's great powers was prepared to do battle for the fate of Poland.
The first major battle of the war would be not against the Poles but against opportunist rebels within Prague, who took the recent civil war as an opportunity to try and create their own legislative body within Bohemia in the vain of the Polish Sjem. These dreams however were cut short upon the arrival of Cathay's troops, who liberated the Bohemian Capital and worked out terms for how to go about the war.
It was agreed that Cathay would handle the Poles, while Bohemia would contain the Swedes within the northern Elbe, this was done to avoid bad blood in having Bohemian troops march into, pillage and destroy polish towns and lands. Cathay instead would receive the blame, but Cathay was not the rightful ruler of Poland and so, that blame mattered less. Of course this plan could backfire and be seen as King Willhelm inviting a foreign conqueror into Poland to fight his wars for him, but Willhelm sought peace before his own prestige and perhaps rightfully so, as without Poland, Bohemia's influence within europe would be no more than the princes that surrounded it.
During this war the new problems with Diane's system of officers had become quickly apparent. While removing the nobility from the equation, the favoritism of the monarchy would still determine who was assigned roles within the military. General Alan Ellyn was a competent general, but he was not the best general within cathay. Ellyn's inferior, Yanchege Xwedayar was a superior tactician in every way held back by ironically enough by his more Khitan upbringing in the Rural areas of Avalon.
Far from the Latinized and Urbanized Ellyn, Yanchege lived and fought amongst his troops, invited officers from all walks of life to consult with him on strategy and had in fact turned Ellyn's dream of a combined arms doctrine into a reality. None of his achievements however would be valued by the Cathayan aristocracy or crown for most of his career, and while one of the most important wars in recent history waged in poland, Yanchege remained at home, putting down revolts. Only towards the end of the war, would general Xwedayar be summoned into Poland, and only due to Alan Ellyn suffering a case of food poisoning and wishing to return home.
In the Meantime the major battles were won in Poland by Alan Ellyn, defeating the Poles within Bohemia and then outside of it, humbling them at every available opportunity. However, Poland was not some upstart rebellion, and had its own military staff and loyal officers. Losses were high and Ellyn quickly met his match against the Polish pretender Chiano. By the time General Xwedayar would to fight the Polish monarch a year later, poland for the most part had collapsed, the Sjem had been exiled or arrested and what remained of Chiano's army was vastly inferior to Xwedayar's expeditionary force. It would be however Xedayar who would arrest Chiano and bring him to Bohemia to be hanged.
After nearly five years of warfare the War of the Polish succession ended. Cathay's involvement was limited to Poland and Poland Alone, the swedes unwilling to commit anything into Cathay's interior, and the Bohemians having successfully fought the Elbian front to a stalemate. The Polish Sjem was abolished in favor of a unified body of nobles of both monarchies. Polish separatism would still exist for centuries, but defeat in the war of the Polish succession would mark the beginning of further centralization of the Bohemian dual monarchy from a fragile alliance into a world power.
In the West, Progress was being made of course, but the lack of attention had meant that Bermuda and Havana were the only major results of nearly two decades of colonization. Havana of course would quickly displace Trinidad as the most important and rich port within the Americas but with wars holding Catherine's attention, the English finally could establish several of their own footholds, and the Iberians would expand their brazilian territories massively.
Outside of War, Catherine put her talents to work rebuilding the Imperial capital, making the old Gem of Northwestern Europe shine once again. The opening of two new districts and the reconstruction of several major monuments lost during the Western War, as well as the complete reconstruction of the Waterfront of Ventralis would turn one of the major cities of Europe into the largest city in the world under Catherine's reign.
However, such reforms and focuses at come at a cost. Spain after all was still in Crisis, and the Knights had now returned to the continent and had their territories returned to them. The reintroduction of more fundamentalist ideals of the Knights on the syncretised citizenry of Iberia however had an adverse reaction, resulting in much of the local clergy to outright reject the return to some old dogmas, declaring a countrywide protest. A small event for a relatively obscure faith, but the precedent set in Santiago would be the first of many.
There of course was a far more relevant movement about to be inspired by the Spanish, and the Shot was going to be heard around the world.
And Just like that, on December 12th 1517 The Solar Church once one and indivisible under the Caetye, was broken, forever.