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Part 3: Sa'd I the Warrior (1455-1506)
Chapter 11: The fate of western Europe (1456-1468)

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The situation in Europe, 4 june 1456.

Muhammad VII the saviour. It all started with him, my grandfather. The country was declining, and annexation by Castille was eminent. But due to his military skill, his insight, he saved the country and laid the foundation for the empire it is today.
Then my father, Muhammad VIII the great, came. He made some radical changes which not only turned our kingdom into a fullgrown empire, but also opened our eyes for renewal, modernisation, westernisation. He enlarged the empire, conquered the entire Iberian peninsula and almost collected the Netherlands.
Now it's my turn. How will history remind me? My father didn't plan to be the conquerer he became. All he wanted was to unite the Iberian peninsula and make some adminstrational changes. Will the same fate be bestowed upon me? Something I don't want, to be forced upon me by the camels of history? Time will tell. But let me introduce myself. I am Sa'd I, the new padishah of the Granadan Empire.

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The padishah is dead, long live the padishah!

During the last war, my father died from a heart attack. He wasn't able to see his lifework completed. I had to take over prematurely to ensure a victory. Luckily my father had already set the final stages of the war in motion: all I had to do was finish it off. I wasn't ready, but managed to get there after all.

The Empire. Now that the war has been fnished, I can finally get a good look at it. What will my first independant action be? Well, there were some religious issues. The south is Islamic, while the North, most of the Empire, is Catholic. I have to be carefull that no riots will break loose. Maybe, if I can get the people to become more narrowminded, I can convert those Catholics to the Islam. But that's something for the future.

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Christians ans Muslims in one country, ruled by the padishah.

There are three fullgrown empires in Europe: of course, the Granadan Empire in the west. In the East, the Ottomans had turned their country into an empire too. But inbetween, there is something strange. There are a lot of small countries united under one emperor. They are most of the time squabbling among eachother, but when a threat arises, they unite and strike back. They form the Holy Roman Empire. Especially under the banner of Austria, they pose an enormous threat to both my country aswell to the Ottomans. Those Austrians had shown my father several times they shouldn't be messed with. Something had to be done about this institution.

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The Holy Roman Empire. Every province I conquer, leaves that empire and joins mine.

Those German minors are a good example to the world that with allies, you can get really powerfull. Who are my allies? Connacht, Sicily and Tunesia. The latter two are vassals of mine. By the beard of Muhammad, I really need more friends. I need to rally my muslim brothers to take a stance against those European Christians. Although they were barbaric the past several hunderds of years, they are now crawling back. I think we stand at a turning point.

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I haven't got much cores, and not much allies. Something should change.

Let me see the trade routes. I controll three trade centers: in Lisboa, Andalucía and Antwerpen. Most of the trade my merchants commince, is going through these. But in the south, near Italy, there is a lot of trade going through two trade centers: Genoa and Venice. If I can controll those, I will controll most of the important trade around.

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The trading across Europe.

What will my place in history be? It won't be the missionaris I might like to be. The people aren't narrowminded enough to convert. I could try to controll the trade. Yes, that's a possibility. But those countries are joined in the Holy Roman Empire. Maybe if I try to smash that one? It will be difficult, maybe impossible. And I also needed to unite the Netherlands. My father is watching over me from heaven, so I need to conquer the last Dutch bastion: Liege. What can I do, what should I do.
I call my advisors, whom all had served under my father. They really urge me to, whatever I will decide to do, keep on investing in technology. Firdaus presses the issue that I really should keep on investing in government technology: new political insights might prove fundemental necessary for our country.
Stephen and Heinrich are really looking grim. Our reputation among the other nations is extremely bad (24.69/31). If I want to create an alliance against the Holy Roman Empire, I must really improve that. My relation with the other Islamic countries is not to best as well, so I must improve that as well. It will be the workload of a lifetime. I have decided: I will try to improve our reputation amongst the nations, so we will be loved an envied.

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The three advisors.

There is a task ahead of me. I first asked the Ottoman Empire and the Golden Horde if I could get military access. I wanted to mention an alliance already, but it was too early for that. First things first. I already had military access through the Mamluks and Tripoli, and of course my vassal Tunesia. Now my men are able to travel around the Mediterranian, if they want. But what is more important: I am starting to lay the foundation for an alliance. With Tripoli I took one step further: I sended them a gift, which was appreciated very much. My father has left me quite a lump sum of money. With this, I can really get the people to like me.

O my. The month hasn't been over yet and trouble is already starting. On 13 februari 1456 the English, along with their allies Lorraine and Nevers, declared war on me. I'm not prepared for war yet. I hardly recovered from the previous one. Did the English learn about my ideas for an Islamic alliance, or do they just dislike me? Anyway, my army needs to grow. If I look at the army sizes, I do have one of the largest armies of the world. But it's not that much larger than those from the English. If I want to beat them, I need to invade England, and I really need an enormous army to do that. So the first thing I did, was ordering more men to be trained. 10,000 new charge cavalery and 12,000 men-at-arms in Iberia, and 6,000 more men-at-arms in the Netherlands. I really hope those 28,000 extra men will be enough, but if necessary, I can still raise an even larger army.

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The armies of the world, at the start of the English war.

When I take a look at the armies, and see the worldmap, I see that there aresome great players in Europe. Granada is one of them, after my fathers expansion. But England and France are western powers too. In the east we have more large powers: Austria, Bohemia, Poland, Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire. And even Bavaria and the Teutonic Order are not to be underestimated. But in the west, it's basically between England, France and me. Now that I'm at war with England, we will see who's the best. I really hope France won't turn against me.
Before I can start the invasion, I need to knock Nevers and Lorraine out of the war. I can't have them backstabbing me while my men are away. Therefor I send 24,000 infantry men to occupy their provinces. Seeing this, Baden warned me. If I continue this, they will declare war. Well, Baden is small, and I need to get those two countries out of the way quickly, so I pushed through. In only a matter of days I re-occupied Lorraine and Metz, and not long thereafter Bourgondy fell. I then demanded from Lorraine:

Cede the ironrich Metz and the vinegars of Bourgogne, renounce your claims on Barrois and pay 100 ducats.

They had no choice but to accept on 24 april 1456. One month later Nevers fell, but I don't have any diplomats yet to ensure peace. I can wait, while I prepare for an invasion.

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I conquered some provinces from Lorraine, again, and occupied Nevers.

While I am diverting troops and rerouting transports, Milan declares also war on me, on 14 june 1456. I guess he wants to get Modena, to kick me out of the Italian area. His allies Wurttemberg, Naples and the Papal States joined the fight. Good Allah, more war? I must knock those out too before I can go to England. To end it quickly, I send my men to the east, towards Italy. England can wait for now. I still have to build more cogs and carracks to transport my men, and protect them at sea, so I can use this time to end this second war fast.
Seeing these new directives for my troops, Baden decided that enough was enough, and on 2 july 1456 they declared war, along with their allies Ansbach, Trier and Wurzburg. Now I had three wars at the same time, fighting 10 countries. Luckily most of them were small, but England was not to be underestimated. Now I have to move through Germany first: that is on route. My men will occupy everything on their way.
The plan now is: first occupy the German minors, then move into Italy. Finally, invade England.

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Fighting three wars against ten countries.

In august 1456 I finally had a dilpomat available, whom I immediately sended to Nevers, demanding from them to become a vassal and pay 50 ducats. I could have demanded annexation, but that would really devastate my already bad reputation and their province isn't worth that much.
To complicate things, rebels started to emerge, especially in the Netherlands. Luckily my 20,000 cavalery were nearby, and in september the uprising was smashed down. They are now ready to go to the Alps, do do some more smashing.
A very heavy battle was fought in Bern, but I finally was able to defeat the armies of Baden and Wurttenberg. Time to march on.
By the end of november I had defeated the entire army of Wurttemberg by throwing 12,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalery against them. One month later the Trier army lay in ruins: They couldn't cope with 18,000 men infantry and 20,000 men cavalery.
The fate of my allies was very different from eachother. Connacht was doing quite well: they had occupied Munster. But Sicily was losing against Naples. I soon had to rescue them. But first things first, the German minors must first be defeated.
In march 1457 I crushed the Ansbach army and one month later I completely occupied Baden. But since Baden was the leader of the war of Baden, Ansbach, Wurzburg and Trier, I had to wait with my demands until those others were be defeated.
On 14 august 1457 I finally occupied Trier and demanded from them that they become a vassal and pay 75 ducats. They had no choice but to accept. I wasn't interested in Koblenz, so I was better off with them as a vassal.

Half a month later the unthinkable happened. On 4 september 1457 France, along with its vassals Foix and Provance, declared war. I will still be able to move my troops through their territories, since they are the enemy now. But they have the largets army in the world, and mine is weakened and far in the German territories, while the French army gently marches into my domain. How can I survive this? Four wars at the same time, fighting 11 countries: Among them France and England. The invasion really has to wait now. Shall I rush my armies back to fight the French? No, first things first. I need to smash those German and Italian minors, or else they will backstab me while I fight France.
My allies support me, except Connacht: They refuse to fight with France. They were all these wars tired, and didn't want to be a part of it anymore. Just like I would like to do, but for me there is no escape. I have to fight these before I can enter a peacefull era.
At the end of september, even Cologne warned me not to go to war with anybody. Things were looking really bad. Thanks dad, for leaving me an empire with such a great threat of war.

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France has joined the battles against me. now I'm fighting 4 wars against 11 countries.

On 20 november 1457 I finally managed to win the siege of Ansbach. I demanded that they would become a vassal too, and pay 50 ducats. They were in the middle of the German territories, with no change that they would border me soon, so I decided that it was better to have them as vassal then as a loose province.
Exactly one month later, on 20 december 1457, my vassal Savoy declared war on me! Those rotten swines... Luckily they had no allies, so there would be just one country added to the warlist.
My cavalery was all in the northern German provinces, and I needed them south, to fight the Italians. But France was in the way. On their way south they occupied some Frankish provinces, but that wasn't for a long time. But they managed to get south. The English had landed on some provinces, but every time with just 1,000 men. I was really glad that they couldn't organise a real threathening invasion, since they hadn't builded the transports to do so. They were save and sound on their island.
Like I wasn't in already enough trouble, Cologne, along with its allies Bremen, Cleves, Oldenburg and Liege, declared war. Well, the only good point about this was that I would be able to annex Liege and complete the Netherlands. But for now I had to face a war with currently 16 countries with already 30,000 casualties (wich were refreshed at an average rate of 2,000 per month, including the newly lost men). It seems like the Holy Roman Empire has heared about my plans to overthrow them, and is striking now I am weak. Luckily the emperor, Austria, hasn't joined the fight.

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The war has expanded: Almost entire western Europe is at war with me: 6 wars with 16 countries.

When the Cologne campgain was set in motion, I only had a few men cavalery north. I used them immedately to attack Liege, and to try to occupy that country. I was glad that the Palentines allowed me to move my troops through their country, since that gave me an enormous shortcut to the new warzone.

Then there was a first bright spot in these dark clouds that hung over Granada: on 10 may 1458 Wurttemburg fell. I sended immediately a diplomat, with the following demands:

Cede Konstanz, renouce your claims on Braisgau, become a vassal and pay 50 ducats.

This time I did wanted that province. They had to be punished for their war. After a day of debate, they accepted. I was relieved: now I was just with 15 countries at war.
The war raged on, Europe was in flames. One by one the German minors would fall. but first I had to deal with those Savoy swines. On 8 september 1458 the sieges were succesfull, and I demanded from them:

Cede Savoie, renouce your claim on Nice, become a vassal once again and pay 50 ducats.

They accepted, they had no choice. Now there is a sprankle of hope.
On the other side, since Connacht broke their alliance with me, they had done pretty bad against the English. England had totally annexed their country. Something had to be done. But that had to wait untill the invasion on England would come. For the coming years that was not an option.
The siege of Wurzburg was taking its time. But I didn't want to annex that country, so on 29 december I realised that the siege wasn't necessary. Standing at their gates, I called for their ruler, and demanded their vassalisation and 50 ducats. When they accept, I will lift the siege. Seeing how hungry they were, they were prepared to accept just anything. Remembering that I had already occupied Baden, I sended a messenger to them with the following demands:

Cede Breisgau, become a vassal and pay 50 ducats.

They accepted. Now I was just with 12 countries at war. Things were looking alright now. My army was in Italy busy occupying Milan, and would then march against Napels and the Papal States. But for now I didn't have the diplomats to make more peace: I'd have to wait.
Things were really looking alright now. On 17 januari 1459 I finally occupied Liège, and the next day I annexed that country. Finally, after all those years, the complete Netherlands were in Granadan hands.
Tuscany decided to allow my troops to pass through their country. That was a relief, since almost the entire Napels army was besieging Modena. My troops were now able to sneak past them, and continue to lay siege on all of Napels' provinces.

It was 27 september 1459 that Bavaria and the Palentines both warned me not to go to war with anyone. When Cologne had done that, several months later they declared war with me. Would I now face an even greater war than it already was? Indeed. On 4 november 1459 The Palentines, along with Hesse, Meissen and Salzburg, declared war, and one day later Bavaria, along with Croatia, Poland and Alsace, did the same. Now I was at war with 19 countries at the same time.

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Things are getting really ugly: fighting 5 wars at the same time against 15 countries.

To stop the French expansion in Iberia, I trained another 6,000 men over there. It took a long time before they were ready to put into service. Meanwhile my men were battling very heavy at The Papal States and Napels.
Then on 3 februari 1460, Brunswick declared war. Just like Savoy they hadn't had any allies. I was really glad. One by one the countries of the Holy Roman Empire were declaring war against me... I was now at war with 20 countries.
On 1 march 1460, I was laying siege on Roma. But I didn't need to occupy it yet: I sended some diplomats to the pope and one day later he accepted the following termes:

Cede Romagna and pay 75 ducats.

If I could now only bring Naples down, I would have finished my southern business. Well, except that Croatia had joined the war. To reach them, I had to go through Austria. To my surprise, they allowed my troops to pass. Now I only needed some free troops to go over there...
There was an agricultural revolution in Gelre, giving me there 2 base tax and 100 ducats. Sometimes there are small things that make life bearable.
On 15 may 1460 Bremen fell, and I decided to vassalize them, and let them pay 75 ducats. Although it would be nice for the coastline to annex them, allong with Oldenburg, I couldn't afford the reputation loss it would cause.
I was really filled with joy when Poland asked for a white peace on 22 may 1460. There was no way I could reach them, or they reach me. They were also at war with the Ottoman Empire. Although it wasn't nice to think, it gave their armies a great diversion.
Oldenburg fell on 1 july 1460. Immediately I turned them into a vassal, and forced them to pay 50 ducats. Another one down.
The 6,000 men I had trained extra in Iberia were doing their job well. France had invaded with quite a large army, and they are recapturing every freshly occupied province.
The southern parts of Italy, the area of Napels, wasn't that attractive. So In september I made a peacedeal with Napels:

Cede Ancona, release the nation of Urbino and pay 50 ducats.

This would definately weaken Napels position, and didn't gave me a strong reputation hit. Also, I had gained another ally: Urbino. Although I doubted their useage in any war. They were so small... Meanwhile, the Alps were under heavy attack. Bavaria and Alsace had seen their change and while France occupied the Central Massive, they had send their armies to occupy Switzerland. And I still wasn't able to fully replenish my army.

On the 1st of november 1460 the Archbisdom of Avignon declared their independance. Not only from me, but also from France. They got the provinces Avignon, Auvergne and Rouergue. I had to get there fast, before France would capture their provinces again. I could snatch a few of their provinces, if I were on time.

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The independance of Avignon. You also see the trouble France is causing me.

The Ottomans asked, right after the independance of Avignon, for a royal marriage. I guess those are not related to eachother, but well, you never know.
On 18 november 1460 the last province of Milan fell. I didn't immediately sended my diplomat towards them, I waited till my men were out of their territory. Else they would have been stuck in Southern Italy. I asked from Milan:

Cede Parma, Brescia and Pisa. Also, renouce your claims on Verona and Siena. Finally, pay 50 ducats.

They accepted on 2 januari 1461. Now I was just at war with 11 countries.
Exactly 5 years after England decided to declare war on me, I kicked the French out of the Avignon territories and started to lay siege on those provinces myself. Since their defence wasn't totally ready, I had no hard time. Still, the Avignon bastion was a hard nut to crack.
While this happened in the south, also things happened in the north. Brunswick fell, and I demanded from them:

Cede the ironrich province of Brunswick. Also, become a vassal and pay 50 ducats.

For now that province was separated from the rest of my country, but with the current wars, it could just be connected in the blink of an eye.
When it was 8 juli 1461, Avignon was prepared to talk. I would recognise them as a souverain state, while they would hand me over Auvergne and Rouergue. I was a major step in connecting my territories.
On 14 december 1461 I forced Cleves to become my vassal, and of course pay 50 ducats. Ten days later it was Cologne's turn: I forced them to cede Westfalen, become my vassal and pay 50 ducats. Another one down. Will there be another declaration of war soon, or could I now finish this off and live in peace?
During the first half of 1462, my men took a giant hit. The shortage of men increased till 50,000 in july. I really had to ease down on the fights: I had to replennish my men, but how?
On 17 august 1462 Trier declared war. They stood alone, and my armies were near. Why would they do that? To get the vassalisation undone? First Savoy, now Trier. People really have to be forced to accept my rule, won't they?
On 22 januari 1463 I occupied Meissen, and made them into a vassal. Also, I let them pay 50 ducats. One month later, on 16 februari 1463, seven years after the war had started, I forced Hesse into a peace. I let them cede Kessel, turned them into a vassal and let them pay 75 ducats.

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France is occupying the Netherlands, half of the westcoast and the Central Massive, while Alsace and Bavaria divide Switzerland. Things ain't looking well, especially with those rebels there too.

I defeated the Bavarian army in april. Well, they had some 3,000 men roaming free in the Netherlands, but that was for the moment out of my reach.
Salzburg was fearing they might be the next to be vassalised, and that might have been true if my armies weren't so busy battling Bavaria and the other German minors around them. Anyway, they offered on 8 july 1463 a white peace, which I accepted. The less countries I was at war with, the better.
After Savoy and Trier, Wurzburg decided on 18 september 1463 that their vassalisation was unlawfull, and declared war on me. Hadn't they had enough already? I had to bring them again down on their knees, vassalising them again.
On 15 october 1463 I finally had reoccupied Trier again. This time I didn't only demand vassalisation and 50 ducats, but also the province of Koblenz.
The end of 1463 gave me hope. First, I occupied on 22 december Alsace, and demanded their vassalisation, along with 275 ducats. That really was a good infuse for the Granadan war machine. They accepted one day later. Then I occupied enough of Bavaria to bring them down on their knees, and around the negotiation table. On 1 februari 1464 I demanded:

Cede Thüringen, Dresden, Schwaben and Overpfalz. Also, pay 50 ducats.

A positive point was that Croatia immediately entered a truce with me too. Now I was left with a war with 6 countries. Now the war will soon end.

Then, at 4 februari 1464, Bohemia, along with its allies Aquileia, Crete, Teutonic Order and Brandenburg, declared war. I was back at war with 11 countries. I really hope that this will be over soon. Bohemia and the Teutonic Order at war with me... Luckily Austria wasn't meddling around too.
On 4 march 1464 I demanded from The Palatines:

Cede Leipzig, Franken and Worms. Also, pay 75 ducats.

By demanding those provinces, I connected the Netherlands with Switzerland. Although it is a very large detour, they are connected. That next day I also went to Wurzburg. I demanded the province Bamberg, 50 ducats and their vasalisation once again. They accepted on 6 march 1464.

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The war with the German minors is over, but the Netherlands, the westcoast and Central Massive are under heavy attack. And now a danger from the east looms.

My current goal was to free the Netherlands and the westcoast from the occupiers: France and rebel swines. Those rebels were sprouting from everywhere.
On 18 march 1464 there was a border dispute with Tuscany: I considered their province Firence as part of my domain, but they didn't saw it that way. Luckily that dispute hadn't had any consequences: I could remain moving my men through their territory. Since we considered it from us, my men behaved. I guess that's why we were allowed to remain moving through their land.
The Teutons were really pissed at me. Since I had a truce with Poland, whom didn't gave them military access, they couldn't reach me. I laughed at their empty threads, untill they declared a crusade against me on 5 may 1464. They still couldn't reach me, but others could...

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A crusade against me. Within a few months half Europe, the other half which I hadn't fought yet, would declare war on me.

On 13 august 1464 Aquileia offered me a white peace, which I accepted.
While I freed Savoie from rebel occupation, I hired some mercenaries to occupy the French provinces in the south-east. I wasn't the only one with rebel struggles: France was beeing teared apart by them, since not only 'my' rebels also went into France, they had also uprisings of their own.
On 22 september 1464 Crete offered a white peace, which I accepted.
Every time France tried to free a rebel-occupied province, I intervened. Except of course if they were freeing one of my provinces. I hunted down their small armies. Also, I freed the westcoast and the Netherlands.

Then, on 3 november 1464, Austria, along with Venice, Ragusa, Poland and the Papal States, declared war. Later that month, on 23 november 1464, Denmark, along with its allies Sweden and Pommerania, also declared war. They all heeded the call of the crusade, which I had forgotten by this time. But now I faced an eastern front with Austria, who now had the largest army of the world.

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The effect of the crusade: Eastern Europe has declared war.

The Danish and Swedish armies started with an invasion on the westcoast, while the Austrians marched into my eastern territories. Luckily the invasion form the Scandinavian countries wasn't large, just like the English. But my men weren't there, so they were able to occupy a province.
The example of Avignon was to be followed by Armanac: on 16 march 1465 they declared their independance from France and me, gaining the provinces Armanac and Gascone. They quickly entered a truce with France, which I didn't allow: I wanted my province back.
On 26 may 1465 Venice offered a white peace, which I gladly accepted. I hadn't seen their soldiers, but the less countries I was fighting, the better. Two days later The Papal States offered a white peace too. They correctly assumed that this time I would burn Roma down. But I hadn't time for such escapades, so I accepted their offer.
On 1 july 1465 I asked Ragusa, from who I hadn't seen any armies and who hadn't mine, to become my vassal and pay 50 ducats. To my surprise, they accepted! And one day later, I asked Pommerania the same, and they accepted too! Sometimes war makes you do crazy things. If this is the consequence, everyone may become crazy. Well, one week after this had happened, Poland offered a white peace. Of course I gladly accepted. They were just on the brink of seizing the territories I had occupied from Bohemia, so this was a very good timing.

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France is loosing terrain in the Netherlands, but they break through in Iberia. Meanwhile Brandenburg, Bohemia and Austria attack from the East.

The war with Austria was taking a heavy toll. All my eastern provinces were falling for their armies, while I was busy fighting with France. So on 4 may 1466 I offered Austria to have peace. In exchange I would end the vassalisation of Pommerania and Ragusa. They accepted. I lost two vassals which I got for free, but the Austrian march had now ended. That was something that counted a lot.
The Danish and Sweden were still clinging on to their single occupied province at the westcoast of France. But now my armies had reached them, and smashed them. On 21 may 1466 Denmark offered a white peace, speaking for themselves and Sweden, with whom they are in a personal union. Of course I accepted: The less enemies the better.
I was really glad when on 3 june 1466 Bohemia offered a white peace. They had taken over the role of Austria, occupying all my eastern provinces. They were talking for themselves, Brandenburg and the Teutonic Order. Now the crusade against me was finally over. I was just at war with England, France, Foix, Provance and Armanac.

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With the eastern front gone, I can concentrate on destroying France. They are really close to collapsing now.

On 17 juli 1466 I finally occupied Armanac, and demanded from them:

Cede Gascone, become my vassal, renounce your claim on Béarn and pay 225 ducats.

They accepted one day later.
In september 1466 Guyenne declared themselves independant from France, with just one province: Perigord. They did have a lot of manpower, but while the French army was kept in bay by me and the rebels, they were able to occupy several provinces.

Sometimes war can bring surprising developments. The old king of Sweden died while leaving no heirs, so the king of Denmark inherited that country: one giant scandinavian country was hereby formed. One month later they renamed themself into 'Scandinavia'.

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Scandinavia is formed.

The French army wasn't posing any threat anymore. By the end of november 1467 I had completely beaten them.

With all this fighting going on, I longed for some place else. Somewhere far away from this madness. So on 1 december 1467 I embraced the national idea of colonial ventures. Within a few years I could rally an expedition to boldly go where no man has gone before and seek out new land to explore and exploit.

Then the day came I rode on the back of a bright white horse through the streets of Paris, surrounded by my elite guards. I rode straight to the French king Louis XII. Although I hadn't fully occupied his country, Guyenne was marching and rebels had still occupied a large portion of the country. His kingdom lay in ruins, his army was wiped from the face of the earth. There was nothing he could do anymore. I, the great padishah, the king of kings, let him kneel before me and demanded:

Cede Caux, Normandie and Languedoc. Also, pay 50 ducats.

The only coastal province left to France was Picardie. I could have taken that one instead of Languedoc, but by taking Languedoc, I connected the Netherlands with the Iberian peninsula, which had some higher priority. I would take Picardie next time. now I had to prepare for an invasion on England, while I had to fight the rebels all over the country.
Before I left, I grinned towards the already bleak king, and said that Guyenne was still marching towards Paris: he could better prepare for another huminilating ceremony. The king passed out while I rode away. This peace ensured also peace with Foix and Provance.

For one year I tried to prepare an invasion, but there were a lot of rebels in my empire. The economics laid in ruins, people were tired of the constant fighting. There was no way I could effectively prepare for an invasion. When England offered on 4 december 1468 a white peace, I had no choice than to accept, although I had to think a whole day about it. Iceland could easily be conquered, but since the provinces in the Britisch isles wouldn't support many men, I would have heavy casualties by just beeing there. And the English had more than 38,000 men ready at their disposal, from which 20,000 were in Ireland. No, for now, it could not be done.

Almost 13 years of constant war. It is madness. No, this is... Granada! The country that had survived the oncoming Castillian onslaught, the country who had conquered the Iberian peninsula and the Netherlands, the country which had climbed up from a small kingdom to a fullgrown empire.
I asked my financial minister what all those peacedeals had brought the treasury. He counted, and said that we had extorted 1925 ducats from those countries. That's something like 148 ducats a year. That was a nice addition to the treasury. Too bad it had all been spend, along with the more than 1200 ducats my father had left me. All usurped by the war.
The war had convused me. How many wars did I fight the past 13 years, and against how many countries? I draw a chart for myself:

warscheme.jpg

All the 16 wars with the 42 countries I fought with: the length of the green stroke determines the length of the war with them.

There they were. The 42 countries I fought with in 16 wars the past 13 years. There were even 4 countries I fought twice in this period. And the result? France lay shattered, it's remains to be teared apart by rebels and newly formed nations. England has stayed the same, they had gained nothing with this war they had started. The Holy Roman Empire still existed, but half of the nations had sworn allegiance to me too. And of course, the Granadan Empire had grown. My economy was ruined for now, and my army was far from full strength, but with just a few years, that would be fixed. I really needed to have a few years of peace, if possible. I had to take a breath, to restore and rebuild Europe.

eu311t.jpg

The Holy Roman Empire has been shattered.

After all this fighting, there was still some more fighting to do: there were quite a few rebels roaming freely. But with the wars over, the war exhaustion would decrease and the uprisings would be less. I wanted to be know as a peacefull ruler, but instead history had thrown the mother of all wars against me. No more wars for me.

eu311u.jpg

The Granadan Empire after all those wars. There are still some rebels to deal with.

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Some sidenotes:
comagoosie: It was the other way around: There was first war, and then some country decided to also declare a crusade on me.
Enewald: They have something like 25 km of coast left. The next war they will definately loose their access to the oceans. And thanks for the idea: I will call Muhammad VIII from now on the great :).
Warpimp: I hope you survived these past few days! It was really taking a lot of time to fight these 16 wars, more than I had anticipated it would.
asd21593: Thanks! Muhammad VIII has indeed gained a lot of provinces during his reign.

I'm really sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long. I had said that I would post this update on sunday, maybe monday. It is now tuesdaynight. The reason was that it took quite longer than expected. I think you can understand that, after seing this :).
I really hope that the next chapter will be without war: I really need to rebuild the country. The war had a really devastating effect on it. But not only on me. Just look at France. It is still beeing torn apart. I guess that will be finished during the next chapter, so then I will give you a report on the downfall of France.
I hope this chapter was worth waiting for. It was really interesting to play, and especially to bring it to a good end. I really had moments like 'O my god, another war? And another one?' but I pulled through.

What do you think of padishah Sa'd I? How should he be remembered by history? Well, he isn't dead yet, but you can think about it :). I'm just wondering.
And by the way, is there a view you especially would like to see? Or something else? Just ask, and I will try to post a screenshot :).
 
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You have defeated Europe! :D

Now, defeat the rebels. :(

BTW, I really like the chart of the Wars, it gives a great visual representation of the situation you were in.
 
Thanks :).

My badboy score is now 26,94. Not bad, compared to the 24,69 I started with when the war started. Sa'd I gives -0,60 on reputation, and those two advisors give -0,30 and -0,20. That means my reputation is lowerd with 1,10 every year. With all those provinces gained, and Liege annexated, I think I did well :). During those wars the badboy score once came above the 30, but it never came above the 31 (the top with this ruler). This is the main reason I didn't annex a lot of those minor countries: I wouldn't survive the +2 hit on reputation for each annexation. But now I hope to get a few decades rest, so I can get an honourable reputation again. I hope.

It was indeed frustrating, especially with new wars emerging just when I thought things migth go well again. But well, I survived. I hope... My last savegame is from 5 december 1468, the end of this chapter. So I really don't know yet if I will get the rest and peace, or that another decade of war and destruction is awaiting.

Those rebels are indeed not to be underestimated. Not in In Nomine. If I won;t crush them soon enough, they can cause provinces to defect or form their own nations. Can;t have that. But with the war over, I hope those rebels won't be spawning much again.

Yes, Europe has been defeated :D. And if I can just get my army at its full strength, I can do it again. Really, I started the war with a shortage of something between 20,000 and 30,000 soldiers, and tehre was during the war no real chance to get to full strength. The best I had was a shortage of... I believe 27,000 men. And at some moments the shortage was way above the 50,000 men. I think I can really take Europe if I have my entire army of something like 100,000 men.

I like those charts of war too :). It is really great to see the reddinesh change (too bad that at some point almost the entire map was red, but well, it gives a good overview). I think I will keep on using them with wars.
 
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I also noticed that the country that started the age of war, also ended it!

How coincidental!!! :D
 
Sa'd the Warrior... maybe a nto good king, but a great warrior of islam... destroyed the western europe... :p

A great update!
great gameplay and a great aar!
 
I am truly speechless. I would have thrown the keyboard across the room and deleted my save as soon as France declared war.

But not only did you manage to tear apart all of Europe as they jumped on you, but you kept under the BB limit.

Well done, and I look forward to the next update.
 
That was probably the most engaging AAR update I've ever read. I couldn't peel myself away from it. Great chart, too, btw!

I thought you were going to lose some provinces when the Crusade was called, but you made out like a bandit. Good job.
 
Oh my... You accidentaly gobbled up or vassalized half of the HRE and crushed France. There's no one left to challenge you now exept maybe Austria or Liuthania.

Now be nice and become best friend with Scandinavia :)
 
Thanks everyone! It was really tiresome to do, and indeed, I sometimes had the feeling too that I would just through my keyboard through the window, but I had a promise to keep. I gave you a teaser, so I had to give you all. And well, it became even more than I expected :).

Sa'd the Warrior... That is indeed a suitable name, although he would hate it himself. But he doesn't determine how history remembers him, we do :rofl:.

I made the chart in paint. First I made a lot of screenshots from the Ledger, to get the shield from each country. Then I opened Paint (what a great program :D) and copy-pasted those shields to a new picture, with the forum background color for it's own background. I just draw some black and green lines, and there it was: a chart :). Of course, before I went on drawing the green lines, I made a detailled list of when every country declared war and made peace. by using this information I estimated how long those green lines had to be. It took me a few hours (especially those shield were a lot of work to get right), but it was worth it :).

It was indeed quite a coincedence that the country that started this European madness, also ended it :). For most of the time they didn't do anything constructive. Yes, they sended an invasion fo 1,000 men... wow, how impressive. So most of the time we were just... well, staring at eachother. Well, they stared at me while I was busy defending myself against those catholic hordes. Hehe, I can't blame them from staying on their island while they saw that Europe laid in flames.

Since the war was limited to Europe, I guess it's technically not a world war. But it surely did have the scale of it!

Hehe, Tjena Med Laxen, you got the words exactly right: I accidentaly gobbled up or vassalized half of Europe. Just before the war started, I planned to have a peacefull time. But the English decided otherwise. Hehe, I guess they won't do that again :). But I now have indeed Austria to worry about. Their army matches the size of mine. I have to be carefull not to go to war with them, since they actually had defeated me most of the times. And Lithuania... They are doing a really great job in the east. If I ever expand to the east, they will be really someone to worry about. And Scandinavia... Well, as long as they don't start to colonise, they are not of my interest ;). I'll be nice to them.

The next update will be a more peacefull one (if there were even more wars in the next update, I would really do something wrong ;)), but still interesting. I'm still busy with it, so stay tuned.
 
I'm itching for an update...

And after trying about four games as Grenada in 1399, it only makes this more amazing. Did you say how many times you tried with Grenada before this one came along?