1620's: Covert and Overt War
I ended the last chapter with the invasion of Japan, and the death of general Gyldenpalm after the siege of Kyoto. In Europe, the coalition had disappeared due to dissipation of AE.
Internally I start the decade by embracing Global T rade at the cost of 2.5 K ducats, and then dis-inherit my 3/2/1 heir in order to get.....
....a 2/1/2 heir. Great move mackwolfe. Not!
The silver lining in the switch is that the new heir is a baby, and there is a chance my excellent 3/6/6 Empress will take over for some time after the King dies.
In Europe, a quick succession of events ends with the death of Denmark. First Sweden and Lubeck kick them out of Holstein and Skane areas:
(screenshot of Denmark being reduced to an OPM by Lubeck and Sweden. Norway gets Faroes and Iceland back. )
Then Norway delivers the coup de grace to their former overlords:
So now there are Danish cores under Sweden ( Danish culture, catholic ), Lubeck ( Danish and Westphalian culture, protestant ) and Norway ( Norwegian culture, Protestant) as well as under Atlantis of course ( Danish culture, Norse) . I wonder if can knock Denmark loose from any of the other countries, and what religion would they be. I could make them into the vassal whom I feed Scandinavia to later on to get For Odin achievement ( although Livonian Order like firez and atwix said may be better).
IN any case, with Norway's growth now , there is no chance for them to accept diplo-vassalization with me and I go ahead and break the useless alliance before they call me when Sweden decides to pay them a visit.
Back to Asia, I complete the war with the Shogun and take an 85% WS peace:
(peace with Hosokawa . By taking Kyoto, I destroy the shogunate and break the Ando-Hosokawa alliance. Unfortunately I do have a truce with both of them at the moment)
I release one vassal, Yamana , from a single province. The remaining 4 provinces are all in one state that intend to fully core.
The annexation of a good chunk of Japanese land puts Atlantis well ahead of Russia on the GP ranking:
WE are closing in on Ottomans, who appear to be having trouble buying GLobal Trade. The fact that they are missing 30 monthly ducats from my privateering in Constantinople must have something to do with it.
With a 14 year truce with the Japanese , I need to turn attention elsewhere. One option was to go back to Europe, and work on securing a vassal for the Odin achievement. I go as far as fabricating on Sweden so that I can swipe Gotland, and from there move on Livonian order. But in the end, the thought of reviving a coalition in Europe deters me
So I decide to remain focused on Asia, and target the Ottomans. SO I intensify the cold war with them, sending more privateers their way, and even fomenting rebellion:
(screenshot of me Supporting Rebels in Ottomans for 5 years)
Two years later, the covert war becomes overt when I declare:
The war goal is an island in the Moluccas that I should have no trouble securing . Russia is allied with Ottomans, but without a big fleet, I don't see how they would be a factor.
The war starts well when my privateering fleet sinks a couple of Ottoman squadrons in Varna and Bomba . But then my transport fleet with 41 regiments on board gets intercepted on its way to suppress a catholic rebellion in Crete:
(screenshot of early naval battles. Note my privateer fleet in Aegean and my transports in Sirt, both engaged at the time)
I hurry the privateer ships to help the transports. But they run into Ottoman squadrons in the Aegean and Ionian seas. As I start to lose transports in the battle, I withdraw them to Rhodes:
(image of my first naval defeat in a long time, with the transports being withdrawn to safety).
When the privateer fleet finally makes it to Sirt , it engages the main Ottoman fleet. I was expecting a win, but instead, we are dealt a setback:
(screenshot of a rare Atlantean defeat at sea)
This was a surprise loss, as I had more ships and an admiral. I ascribe it to the fact that my fleet had just gone through 3 previous battles without resting . I repair the ships in Rhodes while I start the construction of a new heavy ship squadron in England. Luckily , the AI does not stack fleets well, and when my fleet sails out from Rhodes to privateer again, it faces a divided Ottoman fleet:
After defeating the Ottoman ships, they take refuge in teh islands of the Aegean. I proceed to occupy them and eject the feelts, first from Naxos then from Euboea. Anjd then they take refuge in Sakiz ( Chios), I do the same. Except this time, an Ottoman force manages to cross to the island 2 days before I occupy it:
(screenshot of battle of Sakiz)
I fully expected to lose the battle. But thanks to being one military tech level ahead, we pull out a rare win on land.
Meanwhile, in Asia , I had completed the coring of Kyoto and I state it up and accept its culture ( Saigoku):
(promotion of the first Japanese culture - inset shows my choice of first Ability in age of absolutism)
Also in Asia, I proceed to occupy all the Ottoman islands in Indonesia, which were not guarded. During that phase, my old ruler dies and his wife takes over:
The Empress Regent is now running the show. At least she is a 3/6/6 and I will have her for 7 years before my 2/1/2 heir takes over.
ANd this brings us to 1630 and the end of the decade. Currently Ottomans refuse to give up all I want in the peace:
(screenshot of peace I want with Ottomans - if I get all that, they will lose their coring range to the pacific)
I will need to run up some victories and capture a fort or two to get enough WS. Maybe I will attack Russia instead and knock them out first. And if Ottomans still fail to embrace Global Trade , I may sneak into first place position:
