Hello to all! Not too much left to tell, we're in the home stretch now. I'll post the next chapter today, and after leaving town for a long weekend, should be able to finish it next week. Then it will be time for the post-mortem, I suppose.
Chapter 23 1751-1773
This is the record of Ivan Wolf XI. I was born in Moscow in 1712, and I was appointed Regent by Tsarina Elizaveta in 1751 following my father's death.
Although the war against Poland had been concluded under my father's leadership, we still had to deal with the irritating Greeks in Trebizond. We kept an army in Georgia to defend our allies against the Greeks' attacks until 1752 when we felt confident that they would no longer be a threat. Several months later, a huge Islamic alliance led by the Hedjaz declared war on Trebizond, and the Greeks took a severe beating before paying off their foes with a large amount of cash.
Another war among our neighbors, that between the Teutonic Order and Ukraine, was finally settled late in 1753 with the Teutons gaining Jedisan. This was not at all to our liking and we considered how we might repair the damage. We did not have to consider very long, however, as in January 1754 the Austrians declared war on us yet again, joined by the Teutonic Order. Furious, I was determined to teach the treacherous Teutons a lesson they would never forget. No longer would we fight on the defensive, as we had done several times in earlier eras. Our armies quickly moved into the Baltic provinces, defeating all Teutonic and Austrian armies that came to oppose us. The Austrian fleet, too, was defeated when they attempted an invasion from the Gulf of Finland. We captured the Teutonic provinces of Belarus in September 1754 and Estland in January 1755, and we began sieges at Livland and Polotsk. The Teutonic armies were badly beaten; only the Austrians could mount a significant counterattack. Meanwhile, our allies Tver and Georgia had sieged and captured Jedisan.
In Moscow we debated endlessly how much, or what territory, we should demand in peace negotiations. The main problem we faced was that our reputation had soured considerably after our recent conquests from Poland. Western ambassadors on many occasions hinted discreetly to me that our perceived aggressive nature was raising some eyebrows across the continent. So when the Austrians began to field larger and more dangerous armies in the Baltic area, and they offered 150 ducats for peace, we accepted.
This was fortunate, because the very next month Venice and their allies Poland and the Knights declared war on us. After a brief skirmish with the Knights, we offered them a face-saving white peace so that we could concentrate against Poland. I was outraged when the Knights refused. It was time to take them down for good. Forces were gathered from all over the southern steppes in order to siege the Knights' fortress at Azov. This was a large fortress, greater than any we had seen in any previous war, but I commanded our Marshal to take the fort at any cost.
While the siege at Azov was proceeding, we deployed our main army against Poland, capturing both Lithuania and Podolia by the end of 1755. Early in 1756 our navy in Finland defeated the Polish fleet, and the Poles finally conceded our superiority, offering 43 ducats and begging for peace. I accepted this offer so that we could throw our whole army, if needed, at the Knights' fortresses in Azov and Kerch. In February 1757 Azov fell, and we moved our forces to Kerch, an even more difficult fortress to siege. But I gave the orders: whatever the cost, however long it takes, bring the Knights to their knees.
Three years later, in 1760, our army had made only minimal progress at Kerch, when the Austrians declared war again! They had become a supreme irritation. Fortunately, though, the Teutonic Order had learned their lesson from the previous war. Although they joined Austria for the sake of honor, they quickly accepted a white peace from us. That still left the main enemy, Austria, however. During the months May to September, 1760, several Austrian invasions at Nyland and Finland were defeated, but they would not accept an honorable white peace. Late in the year their fleet defeated ours in two battles, unfortunately. In January 1761 we negotiated with the Teutonic Order, asking for military access so that we could take the battle to Austria instead of vice-versa, as had happened so many times already. But the Teutons refused, and we had to wait for the Austrians to come to us. Finally, in May 1761, after we defeated their army in Welikia and their fleet in the Gulf of Finland, the Austrians offered a small amount of cash for peace and we accepted.
The treacherous Austrians were not through, however; while we sent our armies home, they continued to fight against our ally, Tver, repeatedly attacking the province of Pskov. We were outraged at this trickery. Somehow the Austrians persuaded the rest of the world that their peace with us was a separate deal, leaving them free to attack Tver. Stuck with a truce against our arch-enemy, we could only watch and hope Tver would hold. And, amazingly, they did. One year later, the vile Austrians paid them 25 ducats for peace, and the German language was heard no longer in our domains.
All this time our armies continued a seemingly fruitless siege at the Knights' stronghold of Kerch. Even with dozens of artillery units and thousands of troops holding the siege, it seemed that a glacier moved faster. Our Marshal constantly asked for reinforcements in men and artillery to replace those lost to desertion and disease.
Our Tsarina Elizaveta passed away in December 1761, and Pyotr III became Tsar. But it was obvious that he had no interest in governing. All the power of Muscovy was his to use as he wished, and he did -- nothing. Meanwhile, his wife, a princess from Germany, had taken a great affection for Russian culture and customs, even eagerly converting to our Orthodox faith. Their marriage was not a happy one. Delicacy forbids me to mention what was widely believed to be taking place -- and it wasn't just rumor, I knew that well -- so I will say simply that there was no love lost between the two. Eventually Catherine, as she was called later, staged a coup and sent her husband into exile, where he was soon murdered. I didn't know the details, and made no effort to discover them. My father had taught me long ago: if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question. In any case, in June 1762 we had a strong ruler at last: Yekaterina II Velikaya, known to most of the world as Catherine the Great.
Under our Tsarina's leadership, we pushed more deeply into Siberia. Our efforts were aided enormously in 1763 when our military logistics were finally up to the task of supplying small armies in previously unknown territory. We formed a small army in Omsk, first charged to explore the Ob basin in the Arctic. This they did, and their report when they returned was anything but encouraging: the area contained much fur, but almost every native group was hostile, some extremely so. As we could get furs from many other provinces, we bypassed this area and sent our army of explorers to far eastern Siberia to finish the work begun by the great Jukov more than 30 years earlier. Their efforts were rewarded with the discovery of Kamchatka in 1764. They had seen what no Russian had seen before: the Pacific Ocean.
All the while we developed new colonies in Siberia as Muscovites were eager to set up new homes in this land. Barabinsk was founded in 1759, after several false starts, and progress was more rapid thereafter: Tomsk in 1763; Krasnoyarsk 1766; and Angara, with rich gold mines, in 1767.
By 1765 our siege at Kerch had stalled. The defenders did not appear to be suffering at all, while our armies withered away in this God forsaken province. Yekaterina was very obviously growing impatient, and our Marshal was getting nervous, with good reason. I told him that for his own good he had better come up with a new plan to take the fort. So the Marshal pored over his military history books, studying all our recent campaigns, seeking some new tactic he could throw at the Knights. Finally an inspiration struck him, as he recalled our successful siege at Estland from the Teutonic Order in 1755. Though this province was cut off from our supply lines, we had used our fleet from Nyland to supply the army and cut off the defenders. So the Marshal presented his plan to the Tsarina: he would take half our fleet and sail it all the way around Europe in order to assist the siege at Kerch. This took many months, and half the ships were lost to storms along the way, but in July 1766 we surprised the Knights with a modest fleet of 4 warships in the Sea of Azov. The small enemy fleet was sunk or captured, and we stole the Knights' Rutters, although this did not seem to give us any new information.
In December 1765 the Venice-Poland alliance declared war against the alliance of Austria, Denmark, and the Teutonic Order. This was welcome news in Moscow, as all our enemies would be tied up in a war against each other. The war only lasted a few months, though, when it was settled with a white peace. To our dismay, the Venetians then turned their alliance against Trebizond, while the Austrians directed their alliance against -- us, yet again, with a declaration of war in July 1766. When will they ever learn?
Throughout 1767 the Austrians attempted several invasions at Nyland by sea and Welikia by land. Each Austrian army was defeated by our forces, but even so the Austrians would not accept a white peace. Still worse, from Nyland the supposedly retreating defeated Austrians actually moved deeper into our territory, ravaging Kexholm, Olonets, and Karelia until we finally annihilated these vile dogs. Finally the Austrians yielded in 1768 and made peace with us.
Following this war we scored an important diplomatic victory with the Teutonic Order when they granted us military access at last. The next time the Austrians attacked, they would pay dearly, for now we would be able to strike at their provinces instead of waiting for them to come to us.
The siege continued at Kerch. Despite our Marshal's promise of victory, even with fleet support no progress had been made in three years. Meanwhile, the high attrition was literally killing us. Yekaterina was losing patience, and the Marshal was in danger of losing his head. I prevailed upon the Tsarina to grant him three more years -- as no other wars were taking place involving us or our neighbors, we could afford that.
Three years later, in June 1771, we received momentous news from our Scandinavian neighbors and rivals: after more than 250 years of foreign occupation, Sweden finally broke free! Ironically, though, it was not from their Danish oppressors that they won their freedom. Through a bizarre chain of events involving wars we did not understand, a generation earlier the English breakaway nation of the Royalists had successfully conquered Southern Sweden from Denmark, and now in 1771 it was from the Royalists that the new nation of Sweden emerged! Whatever their origin, we made good relations with this new nation and entered a royal marriage with them. In October, Denmark declared war on Poland, so it appeared Sweden would be safe for the time being.
By the end of 1771 Kerch still flew the Knights' flag, and Yekaterina was completely exasperated. Our late Marshal was buried, headless. I accompanied Yekaterina as she traveled to Kerch in order to personally motivate the commander there to more aggressive action. Arriving on the site, she immediately called for his attention.
"This ******* fort has been besieged for more than 12 years! Quit stalling and assault the ******* thing!"
"With respect, Your Highness, we dare not. The defenders are still quite strong. In fact they have not weakened for many years. We just can't take this fort."
At this reply, Yekaterina became livid. Motioning quickly to her, I begged leave to persuade our general. "Are you aware of the former Marshal's fate?" I asked, as I drew my finger across my neck. The general turned white. "We need results, not talk. Your Empress has spoken."
At that, the general turned nervously to his subordinates and gave the orders. The assault was a bloody battle, with thousands of casualties on both sides, but on Christmas Day, 1771, the flag of Muscovy flew over the fort.
We now controlled both Azov and Kerch from the Knights. As far as we knew, they controlled only their home island of Rhodes and nothing else. As difficult as it had been to capture Kerch, we all knew a naval invasion and conquest of Rhodes was out of the question. So it was likely that we could demand Azov but not both Azov and Kerch. However, the Knights rejected even this offer. So be it, then -- we had sat on Azov and Kerch for 14 years, we could wait there as long as it took. As 1772 went by, we continued to make the same offer every 3 or 4 months, and finally in November the Knights saw the light and accepted. At last Azov was ours, and within a few months a large rebel army appeared at Kerch. The Knights could not dislodge this army, so they were completely disabled in our sphere of influence.
The year 1772 ended with a diplomatic defeat, however, as Sweden rejected our invitation to join our alliance. We were only trying to protect them from Denmark, and the fools just dug their own grave. The next year, events proceeded exactly as I feared. Denmark declared war on Sweden, quickly destroying them. Sweden was reduced to a mere one province, essentially a puppet state controlled by the Danes.
but what am I gonna read now, except for the Celtic CrusadAARs ofcourse. And the illuminaty in Italy... Well ok, finish your project first or you won't have the money to pay for the internet
