Chapter 23: What's Red and Black and Blue All Over...?
...We now return to Great Battles in Alternate History...
...On the Alternate History Channel...
From the fateful day of June 7th, 1485 The Grand Purple(ish) Republic of Milan had become embroiled in a bitter war of survival against French aggression.
Alternate History provides few clues as to the actual spark that started this conflict, but it does provide a very detailed account of it's activities, mostly due to the man Antonio Racellini, and his decedents.
Born on a rural farm in the early 1400's, he was the second child in a family of thirteen. His elder brother, Marco, was responsible at the age of six for saving the life of the Milanese Monarch, when he ran over twenty miles to get help for the King. While returning to his home after a meeting, the Kings Company came under fire from rebels wanting to over throw the Monarchy. The King had escaped, but his horse threw a shoe, trapping the Monarch in a roadside tavern. Having no idea where he was, and being subjected to constant conversation by the inn keeper and his wife, the boy ran to fetch the King's Royal Guard to get him home safely.
The King wished to reward Marco by granting him a place in palace as a page, but his parents asked that the King not take the eldest boy. Instead, they asked if he would take Antonio in his stead, and the King agreed. Thus were the humble beginnings of a legacy.
Assigned to the Royal court, Antonio learned to read and write, and was found to have a knack for keeping track of things. Through the years, he became a fixture in the palace... Mostly because he rarely moved from his office desk. Somehow he found the time, and a woman willing, and was married, producing three sons, one of which died before he was a year old.
His firstborn became a captain in the royal guard, and his second, Antonio II, followed in his footsteps, establishing a line of Antonio's that would stretch all the way to the 1820's, when the Republic of Milan vanished from sight, along with the rest of the world.
Join with us now as we continue to relive the Alternate History of The Purple(ish) Grand Republic of Milan, as seen through the eyes of Antonio Racellini...
The year was 1486. On a hot July day, General Galeazzo Visconti has pulled of the military upset of the war thus far. Milan, facing bitter defeats all across it's western border, has been on it's heels for the better part of the campaign.
Having suffered defeats in Bern, Lombardia, Brescia and Mantua, the Milanese are embattled and embittered against the ongoing French juggernaut. In battle after battle, the Republic and her men are turned away and turned aside, but today it is different. Milan is finally able to stop the French advance in the small province of Parma. By war standards, it is not the grandest of victories, but it shows the armies of the upstart nation that they can win a battle, and inspires much needed hope in the Republic's men.
Even though they are unsuccessful in stopping the French advance in Mantua, Milan hurriedly evacuates the province and prepares to fight the greatest battle of the war. Being successful now means a chance at stopping the French invasion, and Milan has all it can do to get ready.
Their strategy hinges upon the French direction taken after Mantua. Instead of heading to the easy targets of Verona, Trent or Ferarra, the armies of France instead turned south, into Modena. It is a mistake the French will never recover from, as it becomes the pivotal battle that changes the course of the war.
After suffering defeat, the French retreat back into Mantua, where the two sides fight to a draw.
While this is happening, Milan returns to the sight of the great holding action of June, 1486. Led by General Jacopo Scalla, the Milanese forces fight another bitter holding action against the French to buy time. This enables the armies of Milan to march their way through the valley of death back into Lombardia and Brescia, in the hopes of reclaiming their home lands.
The battles of August are a different story than those that began the war, with the Milanese forces breaking the French and sending them back into Bern. Later that month, General Visconti's forces square off against those led by King Henry IV in Verona...:
There the French forces are not only met, they are crushed. In the confusion that ensues, King Henri IV directs his troops into nearby Treviso, away from the French stronghold at Brescia and into the heart of Milanese territory.
While the King moves away from his country and the rest of his forces, French scout units seeking to locate the missing army are met in Lombardia, where the succession of small armies meets their electronic maker.
In the end, the French Army is never found...
Instead, it meets it's demise in Treviso. There it is destroyed to the last man, avenging the deaths of many Milanese people that died during the province take overs of the previous year.
The defeat of her largest army spurs the French into a frenzy of activity. They begin to amass and assault along the valley of death, beginning again in Lombardia.
In Parma, where they been confined for most of the war, the French armies responsible for taking the province are finally making headway, but it has been a costly exercise in futility. What was once a great army of 40,000 men has dwindled to just over 6,000 Cavalry and 2,500 Infantry. Worse yet is the army that destroyed their compatriots is on it's way from Treviso, a thought that chills the bones of every French soldier on the ground there.
Recognizing the danger, France slams 20,000 men into Lombardia in an effort to fight through the Milanese and break into Parma. The Milan armies hold the line, but the French are successful in getting critical men and supplies to Parma.
The constant influx of new men forces Milan into desperation. France is able to manufacture men and weapons with alarming speed while their own manpower and resources dwindle. It becomes difficult for Milan to maintain the offensive, as each casualty brings them closer to the point they will no longer be able to fight.
With her manpower reserves fading fast, Milan realizes it must seize the initiative even more than before to push the French out of their nation and back into the lands they came from.
The first steps in this direction are realized in late November as Milan rushes to grab the reins of control in the conflict. It is at this time that the capitol city of Lomabardia flies the flag of Milan for the first time since the beginning of the war...:
As the flag is raised in Lombardia, nearly every other active and available unit is sent to Parma in an attempt to counter and crush the French resupply effort...:
At the end of the battle, half of the French forces, nearly 15,000 men, have lost their lives.
In addition to the victory in Parma, Milan has sent a small squad of Infantry to join the assaults on the fort in Piedmont. It marks the first time that the boots of soldiers belonging to Milan have set foot on French soil.
Following the defeat in Parma, the French take advantage of past treaties with Genoa and escape certain death by traveling through Liguaria. The Republic had not been able to finalize relations before the war, an oversight that costs them the opportunity to vanquish the French once and for all. Instead they must content themselves to follow the few bands of men separated from the main French column into Lombardia, where they meet their fate.
France, recognizing that it no longer has control sends emissaries to Milan with a treaty of White peace. Some members of the government see this as a way to end hostilities and have Brescia and Mantua restored to the Republic without further loss of life. They point to the manpower of the nation, a mere 3,394 men of eligible status as a main arguing point to end the war.
The vote is close, but last minute lobbying by a group called the Secret Order of the Knights of Milan sway key members away from ending the conflict early, and the war continues.
By the end of the year, advanced patrols of the French army are arriving in Piedmont. With a combined force of less than 10,000 surrounding the city, fear runs high as word that the remaining French armies are very near, and that battle is imminent. Their fear is justified, as the siegers from Naples and Milan are ill prepared for an all out field battle, let alone against an army the size and the strength of the one bearing down on them.
Further to the north, the reincarnated French King Henri IV comes across the border in Bern with a new army. Milan's token defense, mainly reserves, is no match for the new intrusion across the border...:
Unlike previous engagements, this time Milan has stationed a force near the province and is better prepared to meet the French assault. The 1st Cavalry is ordered to meet the 4,616 remaining in the Cavalry reserve force in Trent, where they will reform into a single unit.
It isn't until the 12th of January that forces from either side engage in any action again, and that day belongs to Milan. The forces in Piedmont hold the lines and the Units in Lombardia defeat the last retreating force from Province.
During this period of time, the government of Milan was busy with many other things besides just the French. Revolts continued to plague the recently acquired Greek provinces to the southeast, the most recent a revolt put down in Bursa.
Technology of the battlefield consumed the scientific community as the level of technological proficiency continued to advance. (12)
It was at this time that some in the halls of Milan's government started complaining heavily. There was a growing consensus that Trade and Productivity were stagnating under the constant focus of military spending. Though the established majority still approved of the war, a major victory was won the Republican Senate to enforce Military Cutbacks in favor of Trade and Productivity.
On the battle field, the armies from Province insist on taking the wrong path to escape, meeting the very well rested Division commanded by Jacapo Scalla. Scalla loses a mere 53 men in removing the enemy from the field.
To the east, Henri IV has taken the French army into Brescia to break the siege against the French held territory.
Both the winter and the conflict dragged on. With Milan on the brink of losing the ability to sustain it's armies, it sought to press it's advantage and attempt to cut into the French advantages in manpower. For the first time, Milan engaged in offensive tactics, bringing in a full army under the command of Salvatore Serbelloni. The army was sent into France to take the province of Savoie in an effort to put a cork in the easily traveled valley floor bottle neck that the French has previously used to such great advantage.
Initial resistance was light, and the army was firmly established with little fanfare.
In Brescia, The 1st Cavalry was brought in to add pressure on the French forces. A full 21,000 plus made life difficult for the 13,500 under command of the reincarnated King.
During this battle, Milan's manpower evaporated, bringing her to the very doorstep of defeat. The only saving grace was that by all accounts, France too had hit this wall, as intelligence reports showed very little going on in the heart of the French nation.
The battle for Brescia turned out to be one of the longest battles of the war, and the end of it was not good news for Milan:
It was a disastrous turn of events for the Republic. Over a month of fighting had cost them the lives of almost 10,000 men, which they had little way of replacing. Also gone was the siege progress they had made.
Where as previously they were at the point of taking back the province, the French were able to break through and resupply the garrison, rendering months of work and lives lost as useless. To add further insult to the injury, the French walked away losing only 3,300 men, still under the banner of their King. This revenge for the earlier victory over the French at Modena and Treviso was a pill bitter to swallow for Milan.
By March, France was once again in control and sieging the capitol of Lombardia. Without any available manpower, Milan was not able to recruit new regiments as quickly as possible. Instead, old regiments needed to be consolidated and reassigned and pressed into service to stem the rebirth of the French Military machine. This conservation of manpower turned out to be a cornerstone of Milan's ability to not only survive, but thrive in the upcoming months of the war.
Amid the war effort, Milan also had to deal with the corruption of it's government officials. Not content to simply collect taxes for the state, they created taxes of their own, fleecing the Milanese people and lining their pockets. This further strained the system, taking Milan nearer the breaking point.
Recognizing the timing for an offensive initiative was wrong, Milan hastily diverted it's offensive actions and recalled it's army from France. It then set about to destroy the French army that had been responsible for the incidents at Brescia. The first victory came at Lombardia, as 2,000 Frenchmen died when the siege was broken. Milan lost only 104 men that day, and pressed the advantage into Brescia again.
As the battle was fought, a battle of a different kind raged across the Greek provinces. On April 8th, the last Grecian province Macedonia ratified the religion act and officially declared Catholicism as the provincial religion. Though the religious tensions were dying down, the Greek majority continued to flourish, forming underground movements and causing rebellions at any available opportunity.
Another 3,500 French men lose their lives in Brescia as Milan continued to doggedly pursue the French. They also continued their diligence against the garrisons in Mantua and Piedmont. The result of one of those efforts are finally realized in the middle April in 1487...:
All the news was not good for Milan, as the people were becoming more and more weary as the war raged on. Though the liberation of Mantua did much to alleviate this condition, the 4.66 WE rating was steadily climbing as casualties continued to mount.
The Spring of 1847 saw the French army on the run. With the inevitable defeat in sight, the Reincarnated French Monarch decided it was time to leave the doomed army, turning it over to the capable hands of Guillaume de Champmartin, a hard charging officer famous for hitting the opposition so hard they died before their hats hits the ground. His reputation did little to help the beleaguered Army though, as they recorded defeat in their first engagement in Trent.
Milan took it's time in hunting down the lone French armies in Milanese territory, instead protecting the siege of Brescia and the precious manpower situation. The thought of losing income from a province became secondary to making sure battles were fought under optimum conditions. As a result, Tirol fell under siege in late May for a time, as did the northern territory of Konstanz.
Province succeeded in getting a small Cavalry detachment across the lines into Parma, but was prevented from achieving anything but certain death.
As spring turned to summer, and the plants began their growing season in earnest, the first fruits of the French campaign blossomed for Milan...:
With the taking of Piedmont, the focus of the war was irrevocably changed from the lands of Milan to the provinces of the French. Never again would Frenchmen hold the lands of Milan in their hands.
With the destruction of the renegade French army in München in July there remained only token enemy forces within the borders of Milan.
It was also within that time period when those of lesser morals became blatant in their opportunistic behavior. Piracy became a major factor for all nations with coastal possessions, making the phrase "I hate effing pirates" part of the standard vocabulary of every government official world wide.
To fully realize how completely the French had been humiliated at the hands of Milan, one need only look at the nations comparison...:
With the exception of the Swiss, who's lands were taken at the start of the war, the armies of Milan and her allies greatly outnumbered anything the French could put together by the summer of 1487. The only thing that would stand in the way of Milan now was her own government, and in it were many who wanted this war to end sooner rather than later.
France resorted to hit and run tactics, and to establishing sieges in provinces as far away from the action as they could find in an effort to buy time to reestablish the dominance they enjoyed at the beginning of the campaign, but nothing they did could sway Milan from her goal.
As Milan began to gain confidence, France again surprised the Milanese. Another army, 24,000 strong led by the reincarnated King himself slammed into the province of Piedmont...
Time and again the superior manpower possessed by the French allowed them to amass enough firepower to keep Milan from establishing a much needed foot hold in French held territories.
It was around this time that an old strategy re-emerged in the military minds of the Republic. One that had served them well in the past. The question was whether they had the time and the space to implement it.
The first step was to retake Piedmont. On a hot summer's day in August of 1487, General Visconti and his 9,000 Cavalry men mounted up and headed to destiny. In what was the single greatest charge of the war, his men rode full force into the waiting army of Henri IV...:
So impressed was Henri IV with the skill of his adversary, that he remarked in his journal;
"They were like wild men. Never have I seen such courage. Yet in all their wildness was an order and a precision I have never seen before or since, not even among my own men. It was the first time in my life that I was truly jealous of another man..."
The Kings army was chased into Savoie, where they met another defeat, losing nearly 3,000 men to Visconti's 900. In the end, it was the attrition of his own men that caused Visconti to break the engagement and turn back.
In fact, that attrition factor would cause nearly all of the armies of Milan to return to home ground and regroup as winter fell over the landscape. The French took advantage of this, Returning again to Piedmont and settling in to besiege the province.
The first part of winter was spent recovering and equipping to again make way into the realm of the French. The Government of Milan continued to evolve. Proponents of a new type of government put forth the idea of establishing the rule of the church across the land. This idea died quickly as it's main supporters disappeared in the night shortly after New Years. Though the Secret Order of the Knights of Milan were implicated in the disappearances, no proof was ever found, and it remains a mystery to this day. (Geraldo thought they might be buried in Al Capone's vaults, but we all know what happened there...)
Civil unrest was still a vital component of life in the provinces to the south and east. Grecian peasants and revolutionaries were quick to rise up against the far away government in Milan and it's war with a France that was virtually unknown to the people of this region. A particularly bloody revolt began on New Year's day in 1488, but it was quickly put down.
With the new year began a new push by the Republic to move the lines of the war further into French territory. The province of Province was taken, and the province of Piedmont was again cleansed of French armed forces. From there Milan moved into Bern in the north, where the terrain and the season conspired to deflate the building confidence of the Republic...:
Henri IV avenged his losses at Piedmont and Savoie with a resounding defeat against those that had dealt him such a horrific blow. Remarked Henri...
"The bitter cold and the treacherous field were our friends today. I am almost greatful to look across the battle field and not see the same man I had fought before. This was a great comfort to me and my men, along with warm accommodations and good wine..."
All was not lost for Milan on this cold and dismal day. To the east, the province of Brescia was liberated at last from her French captors. With this last hindrance to progressing into France removed, the leaders of Milan began to prepare for a final push into the Blue lands.
War Exhaustion was running higher than usual, 5.78. Time was running out for Milan to make a break for the heart of their enemy. It would not be long before unrest began to tear the very soul from the republic.
As if by premonition, the people of Piedmont gave the Milanese a foreshadow of things to come as 15,000 joined Antonio Botta in open rebellion to liberate Piedmont from it's oppressors. It was much more than the small 4,000 man guard could handle, but into the fray rode the form of one General Galeazzo Visconti. His name and reputation proceeded him, and his troops mercilessly cut through the rebels, sending 7,000 plus to their deaths in the first clash alone.
A similar uprising in Macedonia ended the same way, with rebel forces being crushed beneath the men of the Republic.
As the rebels of Piedmont fled into Lombardia, they were met by the well rested and fully equipped forces under the direction of Sir Baloney. For once, he performed with out flaw, sending the remaining 8,000 rebels to their deaths without losing a single one of his 11,000 men.
Rebellions in Milan became commonplace, and battles were plentiful as the forces loyal to the Republic put down those who wanted a different life.
On the front, Milanese units lay siege to both Savoie and Dauphine, with major armies standing by to intervene. Once the gateway was secured, the flood gates could be opened and armed men of Milan could travel freely both into and out of French territory as needed.
The last armies of Province disappeared beneath Serbelloni's troops as they tried to return home and reclaim the land of their birth. 5K men vanished in an instant while Milan lost a pittance, 316 men.
With most of the French armies gone, or tied up in their own provinces dealing with rebellions of their own, the decision was made to begin the institution of siege armies. Comprised of 4,00 Infantry or a preferred 2/2/0 composition, these units would break away from larger armies and spread out to cover as much ground as possible.
The design was a happy medium between the ability to both siege and defend. While not fully capable of defending a province on their own, they were usually able to hold the lines until reinforcements could arrive. This meant not having to break a siege everytime the enemy came around, which meant that Milan could both cover, and take more provinces quickly.
France, realizing it could no longer win the war, again decided to put forth an offer of white peace. However, with nothing to offer in return, even the most conservative in the Republican Government voted against it's acceptance.
Bolstered with new found confidence, the soldiers of Milan began the arduous task of taking France apart, one province at a time.
The rest of the year saw revolts in Treviso, the death of General Scalla and the attaining of a new Land Technology. Though war prevented changing the type and training of new Infantry units now, it wouldn't be long before a new breed of Milanese Soldier would hit the battle field.
The rebellion in Treviso saw 8,000 rebels disappear under the hooves of Visconti's cavalry charge. The price paid by the general...? 690 of his men.
By September, Milan began to make real headway...:
In addition, the manpower situation began to relax significantly, clearing the way for more troops to be recruited to aid in the sieging process.
Military estimates of the day place Milan as having over 79,000 troops at it's disposal, while France had been reduced to a mere 28,000.
With the war firmly in hand, another agenda was brought to the fore in the republican halls of power. Not content to have beaten the French, Milan had eyes for another prize.
This one far different in nature than the mere defense of the country against foreign invaders. It was a mission of destiny. A date with history that would propel Milan into the pantheon of Alternate History...
The same information that gave Milan the strength of France also gave it the condition of a little known country to the south and east.
The nation of the Mamluks had stood for centuries, existing between the great holy cities of Judea and Mecca, stretching as far west as the ancient lands of the Pharaoh. In it's possession was the holiest of Christian cities, Jerusalem. Within the halls of the capitol of Milan were documents that were said to have been scribed by the hand of God himself, and on them were the holiest of commands...
To take back the city of Jerusalem.
With The Mamluks hopelessly engaged in a war with Hedjaz, and with the nation sporting an army of only 4,600... The Siren call of the Holy Land proved too much to resist. Aided by powerful lobbying efforts from the Secret Order, the senators had no choice.
The decision was made...:
Now fighting on two fronts, Milan embarked on the most ambitious expansion in her history.
With her allies at her side, she prepared the men and ships she would need to enter the sands of The Mamlukian deserts.
Across the sea, the Mamluks heard the news... The Nation that had brought mighty France to it's knees was coming across the water to their shores.
Everyone began to horde everything, and the nation promptly went bankrupt.
To the north, the French were falling...:
And to the south, the fun was just beginning...:
Milan. A nation at war...
Tune in next time as the Alternate History Channel continues it's profile of The Grand Purple(ish) Republic of Milan, where we'll find out whether the her appetite for land leads her to glory... Or destruction.
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