CHAPTER XVI: AUSTRIA
Part 4: In Soviet Austria
(1670-1675)
It's a Revolution!
Welcome, comrades!
For too long have we lived under the tyranny of kings and their adulterous, inbred progeny! They have trod on the liberties of the righteous! They have led us to the brink of oblivion! No, not the physical death of Austria, which we hold dear and to which we pledge our lives, but to a spiritual and emotional death!
I've even designed a new flag! See?
The hammer and sickle obviously representing the fact the nobles do the real work around here.
Now rise up! Down with the monarchist scum and up with the aristocrats! (Not the bourgeois or proletariat however, let's not get ridiculous.) The freedom loving nobles in Sundgau showed us the way. Johan Leopold has seen the errors of his ways and he will lead us! We will rise up and free Europe, ensuring the health, prosperity and liberty of all!
By force if need be.
Coalition Wars
First thing's first: Even though all our RMs broke, our allies instantly agree to reaffirm their vows with 7 new RMs. Perhaps we hired some good marriage counselors to get over this rough patch in our relationships. Beer can solve anything, including broken hearts!
We are no longer eligible for the Imperial throne, so we must find other ways to weaken the Empire! The Palatinate has generally been a good friend, but for our revolution we need an emperor as week as possible. Bavaria, a TPM (and the two aren't bordering), has one vote. If we vote for them, and Bohemia follows along, then the election would be PAL 3/BAV 3/SAX 1. I think the current emperor (Palatinate) wins ties, but it makes his position much more fragile.
Let's hire the 12 mercenary regiments mentioned last turn: I want a reserve of manpower when the bloodletting begins, and we can afford them.
Very quickly we have a northern army of 13K under Karl Joseph Arenburg (F2 S6 M4 Sg1), a west central army of 17K under veteran general Michael Erlmayr (F2 S3 M6 Sg3), and Johan Leopold (F3 S3 M5 Sg2) with 16K on the Bavarian border.
I'm still worried about losing Johan Leopold in battle (and thus the Bohemian PU), but he's a good commander and we'll need him. The coalition may be a little weaker than before, but so is our alliance net. The numbers are reasonably close...
..but we won the first coalition war pretty handily, and who can stand before the fury of our revolution? Officially our target is Thuringia, but I'm thinking of using this opportunity to clean up a few messes. Ulm and Wurzburg, for example, will peace out separately when we conquer their lands. Bavaria and Thuringia are small enough we can probably take them in the peace. Revolution indeed!
In the north, Arenburg quickly smashes 2,000 in Wittenburg, Thuringia and settles in to siege. Erlmayr settles in Memmningen, Wurtemberg while Johan Leopold kills 2K Bavarians and sieges Munich.
Our enemies make a determined run on Wittenburg. It was one of those sprawling affairs where stacks swarmed in from all over, which only prolonged the coalition's suffering. Bohemian commander Jiri z Veleslavina (6/3/3/1) proved much better than his opponent. They lost 22,000 to our 4,800.
It wasn't as decisive as you might think however. Veleslavina et.al. chased the routing army hoping to destroy several regiments and forced two more battles, but finally had to back away as our enemies retreated into a stack of 17K fresh troops and our own morale was flagging. Nonetheless, this ended the northern campaign until August.
In the south, Johan Leopold and Erlmayr both split their stacks to siege Ulm and Nurnberg. We raised 10K more mercenaries to defend the revolution, but too late. Lothar Franz I caught us with 43,000 men vs. our 20. For awhile we held out, again due to superior leadership, but this time it was not to be. Our eastern army routed deep into Austria in order to collect the new batch of mercs.
He would soon have company: In the north, Arenburg successfully seized Wittenberg and marched on Altmark to destroy a coalition army of 10,000. He succeeded, then as an encore struck at Brunswick, who was under siege from an army of 41K.
He was outnumbered, only mustering 33K, but confident in his abilities. Indeed it was a close, hard fought affair that seriously damaged both armies, but their artillery was too strong. Arenberg also retreated, this time to Vienna.
This was ridiculous and alarming. Erlmayr abandoned his siege at Ulm to recombine his army at Memmingen. The coalition didn't care, for now they carried their momentum into an attack on Bohema and Austria proper.
A coalition army of 17K caught the 'new' 10K mercenaries in November: I would like to say we won, or even that it was a good battle, but they weren't quite ready and were leaderless. 10 regiments ceased to exist.
Arenburg's army followed in December. Though still woefully understrength, I noticed 14K Bohemians fighting off 7K Mainz in Bohmerwald. Sensing an easy battle I sent Arenburg's army in. Slaughtered.
This left Erlmayr's as the only army worthy of the term. He thrust north, defeating a larger army at Augsburg before destroying a coalition army in Brunswick.
They delayed him long enough for a fresh attack however, and once more armies weighed in from around the region. Within a week we were outnumbered, but only 51K vs. 55K. This time we were the ones at a disadvantage: It appears a large number of allied regiments were understrength and they began routing of the battle. By the beginning of February it was 24 on 40.
Losing Erlmayr would leave us at the coalition's mercy. Yes, we could build another mercenary army, but the tide's completely against us now. Utrecht's already been forced out of the war and everyone else is exhausted. Our own manpower is gone, spent trying to rebuild Johan Leopold's army.
No. This just won't do. Fortunately we haven't (yet) lost Wittenberg, which gives us some bargaining power with the coalition leader...
We lost the war, but not the will to free Europe from tyranny! We will form a new pact! A Vienna pact! A curtain is falling over Europe, kinda velvet with frills, and will not be raised again in our lifetimes! Da?
I mean, Ja?
Interbellum
We will NOT sit quietly and recover. We will simply find smaller targets! Mantua's high on my list. She refused to join us in the last war. Her alliance with Wittenberg isn't an issue, but Spain's guarantee is. They'll have to wait.
No, it has to be Mitrehead. Along with his past crimes, Catholicism is at the heart of the 'divine right' nonsense which monarchists use to lord it over us nobles! Unfortunately, the Papacy is protected by geography, meaning we only border one province of five. While our armies recover we arrange for MA through Venice and Tuscany, which gives us access to all but one on the Dalmatian coast.
There's a problem though: The Pope has allies in Switzerland and Hungary. Switzerland's a joke, but after that last beating I don't want to get into a prolonged campaign. This needs to be a virtual smash and grab. What to do...
While I ponder (and Johan Leopold's army continues to heal), Venice wants to upgrade to a full alliance. Sure, welcome aboard. A merchant republic isn't as good as a noble one, but it's a start. We also gain Military-21 (Cartridge), and now that we're not paying for so many mercenaries we can afford to build Fort-3s along our southern border. Just in case.
In May 1671 I notice Bohemia didn't follow me after all, and is in fact voting for the Palatinate. Well...fine. We can afford to be the Emperor's friend. For now.
September comes, and suddenly armies burn through Europe because Ulm has decided their (larger) Wurtemberg neighbors are idol worshipping scumbags. It's Ulm, Thuringia, Spain, Lithuania, Florida and Catalan Canada vs. Wurtemberg, Poland, Mantua, Liege, Netherlands, Dutch West Indies and Dutch Colombia. This could be fun to watch.
It's even more fun to take advantage of their confusion though. We finally integrate Ansbach in October, then declare war on Switzerland.
Wait. Switzerland?
Sticking it to Mitrehead
Yes, because Switzerland only has the Papacy as their ally. I don't call any, which makes the Papacy think it's okay to try their luck at defense. We respond by inviting France and Tuscany along, you know, just in case.
There will be no fighting in Switzerland: We couldn't get there if I wanted, and we don't. No, both armies strike through the Papal frontier to destroy the Catholic tyrant. By the end of October the eastern army has sieged Istria, while Erlmayr annihilated a 3K stack and sieged Ferrra, Romagna AND Rome.
This worries our bourgeois scum: On the one hand, new coastal provinces means more trade opportunities, but also tightens our hold on their capitalist practices. They ask for guarantees. We laugh at them.
Indeed, overthrowing the monarchist bureaucracy leads to certain benefits, like Administration-21 (Land Clearance), which redistributes land to those best able to exploit its resources (the nobles), and the Recruiting Act, which redistributes our young and healthy men to those best able to exploit them (the nobles).
It isn't much of a war, though Mitrehead does get credit for bravery: In November, a Papal fleet of 12 galleys and 4 transports deposits 2,000 men on top of Erlmayr's 8,000. The results are predictable.
This alarms our bourgeois, who once more ask for concessions and get laughed down some more. Indeed, mercantilism benefits Austria as it allows us to import a rare fruit which we have no use for but has an interesting taste. (Diplomacy-22 (Limes))
Rome falls in October 1672, followed by Ferrara, Istria and Romagna in November. Unfortunately we don't have enough Dip points to impose a just and lasting peace, so we sit there as the Palatinate emperor demands we allow Catholic priests to convert Styria to the Roman faith.
Uhm...I just occupied Rome. Which part of 'We don't like Mitrehead' are you missing? We agree to make the Emperor happy, then send missionaries in. Steiermark is Protestant again before the end of '73.
In December, we finally find where Mitrehead's hiding and make him sign over 3/5 of his land. Even better, we can claim we're reclaiming lands for the Empire, and the Emperor can't say a thing.
In the aftermath we send in the missionaries and start coring Istria. We've frightened the Mantuans badly enough that our alliance auto-broke. Too bad that's the last mistake they're going to make.
Milk of Mantua
Since Mantua and Spain are on opposite ends of Ulm's little cleaning of heresy war mentioned earlier, Spain's guarantee must have broke - or perhaps it simply expired. Regardless, they're not in the least bit interested when we declare war in March 1673, just three months after the Papal war and still technically at war with Switzerland (who is not interested in any kind of peace. Perhaps they realize what a dump Sundgau is.)
Wurtemberg was Mantua's ally, but since their country is almost fully occupied they have no interest in getting involved. We don't even bother calling in our allies.
Later that month we smash 4K Mantuans sieging a Venetian province. This represents the end of their army and all resistance, as by the end of March their entire country is sieged.
Meanwhile, people back home are still celebrating sticking it to Mitrehead. I know I am.
In August the bourgeois scum try yet again, giving me a good chuckle. By October all of Mantuan territory is occupied. Unfortunately, we lack Dip points to do what we want.
The cynical among you may think that we betray the revolution here, for twice Mantua offers to give us Modena and convert to a noble republic if we leave them alone. That's true, but they would not be a noble republic serving as a member of the Vienna pact. That's why we had to wait until June 1674 and annex them outright.
Now the cynical among you are wondering why we didn't release Mantua as a member (vassal) of the Pact. Well, we will once they realize that Mitrehead's Catholicism is a lie. Please be patient, our missionaries are working in the order received.
Switzerland's decided they had enough, something to do with 13K Frenchies fighting 7K in Sundgau. We admit we were mistaken in declaring war on Switzerland since they were never the target anyway, and everyone goes home.
We've now officially angered pretty much the entire continent. Spain joins the coalition, hereafter referred to as the North European Alliance & Trade Organization (NEATO). We are not yet ready to carry the revolution to Spanish shores. NOW it is time to rest and regroup.
And sabotage the Empire. Bavaria no longer has any support to be Emperor. Saxony does, and they're just as weak: Throwing in with them makes the Imperial election SAX 3/PAL 2/SAV 2.
This annoys the Emperor, who joins NEATO and embargos us. He also demands we give up Mantua. We laugh at him. This reminds Spain they can embargo people also, and so they do.
Revolutionaries (the wrong kind!) show up in Modena in November, so we have General Erlmayr march down and explain things to them. This ends our turn...
Johan's Dice
Reign: 20 years
Needed: 5+
Roll: 4
Continue? No
..and our tenure.