Situation: GC, v. 1.9. Difficulty: Very Hard. Aggressiveness: Aggressive.
It was in December of the Year of Our Lord 1491 that Tsar Ivan III called his advisors together- including myself, Nikotin Ivanovitch Konradov.
We had made fair progress in removing the Mongols from our territory and making ourselves independent. But that was not enough for Ivan the Good- he wished to return Moscow to the true glory it had held before the Golden Hordes had descended upon our lands. There was talk amongst the boyars of a final return to the glory days; some even talked of uniting all of the true Christians under the Russian banner and freeing them from the Islamic domination in the east and the Catholic domination in the west.
In retrospect, such talk was foolishness, but we were young and fueled by our victories over the Mongols. We had a brilliant Tsar in Ivan, and wonderful leader in Striga-Oblenski, and the feeling that our destiny was nigh... it was hard not to become over-confident.
Which is exactly why Ivan had asked us to convene. Shut away from the more exuberant boyars, we could accurately and calmly decide what the best next course of action would be.
Our first major concern was with Poland-Lithuania. The Poles had set themselves up as the protectors against the Horde, and as such managed to drive the Horde out of many Russian lands. However, rather than returning those lands to us, the Poles decided to keep them for themselves. Our new independence- especially when compounded by the gains we expected to make- would set us up as a major threat to the Poles, and we expected that a war would come eventually. But we knew that we were not yet ready to face the massive cavalry and highly drilled troops of the Poles, and so we decided it would be best to instead work diplomatically against them rather than militarily. There were a great many Germanic states that saw the Poles as a threat- by aligning with them, perhaps we could surround the Poles and keep them at bay. Or, at the very least, focus their attention to the west rather than the east.
Second were the Turks. The Ottoman Empire held no borders with us- nor did we expect them to for a while- but as the self-styled protectors of the Islamic states, we knew that our eventual actions against the Khanates to the east would raise their ire. We would have to ensure that we held no direct border with the Ottomans until such a time as we thought we could hold them at bay. Which was certainly not right then.
Then discussion fell towards the smaller nations that surrounded us, and which we should liberate first. To the east were the Khanates of Kazan and the remnants of the Golden Horde; the lands they held were rich in materials and in Russians looking to be freed. But to the west were the Teutons, who, like the Poles, had set themselves up as the rulers of Russians in the guise of protectors. While Ingermanland was a much smaller prize than all of the Khanates, the access to a port would give us a better stand in controlling the northern markets.
The debate over which to move against first lasted a week. Both the Khanates and the Teutons were currently unaligned; but we expected that the Teutons would shortly find friends in Germany- quite probably with the Poles- and thus if we did not attack the Teutons first, we might not gain the chance later. But weighed against this was the fact that the Teutons' lands were broken up, and there was no way we could move fully against them until we had allies with navies- which would mean further delay, giving the Teutons a chance to find the allies it needed.
It is with no small amount of pride that I state that it was a plan of my design that caught the eyes- and the minds- of my fellows, and so delighted them that when we presented our plans to Ivan and Striga-Oblenski, it was with one voice. Ivan paid little attention, prefering to focus upon the rebuilding of Moscow, but gave us full bore to proceed...
It was in December of the Year of Our Lord 1491 that Tsar Ivan III called his advisors together- including myself, Nikotin Ivanovitch Konradov.
We had made fair progress in removing the Mongols from our territory and making ourselves independent. But that was not enough for Ivan the Good- he wished to return Moscow to the true glory it had held before the Golden Hordes had descended upon our lands. There was talk amongst the boyars of a final return to the glory days; some even talked of uniting all of the true Christians under the Russian banner and freeing them from the Islamic domination in the east and the Catholic domination in the west.
In retrospect, such talk was foolishness, but we were young and fueled by our victories over the Mongols. We had a brilliant Tsar in Ivan, and wonderful leader in Striga-Oblenski, and the feeling that our destiny was nigh... it was hard not to become over-confident.
Which is exactly why Ivan had asked us to convene. Shut away from the more exuberant boyars, we could accurately and calmly decide what the best next course of action would be.
Our first major concern was with Poland-Lithuania. The Poles had set themselves up as the protectors against the Horde, and as such managed to drive the Horde out of many Russian lands. However, rather than returning those lands to us, the Poles decided to keep them for themselves. Our new independence- especially when compounded by the gains we expected to make- would set us up as a major threat to the Poles, and we expected that a war would come eventually. But we knew that we were not yet ready to face the massive cavalry and highly drilled troops of the Poles, and so we decided it would be best to instead work diplomatically against them rather than militarily. There were a great many Germanic states that saw the Poles as a threat- by aligning with them, perhaps we could surround the Poles and keep them at bay. Or, at the very least, focus their attention to the west rather than the east.
Second were the Turks. The Ottoman Empire held no borders with us- nor did we expect them to for a while- but as the self-styled protectors of the Islamic states, we knew that our eventual actions against the Khanates to the east would raise their ire. We would have to ensure that we held no direct border with the Ottomans until such a time as we thought we could hold them at bay. Which was certainly not right then.
Then discussion fell towards the smaller nations that surrounded us, and which we should liberate first. To the east were the Khanates of Kazan and the remnants of the Golden Horde; the lands they held were rich in materials and in Russians looking to be freed. But to the west were the Teutons, who, like the Poles, had set themselves up as the rulers of Russians in the guise of protectors. While Ingermanland was a much smaller prize than all of the Khanates, the access to a port would give us a better stand in controlling the northern markets.
The debate over which to move against first lasted a week. Both the Khanates and the Teutons were currently unaligned; but we expected that the Teutons would shortly find friends in Germany- quite probably with the Poles- and thus if we did not attack the Teutons first, we might not gain the chance later. But weighed against this was the fact that the Teutons' lands were broken up, and there was no way we could move fully against them until we had allies with navies- which would mean further delay, giving the Teutons a chance to find the allies it needed.
It is with no small amount of pride that I state that it was a plan of my design that caught the eyes- and the minds- of my fellows, and so delighted them that when we presented our plans to Ivan and Striga-Oblenski, it was with one voice. Ivan paid little attention, prefering to focus upon the rebuilding of Moscow, but gave us full bore to proceed...
