In November, 1492, our new ally, Brandenburg, asks us to involve ourselves in their war against neighboring Mecklenburg. We are hesitant, partly because we just set up a royal marriage with Mecklenburg, and partly because we have just built our stability back to high levels. Besideswhich, we have no quarrel with Mecklenburg, and haven’t since she competed with us in Centers of Trade (Mecklenburg has, for whatever reason, succumbed to the same kind of luck as have we in the trade wars).
But we are reluctant also to lose our alliance with Brandenburg. It could prove to be a valuable one. So we join the war, losing 2 stability because of our religious and marital ties (but not the extra 2 because we gain a casus belli through Brandenburg).
We intend to send 2 fleets of approximately equal strength. This is a relatively risky passage for us, as we are unaccustomed to Atlantic travel. But we shall watch our ships carefully so that they are not lost. The fleet with our cogs will carry 4 regiments of mercenaries, under General Paradisi.
This will represent a limited involvement against Mecklenburg – a means of hopefully bringing them to the table early, so that Brandenburg will get what she intends in a minimum of time. Otherwise, we hope to capture ships from Mecklenburg’s navy – there is at least a chance of this, I believe.
Two of the 4 carracks of the first fleet did suffer some damage from storms as they traversed the English Channel. However, the squadron arrived off the Burgundian coast in sufficient shape to face their first combat.
A fleet from Mecklenburg was attempting to prevent Utrecht from boarding soldiers to send against them. We arrived on the scene at just this time. Utrecht did lose 1 cog, but we sunk a barque and a cog from Mecklenburg’s fleet.
At the end of February, Mecklenburg’s Admiral Seeland came out to meet the new blockade we’d established on her coast. Without loss to either side, both navies were worn out from a long running engagement, and weather and combat combined to pose a serious danger to one of our carracks, which had lost spars and one of her masts in the engagement. Finding ourselves without a choice, this ship, at least, had to return home before she could no longer sail.
Through the rest of March, Seeland followed and harried our damaged ships, forcing them up past Jutland and into the Kattegat, near Sweden. Fortunately, Seeland lost one of his ships in combat with the Milanese squadron.
Meanwhile, Admiral Bargnani had arrived off the coast of Burgundy with his fleet, and was able to capture a Mecklenburger cog. Later, off the Frisian coast, he sunk yet another of Mecklenburg’s smaller ships.
Ironically, Admiral Seeland’s pursuit of our squadron placed it in a perfect position to blockade Mecklenburg’s eastern coast, just as Bargnani’s squadron arrived to blockade them in the west!
Unfortunately, Seeland had his revenge when he captured one of our fleeing carracks, first (San Satiro), and then captured a second, the Teodolinda.
