Wishing to have as much advantage as possible, I bite the bullet and allow myself to drift down to -2 stability (I tell myself this would only be worth it because I’m at war with the Emperor, and because I stand to become the next Emperor…) in order to make a slider change in the direction of Quality, which gives me a morale boost, and gives my leaders a fire advantage.
After the defeat of Alfons at Roussillon, I simply begin funneling my regiments – a whole slew of them – into Aragon. The cavalry headed for Navarre, where the armies of Aragon and Castille were trying to reduce and annex our vassal. We can’t allow that to happen.
Some of the infantry – generally, the less capable, the exhausted, etc. – stays in Girona. I don’t much care how long it takes Girona to fall – these guys can take their time.
The rest, and the artillery, heads for Barcelona, where the amphibious invasion began a siege which is already beginning to bear fruit.
On the 8th of March, 1512, we begin an assault against the city walls – those walls which have somehow become so familiar to our troops over the years!
The assault goes relatively well, but time would tell whether it would be enough to bring the city to its knees, or if they’d have to rest and give it another go.
In other news, Sweden got knocked around quite a bit by Muscovy, on the other side of Europe from us. That must have been an interesting war!
About this time, I realize that… no matter how well I do against the Barcelona garrison, I’m going to be unfit for a fight right afterward. And there’s this Castilian cavalry regiment heading for the site. General Carreta orders one of his four cavalry divisions to ride back to Barcelona to assist in heading off these Spaniards.
The assault, ultimately, broke down the defenders of the garrison, and Barcelona surrendered. Carreta, in the north, also succeeded in relieving our allied garrison at Navarre – just in the nick of time, too!
The Milanese fleet arrived off the Balearic Islands on 26 March. They carried 4 divisions, with which to invade. A solitary Aragonese flyte stood guard outside the harbor, perhaps meaning to carry the garrison away somewhere. But we couldn’t be lucky enough for that to have already happened. Bargnani’s attack forced the flyte to flee.
Both counterattacks engaged our forces on the 31st of March. King Francesco appeared as if he was going to be able to hold the Castilians off, at Barcelona.
Carreta, however, faces none other than the Holy Roman Emperor – Fernando V – himself, at the head of a powerful mixed column of infantry and cavalry. Carreta would have to make a strategic retreat, to avoid horrendous casualties, but the city had been resupplied, and would be able to withstand more months of siege. He had accomplished his purpose.
Gen. Visconti landed in the Balearics in early April. Incredibly, it took only 4 days to bring the 1,000 defending soldiers (not the garrison) to surrender… So Visconti headed straight back onto the ships with his cavalry (leaving the infantry behind), so he could land on the mainland! His job was done.
He chose, as his target, the largest Spanish city on the Mediterranean coast – Granada, a metroplex of 88,000 people. If that city could be starved into submission, it would bring great weight to bear against the Emperor, and perhaps he would consider peace.
