Chapter 32: Spanish Inquisition
May 12, 1889: German Pan Nationalists rise up in Hanover. I let them go - taking out a united Germany would be simpler.
August 23: Ottoman scientists discover Empiricism, giving a +50% boost to research. To celebrate, we declare war on Spain, enemy of Empiricism. That our armies were next door after beating France is a complete coincidence.
In response, Spain mobilizes. Sources say this is because the regular Spanish army is afraid to die alone. This gives them 137 brigades to my 236.
First, we start with bait. (We use only the best
Sokot bait.
September 11: Austria declares bankruptcy. Guess who their biggest creditor was?
In other news, Spain launches a withering attack in Ethiopia.
The Spanish take the bait...the AI is a sucker for attacking a "weak" army even if a larger army is standing nearby.
September 24: The Austrians surrender...dropping them to 18th place and a firm spot as "nobody"
October 4: I didn't get a chance to envelop the Spanish, but that's OK. 4:1 losses is good enough for now. Now to set the trap again...the Spanish can't be that dumb, right?
Or....maybe they can.
January 1, 1890: Ottoman scientists invent the Monitor, the first in the (Ottoman) world to do so. Due to rampant illiteracy still in the empire, they're still having trouble getting the ships built right. Apparently covering a wooden ship with clothesirons isn't how you make an ironclad.
January 6: Spanish history will forever remember the day when they lost an army of 180,000 men by letting it get surrounded. To their credit, they did try to break the encirclement at Logromo and Bilbao, but didn't make it in time. This is the effective end of the war - the remaining 60K men in Spain proper are quickly surrounded and dispatched, and the occupation begins.
With that over, it's time for the next war...