The Book of Saint John: Volume 3

[The Swert]

Chapter Three: Colonial Knights

In 1506, Petrus Raimundus I was elected new grandmaster of the Knights of St John. His election came shortly after the short but decisive war with Crimea and the Ottomans which indicated that the Knights were still a minnow in Eastern Mediterranean politics. Despite expanding substantially in the last 50 years or so, The Knights could still not mess with the likes of the Turks or the Mameluks. Petrus Raimundus I recognised this and wished to expand further to increase the Knights strength and manpower but by this time easy pickings were becoming few and far between. Sicily and Venice were becoming dominant in Italy; Austria and Hungary powerful in Central Europe; Crimea was protected by their allies the Turks; and the Turks themselves now stretched from Belgrade to the Tigris. This all presented a conundrum for Petrus Raimundus I who knew he was not yet powerful enough to take on these nations but yet needed to expand to be able to grow the Knights’ strength.

Luckily for the Knights, over the last two decades the world had changed with the discovery of a new land in the far west. News of this land had spread to the Knights by the time of Petrus Raimundus’ reign and this new land provided an opportunity for the Knights. These western lands were said to be numerous, unclaimed and fruitful, meaning that a nation like the Knights would be able to set up colonies there relatively easily. Petrus Raimumdus made a decision to launch a Quest for the New World and hired some of the best navigators in the Mediterranean to lead an expedition to the Americas.

This first expedition crossed the Atlantic and made landfall along the coast of the Newfoundland. It was immediately obvious however that the Knights were not the first people to settle in the New World. In fact England and France had expanded significantly along the eastern seaboard and were now fighting the Indians further inland. Newfoundland was yet unclaimed but the Knights decided to move on into the Bay of Fundy where yet more unclaimed provinces lay. The decision was made to make landfall in Abnaki and so in July 1506 the first Knights’ colony was established. This first expedition was quickly followed be a succession of further expedition as the Knights tried to establish a foothold in the new lands. There was much competition, the maps that had spread to the Knights had also spread throughout the rest of Europe and there were now several nations attempting to start up colonies.

Over the next two years the Knights consolidated their claim on the Bay of Fundy region by starting up further colonies in Acadia and Micmac. Unfortunately though the colony in Micmac was attacked by natives in 1509 and was forced to be abandoned. The Knights also endeavoured into other parts of the new world to help accommodate for colonies not keen in the cold weather seen around Abnaki. Colonies were set up in Havana and Cartegena as rival nations began limiting the available land. So after Havana was settled the Knights planned to claim the whole of the island of Cuba but this plan came undone only a year later when the Danes settled in Guantanamo. Petrus Raimundus I quickly set about establishing a colony in Moron but the island would remain divided for decades to come.

Over the reign of Petrus Raimundus I the Knights settled six new colonies effectively doubling their land size. However of course it would take many years before these settlements would grow to a level in which they could help assist the Knights both economically and militaristically. Nonetheless the stage had been set and the seed had been sown which would flower into the bloom of a new a crusade. Furthermore, Petrus Raimundus’ work paved away for another ambition for the Knights, not only could they dream of crusading but they could now dream of becoming a colonial power. There is nothing more pious than introducing Christianity to the New World. And so whilst Petrus Raimundus was the father of colonialism for the Knights, colonialism did not wane after his death. The Knights would flourish as one of several nations that would become chief players of colonialism in the New World.

It is rather interesting how things settled in the West once the initial race to establish a foothold was over. In the end no less than 13 nations would establish their own colonial empires and in most cases this would involve more than one region. In the years after Petrus Raimundus I, the Knights would consolidate their territory around Abnaki and Cartegena claiming the provinces Micmac, Pennacook, Antioquia and Chiancon before the end of the century and formalising borders with the surrounding nations. Furthermore the Knights also established colonies in the Southern Hemisphere on either side of the Atlantic. They took the key position provinces of Cape and Little Karoo in Africa and searched for gold in South America near Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso and the stop-over province of Mauritius. By 1592 much of the rest of eastern North America and northern South America had been claimed. Spain had a fair slice of the Brazilian coast after a Danish colony failed to survive in Rio Grande. England and France shared the USA with the English mainly concentrated along the coast and along the St Lawrence. However the English did not hold the rich colonies in Manhattan, Connecticut or Narraganset. They were shared between Portugal and Venice. Venice also established some colonies in Argentina whilst the English also had some more colonies in southern Brazil. Mecklenburg held a string of provinces stretching from Maracaibo to Chile after having defeated the Incans at war. The Aztecs were not yet challenged but Genoa had taken command of the Panaman Isthmus. Spain held Hispaniola whilst Sicily possessed only Florida. The Lesser Hebrides were a mixed bunch including the Dutch, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Lithuania. The Danes also held a region west of Lake Superior which was bordered to the north by Austria’s large region of Canada’s north. Labrador and Newfoundland was eventually settled by Mecklenburg whilst Portugal and Austria shared Prince Edward and Cape Breton Islands between them. Finally, in the most mysterious of ways, the Dutch has also begun settling on America’s western coast with a colony established in British Columbia.

Colonial America in 1596 (If you ask me it's a very nice distribution. Kudos EU3)

Petrus Raimundus I did not live to see any of his new colonies graduate into city status but it was not long afterwards that Abnaki become the first Knights city in the West. Petrus Raimundus died in 1520 but would forever be remembered as the Father of the Knights’ Colonialism. It was an importance step in the history of the Knights. Not only did it strengthen the Knights power but it also provided with another avenue which they could pursue. However Petrus Raimundus’ reign was not solely about colonialisation, he did have to deal with a couple of wars back home. These wars however were only of the petty kind; the kind that the Knights’ allies seemed to enjoy scrapping over. The first war in 1501 saw Montenegro and Bosnia attempt to invade Albania without success so they tried again in 1510. In this second war however Crete allied with Albania with gave the Knights the opportunity to invade Crete and sue them for peace. Other than that though, his reign was completely peaceful and perhaps this is what promoted the drive for colonialism. Nonetheless upon Petrus Raimundus’ death, there would be a change of policy. The new grandmaster would not be such a patron of Colonialism but rather return to the Knights’ more military endeavours; the dream of the Great Crusade.

 

[Enewald]

Any plans to move to America and conquer the whole continent?

 

[The Swert]

Any plans to move to America and conquer the whole continent?

Well that wouldn't be much of a crusade now would it? Nope not really. Some of those colonial nations are pretty powerful lucky nations. I'm really still a minnow.

 

[The Swert]

Part Two: The Knights-Burgin War (10th Crusade)

Chapter One: The Battle of Gaza

In 1520 the Knights were mourning the death of their grandmaster Petrus Raimundus III, the man accreditated as the founder of the Knights’ colonial empire. In the election that followed to decide a new grandmaster Johannes III received the majority vote and was sworn in. This man unlike his predecessor, who had remained particularly peaceful throughout his reign, was more willing to reassert the Knights in their role as a bastion of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean. It had now been nearly 70 years since the fall of Constantinople but the then Pope’s plea for retaliation in the form of a crusade was still ringing in the ears of the Knights and now, with a colonial empire at their backs, they might be able to mount some sort of operation.

Memories were still well entrenched of the disaster of “the False Crusade” some 60 years ago in which the Knights two attempts to launch an assault on the Holy Land were quashed quicker than Edgar Atheling’s claim to the English throne. The Knights did not any new attempt to be as half-hearted. They spent the next few years developing their military but the opponents they would be facing had the luxury of already being at full strength. The Mameluks had enjoyed a prosperous period and had not been involved in a war themselves for 20 years since they fought off a united Spanish attack. Whilst not expanding themselves, the Mameluks had held onto their lands well and would have no excuses when it would come to dealing with the Knights.

By 1529 the Knights were set. They had gathered a force of 13,000 men that was broken down into two armies: the 1st Army of 2000 cavalry and 6000 infantry and the 3rd Army of 5000 infantry to be supported by a fleet of 6 cogs. However history notes that the Mameluks at this time, despite the efforts of the Knights to improve their manpower, still outnumbered the Knights by mounting a force of 33 regiments or about 19,000 men. By June, Johannes was ready. He took command of his armies and announced his intentions to his allies and the rest of the Western world to see if anybody was willing to join his crusade for the Holy Land. Ragusa decided out of loyalty to join the Knights but, as was the way of Renaissance Christiandom, the rest of the nations were too busy fighting amongst themselves or colonising the West to care about the East. And so it was in June 1529, over 250 years since the failure that was the 9th Crusade, that the Knights of St John and Ragusa began the 10th Crusade.

The Knights made the crossing over the sea and landed the 3rd Army in the most Northern part of the Mameluks realm, and most undefended, at the beaches of Beirut. They soon found themselves met by the local garrison of 1000 men and announced their arrival by slaughtering one in every fifth man. After establishing the beachhead, the 1st Army was sent over whilst the cities of Beirut and Aleppo were captured. The first few months were always going to be easy as the Mameluks would take time to respond to the invasion. By the end of the year Judea and Gaza had also been taken and the Knights were attempting to scout out the few Burkins that had dispersed into the deserts of Al Karak and Hawran.

The Knights were cautious and slow in their movements weary that the main Mameluk armies still based in Cairo could be launched at any moment. By the middle of 1530 the Knights had won eighteen consecutive victories over the couple of hapless Burkin regiments that were being used as cannonfodder. The Burkin army organisation actually was playing havoc with the Knights. The Knights doctrine was one of centralising their armies in an attempt to always outnumber their enemy but the Burkins spread their regiments far and wide. This meant that whilst the Knights were held up fighting one regiment, another would manuver around the conflict and liberate one of the captured cities. However by the middle of 1530 the Knights had basically destroyed these pesky few and attacked Sinai and for the first time met a resistance of more than 3000 men. It was a convincing victory to the Knights but that battle finally aroused the Mameluks into action. The Knights were forced back to protect Gaza from a force trying to liberate it and remained there for a few months as they watched the Mameluks main army move they way. The Knights consolidated their force which was still almost 13,000 thanks to regular reinforcement. The main Mameluk army arrived in January 1531 and consisted of 14,500 men.

The resulting battle would be the most deadly of the whole war but yet hardly decisive. A total of 4012 Knights were killed during the one month long battle and a total of 10158 Burkins were lost. Based on those figures it would suggest a Knights victory but alas no. The order of battle is what decided to day in the favour of the Mameluks. The Knights were setup in two lines whereas the majority of the Mameluks were positioned in a very wide front line. Although each of the Knights regiments were superior to their counterparts they could only fight one at a time. The front line of Knights would defeated the regiment directly infront of them but then the Mameluks would shuffle along to fill the gap. The front line of Knights continued to attack the centre of the Mameluk line with devastating results but the back line of Knights just stood there in reserve. After several iterations of destroying a regiment and watching the Mameluks shuffle down, the front line of the Knights were slowly being worn down and, whilst their numbers were holding admirably, their morale was failing. Finally, just as the Mameluks were running out of replacements for their centre, the front Knights’ line broke. The back line, although perfectly fresh and clearly capable of picking up where the front line left off were immediately discouraged by the retreat of the front line and decided also to retreat. So it was that the Mameluks, through the advantage of more regiments not more men, were able to win the battle despite suffering more than twice the casualties. In fact this issue of the Mameluks possessing more regiments would plague the whole war for the Knights. The Knights continuously found themselves superior in number and skill but the ability to only take on one regiment at a time. This resulted in losses, such as here at Gaza, and in prolonging these battles out to take weeks if not months, by which time other Burgin forces had undone the Knights’ hard work whilst the singular Knights’ army was preoccupied.

A re-enactment of the Battle of Gaza 1531.

(This war and in particular this issue concerning superior regiment numbers, whilst it created for an epic and lengthy war, really displayed to me the flaws of the EU3 battle system as opposed to EU2. In this battle I was unable to use my backline or affect my order of battle at all such that my men lost all morale before I could destroy every single regiment despite being completely dominant. It really annoyed me and made me lose faith in the EU3 battle system.)

 

[Enewald]

Heh.
Eu3 battles are not based on long grinding, but rather on the shock and fire values and some random dices just tend to decide how much are killed each day.:wacko:
But if these between the belliggerents are very close, it becomes a long tiresome slaughter.o

That's where you need a general with level 6 shock.
And lo, slaughter finished in one day!

 

[comagoosie]

I find it considerably interesting that the Mamluks didn't attack you until 5(?) of their territories had been conquered. In fact, the impression you gave was that the main army didn't even move. I would say that more than makes up for your 'defeat'

I wonder how much longer this war shall last and what the peace deal shall be.

 

[The Swert]

Heh.
Eu3 battles are not based on long grinding, but rather on the shock and fire values and some random dices just tend to decide how much are killed each day.:wacko:
But if these between the belliggerents are very close, it becomes a long tiresome slaughter.o

That's where you need a general with level 6 shock.
And lo, slaughter finished in one day!

I just had a playtest and tried the invasion again. My 5000 men were met by the main Mameluk army and it took them over 5 months to defeat me. It's ridiculous because it allowed them to build more regiments and add them to the battle as well as use other troops to capture provinces. The fire cycle is useless in the early years before they use guns, it just doubles the length of the battle. I don't know if they have improved this in NA or IN but I guess they would have had to.

Indeed better generals would help but my army tradition never seems to be very high.

I find it considerably interesting that the Mamluks didn't attack you until 5(?) of their territories had been conquered. In fact, the impression you gave was that the main army didn't even move. I would say that more than makes up for your 'defeat'

I wonder how much longer this war shall last and what the peace deal shall be.

Well they did throw a few men at me, one regiment at a time. And 3 of those 5 captured provinces had no fort. But yes their main army did not really move for about 2 years.

BTW, I forgot to include a screenshot of the situation at the start of the war. Here's one:

 

[unmerged(81979)]

Hopefully that turns intoA Pyrrhic victory for the Mams... :wacko:

 

[The Swert]

Hopefully that turns intoA Pyrrhic victory for the Mams... :wacko:

I think the Mameluks must be Pyrrhus' descendents


Chapter 2: The Middle Years

The 1531 Battle of Gaza between the Knights and the Mameluks was the largest battle of the Tenth Crusade as it was the first time the two great armies met head to head. The Mameluks had used their formation of several small regiments to tire out the Knights attack who had the skill advantage. The Mameluks might have taken on over 10,000 casualties but after months of fighting the Knights were finally forced into retreat and the Mameluks claimed an important victory after what had been to that point a succession of victories for the Knights. However the ratifications of the this victory would have longer term consequences which would damage the Mameluks’ strength and played a part in determining the result. The loss of 10,000 men in any army is a significant blow and for the Mameluks this was no exception. The immediate result of the battle was that the Mameluks had lost their number superiority over the Knights. In time, they may have been able to train new regiments to cover the loss of 10,000 men but it would take time and in the mean time the Knights had a significant opportunity to regroup and launch another foray forward.

Grandmaster Johannes III of the Knights passed away was disappointed with his men after the Battle of Gaza as he realised that they were upon the verge of victory when the retreat occurred. He was particularly disappointed with the backline who just stood by instead of assisting the front rank. However considering the Knights had very little military tradition having not fought a war for a generation, the leadership was as much to blame as the men. The only way to improve such skills would be to keep practicing and what better way than by returning to Gaza to finish off some unfinished business. After only a couple of months of recuperation the Knights attacked Gaza once again and came face to face with the remnants of the Burkin army. On this occasion though the numbers were practically even and the Knights were able to overwhelm the Burkin attempts to spread their smaller regiments along the battlefield. The Knights on this occasion endured more casualties than the Burkins but the Burkin army was low on morale after the previous battle and routed with relative ease, clearly needing to regroup.

Johannes III attempted not to allow the Burkins to regroup by following up his victory in Gaza by following the Mameluk army to Diamentia. However Johannes underestimated the Mameluks tenacity as they brought more troops from Egypt the join the weary men retreating from Gaza. When the battle began the Burkins were clearly more motivated as Diamentia represented the entrance into Egypt. Their defence was stronger and after several weeks battle the Mameluks not only found themselves victorious but the Knight’s Grandmaster was discovered amongst the dead.

A new grandmaster was quickly elected and Johann Baptista I was crowned in Rhodes in July 1531. He quickly decided to follow in his predecessors footsteps by shipping over to the battlefront and becoming the leader of the Knights army. He brought with him a renewed intensity to the task and immediately the Knights morale grew. In October they returned to Diamentia and won a close victory over the Mameluks. However such was the victory indecisive that the Burkin army was able to retreat towards Gaza and threatened to liberate all the captured provinces. Johann Baptista decided to turn around and chase the Mameluks rather than continue into Egypt. In November he caught the enemy army near Gaza and defeated them once again and this time forced them to return back to Egypt. The Knights were now getting down to the nitty gritty. Conquering Palestine was always going to be relatively easy as it was seen as just a province of the Mameluks. Their heartland was Egypt, their population was great and supportive of their cause and willing to take up arms to defend their lands. Furthermore, as their lands shrank it meant that more of their men would be concentrated in certain regions making them harder to fight. Nonetheless the Mameluks would be willing to give up the Holy Lands without a proper fight, the Knights needed to invade.

In January 1532 the Knights sent a scouting regiment towards Cairo to examine the position and strengths of their forces and came back with terrible news: The Mameluks been able to rebuild most of their lost forces such that their main army now numbered 13,000 again, worse than that the army was heading straight for the Knights in Gaza. Johann Baptista found himself in a difficult situation as his army was nearly outnumbered 2:1 and the Mameluks had over 5000 cavalry to his 200. The situation looked grim but the Knights fought on bravely using their superior training and equipment as they tried to match the Mameluks. They fought nobly killing as many as they lost but the number gap was too large and the plan to invade Egypt was over before it began.

Luckily for the Knights, the Mameluks chose not to follow up on this success by chasing the Knights back into Palestine. This gave the Knights a chance to regroup and boy did they need to with their forces on the front now only about 6,000 in number. Reinforcements were summoned and as well as a new general from Rhodes. However these moves came too late for the Knights ally Ragusa who had seen enough. They had not participated in the war and only joined it out of loyalty but now having seen the Knights progress came to a halt they decided that the crusade was doomed and made peace with the Mameluks. It was a reasonable assessment of the situation, the Knights seemingly had not taken advantage of their big win in Gaza and now would struggle to outmuscle the Mameluks considering their size. However as the Mameluks went on the offensive and returned to Judea for the first time in 2 years luck changed. The 6,000 Knights there were able to nullify the cavalry charges of the Burkin army and hold position against the Mameluks.

The following months saw an almighty struggle over the territories between Diamentia and Judea, the kind of fighting that was expected at the beginning of the war. The Knights were unable to break the huge 13,000 strong army in Gaza in June 1532 but followed by with several victories over portions of the same army as it broke up to defend the other provinces. However none the battles were very decisive and none of them involved large numbers of casualties. In many ways the war descended into a stalemate. The Knights were reminded of their war with Crimea which had ended in a stalemate as the Crimeans turned their final province into a fortress. In that situation the Knights were willing to accept any fair peace treaty as their goal was simply to expand but here the Knights have a distinct and non-negotiable goal, to reclaim Jerusalem. The Knights would not accept anything less and that meant that this equilibrium of the war was unacceptable. They would need to find a way to break the equilibrium or else abandon the crusade altogether. Fortunately for the Knights, a master tactician was waiting in the winds and it would be his genius that would decide the Tenth Crusade.

 

[Enewald]

A new battle coming?
Or a genius deal with the heathen?

 

[The Swert]

For veterans of the series, I will give away a 'swertic cookie' for the first person who can tell me historical significance behind the identities of the antagonists in each of the volumes of the Book of St John.

 

[The Swert]

What's this! Nobody wants the first ever 'swertic cookie'? Come on, what's the relationship between France, the Ottomans, the Mameluks and the Knights of St John?

 

[comagoosie]

What's this! Nobody wants the first ever 'swertic cookie'? Come on, what's the relationship between France, the Ottomans, the Mameluks and the Knights of St John?

Heh, sorry I've been terribly busy, but since you asked nicely.

France, the Ottomans, and the Mamluks have all be at war with the Knights...the relationship is very bad

And is this master tactician, you? Will you break the WWI stalemate? And how come only 200 cavalry? Have you run out of manpower?

 

[The Swert]

Heh, sorry I've been terribly busy, but since you asked nicely.

France, the Ottomans, and the Mamluks have all be at war with the Knights...the relationship is very bad

Well yeh. But something more specific than that. Look back through the pages of history.

And is this master tactician, you? Will you break the WWI stalemate? And how come only 200 cavalry? Have you run out of manpower?

No not me, he's the hero of the story much like Middleton and Aubusson were the heroes in the previous stories. His name also features on the cover of the Book of St John as seen in the opening post.

I don't know where all the cavalry went, I played this game about 1.5 years ago. I probably am out of manpower. That's the only reason why the cavalry would not be reinforcing isn't it?

 

[The Swert]

Oh well, obviously nobody knows the answer. The relationship is that the Mameluks, Ottomans and France were the three successive historical conquerors of the Knights of St John. The Mameluks defeated the Knights of St John at the Siege of Acre in 1291 which ended the Knights life in the Holy Lands. The Ottomans forced the Knights from Rhodes in 1522 when Suleiman the Magnificant invaded. The French ended the Knights possession of Malta in 1798 when Napoleon invaded on his way to Egypt. So in effect, in the three volumes I've written here, the Knights have gained vengeance upon each of their conquerors. (albeit a pure coincidence)

So you've all missed out on the cookie and I'll hopefully have a new chapter soon.

 

[Milites]

Aww, I wanted the "first evar swertic cookie"

Great stuff, the Swert, I'm anxious to know what kind of person this new protagonist will be.

 

[comagoosie]

Oh well, obviously nobody knows the answer. The relationship is that the Mameluks, Ottomans and France were the three successive historical conquerors of the Knights of St John. The Mameluks defeated the Knights of St John at the Siege of Acre in 1291 which ended the Knights life in the Holy Lands. The Ottomans forced the Knights from Rhodes in 1522 when Suleiman the Magnificant invaded. The French ended the Knights possession of Malta in 1798 when Napoleon invaded on his way to Egypt. So in effect, in the three volumes I've written here, the Knights have gained vengeance upon each of their conquerors. (albeit a pure coincidence)

So you've all missed out on the cookie and I'll hopefully have a new chapter soon.

I don't remember France conquering you in your other Book :wacko:

I assumed that when you said, "veterans of the series" that the answer laid within your Books

 

[The Swert]

I assumed that when you said, "veterans of the series" that the answer laid within your Books

That's why I put in the term "historical". I used "veterans of the series" as first time readers would not know the antagonists of the previous Books. Alas it seems I was still ambigious. Oh well, the swertic cookie is not very good for you anyway, perhaps its best nobody has it.

Great stuff, the Swert, I'm anxious to know what kind of person this new protagonist will be.

I hope I haven't pumped him up too much.

 

[The Swert]

Chapter III: To the Nile and Beyond


By 1533, the Tenth Crusade led by the Knights of St John against the Mameluks had come to a virtual halt. The Knights had succeeded in capturing the Holy Lands but their incursions into Egypt had been thwarted such that a frontline emerged in the vicinity of Gaza. The Mameluks had rebuilt their armies after their devastation two years earlier at the Battle of Gaza and the Knights knew that if the current situation persisted, the Mameluks would slowly overwhelm the Knights due to their larger base from which to draw and support an army, and also the Mameluks would have an easy time in terms of attrition. For a full year the Knights were forced to defend their lines and protect Judea, Hawran and Al Kharak as they struggled to find an answer to their dilemma. Whilst the Mameluks always seemed to be divided into divisions of only about 1-2000 each, they knew that they actually had about 13,000 men at their disposal which made any advances difficult.

In January 1533, Grandmaster Johann Baptista called forth his most experienced fighters to address their situation. Many opinions were shared and the General of the Army Athanasius d'Amboise proposed attacking the main Mameluk Army with a small force whilst using the main army to circumvent the battle and pushing into Egypt whilst the Mameluks were preoccupied. However the most appealing plan turned out to be from one of the other knights by the name of Martinus. His plan would involve loading a small force back onto the ships and launch a naval assault into Egypt bypassing the main Mameluk forces. After much consideration Martinus’s plan was decided upon and such was the Grandmaster’s belief in young Martinus’ conviction that he decided that he would led the naval assault and not General d’Amboise or himself. It would be a great risk but as Herodotus once said “Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks” and what greater deed that recovery of the Holy Lands for Christendom.

So in late January the ships were loaded and by February Martinus was ready to land in the Nile Delta. His 2000 infantry were met by a 1600 strong mixed force but Martinus’s plan would not be stopped at the first hurdle. His men held their positions and then began laying siege to Al Mahallah. Immediately the Mameluk leaders were caught out and began arguing amongst themselves as to their next course of action. They could fall back to stop Martinus at risk of letting the main army through or hold their positions and allow Martinus to freely conquer Egypt. The result of all the bickering was that the Mameluks armies became disorganised. Some returned to Cairo to prepare an attack on Martinus whilst others stayed in Gaza.

Johann Baptista took advantage of this muddled reaction by moving on the now weakened forces in Gaza. In what were perhaps the most decisive battles of the whole war, the Grandmaster’s army charged into Egypt without restraint. Within a month he had defeated three Mameluk armies amounting to a total of 15800 men and was knocking on the door of Cairo whilst Martinus’s diversion was never attacked. In July 1533, the Grandmaster led the attack on Cairo which would see his army come up against 9000 weakened Mameluks, of which 5000 was cavalry. However the confusion that had been created by Martinus’ diversion left the Mameluk leadership in tatters and their armies shaky. They had let the Knights right into Egypt despite overwhelming numbers and were now forced to defend their capital. The Battle of Cairo was a display of the Knights new found dominance as they simply scared the Mameluks off whilst sustaining only 20 casualties.

By September, the Delta had fallen and Martinus was able to reunite with his grandmaster and they began a siege on Cairo. The siege of the Mameluks capital would be a long-winded affair as the Mameluks would on several occasions attempt to liberate Cairo and on several occasions the siege was even abandoned as the Knights attempted to destroy as men of the ragged Mameluks as they could as they fled. On one such attempt to save Cairo in October, a Mameluk arrow was lucky enough to strike the Knights’ grandmaster and the wound proved fatal as he passed away later that night. He was the second grandmaster to fall during this crusade and it posed a dilemma for the remaining knight who had to elect a successor. General d’Amboise had been the likely candidate but given the recent ingenuity of Martinus, who had not only proven himself as a brave warrior and competent tactician but had become somewhat of an idol within the Knights ranks because of his success, had become a candidate. In the end the Knights decided, with a new found optimism, that since the crusade was now an inevitable success, a new leader was needed to lead them into a new era. Martinus was elected Grandmaster as Martinus II and soon took up personal command of the army.

However by this stage much of the Mameluk resistance had already been broken and the army’s role was now mainly one of sieging rather than battling. The Knights continued their siege of Cairo until finally in January 1534 it fell. Martinus decided to move on to besiege Diamentia but remained wary of the main Mameluk army which had fallen back to Libya. Not long after the Knights left Cairo, this army decided to make a move towards liberating their capital. Martinus decided to abandon his siege on Diamentia to defend the strategic city of Cairo. In April the two armies met and the fate of Cairo would be decided once and for all. The numbers on each side were about 6800 a piece and the fighting was fierce without any of the quick retreats which had dominated the Egyptian campaign thus far. In the end each army lost about 1200 men but the Knights succeeded in forcing the Mameluks away from the city.

Over the next year or so the Knights were allowed to lay sieges on Diamentia and Asyut without any significant resistance. The Mameluks were still sending the odd regiment or two but for the most part were restricted to Alexandria and Libya. Finally in the middle of 1535 after Martinus had completed those two sieges, he was ready to attack to rich centre of trade that was Alexandria. This was the last real objective of the crusade as the rest of the Egyptian lands were little more than desert. However as had been the case in Crimea, as the number of enemy provinces shrank, the concentration of the enemy armies grew. This meant that by the time Martinus was ready to invade Alexandria he would have to budge a force of nearly 7,000 who had gathered there. The Knights were now reduced to only 6,000 men and since neither side had actually fought a battle for several months, there would be no advantages of morale or energy to either side. However Martinus had information that the Mameluk army consisted of over 75% cavalry. Given most circumstances, the Knights now solely infantry army would find themselves overwhelmed by so much cavalry but since Martinus had received this information he could plan for it. His men adopted a strategy of pikes and spears to counter the cavalry’s swifter movements. The plan succeeded and the Mameluks were forced back to Libya.

After this victory Martinus decided to launch what he hoped who be a conclusive victory by marching into Libya and facing the complete remnants of the Mameluks armies, a force totalling no less than 11,000 men. However even though the Knights had won every battle since Martinus’ invasion, there was still such a thing as biting off more than you can chew. Despite all the technologically and tactical superiorities that had guided the Knights through the crusade, the simple fact that the Mameluks outnumbered the Knights two-to-one proved insurmountable. In fact the result was a significant defeat for the Knights for two reasons. Firstly the Knights suffered 1700 casualties which greatly affected their strength and even their ability to lay sieges. Secondly it also roused the Mameluks from their Libyan retreat as they found a new found confidence to go on the offensive.

The Knights fell back to Alexandria but soon found themselves being chased by 6,000 Burkins. For the rest of the year Martinus was forced to defend his ground against successive attacks from significant Mameluk forces who, despite not being able to defeat Martinus, were slowly reducing the Knights’ strength. By the end 1535, Martinus had fought of the Mameluks attacks but retained only 3,000 knights with which to besiege Alexandria. This would never be enough especially if the Mameluks returned. However the concern was that no more reinforcements could be drawn from Rhodes or the provinces as the populations had been exhausted to point that they were threatening to revolt. So close to victory but yet so far, Martinus needed a solution. At the start of 1536 he decided to use what was left of the Knights’ coffers to recruit mercenaries to ensure the crusade would be a job well done. Three thousand mercenaries were added to the Knights’ armies in Egypt and the siege on Alexandria resumed. In April and then again in June, the Mameluks launched desperate attempts at rescuing their capital but Martinus was able to redirect some of his troops to intercept these attempts.

Finally in July, Alexandria fell and only then would Martinus negotiate with the Mameluks hierarchy would had been willing to speak for years. However all the previous talks always resulted in the Mameluks willing to give up unwanted provinces like Aleppo. The Knights came here with a purpose of conquering the Holy Lands and nothing else would suffice. With the majority of the Mameluk territories now under Knights’ control including all the major centres, Martinus would finally be able to hold some significant sway in the negotiating room. After 7 long years, a peace was finally reached which would see the Knights gain the provinces of Judea and Beirut. It had been a hard slog but that was what was needed to gain those two provinces; two provinces cherished by both religions.

The Aftermath of the Tenth Crusade

As the Knights retreated from the Mameluks territories, Martinus reflected on the Tenth Crusade. It had cost the Knights a lot. Two grandmasters lost their lives as well as a total of 26,828 men which made it the most deadly war the Knights would ever fight. However the Mameluks were even worse off having lost a massive 44,809 men which made it the deadliest war ever involving only two real combatants. The Tenth Crusade consisted a total of 81 battles over which required over 1300 lines of code in the save file. So the Tenth Crusade was considerably violent but only would tell whether or not the gain of those two small provinces would be worth all the bloodshed. At least Martinus could sleep easy knowing that he had fulfilled the Knights’ dream; the dream born at the fall of Constantinople some 80 years ago. On the tenth attempt, Christendom had finally regained the Holy Lands and when push came to shove, it all came down to one nation, the Knights of St John to fly the banner. The rest of Christiandom owed them a great gratitude.

 

[Enewald]

Now face the wrath of Islam.
Your army is really small!
It's hard to believe the burkins were beaten with that!