The Dreams of a Grand Savoy.

[Tem_Probe]

Second French War.

In July 1444, our landtech improved to Late Medieval(2). We continued building our ships constantly, in Piemonte, and now in Firenze too. All the while, we continued to improve our relations with the Pope and Genoa. In July 1446, we were hit by Unhappiness in the Peasantry. In 1447, we sent warnings to Austria, England and Castile, which all had become too agressive for our taste. In December 1447, France annexed Auvergne. We decided to start raising armies for an attack on them. On April 1449, we declared war on France and decided not to call in our allies. Our armies were thus: In Dauphiné: 15000 Infantry, 11000 Cavalry; in Maine: 13000 Infantry, 6000 Cavalry. Add to that a garrison in Firenze that we did not intend to use. Our army in Dauphiné was ordered moved on Provence, while our army in Maine was ordered to advance on Berri. We had several small skirmishes in Berri and Provence, destroying the defenders there. On February 1450, we returned to Status Quo with Scotland, leaving us at war with France, Saxony and Auvergne. In March, Berri fell to us, and we moved back north to engage the small army in Maine(3000 French) since we needed to hire new troops to pursue the offensive: Our army had been reduced to some 7000 mens. In the south, Provence has seized Guyenne while we made peace with Saxony. We won both battles in Maine, reducing us to about 5500 mens, and started up the recruitment of some 6000 Infantry, twice. In August, Provence fell to us, and we moved onto Languedoc. Our 22000 soldiers engaged some 7000 Frenchs, killing them all and besieging the province. Our army in Maine moved onto Vendée, where a massive french army intercepted us. We lost the battle, being reduced to some 10000 mens, however the french lost nearly all their army, being left with 1500. We retreated to Maine and started recruiting again.

In January 1451, Siena declared independence from the Ottoman Empire. We started sending them messengers to improve relations in hope of dragging them into our alliance. We took the province of Languedoc, however a relief french army moved on us, forced us to retreat to Dauphiné. We moved north to Lyonnais to engage French troops there. In April, our Infrastructure was improve to Late Renaissance(3). We met no french in Lyonnais however, and marched south on Languedoc. Our army in Maine moved on Vendée. In Languedoc, our general led an heroic fight, destroying some 25000 french soldiers, allowing 5000 to retreat, while losing only 5000 of our own(and we had only 22k!) We decided to chase them into Guyenne. We laid siege in Vendée and Guyenne, after a small pitched fight. In February, we captured back Guyenne, and started raising soldiers for an assault on Auvergne. In May, we took Vendée. The Frenchs were beginning to be desperate to buy peace, offering us 3 provinces. An exceptional year happened to us... everything was going well We sent our army on Armor, to pursue the attack on the French, while our southern army moved to quell rebels in Cévennes. Burgundy has preceded us in Auvergne however, and they might very well annex it. In November, we took Armor, and our army was ordered to march on Bretagne. We crushed rebels in Dauphiné, and our ally the Pope declared war on Siena. We accepted to follow him into battle, intending to take the land for us, if possible. We effectively defeated their troops in Siena, and besieged the province. Our army in Dauphiné moved north to Lyonnais, picking up new troops, preparing to move south on Languedoc to fight Richemont, which was trying to retake the province. In October, Languedoc fell to France as we marched on it. We engaged their army there, and left no survivors as Bretagne fell to us. The troops there were ordered to move on Nivernais, through Burgundy. Nivernais was already occupied though, so we moved on Ile de France. We took back Languedoc by the end of February and ordered the army to move on Nivernais, now that France had made peace with its enemy. France offered massive insentive for peace however, and we decided not to press the war longer, gaining Berri, Languedoc, Provence, Armor and Bretagne. We promoted our bailiffs in the newly conquered province. We finally made peace with Siena, not asking for anything, as it seems that the Ottoman Empire had taken lead of the siege, and we would not be those whom would help them take back the province. Our standing navy was now of 5 warships and 15 Galleys in Piemonte.

 

[Faeelin]

Hmm. Why'd you go after Brittanny? As nonculture provinces, they'll be poorer than the rich italian provinces.

What are the happenigngs with the rest of Europe, by the way?

 

[Tem_Probe]

Actually

I didn't go after Brittany per se... France did! They grabbed those two provinces, and offered them to me as part of the peace treaty.

As to the rest of the world, lets see... France owns Vendée, 3 provinces in Eire and 4 provinces arround Ile de France, and is at war with England-Burgundy and the Austrian alliance. Burgundy is now practically non-existant, owning only Bourgogne, Brabant, Flandern and Holland, the rest having been swallowed up by Helvetia(Franchecomté), Lorraine(Alsace), France(Artois) and Kleves(Zeeland). It is also a vassal of England. England took Munster and Oldenburg, Kleves is up to 3 provinces while Saxony and Brandenburg each have 4! The creation of Russia looks doubtful, as Novgorod still owns 4 provinces, including Tver and Muscowy has allied with Ryazan and Suzdal instead of swallowing them up(and both conquered a province of their neighbor). Lithuania on the other hand has swallowed up Moldavia and Wallachia. Castile had moved into North Africa: taking Fez and Tangiers, while Portugal holds onto Gibraltar still. On the other side, the Ottoman Empire is busy fighting Venice and the rebels of Siena, which they are likely to reannex soon.

 

[P.Q. Varus]

Congratulations on your many victories and continued success to you, but.... I just spent my entire day off playing as Savoy, with France as my most beloved ally, and the juggernaut armies of Aragon and England squashing every stray squad I could scrape together.

Now I read everyone's advice here to attack France, instead of allying with them. Maybe that's why all I conquered was Franche Comte?

Thanks for the tips. For next time.

 

[unmerged(7404)]

Here is the screenie Tem_Probe:

 

[unmerged(9371)]

I said it once or twice but I'll say it again - it's a great story and great achievements

 

[Tem_Probe]

Glad you like it Depeche Mode
PS: Thanks for posting up the screenshot USA Patriot!

 

[Tem_Probe]

The campaign of Italy, Savoy surrounded

Reloaded the game in July 1454. My first action was to crush the rebels of Bretagne and to order our navy to be massively expanded in expectation of a future conflict against the Ottoman Turks, as well as 9000 recruits added to our garrison of 11000 mens in Firenze. The Ottoman Empire finally annexed Siena, and in July 1456, we declared war on them, intent on driving them out of Italy for good, and we were joined by the Pope and Genoa in our crusade against the Ottoman Empire and Teke. We moved to attack Siena but were surprisingly driven back by their small 6000 soldiers army. We would be unable to totally focus on them however, as the treacherous Austrians, along with their allies Bavaria, Bohemia and Mantua, waged war upon us and our loyal allies. This would allow us to gain massive Italian possessions with a little luck though, as the Austrians owned Lombardia and Bohemia owned Emilia. Our army of 14000 Infantry and 10000 Cavalry in Lyonnais was ordered to move on Lombardia, where, according to our reports, the Austrians kept 3000 soldiers to defend. The situation could change before they got there though. Our army in Firenze, instead of helping the Pope in his siege in Siena, decided to move on Emilia, though it was captured by Aragon forces, we hoped for a peace settlement which would return the province to Bohemia, allowing us to besiege it in turn. Seeing the reinforcements of Austria in Lombardia however, decided us to move to Lombardia in support of our army already moving there. Both battles were lost, but the Austrian army was devastated by the battle, while we safely retreated back to Piemonte. The army in Piemonte met with a small Austrian army, destroying it utherly, and giving our soldiers renewed morale to march on Lombardia again. Our army was strong of 2000 Infantry and 13500 Cavalry, while the Austrians had no more than 4000 soldiers there. Surely we would win this time. Also, we started construction of an army in Provence, to take care of rebels in the province of Savoy, which our army had no time to take care of. And so, in May, we met with the Austrian army, which was massively reinforced the instant before the battle, allowing them to drive us out again. Only 5000 Cavalry survived the battle, we needed massive remuster to continue our campaign. in July 1457, as our army to fight the rebels was starting to be mustered, rebels errupted in the province just before they could be deployed, resulting in their defeat when they met the rebels. The fleeing army met with the other one in Piemonte, and a larger army was formed out of them totalling 15000 Infantry and 5000 Cavalry. Unfortunately July would bring another bad news: England declared war on us, followed by Castille and Aragon, though we were supported in this by our allies. The major powers of christianity were all teaming against us, in a time when we were working to prevent the Ottoman from gaining a foothold in christian lands. We started mustering an army in Lyonnais to keep the Spanish invaders at bay, while our northern army, strong of 10000 Infantry and 6000 Cavalry was ordered to move on the English in Normandie. We assembled our fleet(of 5 Warships and 23 Galleys) in Cote d'Azur, to intercept any Spanish armada aimed at our coasts, and tried to negociate a settlement with the Ottomans and failed. Neither Castile nor Bavaria would make peace with us either. We would just have to fight them.... somehow.

October 1457, we won a battle against the Ottoman in Piemonte and Aragon in Cote d'Azur. Made white peace with Bavaria, tried the same with the Ottoman, yet they refused. Our Duke ordered our army in Piemonte to crush the rebels in Savoy and Provence. We were besieging Normandie, while the England were besieging Berri. Continued raising our army in Lyonnais, started another in Maine as Aragon moved on Guyenne with 52000 mens. What was their big idea, did they want to have 30000 die in winter? Anyways, we wouldn't be able to break the siege just yet it would seem. Savoy fell to the rebels as we engaged them, being driven out... We had to remuster and take back the capital... fast! By January 1458, we had exhausted our manpower.... This wasn't looking good. February, England took control of Berri while Aragon took control of Guyenne as we drove out the Aragonese navy from Cote d'Azur. Tried to buy peace with the Ottoman and Castille, failed. Our army in Lyonnais moved to Languedoc, then seeing a massive Castilian army(62000 mens) heading toward them from Rousillon, changed its path toward Guyenne, trying to avoid confrontation... Continued raising our army in Maine as Bretagne was revolting, while our army in Piemonte moved to Provence to stop the rebels from taking that province. Was attacked by the Ottoman in Piemonte while enroute, crushing their army, while signing a white peace with Bohemia. Provence fell to the rebels, and our army was defeated, retreating to Dauphiné, where 2000 Infantry were being mustered to prepare a counter-attack. We had to stop those rebels and win this war before there was nothing left of Savoy! Was defeated by a minor Castilian navy in Cote d'Azur, retreating to the Ligurian Sea. Signed peace with Austria in exchange for a small tribute of 25 ducats, which was well worth the price of not having to worry about one major enemy. Met with a large fleet in the Ligurian Sea, and chose wisely to retreat our fleet to Piemonte and leave it there until formally needed. In September, Normandie fell into our hands, but Maine was defeated by a major invasion from Castile and Aragon. Our army in Dauphiné marched on Languedoc to stop those rebellions, but was defeated there as well, forcing us to retreat to Dauphiné again. Once there, we made it march on Provence. If we could not stop the rebel armies, we would prevent them from breaking off at least. our army in Armor marched on Bretagne, destroying the rebels. Finally, the English came to us, offering peace for 29 ducats. So it was, ending our war with them and their allies, Castille and Aragon... for a very minor price. Rebels in Guyenne were defeated and our army marched on Languedoc, intent on destroying the rebels there. Then, the game crashed, lol, so I guess I'll have to reload from the last year. doh!

 

[Tem_Probe]

Back to January 1 1458

Normandie is being besieged, Savoy is under rebel control and they are also besieging Provence. I have 16000 mens in Lyonnais, 21000 in Piemonte, 7000 in Maine and 17000 in Normandie. My fleet in Cote d'Azur retreats to Piemonte, my army in Lyonnais is ordered to move on Languedoc. England seizes Berri and Aragon Guyenne. Both then move out. Both armies in Piemonte and Languedoc are ordered to move on the rebels at Provence at the same time. I defeat the Castilian navy in Ligurian Sea and successfully retreat to Piemonte. Rebels in Provence are destroyed, and our army of 32000 strong moves on Piemonte to try to win against Austria. Bohemia offers a white peace, but I won't answer the messenger just yet... 5000 Infantry are mustered in Dauphiné for the purpose of retaking Savoy. The English drive us out of Normandie and we fall back on Maine, uniting both armies into one army 19000 strong, and it moves on Orléanais. where it crushes 5000 English troops. 52000 soldiers from Aragon are moving north through our territory. We engage an army of 17000 strong in Lombardia, destroying it and leaving us with 19000 soldiers to siege the province. A Bohemian army moves onto us, driving us out of Lombardia. so much for being greedy, and our ruler finally accepts the white peace with Bohemia. Our army in Dauphiné moves to besiege Savoy, while our retreating army faces a minor army of Teke which defeats it, forcing us to retreat to Provence. In addition to 4000 Infantry, 5000 Mercenaries are mustered in Provence to keep up with the war efforts. Offered a white peace to Austria and Castille, to no avail. I really would like to focus on England and Aragon, but they won't let me. February 1549, Castille asks for 42 ducats in exchange for peace. Done. March, we capture Orleanais, while Ottoman and Teke are besieging Piemonte. Our army in Orleanais heads to Normandie and our army in Provence toward Piemonte. We sign a white peace with Austria and improve our relations with Genoa and the Pope, which fell heavily during this war.

Our army in Normandie defeats the English there, while we utherly destroy the Ottoman in Piemonte. Our fleet moves back to the Ligurian Sea, opposed by a small fleet which it defeats easily. Our army in Piemonte is ordered to board it. Aragon takes Maine, while our army unloads in Sardinia. Savoy is taken back, and we muster 13000 soldiers in the capital to prepare for a land offensive on Aragon. We move our fleet back to the Ligurian sea, where we defeat the English and Aragonese navy with the help of Genoa. It then moves back to Piemonte. Our ruler tries to make peace with Teke, but they refuse our offer. 5000 Infantry are mustered again in the capital. Firenze falls to England. This war is harsh, but quite a worthy challenge. Will we be able to stand on top? It is too soon to tell. Languedoc falls to Aragon. 3000 Cavalry are mustered in Savoie. We defeat the English in Normandie. August 1460, Sardinia falls to us, we muster 4000 Soldiers in Savoie. England loses Munsters to defectees. Our 30000 army in Savoir should be able to fight Aragon now, and it is ordered to move on Lyonnais for now. In January, it is ordered to move on Languedoc. We destroy 8000 soldiers with less than 200 loses, and besiege the province. Castile lands 4000 soldiers on Sardinia, but they are utherly destroyed. We have a boundary dispute with Austria... and decide to settle it. While a casus belli against them sounds like fun, we have no idea if this war will be over in 5 years from now. Normandie falls to us, and we destroy 14000 soldiers of Aragon who try to break our siege of Languedoc. Furthermore, Guyenne, Maine and Firenze all have rebels which are about to return the control of these provinces to us... excellent... We defeat another army moving on Sardinia, while we order our northern army to move onto Caux. We win another battle against Aragon in Sardinia, and rebels in Berri besiege the province. Siena, formerly held by the Pope, falls back to rebels and is returned to Ottoman control. Languedoc and Caux fall to us, while rebels free up Maine. We ask for military access through France to pursue the offensive to Calais, but expectedly, they refuse. We thus order our army back south to Maine, for now. Our army in Languedoc moves to Lyonnais to defeat rebels. The Ottoman moves 18000 soldiers lead by Gedik Ahmed in Piemonte. Rebels in Sicily are rampant, with a little luck, they can break away anytime now. We destroy the rebels in Lyonnais, and move to Savoie where 15000 Infantry are being mustered. Firenze falls back to us, but is besieged by England. Our army in Maine moves to Normandie to fight the English troops trying to retake the province and destroys them. England loses Oldenburg to defectees.

In March 1462, with an army 37000 strong, we march on Piemonte to engage the Ottoman Empire. We are driven back, but their loses are greater than ours, 10000 on their side, 5000 on ours. Next offensive will result in their destruction, no doubt. However, that gives them enough time to take the province. Maine falls back to us, but the English succeed at driving us out of Normandie, besieging the province. We muster 6000 soldiers in Maine to restore the fleeing army and prepare a counterstrike to hold Normandie. I tried negociating peace with Aragon in exchange for Sardinia, but they refused. July 1462, the government of France falls! As it does, Burgundy takes possession of Picardie, Artois and Champagne, leaving France with only 3 french provinces, plus its Irish possessions. The army in Savoir is ordered to take back Piemonte, while a mercenary army is raised in Maine to prepare the attack on Normandie. Nobles demanded increased pensions, and our lord refused, causing a loss of stability in Savoy. The Ottoman army in Piemonte is crushed. Both Bohemia and Austria refuses us military access. 7000 soldiers are mustered in Provence, to prepare an offensive on Ottoman-held Siena. Our attack on Normandie is defeated, our retreating army reduced to 11000 soldiers. As rebels have appeared in Armor, Bretagne and Cévennes, we will have to focus on them, and find a way to make peace soon.

I try to make peace with Aragon, but they refuse. Thus, I negociate with England, and sign peace with their alliance in exchange for Sardinia. Oh, Aragon must be pissed now, but its not like he has a choice. Our army in Provence is ordered to move to our navy and unload in Firenze, while our army in Maine marches on Armor to retake the province from the rebels. it fails in defeating the rebel, and only 4000 soldiers retreat alive. We're going to have problems holding the north. Genoa has signed peace with the Ottoman, losing Kaffa to them, but gained Mantua in Italy. We defeat the rebels who followed us into Maine, muster 2000 soldiers and order our troops to march on Armor and besiege it. Our army takes Piemonte back, and moves on Lyonnais. The Ottomans land in Languedoc, sieging the province. We crush the rebels in Lyonnais and move on Languedoc. We destroy their army in Languedoc and move onto Cévennes, while another army moves onto Siena. We destroy the Ottoman in Siena and besiege the province, but are somehow defeated by the rebels in Cévennes. In October 1453, Bohemia decides to declare war back on us, bringing Austria, Bavaria and Mainz into the battle, prolonging our era of warfare. Our army in Lyonnais moves onto Cévennes but is somehow again defeated! Armor is taken back, and 4000 soldiers mustered to prepare the attack on Bretagne. Our army destroys the Cévennes rebel finally, then moves back to Savoie where 14000 soldiers are being mustered, to prepare an attack on Piemonte, since the Ottomans just landed an army led By Mehmed II. Again, 4000 soldiers are mustered in Armor. We take Siena, and demand it for peace, but the Ottoman are stubborn, we have failed to impress them. We will have to take the fight to Turkey it seems. Our navy docks in port and is ordered to set sail south to pick up our army in Siena and move to the Ionian Sea. Bretagne falls to the rebels, and Maine revolts. We attack Piemonte as it falls, and are defeated by their small army. Our navy reached the Ionian Sea, but seeing 40000 soldiers waiting on the coasts, it decides to continue on to the Sea of Marmarra. Our army in Armor defeats the rebels, and moves to Bretagne. We further muster 6000 soldiers in Maine to help deal with the rebels while our army in Savoir moves back on Piemonte. Firenze falls to Bohemia, and we sign a white peace with Mainz, quickly followed by another with Bavaria. Reaching the Aegean Sea and winning a small naval battle, we unload our army on Smyrna. Not able to siege the larger fortress, our army is ordered to move to Bulgaria through Thrace, while our navy heads back. Our army is destroyed by new recruits, and we settle for a peace in exchange for 200 ducats from the Ottoman... They still held Siena, sadly, but we could do nothing about it. Maine falls to the rebels. Our army in Berri moves to take back Maine, as we crush rebels in Dauphiné and order our troops back to Piemonte, where 8000 soldiers will be added to the army(of 27000 soldiers) to attack Bohemia and Austria. We move to Lombardia, crushing the Bohemian army there and besieging the province, and repeatedly defeating small armies from Bohemia or Austria trying to lift the siege. July 1466, Lombardia falls to us and we move to Emilia, splitting our army in two, letting the second move to Firenze, besieging both provinces. We take back Maine. We strenghten our army there, and muster a new one in Savoie to deal with future rebels or invade Austria. The nobles ally with Brittany, causing a stability hit in Savoy. Bretagne gets back to us, and we merge both northern army into one, larger army. Guyenne revolts and we prepare to send our army in Savoie against it. We capture Firenze and move back on Lombardia, to prepare to move against Austria proper. Genoa makes peace with Bohemia, after their capital fell to them, and we take Emilia. This army moves into Lombardia, to hold against the troops of Austria and Bohemia that were in Genoa and are likely to move back there. We hold back against their onslaught, and pursue them in Tyrol, as Guyenne falls to rebel hands and we move to take it back. As well, provence is rebelling and we start mustering anew to destroy them. The offensive on Tyrol is a success, and we besiege the province, however the rebels in Guyenne drive us out. Emilia is revolting, so we muster new troops and mercenaries in Savoy, preparing for the assaults on Provence and Emilia. Our troops in Limousin move back to Guyenne and pursue the rebels in Languedoc, only to be defeated. Dauphiné and Firenze rebel. We decide to move our army north back down to crush those rebels while its still time. Our army in Savoie moves onto Emilia. We take Tirol, try to make peace with Austria, but they refuse, so we move on Salzburg. We destroy the rebels in Emilia as more rebels appear in Cévennes and Armor.

in September 1468, our stupid ally, Genoa, declares war on Georgia... the pope follows, but we decide to opt out. We have to end those wars, and end them now! We are invited in different alliances, and decide to join the Hungarian alliance with Ragusa, Siebenburgen and Croatia. Rebels in Cévennes and Firenze are destroyed, but Provence and Languedoc fall in their hands. We raise different armies to take care of the problem, two of them which move on Guyenne and Languedoc. Rebels in Dauphiné are destroyed and the army is ordered to move on Piemonte. Austria agrees to make peace and gives us Lombardia and 75 ducats. Now if we can reach a good agreement with Bohemia... Seeing the number of rebels all over, anything will do... we must have peace... They gave us 222 ducats, and we settled for peace.

The current situation:

Rebel-held provinces:
Bretagne
Guyenne
Provence
Languedoc

Provinces with rebel troops:
Bretagne
Armor
Maine
Berri
Piemonte

Our standing army:
15000 soldiers in Firenze
15000 soldiers in Firenze boarding to unload in Piemonte
12000 soldiers in Lombardia
7000 soldiers fleeing Austria
6000 soldiers in Languedoc, besieging
6500 soldiers in Guyenne, besieging
9000 soldiers in Limousin
3000 soldiers being mustered in Limousin
5000 soldiers with no morale fleeing the north rebel zone

Stability: +2

Will Savoy hold onto its provinces?

Our troops land into Piemonte, being driven back to Lombardia, where the Austria army is heading. Our fleeing army reaches Limousin. May 1469, Armor and Berri falls to rebels. Stability increases to +3. We take a bank loan and muster a mercenary army in Limousin to move north. Time is of the essence, or we will lose our conquests. We crush the rebels in Berri and besiege the province. Our army in Lombardia moves to Piemonte, crushing the rebels. We muster a 6000 strong army in Dauphiné with the purpose of besieging Provence, while our armies take Guyenne and Languedoc back. Our army in Piemonte heads toward Lyonnais, and our army in Languedoc joins the other in Guyenne. Berri falls into our hands, and the army moves on Maine while the army in Guyenne moves toward Berri. The rebels in Maine are destroyed, the army split, one portion besieging Maine while the other moves on Bretagne. Our army moving on Berri is ordered to move on Armor. Soon the rebel threat should be gone. Our army in Lyonnais moves back to the border in Lombardia. We had a boundary conflict with Hessen, which we settled.

Provinces fell one by one, until the last of them in July 1471, when our lands were rebel free. Our troops were re-arranged, deployed on our borders in Languedoc, Firenze, Maine and Lombardia.

Well, I guess I can consider this result better than before the game crashed, since it allowed me to conquer Lombardia and Sardinia, but still, it wouldn't have taken a lot to lose everything we gained in the past 60 years.

thoughts, comments?

 

[unmerged(7404)]

Originally posted by Tem_Probe
Glad you like it Depeche Mode
PS: Thanks for posting up the screenshot USA Patriot!

Thanks. I'm waiting in big impatience for your turk-screenies

Here are the requested ones:

 

[Tem_Probe]

Savoy wages war on the Austrian alliance

Reloaded the game in August 1471.

-----------------------------------------------------

Now that the rebellions were finally over, the first order of our Duke was to continue the creation of a grand navy and to install a tax collector in Sardinia, as well as to raise some troops in Languedoc to reinforce our borders. Philibert I, who rose to the throne in March 1472, similarly ordered the construction of more ships as well as additional troops to be raised in Languedoc, Firenze and Sardinia. Efforts to centralize the state were made, lowering the stability of the realm. However, all the troops and ships added to the standing army and navy severely reduced the treasury of the prosperous Savoy. In fact, half the budget was alloted to simply paying the military expenses. The Duke ordered to reduce the maintenance of the navy by half, but this did not do much of a difference, since 90% of the maintenance came from the sizeable army, which consisted of some 115000 soldiers, half of which were mounted troops. Clearly, the Duke would have to find a pretext to wage war so that he could secure more lands to support those troops, hereby reducing their maintenance. But where? Where could he fight? His only casus belli was against Bohemia, and that would imply facing the Austrian coalition again. Then again, if he could succeed at beating them, major gains could be obtained... And his allies could strike Austria from behind... yes, this sounded like a good plan. However, we had a truce with Bohemia until March 1474, and we would have to wait to see if we could fight them or not. In September 73, Champagne defected from Burgundy to France. Austria conquered Shwitz. In June 74, we repaid our last loan and the following month, declared war on Bohemia. Our allies in Hungary, Croatia and Ragusa followed us, though the traitors of Siebenburgen chose to abandon our alliance. We waited, and Austria moved on Lombardia, driving our troops out but losing most of their army in the process. Our army in Firenze was thus ordered to march on Lombardia and engage the Austrians there, through Emilia, which was currently held by the Pope. Our 24000 strong army encountered 35000 Austrians in Lombardia, but through a feat of great courage, destroyed half of their army, suffering 8000 casualties in the process, and drove them out. They were ordered to pursue the fleeing army right into Tyrol, while our army that retreated to Piemonte was ordered to march on Shwitz. The small austrian army in Shwitz was destroyed, while we drove the fleeing austrians out of Tyrol, suffering massive casualties due to attrition in the process. War taxes were raised to be able to pour troops toward the front, as our treasury was now mostly empty, in addition to augmenting the ammount of income going straight into the treasury to 35%, investing the rest in stability. In January 1475, we destroyed a small austrian army moving on Shwitz and ordered the creation of a massaive(16000/6000 strong) army in Lombardia, for the purpose of reinforcing our front. The Hungarians were doing as expected, and massive armies were pouring into the austrian borders, occupying most of their army. Of concern however, was the 35000-strong Bohemian army that appeared in Wurtemberg and moving toward our positions. They fell on our 8000 strong army in Tirol, and were promptly driven back, with us losing 2000 soldiers, them losing nearly 8000, and more to attrition. It appears that this was a newly raised army, that did not complete its training before being sent to fight.
We wouldn't be so lucky in March however, as an army of 25000 soldiers from Bavaria moved into Tirol and destroyed our army. It proceeded to move into Lombardia in June, confronting our army there and driving it out. After the battle, a diplomat of Bavaria offered us peace, and we agreed to return to status quo with them, contant to get an army or two out of the way. We likewise made peace with Luxemburg in August. Multiple battles with Austria were made to hold on to the siege in Shwitz, and they could not dislodge us. War taxes were raised again to provide us with much needed additional income. Our army in Languedoc was ordered to join the other in Piemonte, to prepare a counter on Austria. Bohemia moved an army of 29000 soldiers in Lombardia and began the siege. Our 35000 army in Piemonte was thus ordered to move on Lombardia, expecting to take a turn south after to move onto Firenze, where rebels from Siena moved into. The Bohemian army was utherly destroyed, and so was a 15000 army from Mainz that moved in right after, with our army suffering less than 7000 casualties due to heavy cavalry superiority. In January 1476, our army moved onto Firenze, as Shwitz fell to our troops. It was ordered to proceed on north, into Baden. Our army crushed the rebels in Firenze and moved back north to Lombardia to lift a siege initiated there, being beaten there. Austria tried to buy peace with some 325 ducats, but were refused their generous offer. A small austrian army in Baden was destroyed, and we began the siege.

In March 1476, the unexpected happened: A coalition made of England, Aragon and Genoa declared war on us. We negociated with Austria, and made peace in exchange for Shwitz, allowing us to focus against our other powerful neighbors.

 

[Tem_Probe]

A cruel 3 year war

At the start of the war, our standing armies were thus:
7500/7500 in Sardinia
6000/10000 in Lombardia, fleeing toward Piemonte
0/14000 in Baden, moving on Shwitz
17000/10000 in Maine
and a fleet of 5 Warships and 15 Galleys in Sardinia.

Our first move was to negociate a return to Status Quo with Bohemia, in March. Our army in Maine was split in half, and both ordered to move on Normandie where an 8000 strong English army lied. Once defeated, the other would move onto Caux, and both besiege those provinces. Our army in Baden was ordered to join the other in Piemonte to form a single grand army while we were plotting a sea invasion of Corsica with troops being raised in Firenze. The English army in Normandie was exterminated, and the armies laid siege to it and Caux while 15000 English laid siege to Berri and 15000 Castilian moved in Guyenne. We met with the Genoese fleet in the Ligurian Sea, being defeated and driven into the port of Firenze. Indeed, our navy did not have time to be fully resupplied at the beginning of the war. 8000 soldiers from Genoa moved into Lombardia, while 30000 of our soldiers were moving on Genoa from Piemonte in June. Being unable to deploy our cavalry, we were quickly defeated and forced to retreat. Our newly raised army in Firenze was likely crushed by a small army of Aragon as it landed. Our army in Piemonte moved back to Genoa while an army was being raised there to prepare an attack on Corsica. Our navy deployed back in the Ligurian Sea, crushing their navy there and blockading the ports as our army in Piemonte was ordered to board it. A large army(10000/8000) was mustered in Savoy to prepare a counter attack on Aragon. Finally, Burgundy disappeared in the mists of history, as most of its lands fell back under French dominion, with the exception of Flandres which became an Austrian port, the rest being controlled by Kleves. Berri was lost to England in November. A massive naval battle with England in the Ligurian Sea was barely won and our army ordered to land on Corsica. Guyenne fell to Aragon in January. The attack on Corsica was a success, and the siege began. Meanwhile, our army in Savoie moved to Lyonnais, where it would be reinforced with 8000 Infantry before being sent to move on Guyenne.

In April, Normandie fell to our forces, and the army there moved onto Armor where 4000 troops were being raised, to prepare for the attack on English troops in Maine. Our army in Lyonnais was ordered to move on Rousillon in May. After crushing 15000 soldiers of Aragon with little casualties, it was split in half, with the first part remaining to besiege, the second moving north on Guyenne. Again, our Duke gave orders to raise war taxes. Caux fell to our troops, and the army was ordered to join the army already in Armor. In June, Aragon seized control of Lombardia. Our army in Caux engaged English troops in Normandie, defeating them and proceeding to join the army in Armor before moving on Maine. The battle in Maine was a disaster. Our army of 25000 strong was utherly destroyed by 20000 soldiers, with the enemy losing only 2000 soldiers. Our army in Guyenne unexpectedly repulsed an attack, and troops were mustered in Cévennes for the purpose of reinforcing it. In October, Maine fell to England. We tried to appease them by offering gold, however that was to no avail. In December, Aragon successfully lifted the siege in Guyenne. Our army in Cévennes thus moved to Lyonnais, to be reinforced by newly raised troops. It was attacked on the way, but succeeded in holding against Aragon. March 1478 saw Limousin fall to Aragon. Things were beginning to look grim, for we were losing on all fronts except against Genoa, which would soon be defeated. Indeed, Corsica had fallen, and Genoa was about to fall as well. Also in March, Roussillon fell to our troops. A good news at least. It moved back on Languedoc to lift the siege, and reinforced with troops from Lyonnais, would pursue the offensive on Guyenne, while England was busy lifting our holds on Normandie: Caux had already fallen. In May, Genoa was taken, and peace was signed in exchange for Corsica and 50 ducats. Our army in Genoa thus moved north to take back Lombardia while the troops of Aragon in Guyenne were destroyed and the province besieged. Troops were raised in Savoie and Piemonte for the purpose of sea transport to Firenze. In November 1478, Aragon liberated Roussillon and the next month, Siena declared independence from the Ottomans, once again. In December, our troops were forced to retreat from a battle in Guyenne, as 30000 soldiers poured on our positions arround the fortress. By March 1479, Berri was freed by rebels, and England offered us a white peace, which we gladly accepted.

This war had ended, and even though we won it technically due to the conquest of Corsica, our Monarch was left with the bitter taste of defeat. The war with England and Aragon ended on a status quo, but Savoy's military reputation suffered: It had started the war as the premier military power in Europe and ended it with an army less than half the strenght of England's. This could not be considered a victory by our Duke.