I moved one of my armies into Hungary. Their objective is to take over Italian parts of Venice, but also to get Aquileia out of the war on their way.
I encountered the enemy in April on the shores of the Adriatic sea. My troops were severely outnumbered and instead of trying to come for my help with their 10 000 troops, the Hungarians thought it might be better to try retake Croatia instead.
The only natural option was to make a tactical retreat from the battle. It was one of those 'not-so-great' victories for their part. I marched on to Aquileia, letting Hungarians deal with their own problems.
And there will be more of that for them.
Unsurprisingly the cowardly Austrians yet again join the Hungarian-bashing. They are allied with Venice which is already at war with me so I may as well join in Hungary's defense.
The Austrians marched in masses to Pressburg - to die there of diseases, lack of food and minor clashes with the Hungarian patriots.
Austrian troops in Pressburg.
The war wouldn't last long though, there were far too little Hungarians to keep the Austrians entertained, so they peaced fast for Pressburg.
The largest of my enemies got themselves into few other wars, so persuading them to sign a white peace was not much of a challenge.
No surprise here. Everyone loves to attack Hungary once in a while. For some reason they never take more than one or two useless provinces, such as Carpathia. I guess it's just for the sheer enjoyment of of marching through Hungary and raiding every town they run into.
Unfortunately I became the alliance leader this time, so I actually might have to defeat them this time.
Meanwhile my troops had been struggling with the Aquileian army and their inhumane General. I had finally been able to retreat into Venetian territory.
They gave me almost a year to peacefully siege Treviso, until they crossed the border.
I had no chance but to agree to their terms as I couldn't afford losing these troops. With the venetian Army finally crossing into mainland Italy to face my troops I hastily signed the humiliating peace. I will remember this.
Of course the brave Venetians sent just two regiments after my armies, while the rest 11 000 stayed on their pesky little city-island, guarded by the second strongest navy in Europe. Regardless to say that the fate of these men who crossed was not a nice one.
Soon both, Milan and Ferrara, begged for white peace. I agreed, I had nothing to gain from them.
The exciting war between Venice and Byzantium would last for some more years, most of it being spent sitting on opposite beaches. For some reason my men were suffering attrition in a place like this:
Meanwhile I managed to ally Naxos in hope to diplomatically vassalise them. I put up an embassy to the recently conquered city of Athens to improve our relations. Although they were already on a good level, deeper friendship never hurts.
Elsewhere, Poland had finished off Hungarian armies and now settled for the Carpathian region. For some reason they didn't even touch the much richer Ersekujvar.
While waiting for the Venetians to either agree to my peace terms or their navy to leave the capital, I noticed that the low countries were in an interesting situation.
Flanders had broken free from either France, England or Burgundy; the first or last being my guess, and had been excommunicated by the English. Meanwhile Brabant had managed to conquer a few extra provinces. I'm sure we'll see some major conflicts in this are in the future, naturally between England and France, Brabant and Flanders working as suitable battlefields.
Suddenly something happens, the Venetian navy left somewhere!
My troops immediately cross the strait to have the final battle. It didn't take long for the Venetian troops to flee and try to make it into Treviso before their own navy would return, but it was no need for that...
...as they signed peace soon after the battle. I didn't have to finish my siege in Venice. I am quite happy of the outcome, although a bit disappointed of what happened with Aquileia. Lets take a look at our immediate surroundings and the Empire itself.
Serbia and Wallachia are both free now, but I don't view them as much of a threat, rather as something I should defend in the future. I don't want to share a border with any big European nations and after regaining all my cores I don't want to get involved in European wars - unless they own Muslim provinces.
I tried many times and failed to vassalise Naxos, so I guess they are another target, as well as the Knights. I wouldn't like to DOW any more European minors as my stability costs are quite high with all the different culture, different religion provinces.
To the north of me in Crimea; Greece has managed to declare independence. They are Orthodox so I will wait for the Golden Horde to reintegrate them. Milan also owns a piece of land there.
To the east and south we have three big Muslim powers; Persia, Mamluks and Timurids. Although there are 2-4 nations between me and actual Timurid lands, they do happen to own Erserum (the isolated reddish province in Anatolia). Mamluks are allied with Candar, so I will probably get to annex them when the next war with Mamluks brakes out.
Armenia and Georgia have managed to keep their independence so far. I can't remember whether Croatia broke free from Hungary or Poland demanded of their release, as they were free already when I signed the white peace with Poland.
The Orthodox faith is spreading nicely through my Turkish subjects. I'm wishing for Bithynia to convert soon as it is a very rich province.
