Game notes: 1520 - 1546
With a lovely Gift to the State of 200 ducats I returned to the task of strengthening the Mombasa Navy to a level capable of mounting an invasion of Zanzibar. I’d been impressed at the performance of my all-cavalry armies against the Ethiopians and estimated that the 31000 defenders might just be dislodged by 12000 cavalry. Twelve galleys were therefore prepared, then my cavalry were increased to the required strength. In September 1522 all was ready, and with the cavalry already boarded on the ships I declared war (yup, once more without a CB I’m afraid...) It didn’t take long for my cavalry to get ashore, and then came the moment of truth...
The Charge of the Striped Brigade
(with sincere apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson)
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All on the beach of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Striped Brigade!
"Charge the baboons!" he said:
Onto the beach of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Striped Brigade!"
What creature was dismay'd?
Not tho' the zebras knew
Someone had blunder’d:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Onto the beach of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Baboons to right of them,
Baboons to left of them,
Baboons in front of them
Hooted and thunder’d;
Storm'd at with sand and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Brown shields with silver moons,
Flash'd as they crossed the dunes,
Stomping on those baboons,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged on the island’s shore
Right thro' the apes they tore;
Gibbon and mandrill
Reel'd from the zebras’ roar
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
They would return no more
Those brave six hundred.
Baboons to right of them,
Baboons to left of them,
Baboons behind them
Hooted and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with sand and shell,
While each striped hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Striped Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
(Please note: no animals were harmed in the making of this update.)
Well, six hundred would not have done the job I fear, but happily twelve thousand managed it, leaving 50% of their number dead on the beaches. From then on it was just a question of time. The rest of the war was hampered by revolts in Lindi and Malindi, although the latter was a result of a “Conversion by the Sword” event, turning the province back to Sunni, so that was definitely worth the trouble. In January 1525 Zanzibar was finally captured and just over a year later, in March 1526, Rufiji fell and Kilwa were forced to hand over their big fat CoT. Hooray!
A few months later Yemen declared war on Ethiopia again, and I joined in, however my army was currently divided between quelling occasional revolts on Zanzibar and trying to recapture Lindi. By the time they could head north to join the fun the insolent Ethiopians had grabbed Ogaden. I was just preparing to wrest it back from them when the witless Yemenis made peace, paying 54 ducats in indemnities and handing Afars back to Ethiopia. Well at least it gave me the hope of grabbing (Sunni) Afars for myself at some point in the future.
Yemen declared war on the Ethiopians yet again in 1534, and this time things went much better. I captured Harerge in April 1535, and was making good progress against Arsi when the Yemenis once again made peace a little prematurely, in February 1536. At least this time they took 143 ducats from Ethiopia, to be shared between them, us, Egypt and Khorasan.
In 1536 I decided to tidy things up and annex Kilwa for good. No CB, as usual, but it had never stopped me before. The siege of Rufiji lasted eight months and in August 1537 I took control of the last remaining Swahili province, taking my BB score to around 22.
Meanwhile what was I doing with all that extra money I was raking in? Well, promoting tax collectors, establishing and expanding a colony in Galana province (copper-producing), rebuilding my trading post in Morogoro which a stray Kilwan army had managed to burn down, and investing in land tech, trade and infra. So by 1546 Mombasa looked like this:
Compare with the other Big White Blob at the same scale:
I have now have fifteen provinces, compared with Austria’s seventeen. I am #9 in the VP table with 413, while Austria are at #2 with 697. I am now seriously wondering if I can go for the whole of Africa by 1819 - there’s quite a way to go, but I like it as a goal to aim for at least.
Other items of interest - inflation is at 55%, manpower at 7, supportable army 16000, monthly income 18.1 and bad boy 19.8.