Chapter VII: Taking back what is ours
Welcome back to a new chapter today.
As said in the previous chapter, Eirene II decided to give the northern Italian provinces of Modena and Lucca to Ferrara. This will cost us no ADM and we won’t have to convert those provinces ourselves.
Diplomats were sent to the Timurids to tell them the Byzantine Empire is their competitor and official rival from now on. Let them be warned!
A happy sight here: spies reported that the integration of Austria by Great Britain was halted, because Austria has 54 liberty desire. With some luck they will not succeed at integrating them for some decades.
The Imperial Administration was updated to close the gap, which means we reached lvl 14. We can unlock our fourth idea group by now.
After some long debates with her advisors, the Basilissa decided to unlock the Aristocratic idea group. The increased coring costs for foreign aggressors, the extra manpower, extra diplomat and extra army tradition with, in the end, some reduction in MIL tech costs convinced Eirene to choose for this group.
The first idea of that group was already unlocked, reducing our cavalry costs with 10%. This is in my opinion the weakest idea of the whole group, but it’s the first one, so it’s not bad.
With some spare DIP points ready to be used, the fourth influence idea was unlocked, reducing our AE with 20%! Really helpful for later wars.
With Eirene’s position strengthening, she gave birth to a son Theodosios. He is an average heir with 4/3/0 skills.
Despite some peasants worrying again about a comet they saw, the Basilissa was able to maintain the stability in the realm.
With MIL points flooding in, our 2nd Aristocratic idea was unlocked, increasing coring costs for foreign invaders by 50%. This will strengthen our territories and make it more difficult for our rivals to take provinces which clearly belong to us.
While the Imperial army in Italy was attacking some rebels, it became clear for our neighbours that our cause is just. Our push into Italy and Turkey is justified because they once belonged to the Empire. The nations in question who own these territories naturally don’t agree with us, but we’ll teach them a lesson to show them we’re rightful owner of them.
The rivalries changed again, with the Pope and the Timurids announcing us as rivals. We’ll challenge them soon, and they will regret their move.
As a response, we announced the Pope again as our legitimate rival, which will make it easier for the Basilissa to take territories from the Pope.
Our spies operating in Moskva reported that Muscovy has declared war against the Timurids, our same rival. Muscovy for the win!
Or not… Eirene decided it would be best to jump onto Trebizond. With this move, we can expand our influence in the Caucasus and break Muscovy, since they’re an ally of Trebizond. With help from the PLC, this shouldn’t be a difficult matter.
With the Imperial armies marching for Trebizond, we received news about an uprising in British land. A country called the Netherlands declared war on them, stating that they want to be free from dictators like Great Britain. The Netherlands are a weak nation (only 2 provinces) and Great Britain is strong and with powerful friends. The Basilissa shall follow the matter, but is not very confident that they will succeed.
During the war, Eirene attended a Great Synod which was hold in Constantinople. The Patriarchs were trying to convince the Basilissa and the people of the Empire to grant more privileges to the Patriarchy. But the Empire hadn’t restored the Pentarchy yet, with vital key cities as Rome, Alexandria and Antioch needed to legitimate this decision. Therefore the matter was rejected, which pleased the people in the realm, because the Patriarchs weren't doing much to help the Basilissa reclaim those cities.
The rejection encouraged both her and the Empire to advance further beyond the current borders.
In the meantime, news reached us that the Dutch independence war was lost, and that the Netherlands had to cede Calais to Great Britain again. On the very same day, Brabant joined the Netherlands, making the OPM after the war a TPM now.
The war is going good for the Empire, while claims were made on our rivals in Pisa.
To help our armies get quicker to enemy territory, ADM tech 15 was reached. This increased the efficiency of the Military Administration and as a result unlocked the ‘Forced March’ ability for the armies.
The Netherlands keep growing peacefully, with Flanders now joining the Republic. The Netherlands also converted to the Reformed faith. I’m already hoping that big Gelre blob will join them
.
The PLC are sieging down Muscovy and have already sieged down Moskva. Holland also joined the Republic, and peace will soon be back in the Empire. But for how long though…
After a quick fight in the province of Cheboksary, it became clear for Muscovy they had lost. The diplomats were brought to Constantinople to sign a peace treaty.
Eirene knew that to restore the Roman Empire, she needed to control the former Crimean territory now owned by Genoa. Mariupol had to be ceded to the Byzantine Empire, to serve as a bridgehead for a future war against Genoa.
The DIP tech received another update now reaching lvl 15, making more ship models available to the Empire. The last remaining forts of Trebizond are also getting sieged in the Caucasus.
And when they fell, peace was signed: Trebizond ceded Trebizond, Imereti, Mingrelia, Abkhazia and Guria to us, while also becoming a vassal. They will serve as an extra loyal subject to fight for us and to core and convert the former Georgian and Timurid territory.
With a swift victory of the Imperial armies, Eirene decided the army should receive some bonusses, which meant they were given better cannons and more training which improved the quality of the armies.
She also decided that Croatia had served well as a vassal, but the Croatian territory should legally be controlled by Constantinople. They also don’t follow the true Orthodox faith, which will be fixed when the Empire takes back control of the territory.
But peace was something which cannot be true. The Basilissa had rejected the demands of the Great Synod, but only because the Empire didn’t had the authority to do such thing. Therefore, the Empire must retake the important cities of Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, now owned by the Mamluks. The number of armies are the same, but our MIL should be considered of a higher quality than the Mamlukan one.
“Boys”, Eirene shouted to the army at Ankara,
“today, we march for Cairo, but most importantly, today, we will write history! Let’s take back what is ours. Forward march!”
And while her voice echoed away across the rows and rows of soldiers, the army set off to Cairo.
The Imperial armies have never been so ecstatic when invading another country or going to war. At Sugla, the first clash between Byzantine and Mamlukan armies became a fact and the Mamluks suffered a big blow. 1-0 for the Byzantines.
The Mamluks also lost most of their fleet at the Gulf of Cyprus. New ships were ordered to replace the lost ones. The Imperial armies were marching down to Ma’an and Jerusalem after sieging the northern part of the Mamluks. The armies were even more ecstatic when they entered the former city of Antioch. Who knows how they will react if they enter Jerusalem
. 2-0 for the Byzantines.
In the meantime, Moroccan allied troops were sent in via the west, and a fight occurred at Ghazzah. The Moroccan king led the troops himself, but it didn’t help them much. They lost another battle near the end of the 5th of April, 1604 by the way (we're almost celebrating our 160th year of surviving, yay me
).
It was also that day that Jerusalem was taken back. The soldiers went mad when they entered, and it took a lot of time to cool them down. Pretty difficult task when it’s April there
… 3-0 for the Byzantines.
The joint armies of the Mamluks and Morocco went back after the defeat, only to be defeated again after a tough fight. 4-0 for the Byzantines.
After the troops in Jerusalem cooled down (near the end of November) they pushed further to the west, and defeated the enemy armies again in the battle of Gharbeyya. 5-0 for the Byzantines.
An enemy may have good quality soldiers, may have excellent generals, if they don’t have the spirit of liberating what is rightfully theirs, they won’t win.
The diplomats gathered again at Constantinople, and the Mamluks ceded Tarabulus al-Sham, Tadmor, Hamah, Sayda and Antakiya to the Byzantine Empire. Eirene, the Patriarchy and the Byzantine people were happy: the first sacred city was back in Byzantine hands.
Life is good in the Byzantine Empire
.
