Lots of pictures, more storytelling - less timeline this time, although the story will strictly follow in game events. I have never played a huge pangea map before, so for this game I reduced the difficulty back to emperor. I am interested to see what the impact of 15 AI able to trade with each other has on play of the game. Because the map settings are so huge, I chose a civ with a fast UU, and I also wanted the expansionist trait. The mongols also are militaristic which will fit in nicely with my intentions for the game ie war, war and more war! Don't expect this one to last until the modern age.

The mongol UU, the Keshik is not penalised by terrain. However, given my other map settings, this will be unlikely to play a malor factor, so really we just have a cheaper knight that is less useful on defense.

The game parameters chosen were:
Roaming barbarians
Wet climate
pangea landmass
huge mapsize
emperor difficulty
ocean coverage 60% (min)
temperate temperature
5 billion year old world
World seed 80610716 (if anyone wants to try this at home)

Rather than writing as I play, for this one I will write up chapters after playing through a worthwhile section. Hopefully, there will be less typos too!

Yay :D Sandman is doing another story :D

Looking forward to it, definitely :)

Chapter One: The Age of Plenty

Subtitle: The founding of the ten cities

Little is known of the pre-history of the mighty, and somewhat belligerent, Mongolian people. It is known that before around 4000BC, the Mongols were a Nomadic people – hunter gatherers living off the spoils of the land, but never outstaying there welcome and always moving on. What is known, is that it was the first great Khan who changed all of this, although his reasons for ending this nomadic lifestyle and settling down remain a mystery. Perhaps he had simply grown tired of this endless trekking, or perhaps that great drive that was to later power the Mongol nation led him to realise his great ambition required a permanent base of operations.

Another question for the historians concerns the location of Karakorum. In retrospect it hardly seemed an ideal location for the people at the time, for most historians are agreed that the most important commodity for early civilisation was ready access to abundant food, yet while Karakorum was founded by a massive fresh water river, and near highly productive grasslands, it was hardly the most ideal location from a food perspective. In fact, as we now know, had these early Mongols followed the river to its source, they would have found cattle in abundance and this would have led to a much faster growth curve for the tribe. However, as we now also know, the highly productive nature of the location became very important in the future development of the empire. Perhaps the great Khan actually had the foresight to realise this at the time. Who can truly say? It is not easy to speculate on the workings of the mind of one so great!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/SMM1.jpg
The Great Khan leading the Nomadic Mongols to the site of Karakorum

We do know that the Mongols settled Karakorum circa 4000BC by the great river, and the river was soon renamed The River Khan. The original name of the river has since been lost in the mists of time.

The Great Khan knew that knowledge is power, and so was determined to learn all there was to know about the surrounding terrain. And so he sent out scouts in all directions with orders to continue to the ends of the earth and to send back all knowledge so as to ensure the power of the Khan empire over all the surrounding barbaric tribes.

Such was the awe and respect shown to the Great Khan that soon after the founding of the first city, another nomadic tribe pledged total loyalty to the Mongols and was guided by the first scout to the source of the River Khan, and that abundant supply of cattle. So in truth, the Mongols benefited from this resource in any event.

This second city was also blessed with the presence of another beast. This one huge in stature and sporting mighty tusks of ivory. At first the new Mongolian settlers knew not what to make of these beasts, but they soon learned that those ivory tusks had many uses, and so spurred the economy and the happiness of the Mongolian empire on to new heights.

The Age of plenty was so named, because there seemed plenty to go around for all. Land extended to the west as far as the eye could see. The scouts who headed in that direction came upon a massive mountain chain effectively diving the world in two. This chain became known as the Great Dividing Range. Beyond it the world again extended seemingly forever, with vast areas of lush but uninhabited land. So there was plenty to go around abroad, and at home.

The Khan settled down and fostered 9 children. To each of the nine the Khan entrusted with the founding of a new city. The first born was entrusted with the keys to Karakorum, and the leader of the other nomadic tribe was adopted as the Great Khan’s tenth sibling. And so the ten cities were founded.

The founding of these cities brought new resources into the realm of the Khan. Wines to the south added to the peoples joy. Iron in the mountain by Ta-Tu, and no less than three sources of horses. (Though we will return to them in a minute).
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Small_map1000BC.jpg
Mongolian Empire circa 1000BC

As the scouts uncovered yet more territory they encountered other tribes that had decided to leave behind the nomadic ways as well. However, there was to be no repeat of the early pledge of allegiance to the Great Khan. No these other tribes sought self determination. As this was the Age of Plenty, and there really was large areas of space to go around, the Great Khan gave the matter little initial concern. For, in any event, these so called self-determinists offered numerous opportunites for mutual improvement through the trading of knowledge and goods. And so, the Great Khan empowered his many scouts to act as diplomats and trade the technical know how of the Mongol people in return for secrets of value or gold from these numerous other tribes.

In succession the scouts reported back the meetings with these new tribes: the Mayans to the immediate west, the Greeks in the far South, the Indians to the North East, the Russians directly north, the Chinese to the north of the Russians, the Americans to the northwest of the Russians and the Byzantines in what appears to be the north east corner of the world. But it did not stop there. At the foot of the huge Great Dividing Range were a militant people known as the Japanese locked in battle with the seafaring Portuguese. And beyond that great range there were still more tribes: Romans, Babylonians and Scandinavians. And more besides! The scouts met a warrior belonging to a tribe known as the Germans. It was not known at the time whether these Germans were but another nomadic tribe, or whether they too shared this self determination dream. Though the Mongols latter learned that they were not to be trusted.

The scouts had trekked for 3000 years, unearthing these many other tribes, and yet they heard of still more tribes in the yet unexplored northern regions of the western side of the Great Dividing Range. So after even 3000 years the scouts mission continues…

The mission of the scouts had been two-fold. The successes in meeting these other tribes were matched with their ability to trade in technology, thus greatly accelerating what the Great Khan’s own sages could accomplish by themselves. We know that by 1000BC the Mongols had almost complete knowledge of those technologies referred to as Ancient technologies. They missed only the secrets of construction, currency, the republic and monarchy.

It was also during this time that a major scam was unearthed amongst the sages. It turned out that research on the secret of philosophy had been delayed for many years past the original due date, so that when the secret was finally unveiled to the Mongol people, the much heralded leap in technology did not occur. In fact it turned out to be historic knowledge by the time the Mongols finally uncovered the secret. Apparently the scandal involved some intended pre-discovery barter for the knowledge of a code of laws, but this knowledge failed to materialise until after the philosophy was known by others. So the scandal cost the Mongols an early leap into the government of a republic. The Great Khan was not pleased. The guilty sages were tried and imprisoned for their unauthorised gambling on the future of the Mongol state.
The World at 1000BC (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World1000BC.jpg)

And now we shall return to those horses. The horse was the ultimate resource of power in the eyes of the Great Khan, and yet those neighbouring tribes were seeking to take such resources for themselves. In the far north, the Russians secured the herd by Yakutsk. In the south the Mayans snatched control of the herd closest to Karakorum. The third source was seized by the Khan’s ninth born when he founded Dalandzagad. However it would be some time before a suitable economic connection to the rest of the Khan’s empire was established. So, no the sleight on the honour of the Khan had already been committed by the nations to the north and to the west, and this could not be tolerated.

This sleight led almost certainly to the end of the Age of Plenty and heralded in a new age, the Age of the Sword!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/m_horseman.jpg
Mongolian Herdsman in action

Woohoo! Good luck Sandman, read your first stories and couldn't wait for the next one. I'm liking the new Daftpanzer-esque story as well. Your starting position, going by that world map, though, doesn't look like the greatest, surrounded on all sides with all that open land out to the west :(

Your starting position, going by that world map, though, doesn't look like the greatest, surrounded on all sides with all that open land out to the west :(
Yes, with all that land, and this is truly the biggest map I have ever played on, that is empty, why is it that the AI needs to congregate around the Khan so much? On the other hand, it makes for a cheap alternative to a settler pump....

Very nice. Quick start so soon after your last SG, but that's good! Keep at it, I shall be lurking often and commenting on occasion.

Excellent start Sandman. I see that you've started next to India and Maya. Keep in mind that all Gandhi and Smoke-Jaguar wants is peace. ;)

Welcome back onboard T-Money. GR8MadMax, you can't fool me. I have read Indian summer, so I know Ghandi's true intentions! I am yet to find out about Smokey's, but I will say this. Ghandi does not become the first victim of the Khan, and he may well not be the second, and actually he starts in an even worse position than the Mongols. As for Smoke-Jaguar, well that would be telling, wouldn't it?

Aggh! I was tricked into thinking you left and update when I saw your name next to the thread! Noooooooooooooooooooo.........Now I don't know what to do.

Chapter Two:The Seeds of War

Subtitle: The Horse Wars

At the turn of the millennium, the Mayans were claiming the herd of horses by Ulaanbaatar as their own. The fact that these animals were closer to Ulaanbaatar, and even more importantly were the sacred instrument of the Mongol people meant little to the heathen Smoke-Jaguar..

War did not break out immediately. The Great Khan earnt his title, and it was not awarded for foolishness. Given the future military preparedness of the Mongol hordes, it may came as some surprise to the reader that the military force at this time was in fact quite weak. The Greta Khan had at his disposal only 800 poorly equipped warriors, and a further 200 of the better equipped defensive spearmen. It turned out that the iron source at Mount Tat-Tu had not been accessed at that point, and it would in fact be a further 150 years before this resource was available to him.

The Khan spent this time well. In 975BC, the Khan’s first grandchild founded Cloybalsan. 975BC also heralded the time when the 14th tribe was located on the far western perimeter of the world. The tribe had nothing of value ot offer to the Mongols, however. Further cities were founded in 950BC (Erdenet), in 850BC (Tsetserleg) and in 775BC (Baruun Urt).

Trade continued to blossom with his neighbours. In what seemed a most surprising move, first China, then Russia sold their own people into a life of slavery in exchange for the slowly dating technology philosophy. The Khan could not understand a people who had so little pride in their own that they could commit them to such a life, but he was more than prepared to take advantage of it.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/mongol2.jpg
The cherished resource so tantalizingly close, and yet so far

The event that sparked the Khan into action was the Japanese declaring war on the Mayans in 875BC. This drew much of the Mayan forces off to the south west. In doing so, the eastern Mayan cities, that is to say the ones nearest to the Khan, became relatively more weakly defended. The timing could not have been more perfect if the Khan had planned it all out himself, and perhaps in fact he did. Only 25 years later the iron resource came on line, and allowed for the immediate upgrade of 1000 foot soldiers forming 10 regiments of the powerful swordsmen units. While these soldiers were not the Khan’s preferred means of taking the battle to his enemies, the engineering feat required to access the horse supply by Dalandzadgad was still many centuries from completion.

These new soldiers were rebased out of Ulaanbaatar, just to the north of the horses, and the offending Mayan city of Tikal. With 1000 troops and more on the way, the Khan felt confident that the time to liberate the horses was now. So in 730BC the Mayan diplomat was called before the Khan. It had come to the Khan’s attention that Mayan workers were trespassing upon sacred Mongol territory, so the Mayans were invited to remove these trespassers immediately, or offered the opportunity to declare war. This was in fact a test of the Mayan resolve. The Great Khan had no interest in peace; he merely wished to know what sort of mettle these Mayans would provide in battle.

The weak concession to his demands was all the Khan needed to hear. Suspecting weakness in his enemy, the Khan immediately made a declaration of war and ordered the advance on Tikal. A force of 1000 men started the advance. It consisted of 900 of the well equipped swordsmen, backed up by 100 of the heavily armoured spearmen.

The Battle of Tikal occurred in 710BC, and will be remembered as one of the bloodiest battles of the whole war on both sides on the conflict. Before it was over 400 Mayans and 300 Mongols were left dead in the battlefield. The Mayans lost equal numbers of spearmen and javelin throwers, while the Mongols lost swordsmen. But despite being bloody, the battle was a complete success for the Khan. The town of Tikal and the horse herd held in its thrall both entered the possessions of the Mongols.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Battle_Tikal.jpg
The Battle of Tikal

To die in battle is no dishonour within a warrior clan, and so there was much rejoicing across the Mongol empire at the news, and an expectant audience eagerly awaited more. They were not to be left waiting for long. The Mayans proved to have more battle mettle than their early weak concession seemed to imply for in 690BC they launched a surprise attack on the town of Dalandzadgad.

Dalandzadgad was the chosen site for the founding of a town by the Khan’s ninth born. It had the defensive advantage of being located on a hill. It had access to freshwater as it was by the western source of the River Khan, and best of all a herd of the sacred horses. But the Khan saw through these advantages to the weaknesses of the site. It was very isolated from the core of Mongolia, blocked by both the Mandalgovi Marshes, and the Russian city of Yaroslav. It was also dangersously close to the then potential enemy of the Mayans. In the Khan’s mind these things outweighed its positives, but the ninth born was not to be moved in his determination, and so the city was founded.

True to form, the Khan’s fears were realised. The town was only garrisoned by 100 lightly armed warriors at the onset of war. Isolated as it was, it was not possible to get reinforcements through to the town in time. So that when the Mayan horse regiments gathered within sight of the town, it was already too late. Two hundred horse borne soldiers attacked the light defences. The Mongols were fiercely loyal however, and were able to repulse the first full regiment of horses at the cities gates. But this fierce spirit was insufficient against the superior numbers and better equipment of the enemy, and so inevitably the town fell into Mayan hands.

However, the Khan would have his revenge. As the damaged Mayan horse regiment retreated into the Mayan Mountain Range, it was tracked by Mongol spies. As soon as the new Mongol horse regiments were formed, one pursued the enemy into the mountains and slaughtered the troop down to the last man. The message was clear – do not cross the Khan!

Smoke-Jaguar’s favourite past-time was to take his bong into the depths of the Tikal forests. And yet, after the terrible toll he his forces had already taken in this war with the Mongols, he found that he was no longer able to find solice in this activity. On the advice of his trusted council, Smoke-Jaguar approached the Greek ambassador and proposed a joint action against the Mongols. Alexander was only too willing to join in the action and so immediately delivered a war declaration to the Khan.

This new development in the war was not well received by the Khan. The conflict was between the Mongols and the Mayans. It was dishonourable to bring others into this private dispute. However, this action truly presented a danger to the Mongolian empire because the Greeks had their fanatical hoplite defenders, and the Khan had no wish for a war on two fronts. Thus the Khan took action. The militant Japanese were located directly on the other side of both the Greeks and the Mayans, so for the price of a mutual alliance against the Mayans, the Japanese agreed also to take the war to the Greeks. For good measure the Khan brought the Portuguese into the conflict against the Greeks as well, although it was rumoured that a substantial amount of gold was required to gain the Portuguese commitment.

It should be noted that there were other important events occurring around the world at this time, beyond the grisly conflict between Mongol and Maya. First the tribe called the Babylonians completed a structure known as the Great Library that promised to keep them at the forefront of technical know-how for some time to come. Second, the Khan’s scouts were still hard at work peeling back the fog of war. In 650BC contact was at last made with the tribe called the Netherlands, though this tribe had no relevant secrets to trade for. This brought the known tribes of significance to a staggering 15.

The militant citizens of Mongolia greeted the news of the expanded conflict warmly. As a deserving tribute to the Great Khan, a magnificent two story palace was erected in his honour.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Palace.jpg
The new Palace

It was at this time also that the Mayans launched their assault on the town of Baruun-Urt. 100 Javelin throwers stormed the gates of the town, but were unable to breech the 100-strong spearmen defense found there. For some reason known best to Smoke-Jaguar, a further regiment of javelin throwers stayed fortified within Mongol territory and within range of Baruun-Urt. Perhaps the one sided defeat of their comrades made them see another side to valour, or perhaps that true concessionary nature of the weak Mayan civilisation had finally come to the fore on the battlefield.

630BC also saw another bloody sword battle at the Mayan town of Copan. The Khan was rushing horse units into the battle, but they had quite some distance to travel to reach the front lines. In the meantime, the slower sword units still had plenty of fight left to offer the Mongols. In another victorious Mongolian assault, a further 200 swordsmen gave their life to the cause, while the enemy lost 200 javelin throwers and 100 spearmen. Another Mayan javelin regiment encountered the advancing Mongolian horses, but the battle was inconclusive.

Over the next few decades the action in the war shifted to the south around the Mongol town of Baruun-Urt, and the Mayan town of Yaxchilan. It was here that the Mayan losses continued to mount. A further three hundred javelin throwers and two hundred spears died in and around this conflict, while the Mongols lost just 100 horsemen. Such was the ferocity of this conflict that there was nothing left of the town of Yaxchilan when the dust finally cleared.

Mongol troops were now advancing to the very heart of the Mayan empire, the capital Chicken Itza was now clearly in their sights.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/War.jpg
On the way to Chicken Itza, important events were happening at home, and abroad. First the poor excuse for soldiers, Portuguese, pulled out of the conflict with Greece early. Second, an exchange of technology with the Chinese saw the Mongols learn the secrets of Construction. There remained but one technology keeping the empire in the realm of the Ancient techs. About this time also, the Indian ruler, Ghandi stupidly thought that the Great Khan would be distracted by the ongoing warring, and that he could use the opportunity to try and sneak settler caravans through the sacred territory of the Khan. This blatant act was right on the back door of the Khan himself and certainly did not go unnoticed. The Indians were immediately brought before the Khan, reprimanded for this stupidity and given just one chance to withdraw their offending caravans. Naturally, the weak Indians complied with this demand.

On the eve of the mighty battle for Chicken-Itza, a Mayan warrior regiment was attacked by Erdenet, and a regiment of javelin throwers on their way to reinforce Chicken-Itza was cut down by a Mongol horse regiment.

Finally, the day had come. It was 510BC. This battle was to be a combined force of 200 swords and 400 horsemen, lined up against the weakening Mayan defence. Even before the attack horn was sounded, units were seen escaping from the doomed city to maybe disband, or maybe fight another day. Perhaps they had actually overestimated the full siz of the attack, because in the end all 600 men were deployed against the city, and while the Mongols suffered no significant loss, the defence of 200 spearmen and 200 javelin throwers was cut to shreds in the attack. Finally the mighty city that was the heart of Smoke Jaguar’s power was seized from his grasp. With it, the structure that was the pride of the Mayan nation, the Oracle, fell into the hands of the Mongol hordes. It was also decisive in another respect. For with the loss of this town, the Mayans no longer had a cohesive empire. The Mayan empire was now disjoint and all but sure to collapse within the near future.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Chicken_Itza.jpg
And what of the Japanese and the Greeks? Well some commemtators doubt that their hearts were really in the fight. There were skirmishes near Nagoya over a substantial period of time, but neither side gained any ascendency in this matter, in spite of committing a steady stream of troops to the front.

This is good. I'm looking forward to more :)

This is good. I'm looking forward to more :)
Very well, more coming. This next chapter is going to be split over two posts, as it doesn't look like it will fit into one.

Chapter Three: Going, Going …

Subtitle: Genocide for the Maya?

With the fall of the once proud capital, Chicken Itza, there came a lull in the fighting. Genocide was not the intention of the great Khan, for let’s be clear about one thing. This war was always about the horses. Horses to the Mongols were sacred. It was upon the backs of these majestic creatures that the Mongols would ride to their great destiny, and so it was essential to protect the herds of horses across the land from the infidel. The Mayans had little respect for the sacred animals, and little appreciation for their use in battle. It had cost them dearly.

The Great Khan looked upon a map of the splintered Mayan empire, and he decided that it was enough. The horses were now in the control of the Mongols, the Mayans had been severely weakened, and would pose no serious threat to the Mongols for the foreseeable future. There was no need to trample on his enemies’ graves. And so the Great Khan sent for his Japanese ally, with the intention of mutually agreeing to end their crusade against the Maya early.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Broken.jpg
The broken empire of the Maya

The Japanese ambassador arrived with due pomp and ceremony, and warmly greeted the Khan as his ally and friend. But the Japanese would hear none of this talk of ending the conflict. Even the prospect of further cutting up the Mayan lands in tribute to the Japanese and to the Mongols was insufficient to waiver the Japanese. This militant people wanted nothing less than the complete destruction of both the Greeks and the Mayans, and they were determined to hold the Khan to the letter of his agreement to a military alliance.

The Khan knew then that one day soon there would need to be a reckoning between these militant Japanese and the great Mongol people, but clearly now was not the time. The Khan was definitely smart enough to realise that it simply was not worth tarnishing the trade reputation of the Mongols to save the Mayans. As for the Greeks, well they had been remarkably quite since the onset of hostilities. And so it was, the campaign against the Mayans was to continue for another 280 years.

Thus the second phase of the great conflict came into being. This time though it was a very one sided affair. Aside from local garrisons in the remaining towns and the occasional regiment caught out alone, there seemed to be little coordinated resistance for the Mongols to deal with. That is not to say that the remaining defenders were to be pushovers, far from it. The remaining forces of the Mayans proved every bit as loyal to their country, as the fierce warriors of the Mongols were to theirs. And so the continuing battles remained bloody on both sides.

The resumption of battle came in 490BC when two regiments of Mayan javelin throwers tried to stage a daring rescue of their recently conquered capital. But it was to be a vain attempt, as Mongolian swordsmen ambushed them and totally devastated this last Mayan hope. Another Mayan javelin regiment was caught north of Copan and dealt with equally savagely. If the Khan was reluctant to exterminate the Mayan people, none of this reluctance filtered down to his troops.

While this conflict continued, the rest of the world was not standing still. In the north, the Chinese were aggressively extending their lands even in to poor tundra areas in an effort to exert more global influence. The Dutch completed a vast structure they called the Great Lighthouse. This was supposed to confer the Dutch with substantial benefits for their sea borne vessels, but as it had little to do with horses and the power of the land, the Great Khan was unimpressed by the news. Perhaps the Dutch found that the Incans had effectively cut off their further land expansion, and so sought alternate avenues via the sea.

Elsewhere, the Romans were rapidly expanding eastwards, so that an inevitable conflict between them and the Portugese was looming. Not to be outdone, the Babylonians were equally aggressive in their eastern expansion. On the other coast, the Byzantines were going from strength to strength whilst maintaining their domination of the east coast line.

By Chicken Itza, the Khan brought together 800 of his finest horsemen to start the march west towards the Mayan holdings of Palenque and Lagertero. At the same time he reconstructed the destroyed city of Yaxchilan, but renamed it after a proud Mongol name, Ereen. Ereen was the commander of the Mongol horse battalion descending on the hapless defenders of Palenque.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/mongolhorde.jpg
The Charge on Palenque

In the ensuing melee the death toll was large. 400 loyal Mayan soldiers perished that day comprising 3 spear regiments and a javelin regiment. They did not go down without inflicting some losses on their Mongol persecutors, however, and fully 100 horsemen also perished. The battle was so fierce that scarcely a viable structure was left standing in the city, and so all this conflict was but for a pile of rubble.

Finally in 410BC, the Greeks sent out regiments of their staunch hoplites into the northern battle zone as a show of strength. The Khan’s field commanders knew that these troops were feeble in an attack, but ruthlessly determined when confronted and able to adopt a defensive posture. The best way to defeat such forces was to lure them into making a careless attack. So for now the units were left alone.

More ill coordinated Mayan units were caught out by the Mongols and slaughtered just north of Copan. A javelin regiment fell to a Mongol sword attack, and one of the few Mayan horse regiments was attacked and destroyed by a Mongol horse unit. Perhaps it was the finer appreciation that the Mongols had for the animals that lead to such a convincing victory over the foes mounted unit.

It was at this time also that the ever observant Mongols detected a stealthy Mayan spear regiment that had taken to the Tikal forest in an attempt to outflank the advancing Mongol units. With the resistance totally crushed in Copan, and no other units available to deal with this imprudence, the sword garrison of Copan itself, led the charge, and decimated this spear regiment.

Ereen’s horse battalion had reached Lagertero, the furthest west town of the Mayan civilisation. The advance guard of three regiments decided to introduce themselves in the only way a Mongol knows how. This initial charge was a little ill advised, however, and though it cost the enemy a javelin regiment and a spear regiment, the attack was repulsed with the loss of 100 horsemen. A second charge was also repulsed without taking the city. Meanwhile inside the city, the level of hardship was huge. In a very desperate attempt at survival, a new spear regiment was rushed into service even though it cost the lives of many of the citizens that it was meant to protect!

Finally, Ereen himself arrived at the battle scene. He called an immediate halt to proceedings while the Mongol forces could gather in numbers. The final charge was held off until 350BC, by which time the defenders of Lagertero were out of answers. In another devastating blow to the Maya, the city was razed to the ground.

In 370BC, the reason for the Greek show of force became apparent. A secret delegation from Alexander arrived at the Khan’s Palace. Even though they were locked in a military alliance with the Mayans, these people of ill moral standing desired an immediate end to the conflict, so that both nations could go about their proper business in peace. The Khan rejected this offer out of hand. The Greeks were clearly a people of low character if they were unwilling to stick to the terms of their alliance, even if their partner in that alliance was suffering what appeared to be an imminent extinction. Furthermore, to this point in the Greek conflict, the Greeks had been no threat whatsoever.

As if to make their presence felt, the Greek Hoplite regiment sought out a slave worker gang and butchered every last one of the defenceless people. Such an unprovoked attack on harmless civilians did not go unnoticed by the Khan. Though the time for a major offensive against the Greeks was not quite yet, it surely could not be far away.

In world affairs, it came to the Khan’s attention that the small nation of the Dutch had actually mastered the technology of deploying a representative government. The Khan was intrigued to know more, but the Dutch were unwilling to make a trade. The ongoing activities of the Khan’s many scouts have also started to raise the ire of the nations through which they travel. The latest is the Chinese. As they rapidly push their borders out in a massive land grab, it appears that they wish the full extent of this drive to go unnoticed by the rest of the world, because they order the Khan’s emissary from their territory. The Byzantines likewise demand that the Mongol navigators who were mapping the continental coastline, also immediately depart from their territory.

In a further blow to the Khan’s pride, the Russians see an opportunity to gain an upper hand on the Khan while his attention is divided on wars on other fronts, and have the gall to make a cash demand from the Khan.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/russian_treachery.jpg

The Khan did not respond well to threats and so sent Catherine her messenger’s head as his answer. This resulted in war, and an opportunistic spear regiment of the Russian army seizing control of the ungarrisoned first tier town of Mandalgovi!

And this was not to be the end of the bad news for the Khan. Just as he was calling on his military advisor to council, his military advisor was seeking the council of the Khan. He was the bearer of more bad news.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/barbs1.jpg

Very nice. Keep it coming!

BTW, I like the fact that you kept the start you got. Personally, I like a much wetter start with a lot of grass and forest, but I think it improves the quality of a SG when the author keeps the original start.

Chapter Three continued

The second part of the Mongols offensixe against the Maya was the drive north of Copan to the town of Dalandzadgad. This was known as operation liberation since the town was one of the original ten founded by the Mongols a millennia ago. This offensive reached the foot of the Dalandzadgad hill in early 370BC. In spite of the bonus offered to defenders by the presence of the hill here, the Mongols were undeterred. This was the opportunity to liberate their fellow countrymen.

The force consisted of two sword regiments and four horse regiments. It was felt that with the natural defences of the town, the greater attack capability of the sword regiments would be a bonus worth waiting for. As it turned out, the swords performed no better than the sacred horse units, and in a very bloody battle, the battlefield was left littered with the bodies of two hundred Mongols in equal numbers from the horse and sword regiments, and 300 Mayan spearmen. Once again, the ferocity of the battle proved too much for the fragile township, and it was consumed in the event.

The loss of one of the original ten cities, now forever beyond his control, was a cruel blow to the Khan, but he vowed to resettle the area as soon as the current Mayan menace had been put to rest.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Mayan_War_II.jpg
The second phase of the Mayan Campaign

From Dalandzadgad, the northern forces moved to the town of Bonampak. Here another regiment of javelin throwers is attacked, but this time, the Mayans manage to take equal lives from the Mongol horsemen. The defenders at Bonampak are unable to provide such effective resistance, however, and are slaughtered by the attacking swords.

In other international affairs, it seems more civilisations have been involved in massive engineering efforts. If only they appreciated that the only human endeavours worth savouring are those created on the battlefield! First the Inca completed the Temple of Artemis, then the Portuguese built the very useful military wonder, the Statue of Zeus.

And this was not all! Trade opportunities opened up for the Khan. The technology of Construction and a bribe of 697 gold was finally enough to entice the Dutch people to part with their knowledge of representative government form. This technology was then able to get the advanced form of barter available through the use of currency and 702 gold off the Babylonians. And it would seem that the Dutch had no concept of this trading mechanism, so when offered it, they willingly returned 535 of the gold recently traded to them.

Some of the new age technologies are now available as well it seems. Some of the more scientifically minded civilisations have already mastered the secrets of several of these so called middle ages technologies. In particular it seems that both Babylon and Germany have mastered a technique for enabling rapid crossings of waterways, and of limiting deity worship to a single entity. It is hard to fathom exactly what value the latter concept offers, but it seems these tribes are unwilling to part with the knowledge in any event. Furthermore, it seems that the Byzantines have mastered this concept called feudalism which offers superior foot soldiers and another new form of governing. Whilst it is true that the Khan is seeking to forsake the foot borne soldier in favour of the sacred horse delivered soldier, it seems likely that these techniques could be adapted over time to yield a superior mounted soldier as well.

The Khan was intrigued, especially with the possibility of enhancing his mounted troops. However, it seemed unlikely that these tribes were willing to part with this knowledge at this time, and the more pressing business of battles on three fronts demanded his attention.

290BC provided the first opportunity to strike back at the Russian terrorists in Mandalgovi. However, in his haste to regain this important town for the Khan, the field commander attacked without sufficient forces in the area, and across the Khan River. The horse regiment survived the attack, but was repulsed at the gates. It became obvious, though that these Russian terrorists were not above the same level of treachery used by the Mayans, albeit this time they applied it to the Mongolian citizens. In the Russians haste to strengthen the towns defences the citizens were severely beaten to force extreme work out of them. This process resulted in the loss of much Mongolian life, further infuriating the Khan.

In the west a new Mongolian settlement of Batshireet was founded on the former site of the Mayan town, Palenque. It was at this time that a barbaric tribe called the Minoans had decided to claim the area as their own. What this tribe lacked in skill, it made up for in zealous numbers. Two forces of four hundred strong Minoans rode towards this new settlement from both sides.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/barb_threat.jpg
The Mongolian forces in the area throw themselves at this new threat with gusto, and in the opening melee wipe out around 200 of this new enemy. However, they are unable to stop the remaining two hundred of this western group from assaulting the gates of Batshireet. Fortunately the Mongol spear regiment is equal to the task and dispenses with the threat.

The other four hundred Minoans attempt a flanking manoeuvre on the Mongol horsemen, but a further three hundred die to the Mongolian counterattack. As if these Minoans had no thought for their fallen comrades, the force is reinforced with a further four hundred mounted soldiers and one hundred foot soldiers.

The attack on Lazapa started in the year 290BC, and again the Mongols were to find a determined defence. The siege lasted 20 years, during which time the Mayans lost a further three regiments of spearmen, and the town itself, while the final charge was undertaken by weakened forces who were retreated twice.

The action at Quingua was perhaps a turning point in the conflict for the benefit of the Mayans. It happened in 270BC that the attack was called. Four hundred horsemen besieged the town, but in a bloody battle, the Mongols were repulsed, leaving 100 horsemen dead. Though 100 Mayan spearmen also died that day, it was a victory of sorts for the Mayans and may have played some part in the Khan’s future leniency with the Mayans.

On the Russian front, Catherine continued her attempts at westward expansion of her empire even though in a wartime state with the Mongols. So it was it 250BC that the first such settler caravan was attacked and enslaved by the Khan’s forces,, slaughtering a spear regiment in the process. But still other caravans followed. Perhaps this was Catherine’s way of trying to gain favour, by offering these gifts of slave workers to the Khan’s empire!

The thorn in the goodwill was of course the continued possession of the town of Mandalgovi. So the Khan launched repeated attacks at this seeming fortress to wrest control back where it right fully belonged. A further horse regiment perished, but took a Russian spear regiment with it. It was not until 230BC, that the Khan was able to launch the final liberating assault, killing the remaining Russian spear regiment, and reclaiming Mandalgovi for the Mongols.

Russian sword regiments were also seen in the border regions around Moscow. It was decided that it was finally time to see if the conscripted sword regiment from a tribe that willingly joined the Khan, were able to offer up some value, and so they were deployed against one such Russian regiment. To the surprise of all, the conscripts prevailed, and were promoted to regular due to their increased battle experience.

230BC also heralded in the end of the military alliance with Japan against the Greeks and the Mayans. The Khan saw no point continuing the phoney war with the Greeks, and so they were granted peace for the contents of their treasury – a mere 17 gold. As for the Mayans, the Khan had no wish to extinguish their civilisation in its entirety. True they had committed some atrocious acts, but largely upon their own people. There was also no point wasting troops on this foe when the Russians had so recently declared war, and had far more to war over. Don’t forget that the Russians were holding a sacred herd of horses captive within their empire, and so every effort had to be made to liberate these animals.

Thus the Khan met with the leader of the Mayans, Smoke-Jaguar. The Mayans were stripped of all their territorial possessions, bar the capital itself, and had to furnish the Mongols with two hundred slave labourers. Many commentators believed that these slaves were to enjoy a higher quality of living as slaves for the Mongols, than as free people amongst the oppressive Mayan regime!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Mayan_Peace.jpg

Very nice. Keep it coming!

BTW, I like the fact that you kept the start you got. Personally, I like a much wetter start with a lot of grass and forest, but I think it improves the quality of a SG when the author keeps the original start.
Re the start - I figured if I was running with emperor, why not keep it, and after I got the bonus settler, I think that more than made up for it! I personally like to have some bonus food to speed the initial growth curve.

Glad you are enjoying the new story.

Lurking and enjoying - Great picture resources. I'll keep the spam to a minimum.

Glad you jumped back in with another tale.

V

Glad you are enjoying the tale Vanadorn. I don't mind a bit of spam - it at least shows that people are still enjoying the tale, and as a writer you always appreciate the feedback!

I'm loving the new story Sandman. Knew you wouldn't keep us hanging. :)

Glad you are enjoying it biggamer

Chapter Four: The First Russian War

Subtitle: How the Russians escaped genocide

The Russian front was a long way from the western reaches of the former Mayan empire, and so the Russian surprise attack had the added benefit of time while the Khan’s forces transferred from one battle ground to another. So one might expect that the full force of the Russian military would prove insurmountable to the limited garrisoning forces available to the local commanders at Ta-tu, but such thoughts would be proven wrong! The Russians were the second tribe to be taught a lesson in humility as only the Mongols could.

It was also at this time that the Great Khan’s chief sage, the great magician, Yeh-lu Chu'tsai sought audience with the Great one himself. Yeh-lu had many matters on his mind that he needed to discuss with the Khan. The first such matter was a renewed discussion on the topic of how best to rule this expanded empire. While all citizens of the Mongolian Empire basked in the greatness of the Khan, and would continue to do so, there appeared to be several ways of improving the functioning of the state.

The first of course was this new found knowledge of the representative governing form called the republic. But there existed another form of governance that Yeh-lu’s men had become aware of, and this was the Monarchy. It seemed that this currently unknown form of governance provided a better support for a larger army, and continued to place the leader in a highly exalted position amongst the citizens. On the other hand, the sacrifice for choosing this government over the already known republican form of governance would be a less effective control over corruption as the empire grew. Both men shared a common vision of a Mongolian empire substantially larger than the current size. So in the longer term, it was clear that the republic offered advantages over the monarchy. So which to choose, the short term benefit over the long term benefit?
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/meeting.jpg
The Great Khan and Yeh-lu in one of many discussions of state

The Khan put off an immediate decision on which government type to chose, but he did authorise the immediate procurement of this technology so that the two forms of governance could be compared. The Chinese ruler, Mao, possessed this knowledge of Monarchy, but lacked the knowledge of how to formulate a republic, so a simple barter was organised and both tribes were the better for it.

Yeh-lu had other matters of urgency to discuss with the Khan as well. The common dream of the uber-horseman remained with both men, and now Yeh-lu saw a means to expedite the development of such a concept. In his vision, Yeh-lu believed that by developing a code of conduct from this single deity religion, and extrapolating the weapon systems from the feudalistic troops, it would be possible to create a truly magnificent mounted force that could sweep all currently known obstacles aside in the Mongols quest for space. To this end Yeh-lu approached the Khan to authorise the spending of the entire Mongolian treasury in pursuit of this goal. No finer purpose off the battlefield would ever eventuate than the realisation of the long cherished dream of both men. So the authorisation came.

The plan was to use the cash to gain one technology, and then to trade further with that to procure more. The key to this whole effort was to be the feudalism concept held only by the brash Byzantine people. If they could be persuaded to part with this technology, then there were two avenues of further trade available to secure the single deity knowledge, and the useful engineering concept that allowed for the quicker crossing of waterways, to speed forces to their destination.

The meeting with Theodora of the Byzantines did not go well. She flatly refused to deal for her feudalism knowledge, even when offered the republic governance system, over 1700 in gold and substantial further annual payments to supplement this! Outrageous! If there were not other more pressing concerns, these arrogant peoples would surely face the Mongols sword sooner rather than later.

Yeh-lu, was not yet dispirited. Entrusted with the full Mongolian treasury, Yeh-lu explored other options to achieve the necessary technological advancement. One such option was available through a man of similar leanings as Yeh-lu himself. Hammurabi was a prophet and sage for the civilisation known as Babylon, and he possessed the secrets of this monotheism. There was an outside chance that with monotheism and the republic, Yeh-lu would be in a position to sway Theodora. So a deal for much gold in return for this concept, was struck.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/bab_deal.jpg
Fresh with this new found knowledge, Yeh-lu returned to the realm of Theodora, but once again his noble intentions were met with blunt refusals to action a trade. It would seem that the knowledge of feudalism would have to be procured elsewhere. Even worse, the fact that such a large amount of gold entered the Babylonian vaults meant that now this rival civilisation had the leverage to make the Mongolian deal, and so feudalism became shared knowledge, but not amongst the Mongols. The Babylonians, the Byzantines, the Germans and even the evil Russians came to possess this vital information.

The Great Khan, meanwhile had chosen his preferred means of government. The short term advantages of this monarchy system, and especially the fact that it allowed for a greater force of arms to be deployed, were the key deciding factors for the Khan. And so, in the middle of the Russian conflict, the Great Khan ordered that the preparations for this new government should take place. The upheaval in the Mongolian empire would ensure that no new forces were available to be deployed during the period 230BC – 110BC. So was this then the reason that the Russians escaped the first Russo-Mongolian War so lightly?

To suggest that the Russian forces escaped lightly may in fact be an overstatement. Certainly the Russian commanders were foolish, and overestimated their position. In fact in 210BC, returning forces from Ereen’s command came across another Russian settler caravan and spear regiment escort. The regiment was cut to pieces as a warning to the settlers, who were also immediately enslaved by the Mongolians.

Closer to home, the main action was around the slopes of the Mountain Tat-tu, the only iron source for the Khan’s nation. The Russians sent wave after wave of swords and archers towards this target, and the town of Ta-tu, in an effort to weaken the Mongolian resolve. The Mongol field commander was a man called, Subedei, and he was every bit the equal of Ereen, if not his superior. Subedei was not going to settle for merely protecting the Mongolian homelands while awaiting the return of Ereen. No, he had far more grandiose plans.

For a start, the Russians never made it onto Mongolian soil. Subedei maintained an ‘active’ defence, whereby scouts on Mt Tat-tu would alert his regiments to the advancing Russian regiments, and he in turn directed his regiments to attack the Russians when they were most vulnerable. In the first great battle in the area, Subedei was outnumbered 2-1, but he managed to achieve a kill ratio of 3-1 by striking first and then forcing the enemy to attack him across the river.

Meanwhile in a truly bold move, Subedei ordered his recently victorious forces at Mandalgovi, to advance on to the Russian city of Yaroslav. For a long time this Russian city on the western side of the Mandagovi marshes had been a sign of Russian arrogance towards the rightful lands of the Mongols. This was to be the telling blow to reunite both sides of the marshland under Mongol rule. The first action there, however was the result of insufficient available forces and an effective attrition of about 100 men from both sides – Mongolian horsemen, and Russian spearmen.

The Khan soon found that he had an able leader in Subedei, and so was able to return to pressing affairs of state rather than get bogged down in this Russian conflict. The first action was to build a Mongol settlement at the site of the former Mayan town of Bohampak. This site was preferred over Dalandzadgad’s, because it ensured a wider border claim to the Mongolian state.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Choyr.jpg

Chapter Four continued

Soon after, the Khan was met with the Japanese ambassador once more. For these militants had never agreed to peace with the Mayans, and were determined to see that civilisation become but a memory. The ambassador once more sought a new military alliance against the Maya to see this mission through to fruitition. The Khan was truly amazed that after the Mayans had been reduced to merely a capital city, that the full might of the Japanese empire was insufficient to achieve this task by itself! Here truly was a testament to just how feeble these militants in actuality were. The ambassador was most certainly rebuffed, but he did leave with the assurance that the Mongolians would not come to the aid of the Mayans in this ongoing conflict. It certainly did not matter to the Khan if the Japanese succeeded in destroying the remains of the Mayans. The Mayan future was in their own hands.

Soon after, commander Ereen found the camp of the violent Minoans, and sent his forces in to destroy them. Though this enemy lacked the conviction of the Mayans, they were able to pull off a surprising victory, and succeeded in dispatching an elite regiment of horsemen. Undeterred the attack continued and routed the camp, claiming 25 gold in treasurers for the Khan. However, it was a further 20 years before all the dissidents of this tribe were brought under control (or in fact slaughtered).

So impressed were the people by the handling of the nations defence, the onset of the new glorious campaign against the Russians, the technological advancement of recent years and the end of the Minoan menace, that they built a third floor on the Khans magnificent palace.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/palace2.jpg
The fencing with the Russians over Yaroslav continued until 130BC. Both sides were finding it difficult to get the necessary numbers for a decisive battle. But time was one thing that played into Subedei’s hands. So in time, though he lost another full horse regiment at this town, two more Russian spear regiments would perish, and the town would inevitably fall into Mongolian hands.

Meanwhile in the battle of Tat-tu mountain, Subedei kept destroying advancing Russian units. Two more regiments of Russian swords perished before the Mongols suffered further casualty. But then, Subedei was forced to rely on an injured sword unit to take out a Russian archer regiment, and this proved his undoing. It also saw the rise of a particularly resilient Russian archer regiment. The same regiment claimed the lives of a further Mongolian horse regiment, before retreating to Rostov, and being the last unit left standing there as well.

In 150BC, the otherwise quiet Germans came onto the scene with a roar, and demanded gold. This was an unwelcome intrusion at this time of upheaval at home, and already waging a war with limited troops against the Russians. What is more, the Germans had mastered the technology of feudalism, and so could put advanced foot soldiers into the field of battle. What really sold the Khan on complying with this demand, however, was that for all their bluster, these Germans could be satisfied for a mere 8 gold. The Khan acquiesced, but remembered the sleight. Even 8 gold counts when it is time for the final reckoning!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Russian_War.jpg
The Battle of Rostov was to be the final act in this first Russian War. Subedei’s siege lasted over 20 years, and it saw the deaths of four hundred Russian defenders, including the regiment of archers that claimed no less than two Mongolian regiments. The town was also protected by a catapult, though ultimately this machine provided little addition assistance once the Mongolian assault began in earnest. Rostov finally fell in 110BC.

110BC was notable for two other reasons. The period of unrest in the Mongolian empire ended, with the dawn of the new monarchy ushered in, and the Khan proclaimed King. At the same time, the Khan decided to end the conflict with the Russians. Some historians have mused that this come about because of the effective delegation of power to the various lords within the Mongolian empire, and that these lords wished to exert some influence in the affairs of state. More learned men have realised that instead there were two main influences in the Khans decision.

First though Subedei was carrying out a formidable defence around Tat-tu Mountain and had recently destroyed a further two hundred swordsmen, he was rapidly running short of troops, leaving the towns of Ta-tu and Hovd exposed to the enemy. So even though the capture of Rostov had eliminated one flank to the Tat-tu mountain, the defence needed time to regroup. Second, the Russians had the much sought after technology of feudalism, a realised second step towards the goal of the uber-horseman. After the Mongolian’s stunning success in this war, the Russians would come to the party with a significant discount on this technology.

And so, a deal was struck, though many considered it more a cease fire than a true lasting state of peace.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/russian_deal.jpg
The remainder of the millennia was a relatively peaceful time for the Mongols. The Maya sought a Right of Passage and an Alliance against the Japanese, as that conflict showed no signs of abating. True to his word, the Great Khan politely declined the offer. Meanwhile, the Incan civilisation joined the throng of engineering achievers by completing a magnificent ‘Hanging Gardens’. The Khan, of course, saw this as another pointless exercise.

The Mayans emboldened by the weak Japanese war efforts, actually started sending out settler caravans of their own. One was intercepted near the site of the old Mayan town of Lagertero with its incense resource. Commander Ereen quickly deployed horse units to block, not kill, this intruder, while the Khan sent out a Mongolian settler caravan to claim the site.

The Indians continued to attempt trespass across the Mongolian land, and were repeated threstened with war should they continue. The Indians naturally enough, chose not to, though it seems they found a right of passage through Russiand lands, and were seen setting up towns in the vicinity of the Marshes of Despair.

Finally, the Japanese gave peace to the Greeks in an effort to concentrate their forces on the Mayans. Perhaps now they will succeed in a final push to destroy the Mayan civilisation.

Nice. If I might make a suggestion, I would think it very wise indeed to attack the Russians as soon as possible to avoid paying her so much gpt. Just my .02$. Very good addition. Keep it up!

Destroying the Mayan Empire is one thing but calling the capital "Chicken Itza" is inexcusable. The feeble Mayan king Smoke-Jaguar demands an apology! Death to the Mongols!

Excellent campaigns against the Maya and the Russians, Sandman. :)

Whats been going on with the Indians lately? You don't really talk about them.

The next chapter has been played, but I haven't finished the writeup yet. I can say that you will hear more about the Indians in it, though, rbis4rbb.

Smoke-Jaguar named his capital, not the Khan, GR8MadMax.

T-Money were you suggesting that the Khan should welch on a deal to get out of a gpt payment, and so destroy his reputation? Of course the Russians have to go, they still have the horse herd. But you will just have to wait and see what happened.

Very good update story you have here Sandman2003! I must say old chap, I am enjoying it. It is definatly a good read, I look forward to your next chapter.

Glad you are enjoying it Ksim3000. Next chapter is being uploaded now.

Chapter Five: The quiet before the storm

Subtitle: When building became more important then war

The dawn of the first millennium AD was generally considered by scholars the end of the so called ancient age and the start of the true Middle Ages. The world experienced much change. Towns were maturing and growing into cities. New technologies were transforming the way men thought about the world, and more importantly from the Khan’s perspective the way men thought about war. With the growth in populations across the world, there was an equally impressive military build-up. Long gone was the age where the armed forces of nations could be measured in but hundreds of men. Now it was becoming common for the nations of the world to arm themselves with many thousand men.

With the increased numbers of men in arms also came increasingly sophisticated techniques for battle. The sword wielding warriors of the ancient age were giving way to a new more vicious foot warrior – the medieval infantry. This warrior carried a ‘mace’ that could shatter even the hardest armour with a single blow. Thus the stakes in warfare had now risen to a new level.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/world10AD.jpg
The Khan entered this new age with a determination to build up the commerce and the science of the Mongolian empire to help ensure that the Mongols stayed at the forefront of technological progress. It was at this time also that the Khan took heed of the supply of fine furs near the town of Copan. The town was amongst the first priorities to receive a new library, thus increasing its influence into the surrounding terrain, and enabling access to these fine furs. Thus the third native luxury entered the realm of the Khan’s kingdom, and helped power the economy into this new age.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/furs.jpg
As populations were increasing at home and abroad the citizens in many different nations were demanding more space. Not everyone favoured the more cramped living conditions that the city life style provided, and so there was a push towards the remaining uninhabited lands towards the centre of the continent, and the Great Dividing Range itself.

The Indians repeatedly tried the patience of the Khan as settler caravan after settler caravan attempted an unauthorised crossing from the empire of the Mongols. At first these incursions were politely rebuffed. Yeh-lu even took the opportunity to acquire more Indian slaves through a trade of the dated technology, literature. Though the Mongols could never understand why these foreign tribes were so prepared to send their people into a life of slavery abroad.

The Indian incursions grew bolder as large numbers of spearmen also sought to make the crossing through Mongol land. Eventually, the Khan had particularly stern words with Ghandi’s representative. And finally, the incursions tapered off somewhat, as the Ghandi secretly met with Catherine and organised a right of passage through the Russian territories. From this point on Indian convoys were seen to the east and to the north of Hovd, heading towards the new Indian territories.

The curtain was falling on another international drama at this time as well. The Japanese war machine found itself humbled by the one city state of the Mayans, and unable to prosecute the war to its logical conclusion. Finally tiring of this endless struggle, Tokugawa met with Smoke-Jaguar, and signed the peace treaty that was to be his major humiliation.

The court magician, Yeh-lu was not to be kept quite at this time either. Yeh-lu saw an opportunity to trade from the far reaches of the world, the Netherlands. These Dutch people had the secret to bridging waterways that also promised other benefits besides. In the ensuing negotiation, Yeh-lu was able to swap feudalism for this technology and in the process pocket a further 61gold.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_deal.jpg
Nothing could soften Willem’s, brusque manner, however, and he remained annoyed with the Mongol people, in spite of this assistance in the Dutch technological progression.

Upon his triumphant return to Karakorum, Yeh-lu was rushed to the Khan’s court where the two discussed another matter of great importance to the development of the Mongol nation. As the cities started to spread far and wide, the ability to exert effective control from a single administration point was becoming more and more difficult. It was therefore decided that a second seat of power should be setup as a priority. However, where should such an important building be based? Clearly, it was important that it should form a hub of other Mongolian cities so that the benefits of an additional ‘forbidden palace’ would flow to a maximal number of Mongolian cities.

The ultimate decision was considered by some to be somewhat controversial, in that the location did not currently fit the profile as deemed most appropriate for this building. However, the Khan was undeterred by the detractors from within the court, and in a passionate speech he talked of unfinished business and the holy crusade of the Mongol people. From this point on the Khan received nothing but whole-hearted support for his plan to use the city of Ta-tu for this second administrative palace. And clearly this point was the start of the inevitable second conflict with the Russians, though the conflict was still some considerable time in the future.

Yeh-lu was also successful in convincing the Khan to accelerate the development of the uber-horseman, and so though the treasury maintained a balanced budget, a significant portion was earmarked for the pursuit of scientific endeavour, specifically aimed at this special weapon of the Mongols. Meanwhile, the Khan danced the international diplomacy trail in a much more diplomatic and less forceful path than was his usual desire, so as to speed the development of centres of commerce and learning across the land. Most importantly, too of course, this brought time in which to develop the weapon, and then to embark on the inevitable military build-up that would follow.

International events have a way of biting you at the most inopportune times, however, and for the Khan there was no exception to this rule. The Portuguese nation had been growing in strength over the last several centuries on both sides of the Great Dividing Range. Equipped with the unique might of the ancient cavalry unit, and a largely, at that time, uncontested area into which the nation could expand, the Portuguese were rapidly becoming one of the strongest powers in the world. It was at this time of change that the leader of this rapidly expanding nation looked eastward and decided to play his hand against the Mongols in this time of upheaval.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Portuguese_demand.jpg
The Khan’s military advisor, Chepe, had little of comfort to offer to the Khan at the time, so this greatest of all international sleights was added to the growing list of nations who had angered the Khan. Thus a most insufferable peace treaty was worked out where the Khan effectively got nothing for supplying this burgeoning nation with a supply of the fine Mongolian wine.

Chapter Five continued

The tension from the east was clearly growing as well, as the arrogant Theodora completed an engineering feat referred to as Tzu’s Art of War. Yeh-lu was very concerned at this latest development, for unlike some of the previous engineering marvels that had been developed around the known world, this one was clearly aimed at ensuring superior troops entered the field of battle. Adding to this was Theodora’s earlier outright refusal to trade on an honourable basis with the Mongols, and Yeh-lu’s concerns were easily to understand.

The Khan, however, saw things a bit differently. Perhaps the insight that comes from a truly great man powered his thoughts these days, as he saw an opportunity rather than a threat. And so Yeh-lu was empowered with the task of establishing an embassy, and negotiating a right of passage with the Byzantines. This lead to a much improved relationship between the two countries and a defusing of the earlier tension that had so concerned Yeh-lu.

The founding of Ulaangrom in 130AD was to capture a fourth luxury to further fuel the growing economy of the Mongols. The founding of this town occurred under the watchful gaze of several battalions of Greek archers. The Greeks had been active in this uninhabited area tracking down further rogue, barbaric settlements. Perhaps it was by reason of this earlier action, that the Greeks would decide to assert their land claims in the area, or perhaps it was payback for the earlier humiliations dealt to them in the first Greek-Mongol war.

Certainly the Greeks had been aggressive in their south west expansion, creating new settlements in the inhospitable Nullabor Desert, and then in the more fertile plains to the west. Perhaps their coveting of the even more fertile ground to the north was the true catalyst for the conflict that erupted in 260AD at the site of Ulaangrom.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Greek_expansion.jpg
The growing international tensions were not limited to the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range. In the west, three great powers were rushing to colonise as much of the open terrain as quickly as possible leading to inevitable border disputes and the occasional clash. Portugal was extending its western holdings northwards, while the powerful Romans were embarking on an easterly push that threatened to fence in the Portuguese. Meanwhile in the north, the culturally rich nation of Babylon was pushing its frontiers down south in an effort to sate the demands of an ever more land hungry populace.

Back in the east, the Greeks were becoming increasingly belligerent toward the Mongol settlers out west. Minor scuffles between individuals resulted in conflicts of ever greater injury as tensions on both sides grew. In an effort to forestall the growing tide of war, Yeh-lu made a trip to the palatial residence of Alexander, the leader of the Greeks to establish an embassy and a right of passageway, in the hopes of repeating the Byzantine success. But it was not to be. The Greeks, once set on their path, were not to be swayed by such matters.

The Khan had only just restarted the process of rearming the nation, and was yet to unleash the powerful new mounted soldier into the field of battle. Perhaps if Alexander had known what lay around the corner for his troops he would have been more hesitant to pursue this destructive path. However, how was he to know at the time? On paper, at least, the Greek military had grown to be the equal of the Khan’s at this time, and certainly his people coveted the rich land to the north after for so long suffering the arid conditions of the Nullabor, and lands to the south.

And so the time came in early spring, 260AD, when the Greeks marched 6 battalions of archers into the Mongol territory around the new found town of Ulaangrom, and instead of peacefully departing as they so often had in the past, they declared war and slaughtered the garrison of old fashioned horsemen that were there. Not content with the bloodshed from this battle, the voracious Greeks then took it upon themselves to slaughter every man, woman and child left alive in the town, and razed the town to the ground! This was barbarism unequalled even by the outcast Minoans, and presented a very real problem for the Khan.

The Khan knew that the mounted troop would soon be ready, and that this would be the best way of dispensing with the evil Greeks. So he needed a diversion to buy some time. He found the diversion in his old friend the militant Japanese. The Japanese were only too ready to take up arms again against the mutual enemy especially when given the added incentive of the technology of currency, and the Japanese succeeded in drawing all the Greek units into conflict, thus sparing the remainder of the Khan’s weakly defended frontier from further assault.

One side benefactor from this new conflict was the Russians, because it became time that the cease-fire arrangement had expired. The Khan was not yet ready with the new unit, and nor did he wish a two front war, and so he was all but forced to sign up for a further period of peace with the hated Russians.

Shortly thereafter, the Dutch completed their own version of a mounted warrior, though they had taken a different approach to the Mongols, one that would not confer as great an advantage to the Dutch as the Mongols’ approach was going to for the Mongols.

It was fully 300AD when Yeh-lu proudly showed off the many years of research effort into the perfect fighting machine. The Khan’s court was full as all who had any rights to attend were there that day, eager to be a part of history in the making. With much pomp, Yeh-lu announced the arrival of the new unit, and showed off the very first Keshik.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Keshik.jpg
The crowd warmly greeted the announcement and were eager to know more. Some were aware of the Dutch development and wished to understand the differences. It seemed that the Dutch had chosen a more fully armoured version that would be less manoeuvrable in difficult terrain, whereas, the more lightly armoured Keshik could bridge such terrain without difficulty and rain lethal arrows down upon the enemy from afar. The Khan ordered the full power of his kingdom be devoted to the military build-up, emphasising the development of these new units, and upgrading older horseman battalions to this new equipment as well. If Alexander wanted a fight, then he would get a fight that he would not soon forget.

T-Money were you suggesting that the Khan should welch on a deal to get out of a gpt payment, and so destroy his reputation? Of course the Russians have to go, they still have the horse herd. But you will just have to wait and see what happened.

People can't complain when they're dead.....

What time zone are you in Sandman? I want to sync my watch so updates arent made at 1 am my time.

T-Money, the Russians will get theirs, but it will be honourable.

rbis4rbb, Australian Eastern Standard Time which is GMT +10 hours, if that helps. I can't guarantee the timing of each subsequent update. Glad you are enjoying the ride.

Another good update Sandman! I wonder how the war with Greece will actually turn out? Still, best of luck old chap and update soon.

Thanks again, Ksim3000. Here's chapter six.

Chapter Six: The Mongols Brought to the Brink

Subtitle: The Gathering Storm

Aside from the atrocity at Ulaangrom, the Second Persian War started much like the first. The Greeks became bogged down in war with the Japanese, and made very little in the way of further threatening advances towards the Mongols for some time. This masterful diversion of the Khan’s was certainly providing the Mongols the breathing space in which to rearm aplenty.

The Khan’s war room saw more militant action than his troops at the front line during this time. The brilliant general Subedei was locked in constant argument with the trusted older general Ereen over who should get the honour of leading the assault against the Greeks. The Khan’s military advisor, Chebe, was more used to strategising the ways of war then concluding a debate between two such strong personalities. This contest inevitably escalated to the court of the Khan. It was only the Khan who could decide such things, and the Khan’s word was absolute law.

Subedei was extremely confident that he would prevail here, as he knew that the Khan was very impressed with his operation against the Russians. So when the day of the Khan’s decision came, Subedei was utterly shattered upon hearing the Khan grant the mission to General Ereen. Subedei would again be in charge of the defence of the homeland. Surely there was some mistake. The Khan counselled Subedei privately afterwards, and although no-one has been privy to this discussion, it is believed that a much happier Subedei left the Khan’s private chambers sometime thereafter.

The first Keshik battalions were formed through re-equipping and retraining existing veteran Mongol horsemen battalions. By the fateful year of 330AD, the Keshik core had grown in numbers to fill a full eight battalions, though even this was not enough for the Khan. It was Yeh-lu who made the suggestion that a highly publicised victory of the Keshiks in battle could be used to spur the Mongol nation into a fit of productive fury. And so the first Keshik battalion was sent out towards the former site of Ulaangrom, looking for an opportune moment to strike the Greeks and so kick off such a burgeoning in the Mongolian productive capability.

Meanwhile, the weak Japanese recruited the most unlikely of allies in the crusade against the Greeks. Smoke-Jaguar eagerly added the pitiful might of the once proud Mayans to the cause against the Greeks. This only further highlighted to the Khan that his Japanese ally was not a strong military threat.

And so we come to that fateful year of 330AD. The Indians had been subjected to repeated boot orders from what they saw as overly officious and demeaning Mongols. Time after time they had abided with this order, only to have another go when the dust had settled. They had been trying to move both troops and settler caravans through the Mongol lands as a shortcut to their destination, rather than using the right of passage with the Russians that would have caused no such ill-will. Meanwhile as the Indian high command grew increasing frustrated with this lack of access to the uninhabited lands out west, Ghandi started a massive military build-up of his own.

When the latest boot order came forth, Ghandi had achieved a paper military strength rivalling that even of the Mongols, and with the Mongolian forces distracted with a war to the south west against the Greeks, who also had a military at the time believed to be the equal of the Mongolian forces, Ghandi was no longer prepared to bow down and take it.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/IndianDOW.jpg
At this time the Indians had no less than 10 battalions of spearmen inside the Mongolian borders in two stacks of two thousand men, and one large congregation of 6000 men by Quingua. The fishing village of Tsetserleg that existed between the Indian towns of Bangalore and Bombay was curiously left ungarrisoned at this time as well. It was almost as if it was an invitation to Ghandi to adopt a more militant approach. But surely the Khan would not deliberately invite another nation to attack his citizens in order to stir them into a willingness to go to war? Such has been a long lasting debate amongst scholars and historians that continues through to this day.

Yeh-lu’s plan for a public display of Keshik power was about to be brought to fruition, and in a much more central location than way out west. Two Indian battalions were marching on Kazan at this time.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Kazan.jpg
The antiquated ex-Russian catapult was brought into action first injuring the Indians. Then and only then were the Indians introduced to the Mongols’ new weapon. The Indians were stunned by these well armoured, fast moving adversaries, and on the day they had no answers for it. Two Keshik battalions smashed through these slightly disorientated Indians leaving not a single man standing. Yeh-lu got his highly public spectacle, and indeed there was a marked improvement in the productive output of Mongolia for some time to come thereafter, but whether this was because of this spectacle or the urgency in fighting not one but two foes of a similar military strength as your own at the same time, who can truly say.

A third Keshik battalion invaded Indian territory to destroy the spear battalion in the woods there, while a fourth Keshik battalion was used to garrison the fishing village of Choybalsan.

By Quirigua, the Indians had no less than six spearmen battalions in the incursion, and as the cities around there were also lightly garrisoned, these battalions were to cause some considerable trouble.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Quingua.jpg
The elite sword battalion garrisoning the town of Quirigua, though massively outnumbered, attacked the Indian force destroying a battalion of spears in the process. Subedei was forced to delay the upgrading of two antiquated horse battalions as the only units that could reach the area to reinforce the troops there. However, in the confusion of battle, the two worker crews working on the Erdenet Pass were attacked by the Indians and slaughtered to the man.

The Indians advanced through the Erdenet Pass into the wheat fields of Erdenet city, destroying the Pass in the process. However, this was to be a mistake, as the sword battalion avenged the worker crews on the pillaging Indian battalion, again proving the sword mightier than the spear.

A further two battalions of Indian spears were seen pursuing more Mongol workers through the Mandalgovi marshes, but another elite sword battalion was able to engage and destroy one Indian battalion. Back at Erdenet, the Indians destroyed the wheat fields of the city, though again were punished, this time by an elite horse battalion.

The Indians by Erdenet managed to slaughter one more worker crew before sounding a hasty retreat, but it was with some pride that Subedei was able to report back to the Khan that even using only the obsolete units at his disposal, not a single one of the original eight Indian battalions was able to return to India alive as his horse battalions pursued them across the Mayan Mountain range towards the relative safety of Russia itself.

Chapter Six continued

Further out west, the Indians made their presence felt as well. The Mongolian town of Tosontsengel was on the border to the New Indian Territories in the west. The Indian Declaration of War found two more worker crews operating on the border there, and the blood-thirsty Indian horsemen slaughtered the workers here as well. It was to be short-lived satisfaction, however, as the Tosontsengel garrisoning battalion of horsemen repaid this sleight by destroying the Indian invaders, clearly demonstrating the superiority of the Mongol horsemen.

But it was not at Kazan, Erdenet nor Tosontsengel that the Mongols would face the most serious Indian threat. No the might of the Indian armed forces was set against the Mongol outpost at Hovd, and it was here that the most desperate battles of the Indian campaign would be fought. Hovd was one of the original ten cities, and from the towers of Hovd, one could look across into Russian territory and see the herd of sacred horses that were enslaved by the Russians there, thus giving the town doubly special significance in the eyes of the Khan. Subedei was given instructions in no uncertain terms, that the town of Hovd must be held at all costs. This was no easy task as there was a solitary garrison of horsemen there at this time, and the border with central India came right to the gate of Hovd itself!

The one thing playing into the hands of Subedei, however, was that the Indian declaration came as some surprise to the Indian field commanders as well. Though many of the field officers resented the continual cow-towing to Mongol demands, their forces were not well positioned to take advantage of the declaration when it in fact came, and so but a single battalion of Indian horsemen could be mustered in that initial charge against Hovd, and Hovd’s brave defenders were able to hold them off, just.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Hovd.jpg
No such luck was available for the citizens of Tsetserleg. There was simply no unit capable of reaching the town in order to protect it from the inevitable Indian attack, and so it fell in the early stages of the war. The Khan feared the worst for the townsfolk, but was pleasantly surprised when there was no story of mass execution. Perhaps the occupying force became aware of the Mongolian secret weapon and became uneasy at the thought of this conflict, and so hesitated to follow the footsteps of their brothers in the west, and as decreed in the Indian handbook on warfare.

Subedei demanded, and Subedei got funds for the immediate upgrading of spear units to the more powerful pike configuration, and two sword battalions to the feared medieval infantry battalions. Keshiks were rushed to the aid of the struggling Hovd. But would it be enough? Four new Indian battalions were gathering on the border, and more were coming in reserve. Hovd was much closer to the Indian core than it was to the Mongolian one.

Subedei was sent directly to Hovd to mastermind the defence in person. As his preference was for an active defence, the first arriving Keshik battalion was sent against the forming Indian force immediately and claimed no less than two battalions of the Indian forces – a spear battalion on attack, and a horse battalion was destroyed as the Keshiks adopted a more defensive posture.

As the first foot soldiers arrived at Hovd, the battle grew in intensity, for what the Indians lacked in quality of troops, they were certainly making up for in sheer quantity. Two battalions of Mongol medieval infantry attacked the gathering Indian forces forcing back a horsemen unit, and killing a warrior battalion. The mighty first Keshik battalion, already the survivor of two glorious battles, though battle weary, knew the strain on the citizens of Hovd, and inspired by the charismatic Subedei, fought on, claiming the lives of an Indian archer battalion.

The Indians were not to remain passive in this battle either, for spurned on by the demands of their dictator, Ghandi, they attacked the city in numbers. However, they were met by an ever stiffening resolve from the defenders of the city, and the weaponry of the pikeman battalion. Though this Indian assault failed, they managed to cut down the retreating Keshik battalion, but at the cost of another horse battalion and archer battalion of their own. The battlefield was now stained red with the lives of 7000 Indian soldiers and 1000 Mongolian soldiers – already more deaths than the entire Mayan conflict of the ancient age, and the fight was building in numbers further still.

However, though the Mongolians had so far held out the Indian threat, even Mongolian soldiers needed time to recuperate from such intensive battles, and so Subedei was rapidly running low on forces available to continue the active pursuit of the Indians. Subedei therefore petitioned directly to the Khan for the Indian conflict to be determined as the major military priority, so as to bring the majority of the new forces to the Indian front.

Naturally this again led Subedei into conflict with the old master Ereen. Ereen was keen to build up a substantial force of the new Keshiks to launch an assault on the Greeks from Baruun-Urt aimed at Thermoplae, and from there to the Greek capital itself. And what of the Greeks?

The Khan refounded a settlement in the ruins of Ulaangrom, though due to the painful memories of the Greek atrocity there, the new settlement came with a new name, Atlay.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Atlay.jpg
And is if to snub the authority of the Greeks in the area, this new town was right within the view of the two Greek towns of Eretria and Rhodes. Furthermore, the Greeks were maintaining no less than six battalions of archers in the immediate vicinity, as if to try to lay claim to the incense source by force. The mistakes of Ulaangrom were not to be repeated in the new town of Atlay, however, as a spear and a pike battalion settled in to garrison the town, a keshik was on the way for active protection, and for good measure a horse battalion dispatched a Greek archer battalion to the north. In addition, the town planners were ordered to build a defensive wall to strengthen this town against the inevitable Greek attacks.

The Greeks did not confine their activity to the west, however, and on the eastern front they marched two battalions of the feared hoplites into the Tikal forest on a march towards the city of Tikal itself. As the hoplites emerged from the forest by the gates of Tikal, the world got to see just how effective these new Keshiks would be against the fanatical hoplites. The first Keshik charge was turned by the hoplite defense, perhaps as an ill omen for the future of the war against the Greeks. However, a second Keshik battalion feared better, dispatching a Greek hoplite battalion, and leaving the rest victim to an elite Mongol horse battalion.

But the Greeks had a bolder plan still. They carried a battalion of archers deep into Mongol terrain via a galley and landed to the south of the wine fields of Almarikh. The plan was to launch a surprise attack on the undefended wine town. But the wise old General Ereen, was simply using the town as bait for the unweary Greeks, and a newly formed Keshik battalion was dispatched with haste to lay waste to this Greek incursion.

And so it was with the backdrop of the major gathering of force by two nations on the doorsteps to the Mongol nation, that two great projects were completed. First, the second administrative centre was completed in the city of Ta-tu. Given the offence that the Russians may have taken at the realisation that this city on their border was to be the hub of a second Mongol administrative core, and the outrage the implications of that would have caused, this building and its purpose were veiled in secrecy for some considerable time thereafter. Perhaps it is for this reason that it became known as the forbidden palace, rather than a more fitting title.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/forbidden.jpg
The Mongol people rejoicing in the solid defence so far in the campaigns against the Greeks and the Indians, saw to it to show their appreciation of the Khan in a concerted effort to improve the grounds of his royal palace. And so the second great project was completed.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Palace3.jpg
Before we end this chapter, there is one more minor action that occurred in the Bombay Forest that deserves a mention. Because, had Ghandi taken heed of his successes here, the outcome of the Indian conflict may well have been different. For it was here that by employing an ambushing tactic, the Indians were able to go one for one against two battalions even of the mighty Keshiks. However, it was not to be, as the demands of the Hovd battle drew all available troops in as the war escalated on both sides.

And what of Subedei’s request? Well this day was all Subedei’s. It was clear to the Khan that the Indians represented the greater immediate danger, and so Ereen was granted but a holding force to use against the Greeks, while the might of the Mongolian empire was directed in earnest towards the Indian menace. Subedei’s dream had been answered, and he was not to disappoint his master.

Another splendid update, Sandman! Well, The Mongols have been able to hold out against many odds with The Indian and Greek Armies I feel. Anyway, I hope Subedei's offensive is successful................and I can say is..................."Onwards to India" :D

Indian campaign being uploaded now.

Chapter Seven: The Indian War

Subtitle: Subedei at the height of his glory

In the year 370AD, Ghandi launched his largest force yet at the town of Hovd. The Indians had gathered together no less than seven battalions of troops aligned in a pillaging force of one spear battalion and a second assault troop of one spear and five archer battalions. In spite of the Khan’s proclamation to prioritise the Indian campaign, and the large numbers of units headed that way, Subedei still found himself short of units to hold back the Indian tide. This fateful year, Subedei was able to deploy two Keshik battalions and two Medieval Infantry battalions at the larger Indian force, smashing the foe’s spear battalion and three archer battalions, but leaving the defences of Hovd to face the assault of the remaining two archer battalions.

Hovd’s entrenched pike battalion was equal to the task however, and held firm under the archers’ assault. There was no stopping the pillaging force from their evil deeds, however. But the loss of a further 7000 troops in this titanic battle marked a turning point in this war against India, and Ghandi was not able to field an equivalent force in the subsequent assault.

In the following season, only three Indian battalions threatened Hovd, and as a sign of the changing tide, Subedei recognised a great battalion commander as possessing the traits necessary to build the first conglomeration of three keshik battalions into a unified force, an army if you will. This army would be able to gain from the synergies of its conglomeration of troops, and so operate more effectively than the three battalions operating individually. Such were the demands of this position that only a particularly exceptional field commander could manage the army structure effectively. In his superb victory of 380AD, Ogodei demonstrated that he was such a commander.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Ogodei.jpg
In all Ghandi lost a further 4000 troops that year, as a horse battalion was destroyed at the gates of Hovd as well. In the Hovd campaign alone, Ghandi was down 18 thousand troops at this point, and from the Indian point of view the worst was still to come. Hovd was not the only military action for the Khan’s troops, however, as the Indians lost a warrior battalion by Choyr. The Greeks started menacing the new town of Atlay with a hoplite battalion, which succeeded in claiming a Keshik battalion, before being down by an elite horse unit.

Further improvements were made to the Khan’s palace in Karakorum, with the people building a grand welcoming terrace in the forefront of the palace.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/palace4.jpg
Finally, Subedei was able to claim the land bridge between Hovd and Bombay, but not without losing a medieval infantry battalion, though taking two Indian archer battalions in the process. This land bridges was occupied by two pike battalions, and not only did it clear the way for a direct attack on Bombay, but it also disrupted Ghandi’s direct access to Hovd. No Indian troops were able to reach Hovd in response to this move.

And on that fateful day in 400AD, Subedei himself led his forces against the Indian military camp of Bombay. 2000 Keshik troops smashed through the towns defences, and in a notable battle, Subedei witnessed the great achievements of his nearly retiring field commander Jochi. Jochi was offered the opportunity to command an army of his own, but he sought an alternate future, and so he travelled to the city of Ta-tu to meet with the Khan himself, and lead the people in a great civil project. Meanwhile, Subedei used an MI battalion to kill an Indian horse battalion, and the First Keshik Army finally saw action against a second Indian horse battalion.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/img_2499.jpg
Artist’s impression of the battle of Bombay.

When Jochi met with the Khan, he would find the great leader engaged in deep discussions with Yeh-lu over the affairs of state and the rising threats on the international scene. The huge military build-up had seen the Khan’s force grow to almost two divisions of keshik, and two divisions of the pike defenders (actually 17 battalions of each). This was still within the bounds of the unit support under monarchy, but far greater in strength than at any time previously. This relative strength was put into perspective when compared to the monstrous might of the Portuguese, or the little known Germans.

In fact it transpired that in spite of the land gains made against the Mayans, then the Russians, and now even the Indians, the Mongols occupied only some 5% of the world’s known territory, whereas the burgeoning empire of the Germans occupied fully 8% of the world’s territory. This was not all. In the single-minded pursuit of military might, the Mongol’s grasp of scientific knowledge had fallen behind their peers. The nations of Babylon, Byzantines, Netherlands, Inca, Germany and Scandinavia all possessed concepts of theology and invention that were currently beyond the sages of the Khan’s court.

Jochi came upon a troubled Khan, concerned with the increasingly hostile world in which he lived. Thus, it was no surprise when the Khan commissioned Jochi to build a fitting monument to the Heroic achievements of the Mongol people, an inspiration to encourage further aspiring leaders to step forth and assume the mantle of command of an army! And so, Jochi journeyed back to Hovd where the people inspired by Jochi’s leadership, rushed to build the monument for the glory of the Khan and the Mongolian people.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Heroic_Epic.jpg
Jochi’s project

The Khan was not yet done with his concerns, abroad, however, and he instructed Yeh-lu to draft up a right of passage agreement with the German empire and the Chinese empire. The German ROP was put in place so that the Khan could learn more about this potential enemy, while the Chinese one was a strategic move to try and keep the Chinese out of the inevitable second Russian war. Or at least if the Chinese wished to become involved, then it would be on the side of the Khan, rather than the Russians.

Subedei’s offensive continued, scarcely even pausing to quell the limited resistance of Bombay. In 410AD, Subedei launched his most brilliant offensive yet. In what was to become known as ‘Subedei’s Pinch’, forces from the Bombay campaign charged down to Tsetserleg, freeing it from its occupying force, and at the same time reinforcements, which had gathered at Choybalsan, stormed up the coast to seize control of Bangalore. Such was the speed and surprise of this move that the defenders were caught in disarray. The operation saw a further 6000 Indian deaths to the Mongols loss of just 1000 Keshiks.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/India_I.jpg
Subedei had completely unified the north eastern sea board under Mongol rule, and as the two forces of the pinch movement combined, he was preparing for the push into the very core of India itself! At the same time, the Khan became aware of a new threat to world peace emerging in the west. For all of the power of the Portuguese, they had been clearly outclassed by the even greater power of the Romans and the hordes of Roman legionaries instituting a ‘pax romana’ on the western side of the Great Dividing Range. The clear victor in the land grab was the Romans, who now had an empire virtually the length of the western half of the continent, and an army to match as well, dwarfing the Mongolian military of the time.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World400AD.jpg
Ghandi finally realised the very real danger to himself and to India itself, and so he sent a special envoy to the Khan to plead for peace. The envoy was even empowered to concede control of a city to the Mongols in tribute for the war to help seal the deal. However, it turned out that this city was a small highly corrupt town that was more a nuisance for the Indians than a boone. Needless to say, the offer was rebuked. Subedei was only beginning to get warmed up.

As if to exclaim, ‘You will live to regret this!’ Ghandi immediately dispatched a horse battalion against the force at Bombay. It was a futile gesture.

The Indian capital city of Delhi was quite some distance back from the front lines at Bombay, and so the troops had to trek quite some way before being able to engage the Indians defenders there. The march was spearheaded by the First Keshik Army, and backed with six further battalions of Keshiks.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Barbarians_023.jpg
Subedei’s force marches to Delhi.
Meanwhile, Subedei’s forces back at Tsetserleg found the scattered remnants of three Indian horse battalions attempting to find sanctuary in the Bombay forests, but there was to be no sanctuary for the fighters of Ghandi that day, and to a man these warriors were slaughtered. And by Choyr Mountain on the western front an elite sword battalion dispatched an invading Indian archer battalion. By Tikal, General Ereen was again forced to commit his Keshiks to battle an invading Greek hoplite battalion. Though this battle would cost an equal number of Keshiks, the hoplite meance was removed.

The Indian commanders still had some resolve to fight on left, especially now that it was their capital itself that was to come under threat, and so they launched another horse battalion against the invading Mongol column. Once again, though it was not to be Ghandi’s day, as his valiant warriors were cut down to the man.

Ghandi’s attempt to ambush the garrison back at Bombay fared no better either, as he sent troops through from Russian soil comprising a spear and an archer battalion. However, the reserve at Bombay was more than equal to the task, and these latest Indian battalions were slaughtered by a medieval infantry and keshik combo.

Chapter Seven continued

440AD was a red letter year for the forces of Subedei. The assault on Delhi destroyed three more Indian spear battalions and an archer battalion to take the town, and saw the rising of yet another field commander to a position of glory, Chagati. Chagati was immediately sent to Bombay, commissioned to form a second Keshik army. But Subedei was not done there. The horse herds of Hyderabad, from which the Indians were making their horse battalions, were within easy reach. The prospect of being able to liberate the sacred animals from the yoke of Indian oppression drove Subedei onwards. Two Keshik battalions were enough to destroy the two Indian spear battalions and free both the town of Hyderabad and the herd of horses as well. And just for good measure, an Indian horse battalion being rushed to Delhi to support the garrison there was cut down by another Keshik battalion.

Ghandi himself managed to escape from the defeat at Delhi and establish a temporary governing residence at Jaipur. However, he realised that the unstoppable march of Subedei’s forces would soon attack here as well, and so a more permanent solution was sought at the town of Lahore, hidden as it was behind the territory of the Russians, and thus providing a defensive buffer from the Mongol attack.

Back in Karakorum, Yeh-lu had returned from the international circuit with the knowledge that there existed an opportunity to bring the Mongols up to technological parity with the world’s leaders. It turned out the Byzantines did not yet possess the religious concept of theology and may be willing to trade such knowledge for the ability of invention. Invention was available from half a dozen sources globally, and so it was that a trade was organised once again with King Hammurabi of the Babylonian people.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/theo_deal.jpg
The 1525 gold demanded by Hammurabi meant that there was insufficient gold left in the Treasury to satisfy Theodora on a swap for invention, however. And so it was not for a further decade that the Mongols had sufficient gold to make the Byzantine deal. Long gone was the previous antagonism between the Byzantines and the Mongols, and a very polite Theodora greeted Yeh-lu and affirmed the friendship between the two peoples.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/invention_deal.jpg
Subedei’s campaign rolled on as the unstoppable war machine it was. But now it faced a new problem, and one which was not really caused by Ghandi at all. Subedei would have liked to split his forces and finish off the Indians within a couple of remaining decades, but this was not to be. The central area of the great Indian peninsular was riddled with extensive marshland known as the Jaipur Marshes. To the south of the Jaipur Marshes was dense jungle, called the Calcutta jungle, and to the north was a large range of mountains called the Karachi Mountains. Even for the lightly equipped Keshik, progress through the marshland or the jungle would be unacceptably slow, thus forcing Subedei’s forces to go around and over the Karachi Mountains. To make matters even worse, the Indian engineers had not even completed a pass through the mountains, and so when this journey was commenced, Subedei would be forever thankful of the design decisions taken by Yeh-lu that resulted in a light configuration for the Keshik, as this enabled rapid progress through the rugged terrain.

The Indian command structure was clearly broken, for although there were still many Indian units deployed against Subedei’s forces, they now appeared to lack cohesion and had little coordination in their attacks. And they continued to have no answer to the power of the Keshik! During the march to Jaipur, three more Indian horse battalions fell, though two of these emerged from a trek through the Calcutta Jungle to try and regain the Hyderabad horse herd. All were cut down easily and yet another battle field leader so distinguished himself as to also be commissioned to form an army. The leader Tolur was honoured to command the third Keshik army.

Subedei’s crushing victory at the town of Jaipur, in which a further three spear battalions were slaughtered, was in a way a mixed blessing for Subedei. General Ereen adopted his most diplomatic of stances to finally convince the Khan’s most trusted Military Advisor, General Chebe, that clearly Subedei had sufficient force to finish the Indians, and that the priority now lay with bringing the vile Greeks in line. The evidence overwhelmingly supported this view, and so Subedei was informed that while he could keep the forces currently under his command, that all new reinforcements would be directed to the Greek theatre of war, in expectation of the battles there. Subedei could see no point in arguing with this logic, for although he was to have no part in the Greek campaign, it was certainly true that the Indians were not going to survive his assaults much longer.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/India_II.jpg
In the west, an Indian spear battalion was found lurking in the forests by Copan. The attack command was given to the local Keshik battalion, but perhaps lacking the inspirational leadership of Subedei in person, the Keshik unit found itself repulsed by the spear unit, and then showing weakness in retreat, the Indian spear was able to take advantage of the situation and cut down the battalion. This small victory was one of the few things giving the Indians some vain hope. But it was not to last, the spear battalion was soon destroyed by another Keshik.

General Ereen now had gathered a full division of mounted troops, and so began his advance on the Greek town of Thermoplae. The forward division was backed with a further two keshik and one pike battalions. Ereens troops were not to have the advantage of surprise, however, as they found themselves ambushed by a Greek archer battalion, and owing to the accuracy of the Greek archers in their opening salvos, they were able to dispatch a full battalion of the advancing keshiks, before succumbing to the inevitable counterattack.

Ereen’s advance finally brought him to the gates of Thermoplae itself, and the Keshik battalions were to prove almost as decisive under Ereen’s command as they had under Subedei. Although the fanatical hoplite had more battle mettle than the Indian soldiers had possessed, even with the help of an archer battalion, those hoplites were at best able to turn the first Keshik charge at Thermoplae, before succumbing to the superior equipment, and superior numbers of Ereens troops. 3000 Greek soldiers perished in the battle that saw Ereen capture Thermoplae. But in one last act of defiance, the residents of Thermoplae destroyed the galley that was in port, rather than let it fall into Mongolian hands.

It was at this time that the military alliance with the Japanese against the Greeks was due to expire, and so Shogun Tokugawa himself journeyed to Karakorum to request the continuance of the alliance against the mutually hated foe. This time the Khan had no hesitation in continuing this alliance, for regardless of whatever small value his Japanese ally provided, this time the Khan was prepared to see the campaign run through to fruitition, such was his anger still at the atrocity of Ulaangrom. It was also at this time that Yeh-lu brought news that the mighty German people had completed a training facility, called Knights Templar, for an elite foot soldier troupe, rumoured to be considerably stronger than the Mongols’ own medieval infantry. The troupe lacked the mobility of the Mongol Keshik, however, and so was not considered to be a significant threat at the time.

Meanwhile, the Mongols’ continual population growth and demand for more space, resulted in the settling of a new town, Uliastay by the town of Kaminaljuro in the rich grasslands to the west. Uliastay was right up next to the border with the Mayan’s new second town, perhaps acting as a reminder to the Khan that there was unfinished business there as well.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Uliastay.jpg
Meanwhile, Subedei was not to be outdone by his rival general, and so on hearing of the capture of Thermoplae, he immediately ordered the assaults on both Madras and Karachi. The town of Madras was an important hub, situated as it was between the great powers of the Byzantines to the east, the Chinese to the north, and the Russians to the west. But that didn’t make its defence any sturdier, as the first Keshik Army mowed through two Indian spear battalions to seize the city.

The defenders at Karachi were taken by complete surprise by the speed of the Keshik advance, foolishly believing that the difficult mountain terrain would give them time to prepare for the attack. They were wrong, and three Keshik battalions accounted for the spear battalions defending here as well.

And in an attempt to make it three, Subedei ordered two elite sword battalions to attack the Indian city of Chittingong in the far west. This city was one of two Indian cities forming the New Indian Territories. But the three-peat was not to be, as the Indian spear battalions held firm. The battle was evenly divided with about 1000 casualties on each side.

But the Indians were not done with their atrocities even yet. A horse battalion, with orders direct from Lahore and Ghandi himself, used the veil of secrecy provided by Russian territory to attack another party of defenceless workers by Hovd, and butcher more Mongolian lives.

Ereen was pushing on as well. The town of Mycenae was next. Though it cost another Keshik battalion, two more Greek hoplite battalions were destroyed resulting in the capture of the town.

The Mongolian military might was continuing to grow, and had just reached the strength of three full divisions of Keshiks, 30 battalions. Subedei continued to put the forces at his disposal to good use, using the second and third keshik armies to smash resistance in Calcutta, and then making the long trek to Kolhapur.

Realising that Kolhapur represented the last town of the old Indian core, and that the Khan was unlikely to authorise committing troops to hunting down and destroying the remaining and widely spread towns of India, Subedei decided to end the Indian campaign with a bang. First an elite horse battalion was sent in to Chittagong with orders to raze the city to the ground, after dispensing with an archer battalion en route. Then and only then did the assault on Kolhapur commence. A further two spear and one archer battalions fell as Kolhapur came under Mongol power.

Subedei’s concerns were realised, as the Khan, himself, intervened at this point. The Khan was aware of the locations of only two of the remaining three Indian cities, and so as a ploy to extract the location of the third, the town was demanded in the peace settlement. It turned out that Punjab was founded in the midst of the Great Dividing Range itself, next to a gem source, but also perilously close to the expanding Roman empire.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Indian_peace.jpg

nice update, don´t know how u have the pacience for a huge map...

You have to try these things El Loco. At least I have a fast computer. I was wondering whether you were following this story, as you are usually amongst the first to sign in.

Excellent update. Don't you love when a Civ has 1, 2, or even 3 cities? It makes them seem like a little brother. Thats why I like the idea of a satellitte civ option in Civ 4. Have you read about it?

I was playing a time consuming diety game ( inspired by your victory). Altough i achieved a domination win, it fried my brain so I left the civ world for a week. ANyway i really enjoy ur stories and i'm a huge fan. Best of lucks!

I was playing a time consuming diety game ( inspired by your victory). Altough i achieved a domination win, it fried my brain so I left the civ world for a week. ANyway i really enjoy ur stories and i'm a huge fan. Best of lucks!
I know that feeling, congrats on your Deity win.

Chapter Eight: Turmoil in the West

While Subedei cleaned up the Indians in the east, Ereen’s campaign against the Greeks was starting to gain momentum. However, events transpiring elsewhere would once again overshadow the battles of the second Greek War, and the master manipulator, the Great Khan himself, was once again central to the events.

The fight was still very much in the Greeks, at this time, and they put up some resistance by Thermoplae. The loyal horse battalion of Alexander himself was charged with the task of repelling the enemy from the old capital. This task was beyond the capability of the battalion, but in glorious battle the Greeks claimed the lives of a thousand Keshiks before themselves succumbing to the superior force of their enemy.

As Subedei’s stunning successes in the Indian campaign were trumpeted around the Mongol nation, the rivalry between Ereen and Subedei grew. With this rivalry came increased pressure for the troops of Ereen to deliver results. And, so barely rested from the successes at Thermoplae, a half division of the Keshik core were ordered to advance on the new Greek capital of Athens. It was during the mighty battle for Athens that the pressures on Ereen finally took their toll resulting in the events that are now remembered as the ‘Catastrophe of Athens’.

The twenty year siege of Athens started as a text-book operation in the year 500AD. Although the fanatical hoplites fought more effectively than their Indian counterparts, after the initial encounters, the forces of Ereen were still maintaining a kill ratio of two to one against the entrenched defenders. The town of Athens did succeed in routing two battalions of Keshiks during these attacks, and as a result, Ereen’s demands for results meant that these demoralised units were immediately sent back into battle in an effort to wrest control of Athens from the Greeks. In the event, the forces of Ereen did prevail, but at what cost. In this second assault, no less than four battalions of keshiks perished whilst killing only two battalions of Greek hoplite defenders. This was the first time that the units of the Keshik Core had suffered greater numerical losses than they had managed to inflict upon their foes, and from the Khan down, the hierarchy of the Mongols was not pleased.

General Chebe was dispatched immediately to the Greek theatre of operations to counsel General Ereen. Chebe requisitioned Ogodei’s first keshik army for the Greek campaign as well, in an effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of this combined battalion formation, and hopefully inspire the field commanders under Ereen to come forward and lead their own armies. Curiously, the second and third keshik armies remained in the northeast, though were re-stationed in Ta-tu. Even more curiously, General Ereen was given a timetable that insisted the Greek operations be finished absolutely no later than 600BC.

On one final point, General Ereen was left in no doubt whatsoever. He asked what was to be the fate of the Greek people. After the atrocity at Ulaangrom, there was only one answer to this, and it came straight from the Khan himself, genocide!

The Khan himself kept very busy during this early part of this sixth century. Once again, the court magician, Yeh-lu, was to report that the nations of the world were moving further ahead in technology, and it would be necessary to delve into the treasury coffers to regain parity with the world. This troubled the Khan from two perspectives. First this rampant technological pace was threatening the supremacy of his prised troops, the keshiks, and the expansion plans of the Mongols. Second, as Yeh-lu frequently reminded him, these boom times that the Mongols were currently experiencing could not last forever, and tighter financial times were ahead. This would require some budgetary restraint, and may not make it possible for the Mongols to continue to acquire knowledge via the coin!

The new knowledge was the concept of ‘higher learning’, and the concept of gunpowder. The latter being the most troubling, for now entrenched defenders had the means to project weapons at greater range and accuracy than before, so making the exposed charges of the Keshik more fraught with danger. This continual shifting of the initiative from the offence to the defence was an inevitable consequence of technological progress, but undesirable nonetheless when your preference is for offence!

Even more troubling was the news that the hated enemy to the north, the Russians, had acquired this ‘gunpowder’, and that they possessed the magical secret ingredient that enabled the mass manufacture of these new weapons. First things first, Yeh-lu was instructed to acquire these new technologies.

With several sources for this ‘education’ and the Byzantines again offering the opportunity to barter education for gunpowder, Yeh-lu first dealt with the distant Dutch. As a relatively small empire in the furthest reaches of the continent, strengthening the Dutch economy would simply provide stabilisation in the western continent, and would be of no threat to the Khan.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/education_deal.jpg
But in spite of the boost that this trade would give to the Dutch economy, their leader Willem remained annoyed, perhaps an ill-omen for the future relations of the two nations. Of more immediate concern at the time was the fact that even Theodora of the Byzantines was not nearly as welcoming to Yeh-lu as on their previous visit. Though, here it turned out that the Byzantines’ concern lay more with the desire to become an active participant in the expansionist plans of the great Khan. It is believed that this meeting sowed the seeds for the future Mongol-Byzantine Pact that was to reshape the northern borders of the continent. Again, Theodora did not view the knowledge of education as fully equivalent to the more useful gunpowder, and so Yeh-lu had to part with a chest of gold to seal the deal.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/gunpowder_deal.jpg
The Great Khan summoned Subedei to the Forbidden Palace in Ta-tu. Subedei delegated the task of enslaving the remaining Indian populations and ruthlessly starving dissenting populations until they accepted the Khan’s rule to his second in command. These matters were not the stuff that drove a great general, and he was happy to shred these odious tasks.

The purpose of this meeting was made very clear to Subedei shortly after his arrival. The Khan wanted a plan for the no less than the destruction of the hated Russians, and the liberation of the sacred horses at Yakutsk. Subedei’s excitement at this new commission was tempered with some trepidation when Yeh-lu demonstrated the defensive power of the new musket weapons. However, soon the optimistic Subedei returned as he pointed out that for all the weapons noise and smoke, they were not particularly accurate, and therefore the Keshik would still be an awesome adversary, and still had the necessary might to defeat even entrenched defenders wielding these weapons. And so Subedei moved his forces to Ta-tu, and began conditioning them for battle against the noisy new weapons.

But the Khan’s machinations did not end there. No the growing strength and technological progress of the western empires was an ever present danger and one that had to be addressed soon. The forces of arms of several of these world powers rivalled even the Khan’s, and were they to combine together against the Khan, the result could be truly terrible. The path was clear. These western powers must be enticed to war amongst themselves. But he could not just declare war against one western nation and expect to bring the others on board. No this action would instead cause the parochial western powers to combine together and become the behemoth that the Khan feared. Instead a subtler approach was required, and the Khan found such an approach thanks to his enemy the Indians.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/punjab.jpg
The recently Indian city of Punjab that was situated in the Great Dividing Range was right near the border to the expansionist Romans, and within eyesight of their roaming legions. The Khan took a decision to leave this prize ungarrisoned, and sure enough, before long the pugnacious Romans took the bait, within a short time frame the Romans, mistakenly believing this to be a sign of weakness, sent a demand to the Khan’s ambassador.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/RomeDoW.jpg
Chebe was taken aback by the Khan’s laughter when he reported the news of the Roman declaration to the Khan. The Roman’s would not be allowed to sample the Mongolian wines now or ever, what’s more they would see not a single Mongolian unit in this ‘war’, instead their envious neighbours would be unleashed upon them from every direction, and the Khan expected to hear little more from this upstart, Rome.

Yeh-lu was sent on a whirl-wind tour of the nations surrounding Rome. Meanwhile the governor of Punjab was given the message to put the town to the torch. As tempting as the supply of gems was, there would be no easy prize for the Romans. Yeh-lu visited the Germans, then the Babylonians and finally the Portuguese in turn to enlist their support against the aggressor Rome. And with an appropriate bribe forthcoming, they were all willing to go to war!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Gemany.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/BabylonDoW.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Portugal.jpg
So for little more than the supply of the excess Mongolian wines to his new friends to the west, the Khan had enlisted his army to destroy the Roman Empire. It should be noted in passing that the Babylonians actually originally sought a supply of the sacred horses as well, but of course that was not to be! And so the Khan’s masterstroke was executed, and like pawns the great powers of the west settled in to bloody battle.

Chapter Eight continued

Meanwhile, undaunted by the Catastrophe of Athens, General Ereen still had a job to do, and he was determined to execute it to the best of his ability. But the forces of Greece were gathering as well. Alexander had sent four battalions of troops, mainly archers, to Mount Mycenae. However, in the end, this proved just the opportunity for the young commander Kublai to shine. The destruction of this Greek force proved the mettle of Kublai, and he was commissioned to form the fourth keshik army.

Kublai’s army was pressed into service immediately, and so started the assault on Knossos, destroying fully 2000 hoplites in the first attack. Two keshik battalions finished the defenders by dispatching a horse and an archer battalion and claiming the city.

In many ways it was not the Greeks themselves that were the major problem for Ereen, but the lack of roads leading into the Greek lands. So while the bulk of the reinforcing Keshiks were headed Ereen’s way, they were slowed in getting to the front due to this problem. Worker crews were immediately rushed to Baruun-Urt to commence on the all important road, and from the Greek end, new slave crews commenced the road from the other end.

It was at this time, just as Ereen was asserting his dominance over the Greeks that the most surprising of all actions occurred. The Japanese mysteriously lost their mettle for this war, and made a peace with the Greeks. These were the same Japanese who years earlier were determined to exterminate the race of Greeks, and now given the determination of the Mongolian empire to achieve this same feat, the Japanese pulled out. Not only this, but the Japanese departure was in clear violation of the Khan’s military alliance with the Japanese, an alliance that Shogun Tokugawa himself had been insistent on renewing. The Khan expressed his displeasure to the Japanese ambassador, but in the scheme of things at the time, there were more important fish to fry!

It was also at this time that the boom times that may have been instigated by the keshik show of force by Kazan came to an end. It may be that the effect finally wore off, or perhaps it was just the cyclical nature of these things. In any event the budgetary surplus dropped to 60% of its former glory, and while the flow of reinforcement units continued, it did however slow somewhat. As if to advantage from this point, Ceasar brought the traitorous Dutch into the war against the Mongols. Strategically, this move was of questionable value given the Dutch isolation from the rest of the continent, but Ceasar was getting desperate. This was no great concern for Ereen, though, and his campaign went from strength to strength.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/GreekWarI.jpg
Main theatre of War
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/GreekWarII.jpg
Western front

A Greek archer battalion was destroyed by Mycenae mountain as the advance commenced on Sparta, led by Ogodei’s keshik army, 4 keshik battalions and an elite horse battalion.

Ereen had also built up a subsidiary force in the incense town of Atlay out west. Initially intended to provide an active defence there should the Greeks resume their hostility to the incense settlers, this force was now ready to strike directly at the Greek towns surrounding it. The charge on Rhodes saw a 2-1 kill rate in favour of the Mongols, as the garrisoning Greek hoplites were swept aside, and Rhodes was forcibly added to the Mongol empire.

At Sparta the Greeks adopted the tactics of the Indians and employed not just one but two catapults in the defence of the city. However, this attempt to blunt the assault of Ereen was no match for the army of Ogodei, and as three more Hoplite units were swept aside, Sparta joined the ranks of the Mongols. The Greeks’ own catapults were then turned on their former owners, decimating an approaching horse battalion, before an elite keshik battalion finished that job, and a second elite keshik battalion dispatched an archer battalion.

The Greeks, though suffering horrendous losses, were still attempting to mount a defence against the invaders. An archer battalion by Argos proved resilient enough to claim a keshik battalion before falling to the numbers thown at it. Argos itself fared little better, though surviving the initial charge of Kublai’s army, after a quick rest and recuperation, there was nothing the defenders of Argos could do to hold out Kublai. And, in the surrounding area, a further 3000 archers were dispatched by the keshiks available to Ereen.

Kublai’s army was not content merely with Argos, however, and charged on to Thessalonica to start the great battle there. With support from a further three keshik battalions, Thessalonica fell quickly to the Mongols as well.

The Greek high command had reached a state of chaos at this point, and desperate for a way, any way, to hurt their seemingly unstoppable attackers, they latched onto two plans of great daring, but little true strategic value. First an elite unit of hoplites marched deep into Mongol territory by Chicken Itza with a mission to disrupt the flow of important strategic materials to the Mongolian campaign. Second, a galley saw an opportunity to threaten a worker crew by Thermoplae, and so landed its archer battalion in an attempt to do so.

The latter plan failed because the Greeks should have realised that the Mongols were using Thermoplae as the staging point for their flow of reinforcements into the Greek campaign, and so the archer battalion was quickly surrounded and slaughtered. The Mongols were untroubled by the elite hoplite unit’s penetration into Mongol territory, and so left it alone!

The Greek were down to just the three cities of Corinth, Delphi and Eretria. The end was so obviously near, that already Chebe had started diverting new reinforcements to Ta-Tu instead. Corinth was first. Ogodei’s army lead the attack that dispensed with yet another three hoplite battalions and two archer battalions in and around Corinth to take the city.

Delphi held out slightly longer as the hoplites there managed to retreat two keshik attacks, but the result there became inevitable as well, especially when Kublai’s army joined the assault. Finally, at the last Greek bastion of Eretria, the Greek city overlooking the Mongols’ incense, another fierce but short battle saw the extinguishing of the Greek dream. As this last city fell into Mongol hands, the existence of Greek authority was completely quashed, and as a strict martial law was imposed upon the citizenry, the elite hoplites by Chicken Itza decided discretion was better than valour today, and they simply dispersed, never to be seen or heard of again.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Greekend.jpg
As Chebe presented the good news to the Khan, the Mongol empire now was within sight of the mighty Great Dividing Range, and exceeded the land area of even the sprawling German republic. But the Khan’s mind was elsewhere. The assault on the much stronger, hated Russians had already begun!

nice update I am planing a Large Pangea with the Ottomans. I just dont have the paceince for a huge map. Great update, i was wondering could you post a screen shot of ur whole empire

another thing that came to mind. How much money do you have and or how much are you making. I see that ur paying huge amounts of cash early in the game so where are u getting the green beens from.

The cash - on a huge map you have so many cities with a lower rate of corruption, that greater sums of cash are inevitable. During the latter year sof the golden age we were making almost 500gpt. That has since dropped to about 300gpt.

Here is the map - be warned you may need a fast connection to download this (It is an amalgam of 4 zoomed out images).

The Mongolian Empire 590AD (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Mongolia590AD.jpg)

Hahah that little dogpile on Rome looks pretty nasty. I have'nt been in the Stories section for some time, but I'm glad to see you're still working on this, Sandman. Keep it up! :goodjob:

It took me like 5 min to download ur empire (slowww computer) but I finally did it. U have quite a big empire altough i dare say u have about 7 percent of world area, and that explains why huge maps are beyond my reach. Best of lucks mate.

Yes, I liked that dogpile to T-Money. The real beauty of it is that the AI then starts buying each other in so it snowballs for you...

El Loco, the empire has grown a bit bigger than that now, but yes, I certainly am not going to carefully micro manage the whole empire every turn!!!

Ok, uploading chapter nine now, and it is huge, so I hope it was worth the wait!

Chapter Nine: The War on Russia

While General Ereen was dealing to the Greeks, the world stage was taking a turn for the more violent. The Romans recent ally, the Dutch, turned to the Scandinavians to add further might to the western powers allied against the Khan. This latest development was troubling only in the fact that the numbers of nations allied against the Mongols was continuing to grow, because the Scandinavians were also so far from the front with the Mongols that as a strategic ally, they were really quite irrelevant.

Meanwhile reports reached the Khan that the Incan had completed another marvel of engineering. This time it was the so called Leonardo’s Workshop that offered a more cost effective mechanism to refit dated units with more modern equipment. A useful thing for sure, but then most of the Khan’s military build-up had occurred after he had already reached the discovery of chivalry enabling the building of the mighty Keshik, and so it would not have been overly useful to date. As to the future, well who knows? The only thing for sure was that this workshop was a very long way away, and so very unlikely to come into the Khan’s possession in the foreseeable future.

With the discovery of gunpowder came the mass refit of the out dated pike units with the more modern projectile weapons. Over two divisions had access to the necessary barracks for the initial refits, with more to come on a rotational basis. New defensive units were built exclusively as these musket units, henceforth, because though they were more expensive to equip, their effectiveness over the old pike battalions was unquestioned.

The Khan meanwhile was waiting expectantly for Subedei to present his plan for the campaign against the Russians. The insults of the past, combined with the support to India during the Indian war were sleights that must not go unpunished. However, the Khan was aware that the Russians had achieved significant technological progress, and had the resources to put units of equal power into the field as the Khan’s own units. The Khan’s eagerness to commence this campaign was tempered with a concern at the potential Mongol casualty rate in such a more evenly matched campaign.

At last the day came, and Subedei presented his campaign plan to the high council of the Khan in Ta-tu, and once again it was a brilliant masterpiece. Subedei’s informants had identified for him the important locations of all the strategic materials that the Russians had for building these advanced weapons. The plan called for a lightning strike through the heart of Russia to capture these sources using the speed and agility of the Keshik. Once crippled, the Russians would be unable to field anything better than the Mayans or the Greeks before them.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Russian_plan1.jpg
The plan, of course, was unanimously approved. So in 580AD, before even the Greek campaign was finished, though Chebe assured the council that at this point it was as good as finished, the Russian ambassador was marched in to see the Khan. The declaration was made, and almost before the Russian ambassador had a chance to relay the message back to his superiors, Subedei had launched his assault.

Subedei had requisitioned a worker crew earlier, so that the forest to the north of Ta-tu was roaded, providing fast access to the Russian capital of Moscow. The second and third keshik armies were sent along this road to Moscow itself. Finally the world was to get the mighty showdown between the projectile weapons of the musket defenders and the fast power of the keshik! In the end, it was no contest as the multi-battalion forces of the armies were to prove too much for Moscow’s defenders, and no less than three of the much vaunted musket battalions plus one elite pike battalion were rendered asunder under Subedei’s onslaught. The pride of Russia itself, mighty Moscow had fallen!

Subedei was jubilant, because Moscow was the key to the whole campaign. With the fall of Moscow, the Yakutsk horses and the wines of Novgorod were cut off from the rest of the Russian empire. Even more importantly, the saltpetre resource of St Petersburg and the iron of Yekaterinburg were brought within the reach of Subedei’s forces.

True to the earlier commitment to the Byzantines, the Khan sent Yeh-lu back to the Byzantine Empire where the Byzantine-Mongol Pact was forged. Once again, Yeh-lu was the provider of gifts to Theodora, though certainly the Mongolian empire was the stronger of the two. A supply of Greek fur and a small annual tribute sealed the pact.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Byz_pact.jpg
Historians have often pondered why the Khan saw it necessary to involve the Byzantines in this action at all, for surely the might of the Mongolian empire clearly surpassed the Russians at this stage, even if the technological prowess of the Russians was equivalent to the Mongols. The consensus opinion seems to be that with the Sun Tzu Art of War in their possession, the Byzantines were producing quality troops above the standard of many of the other armies of the day. This plus the fact that the Khan did not wish to face multiple adversaries simultaneously, and so with the Byzantines by his side, they clearly would not become an aggressor against him. On the other hand, it did mean ceding some valuable land into the Byzantine’s possession.

The fall of Moscow was quickly followed up with the attack on Yakutsk, and this time it was keshik against musket without the advantage of the army structure to aid the keshiks. But the fine training of Subedei proved effective, and though the muskets did turn the attack of one keshik battalion, two more were sufficient to rout the defenders and finally free the Yakutsk horse herd from their Russian oppressors!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/freeing_yak.jpg
The keshik units under Subedei pressed deeper into Russia, reaching the heights of the Russian Range and looked down into the city of St Petersburg and its prized saltpeter resource. The Russians finally responded to the invaders sending a longbow battalion against the keshiks entrenched in the mountain. These longbows proved substantially more effective than the Greek archers had been, and succeeded in retreating a keshik battalion, but this would prove a short lived victory.

It was at this time, just as the Greeks were wiped out, that Tokugawa made his move that would come to be remembered as Tokugawa’s Folly. Without invitation, Tokugawa sent seven archer battalions into the newly conquered territory by Sparta, with more coming in reserve. Weary of allowing the Japanese the element of surprise, the Khan issued Tokugawa with an immediate boot order.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/JapanDoW.jpg
Forcing the Japanese to act honourably gave the advantage back to the Khan, and though Ereens forces were largely being pulled back to be sent to the Russian front, these orders were quickly reversed, and an attack ordered up on the invaders. Ogodei’s army, three keshik battalions and a horse battalion were close enough to strike, but though they could not completely destroy the invader, the forests of Sparta ran red with Japanese blood that day, as fully five thousand Japanese perished in the onslaught.

There was more Japanese death to come. A spear battalion was caught attempting to infiltrate Mongolian territory by Thessalonica, and was quickly dispensed.

Some consequence of the ongoing Roman war was felt as well, at this time. The Scandinavians had a warrior battalion on deep scouting duty at the time of being brought into the war by the Dutch. After many centuries of journeying east, this battalion had come across the Mongolian frontier town of Eretria. As if to make some small contribution to the Viking war effort, this unit attempted the impossible and attacked a keshik battalion. In the end, the Keshik unit was caught by surprise owing to the complete audacity of the move, and fell back before the advancing Vikings. However, reinforcements were quickly dispatched, and this bold move became the last thing that unit ever did!

With the destruction of the Greeks, and war on both the Japanese and the Russians in full force, the Mongolian people could not be happier. As a tribute to the Great Khan, and recognising that now that Mongolia was starting to be seen as a world power, the mighty palace in Karakorum was becoming host to more and more visiting dignitaries. Consequently space was at a premium, so the Mongolian people elected to add an eastern wing for housing just such dignitaries.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/palace5.jpg
Meanwhile the Byzantines were throwing themselves into the glory of battle with gusto with a massive troop build up in the mountains by Novgorod. The Khan coveted the rich vineyards by Novgorod, not because the Mongols lacked wine, but merely because it was a measure of his power just how much wine he could control. Therefore, Subedei was ordered to try and take Novgorod before the advancing forces of the Byzantines captured the city instead. Subedei attacked with two battalions of keshik, destroying one musket, but only damaging a second battalion, with a fresh battalion of muskets seen coming to the city fortifications as reinforcements. Clearly Subedei had to wait for more troops himself before pressing on. But it was not to be, as the Byzantines hurled themselves at the city, using the western version of the knight as the main assault troop, and taking advantage of the diversion caused by Subedei, Novgorod fell to the Byzantines, though not without losses.

Chapter Nine continued

The Russians, too, make their boldest move of the whole war at this time. Clearly the Russians had been planning renewed hostilities against the Mongols, just as the Mongols long planned for this assault, because they put into the field almost two divisions of strength aimed at the Mongol outpost towns of Kaminaljuro and Uliastay. It was to be this force on the extended border that Russia shared with the Mongols that would prove to try the Mongols defences the most.

As outposts, these recently settled towns still only had small spear battalions as the garrisoning units. Thus a force of this magnitude was clearly a frightening eventuality. Subedei immediately requisitioned the forces of keshik from around Eretria, and ordered them to fast march to the towns to provide an active defence. However, long before these reinforcements could arrive, the first wave of the Russian forces struck.

The advanced Russian Expeditionary Force consisted of a full battalion of the much vaunted medieval infantry. Upon appraising the weak defences of his enemy, the Russian field commander seized upon an opportunity and launched the surprise attack. The Mongol spearmen fought valiantly, and held off wave after wave of the attacks of this better equipped enemy. In the end it came down to the pugnacious will to battle of the Mongols that proved decisive, as the Russian unit perished in battle. But there was more to come.

Kaminaljuro and Uliastay both played host to rushed additional spear battalions, as musket battalions were dispatched from Batshireet as well. As the first keshik battalion arrived, it did not even have time to regroup in Kaminaljuro, as it was rushed into the attack, dispensing with a medieval infantry battalion, but leaving another medieval infantry battalion, three archer battalions and warrior battalion in range to strike at the town.

The valiant spear defenders again held off the attack, but at the cost of a whole battalion of the spearmen. The Russians lost the warrior and two archer battalions, with the MI battalion severely wounded from the contest, but two more MI battalions moved up in reserve. What is more, the Russian second division, originally headed for Uliastay, observed that Subedei had had to split his forces in an effort to cover both towns, and so turned to add its support to the first.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Kaminaljuro.jpg
Walls were rushed in Kaminaljuro, as two more keshik battalions arrived and attacked the enemy MI battalions. A horse battalion supported by two more keshik battalions attacked the Russian second division, and whilst all the Mongol attacks were successful, against these overwhelming numbers, it simply was not enough! The Russian units, sensing an opportunity, bound together and attacked as one. For the loss of only one more archer battalion, the Russians killed two spear battalions and three wounded keshik battalions to storm the town.

Subedei unswayed by the loss of the outpost town pushed on into the Russian core. In the twenty year assault on the all important St Petersburg, Subedei’s forces were once more introduced to the powerful Russian longbows. However, the concentrated force of the army organisation proved too much even for the defensive power of these weapons, and so even though an individual keshik battalion was retreated by the musket defenders, eventually the determination of the second and third keshik armies could not be denied. Four more Russian musket battalions and a longbow battalion were swept aside as the critical Russian source of saltpeter was prized from the Russian’s grasp.

In the south, the Japanese seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of archer battalions to throw at Ereens forces, even though Ereen’s position started rapidly improving with the return of departing keshik battalions. In action by Sparta, Corinth and Delphi, Ereen’s units dispatched no less than seven battalions of Japanese arches in 610AD alone. Then in a move determined to make the Japanese pay a price for their treachery, the hero of the Greek campaign, Kublai, led his army to Mount Herakleia, and then into the Japanese town of Herakleia itself. The spear garrison was no match for Kublai, and the Japanese were suddenly put on the defensive as the town fell.

General Chebe meanwhile was the bearer of good news for the Khan. The elite force of Keshiks now comprised the strength of a full five divisions, or fifty thousand men, and still the Mongols were below their unit upkeep maximum, in no small part due to the rapid city acquisition that had occurred in the recent past. In addition, as per instructions, the right of passageway with the mighty German Empire was renewed, but perhaps in a move signalling future intentions, the right of passage for the Chinese empire was not!

Meanwhile, the Japanese continued their aggressive assault with archer battalions, attacking the elite horse battalion of field commander, Mongkel. In a glorious battle on defence, Mongkel’s ill-equipped battalion defeated fully three archer battalions in a row to prove his worth as a leader.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Mongkel.jpg
Unfortunately, the Japanese, like the Russians before them, had an overabundance of troops in the area, and more archer battalions yet in range of Mongkel’s unit. And so it was that a fourth archer battalion should step out of the Satsuma forests that day, and finally end the dreams of the great leader Mongkel, and his fine fighting men.

The Russian ruler, Catherine, came begging for peace at this point, but she was left in no doubt that there can be no peace! And, it certainly would not come while Mongols remained under the command of a Russian overseer. The fight continued. Both sides lost a battalion by St Petersburg, the Mongols a keshik battalion, the Russians a longbow battalion. By Quirigua an invading Russian pike was cut down by an elite sword unit.

On the southern front, the Japanese lost a further six battalions to the Mongols’ one as the assault on Satsuma commenced. Meanwhile, in the shock move of the millennium, the Scandinavians managed to persuade the Mayan leader, Smoke-Jaguar to renew war against the Mongols. Up until this point the Mayans had sensibly remained very quiet and out of eyesight as much as possible. That is they had done everything they could to avoid bringing about this war, and the certain destruction of their civilisation. It was known that Smoke-Jaguar had been taking to his special weed in the Tikal forest with ever greater frequency after his crushing defeat at the hands of the Khan’s forces, and so it is suspected that this decision was a last roll of the dice through a smoke filled haze. Certainly, this agreement signed the inevitable death warrant for the Mayan civilisation.

At the other end of the sanity scale, King William of the Netherlands made a personal trip to Karakorum in a bid to end the state of phoney war between the Dutch and the Mongols, and to renew his friendship with the Khan. This straight up peace was accepted, because the Dutch had proven useful trading allies in the past, and the Khan was starting to become weary of the ability of distant foes to continue to sign up allies against his forces.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_peace.jpg
Theodora also took the time out to visit Karakorum, for the Byzantine’s outstanding right of passageway agreement was once again up for renewal as well. The Khan agreed to this deal, even realising that this would mean more Byzantine forces clogging up Mongol highways, and interfering in Russian city conquests, but such was the price of alliance. Besides, it is clear that the Khan had no interest in pursuing the very distant Russian cities to the west, and so his ally would need the Mongolian highways to send troops after them!

The iron city of Yekaterinburg was the final Russian resource city, and the remaining high priority conquest on Subedei’s list. This took his Keshik units across the Russian Mountain Range as the best defended approach to the city. En route, Subedei was forced to dispatch several battalions of keshiks to deal with two longbow and one spear battalions on the Russian steppes.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Barbarians_026.jpg
Mongol’s on the Russian steppes

The second army moved to reinforce the attack on Yekaterinburg, whilst the third army moved inland, peeling back the fog of war to reveal the silk city of Smolensk. This was an unexpected surprise, as silks would add a fifth luxury to the Mongolian empire. The initial assault on Yekaterinburg was undertaken by five keshik battalions, but in a bloody encounter the Mongols lost a battalion to the defenders two musket battalions, and yet the defence held strong. But this defiance was not to last, as the second keshik army reached the city, and destroyed the remaining musket battalion to deprive the Russians of yet another city, and their last strategic resource to boot!

At Kaminaljuro, the only unit within reach of the city was an elite sword battalion. The field commander was in fact the brilliant son of the great Ogodei, leader of the first keshik army. Ogodei junior attacked the Russian oppressors killing an archer battalion, but still leaving a wounded medieval infantry unit in possession of the city. In this glorious battle, the son proved his mettle and was whisked away to Uliastay to form a sixth keshik army.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Ogodei_jnr.jpg

Chapter Nine continued

The Russian second division received more punishment from Subedei’s healthy units there, and a further three thousand Russians perished against the might of the keshik.

With Smoke-Jaguar’s invitation to attack him in hand, General Ereen was entrusted with the task of removing the annoying island city of Calakmul that just so happens to also be the current capital of the dying Mayan empire. To free up units from needing to cover his back, Ereen sent four keshik battalions in to do this task, dispensing with a javelin battalion en route to the town itself. In the ensuing battle for the town, Smoke-Jaguar succeeded in inspiring his defending spears to a fanatical frenzy resulting in the spilling of the blood of one thousand Mongolian lives. This was not enough, however, and the assaulting keshiks swept two battalions of spears aside to claim the town.

On the southern front, the war with Japan continued to intensify. Ogodei’s forces had finally trekked through the dense forests surrounding Satsuma, and reached the gates of the city itself. Although an elite horse unit was retreated against the Japanese spear units, the defenders could not withstand Ogodei’s attack, and thus the second Japanese city fell. A spear battalion on its way to reinforce Satsuma was cut down by a keshik battalion, while another held out against a damaged keshik battalion, and a third claimed the lives of the attacking keshik.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Japan_war.jpg
Around Herakleia, the Japanese had their largest gathering of force yet, and it was starting to take its toll on the limited resources available to Ereen. The extensive forests here as well limited the advantages of the keshik’s superior mobility, and gave the Japanese an element of stealth in their counterattacks. As keshik units went one for one against the entrenched Japanese archers, the army of Kublai attacked again and again, until it was brought to the brink. Though claiming two more spear, and two more archer battalions, the battle weary troops were left exhausted and unable to pursue the battle further with still more Japanese troops closing in. Furthermore, the newly captured city of Herakleia was left with a very vulnerable, battle-worn keshik battalion with still more Japanese closing in here as well. Further battles would result in the certain loss of Kublai’s army and Herakleia, a result that would be unacceptable to Chebe and unthinkable to the Khan. General Ereen had no choice but to seek peace before the Japanese divined the true weakness of the Mongol forces there.

In the peace negotiations, the clever Ereen was able to extract two greek slave worker crews as war reparations from the Japanese. The Japanese commanders were left never realising the tactical superiority of their position at the time.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Japan_peace.jpg
As the Khan had an exploring Curragh in the waters of the now neutral Netherlands, King William politely requested that the boat departed their sovereign land. Instead, the Khan offered to extend the growing friendship between the two civilisations by offering a right of passageway that was duly accepted. The Mongols junior partner in the war against Russia decided to take this friendship a step further and invited the Dutch into the Russian War. In a largely symbolic gesture, King William agreed to this as well.

In a move symbolising the very real ongoing threat to Russia, Subedei pressed his attack on to the silk city of Smolensk. Here for the first time, the Russians were starting to feel the lack of their important resources, as only spear and pike battalions were available to protect the city. The third keshik army killed both, but at the end of its charge, it was unable to press the campaign on to finish the longbow battalion left.

At Yekaterinburg, another longbow battalion was quickly dispensed.

At Kaminaljuro, the all important battle to free the captured city raged on. It was so distasteful for Mongols to be subjected to Russian oppression, that Subedei was forced to adopt a high risk strategy to speed the liberation process. In the ensuing bloody assault, the former battalion of Ogodei junior perished, along with a recent musket battalion used in the attack against what was believed to be a heavily damaged medieval infantry battalion. These costs proved worth it in the end, as two keshik battalions cleared a spear and an archer battalion, a spear battalion killed the medieval infantry battalion, and though loaded with damaged keshik battalions, Ogodei junior’s army defeated the remaining damaged archer battalion to reclaim Kaminaljuro. The cheer from the freed Mongol population that night could be heard almost as far as Karakorum itself!

In the great Roman war, things were not progressing well for the Romans. King Ragnar Lodbrok was the next to realise this, and chose to abandon his erstwhile ally, Rome. He offered the Khan a straight up peace agreement, and in an effort to contain the collateral damage arising from the Roman conflict, the Khan accepted.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Viking_peace.jpg
In a complete reversal of sides, the Vikings then signed a military alliance with the Americans to aid in the total destruction of the Russians. The Germans meanwhile continued their culture push with the completion of the engineering feat of the Sistine Chapel. Then in a further broadening of the conflict against Rome, they signed in the aid of the Incans. However, Caesar did succeed in shortening his exposed flanks by getting the untrustworthy Portuguese to back out of the conflict. This was an early departure per the terms of the Mongol-Portuguese agreement, but after the past behaviour of Prince Henry towards the Mongols, it was hardly surprising. It also provided further ammunition for an inevitable Mongol – Portuguese conflict, but that was to be sometime in the future.

Yeh-lu’s informants advised him that the powers in the west now possessed the technologies of music theory and chemistry as well as the sought after banking. Yeh-lu decided on an alternate strategy for catching up to the tech leaders at this time. Instead of saving up the financial resources to purchase these needed techs, the Mongols would complete research in a unique technology of their own, and then barter this to the other civilisations getting a discount off several technologies in the process. The Khan approved this concept, and so with renewed funding the sages of the Mongols were able to promise to deliver the secrets to the printing press within the next three decades.

With the war against the Russians progressing so well, the Khan further believed that the Mongols could reduce their absolute drive for greater military and build something else. Yeh-lu, in one of his more persuasive moments, convinced the Khan to build some institutions of higher learning in the Mongolian core. While the knowledge for these universities had existed for some time now, it had yet to be put to good use within the Mongolian empire. However, if the Mongols were to rely on the research of their sages to some extent, then the sages should be given every assistance in this regard, and so at least some universities were essential.

The Mongolian people were once again excited by these developments, and so volunteered to build a much needed west wing for the palace in Karakorum.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/palace6.jpg
The Byzantines continued their pursuit of the Russians, beating the Mongols to the town of Kranarysk. In a fierce battle of western style knight versus Russian musket, the numbers of the Byzantines eventually prevailed, and thus a second Russian city fell to the eastern power.

Subedei’s assault of Smolensk continued. This time he deployed individual keshik battalions to destroy the rushed spear and remaining longbow battalions there to capture the city. In the town’s surrounds, another keshik battalion destroyed an advancing Russian medieval infantry battalion.

Next, Subedei’s force turned to the northern Russian town of Kharbarovsk, using the speed of the third keshik army to beat the rival Byzantine commander to the chase. With movement to spare, the third army engaged and destroyed a pike battalion in the town, but the remaining two spear battalions were left to the keshik battalions bringing up the rear. However, though these defenders were just antiquated spear units, they fought bravely, and were able to claim the lives of a thousand Mongol attackers, before ceding the town to the Mongols.

By St Petersburg, as the keshik forces of Subedei made an active defence in destroying two more battalions of medieval infantry, and field commander Chagatai was recognised for his superior tactics in these battles. As a reward, Chagatai was commission to form his own keshik army as well.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/chagatai.jpg
In the far west, with the destruction of the two divisions of Russian troops, (in all more than twenty thousand Russian had perished in the ultimately failing campaign here), Chebe ordered that the remaining Mayan town of Piedras Negras be taken, and so remove that annoyance once and for all. To this end, Subedei ordered Jochi junior’s battalion of keshiks to destroy the approaching Mayan javelin battalion. In this glorious battle, another leader suitable for command of an army was born.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/jochi_j.jpg

Chapter Nine continued (final)

Jochi junior was ordered back to the relative safety of Batshireet to await fresh keshik units to fill his army. Meanwhile, the assault on the hill town of Piedras Negras commenced. As there was a limited reserve for fighting this battle, it stretched out over twenty years even though there were only two spear battalions defending. The Mayans were not able to inflict any significant casualties to the Mongols as their civilisation vanished from the known world.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Mayan_end.jpg
As the race for Russian cities continued, Subedei employed Keshiks to effectively block the roads travelled by the Byzantines. In the division of the spoils of war, Subedei wished to ensure that these Russian towns along the Mongolian border fell into Mongol hands. It was not that he had anything specifically against the Byzantines, but the military strategist in him realised that the existence of foreign cities within the borders of Mongol territory, like the Mayan city of Calakmul before, posed a potential future security risk, and one best avoided now. The Byzantines would serve Mongol interests better by going after the distant Russian cities behind the borders of Germany and America, and leave these more useful towns to the Mongolian army!

Next to fall was the large town of Vladivostok, as two keshik battalions, and Chagatai’s newly formed army dispensed with four spear battalions entrenched there. At Bryansk the Russians still had three musket battalions, and were able to claim the lives of two battalions of keshiks in the bloody fighting. But here as elsewhere, the muskets and final spear battalion could not stop the irresistible force of Subedei’s assault, and the Russian town fell.

Meanwhile, the third and second keshik armies combined to assault Orenberg, destroying a longbow battalion en route, though in the end it took only the second army to crush the musket and spear battalions garrisoned there.

This left four more Russian towns, but only two more of interest to the Mongols as Kazan and Magadan were on the Mongolian border. The latter town was the point from which the Russians had launched their vicious assault on Kaminaljuro, and so it was only fitting for it to receive some of the same. But Kazan was first as the third army joined forces with Chagatai’s army and caught the defence in a pincher move, three further spear battalions were crushed as the town fell.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/russian_warI.jpg
Finally, at Magadan, the hero of Kaminaljuro, Jochi junior, was to return, but this time in command of the seventh keshik army. Jochi junior’s assault was furious to behold. The three spear battalions had no chance and were spared no quarter, and to a man they were massacred. However, this mighty fight was to be the last action the Mongols committed to in the Russian War. Though two other Russian towns yet existed, Subedei reasoned that the diversion of force to chase these two towns in the far reaches of the west was simply not worth the risk, and called a halt to further combat. If the Byzantines were unhappy with their spoils so far, then let them chase these remaining towns.

And so peace came at last to the Mongolian empire, for although they were still at war with the mighty Romans, the Mongols had yet to see a single Roman unit, and feared them not. But just as the citizens celebrated these new victorious and the affluence of the new peace, a new threat was rising, and this was to prove the mightiest foe of all, as the world’s other major super power would be brought into direct conflict with the rising Mongol nation.

Wow. Great update, the longer the better as I always say! It looks as though you're building up a truly massive empire now, I imagine corruptionis almost unearable.

OH, and BTW, is that 4 GMLs or 5?

Actually, T-Money, corruption isn't too bad yet - an effect of the huge map size. Courthouses are still having an effect etc.

As to MGLs, I think you will find that it is 9 - 7 armies pre-military tradition, 1 leader on defence lost to continued onslaught, and I leader rushed the Heroic Epic to speed the MGLs on the way

In my game its 700 A.D. and not a single leader! The mighty siphai however need not be in an army. Really enjoyed ur update, keep it coming, good luck

Could we see a world map, please? I want to see one from when the Rome war started vs. one from now.

rbis4rbb, I'll put a world map from around 700AD in the next chapter. It may not be too accurate on the Roman conflict, though as we still do not have map trading, and I have not had any units in the vicinty of that conflict. Obviously it will give you a good picture of Mongolian expansion, however.

i don't know if u havebuilt it yet but i have a question thats been palguing me. What is the SPHQ and what does it do? it can't find the information anywhere on the site. i only have vanilla civ.

In Conquests, when you are in Communisim or I believe Fascism you can build the Secret Police Headquarters, basically a second Forbidden Palace. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I am pretty sure that SPHQ is available only to communism. Only exists in conquests, not vanilla civ.

And no, I haven't built it yet, because I am not in communism. In fact communism has not been discovered yet!

One qq. Does the unique ability of the keshik helped you at all. Cuase i find them a pretty avergae UU

The unique ability of the Keshik has so far only been useful twice - on the way to Karachi, and on the way to Yekaterinburg. In the former, it enabled us to get there twice as quickly, in the latter, it enabled us to hug the mountains for greater defensive bonus. The map parameteres were not designed to maximise the potential of the UU unique ability, though in the German confrontation it will prove very useful, because there is the Great Dividing Range seperating the bulk of Germany from Mongolia.

The weakness of the UU is its 2 def, but as we have managed a mainly offensive defense, this hasn't been a big factor. Certainly, the discount of 10 shields versus normal knights has helped us build our large army of them more quickly, as well as upgrade horses more cheaply.

So overall, I quite like them!

Yeah, but the main problem with the Keshik is the fact that it's defense is so low. It can't capture and hold cities like Knights can, and it's over-mountain ability kind of sucks when you can't hustle your defensive units over as fast, while the Keshiks die by the truckload trying to hold cities. Of course, I've only played with them once so I may have a crooked view.

The secret is to try and stay on the offensive, even when defending a position, and then the weakness of the 2 def never comes into it. This will be harder against the Germans who have a decent supply of knights.

Are you gonna go for the mass upgrade? In my current game the mass upgrade from horsemen-siphai worked wonders. I build leo's and for about 3000 gp, i turned 30 sucky horsemen into 30 might siphai. Instead of spending 100 shields, I spend 30!

Wheres the update??? Come on dont be like Daft ;)

lol sandman isn't even close to daft. For the quality of each of these chapters, take your time sandman :)

Lol, if he was Daft he would leave for about 3 months, then come back with one huge update.

Chapter Ten: Dawn of a new Threat

The events leading up to the new global threat started innocently enough, although to careful observers perhaps there was some veiled threat in the actions of the super-powers. The first hint that there was something else amiss in the world occurred when the super-power Germany pulled out of the alliance against the Romans early. The fact that the new alliance partner, the Inca, immediately turned round and brought in the Netherlands against the Romans meant that the alliance continued to be strong, and so the German pull out was not given the attention by the Mongol high command that it perhaps deserved.

With the Russian core holdings rapidly falling, and the remaining Russian cities lying on the east coast of America, Tver, and on the Babylonian/German border, Novosibirsk, the Americans realised that total elimination of this mutual foe would not occur soon without the aid of the Babylonians, and so they recruited the Babylonians into the Russian campaign. Meanwhile, in spite of the superior Russian technology, the Americans assaulted Tver with ever increasing veracity. The Russians, lacking any ability to reinforce the town, could not long hold out against the numbers of troops the Americans had at their disposal. The inevitable result was the town siege ended in the Americans being victorious, and further shrinking the Russian empire.

The Babylonians meanwhile, were now engaged in war on two fronts, although little resistance could be expected from the Russian city on their eastern border. In spite of this the deeply religious and culturally proud nation continued to devote substantial investment into the development of wonders, this time culminating in the completion of the magnificent JS Bach’s Cathedral. Perhaps even more than the physical battles around them, the Babylonians were actually threatened by the massive culture of the super-power Germany. The powerhouse of Germany had generated such a massive amount of culture, that even the Babylonians had but half of Germans cultural influence. And, so in many ways these large nations of the west were fighting a battle of a different sort, with the richness of their heritage impinging on the border towns of their neighbours, and though not a shot had been fired at this point, surely this was but another way of waging war!

Meanwhile, the domestic affairs of the Mongol state could not be left unattended, and indeed they were not, as this was a busy time for the magician, Yeh-lu , as well. A near coastal source of whales had been discovered almost directly to the east of Karakorum itself, and so a new settlement, Bayanhongor, was established on the uninhabited peninsular there. In time a prosperous town, based on the whaling trade, was expected to develop.

Yeh-lu’s sages had been true to their promise as well, and delivered the printing press, a mechanism for the mass production of the Khan’s chronicles.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/pp.jpg
Yeh-lu then hit the world circuit seeking to extract value from the trade of the new Mongol knowledge. This time in an effort to foster better relations in the far west, Yeh-lu sought out the Court of Pachacuti to trade his wares to the Inca. Pachacuti was slow in comprehending the purpose of this printing press machine, and so needed a practical demonstration of its utility in order to be convinced of its merit. The demonstration was given a practical goal, and achieved the function of generating communications between the Incans and the Japanese for the first time. Finally convinced that this machine had some merit, Pachacuti was prepared to trade, but he still needed a sweetener to part with the knowledge of Astronomy.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Incan_pp.jpg
Next on Yeh-lu’s whirl wind tour was Theodora of the Byzantines. Once again a useful swap existed here, and the newly acquired Astronomy was more than enough coin to persuade Theodora to part with Banking and a small amount of gold.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Byz_pp.jpg
There was one other knowledge that was widely known amongst the scientific elite at the time, that of Chemistry. Yeh-lu would have dearly loved to have secured this valuable knowledge as well. However, by this time the potential buyers for the printing press were aware that there were other sellers now in the market. This meant that they were a lot less willing to part with the apparently more important knowledge of Chemistry for the lesser valuable knowledge of the printing press. Perhaps their leaders did not have chronicles worthy of widespread distribution!

Instead, Yeh-lu was forced to settle for a straight out cash payment for the knowledge. This was clearly better than nothing, and having another civilisation secure the trade and whatever remaining value there was to be had, so Yeh-lu took what cash he could. First there was Germany. In hindsight, having a significant payment plan involved in this deal may have been yet another enticement for the treacherous German’s, but the deal seemed fine at the time, and was given the Khan’s blessing
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/german_pp.jpg
King William was also prepared to agree to a payment plan for the new technology.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_pp.jpg
The final opportunity for trade existed with the Babylonians. However they had little money at the time, so instead another technology trade was on offer. Yeh-lu’s diary of the time noted that he did not believe that this technology was particularly valuable to the Mongols, and that the trade was more to continue the fostering of improved relations with the Babylonians. However, it is believed that the atmosphere at the Khan’s court was subsequently a little more pleasant with sounds of background music starting to become more common.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Bab_pp.jpg
Upon his return to Karakorum, Yeh-lu found his trusted sages lacking in direction, but full of ideas for their next great discoveries. At least three opportunities presented themselves for the sages. First they could look into a new governing form, tentatively referred to as Democracy. This would be radically different to the existing organisation in Mongolia as it would involve significant representation of the people. Yeh-lu doubted that the Khan would see much merit in this. The existing government form, monarchy, allowed the Khan the freedom to pursue his relentless quest for military action against his enemies, and providing the Mongol people with the living room they so desperately craved. It was known that some of the other nations of the known world were using a less radical form of this people’s representation, and that they ran into difficulties during any prolonged military campaign. Perhaps the Mongolian nation would withstand this war weariness better than others due to the Mongols almost insatiable delight in taking up arms. In any event, needless to say the sages were dissuaded from pursuing this course.

A second option for the sages was an expansion on the concept of Astronomy. Taken further, this concept had the potential to lead to safe passage for ships even through the deep ocean itself! Of course, given the Mongols strong connection with the land, and with a power based very much on solid ground, this concept was never given any serious thought.

A third option was to pursue the knowledge of Chemistry independently from the civilisations that had already attained this knowledge. In frustration, Yeh-lu was almost ready to go for this not particularly appealing option. That was before the quite attractive alternative of Economics was presented to Yeh-lu. This concept would once more have a tradeable value, but better still, a particularly promising sage called Adam Smith believed that this extension to the marketplace concept could lead to revolutionary improvements in the efficiency of the Mongol economy. Of course this was not without some risks and costs associated with it. And so after some considerable consultation with this Adam Smith, Yeh-lu authorised the sages to commence work on understanding this knowledge, albeit at a much reduced, though still generous, rate of funding. Meanwhile a great project was commenced in the city of Tabriz, though under a huge cloud of secrecy because the exact purpose and intention of the building work there was not yet clearly understood.

Chapter Ten continued

Meanwhile, Subedei was regularly meeting the Khan and Chebe in the forbidden palace at Ta-tu. As the reports of the Russian collapse became more and more favourable, Subedei was authorised to begin shifting the mighty forces at his disposal to Yekaterinburg as a staging point for a future Chinese conflict. Thus Subedei was authorised to start planning this as a joint campaign with the Byzantines that was to see the Mongols and the Byzantines divide up the territory in the Sino-American peninsular. Obviously, this plan was a matter of the greatest secrecy, particularly since the relations with both the Chinese and the Americans had never previously had animosity amongst the parties. Clearly also this move would be a clear act of Mongolian aggression, and so the reaction of the rest of the world would need to be carefully monitored before any approval for the action could be given.

There was another reason for considering action against the Chinese. Yeh-lu’s informants had become aware of a Chinese plan for aggressive Chinese expansion that involved, as a preliminary, the development of another variant on the Keshik. Yet it had been rumoured that this variant would not only prove fleeter of foot, but also a better defender than the Keshik as well. The concept was certainly one to be feared, and so better a pre-emptive strike from the Mongols, then be the victim of the Chinese expansion moves to the south. Yeh-lu’s informants certainly had enough evidence of these developments underway, so as to justify the intended action.

Thus many troops were pulled back, and rebased to Yekaterinberg, just as would have been required in order to strike north. Most particularly, these troops were pulled back from the long new front with the Americans, and more pertinently, with the Germans. It is now well known that the Germans saw this repositioning of force in a very opportunistic way, and thus were encouraged to increase their militancy towards the Mongols.

A more in-depth analysis of the German psyche at the time revealed a deeply envious nation. In every other respect than land area and population, the mighty super-power Germany ruled over all she surveyed, but in these matters, the German republic fell short. However, and this was a very key however, the German territories had largely been acquired through organic means, and so represented strongly loyal well-developed cities with little waste to corruption. The Mongols, on the other hand, had a sprawling empire with a high level of lawlessness in the newly conquered territories of India, Greece and Russia. In fact the influence of the Mongols did not fully extend through these conquered territories, as the following period map demonstrates through the patchy coverage zones in these lands.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World710AD.jpg
Chancellor Bismark had also steered the German people into an arms build up of their own, and with plentiful natural sources of the all important resources, there was not going to be an opportunity for Subedei to cut out the heart of the German resolve in the opening phases of the conflict. Perhaps the final straw for the German people was the loss of the fine Mongolian wines that had been so plentiful during the German participation in the Roman War, but now were nowhere to be found. This proved to be the catalyst for the simmering tensions to manifest themselves in a more violent way. Violent protest broke out in the streets of Berlin, with the people demanding more Mongolian wines.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/riots.jpg
Chancellor Bismark finally acted to appease his people. Pumped up with the German heritage that so massively overshadowed the Mongols’ own, and backed with the strength of arms of his growing military with both musket and knight divisions to spare, Bismark instructed his Mongolian ambassador to go and demand a continuance of the German supply of Mongolian wine.

If the German high command expected mere acquiescence from the Mongols, they had not done their research on the Khan very well. So angered was the Khan by this ridiculous and outrageous demand that he personally rose from his throne to seize the startled ambassador and manhandled him out of the palace. The German ambassador was left in no uncertain impression that any further sleights to the honour of the Mongols would result in the immediate execution of the messenger, and war upon the fools who authorised the outrage! On this occasion, the Khan was spared the need to declare himself.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/GermanDoW.jpg
The Germans immediately backed their words with actions as a half division of knights appeared on the Great Dividing Range overlooking the town of Uliastay, as though they had been but waiting the command to go! With the bulk of his forces in Yekaterinburg, there was little Subedei could do to respond to the threat. The very real danger that the might of Germany represented to the Mongols was immediately realised by Chebe as well. And so, a new division of power was immediately decided upon. General Ereen was called back onto duty to control the forces in the south. He was to be charged with the defense of the border towns there, in particular Uliastay, and the clearing of the German towns lining the other side of the Great Dividing Range.

General Subedei would retain control of taskforce China, but instead of China, it would take the northern road through Khabarovsk to attack Nuremberg. Subedei also had several armies in the vicinity of Kazan, and he presented a strong case for opening a third front against the Germans based from this town.

General Chebe argued strongly for involving the neighbours of Germany in a mighty alliance to aid in the fall of this upstart nation. Given the Mongols’ ill preparedness to fight this war, the Khan did not raise objections. Chebe sought and received the assistance of the Babylonians, the Incans, the long term partner the Byzantines, and given their place on the Mongol hit list, perhaps surprisingly, the Americans into this conflict.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/American_gmy.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Babs_gmy.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Inca_gmy.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Byz_gmy.jpg
The Khan had reservations about the Babylonian deal and the price of the extended alliance with the Byzantines. In the case of the Babylonians, they had proven unreliable as a military ally in the past with a greater emphasis placed on the further construction of culture at the expense of building the necessary weapons of war. Furthermore, a lump sum payment by way of a technology left little ongoing incentive to keep the civilisation honest and involved in the conflict.

With the Byzantines, the Khan was starting to question their motives a little bit, especially given their stated like of conquest, however, given the Sun Tzu inspired quality of the forces that the Byzantines put into battle, it was a clearly worthwhile inclusion in the alliance.

Looking at the price of this new grand alliance, a casual observer could be excused for wondering what was the point of all this, after all the total cost of the alliance to the Mongols far exceeded the original German demand for wines. However, this would be a very shallow interpretation of the situation. Given the strength and growing power of the Germans, it had become inevitable for conflict between these two great nations. So this huge expense brought useful aid in weakening the might of Germany. Conceding to the German demand would have strengthened this enemy further still and granted the Mongols nothing!

As the Great War broke out, Subedei sent three battalions of Keshik over to the Nuremberg hill as an advanced guard. Further south, Subedei executed his plan by advancing Chagatai’s army and the second Keshik army across the Great Dividing Range, and into the territory of the German town of Dortmund. It was here that the special fortifications of the Germans became apparent. The construction of the Great Wall in their capital, Berlin, meant that even towns had defences like cities, and given that Berlin was several tiers of cities behind the frontlines, any offensive against the Germans was going to have to slog through truly well entrenched musket after musket. If the Germans had their way this war was going to be very bloody for the Mongols and their allies!

Ereen was in an even worse situation. With most of the troops that had been deployed around Uliastay, either on the way or already at Yekaterinberg, he had very little to hold off the impending attack. Two elite battalions of spears were able to garrison Uliastay, but with the impending doom of the German half division of knights to withstand, the likelihood of survival did not look great.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Uliastay_threat.jpg
But just as things looked the grimmest, the most surprising alliance partner stepped forward to inflict damage upon the enemy. The Americans were technologically deficient, possessing weapons belonging to the Ancient Age, and yet by their numbers alone, and position within the German empire already en route to the final Russian city, they were positioned to strike. And although obsolete, the power of a sword battalion was still very effective when deployed against an unsuspecting modern unit. Such was the impact upon the Germans brought about by the presence of these American troops that the Germans used the remainder of their available resources buying in an alliance with Scandinavia not against the mighty Mongols, but against the backward Americans.

Just as one alliance partner was proving its worth, another was demonstrating that its priorities lay elsewhere. The Incans announced to the world the completion of the huge project they termed Copernicus’ Observatory. It was believed that this construction was to become a beacon for aspiring scientists, accelerating the pace of learning from within the Incan nation. For all of that it provided little comfort to the Khan in these trying early stages of the German War!

It was also during this time that the rapidly dwindling Russians sought to reassert their sovereignty. The Russians were desperate to found a further town after being reduced to a solitary city. In this far too late grab for space they deliberately sent settler caravans through the sovereign territory of the Incans. Of course there was no space to be had, but even more troubling for the Russians was that the Incans were not impressed with the Russian incursion, and so gave them an ultimatum – leave or declare war. The Russians, in a move that was clearly suicidal chose war!

It was then that the Germans unleashed their ruthless assault on the town of Uliastay. Ereen was quickly to learn that the power of the western knight was fully as convincing as the might of the Keshik, and what is more, even elite spear battalions could not deny them from their prise. It took the Germans just two battalions of these knights to destroy rhe defending battalions and seize control of the Mongol town.

Ereen was not going to take this German offense lying down. However, he still did not have the required units to crush the enemy, and after losing his first Keshik battalion to the defending German knight battalion he was forced to call off the attack, and wait for reinforcements.

The Germans had taken first blood, but they were yet to face the might of Subedei’s armies. Would the German resolve outlast the Mongolian alliance? Would the massive attrition of Keshiks expected against the huge numbers of German muskets break the Mongolian counterthrust? Would the German knights prove superior to the Mongolian Keshik? Only time would tell, but there could be no doubt about one thing – this was to be the greatest and bloodiest conflict to date, and by its end the world would be profoundly changed.

Geez, haven't you learned to defend Ulistiay yet??

Geez, haven't you learned to defend Ulistiay yet??
I have a small problem with defensive units. Owing to the rate of expansion, I have barely one defender per two cities. Uliastay is not the only weak point. That is another reason why I have been keen on these alliances. If they are at war with your common enemy, they won't attack you. Well that's my theory anyway!

good update

go aussies, erm... mongolia?! great work. show the Germans how to lose a war.

ur fond of dog piles aren't you?

Yay, another Aussie - welcome aboard Slyda.

El Loco - yes, the ole dog pile has its place, In this game I have some pretty paper thin defences in some places, with civs on all sides, so even though most of the paeticipants don't seem to contribute that much, at least it ties up units, and keeps those civs from attacking you! Adding the Byzantines in was as much as anything for the sake of the story!

when are u posting mate? (not to pressure you) but everytime i see uve posted i get all excieted. I would like to thank u for taking the time to right all the stories just to entertain a bunch of civ fanatics. :)

when are u posting mate? (not to pressure you) but everytime i see uve posted i get all excieted. I would like to thank u for taking the time to right all the stories just to entertain a bunch of civ fanatics. :)
Don't worry dude!The Sandman always completes his stories :)

yeah i know. Its just that there aren´t much stories left out there that are worth ur time

Chapter Eleven: The Road to Berlin

The Mongols had taken the first hit in this unwanted war with the German capture of the outpost town of Uliastay, but if Subedei had his way, this would not remain unavenged for long. Subedei’s force had been divided into two separate attacks – one to the south, and the other, stronger force, in the north. The idea was to push through the outlying defensive cities of the Germans, and then converge the two forces in a pincher like movement on Berlin itself. Berlin was crucial because it was not only the capital, but also housed the accursed Great Wall that made all the outlying German towns particularly resilient to attack. The fall of Berlin would crush the German resolve, and enable a more rapid capture of the German outposts.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/GW_opening.jpg
Intended Mongolian attack vectors

Subedei’s southern force started the campaign by pushing across the Great Dividing Range by Kazan, bringing the second Keshik army directly to the gates of the town of Dortmund. Here German defensive ingenuity was to encounter the determination of the multi-battalion armies of the Mongols for the first time. The Germans had two battalions of the powerful musket units garrisoning the city, and they knew they were on the Mongol border zone. The fighting was long and intense, but eventually the bravery and dedication of the Mongolian troops prevailed. Though if this was to be the resolve shown at an outpost town, what peril awaited the foolish attackers of a German city, let alone the capital itself!

Chagatai’s army was soon to test the defences of a city first hand, as he led his army against the fortress of Stuttgart. The charge was successful in smashing a defending battalion of muskets, but many more troops were defending this city, and so it yet held firm.

The main Byzantine force concentrated just north of here with a massive knight assault on the town of Bonn. The well trained Byzantine forces suffered heavy losses at this city, but weight of numbers won the day, inevitably crushing the German musket men. This then enabled the Byzantines to push their forces up over the Great Dividing Range in sight of Stuttgart as well. This prize may well be fought over, and not just against the Germans!

The Stuttgart defenders were spoilt for choice of attackers to counterattack, but fearing the wrath of the mighty army of Chagati, they sensibly chose the Byzantine knights, and in a bold move, German longbows slaughtered a battalion of Byzantine knights. The Germans exchange losses against the Americans as well, as they exchange a knight battalion for a sword battalion in the south. Such were the early exchanges of the war, but both sides continued their build up on the front with ever greater numbers of troops, as the conflict deepened.

Meanwhile, Ereen finally received his all important reinforcements in the shape of the seventh keshik army, and fresh keshik battalions. Ereen could ill afford to see Uliastay in German hands for a single minute longer than necessary, and so backed by the strength of an army, this was clearly the moment to strike. But these German knights continued to prove deceptively hard to kill, and even backed with the army, an elite keshik battalion perished against the town defenders. However, this time Ereen would not be denied, and the two thousand knights of the Germans finally met their match. As a further act to prove the superiority of the Keshik, Ereen ordered a third battalion of keshiks into action against another advancing German knight battalion. Caught in the open with the Keshiks charging at them as if from nowhere, the hapless German knights were cut down to the last man! Ereen had redeemed himself for now.

Yeh-lu meanwhile had finally been able to attend to a matter of some importance to the Khan. The city of Har-Ayrag was founded in the former location of Dalandzadgad, the first town lost to the atrocities of the once proud Mayan people. This hill town claimed horses, deer and fresh water in the town radius, and so was a valued site.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Har_ayrag.jpg
Meanwhile, Subedei raised the pressure on the defenders of Stuttgart. In the second offensive the second keshik army joined forces with Chagatai’s army in a joint move to shatter the city’s resolve. But it was still not to be! Whilst a further two thousand German musketmen perished, the city held strong and took an awful toll on Chagatai’s army, so much in fact that, Chagatai had to pull back from the battle to the relative safety of Dortmund to rest his forces.

The northern assault on Nuremberg also involved crossing a small mountain range, with Subedei once again thankful to the light design of the Keshik. But once again, Subedei was to find that these Germans had plenty of will to fight. The third keshik army was sent in first, but if Subedei was expecting the army to substantially break up the defence for the following battalions, he was to be sorely disappointed! The army took a heinous toll, but did prevail against a single musket battalion. With other armies still advancing from the Chinese line, Subedei was left with his trusty keshik battalions to win the day. So after a rousing speech about country and honour, the keshiks charged the city, battalion after battalion.

The Germans were determined to make a stand here, however, and forced the first battalion to flight, killing the second. But just as the battle was at its darkest hour, things turned for the better for the Mongols, and the battle weary German troops eventually ran out of fight. Muskets, the unreliable weapons that they were, started jamming, regiments ran out of the essential ammunition, and were ill-equipped to revert to swords, and so the keshiks gained the upper hand, surging over the broken walls, and then it was all down hill for the Germans, as a further three thousand troops were slaughtered to a man.

From the heights of the city, Subedei’s forces spied a knight battalion, no doubt headed for the city as reinforcements. As a final stamp of his authority on this battlefield, a further keshik battalion was dispatched to intercept. This battle too was extraordinary violent and bloody, and as the dust cleared it became clear that the keshiks were again the victor, with piles of German dead littering the approach roads to Nuremberg.

Around the Stuttgart – Dortmund area the battle intensified, as more and more German troops showed up, and the Byzantines entered the fray more determined than ever. Not even Chagatai’s wounded army was safe from attack, as a German longbow battalion used the cover of the forest to launch an ultimately suicidal attack on this strong unit, but nonetheless one that reminded Chagatai that danger lurked around every corner!

In the centre of all this chaos, with the moral of the people requiring a boost, once again they elected to embellish the palace of the Khan as an ongoing pledge of loyalty in these testing times. This time, rather than building further accommodation, since visitor numbers had temporarily dropped off as a consequence of the German War, they decided that something more symbolic was in order, and some huge decorative spires were added to the front area.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/palace7.jpg
With the arrival of a third army by Stuttgart, Subedei decided to renew his stalled offensive their. Spurned on by the fall of the seemingly invincible Nuremberg, he was determined that Stuttgart would fall as well. The arriving keshik army was immediately introduced to the muskets of Stuttgart, smashing a battalion of the German troops. The second keshik army, regrouped after its first attack, pressed on to smash even the resilient city defence of two musket battalions to finally seize control.

However, the citizens of Stuttgart were not prepared to mildly acquiesce to Mongol rule, obsessed as they were with German culture. No this would take a sizeable garrison and a long time to crush the will of these Germans and bend them to the Mongol way. Subedei did not have the patience for this exercise, and moreover wished to make an example of these stern defenders for the rest of Germany to see. He ordered the immediate torching of the city. The citizens, if they were not burned alive, or executed by Subedei’s forces, fled to the forests and mountains never to be heard of again. After the fire, any structure that remained standing was methodically smashed to the ground. When he was done, Stuttgart was nothing but a pile of rubble!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Stuttgart_burns.jpg
Meanwhile, Ereen pressed on and crossed the Great Dividing Range. The charge of the seventh Keshik army saw it sweep aside a German longbow battalion without breaking stride en route for New Munich itself. The charge pressed the defence there and killed a spear battalion. By New Munich the Americans again came to the fore exchanging a sword battalion for a horse battalion.

By Dortmund the Americans claimed a bigger prise as their sword battalion destroyed a German knight battalion, before itself succumbing to a musket attack. The Byzantines also joined in this field of battle with an exchange of knight battalions. The Germans also tried to fight back at Nuremberg, but the lone longbow battalion failed miserably in its attempt to dispatch a keshik unit.

Further north still, the Americans amassed a sizeable force of division strength to assault the German isolated coastal town of Salzburg. Lacking the power of the modern musket defenders, this German outpost fell quickly to the weight of American numbers, and was soon in flames as well. It seemed the Americans were following Subedei’s example!
It was now that quite opportunely the Babylonian military alliance against the Romans came up for renewal, with the Babylonians keen on renewing for a further term. This alliance represented the last and sole tie that the Mongols had for that conflict. Given that the Mongol forces had now crossed the Great Dividing Range, and were within sight of Roman settlements, this phoney war had a small potential to turn real at the most inopportune time. The Khan had no wish to battle a second foe while his forces were engaged against the super-power Germany, and so the Babylonian request was denied. Furthermore, the Roman ambassador was invited to the Karakorum palace and offered a straight up peace deal. That which Caesar had longed for in the past was readily accepted now, and there was finally peace between Mongols and Romans.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Roman_peace.jpg
750AD marked a new dawn in the Mongol offensive against the Germans. For the first time, the keshik core had grown to fill a staggering six divisions, or sixty battalions of the fearsome mounted troop. On the contrary side the Mongolian empire stretched over some 65 towns and cities, although many of these were still experiencing a level of lawlessness that meant that no serious productivity was likely to emerge for some time. Added to this was the fact that the defensive garrisons of the Mongols numbered only some 39 musket, nine pike and two spear battalions, meaning that many centres were either completely ungarrisoned, or at best weakly garrisoned. With the continuing demands for more keshiks coming form the front lines, and the continual growth in foreign cities under Mongol control, this situation was unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

Chapter Eleven continued

General Ereen found himself at the gates of New Munich with the seventh keshik army and three further battalions of keshik. But with the memory of the Catastrophe of Athens clear in his mind, and the reports from his scouts of the numerous gathering of German forces around the city, he decided to temporarily delay the town attack, while these other forces were dealt with. The army healed up after its initial assault, while the battalions of keshik struck out and killed German spear, warrior and archer battalions, before retreating to the army’s safety net.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/New_Munich.jpg
The Germans responded by moving a very large force into the relative safety of New Munich, apparently in the vicinity of a full division, suddenly making the task of conquering this outpost town suddenly seem that much harder. The most lethal unit seen entering the town was a battalion of the powerful German Crusaders. General Chebe wished to know in detail how this unknown unit performed in battle, and so Ereen was forced to attack the town specifically for his report to Chebe. The crusaders were attacked by the seventh keshik army, but fought valiantly. However, they were no match for the superior organisation of the combined force, and perished in Ereen’s assault. Chebe found it pleasing to observe that although powerful, these crusaders were not quite as fearsome as the muskets on defence. Perhaps he would have been less confident if he had realised just how much more powerful these units were on offense than they were on defense!

Ereen pressed on with the clearance of German units around New Munich, utilising three keshik battalions to dispatch a spear, a longbow and an elite archer battalion. This also forced Ereen to rebase his forces to the south of the town so that they could cover each other, and in particular benefit from the army’s protection once again. However, Ereen also found it desirable to retreat two wounded Keshik battalions back into Mongol territory in order for them to recover, and be used in the renewed assault on New Munich.

This retreat created an opportunity for the Germans that they were not going to turn down. The Germans struck, using two longbow battalions to destroy a wounded Keshik battalion and a Byzantine archer battalion. The second wounded keshik battalion was not to escape either. A German horse battalion was able to attack, and attack it did claiming the prized scalp of the retreating wounded Mongol unit.

But it was not the Germans who were to have the last laugh in this exchange. Ereen noted the departure of most of the force from New Munich and heading somewhere to the north, so he decided the time to strike was now! The seventh Keshik army again assaulted the town, and this time the remaining two spear battalions could do nothing to sway Ereen’s resolve. Finally New Munich fell after possibly the longest siege in Mongol history, spanning some four decades!

Subedei was not long to remain out of the action either. Subedei had split his strong northern force so that almost a division of keshik headed further south to the city of Koningsberg. As Koningsberg was a second tier city, the German high command had given it a garrison of only three battalions of regular muskets, so Subedei was certainly not going to wait for army support. In the bloody mass assault the Mongols suffered the humiliation of a full three battalions being routed from the battle, and losses of a thousand troops. But the German losses were greater as the full three thousand musket men were slaughtered and Koningsberg was ‘liberated’ from German control.

The capture of first Nuremberg, and now Koningsberg meant that Subedei’s northern forces had a clear path to Hannover, and the first tier German city of Leipzig! However, the advance from Nuremberg encountered the substantial resistance of a musket battalion ambush. These brave Germans right on the battle front lines fought all day and night and all the subsequent day. Their muskets ran hotter than hell itself, as accurate volley after accurate volley found its mark in the attacking keshiks. These brave Germans claimed the lives of a full two thousand keshiks, including an elite battalion before finally succumbing to the inevitability of the sheer might at Subedei’s disposal. With the roads now clear, no less than three armies and seven keshik battalions moved up for the inevitable assault of Hannover.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Hannover_adv.jpg
By the ruins of Stuttgart, Subedei’s armies again needed to rest. The Germans though used another battalion of crusaders to destroy an American sword battalion. Though by Koningsberg, two Byzantine knights dispatched two German spear battalions.

By Hannover, yet another keshik – knight tussle was decided in favour of the keshik! The assault on Hannover started in earnest with Ogodei’s keshik army smashing two musket battalions. Then Kublai’s keshik army followed up with the destruction of a third musket battalion. As only a longbow battalion remained defending the city, an elite keshik battalion was given the honours of finishing up, and claiming the city.

The third keshik army advanced on Leipzig smashing a German spear battalion on the way. However, the Germans retaliated using a longbow battalion to kill a keshik battalion, but in a further reversal, this longbow battalion was in turn destroyed by a Byzantine Knight battalion.

By Dortmund, the flow of German troops remained strong. The Mongols dispatched two spear battalions, and the Byzantines accounted for a further crusader, a spear and two longbow battalions.

By the Stuttgart ruins, Subedei’s armies were again forced to rest up, to gather their strength before the important push on the first tier city of Munich (the original, not the frontier town that Ereen captured).

And in international affairs, Rome managed to continue to reduce its enemies by finally agreeing to a peace with the Netherlands. Perhaps the Dutch were celebrating their recent victory over the Russians, and saw no reason to continue the Roman conflict. This Dutch victory saw the last Russian city fall, and the Russian influence in the world was irretrievably over. The Khan of course took quite some pleasure in the news of the end of this hated foe. The Khan had further reason to celebrate. The city of Ta-tu finally completed its establishment of higher learning – the first in the Mongolian empire – in a move not only pleasing for the sages, but also heralding the promise of improved capacity to research new knowledge within the empire. Even better, from the Khan’s point of view, was the fact that this freed the city to once more produce a steady stream of new Keshiks for the intense German conflict!

In his southern force, Subedei now had two completely fresh armies by Stuttgart, and the order was given to advance on Munich. A German longbow battalion offered no resistance to the rapidly advancing armies of Subedei. The Dortmund based units again destroyed an advancing German archer battalion. The Byzantine forces also advanced towards Munich, with their leading knights encountering only the weak resistance of a German longbow battalion.

As the Byzantine knights were relegated to clearing action against a German crusader battalion, the armies of Subedei struck the first tier city of Munich. This time, with the Germans only able to muster three regular musket battalions as the garrison, the Mongols’ force proved irresistible as they crushed the resistance to claim the city. Chagatai’s army, advancing from Dortmund, was left with only the clearing action against yet another German spear battalion.

Meanwhile, Subedei’s main force in the north had pushed on to the gates of the major first tier city of Leipzig. With four better trained German musket battalions in garrison, the Germans once again dug in deep to try and hold off the forces of Subedei. In one of the bloodier encounters yet, and even after making use of two keshik armies, the Mongols suffered heavy losses here, losing a full four battalions of keshiks. The prized city, however, fell into Mongolian hands, and with it, control over the esteemed Sistine Chapel. This proud structure was meant to enhance the spirituality of a nation’s cathedrals, and therefore the positive effects brought on by the religious fervour. However, the Mongols had not constructed any such ‘cathedrals’, and so wondered at the value in this extravagant building.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/leipzig.jpg
The Byzantine contribution to the Leipzig campaign consisted of a weak knight attack against a battalion of longbows, that was routed, but then a second Byzantine knight finally succeeded where the first failed. However, the Germans also had a medieval infantry battalion in place, and the end result was equal losses.

Down in the deep south, the German’s division now had started a trek through the cover of the Great Dividing Range in an effort to outflank Ereen’s forces and attack Uliastay once more. Near the pass through to Piedras Negras, the Byzantines and Germans swapped a spear battalion for a longbow battalion, while Ereen continued to face a steady stream of reinforcing German units, keeping his forces occupied while the main division pushed on. However, Ereen’s troops continued to make the Germans pay a heavy price for their delaying tactics by destroying a warrior, an archer and two longbow battalions, before being retreated in the longbow counterattack.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/German_division.jpg
The German division consisted of a crusader, a spear and eight longbow battalions, and certainly posed a very real threat once again to Uliastay. Finally galvanised by this new threat, the governor of Uliastay demanded, and received, the funds to rush the town walls project, and had two battalions of musket forces rushed to the town. In addition, Ereen was instructed to hunt this division down, and stop as many units as possible from threatening the city!

As the Netherlands signed a military alliance with the Inca to join in against the Germans, the new threat did not daunt the Germans at all. The Germans still had the numbers in the southern area, and launched an assault on the American town of Los Angeles. The two archer battalions failed to take the city, but were reinforced with further longbow battalions, as the Germans further continued to build their offensive in the south.

But while the Germans seemed to be more than holding their own in the southern conflict, Subedei’s ground out victories in the north had put the pressure clearly upon the Germans, as the mighty capital city of Berlin was now in Subedei’s sights. With his southern and northern forces moving to converge on Berlin, the greatest battle yet in this horrific war was soon to be played out!

Great update! Dogpile!

Chapter Twelve: The German War

The Germans had suffered immense losses up to this point in the conflict – in excess of seventy thousand soldiers to the Mongolian’s fifteen thousand. But in spite of this high casualty rate, the Germans remained as determined as ever, and with the Battle of Berlin beckoning, Subedei could expect no let up in the staunch German resistance. For this reason, Subedei was determined that this all important battle would not commence until he had overwhelming force in the field to smash the Berlin defences in a single go! The advanced expeditionary force of Ogodei’s army backed buy a further division of keshiks had already advanced within sight of the walls of Berlin, but would not be authorised to commence the assault until the other armies in the area had regained their full combat strength, and could join in the assault.

Meanwhile in the south, with the gains made by Ereen’s units, the German division had wisely pulled packed from the Great Dividing Range and was heading towards New Frankfurt. It was here in the fields of New Frankfurt that Ereen would experience his finest hour!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/New_Frankfurt.jpg
With most of the German force in the open grassland, and lacking the defensive advantages of the mountainous terrain, Ereen ordered the attack. The seventh keshik army combined with a keshik battalion to remove the remaining spear and longbow battalions from the mountains. Then in the grassland area, with the richness of targets available, the Mongols ripped into the three unprotected longbow battalions, totally destroying the enemy, and leaving the ground soaked in their blood.

The German division commander did not consider his force spent yet, and advanced around the seventh army, but this was to prove a fatal error of judgement, because this brought even more of Ereen’s force into range of the Germans. In a blow that totally destroyed the German southern offensive, Ereen’s forces ripped through the remaining eight thousand troops, including another crusader battalion, a spear battalion and the rest belonging to the longbow core. Everywhere in the approach field to New Frankfurt was now littered with the remains of dead or dying German soldiers. And now Ereen was casting his eye towards the terrified citizens of New Frankfurt!

Elsewhere the main push of the forces of Byzantine was near Subedei’s southern units. Here the Germans still held out hope that they could recapture a prized city, but the ongoing push of the forces of the two nations was destroying every German unit that got near the battle line. Both the Byzantines and the Mongols dispatched knight battalions, though the Byzantines lost an archer battalion in the process. But it was the Americans who got to the site of the ruins of Stuttgart first and founded the town of Cleveland.

In the north, the American division was pushing towards the German city of Heidelberg. On the way, just north of Hannover in a pitched battle, the Americans lose two battalions of medieval infantry, but claim a German musket and medieval infantry battalion in turn. However, the Germans are able to push a knight battalion past the advancing Americans to threaten the recently captured city of Hannover. Tolui’s elite battalion of keshik was the sole garrisoning force at this time, with the rest of the force earmarked for the assault on Berlin. But Tolui stepped up to the task that day, destroying the knight battalion, and earning the right to command his own keshik army in time for the Berlin campaign!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Tolui.jpg
With the addition of Tolui’s army, Subedei is able to put four fully healed armies and seven keshik battalions in the attack on Berlin. This is finally deemed sufficient, and as they approach the gates of Berlin, the order to attack is givem!

The Germans seemed oblivious to this ominous threat to Berlin, or at the very least saw the Americans as the easier prey, as they launched their counter-offensive against the Americans by Leipzig. The victorious Germans claimed two American medieval infantry battalions in this counter–punch. Though in the deep south, Ereen in turn killed two German archer battalions en route to New Heidelberg. To make matters even less comfortable for the Germans the Dutch brought in the Chinese in to the conflict against the Germans. Most of the world was now united in an effort to remove these arrogant Germans.

Ereen now had split his forces into a northern assault on New Frankfurt, and a southern charge on New Heidelberg. After destroying yet another longbow battalion in the fields by New Frankfurt, the seventh army finally gets to attack the town itself, killing two spear battalions, but still more defenders remain. In the offensive defence of New Munich, yet another German longbow perishes at the hands of a keshik battalion.

Subedei’s southern force had a long trek through jungle to reach its next target of New Leipzig. In the initial clash at the town, Chagatai’s army killed a defending musket battalion, but then needed to fall back to regain battle fitness.

The Battle of Berlin was a crucial battle for both sides. In many ways it marked the Germans’ last stand. If it should fall, then the Germans would lose their Great Wall inspired town defences, as well as the capital and the will to fight on. With the world against them, the fall of Germany would become inevitable. Thus, packed with the best troops in all of Germany, the Berlinese were determined to hold out the Mongolian attackers at all costs.

Subedei sent in his armies first, starting with the veterans of the third keshik army. This army alone destroyed two veteran German musket battalions before battle fatigue forced it to stop. The second army into the assault was Ogodei’s army. This time however, Subedei ordered the army to fall back after smashing through just one veteran musket battalion. Subedei wished to preserve some of his army strength for the final push. Kublai’s army was next, and again ordered to fall back after dispensing with a single veteran musket battalion. The newly formed army under the command of Tolui was the fourth and final army available for this campaign. After crushing yet another veteran musket battalion, Tolui was faced with only regular musket troops remaining. He pressed the assault claiming a second battalion. But the honours of the battle went back to the veteran Ogodei. Ordered back into the campaign, Ogodei swept aside the final regular musket battalion, and Berlin was in the hands of the Mongols!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Berlin.jpg
Berlin brought with it control of the Knight’s Templar training facility for those fanactical crusader units, the Great Wall construction that had so aided the German defences, and would now benefit the Mongols, and the Pyramids – sort of a massive granary which also started providing benefit across the Mongolian nation. However, after such a blistering assault, even the mighty Mongolian armies were in a state of battle weary shock, and needed to heal up in the newly captured city. Kublai’s army, though, still had the capacity to fight on, and so Kublai led a force comprising his army, and the seven keshik battalions towards the new German capital of Hamburg.

The Americans continued their push on Heidelberg, losing a medieval infantry battalion, but claiming a German musket battalion and destroying a trebuchet in the process. Furthermore, the Americans have now entered knights into the conflict. The once backward Americans were catching up in technology.

But this is not all. The Chinese have finally finished their feared unit, as they start sending riders to the German front. The Khan’s war room greets this news with hastily revamped priorities for future campaigns, and development of the Mongols’ military might.

It was into this air of despair that the Babylonian ambassador came visiting the Khan. It seemed that in the now long war against the Romans, the might of Rome had succeeded in holding out against all foes. Now that Rome had made peace with most of its enemies, and was able to concentrate the war against the Babylonians, they had started to make inroads against the Babylonians with the capture of Shurrupak. They were now seeking a Mongolian alliance against Rome and a right of passage.

The Babylonians spoke of the unity of the previous alliance against Rome, and begged for a continuance on those glory days. The Khan replied to the effect that the Babylonians had treated the arrangement as mercenaries, demanding maximum payment for minimum input. While the rest of the alliance fought first the Romans, and then the greater danger, the Germans, the Babylonians had devoted their energy to building these wonders of the world. Now they were paying the price for insufficient military build-up, and with the all important German war raging, the Mongolians were not in a position to bail them out. So no, there would be no further alliance against Rome.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/German_war.jpg
Northern Front
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/German_warII.jpg
Southern Front
Meanwhile, with the fall of Berlin, the allies found it possible to advance against the flagging German strength more rapidly. Kublai headed the assault on Hamburg, and in yet another bloodless coup for the Mongols, three veteran musket, a regular musket and a knight battalion were smashed to claim Hamburg, and the last supply of saltpetre available to the Germans. In fact the Germans had now been deprived of both horses and saltpetre, and so the quality of their replacement units was now rapidly deteriorating.

Next to Hamburg, a German musket battalion manages to rout the attack of a keshik battalion, but it falls to the next attack, ending even this small glimmer of hope.

And in the south, the news is no better for the Germans either. Ereen’s forces claim both New Frankfurt and New Heidelburg killing four spear battalions in the process, and suffering only two retreats.

The Mongol’s allies do not fare nearly as well, however, with the Americans losing two medieval infantry battalions by Hamburg, and the Byzantines losing a knight battalion there as well. By Munich, the Byzantines swap a knight battalion for a longbow battalion. To make matters worse for the Americans, however, their other foe, the Scandinavians does to Los Angeles what the Germans could not, and renders it into a pile of rubble. This does, however, free up a precious city site next to a gems resource, which remains a luxury that the Mongols are yet to possess.

Chapter Twelve continued

The Byzantines though, had a change of luck at new Leipzig. The Mongols struck first using Chagatai’s army, but due to the persistent will of the defenders, Chagatai had then to pull back. The Byzantines seized the opportunity created by this vacuum to attack, and although retreated twice, managed to seize the city.

The American advance on Heidelberg again sees field action as the Americans lose a further three medieval infantry battalions and a knight battalion, but cost the Germans a longbow and a knight battalion.

While the Mongols continued to rest up battle fatigued troops, the Byzantines decided to bring the Scandinavians into the conflict against the Germans. Meanwhile, the German western front heated up as well. The party on that side of the conflict that demonstrated the mettle for this war was the Dutch, and they finally arrived in force. Their reward for this persistence was the capture of the German city of Frankfurt.

Back in the Khan’s court, Yeh-lu had become aware that the Mongols were once more falling behind in the technology race. Not only were the Chinese putting these new ‘rider’ units into the battlefield, but also the world science powers had developed Navigation, and who knew how much beyond the science of chemistry? To this end, Yeh-lu again persuaded the Khan to generously fund the sages, so that the secrest of economics could be learnt expeditiously. Finally with the secreats of economics learnt, the secret project in Tabriz was given a name, the Smith’s Trading Company.

But this knowledge could not be kept to the Mongols. Even at the risk of enabling a race for the trasure of the Smith’s building, it was more important still for the Mongols to reassert their technological leadership, and so the economics had to be traded around. First up were the Inca who agreed to swap economics for chemistry, a chest of gold, their world map and a small annual tribute.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Inca_chem.jpg
With the addition of Chemistry to the Mongols’ stockpile of knowledge, it did indeed become evident that their existed still further knowledges based on this chemistry. The science of metallurgy was known, and known to confer military benefits. Consequently, Yeh-lu prioritised this knowledge next. King William had made a good trading partner in the past, and continued to now. The trade of economics and several chests of gold was made with the Dutch for the knowledge of metallurgy.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_met.jpg
There was yet one further technology out there, but not in the possession of the Mongols. This was navigation. This time, Yeh-lu again turned to the Mongols’ eastern ally, the Byzantines to make the trade. Theodora was a little more amenable to a fair trade and so for economics and small change, Yeh-lu was able to secure the knowledge of Navigation.

The sages blessed with this wealth of new knowledge were to now return the favour to Yeh-lu. They had come up with a daring concept to try and meld the power of the musket with the power of the horse. This approach appeared to offer a very real way of matching the strength of the new Chinese unit, and so with maximum funding, the sages were granted every lee-way to succeed in this endeavour.

Subedei had now had time to recover his forces, and reposition to start the final push against the Germans. Almost simultaneously, Subedei attacked the Germans at New Berlin, New Koningsberg and Brandenberg. Though the Germans were able to still utilise battalions of muskets at these cities, Subedei had at least one army at the gates of each as well. In a red letter year for the Mongols, the Germans lost all three and a further six musket battalions and two longbow battalions. The German days were now seriously numbered.

In the deep south, Ereen’s forces were moving towards the final German town there, Artaxata, but hey were beaten to the punch by the Scandinavians. The Scandinavians showed no quarter to the hapless Germans, destroying the town and all its inhabitants.

The Americans had commenced their thirty year seize of the town of Heidelberg, and although taking heavy losses as the siege wore on, eventually the Americans’ persistence in this war was rewarded with the town!

In all this chaos, Yeh-lu found time to found another city, filling in the area of Mongolian influence just slightly east of the southern front-line. Nalayh also bordered one of the two remaining Indian cities.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Nalayh.jpg
Without army support, the assault on Bremen resulted in the loss of a thousand keshiks and two thousand Germans, and this was enough to seize the city. The Germans were down to the single city of Cologne. However, it was here that the Mongols were to suffer their most devasting loss of the entire campaign. With both Ogodei’s army and Tolui’s army in place for the assault, Subedei ordered this final bastion of German power attacked. Initially everything went according to the Mongol plan. Ogodei crushed a musket battalion and pressed on his advantage. But here things went off the rails. A particularly determined German musket battalion dug in, and defied the odds to not only rout, but to totally destroy the attacking army. Noble Ogodei himself was to perish in this last battle!

Enraged by the sight of his fallen comrades, Tolui led his army into the battle, and although the Germans came close to destroying a second army, this was simply not to be. However, deeply fatigued from this battle, Tolui’s army had to regroup, so the final assault was headed by a single keshik battalion, though by now the defense of Cologne had been left to a longbow battalion. The resistance was finally, and totally crushed!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/German_end.jpg
One of the benefits of this new knowledge of Navigation was that now it had become possible to share each others maps. Though the Khan’s knowledge of the world had been extensive, it had never been complete. So as the last shots rang out in the German war, Yeh-lu was sent to the major powers of the world to trade world maps, and so regain som eof the lost treasury, and get a full picture of the world.

Yeh-lu chose to trade with the Byzantines, the Dutch, the Inca, the Scandinavians, the Babylonians and the Romans. Yeh-lu not only secured the complete world map, but also picked up 417 gold and 17 gold per annum tribute. The new world map clearly showed the power of the Mongolian expansion, as now the Mongols were most obviously the dominant force on the planet.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World870AD.jpg

WIlliam looks stoned in that picture :lol: but anyways, good update. After the Keshiks become outdated, will you use siege and foot soldiers at all?

WIlliam looks stoned in that picture :lol: but anyways, good update. After the Keshiks become outdated, will you use siege and foot soldiers at all?
I was wondering what was wrong with William myself! Cavalry are next - foot soldiers take too long to get around a huge map!

I'm on a large pangea map myself, and I just owned the Sumerians and Babs as the Persians. The key is, I roaded my empire early, therefore I felt comfortable using immortals, longbows and siege.

I am not saying that foot soldiers don't work - far from it, but I have found out that the performance of horse borne units far outstrips the performance of foot soldiers in terms of rate of conquest and casualty rates as well. However, there are situations where foot soldiers and artillery are much better options. eg AA wars against Carthage or Greece for example - the loss rate on horses is heinous without swords. Also in the IA - cavalry versus infantry without artillery support is suicidal.

One other advantage of running with horses from the beginning is that you have a good upgrade path through chivalry and military tradition, and this is during a period in which the game favours the offense rather than the defence. When rifles and then infantry come out, the balance swings back in favour of the defense.

A good case in point to demonstrate the relative effectiveness of these two approaches iwas in my demi-god game (refer signature below). When I was still conquering my home continent, I had seperate SODs of foot soldiers and mass artillery, and knights. Quite frankly, the knights were three times as effective in capturing enemy cities, and it was the foot soldier SODs that ran out of troops.

The final point is that you also should play to the strengths of your chosen civ. If playing say Rome with a strong AA UU, then of course you would pump out the legionairies and catapults, but as the Mongols, with a horse based UU, of course you head for the horses.

So that is my reasoning. In the end, though, you have to do whatever works for you.

great update man really enjoyed it. With military tradition its gonna go to a whole other level

Chapter Thirteen: The Spice War

The war with Germany was over with an overwhelming victory to the forces of the Khan and his allies. But the end of this war did not mean the end of world conflict. The long running Roman war still continued with the Romans fighting against the Babylonians, and both sides slipping behind in technological progress. The Americans too were still locked in a difficult war with the Scandinavians, and though Scandinavia was a long way away from America, the Scandinavians were only now starting to arrive at the more remote American cities in force.

Meanwhile, the Mongols continued their expansionary push. The town of Punjab that the Mongols briefly owned before destroying the town in the face of the advancing Romans had access to a supply of the valued gems. The Mongols had been enjoying the rich economic benefits from having their own supply of the valuable resources of wine, furs, dyes, incense, ivory and silks. This left only gems and spices as luxury goods that could impart benefit to the Mongolian people. However, trading for these goods was prohibitive, because the other nations had to supply so much to cover the entire Mongolian empire. In this way, the Mongols were victim to their own success.

So with trade out, and an ever demanding population wanting more, the Mongols were forced to look for a native supply of these valued luxuries. Now, Punjab had been destroyed, but the Americans had rebuilt Los Angeles there. Now more recently, the Scandinavians had destroyed Los Angeles, so this troubled town site was once more up for grabs, only this time, the Mongols had nearby bordering towns, so the effort to connect the gems to the rest of the Mongolian empire was much more manageable than previously.

A settler caravan was rushed to the spot, and the town, Gem City was founded immediately.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/gem_city.jpg
This meant that in time the gems would be available for the Mongols, leaving only spices as a luxury not currently within the Mongols grasp. The Mongols searched high and low for this commodity, but it was not to be found within their borders, or the immediately surrounding territory. There was however a supply not far from Mongolian territory…

It turned out the backward and treacherous Japanese people had a source of this spice. The Japanese had been traitorous and cowardly in their attempted sneak attack of Mongolian lands. However, they had also shown a grim determination, and had a substantial number of troops, so many in fact that they had succeeded in stalling Ereen’s campaign there last time around.

At this time also the sages were making excellent progress on the improved horse bound unit that utilised the musket technology. The progress had been so good that very soon these units would be available for going into battle. Of course there were competing demands on their use. The Sino-American peninsular had yet to be addressed, and as these units were built partly in response to the Chinese riders, then on the eve of their readiness one might have expected a move towards the Chinese.

However, the value of the spices could not be denied, and so as the massive forces of the Mongols were pulled back from former German lands, they headed south for locations along the Japanese border. Aside from anything else, the Mongolian military high command was interested to observe the performance of these new units, before taking on a more difficult foe.

As the troops were making their way home, some found value in taking a short-cut through the northern most Japanese territory. The Japanese reacted furiously to this trespass, further weakening the peace vote in the Khan’s court. Meanwhile, as the Scandinavians captured the American city of Memphis, the Americans teamed up with the minnows of the world, India in an attempt to hold out the berserks of the Scandinavian military.

The Roman war continued to plod on as well. Though both sides were running desperately short of quality attacking units, it was to be the Romans who continued to make progress in this war, capturing the Babylonian town of Sippar.

On a more disturbing development, the Mongols no longer lead the technological world, with both the Netherlands and the Byzantines winning the race to military tradition, and also picking up the new fangled government concept of democracy. This democracy promised to be a real scientific boon to these nations in times of peace – something the Mongols needed to be wary of.

Finally, the Mongols’ own form of military tradition came in, and research was set to a concept known as ‘physics’ with moderate funding – unless the sages could demonstrate an important military benefit of the new knowledge, this was the best they were going to get. A massive upgrade project was commenced with the troops on the Japanese front, and the veteran keshiks quickly adapted to the new form of warfare required as a cavalry battalion.

The Mongolian desire for spice had become insatiable, and the Khan could delay no longer. Not interested in the outrageous price the Japanese would charge for spice, if they would even sell it, the Khan made his demand simply.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/JapanDoWII.jpg
And so the brief moment of Mongolian peace was shattered with renewed hostilities in the south. General Eren was put in charge of this operation, with Subedei acting merely as an observer. Subedei had been awarded the more glamorous role fo the northern conquests of China and America. Meanwhile, the Americans, just after signing in India against the Scandinavians, pulled out of that conflict themselves. As far as the Khan was concerned, one cowardly race had simply set up the extinction of another! However, he did agree to extend a right of passage agreement with the Americans. This would simply mean that after Japan, and repositioning of troops, the Mongols would have to strike China first, and the Khan had absolutely no qualms about this concept.

The first moves in the Japanese campaign were assaults on the Japanese northern towns of Matsuyama, Sapporo and Nagoya. The armies of Kublai and Tolui struck at Matsuyama, encountering only two pike battalions as defense. At Sapporo, the third keshik army encountered only two spear battalions as it claimed the town. At Nagoya, the new cavalry battalions were deployed for the first time. The cavalries’ greater range and devastating attack proved most effective against the two pike and one archer battalions present.

Japan had already lost three towns before the main force, based in Herakleia, surged forward. Owing to the dense forests around Herakleia, progress was slower, however, Ereen had amassed a huge force targeting the key capital city of Kyoto, with its sole spice resource, and the city of Osaka. In the forests, two archer and one spear battalions were destroyed.

The Japanese had managed to create one settlement far from the rest of their towns, over the Great Dividing Range just south of New Heidelberg. It was here that old Kublai senior finally decided to hang up his uniform, not before leading his keshik battalion against a Japanese archer battalion, however. Kublai senior was invited to Karakorum for a glorious tribute, and assignment to a special civilian project (well almost civilian).
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/kublai_snr.jpg
The cavalry battalions were next to strike at the town of Edo, but it was here that they were to experience the staunchest Japanese resistance of the whole campaign. Perhaps also, these battalions had been rushed into battle without the full period of adaption to the new capabilities of the cavalry unit. In any event four cavalry battalions attacked the town, but the pike defense was not to be breeched! A thousand cavalry men died that day, as the remaining three battalions were routed from the field of battle, but remained exposed to the Japanese should they chose to counterattack.

To reduce the power of such a counterattack, Ereen was forced to commander units where ever he could find such units with a sufficient range to strike. Kublai’s keshik army killed a spear battalion, and another cavalry battalion dispatched an archer battalion, but there were still more fully healthy Japanese units within range to strike the wounded cavalry!

In the south, Ereen’s units were in position to strike the capital. First, Chagatai’s army destroyed the new samurai unit and a pike battalion. Then cavalry battalion after cavalry battalion were ordered to charge against the hapless Japanese defenders. Even one was successful resulting in losses to the Japanese of a further four thousand pike men and two thousand spesrmen. Kyoto had fallen!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Kyoto.jpg
In the forests surrounding Herakleia, the armies of Ereen killed a further five thousand Japanese troops. By Kyoto, a cavalry battalion caught a Japanese pike battalion in the open and made short work of the enemy.

The charge on Osaka was simply over-powered. Two cavalry battalions were sufficient to smash the pike defenders and claim the city. This fortunately offered up an alternative route to Edo, and so the second keshik army moved to destroy a pike battalion by Edo.

Force left over from the Kyoto assault was also in range to attack Yokohama. Here as elsewhere, the cavalry battalions proved unstoppable, with three being all that was required to smash the two pike and one medieval infantry battalions defending the town. A further two battalions of Japanese troops were destroyed just outside the town. And by Osaka, and old elite keshik battalion proved it still had battle value by destroying an archer battalion.

Japan was crumbling quickly but it was not over yet. At Piedras Negras, the Japanese surprised a large worker gang in the process of irrigating to the Great Dividing Range and beyond. The Japanese exacted some revenge on this gang by slaughtering the lot. This small victory was short-lived as cavalry battalions slaughtered the two Japanese battalions responsible for this act!

The town of Edo was to fall next as a keshik army claimed the lives of s samurai, a pike and an archer battalion to claim the resilient town. By Osaka, keshik and cavalry battalions combined to wipe out two more pike and one archer battalion. At Shimonoseki, the half victory of a cavalry retreat occurred before two more cavalry battalions destroyed the two pike battalions to claim the town. At Izumo, the inevitable march continued as cavalry destroyed two more pike and one spear battalion to seize the town.

The Japanese had placed much hope on their vaunted new weapon in the form of the samurai. So far this new unit had been swept aside by the awesome power that the Mongols had at their disposal, and that was simply not going to change now. Another samurai was killed by Kyoto, and in the town of Nara. Nara also had two pike battalions, but they were quickly disposed of by the keshik armies.

By New Heidelberg, Kublai senior’s old elite keshik battalion struck again to kill a Japanese pike battalion. And in sight of this Mongol-Japanese War, the Dutch won the race to the old American city of Artaxata and settled a new colony, Delphi.

The final destruction of the Japanese was in sight, and Ereen was not going to let them go. At Nagasaki, a cavalry battalion was again retreated, but again no significant losses were inflicted on the mongols as they swept the two pike and one spear battalions aside. At Tokyo the odd, but ineffective, samurai were defeated for the last time. The loss of a further pike and archer battalions sealed the towns fate.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Japan_WarII.jpg
In but four decades the Japanese empire was brought to its knees. The last sole town holding out, Hakodate, survived two decades longer, but only because it was all but worthless, being totally corrupt and it lacked the basic infrastructure of roads preventing a quick assault. The two pike defenders of Hakodate died to the same cavalry battalion, but an archer battalion escaped with a Japanese settler caravan and a worker to try and re-establish elsewhere. This was not to be, however, the Khan’s orders were to complete the removal of this annoying civilisation, and that was what Ereen had every intention of doing.
So just outside the borders of the recently captured Hakodate, a cavalry battalion spotted these Japanese refuges. The archer battalion was once again unable to put up any reasonable form of defense, and the settlers were simply enslaved to replace the losses at Piedras Negras!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Japan_end.jpg

Way to go Sandman about getting all the luxuries! :goodjob:

consider the Sid option, thats all i'm saying

I think you over-rate my abilities, El Loco, but I think I will try Deity continents next.

dude, i am not half the player u are but i am considering sid. i am thinking religious, seafaring or seafaring commercial. And large archipielago with very early attacks. It will probably take many tries and will bust my mind but its posible... theoretically.

I am not actually convinced that Sid makes for particularly enjoyable games, even for the elite players who can reasonably expect to best it. The victories on Sid, that I have seen written up here, have either had numerous restarts until 'ideal' conditions have been met (eg SirPleb's Hall of Fame Sid game, or Arathorn's All War Sid game), or they involved a good degree of luck with food bonuses and directions the Sid AI have chosen to expand into (in the succession game threads).

I think that is why many elite players now seem to opt for playing variations where they deliberately impose restrictions on the tactics they can employ to beat the AI, as a means to make the game more challenging, but still retain fun elements. I can still see a gap between myself and the true elite of the game, too!

I will say this, though, if I find large deity continents, or large deity pangea a walk in the park, then perhaps I will try Sid!

If you are going to go for Sid, El Loco, I think you would want militaristic in the traits as well - to get those powerful C3C armies happening that much sooner. I would have thought that it would be more useful than relegious or commercial, unless you particularly like the UU that you get with the other combinations.

And in sight of this Mongol-Japanese War, the Dutch won the race to the old American city of Artaxata and settled a new colony, Delphi.

Dutch city of Delphi? you sure about that?

Dutch city of Delphi? you sure about that?
No I am not sure about that at all. Good spotting. It was of course the Dutch city of Delft. I guess it comes from starring at Civ too long....

Haven't checked in for some time due to a lot of schoolwork, but it looks like this story is still going really well. And, seeing as how the earliest part of this page was devoted to discussion of Sid, I just felt like dropping this little tidbit; it starts off really easy, at least for me, but snowballs and gets REALLY hard around about Monarchy-Fuedalism area on the tech tree. I started a war and captured 1 city before being obliterated.

I think I'm going to stick with Monarch for a while.

Great job with the updates, Sandman. Glad to see you haven't stopped yet.

Whoa. I just looked back at that minimap and realized that with the Japanese and German territories added to your empire, you own about half the world.

Actually, T-Money if I had filled out all the terrain with culture expansions I think it would be about 30% - this is a very large world!

Yeah, well, in the grand scheme of things 50% and 30% are roughly the same j/p. Seriously, though, that is a big empire! I was inspired to start my own huge-map pangea game this morning, but it doesn't work nearly as well for me as it does for you.

Sandman I believe you you should hit the Portugese next. Chinese later, because the Rider is really strong now. You can also hit America before that f-15 wreaks havoc. ;)

Lol Sand, looks like the huge map is kind of a shock. I always play on it, because I'm a complete builder and play to maintain instead of to win. Still, once you get used to how long it takes, it can be pretty fun.

Eh.......I may have already asked this question, but what's the world seed on this map? I want to play it as the Mongols with the same start and see how I do.

It's been a few days already.Could you hurry a little with the next chapter :)?

Only 4 days.....although it is getting a little lonely in here. No hurry though, quality in a story beats quantity any day.

Ok Daft come on ;)

Sandman I believe you you should hit the Portugese next. Chinese later, because the Rider is really strong now.
I agree that it is a good policy to avoid civs when they have their UU, as much as possible, because the civ typically has an advantage in unit power or unit cost etc over you, and will benefit from a GA during hostilities. In this case, the Chinese have only just got their Riders, and after all it is cavalry versus riders, so it seems like a good idea to stop them now before they have the numbers to actually be a threat. Besides, it is actually a moot point now, as I have played through the chapter and just need to write it up.

biggamer132 - I was expecting the game to take a while, both in terms of time per turn, and turns required to win the game. I also had an expectation that playing a huge pangea would prove more difficult on the given level than a smaller map on either continents or archipelago. On this latter point, I haven't really found it so, just different, although I can see why being isolated in archipelago is an advantage on very difficult levels.

T-Money the world seed is in the first post.

Ok Daft come on ;)
:lol: :lol: Haven't you been waiting like 2 months since Daft's last post? I will hopefully be able to post the next chapter later today.

Chapter Fourteen: The Byzantine - Mongol Pact

Shortly after the final Mongolian victory over the Japanese, Queen Theodora of the Byzantines met with the Khan. The purpose of Theodora’s visit was to speed up the timetable on the execution of the mighty plan drawn up between these two great nations for the division of the northern Sino-American peninsular. The Byzantines had picked up a couple of Russian cities and a couple of German cities in the prior actions, but they wanted to gain the much bigger prize of the absorption of the Chinese lands as per the original plan. The campaign was to be in two parts – first the conquest of China, then the combined forces of the Mongols and Byzantines would turn onto America. At the conclusion of the campaign, the conquered territories would be split along the lines of China becoming part of a greater Byzantine core, and America being absorbed into the Mongolian empire.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World980AD_orig.jpg

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World980AD1.jpg
The Khan was able to reassure Theodora that even as they spoke, the mighty forces of the Mongolians were making the long trek to the Chinese borders to commence the execution of the Chinese campaign. The plan called for Subedei’s forces to strike into China from three separate locations. In the south, Subedei’s primary force would base itself from the town of Yekaterinburg and strike north at the Chinese town of Xinjian. In the southeast, Subedei would have a second force ready in Yakutsk to strike north towards the town of Tsingtao. Subedei’s third force would come from the far north west, in what was currently American territory, and hit the northern Chinese town of Tientsin. Meanwhile the Byzantines were expected to storm in form the mid-east aimed at the city of Canton.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/China_plan.jpg
The only caveat on this whole operation was that Subedei’s forces would not be in position until 1040AD, such was the time required to cross the huge Mongolian empire, even with the very fast new cavalry units. And so, reassured that the plan was on track, Theodora left.

As Subedei’s forces advanced to their collection points, other significant events occurred within the Mongolian empire. First of all, Kublai finally completed his long trek in from the west, and after his triumphant march through the streets of Karakorum, Kublai was to lead the people in a mighty project. Such was the esteem within which the Mongolian people held their military heroes that Kublai’s exuberant followers completed his project in record time.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/mil_acad.jpg
The new military training facility promised to be able to strengthen the mighty Mongolian armies even further, and to provide a mechanism for a more predictable development of new armies, and a greater quantity of them as well. The scientific front continued to herald in new developments as well. Although Yeh-lu noted with a degree of concern how the Byzantines actually researched the concept of physics just slightly faster than the Mongols’ own sages. What is more, they were not willing to share this knowledge in the spirit of the Byzantine – Mongolian Pact. It mattered not, for shortly thereafter, the Mongolian sages were to announce their own progress in this concept.

Over this past millennium, Yeh-lu had noted that the Mongolian Monarchy had been growing increasingly ineffective in controlling the rapidly expanding Mongolian empire, with the far outlying towns effectively so corrupt as to be yielding almost nothing of value to the Khan’s empire. With this in mind, Yeh-lu was noting the renaissance of achievement in the Mongol’s ally the Byzantines, following their switch to the highly representative Democracy government form. Although clearly the size of empire was very different, it was quite sobering to see the progress made by a ‘democratic’ government in comparison to the Mongols’ monarchy. At the very least, it was clearly essential that the Mongols understand this concept fully, so that a strategic decision on the future could be made.

It was therefore, with the Khan’s blessing that immediate arrangements were made to trade with the Dutch for the secrets to this different government form.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/democracy.jpg
As the sages looked to improve their understanding of gravity, they were rewarded with improved funding. The Khan did not wish to be left behind in the tech race!

In other international affairs at this time, it was now the turn of the Romans to come seeking an alliance against the Babylonians in the ongoing conflict amongst those two nations. Both nations continued to struggle to build sufficient force to seriously challenge the other, and were completely stagnating in terms of technical achievement, as this stalemate continued. But the Khan had no interest in changing this situation at all. The Roman ambassador was rebuffed on the alliance, but granted the right of passage, though it was not expected to be particularly useful to them.

It was also noted that the Scandinavians were persisting in trespass across the Mongolian nation. However, this action appeared to be aimed at pursuing the remnants of the Indian civilisation, as the Scandinavians continued their war against the Indians. The Khan considered that the numbers of units involved were small, and their cause was just. Why not let them continue to destroy the Indians?

In the final major event prior to the outbreak of hostilities, the special project sponsored by Adam Smith was finally completed in the city of Tabriz. As promised this ‘trading company’ did indeed improve commerce in the empire quite significantly.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Smiths1.jpg
Subedei’s time had at lat arrived, with troops in position at the two main staging points, and with the third well on its way. Subedei could wait no longer! Chebe advised the Khan that everything was in position for the Chinese campaign, and so the Chinese ambassador was invited to the Karakorum palace. The Khan had trumped up what he thought would be outrageous demands to test the mettle of the Chinese. A demand was made to the Chinese for a slave worker gang, their world amp and the entire Chinese treasury (3 gold). Fearing the worst, the Chinese acquiesced to these demands immediately. This was not the expected reaction from the once proud Chinese! The Chinese were not to be given their period of peace that they hoped this meagre tribute would buy, however, for the Khan followed up this demand with a war declaration. Three gold was deemed insufficient – the Chinese needed to grant a substantially larger payment for the right to continued existence. Subedei was given the go ahead.

But even before Subedei could act, Yeh-lu was informing the Byzantines that the time had come, and invited them to join in the action as dictated by the Pact between the two nations. But much to his surprise, Yeh-lu did not find Theodora as cooperative as expected. To get the Byzantines to act on their side of the Pact, Yeh-lu had to sweeten the deal with a transfer of Mongolian furs. What exactly were these ‘allies’ upto?
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Byz_dec_china.jpg
The Byzantines had initially asked for saltpetre, but the ever clever Yeh-lu convinced them to accept furs instead. This would currently limit the Byzantine assault forces to knights rather than the more powerful cavalry, and limit their defensive forces to pikes instead of muskets. And perhaps, given the deviousness of the Byzantine actions so far this was a very necessary move!

The Byzantine weirdness grew further. Their first action was to befriend the Americans, the supposed second foe of the Pact, and bring them into the Chinese action as well. Theodora explained it away as simply a means to weaken the American forces before the combined assault of the Byzantines and the Mongols, however, some in the Khan’s court had become a lot less convinced about the Byzantine intentions, and this further reinforced that view.

But now Subedei’s secondary force had reached the gates of Tsintao, and once again the brief peace of the Mongols was to be shattered with a new war. At Tsingtao, the mighty Chinese rider was met in battle for the first time, but this matchup was to be cavalry versus rider, not the Keshik that the Chinese might have hoped for. The first clash, however, went largely the Chinese way. A single battalion of these Chinese Riders stubbornly held off, and destroyed two battalions of cavalry. Meanwhile Tolui’s army was engaged destroying a pike battalion and a further battalion of cavalry destroyed another pike battalion. It took a third cavalry battalion to finally broadside these riders and smash the way into the town. So while the Chinese did lose the town, their riders had certainly proven their worth in this first battle.

Subedei’s main force was to launch an assault from the plains by the Byzantine town of Krasnoyarsk to the Chinese town of Xinjian. But, the Chinese had advanced two battalions of medieval infantry to the town of Krasnoyarsk already. Subedei contemplated leaving these inferior units to the Byzantines, but decided against it, because the Chinese might have time to interdict the all important Mongol supply lines, and so instead a cavalry battalion, and a keshik army were utilised in removing this threat.

At Xinjian, the riders again put up some resistance, as one might expect from the elite of a nations forces. However, as the second and third keshik armies aided the cavalry battalions in this assault, only a single Mongolian cavalry battalion fell as four rider, two pike and one medieval infantry battalion were destroyed in the Mongolian attack that seized control of the town. By the town, Chinese losses continued to mount as another medieval infantry battalion and a lowly warrior battalion were dispatched by keshik armies.

In the east, the Chinese struck back with riders ambushing a cavalry unit north of Yakutsk. However, the Byzantines did indeed enter the battle, and they were observed smashing a rider unit in revenge, so perhaps the Byzantines would see through their commitments after all! At Xinjian, a half division of riders attempted to mount a flanking action on the town in an obvious attempt to recapture it.

Chapter Fourteen continued

This flanking action posed the most immediate danger to Subedei’s forces, so he ordered that it be dispatched with haste. However, protected as they were by the forests, these riders continued to put up a stiff resistance. No less than three keshik armies were employed in this battle with two facing such serious war damage from destroying only a single rider battalion, that they were forced to retreat from the field of battle. It took an elite cavalry battalion to finish off the last rider and clear this immediate danger from the area.

With the pace of these new cavalry units, and the sheer quantity of force at his disposal, Subedei was not content with a holding action, and so pushed on to the gates of the city of Tatung. Here Chagatai’s army lead three cavalry battalions through the three Chinese pike battalions and one longbow battalion to conquer the city.

Splitting his primary force in two here enabled Subedei to strike at Shanghai as well. The assault here fared a little worse, as Kublai’s army lead the charge, a thousand Mongolian cavalry were to perish there, but it was still the Mongolians day as five thousand Chinese defenders also perished to leave the town in the hands of the Mongols.

At the onset of this war, the Chinese empire consisted of the main bulk of their empire as a conglomeration of 12 settlements, and one further settlement out amongst the former German territories. It was at this isolated town of Shantung that the Byzantines really brought a concerted action to bear. Beating the Mongols to the punch, the Byzantines attacked with over a half division of knights. From within this isolated town, the Chinese defenders had no answers, and soon succumbed to the Byzantine onslaught.

With the Chinese war progressing well, the Khan was greeted with further good news form Yeh-lu. The sages had just completed their latest research project, and now understood the principles behind gravity itself!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/ToG.jpg
It turned out that the democracies of the world had been vigorously pursuing knowledge as well, and so a trade opportunity existed once more with the Dutch. This new knowledge of gravity and a couple of chests of gold secured the concept of magnetism from the Dutch, and heralded in a new age for the Mongols, with many new exciting prospects to investigate. The most exciting of all, however, was a concept of rapid movement across the mighty Mongolian empire, and although this knowledge was clearly some way away, the impact was clearly going to be immense, so the sages were once again granted significant funding in order that the strategic benefits of this latest concept could be realised as soon as possible.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/magnetism.jpg
The lead sage on the gravity project sought the counsel of the Khan, himself. This Isaac Newton wished to celebrate this achievent with the creation of a special university that would promise to keep the Mongols well in the technology race for some time to come. Intrigued by this idea, and well satisfied with the former sage, Adam Smith, and the value of heeding his earlier similar advice, the Khan agreed to this request, and a great project under construction in the city of Ta-tu was redirected towards this university concept. The foundations of a new great project were started in the city of Tabriz.

Meanwhile, the Khan watched with amusement as the small Scandinavian expeditionary force began to founder against the might of the tiny two city state of India, to the extent that they turned for help from the Inca. Just how long could a small nation hold out these much larger aggressors? This action of the Scandinavians became even more surprising when after forcing the Incans into this battle, they then themselves withdrew and made their peace with the Indians in a truly cowardly move that would have major ramifications on their international reputation for centuries to come.

Back on the war front, while Subedei’s forces recuperated after the rapid initial advances, the Byzantines struck at the southern Chinese town of Hangchow, however, here they were repulsed. Subedei was never willing to play second fiddle to anyone, particularly an ally, so he immediately followed up the Byzantine attack with one of his own. Two battalions of cavalry were enough to crush through the pike resistance and seize control of the town.

Elsewhere, the northern advance continued. Tolui’s army led the assault on Beijing, and although two cavalry battalions were routed, the four pike battalion defenders proved unable to resist the combined forces attacking them. The assault on Nanking was led by Chagatai’s army, though again riders proved difficult opposition claiming a cavalry battalion. The Chinese losses continued to be much more severe, however, this time losing three thousand pikemen and a thousand riders before ceding the city to the Mongols.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Chinese_War.jpg
In the north, Subedei’s northern forces were now positioned to strike as well. In an offensive that took the hapless Chinese completely by surprise, Tientsin was assaulted. The brave pikemen put up a good fight, and claimed the lives of a thousand cavalry, but they simply could not resist the 7th keshik army, and the mass of cavalries that followed it, and so a further three battalions of Chinese pikemen perished as another city joined Mongolia.

In the Chinese east, the main Byzantine force had been supposed to attack Canton, and seize control there early in the campaign, but the Byzantines had failed to do this, and so Subedei aimed his forces there instead. At Canton, Kublai’s keshik army single handedly destroyed three pike battalions to seize the city. This brought the Chinese city of Chengdu within range of Subedei’s forces, and so of course he immediately ordered the assault there as well. Faced with only three pike battalions defending the city, it was expected to be another easy take, however, it turned out to be anything but. In by far the nastiest and bloodiest of the assaults in the whole Chinese campaign, the pikemen of Chengdu cost the Mongols the service of the revered Tolui, and his invaluable keshik army. In addition, they succeeded in routing the charge of a further cavalry battalion, before succumbing to the might of the desperate cavalry attacks. Though he later denied it, Subedei was down to his last, injured elite cavalry unit in the area to complete this attack, but clearly after losing Tolui, he was not going to let these Chinese resistors remain unpunished!

In the north it was simply clean up time as Chagatai led his army and an additional cavalry battalion in the capture of Macao, and the seventh keshik army required the assistance of only two cavalry battalions to finish the Chinese at Anyang.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Chinese_end.jpg
So the Chinese with their mighty riders ultimately fell just as quickly as the backward forces of the Japanese. All that remained to see was whether the Byzantine – Mongolian Pact was to survive, or if the Mongolians had finally wearied of this odd alliance with the Byzantines?

very nice, do you live in the eastern states, or WA? it doesn'y matter i just want to know approx when you post.

Very nice, although I hadn't really expected the Chinese to fall in a matter of - what? 50 years? That's 10 turns, right? Not very long in my book, especially against a civ with a cav-speed knight unit. Quick question though, I see iron on that map, but are they getting horses from someone else or am I just missing something?

Eastern states.

I am not sure about the horses - it doesn't really matter now though does it? The years still tick over in blocks of ten, so actually it was 6 turns 1040AD - 1090AD, inclusive, not 10.

Good point, I'm not really thinking very well recently because I just had my first major exams three days ago and my mind is wasted. And I guess it doesn't really matter how they got their horses as long as they're dead.

Maybe for your Sid attempt, if you do go through with it, could be with a civ like the Ottomans. Scientific + a killer UU would be good. Also, if you want to stay on Deity, you could try a game with an early UU, like the Persians or the Romans. All of your stories have involved Civs with middle age UU's.

Maybe for your Sid attempt, if you do go through with it, could be with a civ like the Ottomans. Scientific + a killer UU would be good. Also, if you want to stay on Deity, you could try a game with an early UU, like the Persians or the Romans. All of your stories have involved Civs with middle age UU's.
He's going for sid:wow:?

on the sid issue sandman, i ve been doing some trials and think that sid is so hard, that it takes the fun out of the game. Since i play for fun, sid doesn't appeal to me, whats fun about craking ur brain for countless hours anyway? Good game, hope to hear more

on the sid issue sandman, i ve been doing some trials and think that sid is so hard, that it takes the fun out of the game. Since i play for fun, sid doesn't appeal to me, whats fun about craking ur brain for countless hours anyway? Good game, hope to hear more
Hmmm, this sentiment seems familar to me..
I am not actually convinced that Sid makes for particularly enjoyable games

He's going for sid?
It is not actually that high on my priorities!

Also, if you want to stay on Deity, you could try a game with an early UU, like the Persians or the Romans. All of your stories have involved Civs with middle age UU's
That is true I have chosen MA UUs, maybe I like the timing of the military induced GA. I might run with an AA UU next time, but it probably won't be the Persians or the Romans - remember I like fast units!

dude i think on quiting playing civ and wait till civ 4 comes out. Yup civ has become boring to me man. Anyway the only reason i still visited the forum were ur stories. Thank you so much for takng the time to write ur stories i really enjoyed them and i know they take a lot a lot of work. thanks mate, this is my last post c ya.

El Loco, if playing Civ 3 has gotten a little stale for you, I suggest you download and try The Ancient Mediterranean mod. I have started mucking around with that myself, and it presents a whole new bunch of challenges. Definitely worth a look...

Anyway, this game is not done yet, and I always finish my games. Hopefully I can get another chapter posted before the end of the week.

I completely agree with you, El Loco. I'm most comfortable on Monarch/Emperor and have been there for a while, but I went for Sid twice and both times the difficulty level is way to high to be enjoyable. It takes forever to get through a few turns because you have to think so hard about everything. It seems a lot my AP Geometry class.... not to mention that it's so unfair that the AI gets so many units at the start. It's disgusting.

Come on Ghengis we need to see what he does next.

Chapter Fifteen: The Winds of Change

The council chambers of the Khan were locked. Inside raged a great debate with the future of the planet being decided by the rulers of the mightiest nation on earth. At issue was the credibility of the Mongol’s erstwhile ally the Byzantines, and whether the Mongols should proceed with the assault on the growing America, or instead turn on the not so trustworthy, Byzantines. Certainly there had been more than a few events that had caused the powers that be to raise their eyebrows in surprise and suspicion at the actions of Theodora’s democracy.

Were these problems the result of the democracy itself, or was there in fact a deeper Byzantine plan to treacherously turn on the Mongols at the worst possible time? In spite of the huge land gain that the Byzantine-Mongolian Pact offered to the Byzantines, when it had come time to act, Theodora had insisted on further tribute to gain her commitment, and then had turned against the principles of the Pact to ally in the Americans against the Chinese. But worst of all, the agreed support from the east never eventuated. It was as if the Byzantine leadership were holding their forces back in reserve for a future, unknown purpose.

The Americans, on the other hand, had risen gloriously to the challenge, first against the Germans, and then, although it was unintended that they be part of the Chinese campaign, the American presence there was more worthy than the Byzantine contribution!

Subedei provided a strategic assessment of warring against the two nations. Both of them had a sizeable, productive core, but they also had scattered isolated cities across the former Germanic lands and on the Great Dividing Range. These isolated cities actually presented the greatest threat currently to a campaign against either civilisation, for it was known that each nation had a large force based amongst these cities, and at that time the Mongolians were spread very thinly in the area. Against either foe, the Mongols could expect to lose a city or two in this area, before the end of the enemy, and a reassertion of Mongolian might in the area, unless there was a substantial delay while sufficient additional force was moved to protect these holdings.

Clearly a delay would not suit the Mongols, because the Byzantines had become a powerhouse of technological progress under this ‘democracy’, and were rumoured to be working on a more powerful defender than any yet seen. Should these ‘rifles’ appear in the barricades of the enemy, even the new cavalry units would suffer heavy casualties against them.

On the other hand, the Americans were making rapid progress, and had used knights extensively in the last campaign against the Chinese. However, they were a long way from this ‘rifle’ concept, and so perhaps more time was available should the Mongols chose to stick to the initial Pact concept.

There was one other driving force at this time. The Byzantines lacked a source of saltpetre. Even though they knew how to build cavalry of their own, and obviously the musket defenders as well, without saltpetre they could not equip any battalions this way, and so had to make do with inferior units. With the rifle defemders, it was believed that the Byzantines would avoid this problem entirely, and so there was a crucial window of opportunity that presented itself right now for action against the complex nation.

Of course after the long debate, the decision, as always, came down to the absolute authority of the Khan. Clearly the Khan understood the big picture better than most. He saw that the Byzantines were a proud people, that even if there was currently no treacherous intent there, even with the current evidence to the contrary, later on there would be a large even stronger nation growing ever more jealous of the might of the Mongols. Like an untreated wound this resentment would fester until a far worst conflict would one day arise. And so there was really no choice but to move immediately against the former ally, and nip this problem in the bud.

It was Chebe who made the most startling of all pronouncements. After studying the strategic options for the war from Subedei’s schematics, it was apparent that the Byzantines had access to two local sources of horses and one of iron. Clearly, there would be significant benefit to the Mongolian campaign if these resources were severed from Byzantine control at the earliest opportunity. The only problem was that these resources were deep in the heartland of the Byzantine empire on the far eastern coastline. The war would be all but over before they could be assaulted. Or, Chebe pointed out, advanced expeditionary forces could use the current right of passage with the Byzantines to take up positions from which to strike directly at these all important resource targets.

This brought a startled hush over the assembled throng. Chebe had just suggested an action that was tantamount to dishonourable war! Till now the Mongols had jealously protected the honour of their wartime tradition, though clearly this honour had not always been shown in retrun, with nations refusing to meet their alliance commitments for the full term, and so on. But for the Mongols themselves to consider such an action, and for the suggestion to come from one so high in the hierarchy as Chene, was virtually unthinkable!

However, as the room returned to normal, Chebe explained further. The rapid elimination of the Byzantines’ higly effective mounted force with save the lives of many brave Mongolian warriors. This was an honourable end in itself! The action would clearly make the establishment of right of passage arrangements with other nations more difficult, but clearly the Mongols did not really need rights of passage with other nations. And so it was agreed.

Troops were immediately ordered to assemble at three staging points within Byzantine territory. The cities of Varna and Caesarea needed to fall to end the Byzantine access to the horses, and the southern city of Heraclea possessed the Byzantine sole access to iron.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Byzantine_Plan.jpg
The only difficulty with the Byzantines was the fact that in the Bay of India, they possessed a one tile city that defied any current technological ability to assault, and so it would be impossible to drive this war to a total conclusion!

It was early in the new century that the troops had positioned themselves. Theodora had remained surprisingly passive during this time, after all the Mongolian troops had every right to be there, even if to all intents and purposes, there was really no point in their current locations. The smug Byzantine ambassador literally had the colour vanish from his face as the Khan conveyed the war declaration to him, aware as he was of the current Mongolian troop deployment deep within his lands.

But, once again, the Mongols were not going to go into this war alone, although it was expected that they would once more bear the brunt of the force within the Byzantine heartland. However, out in the former Germanic lands, others had troops in numbers. The Inca had fully two divisions of mounted troops heading towards the remnants of the Indian empire. That was clearly overkill! The Incan force could much more profitably be directed against the almost two divisions of Byzantine troops in the same general area!

The Incans were not cheap. They demand, and received a supply of both the Mongolian Ivory, and the fine Mongolian furs for their trouble in aiding against the Byzantines.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/IncaDoW.jpg
Then of course there was the Americans. Clearly the Byzantines had been working the circuit to build their confidence with the Americans, for just such an eventuality. Why else did they bring the Americans in on the war against the Chinese? The miracle worker, Yeh-lu was sent to the American Lincoln to make the Mongolian case. It was not known exactly how he pulled it off, and ultimately for so little as well, but Yeh-lu was able to return to Karakorum with the good news that the Americans were also going to aid the just fight against the Byzantines.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/AmericanDoW.jpg
The action actually started away from the Byzantine core cities. First there was the city of Novgorod, the former Russian city and home to the Russian wines. A single keshik army ploughed through three Byzantine pike battalions to usurp Byzantine rule, and replace the governors with Mongolian ones.

In the Germanic lands, a scouting keshik battalion ran into a full six battalions of Byzantine knights by the Byzantine city of Bonn. Faced with overwhelming odds, the brave keshik unit attacked first, and it resulted in a simple swap of a battalion each. Then the Inca joined in the action, and actually succeeded in capturing Bonn. This was to be the shoitest reign in history, however, as the half division of Byzantine knights proved sufficient to rout the invaders and reclaim their city. At new Leipzig, three cavalry battalions stormed the Byzantine defenders and smashed their way through to claim the city.

In former Chinese lands by Macao, the 7th keshik army killed a knight unit. By Tientsin, the elite cavalry battalion lead by Mongke destroyed a Byzantine pike battalion, and in the process Mongke earned the right to command the first cavalry army.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/1cav.jpg
By Beijing there are no less than four Byzantine knight battalions, and a very thin defense indeed! The single cavalry garrison at Shanghai charged into the attack killing one battalion. The single cavalry garrison at Hangchow also evacuated to join the fight, killing a knight battalion, and then retreating to Tsingtao. However, the Tsingtao and Beijing single cavalry battalions did not fare as well. In their assaults, both perished against the Byzantine tactics, leaving some nasty holes in the Mongolian lines.

The Byzantines seize on the opportunity, and grab deserted Hangchow. At New Leipzig, the Byzantines conjure up the numbers to crush three cavalry battalions and take the city. But at Berlin, the defence holds strong. Two knight battalions are retreated, though a crusader battalion is lost.

The American contribution is the destruction of two Byzantine pike battalions for the loss of one medieval infantry battalion.

But as the Byzantines well know, the real war was fought in the heartland of Byzantium itself. At the iron source city of Herakclea, the secong keshik army combined with a cavalry battalion to destroy two pikes and a knight battalion, but this was not enough. The defence yet held strong.

At the horse resource city of Caesarea, another keshik army combined with no less then three cavalry battalions to wipe out the defence of four pike battalions and a knight battalion, to secure the first strategic resource source. This freed up the second keshik army inthis force, Kublai’s keshik army to assault the capital of Constantinople, and home to the vaunted training facility of Sun Tzu. However, as he had to assault this fortress alone, even Kublai’s army could only destroy two battalions of pikes of the many present there.

At the second horse resource of Varna in the north, a large force of Mongolian cavalry had assembled. For the loss of one cavalry battalion, and with one retreat, this force destroyed four pike and three knight battalions to capture Varna, and eliminate the Byzantine native access to horses totally. They would build no more of their fared mounted units this war! With the destruction of almost three quarters of one division in an entrenched defensive position, it was inevitable that a new leader would emerge to lead another army. The field commander Ogodei, a distant cousin of the famous keshik commander, was granted the great honour of leading the second cavalry army.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/2cav.jpg

Chapter Fifteen continued

This left Chagatai’s army and a further cavalry battalion free to turn the assault on to Dyrrachium. With the destruction of three pike battalions, Dyrrachium also fell.

With the prised Sun Tzu training facility in his sight, Subedei joined the assault on Constantinople. With Subedei present, and with Kublai’s keshik army joining forces with the third keshik army, the four pike battalions are simply blown away, giving Subedei his prise.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Sun_Tzu.jpg
However, further south, Subedei is forced to pull his troops back from their position by Heraclea, to recover form the first battles there. In addition, the Byzantines rally three knight battalions to threaten the Mongolian forces in the south. In another heroic showing, Jochi’s elite cavalry battalion destroys a knight battalion to gain Jochi the mantle of the third cavalry army. This army then subsequently completely squashes this Byzantine threat.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/3cav.jpg
The grand city of New York was originally an American city, but lost in antiquity was an early war amongst the Americans and the Byzantines so that for most of its history, New York was a part of the Byzantine empire. That was about to change! Though the defenders claimed an elite cavalry battalion, the first cavalry army combined with the 7th keshik army were too much for the defenders there. The mighty city also offered up the prise of Shakespeare’s Theatre.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/NY.jpg
Berlin sees off the Byzantine threat as the keshik battalion and the crusader battalion deal most effectively to the injured Byzantine knight units threatening their city. In scattered other encounters, a cavalry was retreated by a pike battalion, and a keshik killed a Byzantine longbow.

The Byzantines were not done yet, however, and used their many knights still in existence to capture the Mongol towns of Tsingtao and Changdu. As the Vikings still had a reasonable residue force left over from their pursuit of India, it was clear that they could make a valuable contribution in the Germanic territories. Hence they were also brought into the action for the cost of a supply of Mongolian furs and wines.

The Vikings immediately destroyed a knight battalion by New Berlin, and two more by New Leipzig, before taking the Byzantine town of Shangtung.

Meanwhile, the city of Kazan completed another top secret military project code named, the pentagon.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Pentagon.jpg
Tsingtao was not long lost to the Byzantines, although in the process of its recapture, it took two elite keshik, a cavalry and finally a musket battalion to remove the Byzantine units. Then Heraclea was revisitied. The third cavalry army and a further cavalry battalion were still held out, only killing two more highly resistant pike defending battalions. But ultimately with the second keshik army and yet another cavalry battalion, the third assault succeeded and liberated the sole iron source of the Byzantines.

Nicaea also held off the initial assault made by two cavalry battalions, the fourth cavalry army and the seventh keshik army, with the loss of a cavalry battalion compounding the Mongols’ woes. However, a renewed charge by the fourth cavalry army destroyed the remaining three pike battalions and freed another city from the Byzantines. Further Byzantian units were picked off by Constantinople, Dyrrachium and Atlay.

The Americans continued to make gains, this time capturing the city of Hangchow, while the Scandinavians and Incans continued their skirmishing around Bonn and New Leipzig, The Netherlands, meanwhile continued to press the scientific pace, and had learned the secrets of Nationalism as well as medicine over the Mongols at this time.

The Mongols’ own sages had pressed on with their own research as well, and finished the all important, and very strategic technology of steam. Steam would allow a much faster transit system to be built across the empire, and so prevent the difficulties currently being faced at the front lines when troops were deployed in one theatre, but threats arise elsewhere. The sages are then directed towards Industrialisation. All across the Mongolian nation worker gangs are directed to now rail the great nation. The emphasis is placed on making connections to the far flung areas of the state, rather than concentrating in the heartland, although as all cities gain a rail connection the worker crews were ultimately to return to the Mongolian core.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/steam.jpg
The Americans continued their advance on former Byzantine holdings, this time smashing through the defence at Krasnoyarsk. The Byzantines temporarily succeeded in capturing Varna, killing two cavalry battalions in the process. This temporary aberration was not to last long as two fresh cavalry battalions avenged this defeat, reclaiming the city and killing a knight and spear combo.

At Chalcedon the third keshik army combined with Kublai’s keshik army to destroy three pike and a spear battalions, and claim the prise of JS Bach’s Cathedral.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Chalcedon.jpg
Chengdu fell next, thanks to the efforts of the seventh keshik army. Naissus was soon to follow as the first cavalry army smashed through defender after defender to claim the city.

Meanwhile the Scandinavians pulled the already battle weary Babylonians into the conflict, before capturing New Leipzig, finally. The Indians decided to chose this time to bow out of earth history by declaring war on the Americans. It took the Americans twenty years to get around to destroying the Indians, but once the die was cast the result was inevitable.

The Mongols campaign continued to pick up pace from this point with the combination of keshik and cavalry armies proving quite deadly to the rapidly deteriorating quality of the Byzantine troops. Without their special training facility, and lacking the necessary resources for modern troops, the resistance became weaker and weaker. Trebizond, Andrianople, Smyrna, and then Bonn were to fall in quick succession to the Mongols with only a single cavalry battalion perishing in the process.

While the war had clearly turned decisively in the favour of the Mongols, there were other events transpiring that were not all so beneficial to the Mongols. First it turned out that Isaac Newton was actually quite mercenary in nature, and that he had been brought off by the Dutch. And so when the Dutch announced the completion of the Newton’s University, the opportunity to lure the great minds of the world to the Mongolian nation had clearly passed, however, the great Yeh-lu was certain that with some rejuggling, an alternate purpose would be found for the massive investment made on this project.

An even more startling event was to shake the Mongolian empire. Though they knew that a change in government would require a substantial readjustment period, especially across an empire so large, clearly the Khan and Yeh-lu believed that the Mongolian Monarchy was showing significant signs of strain, and so they instigated the process of change, and set in to weather the dreaded period of unrest.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/anarchy.jpg
The Romans then reacted angrily to Yeh-lu’s suggestion of a renewal on the right of passageway that had previously existed between the two nations. However, it turned out that even after the abuse of the Byzantine agreement, that was now common knowledge across the world, the Romans could still be persuaded by the power of the Mongolian wines. And so this deal was renewed. Shortly after, the Byzantines brought the Romans into the war, but specifically against the Incans. The Incans themselves had just completed the Magellan’s Voyage project and so were looking for an alternate pursuit. Backed by cavalry against at best a handful of muskets, the Incans were to make significant progress against the Romans.

Finally the Mongols completed the mainland destruction of the Byzantines with the capture of Sardica and Amorium. The Byzantines still held their island holding, and this was unlikely to change, because the Mongols did not possess any technology that could unseat the Byzantines from such a place. The Vikings did actually possess a special kind of unit that potentially could capture this island, but they were not considered to have much chance of success in this endeavour.

Smashing the once considerable might of the Byzantines had taken eight decades, and yet the Mongols were forced to continue to remain in phony war for some decades more because of the network of alliances forged almost a century ago were still very active. The Byzantines managed to convince the backward Portuguese to aid them against the Babylonians, but then various nations started dropping out of the alliance. First the Incans made peace with the Byzantines, and then the Babylonians. This left only Scandinavia still trying to fight on.

Fearing nothing from a reputation backlash from the Scandinavians, the Khan authorised the trading of the strategic steam knowledge in an effort to gain the useful medicine and nationalism. In an ironic twist, Theodora accepted steam power in a trade for nationalism and peace, even though the Byzantines now possessed only one land tile!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Byz_peace.jpg
The Dutch were prepared to part with medicine and two chests of gold for the knowledge of steam.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_steam.jpg
The Scandinavians also traded the fairly useless concept of free artistry, their quite good world map and 61 gold per season for the knowledge of steam.

Just on the eve of implementing their government reforms, and just when it seemed that the Mongols may actually once more be blessed with a period of peace, the backward upstart, Henry of the Portuguese, decided to get pushy with the Khan. Henry made the outrageous demand for iron, believing the forces of the Mongols were deployed far away in the Byzantine lands. Little did he realise that not only was that not the case, but that the Mongolian troops had actually been moving to cover his shared border, and now with the strategic railnet about half finished, transit times for more reinforcements were already way down on previous times. In short Henry could not have made his demand at a more unlikely time to find the Khan agreeable. To top it off, this was not the first time that the Portuguese had tried on such an outrage, although their previous demand for Mongolian wines was almost lost in antiquity now. However, the Khan had a long memory! The resounding response to the Portuguese emissary was ‘NO”.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/PortDoW.jpg
Portugal was in fact the largest and most populous nation at the time after the Mongolians, however, they did not have either cavalry or muskets to their name, and clearly they must already lack iron, so the Mongols feared them not!

Wow.....that was really stupid on Henry's part. If you get MAs with the other civs, he will lack iron, peter etc. He won't even be able to build knights or MIs! I can't even imagine how brutal that war's going to be.

It will be a slaughter, I presume.

Bump (stupid ten character rule)

Uppage (10 char.)

Hey Sandman, great story. Can't wait for the next update!

Bump bump bump it up. Can't wait to see what happens to Henry.

Henry gets his butt kicked. I have played it, but haven't had time to write it up yet.

Any War Weariness problems?

Sandman2003 what kind gov are going for or have you changed already .
Good story, fun to read. Anticipating more fun to come.

POST please. Im going through withdrawl.

POST please. Im going through withdrawl.

:nono: Now, now. This isn't the Celtic peacekeepers.

:lol:

Chapter Sixteen: The Portuguese War

On the declaration of hostilities, the troop dispositions of both sides came as a surprise to each other. The Portuguese had been marching forces to attack the Babylonians to honour their agreement with the Byzantines. This meant that a substantial force was in the vicinity of the Mongolian city of Hakodate, just on the western side of the Great Dividing Range.

From the Mongolian perspective, the strategic rail net was about half complete at the time of the declaration of hostilities, but troops had already been on the move, repositioning from the Byzantine war. As that front had successfully been closed due to the elimination of all mainland Byzantine holdings, the forces were being redeployed along the Mongolian frontlines. This inevitably had meant the assigning of much force to the Portuguese extended front, as they were clearly recognised as both untrustworthy from the past, and with such a long shared border, they represented a clear danger to the lightly defended frontier towns.

However, what the Portuguese lacked in quality of troops they more than made up for in terms of numbers. Their force on the move towards Babylon comprised fully six divisions, and it was to be the Portuguese who were in position to strike the Mongolians first! At New Heidelberg, an ancient cavalry battalion successfully took on the town’s musket defenders to take the town. However, the initial longbow attack on Hakodate was repulsed. By Gem City, the Portuguese captured a large worker gang en route to the town itself, little realising that this was no longer the only source of gems for the Mongolian nation.

It was also at this time that the long transition from one government type to another was finally over. Some might argue that the choice of the Khan was not the most militarily expedient, but he had decided to expedite technological pursuits above all else to ensure that Mongolian forces in the field would always be of superior quality to the enemy in this ever hostile world.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Democracy1.jpg
With the new government in place, new technologies were able to be researched in 20 to 25 years – far faster than at any time previously in the Mongolian history.

But there was a war to be fought, and Subedei was once more keen to prove himself equal to the challenge. The first cavalry army was the first of the repositioned troops to arrive in the New Heidelberg-Hakodate theatre of war, and it was used to quickly dispense with three battalions of horsemen who were gathering by the newly captured city. The defenders of Hakodate held off a spear and two longbow battalions.

Then the third keshik army was finally in position to strike! Singlehandedly, the unit destroyed the defence of a pike, an ancient cavalry and a spear battalion to reclaim New Heidelberg. In the process, all the captured workers were liberated, so they could return to their previously assigned tasks.

The first and fourth cavalry armies together account for a further eight battalions in this area, however, in spite of the best efforts of the superior force, the Portuguese still had a full five divisions of forces threatening the town of Hakodate.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Hakodate_threat.jpg
With such a massive concentration of force, albeit a somewhat dated force, Subedei reasoned that there was no reasonable way that he could safely defend this former Japanese town. Therefore, he ordered a full withdrawal of personnel under the cover provided by the fourth cavalry army and the defending musket battalion. Then the town was razed to the ground! There would be no free prices for the evil Portuguese!

Subedei’s forces were not confined to just this one chosen threatre of operations, however, for he had built up some force in the town of Tokyo. Tokyo was nearly in the middle of the Portuguese holdings to the east of the Great Dividing Range, and offered an access to the Portuguese town of Sao Paulo. The loss of this city would mean that the east GDR towns would be effectively cut off from one another, leaving easier pickings behind.

With no armies at his immediate disposal, Subedei attacked with three cavalry battalions, and advanced a keshik battalion that would be in range should a second strike be necessary. In the event, the Portuguese successfully held off the initial assault losing two pike battalions to one cavalry battalion. The second offensive is launched and the final pike and spear battalions fall without causing any further Mongolian loss, while an additional pike battalion on the way to reinforcing Sao Paulo is also destroyed.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Port-eastGDR.jpg
Meanwhile, Yeh-lu managed to weave some magic to persuade the furious Incans to once more enter into a right of passage agreement with the Mongolians, and in return be supplied with the prized Mongolian wines. It had been thought that the abuse of such a diplomatic agreement with the Byzantines would have prevented other nations from agreeing to such an arrangement, thus showing the true genius of the accomplishment of Yeh-lu.

Back by New Heidelberg, as the Portuguese regrouped for a renewed attack against the town, the Mongolian forces were reinforced with the seventh keshik army and chagatai’s keshik army, so that even though the first cavalry army needed to rest up, these armies went Portuguese hunting. With the help of the third keshik army and the fourth cavalry army no less than thirteen thousand Portuguese troops were destroyed in a single massive battle. There was no way that the Portuguese could sustain losses of this magnitude, especially in their prized strike force, though with still more than three divisions the field commanders foolishly pressed on, reasoning that even Mongolian cavalry armies needed pause to regain their strength after such a massive confrontation.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Industrialisation.jpg
Back in Karakorum the sages demonstrate the new knowledge of Industrilisation to the Khan’s court and are authorised to continue with generous funding towards the knowledge of electricity. Some of the new factories this technology allows are built in the core cities, to further boost the Mongolian production.

In the killing fields of New Heidelberg, the first cavalry army combines with Chagatai’s keshik army to destroy six thousand more Portuguese, then with the third keshik army to kill another five thousand Portuguese. You would think that Henry’s forces would get the message, but no, they still press on!

In a side battle, the Portuguese launch a minor incursion by Matsuyama. But the Mongolian retaliation is more than equal to the threat. First an elite keshik battalion destroys a horse battalion, then although a cavalry battalion retreats from a spear battalion, a second, more determined unit finishes that menace.

Further east the Sao Paulo force presses on to Emerita. Commander Chagatai of the 57th elite Keshik core demonstrates his genetic inheritance against a spear battalion, to again earn a Chagatai the command of an army. This time though, he jumps straight up to the cavalry core, and commands the fifth cavalry army.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Chagatai_5thcav.jpg
An elite cavalry battalion joins in destroying the remaining spear battalion to seize Emerita.

Meanwhile, the idyllic city of Oporto, nestled as it is by the edge of the Great Dividing Range, faced the onslaught of one more elite cavalry battalion and the newly formed fifth cavalry army. By retreating the cavalry battalion, the defence of Oporto held long enough to face the second attack, but with the loss of a pike and spear battalion to the 5th cavalry army, and then in the second wave, a keshik army destroyed a spear and a longbow to claim the city.

And just to the north, the city of Faro was able to mount only weak resistance as two pike battalions were swept aside by two cavalry battalions to fall to the Mongols. The town of Visieu was able to hold out slightly longer, perhaps because it was attacked by the outdated keshik units, and managed to retreat one, but in the second attack, the second spear battalion was destroyed adding another city to the Mongols collection.

The Portuguese managed to mount a minimal resistance with two archer battalions attacking two cavalry battalions, though the results did not favour the Portuguese as they lost a battalion and only succeeded in retreating a cavalry battalion. In a more daring, but ultimately foolish move, the Portuguese sailed a horse battalion all the way to Thermoplae, only to see it destroyed easily by a cavalry battalion, brought in on the Mongolian rail net.

But the Mongolian – Portuguese War is no the only scene of such violence at this time. The Romans and the Incans were locked in a desperate struggle with the Incans clearly emerging as the victor. The Roman’s long war with the Babylonians had left them battle weary and depleted in troop numbers, and certainly in no good position to take on the might of a modern well trained army equipped with the latest cavalry units. The Incans pressed down though the Babylonian territory conquering Shurruppak, Ceasaraugusta, Lugdunum, Viroconium, Cumae, Hispalis, Nicopolis, and Tarentum in quick succession. This cleaved the Roman empire in two, and brought the Incans into sight of Rome itself!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/IncanRomanWar.jpg
By New Heidelberg a further four thousand Portuguese troops fall to the first and the fourth cavalry armies. By Gem city, a keshik dies to an archer, but the seventh keshik army kills another archer and a longbow. By Faro Kublai’s keshik army kills a pike and a spear battalion, while cavalry kill four longbow battalions for the loss of one.

East of the GDR, the Portuguese just have two cities left, Castello Branco and Badajoz. Castello Branco is attacked next, but holds out the initial attack by retreating two cavalry battalions, though in the process losing a spear battalion. In the Portuguese counter attack an archer battalion succumbs to a cavalry battalion, but then the second charge on the town destroyed the remaining spear battalion, and the town fell into Mongolian hands.

Chapter Sixteen continued

Back in Karakorum, the Khan had just finished hearing about the progress in the Portuguese war and was now ready to hear from Yeh-lu on the domestic front. Yeh-lu was concerned with the draining of the treasury at this time, and whether the current technological pace could continue to be maintained. The Khan urged that the technological pace be maintained at all costs, and so suggested to Yeh-lu that he travel once more to see which nations had cash and offer them our technologies if there existed sufficient incentive for it. After an exhaustive search, Yeh-lu discovered that off all the world’s nations, only the Dutch had financial resources at this time. It appeared that the rest of the world was paying the Dutch for their older technologies, leaving the Dutch in possession of substantial income to pursue their own research, or better yet, fund the Mongols.

Yeh-lu found William to be annoyed with the Mongols, but still prepared to make a massive ongoing cash contribution in return for the knowledge of Industrialisation, and although Yeh-lu knew that this would leave the Dutch with the government advances of communism and fascism, giving them an effective technological lead, Yeh-lu believed that the Mongols had no use for these governments, and that with this funding, the Dutch could not compete with the Mongolian sages!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_indust.jpg
With the new funding, Mongolian science was able to continue at maximum pace.

The remnants of the Portuguese assault force by New Heidelberg had finally seen reason and retreated to the vicinity of newly conquered Viseu. However, this was to be their Waterloo, for although there were still in excess of a division of Portuguese troops, Kublai’s keshik army backed by five cavalry battalions, two elite keshik battalions and a rifle battalion were finally able to annihilate the entire remainder of the force for the loss of a single cavalry battalion!

The seventh keshik army hunted down and destroyed a lone archer battalion left in the GDR, while the battle for Luanda, the first Portuguese city to the west of the GDR began. However, here the Portuguese had left many defenders, and although the third keshik army and Chagatai’s keshik army combined to destroy three pike and a spear battalion, the city still held out! But, as in numerous previous battles, in the second attack Chagatai’s keshik army destroyed two more longbow battalions, and this city also fell. Three more Portuguese longbow battalions were destroyed en route to reinforcing the besieged town.

Badajoz, the sole surviving Portuguese town to the east of the GDR was finally in range for an attack. In the end it took just the second keshik army and one elite cavalry battalion to destroy two defending spear units and capture the town, completing the Portuguese rout on the eastern side of the GDR!

Braga was attacked next. A keshik army and the fifth cavalry army each killed a pike, before Tolui’s cavalry battalion destroyed the remaining pike to claim the city, and earn Tolui command of his own cavalry army.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Tolui_cav.jpg
Meanwhile, America finally made peace with the Byzantines, as Abe finally realised that it was pointless attempting to war against a nation holed up on a one tile island. The Romans and the Babylonians finally ended their many centuries old conflict as well, as the Romans braced for the continuing onslaught of the Incans. The Mongolian sages were also able to demonstrate the secrets of electricity to the Khan, as they were authorised to proceed to replaceable parts with all haste.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Electricity.jpg
The Portuguese survived just twenty more years. Alcacer do Sal fell to the 4th cavalry army, It took three armies to capture Lisbon and the Statue of Zeus, but this put an end to the bothersome ancient cavalry. Guada fell to the fifth cavalry army. Coimbra fell to Tolui’s cavalry army, Guimaraes fell to the third cavalry army with some help form a keshik army. Lagos fell to four cavalry vbattalions.

The Portuguese continued a determined, but futile attempt to capture Thermoplae landing first a longbow battalion that was destroyed by a cavalry, then landing a combined force of an ancient cavalry, a knight a longbow and a spear battalion. However, this force was never engaged in battle. As the Portuguese empire crumbled around them, these units simply dissipated into the surrounding terrain, shedding all vestige of being military units so that they could be absorbed into Mongolian society.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Port-westGDR.jpg
Finally, Rio Janeiro fell to four cavalry battalions. Leiria was attacked by the second keshik army, but it took an ROP with Babylon bribing them with wines and furs for the third keshik army to reach Leira, and finish the city off. Sagres fell to the fourth and first cavalry army, and with the Babylonians capturing Evora, the once proud Portuguese nation was no more.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Port_end.jpg
The destruction of the Portuguese had taken just six decades.

Nice update :tu

Nice going in conquering the Portuguese!! :goodjob:
Sandman who is the next nation to be conquered by the Mongolian Empire?

CivBattle, the next nation on the Mongolian radar is kind of governed by in game events, so you will have to wait for the next chapter - played but not yet written up.

Good luck in your next battle.

Another awesome story, keep up the good work!

Chapter Seventeen - The Age of Science

Subedei was on a roll. The efficiency of the Mongolian war machine was reaching new heights. Subedei longed for more action, and presumed that the Americans would be next. The American campaign had long been on the Khan’s agenda, ever since the days of the Mongolian-Byzantine Pact. Also the Americans were the sole surviving nation with interests in the rear of the new Mongolian front. In fact with their scattered holdings through former Germany and former China, the Americans posed a very real strike threat from multiple angles into Mongolian territory, and were therefore seen as a strategic threat. The Americans also had a large and powerful economy, though they lacked the technological progress of the Mongols.

It was not to be. As though sensing their imminent peril, Lincoln struck the one deal that guaranteed the Americans their safety, at least for now. He signed a mutual protection pact with the Dutch. Under the terms of this pact, any aggression against either nation, would result in the other declaring war on the aggressor nation. Now, clearly the Khan did not fear even the combined armies of both these nations, but, the Dutch were locked into paying the Mongols a substantial regular tribute in exchange for the knowledge of Industrialisation. This funding was in turn paying for the Mongolian rapid technological progress that the Khan believed would be crucial to bringing peace to this savage world – Mongolian peace, of course. Therefore, for the duration of this Dutch agreement, the Americans were off the table as a potential military target.

In fact, Yeh-lu was to report that the Americans had adopted a furious attitude towards the Mongols. So even if they were to leave the Americans in peace, there was a very real danger of the Americans launching a surprise attack against the Mongols, and still triggering the Mutual Protection Pact with the Dutch, and thus still destroying the Dutch funding. This threat had to be dealt with, but clearly not Subedei’s way, instead the almost magical powers of Yeh-lu would be required.

Yeh-lu journeyed to America to try and dismantle the rising tide of distrust and amnity between the two nations. The initial meetings did not go well. Abe refused to even meet with Yeh-lu, sending a lacky in instead. The initial meetings consisted of Yeh-lu having to listen to a tirade of accusations and nonsense that essential amounted to nothing. This was clearly not going to ensure the results the Khan demanded.

Yeh-lu remembered from his dealings with Theodora that some cash always succeeded in lubricating the diplomatic channels and so presented the Americans with an outright gift of 100 gold. This helped. In fact it helped a lot. Lincoln would finally see Yeh-lu!

Lincoln was still annoyed. It was not clear exactly what had set him off. Perhaps all it amounted to ultimately was a profound jealousy at the significantly stronger and more dominant position of the Mongols in world affairs. The Americans had no where to expand their influence but into Mongolian territory, and any such incursion would inevitably lead to the destruction of their nation. Thus there was this American resentment. But resentment can make people do foolish things, and so the borders were still at risk.

Finally, it dawned on Yeh-lu. The answer was not to be found in America. The only thing that made America a threat was their pact with the Dutch. The place to counter this apparent American threat was in the court of King William.

Yeh-lu found William to be annoyed. That was a little surprising given the recent technology deal that cemented friedship between the nations. Certainly, there was no question that William would honour the American Pact, should it be called into force. The answer was simple. If the American deal gave the Dutch some comfort, then surely, a similar pact with the Mongols, the strongest nation on the planet, would afford much more comfort still to the Dutch? But no, William wanted more. The Dutch lacked even the strategic resource of iron, and so wanted this thrown into the deal, to seal it. Yeh-lu agreed, but managed to prise still more funding from the Dutch as well, and so the Dutch-Mongolian Mutual Protection Pact was born
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_MPP.jpg
Yeh-lu had once again succeeded in dismantling a potential threat. But this did not mean that the Mongols could rest. The rapid progress of the Incans against the failing Roman empire meant that the Incans were quickly rising to become the new super-power to the west of the Great Dividing Range. The Incans had been deploying many cavalry battalions in their demolition of the battered Roman defences. Against this threat the Romans had no answer. Did the Khan wish to have to deal with a new super power? The answer was clearly no.

And so a Mongolian Incan conflict was looming, but it was not to be either. Chebe had other ideas, and he took them to the Khan. At this time there was no direct threat from the strong Incans to the Mongols. The danger was simply allowing them to expand too far into Roman territory, and then be a greater threat later. An other option was to limit the Incans growth potential by grabbing Roman territory for the Mongols! This would allow some time for the completion of the Mongolian super soldiers promised by the sages, and effectively eliminate the Incans as a future threat. It was also a much easier war path.

The deed was sold as an act of liberation, for surely the Roman people would be better off under the prosperous Mongolian democracy, than oppressed under Incan rule! A right of passage agreement still existed between the Mongols and the Romans, and in fact would last a further five years. The Khan didn’t think the Romans would be able to hold off the Incans for another five years, and so once again such a treaty was violated. The war declaration had a negative impact internationally, however. The Americans were again furious with the Mongols, and so Yeh-lu bribed them still further, this time with a supply of Mongolian furs. This had the desired effect. Even the Americans realised the benefits to their economy of this luxury item – a benefit that would be instantly curtailed if they engaged in militant action against the Mongols. The Americans kept the peace.

The Roman war became a race between the Mongols and the Incans for the remaining Roman cities, although the Romans were able to throw up one surprise – they possessed muskets! However, the numbers of muskets were few, and even well equipped musket battalions were no match for cavalry battalions and cavalry armies!

The Mongols entered the fray in 1320AD, and quickly stormed over the far east city of Syracuse, destroying a musket and a pike battalion in the process. At Byzantium, though, the Mongols hit stiff resistance, losing a cavalry battalion and suffering a retreat, but cavalry armies backed by numerous cavalry battalions proved too much for four musket battalions in defence and the city fell.

The Incans struck the great blow of capturing the Roman capital, Rome. This was something of a no-contest however, as it was simply impossible for the Mongols to get their troops into position to have any show of reaching the city. However, this was to be the last city that fell to the Incans. The superior logistics of the great strategist, Subedei, combined with the Mongolian nations commitment to rapidly following up each new conquest with a rail link, meant that there was always a fresh supply of troops at the gate of each new city.

Neapolis, Pisae and Veii fell in quick succession to the advancing Mongol forces without loss, destroying four musket, three pike and a longbow battalion in the process. With the Incans rapidly advancing on Pompeii, and the clear war objective of preventing the Incan from claiming any more towns, the next Mongolian target was obvious. With railing almost to the door, and the advantage of the fats moving cavalry units, the Mongols were able to strike first. Two musket, a pike and a spear were swept aside to deliver the prise to the Mongols.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Rome_war.jpg
The remaining two Roman cities of Brundisium and Palmyra were protected by only pikes and spears, and were no match for the rapidly advancing Mongols. This quick twenty year Roman War had saved eight cities from the tyranny of Incan rule.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Roman_end.jpg
The ability of the Mongols to quickly build the all important logistical support of their railnet to the front lines had been boosted with the mid-war discovery of Replaceable Parts. This extra speed had proved decisive in the race for Pompeii, and greatly aided the cause in the rest of the Roman War.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Rep_parts.jpg
Replaceable Parts offered another significant benefit in the form of the super soldier, the infantryman. A battalion of these new units could potentially hold at bay half a division of attacking cavalry. Finally the defence had come up with an answer to the modern offensive unit. With infantry in the border towns, the Khan would have no fears of successful armed incursions by the many remaining militant nations of the world. However, it would be some time before this situation would come to pass.

Meanwhile, this age of Mongolian science continued apace, with the generous scientifitc funding, the Mongolian sages continued to report new technological advances in a twenty year cycle. Shortly after the conclusion of the Roman War, the Sages were again to appear in the Khan’s court and demonstrate the secrets of a new discovery.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Sci_meth.jpg
To the discovery of this new technology was added the news that a massive project that had been built in Ta-Tu, had been built with a special purpose related to this new technology. It emerged that this Theory of Evolution was able to propel the Mongolian sages to a whole new level of scientific understanding, and yield significant new advances to the Mongolian people.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/ToE1.jpg
Originally, it had been thought that the Khan would use this opportunity to invest in a massive project to garner a substantial productivity increase. However, the Khan remained ever focussed on the goal established at the time of changing governments into this new democracy – to establish a superior quality of military in the field of battle at all times. This lead to a long discussion with the sages on how best to capitalise on the benefits of this opportunity.

The net result of these discussions was for the Sages to return to the Khan’s court twice more in rapid succession with first the discovery of the Corporation – a way to further improve the massively strong Mongolian economy, and the discovery of Refining – a concept that revealed a new resource, that of oil, and one which was found in abundance in the existing Mongolian lands.

Research in these peaceful times then started on the concept of Steel, again expected in twenty years time.

This is a quality story Sandman, respect!

Good story.

Uppin. Respek.

Chapter Eighteen – The Viking Incident

The peaceful age of science was not to last long. It was true that Subedei was still interested in pursuing the war against the Americans, and so liberate all the lands east of the Great Dividing Range under Mongol rule. However, with the Dutch locked into an MPP with the Americans, and currently funding the Mongols’ massive investment in technology. This avenue was effectively closed.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World1350AD.jpg

With each new territorial acquisition, the core of Mongolia seemed to be safer, but the people in the new territories rapidly adjusted to the Mongolian democratic ways, and in turn became at risk due to the ever extended Mongolian borders, and the ever hostile reception the vast Mongol nation was receiving on the world stage. This situation made the Khan ever more determined to pursue technological superiority in the field of battle at all costs, and so the science machine drove on.

The world seethed with resentment at the seemingly unchallengeable might of the Mongols. But there were ways to bring even the mightiest of foes down a peg, and the Scandinavian commanders decided to pursue just such a plan. The Scandinavians felt threatened by the sudden and rapid expansion of the Mongols westward over the Great Dividing Range. Until recently, this natural formation had been considered the divider between the nations of the east, and the nations of the west. Now one nation had become so dominant that it had massively expanded from its position in the east to extend well into the territory of the west.

It would certainly be foolish to challenge the might of the Mongols directly, but on the other hand, the Scandinavians were not the weaklings that the Portuguese and the Romans had been. The Scandinavian military was well equipped with modern rifle divisions, a defence that could easily blunt the attack of an equivalent number of cavalry divisions. Of course these units were still not as good as the recent infantry divisions that the Mongols were putting into the field of battle, but the Scandinavians still had some confidence in their ability to defend against Mongolian aggression.

Recent advances had brought the concept of an unbadged ship, the privateer. This was considered a low risk way of putting some hurt on the Mongols. It was known that the Mongols were interested in completing a full world map, and so had ships out in the Great Ocean mapping the remaining unknown areas, just in case any further islands should be revealed. This provided the Scandinavians with their opportunity. Two of these privateers, with hidden nationality, set sail on a mission to hunt down and kill any Mongolian ships that they should encounter.

In what became known as the Viking incident, these privateers happened upon two Mongolian vessels in the deep ocean in the late 1340’s AD. They opened fire, sinking a Mongolian vessel, but losing a privateer in the process. The remaining two ships were both severely wounded in the exchange, resulting in the Scandinavians calling it off, and heading to port for needed repairs. Interestingly enough, the Mongols were almost done, so they completed their world mapping exercise first, and then headed for port.

It is not known for sure how the Khan was able to trace this act of piracy back to the Scandinavians. Some have claimed that in the heat of battle, the Mongols heard the distinct sounds of the Viking accent, but most scholars doubt this theory, as the ships remained some distance apart, and the battle was decided solely by cannon fire. The most plausible theory is that the ship was in fact traced back to its port of origin, and seen entering a Scandinavian port. As Mongolian troops were right next to Viking territory at this time, this theory seems reasonable. In any event, international piracy against the Mongols could not go unpunished, and so even though the potentially more difficult rifles would now be faced, there was no prospect of anything but war!

War was declared in 1355AD, and the Mongols were to find that the Scandinavians were quite as well prepared as they had thought they were. Although the Scandinavians possessed rifles, these weapons were relatively new, and so were not that common, with the bulk of their city defenders still armed with the rather weaker musket, weaponry. And, as the Scandinavians were to learn to their peril, the might of the Mongolian armies was still effective, even against fortified rifles!

The ever eager Subedei was given the task of crushing this latest upstart nation. General Ereen was now given the more secondary task of homeland security. Armed with his brilliance as a general, the massively growing Mongolian productive might, and the huge logistical genius of the Mongolian rail network, Subedei set about planning the destruction of these new foes.

Subedei set up his forces by Pompeii and Palmyra. For although, the Mongols had long borders now, the borders with the Vikings were actually quite small, and so it was only from these two cities that he could get reasonable access at the core of the Scandinavians.

The attack on Reykavik went first, and saw the first action of a cavalry army against a mighty rifle division. The sixth cavalry army was to win the day, however, and it was quickly followed up by several cavalry divisions. In the bloody battling that followed, Subedei lost two cavalry divisions to only one musket division, so the first cavalry army entered the fray to smash a second musket division, and finally an elite cavalry division crushed the remaining resistance to claim the first Scandinavian city.

The battle for Odense proved much easier, as in the end only the fifth cavalry army was required to destroy a rifle and a musket division and claim the Mongols second city. Furthermore, Subedei ordered the upgrading of no less than 26 cannons to the much superior artillery unit, and he enhanced the power of the keshik armies by adding a fourth unit, an additional cavalry to the armies.

The Vikings were not going to take this invasion of their territory lying down, however. The war gave them the final incentive to end their pointless conflict with the one island city nation of the Byzantines, and focus on the imminent threat posed by the Mongols. In retaliation, they struck at the invasion force gathering north of the newly conquered Reykavik, inadvertently triggering the mutual protection pact that Yeh –lu had signed with the Dutch. Subedei, of course, had no intention of allowing the Dutch to share in the spoils of this war.

The Viking retaliation resulted in an exchange of cavalry divisions by Reykavik, before Subedei’s forces stormed past these troops on their way to new Viking cities. Meanwhile, the all important strategic rail net was continually rushed to ensure that all new territory quickly joined the net, and that the advantage of rapid rail led all the way to the front lines.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/cavalry.jpg
Meanwhile, the Vikings rushed improved weaponry to their frontline troops, but it would do no good. At Bodo the fourth cavalry army smashed through no less than three rifle divisions to single handedly capture the city. At Bergen, the Mongols again encountered muskets. The first cavalry army combined with five cavalry divisions to smash four musket divisions and an outdated berserk division and claim the city, though for the loss of a cavalry division. At Stockholm, the newly up-powered keshik armies went into action against rifle defenders, and this was to be one way traffic as well. Chagatai’s keshik army, the seventh keshik army and the second keshik army each combined to destroy a rifle division, leaving a berserk division to a single cavalry division and another city fell into Mongolian hands.

The Scandinavian high command were absolutely determined not to allow this conflict to be all one way traffic, and in 1360AD, they seized upon the opportunity presented to them in poorly defended Stockholm, and Pompeii. The relatively easy recapture of Stockholm, and capture of undefended Pompeii caused considerable unrest amongst the fickle democratic populace. Wars had become good only when the news remained good. As sson as there was any suggestion that the mighty Mongolian war machine might be fallible a degree of unrest occurred.

The new field orders included a directive form the Khan himself, all frontline cities were to be locked down with the new infantry divisions. There were to be no more mishaps in this war!

The recapture of these two cities was almost routine for Subedei, even though the Scandinavians reinforced the Stockholm with two rifle divisions. Chagatai’s keshik army was ready to roll again, and it disposed of both rifle divisions and a further cavalry division. Pompeii had not been reinforced by the Scandinavians, and so fell to a single keshuk division, Then both cities received infantry division defenders.

Not satisfied with merely reclaiming these cities, Subedei pressed home his offensive against Aarhus, Trondheim, Oslo and Molde. The combination of cavalry armies, keshik armies (all upgraded with a cavalry division) and cavalry divisions accounted for no less than 10 rifle divisions, three musket divisions and a berserk division to capture all four cities for no Mongolian loss, and generate a new leader in the process.

Then, finally, the new artillery was able to be brought into play for the first time. Although not really necessary, the Vikinks had a small force of three cavalry divisions and a berserk division left by Oslo. It was an easy matter for the new artillery to totally diminish the capacity of this force to near irrelevance, in time for cavalry divisions to feast upon the remains.

It took until 1370AD, before Subedei decided he finally had troops to spare to finish off the Viking presence in the east. The Vikings had three isolated cities just west of the Great Dividing Range, but certainly lacking sufficient garrison at the time to be able to launch any significant threat against the Mongols. Hence to this point they had been left alone. Now that they had been reduced to only eight cities, three of which were these eastern cities of Shantung, New Leipzig and Memphis, Subedei decided to clean these cities out.

No armies were used in these assaults, as they were still tied up in the Scandinavian core, so it was left up to cavalry divisions to smash through the Viking defences unaided. The true test of whether the rifle really was sufficient against cavalries was about to begin!

At Shanting, two rifle divisions died for the loss of a single cavalry division. At New Leipzig there was no loss as two rifle divisions were swept aside. At Memphis there was only one rifle division and one musket division and both succumbed to the assault for no Mongolian loss. So the short answer was, no, the rifle could not hold out Mongolian cavalry!

In the Scandinavian core Copenhagen, Alesund and Hareid fell to the army plus cavalry assault. These assaults accounted for a further eleven entrenched defending rifle divisions, whilst attacks on Scandinavian troop movements accounted for a further nine divisions of more obsolete units including pikes, medieval infantry and archers.

In the Khan’s court back in Karakorum, the Sages’ announcement of the discovery of the secrets of Steel was totally overshadowed by Chebe’s military report stating that the once proud Scandinavians had been reduced to just two cities.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Viking_war.jpg
As the year 1375AD was heralded in, Subedei struck at the second to last Viking city of Birka. Between the third keshik army and the fith cavalry army three divisions of rifles perished leaving a cavalry division to take out a berserk division and take the city.

Chapter Eigteen continued

The final Viking stronghold was the city of Stavanger. However, this city lay on the other side of the Babylonian nation. The Babylonians had no rail network, and so Subedei was faced with the prospect of some years crossing the Babylonian territory, and then launching an assault on this final city. This was not an acceptable option for him. The Vikings were to be eradicated now! And so he hatched upon a daring plan. A right of passage agreement existed between the Mongols and the Babylonians, and so it was used to ferry in not soldiers, but workers. The workers arrived in massive numbers and began the construction of a huge stretch of railroad stretching from former Scandinavia, all the way to the border in range of Stavanger. This massive undertaking became known as the first great railing project.

With the new rail infrastructure, artillery was able to be whisked to within range of the city of Stavanger. The terrible onslaught of the artillery reduced even the remaining mighty rifle divisions to a state of almost rout. They were easy pickings for the fourth cavalry army. The capture of this city ended another threat to the Mongolian nation.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/rail_project.jpg
With the Vikings destroyed in just twenty years, the peaceful time for scientific pursuits was able to return. The Mongols changed the emphasis of their military builds from the cavalry division to the infantry division, at least while defences along their massive perimeters were beefed up by the addition of the infantry units.

Meanwhile, the big funding deal from the Dutch finally expired. In a search for some replacement income, the Dutch were traded the secrets of Scientific Method for Espionage and the small sum of 22 gold per harvest. More money was to be found in the sprawling nation of the Inca, so they were traded with also. This time a sale of steam power was made for an ongoing payment plan.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Inca_steam.jpg
The American ambassador then visited Karakorum. It seemed that the long running right of passage had expired and he wished to renew it. The Khan saw no value in allowing American units right of access to sacred Mongolian lands, and so this wish was denied. To add insult to injury, the ambassador was instructed to remove all American troops from Mongolian lands. On this instance the American government complied.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/combustion.jpg
The sages brought news of the discovery of the secrets of Combustion to the Khan’s court in 1395AD. Their wish to continue research on mass production with maximum funding was granted, resulting in a renewed expectation of delivery in just twenty years.

With access to the technology of espionage, Yeh-lu ordered the creation of an Intelligence Agency. Obviously a building with a slightly dubious purpose was not permitted in the capital, and so was constructed in Tabriz instead.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/CIA.jpg
Yeh-lu then set about constructing his covert information network. The attempt to plant a spy on America failed with the Mongolian agent being caught and executed. The attempt on Babylon succeeded. The attempt on the Incans and the Dutch also failed.

The level of anger in America may have been under-estimated, because after this diplomatic incident with the spy attempt, Lincoln reacted particularly poorly to the latest demand to leave Mongolian territory.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/American_War.jpg
Subedei was finally to be granted his wish!

Yeah, an update! It looks like America won't be too hard to take over.

Good update. By my calculations, Sandman posts once every two weeks. Therefore, only...13 more days.

Good update. By my calculations, Sandman posts once every two weeks. Therefore, only...13 more days.
I have actually played the next two chapters ahead, so I will see if I can prove your prediction wrong!

Thanks for the input, General Mayhem, America was a very fun campaign.

Nice update Sandman, been waiting after I got my goverment answer. Demo :)

Yes, Demo - since we are pushing science, and have a very sprawling empire, Demo gives the least corruption and is therefore the best for science. However, it is very fagile during combat - something to keep me on my toes. I can't really afford to let the AI civs 'accidentally' capture or recapture any cities!

Chapter Nineteen – The American War

At the time of the war declaration, America had 24 cities, making it about 40% larger than the Scandinavians had been. Additionally, the Americans had spent the intervening years since their last military action feverously pursuing scientific parity with the rest of the world. The Mongols had failed in the planting spy attempt, and so were unaware as to whether the Americans yet had rifles or not, but it was clear that they were close. Also, unlike the Scandinavians with only three completely isolated and totally corrupt cities amongst the Mongolians, the Americans had no less than eight cities dotted about in former Germany, China and India, predominantly.

These eight American cities were much closer to the American core than the Scandinavian cities had been to Scandinavia. In addition, many of them were connected with each other, resulting in a greater combined menace. In many ways these eight cities represented a critical strategic risk to the Mongolian war plans, especially given the adverse manner in which the Mongolian public reacted to bad war news. They also massively extended the Mongolian front line with America.

On the other hand, Subedei had been planning for a campaign against the Americans for some time, and as technology and war techniques continued to improve the plan was steadily refined to take into account the these new advances. In particular, the strategic railnet meant that Subedei could rapidly deliver troops to every single border city of the Americans. With the might of the cavalry armies, and the up-powered keshik armies, combined with huge numbers of cavalry, Subedei’s plan called for a blitz on America the like of which had never been seen before!

Of course, there was one minor oversight in this plan, the Dutch-American Pact was still in full force, so as soon as Mongolian troops entered American territory by Cincinnati, the Dutch were dragged in to the conflict as well.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_DoW.jpg
Now the Dutch were the second most technologically advanced nation on the planet, and definitely possessed both rifles and cavalries to spare. They also added another 14 cities to the productive might of the alliance against the Mongols, and had four cities bordering Mongolian territory, although their core was pretty much as far from Mongolia as any civilisation could get. Certainly the previous concern about losing the vast annual payment from the Dutch was no longer present, as current payments were far smaller than the original sum, so it was only the Dutch military that represented a concern.

A decision was quickly made in the Khan’s war council chambers. The Dutch would simply be held at bay, at first, while the annoying Americans were crushed, then the full force of Mongolia would be applied in earnest against the Dutch! Holding them at bay meant beefing up the bordering cities with infantry, a unit that remained in the sole ownership of the Mongols.

And so, Subedei’s plan was left virtually unchanged as he launched the most massive attack upon the Americans, just at the dawn of the fifteenth century. Cincinnati felt the brunt first, and although painful due to the Dutch declaration, and due to costing a cavalry division, a musket and a pike division of the Americans were destroyed, claiming the city.

Denver was next. Two cavalry divisions smashed through the defending pike and spear divisions. Then it was on to Heidelberg. The two defending pike divisions could not cope with the two cavalry division onslaught. At Dallas the defences were weaker, consisting of only a pike and a spear division, and these did not trouble the assault. The hill city of Baltimore was overrun by Keshik divisions, again without Mongol loss. Cleveland’s three pike divisions fell to the seventh cavalry army. Lahore’s two musket divisions, claimed a cavalry division, but were still swept aside. And at Hangchow, the two musket divisions also claimed a cavalry, but generated a new Mongolian leader, and inevitably fell to the Mongol onslaught.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Hangchow_leader.jpg
This first massive push deprived America of all its satellite holdings, leaving only the main core, and Subedei was only just starting his offensive.

The city of Krasnoyarsk, formerly Russian, then Byzantine, and most recently American, soon became Mongolian as the fifth cavalry army destroyed a musket and a spear division. Then it was up the coast. Tver fell to the third keshik army, losing a musket and a pike division in the process. With workers connecting up the Mongolian rail system to the borders of the new holdings, Kansas City was brought within reach of the Mongolian wrath. Here the fourth cavalry army was employed to smash the two pike division defence.

At Miami, Tolui’s cavalry army crushed an elite pike division, then a musket division, but defenders still remained. With the railnet in place it was a simple matter to call for reinforcements, and a single further cavalry division was soon on the scene destroying another pike division to take the city.

Philadelphia was able to accessed from former China, but proved a little more resistant than some, taking the combined efforts of Kublai’s keshik army and two divisions of cavalry to rout the defence. From Philadelphia, Washington could just be reached, and was assaulted with two cavalry armies and a keshik army.

The battle for Chicago cost the Mongols a cavalry division, but the city soon fell to the might of two keshik armies and a further two cavalry divisions.

After railing was completed through Kansas city, the coastal onslaught continued at Houston. Though the American defence at Houston proved resolute and destroyed one attacking cavalry division, it could not withstand the onslaught of a further three cavalry divisions.

These massive gains revealed American units waiting patiently in the core for orders. Subedei took advantage of this situation by destroying a lone knight division, but in the process losing a keshik division.

After still more railing, the last American city of Subedei’s blitz is brought to within range of the Mongols. The defenders at Boston fight bravely, and account for fully two cavalry divisions in the process, but even they are unable to prevent the power of the Mongols claiming the city. These huge strides into American territory reveal many American units still awaiting orders. The Mongols are only able to dispatch one further knight division and a spear division with their remaining offensive units, but in the process yet another leader is produced from the field of battle.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Cleanup_leader.jpg
The Americans lost 17 of their 24 cities in this one massive blitz of Subedei’s. That represents over 70% of their power. With the huge Mongolian workforce tasked with bringing rails to these new conquests, infantry divisions were rushed to the front lines. Subedei could ill-afford to take chances with the fickle Mongolian populace.

The American generals of course tried to fight back. In the process they actually managed to kill a mighty infantry division, proving that even these great defence units are not invincible. Three cavalry divisions also perished, but the cost to American military was much larger, and most important of all, none of these counter-attacks was able to breech the Mongolian Defence around any of the newly captured cities.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/American_war_1400.jpg
The year 1405AD sees the war continue, but this year there is no blitz. The American forces are too plentiful, and pose an ever present threat to the newly captured cities. In addition, many units are forced to rest up owing to the weariness of the glorious battles of the opening conflict. Furthermore, the Dutch made use of the Incan territory to move numerous cavalry divisions within range of a possible strike at New Koningsberg, just north of their cities on the above map.

Subedei will not settle for no progress, however, and so as thousands of Americans perished in the battles arouns Buffalo, inevitably it became time for the town itself to face the might of Subedei’s armies. The hapless resistors at Buffalo are also unable to stem the tide of Mongolian force.

The tundra of New Orleans, however, does not prove as simple for Subedei, and fully two divisions of Mongolian troops perish during the onslaught, soaking the ice, red. But these numbers are just insufficient to stop the Mongolian war machine, and so New Orleans is also liberated from the Americans.

In an effort to halt the progress of the Dutch forces through Incan territory, Yeh-lu signs a trade embargo with the Incans against the Dutch, even though it takes the bribe of an ongoing spice supply to make the deal happen.

1410AD rolled around with the Americans down to five cities. The American counter-attack is reduced to being feeble at best. Seattle falls first, only requiring a single army. At Atlanta, due to distance, and a stronger American will, it takes no less than four armies to crush the defence. Then it is the turn of San Francisco, and very little resistance is encountered there. St Louis also falls easily, once the railnet is built up to the latest borders.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/American_war_end.jpg
Finally, the Americans are left with the northern tundra city of Detroit. Only the speed of the cavalry armies is sufficient to reach Detroit, and at first they come up short. Detroit has one more defender than Subedei has cavalry armies left. But there is a solution. The recent leaders had formed armies, but had not had units added to make them useful, yet. Now with the need so plainly there, another army is completed with cavalry and dispatched to the front immediately. The power of a new cavalry army against the last defending American unit is no match at all, and Detroit falls.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/America_end.jpg
Subedei had achieved his dream. The Americans were crushed in just ten years in the most brutally efficient military campaign yet undertaken. However, threats to the Mongolian security still remained. The Dutch were pressing at New Koningsberg, and fully intended to be true to the spirit of their pact, even with the complete defeat of their ally. The Mongolian war-machine turned to face the power of the Dutch!

Chapter Twenty – The Second Great Railing Project

The Dutch represented a logistical nightmare for the Mongols. Though four cities were within relatively easy reach of the Mongolian forces, the rest were either at the furthest end of the planet, or even worse, were off the mainland altogether. Subedei, however, was not perturbed by this revelation, pointing to how the first great rail project had shown the way.

There was a more pressing danger posed by the Dutch forces. While the Mongolian population rejoiced over the crushing victory against the Americans, the Dutch had advanced their strong rifle divisions into the mountains by New Koningsberg. The citizens of New Koningsberg were very aware that the bulk of the troops were still in the Ameruican lands, and so even with the power of infantry divisions protecting the city, there was a concern with the closeness of this Dutch presence.

However, Subedei had reserved the artillery. There had been no need for this weapon against the defenders that America had been able to field. However, Dutch rifle divisions hiding in the mountains were a different story, and artillery was rushed to the front to dispense with the imminent threat. With the numbers of these powerful bombardment tools that Subedei had at his disposal, the Dutch troops fell into disarray. It was then easy pickings for cavalry divisions to charge into the mountains and finish off the Dutch resistance. In all four divisions of rifles and one division of longbows were slaughtered.

This did not end the Dutch offensive, however, as tens of thousands of Dutch troops, mainly in rifle divisions, were on the march through the jungles of former Germany towards the Mongol city of Berlin.

As the year 1415AD was heralded in, Subedei was able to turn the considerable might of the Mongol military machine to directly face the Dutch, and the Mongol counter-offensive began. The Dutch had been using the city of Frankfurt as their staging point to launch their attacks against the Mongols, so it was only natural that this city become the first target for Subedei. Following a heave artillery barrage, Frankfurt was then charged by cavalry divisions. The stunned defenders were no match for these Mongolian divisions, and in the process of liberating Frankfurt, Jochi stepped forward as a new Mongolian military leader.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Franfurt.jpg
Then the Mongolian artillery was brought to bear upon the Dutch advance in the jungle. After another heavy bombardment, a mix of cavalry divisions and even infantry divisions were used on the attack to wipe out a full 130,000 Dutch invaders.

The Dutch response was starting to weaken. A smaller troop advanced on Frankfurt in an attempt to liberate this former Dutch city. In a further act of desperation, the Dutch signed a mutual protection pact with the one city state, Byzantines. a Pact that was really of no benefit to either civilisation. It did however result in the Mongols now facing a second foe, even if the danger from that quarter was almost non-existent.

In all this war excitement, the sages were met with a somewhat muted response to their demonstration of the secrets of Mass Production. However, their new research goal, motorised transport, and the ultimate tool that this was thought to deliver to the battlefield was warmly greeted. So once again the sages were granted the full funding necessary to pursue this latest task.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_east.jpg
Then as 1420AD dawned, Subedei had access to his fully healed armies to strike the Dutch with. At Novosibirsk, the eight cavalry army dispensed with two rifle divisions, and Chagatai’s keshik army eliminated the third and final rifle division to prise this city from the Dutch.

In the south by the Great Dividing Range, the Dutch had previously formed a small colony called Delft. This year was to be its swansong as it was first hit by a cavalry army, and then finished off by the seventh cavalry army. Two rifle divisions were accounted for in the process.

By Frankfurt, the new Dutch advance is again shelled by the artillery, and then attacked by elite cavalry divisions, spawning another leader for the Mongols. The leader was quickly whisked home to Karakorum to establish another currently empty army.

It was fully 1425AD, before the last Dutch city in the west was within range of the Mongols. The now tried and tested method of artillery bombardment followed by cavalry charge quickly dislodged the two rifle divisions of defenders.

This action cleared the Dutch presence from the east altogether. However, now the Mongol military machine had to face up to the logistical nightmare that the western part of the Dutch empire represented. The Netherlands were isolated in the far north west of the continent, with the full breadth of Babylonia, and the Incan territory at its widest part separating the Mongols and Dutch nations. What’s more, neither the backward Babylonians, nor the Incans had an established rail net, so getting forces to the front, and then reinforcements afterwards was going to be a major problem.

The first great railing project had given the Mongols an idea. This time however, the distance was far greater. The second great railing project was commenced, joining up where the first had left off. In addition, because the railing effort was so reliant on the existing road network, a direct path for the rails could not be used. The railroad had to follow this winding road passage.

In any event, with the Khan’s full backing, many worker crews left the Mongolian core and started work on this most ambitious task. The first phase of the project extended right through Babylon and into Inca, and comprised fully 2800 kilometres of track. It also brought the Mongols right up to the new advanced guard of the Dutch comprising fully 180,000 soldiers!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Rail1.jpg
These troops were caught unawares. With the speed of the rail system in place, Subedei was able to ferry his well rested armies directly to the front, and strike at these rifle divisions of the enemy. As the force was a mix of rifles and longbow divisions, the armies dispensed with the rifles and the cavalry cleaned up the longbows. In this way, the Mongols suffered minimum casualties, but this large force was decimated, staining the Tiwanaku forests a deep red.

In 1430AD the phase two of the track was completed. A further 1200 kilometres of track brought it to the mountains south of the Netherland city of Groningen. Three hundred kilometres extended west to the lone Dutch city of Eindhoven as well, and so the final assault on the Netherlands could begin.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Rail2.jpg
The city of Groningen was struck first. After an extensive artillery barrage, cavalry moved in to clean up the rest. This time though, the Mongols were attacking the heart of the Dutch nation, and so the defence was that more resolute. In spite of the fierce artillery barrage, the defence remained determined, and claimed two full cavalry divisions. But the loss to the Dutch was far worse, as five divisions of rifles were crushed, and even Groningen fell.

Eindhoven was next. It took two cavalry armies and a cavalry division to smash through the four divisions of rifles and one longbow division guarding the city, and claim it for the Mongols.

Then the Mongols moved into the very heart of the Netherlands. The important harbour city of Maastricht was next. Maastricht was important because it provided access to the Dutch Island city of Holwerd, and unlike the Byzantine’s island city, this island was large enough to land an invasion force next to the city, and so it was not the invulnerable fortress that the Byzantine city currently represented. Maastricht, however, was over the hills, thus limiting the range of the attacking units. A small amount of artillery was yet unutilised, so a small preliminary bombardment preceded the action here as two keshik armies and one cavalry army mounted the rise and assaulted the city, destroying four rifle divisions in the process. Maastricht fell.

Another three hundred kilometres of railing brought the Mongols over to the west coast, and within reach of the city of Rotterdam. A cavalry army and a keshik army combined to kill the four rifle divisions in this city.

More railing brought Amsterdam within range, however, Subedei was once again running short on armies. He decided to utilise one of the spare armies in Karakorum now, instead of waiting for the super weapon of the future, and so filled the ninth cavalry army. Due to distance, Amsterdam required no less than five armies, but eventually fell, and with it the ancient wonders of the Great Lighthouse and the Colossus fell into Mongolian hands.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/GLH.jpg
Subedei was ever keen to continue his offensive, and so he created the tenth cavalry army, and rushed it into action at Haarlem. Single handedly this new army destroyed three rifle divisions to capture the city.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_territory.jpg
This last push has reduced the Dutch to their three mainland cities and their island city. The Dutch also have twelve divisions in Incan territory near the Mongols’ new rail infrastructure. Chebe advised not to even bother with these units. The Dutch command structure would soon be in tatters and the threat from these units would them dissipate. So instead of launching any offensives against them, the infrastructure and worker crews are protected by strong infantry divisions and the Dutch are invited to do their worst.

1435AD is a quiet year on the military front. Numerous Mongolian units need a well earned rest and recovery time, and the final Mongolian cities are spread far from the borders. An advance is made on the remaining three, but only at The Hague, does battle commence. Due to the distance, it takes a full four cavalry armies to bridge the gap and attack, destroying the three rifle divisions, and capturing this one city.

However the year is memorable for another much more important region. The sages were to return once again to the Khan’s court with news of a new announcement. This time they were very warmly greeted, especially when they revealed the new toy to the generals. It met and far exceeded their expectations.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Mot_trans.jpg
The celebrations were exuberant to say the least. When the partying was finally over, the sages were authorised to pursue amphibious warfare, again with generous funding. Meanwhile, all military builds across the entire huge Mongolian empire were swapped immediately to this new devastating tool. Furthermore, this new weapon inspired the Khan to reconsider his world view. It was clear that the world remained hostile towards the Mongols, and with each new foe being vanquished, the resentment of the remaining nations grew. It seemed inevitable that when the Dutch were shortly brought under control, the huge borders of the Mongols would be at risk from either the Babylonians or the Incans over what-ever slight infraction they deemed to have occurred. The only path to a peaceful future appeared to be after a short period of all out war.

This the Khan pondered at some length.

What % of territory do you control? WIll you go for domination or conquest?

It won't be domination. Conquest seems a more fitting way to end this. At the point we are up to in the story, we have 52% of area and 79% of population. If we stopped the military campaign now, and spent the next however long just cash rushing temples, we might be able to already trigger domination, but it would not be as satisfying.

If I knew you'd update quicker If I predicted your updates, I would have predicted them a long time ago :crazy:

Well you know, real life gets in the way at times.

Real life? Is that some new mod?

Keep up the good work, I should go away for a few days more often, all my favorite stories have been updated :)

Real life? Is that some new mod?
RRROOOFFFFLLLLMMMAAAOOOO!!!!!


Anyway, nie story.
you kickin The Dutch's ass.

Glad you guys are continuing ot enjoy the story, rbis4rbb, General Mayhem and Alpha Infantry. Now a new chapter!

Chapter Twenty-One – Pax Mongolia

The Khan called all his heads of staff into an all important conference on the future of the Mongol State, and on the future of the world itself. The Khan stated that for the first time in the history of the planet, the Mongols now had the ability to permanently impose a peace upon the world, under the iron rule of the Mongols. Every time in the past, when the Mongol’s had achieved peace it had been fleeting, as another challenger rose to bring conflict to the Mongolian nation. With these new tanks, the Mongols could decisively gain the upper hand and end the future threat posed by these other ‘civilisations’.

The message was generally well received, after all the Mongols had a proud warrior tradition. It was certainly true that the periods of peace during the Mongols existence had been fleeting at best, and the prospect of a true ongoing peace was an honourable aim. However, there were those present at the meeting who questioned whether the mere demonstration of this powerful weapon could potentially bring the remaining civilisations into line?

They considered who was left. The Byzantines had had all the mainland territory stripped off them and existed in a cramped island off the coast ever bitter towards the Mongolians. No demonstration of power was going to end their leaders’ desire for revenge upon the Mongols.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World1430AD.jpg
Then there were the Dutch with three cities remaining. Right now they were locked in a life or death struggle with the Mongols. The fact that they were prepared to honour their American Pact even after seing the rapid fall of their ally, surely demonstrated the depths that these other nations would go to, to oppose the Mongols..

The Babylonians had a large territory, but remained quite backward. Their leaders continued the façade of a separate national identity at the expense of modernising the nation. Though they represented no immediate threat to the Mongols, there was no doubt that the Babylonian people would be better off under Mongolian rule, and that the leadership would be determined in their resistance to this goal.

The Inca were the largest and strongest of the remaining civilisations. It was clear that they had intentions to independently assert their own culture and greatness on the planet. This would inevitably result in a demand for more space, and sooner or later bring them into conflict with the Mongols, especially when there was no other civilisation.

Therefore, the more the politicians considered their options, the more attractive a policy of direct action became. Strike now while we have a significant technological advantage, and instil our ‘Pax Mongolia’ upon the world, insisted Chebe.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/parliament.jpg
The Khan’s Military Council meets

In the end, the Khan’s wishes were agreed to unanimously. The military council set about drawing up the all important war plans. Right of Passage agreements existed with both the Babylonians and the Incans. With the intention to bring peace to the world through the superior might of Mongolian troops now firmly established, the effectiveness of the tactics used to eliminate the threat of the Byzantines were considered to be a suitable method for hastening the departure of the unnecessary regimes of the Babylonians and the Incans.

Clearly the Babylonians would make an easier first target while the production lines continued to roll off these new tank divisions for the greater assault on the Incans. There was no need to delay war preparations on the Babylonian front for the Dutch. Their three cities would not last long, and they could not cause any real harm to the Mongol forces arrayed against them. For this reason, healed divisions and newly created tank divisions were ordered to move immediately into targeting positions within the Babylonian lands.

Subedei passed off the remaining war against the Dutch to the veritable old general Chagatai, while he moved to supervise the positioning in the Babylonian lands. Chagatai launched simultaneous attacks on the two remaining Dutch mainland cities of Arnheim and Utrecht. At Arnheim the fighting remains fierce. The defenders show no sign of being an almost beaten nation, and even succeed in retreating a cavalry army! However, this simply is not enough, and the city falls.

At Utrecht, due to the substantial distance the armies had to cross into the foreign borders, it takes most of Chagatai’s army force to generate sufficient assaults, but of course the Dutch have no answers for this onslaught and fall to the invaders.

In the harbour city of Maastricht, the resitance has been fully overwhelmed. Takign advantage of this situation, Chagatai uses the local maritime skills to rush build a transport – the first for the Mongols – loads it with a cavalry army and sends it on its way to the final bastion of Dutch resistance, the island city of Holwerd.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/troop_carrier.jpg
Subedei sees no point in holding off the armies for filling with tanks. With two spare commanders waiting in Karakorum, they are both granted a commission and form the eleventh and twelfth cavalry armies. Subedei reports to Chebe that the troops are in position, and awaits the order to go!

As the year 1445AD rolls around, the Babylonian ambassador is requested to an audience in the Mongol’s palace in Karakorum. The poor guy leaves absolutely astonished and shocked hearing that the Mongols were declaring war upon the Babylonians. There had been no negotiation, just a blunt statement that the Babylonians would be better off under Mongol rule, rather than the corrupt Babylonian government, therefore Mongol forces had moved into position to eliminate this tyranny from the world, and as they spoke the order had been given to strike at targets within the ‘corrupt’ nation. Subedei was then given the green light for action!

As Chagatai reports the successful landing of the cavalry army on Holwerd island, Subedei passes on the order to attack to his troops. At the mountain hideaway of Izibia, there is an underestimation of the strength of the defence, as even four divisions are insufficient to claim the city, though as a consolation another leader is generated form the fierce battle.

At Larsa the story goes according to plan as a cavalry army kills three muskets to claim the city. At Akkad the story is the same, except that the 7th Keshik army is used to destroy the three musket divisions. Ashur puts up some resemblance of resistance holding off the initial three cavalry division assaul;t, but when reinforced with two armies and a fourth cavalry division, the resistance is overwhelmed and the city falls.

The capital city of Babylon is also hit in the first phase of the war. Kublai’s keshik army alone is sufficient to destroy three musket divisions and claim the Babylonian capital. The pride of the Babylonians falls with this city.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Babylon_gl.jpg
At Nippur the second keshik army kills the two musket divisions to claim the city. At Ninevah it is two cavalry divisions that smash the two musket divisions and claim the city. Elipi is struck by the recently formed eleventh cavalry division, and their training proves the equal of the more experienced units, resulting in the destruction of three musket divisions to liberate the city.

At Eridu, another cavalry army kills two musket divisions to claim the city. At Uruk it is a keshik army that kills two musket divisions to claim the city.

Finally the new tank divisions get to see some action. At Luernco Marque, two tank divisions are used to smash the two musket defending divisions and claim the city. At Adab, it takes only a single tank division to kill the standard two musket divisions and liberate the city. In all, eleven cities fell in this initial phase of the Babylonian war. With their technological weakness relative to the Mongols, it was not expected that the Babylonians would last long.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Babylon_War3.jpg
1450AD sees the Dutch conflict resume. Tolui’s cavalry army takes heavy fire from the last bastion of the old Dutch regime, but it is not enough to blunt the Mongolian resolve. Three rifle and a longbow division perish in the final assault. Chagatai breathed a sign of relief at the end, owing to the huge toll that Tolui’s army takes, but finally it is over. The Dutch entered the war in 1400AD, so exactly fifty years later they paid for their misplaced loyalty.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Dutch_end.jpg

Chapter Twenty One continued

The much depleted Babylonians are then hit with the second phase of Subedei’s campaign. The mountain retreat of Izibia is unable to hold out a second time and the remaining musket division falls to the cavalry division assault. Then Sippar falls to the third keshik army, Zamua falls to another cavalry army, and although taking two cavalry armies to finish the job Samarra also falls to the Mongols. Seven more musket divisions perished in these brutally efficient assaults.

The defenders at Tel Wilyara put up a more determined effort, even though their poorly equipped divisions consist of only one musket division, one pike division and a medieval infantry division. In the end, the combined force of a keshik army and two csvalry divisions prove sufficient to crush this attempt to hold onto power.

At Eulbar, a cavalry army and a keshik army combine to destroy three musket divisions and take the city. Evora too commits sheer numbers of troops in a brave, determined, but ultimately futile attempt to resist the Mongolian might. Tanks are used in numbers here to crush the defence. However, it is not quite the walk-over that was expected. Babylonian troops die in their thousands, but through their sheer numbers drag the battle out over several nights of intense fighting. The awesome power of the tank at night is a sight to behold, and in the numbers eventually used by the Mongols it is just far too overwhelming for even the most determined musket defence.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/tanks_optical.jpg
The city of Mari is taken more easily by two keshik armies. Then Hindana falls to a single cavalry army. In the last military act of 1450AD, the city of Nimrod falls to a cavalry army – keshik army combo. The resulting battle debis leaves behind the bodies of two musket divisions, a pike division and a medieval infantry division.

The resulting advance over just five years completely shattered the previous empire of Babylon, and left them with but three isolated cities. Of course, the Mongols had no intention of stopping here. Once started, the war was driven to its inevitable conclusion.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Babylon_War4.jpg
In 1455AD, the remaining battle honours were shared between the tank divisions and the keshik armies as the final two Babylonian cities were assaulted and defeated. Three musket divisions and three pike divisions were the last resistance put up buy the Babylonians, before the end. Finally, they were no more!

The news of the Babylonian decline was greeted with much cheer in Karakorum, but the good news did not stop there. The sages presented a new technology to the court, that of amphibious warfare.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/amphibious.jpg
For the first time in the Mongols history they now possessed a means to end the irritation of the east. As a few cities were directed to manufacture these new marine units, preparations were underway to plan the assault of the Incans, the last great remaining civilisation!

Nice one Sandman! You inspired me to go and win my first Monarch Pangea map thanks to this. Never was able to win a Pangea before!

Congrats on your pangea win, mevlin.

Stories like this help to add a whole new dimension to game play, not to mention being highly entertaining!

Go, go, go :hammer:

Great update. COngrats on the conqust.

Thanks Tman65, glad you enjoyed it. rbis4rbb, I haven't actually achieved conquest yet. There is at least one more chapter to go.

Interesting game waiting for your Sid attempt

Update please :)

Interesting game waiting for your Sid attempt
In spite of what I said earlier in this thread, I am actually seriously considering such an attempt next, Ignas.

rbis4rbb, the update is coming. It has been played, just needs tp be written up!

:wavey:

Waiting patiently....well maybe not so patiently for the Great Kahn ;)

Chapter Twenty Two – Destiny

Amazing throughout the short but brutal war on the Babylonians, the Incans kept very quiet. The right of passage treaty between the Mongols and the Incans was still in force which was quite incredible given the way that the Mongols had abused the terms of these agreements in the past. The reason for the Incan indifference was to become known to the Mongols when they successfully planted a spy into the Incan heartland in 1460AD.

The Incan military was almost 1.2 million troops! Included in this force was 70 divisions of the powerful rifle divisions and 47 divisions of the still highly effective cavalry divisions. Clearly with any offensive aimed at the Incans, the Incans would be able to bite back, and given the paranoia of the free populace under the democratic government, this could certainly hurt the war effort. Troop numbers were actually closer to 1.4 million, but this included numerous now outdated divisions.

With 30 cities as well, the Incans were significantly larger than the previous foes, and certainly would not crumble nearly as easily to the Mongols offensive. Still the Mongols now had a regular stream of tanks, and infantry, not to mention over twenty of the highly effective army units. Delay would just delay the ultimate declaration of peace through the Pax Mongolia, so once again, troops were positioned for maximum effectiveness utilising the right of passage agreement.

During this time, there were few Incans who were concerned about the movement of Mongolian troops through their lands. After all, this had been going on for a long time now! Those that raised concerns were quickly rebuffed, and reminded of the friendship between the two nations, and the strong army of the Incans. Also, Inca still has no natural railroads of its own. So communications were slow via the road networks in place. This enabled the Mongols to launch their first attacks with almost complete surprise.

The Incan territory was composed of four large territories surrounding the former Babylonia, and with two solitary isolated cities, one in the far east, and one close to South East Inca. This meant a huge logistical problem as far as securing the enormous shared border with the foe, so it was important that the war be over with quickly!
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/World1460AD.jpg
Some in the Khan’s war cabinet advised a rest between the Babylonian campaign and the Incan campaign, pointing to the need for the soldiers to rest, and the fact that more tank divisions were rapidly coming on line, enabling an ever more overwhelming attack to occur. The Khan would have none of this. With the potential for true lasting peace so close to his grasp, the troops were ordered into their respective positions without delay. The action was to commence in Central Inca – the heartland of the enemy itself!

Central Inca

Tiwanaku received the first shots of the campaign. Tiwanaku was the key to the northern cities with the Mongolian rail infrastructure already built around the city during the Dutch War. Artllery struck the city first, fired from afar. Even the mighty Incans had no answer to this onslaught, leaving the three rifle divisions easy prey to the third keshik army.

Huamanga was the Incan city farthest to the North, and annoyingly added substantially to the northern front with the enemy. This was due to how the Dutch had colonised just to the city’s south. That city, Eindhoven, now of course belonging to the Mongols. Therefore it was crucial that it fell quickly so as to secure the north-west peninsular. It only took the first cavalry army to crush the three rifle divisions defending there, and remove this threat.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Central_Inca1460.jpg

East Inca

Atico was a small hill town nestled East Inca almost as far as east as the Great Dividing Range. Due to the added difficulty in assaulting up a hill, tank divisions were used. Two tank divisions cleared the two rifle divisions to take the town.

Vilcas was the largest Incan city, and also stood on the Mongolian rail network. Vilcas acted as the key transfer point between Central Inca and the important East Incan territory. Here fully two cavalry armies were required to dislodge the defenders.

The large northern coastal city, Arequipa suffered the Mongols onslaught next. The combined effort of the 7th cavalry army and Kublai’s keshik army defeated the three rifle divisions there to seize the city.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/EAST_Inca1460.jpg

South Inca

The south west was not to go untouched during this opening engagement, either, as Antium was attacked by a tank division, and two musket divisions perished in the failed cause of defending their city.

Shirrupak had only a rifle divisions and a spear division as the defending force and was easily dispatched by a keshik army. Hispalis also fell to determined assaults by the new tank divisions.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/South_inca1460.jpg

Juli

The town of Juli was hit by two tank divisions, and that was enough to clean out the three rifle divisions, however, one tank divisions was heavily wounded in this hjeated battle and had to limp out to Cincinnatti to recover.

SE Inca

Down south , the former Roamn city of Nicopolis was taken by two tank divisions against musket defenders. The Mongolian force then moved up so that tanks and two cavalry armies could capture Chuito. Tarentum also fell to tank attacks.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/SE_Inca1460.jpg
This ended the initial Mongolian attacks, and stirred a vigorous response from the Incans. Cavalry divisions made use of Mongolian rail infrastructure outside of border controls to sweep at numerous targets. Fully six worker crews were seized in the audacious attacks. The Incan assaults on fortified infantry positions were fierce to say the least, with many attackers paying the ultimate price. However, it was only at Veii, where a particularly determined force broke through the infantry defence and claimed a city back off the Mongols.

As the Mongolian public heard the news, commotion started in the streets. The Khan was to take no chances with the fickle people. He had all the technological know-how that he needed for know. The sages were recalled to the palace to have their funding temporarily cut to the bone. The Mongolian people were then flooded with luxuries to distract them from any unfortunate, but inevitable repercussions of the war.

The Khan called an emergency war-cabinet meeting to consider how to contain the Incan counterattacks so as to restrict the damage already done to the peoples’ willingness to pursue this Pax Mongolia philosophy. Subedei had no doubt that the problem laid with the significant numbers of cavalry divisions still at the Incan’s disposal. With their ability to move rapidly, these cavalry represented an ever present and real danger to the Mongolian settlements around the war zones. To limit damage this force must be substantially degraded.

To be continued

Chapter Twenty Two continued

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/WarTheatre1465AD.jpg

Bengal

With nineteen cities still in the hands of the Inca, the city count must continue to fall as well. So in 1465AD, the attacks started anew. The small town far out to the east, Bengal, was hit first. With the assistance of cannons, the musket divisions held fast, and withstood one tank division assault, in the process destroying the attackers. However, this close to the Mongolian core, replacement divisions were readily available, and two new divisions swept in, succeeding where their fallen comrades had failed.

SE Inca

With more worker crews rushed in to complete rail links, Viroconium is hit next. In all four tank divisions and two cavalry divisions are employed, with one tank division retreated from the battle, and one cavalry division destroyed, but the three rifle and one cavalry division of the defenders is also destroyed.

By Ashur, Juli and Karana, Incan cavalry divisions are ambushed and destroyed. In the process another Mongolian general steps forward. Another empty army is created.

East Inca

Then the assault on Nasca begins. It is believed that this city houses most of the captured workers. As the tenth cavalry army dispenses with the rifle, musket and cavalry divisions defending, this theory is soon proven correct, and numerous Mongolian workers are liberated, a huge bonus given the high demand for strategic rail links right at the moment.

At New Hamburg, the seventh keshik army had settled in by the city gates. With the troops fully rested the assault on the city commenced. Three rifle divisions later, the army was triumphantly marching down the main street of this once German, former Incan and now Mongolian city.

South Inca

In the south, the city of Lugdunum is assaulted by Chagatai’s keshik army which succeeds against the odds and liberates the former Roman city from its three Incan rifle division garrison.

At Ceasaraugusta, the Incans attempted to consolidate their defensive efforts. This process met with partial success as although the city ultimately fell, it took a Mongolian cavalry division with it, and routed the assault of the seemingly invincible tanks. Of course, Incan casualties continued to be higher with three rifle divisions and two cavalry divisions perishing in the battle.

The city of Veiii was not long left in the hands of the Incans either. A tank division and a cavalry division dispensed with the two cavalry divisions present to reclaim the city.

At the former Roman capital of Rome, another leader emerges from a successful tank battle as the third cavalry army, two tank divisions, a keshik and a cavalry division destroy three rifles and two cavalry divisions to take the city.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Rome2.jpg

More Incan troops are caught in the open by Ceasaraugusta. A further tank division is deployed to destroy a cavalry division and a keshik army dispenses with two cavalry divisions and a knight division.

Finally, at Cumae, two tank divisions each destroy a musket division and the fifth cavalry army destroys a knight and a cavalry division to claim the city.

Central Inca

At Vilcabamba, the eleventh cavalry army faces no less than four rifle divisions, before single-handedly claiming the city. Further action in the central region sees a mixed force of Mongolian cavalry, infantry and artillery used in destroying a further three divisions of Incan cavalry from around Ninevah and Tiwanaku.

Subedei finally launches his audacious attack in the very seat on Incan power, the capital city of Cuzco. As expected, the resistance from this city is ferocious, and it takes fully five of the very powerful Mongolian army units to smash through the defensive forces and seize this Incan Prize.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Cuzco.jpg

With the abundance of superior living conditions becoming available within the Mongolian empire, the citizens of the icy north, particularly in former American territory demand better living conditions. As a result of this demand, there is a migration from these locations into warmer climates, leaving two of these previously American cities completely abandoned.

The massive attacks launched against the Incan cavalry divisions were enough to reduce their numbers down to just eight divisions, but they still have enough punch left to cause one more headache for the Mongols. The city of Shurrupak was captured by the Incans.

As 1470AD dawned, the mighty Incans had been reduced to just nine cities, and only had six divisions of offensive cavalry. Subedei was determined that this would be their final year as an independent state.

After destroying a cavalry division by Tiwanaku, Subedei’s forces attacked Corithuayrachina first with artillery until all the rifle divisions were at their most degraded. This was followed up by the ninth cavalry army killing two rifles divisions and the second cavalry army finishing off the third rifle division and a long bow division to claim the city.

A tank division cleared another cavalry division near Ninevah.

Macchu Picchu was brought into range next. The seventh keshik army backed by the fourth cavalry army destroyed the three rifle divisions garrisoning the city to calim it.

Then, like the hands of a clock, the offensive moved on to Andahuaylas. Between a cavalry army and the second keshik army, the three rifle divisions garrisoning here were wiped out, giving another city to the Mongols.

Ollantaytambo was attacked next. This time there was the advantage of being able to employ an artillery barrage degrading the units to the maximum. A highly wounded sixth cavalry army was then forced to enter the fray, instead of recuperating, and earnt top honours by destroying three rifle divisions to single-handedly claim the city.

The Vitcos was also weakened by artillery. Vitcos was within range of tank assault, and so fresh tank divisions were employed. However, the new tank commanders were very green, and the first division fell. Following this the Mongolian forces perfomed better with four rifle divisions destroyed with one tank division retreated. But it took the effort of two more damaged cavalry armies, Tolui’s and the tenth cavalry army, to finish off the last two rifle divisions and claim the city.

Ica, the last city in the north (east Inca) fell to a tank division and the 7th cavalry army.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/North_Inca1470.jpg

In the south, the Incans had three cities left, including the recently captured Shurrupak. A single tank division was quickly dispatched to rescue Shurrupak, leaving but two Incan holdings. Then at Ravenna, the Incans were down to musket defenders. Utilising a tank division, three cavalry divisions and a keshik army the city finally fell, but it didn’t go without a fight. The Mongols suffered the loss of a cavalry division and an embarrassing retreat of a cavalry division against the relatively weaker defence. Incan losses were three musket divisions and a longbow division.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/South_Inca1470.jpg

At the final Incan stronghold of Lutetia, two healthy tank divisions killed a rifle division and a musket division respectively to leave a single longbow division garrisoning the city. A highl;y damaged tank division was brought into the fray to finish the job.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Inca_end.jpg

This left only the minor irritation of the east, the Byzantines left to deal with. The resettlement of tundra based citizens to warmer climes continued. This time, no less than five former tundra towns were completely abandoned, though this time they were mainly from former Scandinavia. The priority of builds is now completely changed. There is no need for tanks, so everywhere these builds are changed to marines. In addition a transport was rushed as close to the target city of the Byzantines as possible. The Byzantines were able to perform one last indignity against the Mongols. An attempt to discover the extent of the Byzantine defence was defeated with the Mongolian spy caught and killed. Of course this made no impact on the inevitability of the conflict against the Byzantines.

In 1475AD, four more tundra towns were abandoned in the resettlement project.

In 1480AD six marines sailed to the Byzantine city of Septum. The smug Byzantines were shocked to be attacked from the sea by a Mongolian force, and one of considerable power as well. The first two marine divisions account for a Byzantine rifle division and a Byzantine pike division, and then there is no more.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Byzantine_end.jpg

The Pax Mongolia is complete. Without external threats to continue to drive the great Mongols onward will the future hold further greatness, or will the mighty Mongols sink under their own success? The question remains one for future generations to fathom, certainly the Great Khan achieved his magnificient dream of uniting the world under the single dominant culture of the Mongols, and shortly thereafter retired, leaving the fate of the world in others hands.
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/End.jpg

wow, this is my second post but your story is really good =) I might give it a go =)

@ Sandman - Nice read. Nice finish. Congratulations on a great game, story, and read.

V

Great finish, this was a great story to follow, hope you start another one at some point.

Well played and well written!!! Encore!

Great update. COuld you post up the final stats and stuff?

kylaar - I found that writing stories forces you to concentrate on your game more, and so it helped me improve mine. Good luck, and hope you give it a whirl.

Thanks Vanadorn, General Mayhem and Tman65, the comments are always appreciated.

rbis4rbb - I lost the screen dumps of the various stats, but I can tell you this - end score was about 9500 firaxis points, area was 66%, pop 100%, culture about 20k.

66% Area! You just edged Conquest over Domination! And no Razings? Or was the Abandonment of the Tundra how you kept under the Dominion limit?

66% Area! You just edged Conquest over Domination! And no Razings? Or was the Abandonment of the Tundra how you kept under the Dominion limit?
I used Dianthus' superb utility CrpSuite (Mapstat) which gives tiles to domination limit, and the cultural expansions due next turn. From that you can estimate what you need to abandon. And yes the abandonment of tundra towns was the essential elimination of cities to stay under the dom limit.

Good stuff Sandman. Looking forward to the next one!!

Great story and pics.

Once again, a brilliant read Sandman. :)

Sorry if this thread is too old for a new post, but I just have to post some comments/questions.

Like others have said, this is a great read! The keep-under-domination-limit trick was pretty cool. If you hadn't done it, when would you have won by domination? Also, why isn't it said in the game parameters that Culture flip is turned off (and I know it is, because you didn't lose a single city to it and this is Emperor)?

Hi choxorn. Please don't bump old threads. BTW, nice story! :goodjob: Please don't spam in this choxorn. Please......

Ack, though I thoroughly detest spamming in old threads, this comment got to me.

Also, why isn't it said in the game parameters that Culture flip is turned off (and I know it is, because you didn't lose a single city to it and this is Emperor)?

That he didn't lose a city and its emperor means nothing. I play SP deity games (on vanilla where its impossible to turn off culture flipping) and don't lose any cities to flips. It may be that he did turn it off, i don't know, but don't presume that he isn't being completely honest just because this game doesn't match experiences you may have had.

like the others, i'm sorry, but this is just a great read. just had to say that.