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Great update!
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The Shiji, Book Two: Project Kaguya
- Thread starter Sima Qian
- Start date
conquer_dude
Imperial Slave
Enjoying the gundam screens eh, Sima? 
That used to be my fav. show. 
Awesome update.
That used to be my fav. show. Awesome update.
Sima Qian
太史令
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2006
- Messages
- 732
Chapter 18: Banished from the Ivory Tower
Meguri aite / Mishi ya sore to mo / Wakanu ma ni / Kumo-gakure ni shi / Yowa no tsuki kage
Meeting on the path / But I cannot clearly know / If it was he / Because the midnight moon / In a cloud had disappeared.
Lady Murasaki Shikibu (A.D. 973-1025)
How much bombardment does it take for Xerxes to realize he doesn't stand a chance? wondered Yoritomo as his troops approached Sidon. It wasn't just the artillery that he had captured from Hamadan, Gordium, and Arbela that was raining shells upon his next target. The Japanese navy had eliminated the rest of the Persian fleet by now, and with nothing left to do they bombarded the Persian coast from both sea and air, occasionally heading back to their base at Matsuyama to refuel.
Practically every building in Sidon had been destroyed by this time, and almost all of its citizens had either been drafted or killed in the bombardment. But it was Yoritomo's tanks and infantry, who slowly found their way through the narrow mountain passes, that would have to deal the final blow, and never a day went by where they were not harrassed by Persian marines and artillery. Many of Yoritomo's men had to turn back and recover before they could continue advancing any further, leaving him with a diminished force when Sidon was finally in range.
His calls to Kyoto for reinforcements were still unanswered, as nobody in the Kyosanto leadership believed that the invincible Japanese military could suffer defeat. Shogun Tokugawa had been emboldened by the success of the back-door attack on Babylon, and now he was planning an even more audacious invasion, under the command of Lieutenant Oda Nobunaga. This time the starting point would be Hannover, on the distant island in the southeast, and he ordered them to strike directly at the soft underbelly of Persia.
Nobunaga's arrival outside Susa took Xerxes wholly by surprise as he scrambled to rush reinforcements to the south by rail and air. But all of his efforts were too little and too late. Japanese tanks squashed the city flat, taking hundreds of thousands of prisoners.
Xerxes not only had failed to hold Susa, but the diversion of troops to the south finally eased the pressure on Yoritomo's forces in the north. The bombardment of Sidon had been kept up all this time, and even Catherine the Great landed some men nearby to get a good look at the action. The Russian Cossacks did not join in the attack, but their assistance would not be necessary.
By the time Yoritomo entered the city, there was nothing left but the blasted skeletons of the once marvelous Persian architecture and a harbor riddled with impact craters and littered with ordnance. Only a handful of Persian survivors remained.
But it would be Nobunaga, and not Yoritomo, who would get the grand prize of Persia. While two more cities and a mountain screen blocked Yoritomo from advancing further south to the Persian capital, Nobunaga was already there.
Home to five of the Great Wonders, at the time Persepolis was the most magnificent cultural city in the world, and it was Xerxes' proudest achievement to be master of them all. But when he could see the Japanese tanks from atop the Great Wall, he panicked. Rushing down the ramparts back into the city, Xerxes sought out the prophecy of the Oracle, only to find the obsolete building long since deserted. A lone caretaker reminded him that the priests had all moved over to JS Bach's Cathedral, but even there the only advice he received was to flee for his own safety.
"This cannot be!" he screamed. "How have we not yet kicked these worthless Japanese off the face of the earth?" It was true that Persian science was still the most advanced in the world, but not so much that they could control the heavens. Years of war had distracted Xerxes from building rockets and satellites, as dealing with the Japanese threat seemed far more pressing than any other of his plans.
Despite the fact that Persian scientists were the first to invent the automobile, they still had no oil supply to fuel them. It was on foot that Xerxes saw his scientists and engineers packing their bags and boxes full of books and equipment they salvaged from Newton's University and Leonardo's Workshop. They would not make the same mistake as Bismarck had before, allowing the Japanese into the Great Library and stealing all of the knowledge within.
It was with great sorrow that Xerxes had made this decision, but he could not give any more advantages to Tokugawa. Before he transferred his government to the peninsula fortress of Antioch, he made sure that nothing worthwhile would remain in the capital for the Japanese to take. When Nobunaga's tanks finally broke through the Great Wall, they found only the the charred ruins of Persepolis and a gruesome pile of bloodstained ivory that had been left behind.
Not to be outdone, Yoritomo came in for the kill at Pasargadae. Even though the city was not on the coast, it was still within the range of the Japanese battleships which now reigned supreme on the high seas. And if that was not enough, a bomber squadron based on a carrier off the coast would rain destruction upon Pasargadae from the skies.
After the destruction of Pasargadae, only three Persian cities remained on the mainland. Yoritomo promised that he would soon reduce that number to two. Xerxes had nothing left to mount a counterattack, and Tokugawa was free to establish resource colonies with the captured Persian workers. Alexander the Great had caught on to the idea as well, and founded the city of Troy on former Persian lands.
Greece and Japan were still on friendly terms, and Tokugawa would not be distracted by his new visitors in Persia. Instead, he directed Yoritomo to continue the push toward Antioch, the new Persian capital. Bactra, which still stood in the way, was razed by the Japanese military.
In the south, there was still a Persian outpost at Tarsus, where Nobunaga would make a slight detour. The navy had come around the island now, stopping by Hannover for some repairs, and Tarsus was subjected to the same bombardment as Sidon and Pasargadae before it too was destroyed.
Some Persian marines still waged a guerilla war in the south, but Nobunaga was quick to mop them up. Tokugawa was so impressed by Nobunaga's performance that he promoted him to the rank of general, putting him on equal standing as Yoritomo.
Antioch, the last Persian city on the island, was now surrounded by the Japanese navy, which proceeded to bombard it round-the-clock. Some Persian artillery in the city attempted to return fire, but it was truly futile. I'm glad they've turned their attention to sea, thought Yoritomo. They won't sink any of our ships that way, and they won't hurt my advancing tanks either.
When Yoritomo's men finally caught up, the once thriving city of Antioch was but a battered shell of its former self. Xerxes had abandoned all hope of defending the city, and fled in his private jet to his last island outpost at Sardis.
At this point the matter became complicated. In their haste to wipe out mainland Persia, both Yoritomo and Nobunaga had neglected to bring along any transport boats to make the crossing to Sardis. All of their reinforcements had been airlifted to Nagasaki, but this could not be done anymore.
In addition, someone had finally begun supplying Xerxes with oil, as a lookout aboard one of the Japanese battleships noticed mechanized infantry defending the last Persian city. Tokugawa suspected that it was Alexander the Great who was secretly helping his enemy, but he still considered the Greeks to be his friends, and did not want to risk another confrontation. Perhaps Xerxes will live to see another day, he thought. But forever he shall be banished upon this island prison.
Meguri aite / Mishi ya sore to mo / Wakanu ma ni / Kumo-gakure ni shi / Yowa no tsuki kage
Meeting on the path / But I cannot clearly know / If it was he / Because the midnight moon / In a cloud had disappeared.
Lady Murasaki Shikibu (A.D. 973-1025)
How much bombardment does it take for Xerxes to realize he doesn't stand a chance? wondered Yoritomo as his troops approached Sidon. It wasn't just the artillery that he had captured from Hamadan, Gordium, and Arbela that was raining shells upon his next target. The Japanese navy had eliminated the rest of the Persian fleet by now, and with nothing left to do they bombarded the Persian coast from both sea and air, occasionally heading back to their base at Matsuyama to refuel.
Practically every building in Sidon had been destroyed by this time, and almost all of its citizens had either been drafted or killed in the bombardment. But it was Yoritomo's tanks and infantry, who slowly found their way through the narrow mountain passes, that would have to deal the final blow, and never a day went by where they were not harrassed by Persian marines and artillery. Many of Yoritomo's men had to turn back and recover before they could continue advancing any further, leaving him with a diminished force when Sidon was finally in range.
His calls to Kyoto for reinforcements were still unanswered, as nobody in the Kyosanto leadership believed that the invincible Japanese military could suffer defeat. Shogun Tokugawa had been emboldened by the success of the back-door attack on Babylon, and now he was planning an even more audacious invasion, under the command of Lieutenant Oda Nobunaga. This time the starting point would be Hannover, on the distant island in the southeast, and he ordered them to strike directly at the soft underbelly of Persia.
Nobunaga's arrival outside Susa took Xerxes wholly by surprise as he scrambled to rush reinforcements to the south by rail and air. But all of his efforts were too little and too late. Japanese tanks squashed the city flat, taking hundreds of thousands of prisoners.
Xerxes not only had failed to hold Susa, but the diversion of troops to the south finally eased the pressure on Yoritomo's forces in the north. The bombardment of Sidon had been kept up all this time, and even Catherine the Great landed some men nearby to get a good look at the action. The Russian Cossacks did not join in the attack, but their assistance would not be necessary.
By the time Yoritomo entered the city, there was nothing left but the blasted skeletons of the once marvelous Persian architecture and a harbor riddled with impact craters and littered with ordnance. Only a handful of Persian survivors remained.
But it would be Nobunaga, and not Yoritomo, who would get the grand prize of Persia. While two more cities and a mountain screen blocked Yoritomo from advancing further south to the Persian capital, Nobunaga was already there.
Home to five of the Great Wonders, at the time Persepolis was the most magnificent cultural city in the world, and it was Xerxes' proudest achievement to be master of them all. But when he could see the Japanese tanks from atop the Great Wall, he panicked. Rushing down the ramparts back into the city, Xerxes sought out the prophecy of the Oracle, only to find the obsolete building long since deserted. A lone caretaker reminded him that the priests had all moved over to JS Bach's Cathedral, but even there the only advice he received was to flee for his own safety.
"This cannot be!" he screamed. "How have we not yet kicked these worthless Japanese off the face of the earth?" It was true that Persian science was still the most advanced in the world, but not so much that they could control the heavens. Years of war had distracted Xerxes from building rockets and satellites, as dealing with the Japanese threat seemed far more pressing than any other of his plans.
Despite the fact that Persian scientists were the first to invent the automobile, they still had no oil supply to fuel them. It was on foot that Xerxes saw his scientists and engineers packing their bags and boxes full of books and equipment they salvaged from Newton's University and Leonardo's Workshop. They would not make the same mistake as Bismarck had before, allowing the Japanese into the Great Library and stealing all of the knowledge within.
It was with great sorrow that Xerxes had made this decision, but he could not give any more advantages to Tokugawa. Before he transferred his government to the peninsula fortress of Antioch, he made sure that nothing worthwhile would remain in the capital for the Japanese to take. When Nobunaga's tanks finally broke through the Great Wall, they found only the the charred ruins of Persepolis and a gruesome pile of bloodstained ivory that had been left behind.
Not to be outdone, Yoritomo came in for the kill at Pasargadae. Even though the city was not on the coast, it was still within the range of the Japanese battleships which now reigned supreme on the high seas. And if that was not enough, a bomber squadron based on a carrier off the coast would rain destruction upon Pasargadae from the skies.
After the destruction of Pasargadae, only three Persian cities remained on the mainland. Yoritomo promised that he would soon reduce that number to two. Xerxes had nothing left to mount a counterattack, and Tokugawa was free to establish resource colonies with the captured Persian workers. Alexander the Great had caught on to the idea as well, and founded the city of Troy on former Persian lands.
Greece and Japan were still on friendly terms, and Tokugawa would not be distracted by his new visitors in Persia. Instead, he directed Yoritomo to continue the push toward Antioch, the new Persian capital. Bactra, which still stood in the way, was razed by the Japanese military.
In the south, there was still a Persian outpost at Tarsus, where Nobunaga would make a slight detour. The navy had come around the island now, stopping by Hannover for some repairs, and Tarsus was subjected to the same bombardment as Sidon and Pasargadae before it too was destroyed.
Some Persian marines still waged a guerilla war in the south, but Nobunaga was quick to mop them up. Tokugawa was so impressed by Nobunaga's performance that he promoted him to the rank of general, putting him on equal standing as Yoritomo.
Antioch, the last Persian city on the island, was now surrounded by the Japanese navy, which proceeded to bombard it round-the-clock. Some Persian artillery in the city attempted to return fire, but it was truly futile. I'm glad they've turned their attention to sea, thought Yoritomo. They won't sink any of our ships that way, and they won't hurt my advancing tanks either.
When Yoritomo's men finally caught up, the once thriving city of Antioch was but a battered shell of its former self. Xerxes had abandoned all hope of defending the city, and fled in his private jet to his last island outpost at Sardis.
At this point the matter became complicated. In their haste to wipe out mainland Persia, both Yoritomo and Nobunaga had neglected to bring along any transport boats to make the crossing to Sardis. All of their reinforcements had been airlifted to Nagasaki, but this could not be done anymore.
In addition, someone had finally begun supplying Xerxes with oil, as a lookout aboard one of the Japanese battleships noticed mechanized infantry defending the last Persian city. Tokugawa suspected that it was Alexander the Great who was secretly helping his enemy, but he still considered the Greeks to be his friends, and did not want to risk another confrontation. Perhaps Xerxes will live to see another day, he thought. But forever he shall be banished upon this island prison.
... to be continued
conquer_dude
Imperial Slave
I cheer once again for Sima's unbelievable ability to KICK BUTT!!!
conquer_dude
Imperial Slave
Yeah, but rng can suck....
carmen510
Deity
Love dis! I think u will capture Sardis or that city to the right?
conquer_dude
Imperial Slave
Yay! Surpises! 
Sima Qian
太史令
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2006
- Messages
- 732
Chapter 19: Bonds of Sea and Fire
Kore ya kono / Yuku mo kaeru mo / Wakarete wa / Shiru mo shiranu mo / Osaka no seki
Truly, this is where / Travelers who go or come / Over parting ways / Friends or strangers--all must meet / The gate of Meeting Hill.
Semimaru (10th century A.D.)
While Minamoto no Yoritomo and Oda Nobunaga had been busy fighting the war, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had no fewer things to do than before. Friendship took work to maintain, and the cooperation of Alexander, Catherine, and Bismarck was no exception.
Once again the Greeks had pulled ahead in technology, and Hideyoshi sought to narrow the gap. He traveled to Athens, where Alexander proudly displayed upon his new computer his master plan for reducing pollution, leaving the Japanese diplomat in awe. "Incredible," said Hideyoshi. "For how much can we purchase these from you?"
"Are you sure?" responded the Greek leader. "These are the results of countless man-hours of research by my scientists! If you really want to learn more, be prepared to hand over the entire Japanese treasury."
It took quite a bit of haggling before Hideyoshi convinced him that it was within reason to let Japan keep a couple hundred gold around in case of an emergency. But in the end, it still seemed that Alexander was happy to make the deal, as never before had the Greeks seen so much money on the bargaining table.
Afterwards, Hideyoshi promptly went to Moscow, where Catherine the Great welcomed and entertained him. Russia, though arguably the largest and most powerful civilization in the world now, was still quite backwards in technology. They did, however, know of the secret of rocketry, which Hideyoshi did not hesitate to acquire through a trade.
Upon learning of this technology, Hideyoshi noticed that the Greeks claimed to have advanced a step further and developed rockets that could reach the outer reaches of space. He did not see any rocket launching sites in any of the cities of Greece, and Alexander refused to reveal the secret to him no matter what price he offered to pay, so he suspected it was probably a false claim after all.
But it was upon leaving his conference with Alexander that he spotted a few Greek scientists carefully running simulations of space flight on their portable computers. Curious, he greeted them and asked what exactly they were doing. The scientists seemed suspicious at first, but after questioning them a bit further Hideyoshi found out that they were remarkably underpaid, and he had little difficulty in bribing them to share their secrets.
Hideyoshi's return to Kyoto was overshadowed by the arrival of an entire transport boat filled with prisoners taken by Nobunaga from Susa and Persepolis. The destruction of those two cities left a large segment of Persia's population displaced and homeless, and few of them dared cross the front lines in search of their struggling comrades. In the previous years they had been confined to POW camps guarded by the Japanese infantry, but they ultimately had little purpose remaining in Persia.
"Let them come to Japan and solve our labor shortages," recommended the Kyosanto leaders. Little did they know that Japan actually had an increasing unemployment rate, and the native workers who had little to do instead decided they would rejoin the cities from which they had come. Tokugawa declared that all future improvements upon the land, as well as pollution cleanup, was to be performed by these Persian slaves instead.
But it would not be the Persians who would work on the next wonder of Kyoto. In celebration of the victories of Yoritomo and Nobunaga, the Japanese people had recorded their adventures in a heroic epic, a grand work of literature to be admired by all aspiring leaders for years to come.
And it was years later, after the destruction of Antioch and the eradication of Persian power on their home island, that Xerxes finally agreed to come to the negotiation table. Tokugawa sent Hideyoshi to hammer out a peace treaty, with specific orders to arrange one that favored Japan as much as possible. They met aboard a Japanese battleship anchored in Sardis harbor.
"Greetings, Hideyoshi," said the Persian leader as soon as he boarded. "Persia is willing to forgive you for the error of attacking our country. Will you agree to a peace treaty?"
"Do you realize," the Japanese diplomat responded coldly, "that we could crush you under our thumbs at this very moment? Make a better offer, or else that threat shall become reality."
Xerxes looked around but saw no tanks or infantry in sight, only the navy crewmen who kept the ship in order. "You must be joking," he said at last. "Persia does not fear you."
Hideyoshi motioned to the captain. "Show him that we are serious." The captain nodded, and proceeded to give the order for bombardment. When the shells struck Sardis, it destroyed the buildings that housed nearly half of its population.
"Okay, okay," said Xerxes. "We will offer you the secret of fission if you will leave us alone."
"Not quite enough." Hideyoshi gave the captain another thumbs up. The guns fired again, and when the smoke cleared this time, half of the mechanized infantry defending Sardis had been disabled.
"Fine then," said Xerxes indignantly. He produced a blueprint from his shirt pocket, which described in detail the method for constructing satellites that could orbit the planet and observe every inch of land and water in the world. "Will you take this?"
Hideyoshi snatched the blueprint and stuffed it in his briefcase. "You're getting closer," he said, "but we need more."
"I swear, that is all we have... OW!" In that split second Hideyoshi had grabbed his arm and pulled up his sleeve, revealing a gold watch on the Persian leader's wrist. Xerxes glared at him, sulking speechlessly.
"I'll take that," said Hideyoshi.
"No, no! That is a family heirloom, get your dirty fingers off it now! I'll give you the entire treasury of Persia if you do!"
"Ahh, that's much better." A crooked smile finally spread across Hideyoshi's face. "We can have peace on these terms. Now go."
And so the Treaty of Sardis brought an end to the war with Persia. Xerxes was left with just one city left, with absolutely no hope of achieving his dream of going to the stars. His beloved ivory tower, Newton's University in Persepolis, was now but a pile of dust upon the barren ground.
The treaty also spelled an end for the Kyosanto leadership, for that very year Tokugawa dismissed his entire cabinet, claiming that the age of communism was over at last. In 1794 AD, the Kokkai representatives reconvened after a hiatus of over two centuries, and the Japanese democracy came into being once again.
Though the war between Japan and Persia was over, it did not mean that Xerxes was off the hook. Catherine the Great had no objections to the Treaty of Sardis, but she still bore a personal grudge against the Persians. And she was determined to have them wiped out. We have lost our only ally in this war, thought the Czarina. It would be nice if we could get some additional help.
With Sardis in such a remote location far from Russia, there was only one possible country to which Catherine could turn. Two German cities, Stuttgart and Bonn, were right there on the same island as the Persian capital, and Otto von Bismarck was certainly no friend of Xerxes either. Catherine had little difficulty convincing him that destroying the Persians would be beneficial to both of them.
The Japanese battleship upon which the Treaty of Sardis was signed had scarcely left the harbor when its crew noticed huge formations of German Panzer tanks approaching the city. With a deafening roar, they ran right through the Persian defense force, leaving no survivors or prisoners in their path. The last thing the crewmen saw was a lone figure with curiously twisted hair and wearing a violet-blue suit leap into the water, never to surface again.
And so, in the year 1802 AD, the once mighty civilization of Persia disappeared into the obscure mists of history.
Kore ya kono / Yuku mo kaeru mo / Wakarete wa / Shiru mo shiranu mo / Osaka no seki
Truly, this is where / Travelers who go or come / Over parting ways / Friends or strangers--all must meet / The gate of Meeting Hill.
Semimaru (10th century A.D.)
While Minamoto no Yoritomo and Oda Nobunaga had been busy fighting the war, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had no fewer things to do than before. Friendship took work to maintain, and the cooperation of Alexander, Catherine, and Bismarck was no exception.
Once again the Greeks had pulled ahead in technology, and Hideyoshi sought to narrow the gap. He traveled to Athens, where Alexander proudly displayed upon his new computer his master plan for reducing pollution, leaving the Japanese diplomat in awe. "Incredible," said Hideyoshi. "For how much can we purchase these from you?"
"Are you sure?" responded the Greek leader. "These are the results of countless man-hours of research by my scientists! If you really want to learn more, be prepared to hand over the entire Japanese treasury."
It took quite a bit of haggling before Hideyoshi convinced him that it was within reason to let Japan keep a couple hundred gold around in case of an emergency. But in the end, it still seemed that Alexander was happy to make the deal, as never before had the Greeks seen so much money on the bargaining table.
Afterwards, Hideyoshi promptly went to Moscow, where Catherine the Great welcomed and entertained him. Russia, though arguably the largest and most powerful civilization in the world now, was still quite backwards in technology. They did, however, know of the secret of rocketry, which Hideyoshi did not hesitate to acquire through a trade.
Upon learning of this technology, Hideyoshi noticed that the Greeks claimed to have advanced a step further and developed rockets that could reach the outer reaches of space. He did not see any rocket launching sites in any of the cities of Greece, and Alexander refused to reveal the secret to him no matter what price he offered to pay, so he suspected it was probably a false claim after all.
But it was upon leaving his conference with Alexander that he spotted a few Greek scientists carefully running simulations of space flight on their portable computers. Curious, he greeted them and asked what exactly they were doing. The scientists seemed suspicious at first, but after questioning them a bit further Hideyoshi found out that they were remarkably underpaid, and he had little difficulty in bribing them to share their secrets.
Hideyoshi's return to Kyoto was overshadowed by the arrival of an entire transport boat filled with prisoners taken by Nobunaga from Susa and Persepolis. The destruction of those two cities left a large segment of Persia's population displaced and homeless, and few of them dared cross the front lines in search of their struggling comrades. In the previous years they had been confined to POW camps guarded by the Japanese infantry, but they ultimately had little purpose remaining in Persia.
"Let them come to Japan and solve our labor shortages," recommended the Kyosanto leaders. Little did they know that Japan actually had an increasing unemployment rate, and the native workers who had little to do instead decided they would rejoin the cities from which they had come. Tokugawa declared that all future improvements upon the land, as well as pollution cleanup, was to be performed by these Persian slaves instead.
But it would not be the Persians who would work on the next wonder of Kyoto. In celebration of the victories of Yoritomo and Nobunaga, the Japanese people had recorded their adventures in a heroic epic, a grand work of literature to be admired by all aspiring leaders for years to come.
And it was years later, after the destruction of Antioch and the eradication of Persian power on their home island, that Xerxes finally agreed to come to the negotiation table. Tokugawa sent Hideyoshi to hammer out a peace treaty, with specific orders to arrange one that favored Japan as much as possible. They met aboard a Japanese battleship anchored in Sardis harbor.
"Greetings, Hideyoshi," said the Persian leader as soon as he boarded. "Persia is willing to forgive you for the error of attacking our country. Will you agree to a peace treaty?"
"Do you realize," the Japanese diplomat responded coldly, "that we could crush you under our thumbs at this very moment? Make a better offer, or else that threat shall become reality."
Xerxes looked around but saw no tanks or infantry in sight, only the navy crewmen who kept the ship in order. "You must be joking," he said at last. "Persia does not fear you."
Hideyoshi motioned to the captain. "Show him that we are serious." The captain nodded, and proceeded to give the order for bombardment. When the shells struck Sardis, it destroyed the buildings that housed nearly half of its population.
"Okay, okay," said Xerxes. "We will offer you the secret of fission if you will leave us alone."
"Not quite enough." Hideyoshi gave the captain another thumbs up. The guns fired again, and when the smoke cleared this time, half of the mechanized infantry defending Sardis had been disabled.
"Fine then," said Xerxes indignantly. He produced a blueprint from his shirt pocket, which described in detail the method for constructing satellites that could orbit the planet and observe every inch of land and water in the world. "Will you take this?"
Hideyoshi snatched the blueprint and stuffed it in his briefcase. "You're getting closer," he said, "but we need more."
"I swear, that is all we have... OW!" In that split second Hideyoshi had grabbed his arm and pulled up his sleeve, revealing a gold watch on the Persian leader's wrist. Xerxes glared at him, sulking speechlessly.
"I'll take that," said Hideyoshi.
"No, no! That is a family heirloom, get your dirty fingers off it now! I'll give you the entire treasury of Persia if you do!"
"Ahh, that's much better." A crooked smile finally spread across Hideyoshi's face. "We can have peace on these terms. Now go."
And so the Treaty of Sardis brought an end to the war with Persia. Xerxes was left with just one city left, with absolutely no hope of achieving his dream of going to the stars. His beloved ivory tower, Newton's University in Persepolis, was now but a pile of dust upon the barren ground.
The treaty also spelled an end for the Kyosanto leadership, for that very year Tokugawa dismissed his entire cabinet, claiming that the age of communism was over at last. In 1794 AD, the Kokkai representatives reconvened after a hiatus of over two centuries, and the Japanese democracy came into being once again.
Though the war between Japan and Persia was over, it did not mean that Xerxes was off the hook. Catherine the Great had no objections to the Treaty of Sardis, but she still bore a personal grudge against the Persians. And she was determined to have them wiped out. We have lost our only ally in this war, thought the Czarina. It would be nice if we could get some additional help.
With Sardis in such a remote location far from Russia, there was only one possible country to which Catherine could turn. Two German cities, Stuttgart and Bonn, were right there on the same island as the Persian capital, and Otto von Bismarck was certainly no friend of Xerxes either. Catherine had little difficulty convincing him that destroying the Persians would be beneficial to both of them.
The Japanese battleship upon which the Treaty of Sardis was signed had scarcely left the harbor when its crew noticed huge formations of German Panzer tanks approaching the city. With a deafening roar, they ran right through the Persian defense force, leaving no survivors or prisoners in their path. The last thing the crewmen saw was a lone figure with curiously twisted hair and wearing a violet-blue suit leap into the water, never to surface again.
And so, in the year 1802 AD, the once mighty civilization of Persia disappeared into the obscure mists of history.
... to be continued
DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
Good going there.....
So, when are you going to build the Apollo Program? Now that you have sattlites, you can start working on some of the Alpha Centauri Colony ship parts.... Once you build the Apollo Program, that is.
Of course, when you picked all the scientific civs so that you'd be at a disadvantage, you still have one distinct advantage over all the remaining AI; you can change governments at will, with no more than 3 turns of anarchy, while they'll have to deal with at least 6 or more (that's one of the reasons I like religious civs.... that and their cut-rate hapiness improvements/cheap culture...a.k.a. temples and churches).
So, when are you going to build the Apollo Program? Now that you have sattlites, you can start working on some of the Alpha Centauri Colony ship parts.... Once you build the Apollo Program, that is.
Of course, when you picked all the scientific civs so that you'd be at a disadvantage, you still have one distinct advantage over all the remaining AI; you can change governments at will, with no more than 3 turns of anarchy, while they'll have to deal with at least 6 or more (that's one of the reasons I like religious civs.... that and their cut-rate hapiness improvements/cheap culture...a.k.a. temples and churches).
Sima Qian
太史令
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2006
- Messages
- 732
Hikaro Takayama said:
I think I'll let this new map answer your questions. It is dated 1802 AD, right before I hit "end turn" and watched the Persians get wiped off the face of the earth.
A few things to note:
- A whole bunch of poaching land has happened. Germany has been stealing tiles that formerly belonged to Babylon, and Greece has been doing the same in what used to be Persia.
- I've stuck a bunch of useless colonies in Persia with some captured slaves I was too lazy to transport back to Japan. There's no need for 5 ivory colonies, except maybe to have some extra lying around when the others get poached.
- You probably can't see it in the map, but there is uranium within my borders on a mountain by Sapporo. A worker is building a road on that tile right now.
- Greece has no aluminum, so they can't built Apollo Program. There's one source sitting under the tank on the plains outside Ellipi, and I don't plan on abusing my RoP with them once Ellipi gets cultural expansion. I'll move out my tank so that they can get the aluminum if that ever happens.
- Germany still has no coal. I have one extra, but since the variant rules say I have permanent trade embargo with every civ, I'm not going to give them any. Let's see how well they do with no railroads.
- Samaria culture-flipped from Greece to Germany. Not surprising, really.
- I'm making a last-minute science run to pull ahead of the rest of the AI. I didn't build my first library until modern age, and that wasn't until the city got a solar plant too. Now I'm getting universities and research labs put up in around 5 turns each in my core cities.
- Apollo Program completes in Kyoto next turn
Hikaro Takayama said:
That's the main reason why I picked Japan for this variant game. I figured I'd have to alternate frequently between building and warring for resources, so the religious trait would come in very handy. Plus, having no luxes on the home island means temples and cathedrals will be so much more important. Militaristic, of course, is a no-brainer for having to fight tons of wars.
It's also why I'm glad that Babylon got eliminated first, as they could have gotten quite deadly later on with their religious trait. But now I'm a lot more afraid of Greece, because scientific/commercial is probably the strongest trait combo for space race. And they've made a big comeback ever since getting the short end of the stick during early expansion.
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
Great!
Good luck!
Good luck!
Sima Qian said:
Maybe you should pillage the road there before the culture of Greece absorbs it. That wouldn't be abusing the RoP and would slow them getting use of it, slightly.
conquer_dude
Imperial Slave
Awesome story I must say!
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
Update?
conquer_dude
Imperial Slave
Cool! You get to go on a vacation buisness trip!?
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
No problem, we can wait, we just wanted to be sure you didn't forget about this story.
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