MissAthena
Chieftain
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2006
- Messages
- 68
no reason to wait for me 
, don't want to hold up the show. 
, don't want to hold up the show. 
BirdNES: 1500 AD: A New World
- Thread starter Birdjaguar
- Start date
I will update tonight. The map is almost done. And then I will need to clean up a few update loose ends and then take a much needed break until Swiss has convulsions.
Do not post. I do not know yet how many posts this will take. I hope to get the first update post by 10:00 my time.
Update 9 1540-1544
The Wages of Sin
January 1540 was mild by typical Augsburg standards, the city as buttoned up tight most nights. One evening, after dark, and towards the end of the month, a knock came on the gate of the Verner compound. Rupert the head of the household servants bundled himself in a great coat and hurried out the gate. Beyond the bearded face opposite him in the peep hole he could see torches and gleaming steel. Rupert acquiesced when they demanded he open the gate. He stoutly argued that his master was not at home and no one could be admitted into the offices after dark. The soldiers laughed and pushed him aside and entered anyway. Others spread out into the warehouses and workshops that made up the House of Verner in Augsburg. It was a largish compound of several acres. Two more servants were dragged out into the cold and huddled next to Rupert as the armed men searched the grounds. The more they searched the less they found and more frustrated they became. Soon the looking become wrecking and looting the personal possessions and pantries. Within an hour 30 drunken soldiers staggered about collecting whatever they could and poking their fingers into Rupert’s chest demanding to know where Pietro Verner and his old man were hiding, and his wife too, especially his young and beautiful wife. He didn’t know and begged them to stop their pillaging for surely the master would return next Tuesday from a trip to Munich. Sometime after midnight the fire started. The soldiers merely stood back and enjoyed the warmth; by the time the neighborhood woke to the clamor, it was far too large to put out, so they just worked to protect their own buildings from sparks and embers. By dawn all that remained was a stone arch over the gate that read “House of Verner—Augsburg” and the blackened shell of the house whose walls were stone.
If nothing else, the Bavarians were thorough in their search for Pietro Verner and his wealth. It was clear that Pietro had expected something and had emptied out his warehouses in Augsburg and Munich as well as his holdings with the local money merchants. Rupert had slipped away in the confusion of the fire, but the other two had not and by morning had been beaten and brutalized beyond any usefulness. The roads in and out of Bavaria were closed to anything that could be identified as belonging to the House of Verner and the attack and attempted seizure of his goods was all the talk of Augsburg for many months.
In contrast, the king’s men sought to raise money from the other leading merchant families of Bavaria by offering to sell them printing presses to woo their loyalty. Few if any were interested. Printing could be bought in almost any town and all were a bit nervous about giving this king any money beyond taxes. If he would strike out at the glorious and rich House of Verner, they feared for their own lives and business. Quietly over the coming months most reduced their stock of goods kept locally as low as they could and arranged hiding places and paths of escape should they be needed. A few sent messages to Pietro to keep him well informed of the king’s doings.
The first word of the king’s plan to confiscate the holdings of the House of Verner came to Pietro in early January through a nephew of one of his accountants, a nephew that worked in the palace in Munich as a server at the king’s table. Conformation came through other channels. Pietero, Mathilda and child, and old Nicholas, along with all the money, papers and best wine were well away a week before the house was set under watch. Rupert and the two remaining servants made the house seem occupied and workers came and went as usual. “No, master Pietro was not available today, but was expected to be free from pressing correspondence by tomorrow.” Was most frequently heard by those who came calling. Like Pietro and his family the goods too made their way out of Augsburg.
The Great Silk Road
The first to hear were traders in eastern Turkey. The Safavid Persians were building a great road all across their land from the Black Sea to the borders of the Mughal Empire itself. From there, if the stories were true, the road would cross the headwaters of the Indus river and then turn north across the Pamir and Kun Lun Mountains before descending into the Tarim Basin for connection to China. The exact route through Tibet was yet to be determined. China expressed supported the plan. And while completion was many years away, the work was begun. In the past caravans had made their way from the western reaches of China to the Mediterranean ports along whatever track and trail was best at the time. In this modern era, the road would be paved with stone and protected from marauding bands by soldiers. Asian goods would only be months away from buyers throughout the eastern fringes of Europe.
Captain’s Log: Star date February 25, 1540
In the hand of Andrea Doria:
Our small flotilla, lead by my flagship, the Bella Margherita, rode the ebbing tide onto the dark waters of the Mediterranean that would take us from Genoa, through the Pillars of Hercules to the full swells of the great ocean and thence to ends of the earth. 300 men on six ships make up our expedition.
April 19, 1540 In good spirits six ships crossed the equator with fair, following winds on a course for Ft. Doria on the east coast of Vespuccica. With relief and gratitude to God we made landfall on April 30. Our citizens of Ft. Doria rejoiced at our weeklong stay that was filled with news and stories. Repairs were made to the Isabella and we took on fresh water and meat. Departed May 8th.
June 14 Spent a week exploring a large unmapped bay. It is not the way west as we had hoped, but the mouth of a great river. There is much fertile land and we hunted strange animals to eat. Diego, who is from Spain, named it the Rio de la Plata.
August 21 crossed Latitude 50 south and the weather has turned cold. The Isabella continues to have trouble and is taking on water. We will leave her behind and sail on. She will return to the Rio de la Plata and make repairs sufficient to get her back to Ft. Doria.
September 29 Deep salt water straits to the west may provide shelter from increasingly rough waters and terrible winds. We are hopeful.
October 6 these frigid straits are a maze of mountainous islands and dangerous passages. We often split up as we seek a way west. The weather is bitter.
October 19 We are making slow progress after much backtracking. The Maria Luisa ripped her keel out on the 15th as she maneuvered in heavy seas. 16 of her crew saved themselves; the rest are lost. We are four ships now.
November 2, All Souls Day, 34 days and 373 miles after leaving the Atlantic, the horrid Straits of Diablo are behind us and a great sea spreads everywhere to the west. 212 beleaguered souls give thanks for our success so far. We will follow the coast north in search of shelter from the biting cold.
“Master, I threw the pebble into the pond as you asked, and now I don’t have it nor can I see where it went.”
“That is true, but watch: The tiny splash that hides your pebble is covering the entire pond with its ripples. It is a mighty display for one so tiny is it not?”
Hans Glintner pulled his cloak over his face as the parade of Catholic dignitaries passed by. He even caught a glimpse of the Pope himself. “Sorry bastard,” he thought to himself as he clutched the rock a bit tighter, but did not throw it. His orders were to listen, not cause trouble. He followed the papal delegation into Augsburg. The city was filled with the faithful of all faiths: Catholics, popish Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Hussites, Calvinists, Zwinglians, Anabaptists and others less well known. Debate was everywhere and on every tongue. Few were settled and some only with fisticuffs.
The arrival of the Pope brought a tide of Catholics to the streets and meeting halls and university lecture halls. Glintner cared little for the discussion, but he was careful listener. So far he had heard all the notable Protestants and a few archbishops rant and rave theological arguments for their side and irreverent dismissal of the opposition. Every side of every position was clamored on every street corner. He was quite tired of it all. But he would listen to the Pope. The old man had hoped for a face-to-face meeting with Luther and the other leading advocates of a complete split from Rome. They refused to be in the same room as the Pope and sent their underlings to rebut his Catholic homilies of peace and unity and the mother church. The Pope’s pleas for sanity in war torn Germany fell on deaf ears. Even the Pope’s willingness to change his church were dismissed as too little too late for an institution that had lost it ways many years before. There was no fix for something that was fundamentally wrong. It was time to start over; rebuild Christianity as God wanted. Protestantism in all its diversity was the true path of Christianity and as it grew, Rome would wither and die.
Rome and her puppet kings were blamed for the wars that had impoverished much of the Empire and inflicted devastation and hunger where there had once been prosperity. Yes, that was what Hans wanted to hear. He noted those malcontents who talked less theology and more the oppression of Protestants by Catholic kings. Nervously he jingled the gold in his pockets. For a month the debates raged and counter raged and the Pope’s quiet faith in the goodness of people appeared weak and wanting in the enthusiasm of fresh faith in a changing world. When word of armies and preparation for war leaked from castle courts and encampments, fear replaced faith and most departed Augsburg for home or other less obvious place. The Pope was among the last to leave and soon after that Hans Glintner also rode quietly out of town headed toward Lorraine. He had work to do, fear to spread and fires to light. War was coming again and this time his master looked for an edge, a way to bend the coming conflict more to his liking. Without the yoke of Rome a Protestant noble like him would have a chance for greatness and perhaps carve out small principality along the Rhine. Hans knew his job was to give the catholic faithful of Lorraine a little nudge and show them their place in the new ordering of the world. Catholic Protestant he didn’t really care the pay was very good.
Portuguese African Adventures
Ruy da Costa was in charge of the explorations of southern Africa. The king himself had issued orders to secure all of the land possible so that Portugal would have no European rivals in Africa. He would be based in Cape Diogo and had 20 divisions and plenty of ships. He was excited. This would be his first trip, but he felt that his success in North Africa had prepared him well. His expedition sailed south with another group set to explore the upper reaches of the Congo basin.
Cape Diogo was a miserable hellhole: hot bug infested, humid to the point of despair and populated by savages the likes of which Ruy had never seen or even expected to see, ever. He hoped he would not be here long. But the bad news was not long in coming. There had been no word form the trading post in the interior for too many weeks and concern grew. An expedition had been sent to investigate and when they returned just after Ruy’s arrival, they reported to him. Disease had decimated the Europeans up river and few were left. The natives had “gone native” again and all traffic down river had stopped. There was fear that the reports brought the disease with them and the uneasiness was felt throughout the small community. The native troops seemed quite immune.
Ruy da Costa left as quickly as he could. Each band of 5 divisions had about 1200 miles of coast to explore and claim for mother Portugal. The first group headed south along the coast from Cape Diogo; Ruy took his little flotilla on south ahead of the intrepid explorers. He would stop to find them on his way back. With good winds they reached the proper latitude for the second group. Ruy was dismayed. He had never seen such an inhospitable place. It appeared worse than the Sahara. The desert ran for miles up and down the coast. He suggested that the soldiers make their way inland and when they found friendlier terrain they then turn south. A large cairn was built upon the beach to mark their beginning and the rendezvous for the group heading south.
As they approached the Bijapur trading post at the very foot of Africa the land improved and the third group disembarked. Their 1200 miles would take them past the trading post and far up the eastern coast. The last group was dropped off south of the large Bijapur settlement at the mouth of the Zambezi River. They would march north to reach existing Portuguese holdings. da Costa then sailed to
Zanzibar for refit and re-supply. Six months after leaving Cape Diogo, Ruy da Costa left Zanzibar on his return to the Congo. He hoped to make contact with each of his little expeditions and provide tem with news and essentials. Despite his best efforts he saw no sign of any of his groups of soldiers. Each year thereafter, he would sail the coast looking for his men.
In 1544 Ruy da Costa left Zanzibar for the last time. This rounding of the “foot” would take him back to Lisbon and the king. He had news of the Indian Ocean to report. Ayutthaya had relented in their blockade of Portuguese in Indonesia and the new Chinese colony on Sumatra was well positioned for the two nations to meet. More disappointing was Zanzibar. Most of Madagascar was now under Portuguese control, but as the new port facilities and trading center was readied there and at Mogadishu on the Somali coast, the merchants in Zanzibar raised a ruckus about how the new TCs would steal all their business. There was too little business to go around now and times were tough. If that happened, then they would be forced to leave, relegating the island to an obscure post along the West African coast. Ruy wondered just how much many major ports could be sustained. Well, it was for others to decide where the goods would flow.
Of his own expeditions there was little to report. The last group dropped off south of the Zambezi had failed to make it back to the coast from their far inland detour around the Bijapur colony. Word in the colony was that they had perished fighting the fierce tribes of the interior, but no one knew for sure. The group traversing the foot of Africa had shown up at their rendezvous in 1543 (3 divisions) after crossing endless miles of empty savannah. They had pretty good maps of the region. None of the soldiers, however, had any interest in going back to that wasteland ever again once they were on board the ships. Of the two other expeditions no trace was ever found. Whether it was the formidable deserts, deadly disease, lack of supplies or troublesome natives, no one knew what happened to them. But as Ruy sailed north along the coast after rounding the foot, he noticed a new trading post at the mouth of a large river (OTL Orange). When they stopped to replenish water supplies, they met the Kalmar traders and explorers who were settling there.
Further up the coast in a land now designated as Angola Ruy discovered another trading post. This time it was Portuguese. Rather than risk travel up the disease ridden Congo River, his explorers had set their trading post on the last bit of fertile coast before the great desert of southwest Africa. The trip to Lisbon involved a stop over in the Cape Verde Islands which when he arrived in mid 1544 was in rebellion. Islamic insurgents were demanding rule by Muslim leaders. The local magistrate had his hands full and was negotiating with representatives of the King of Mali who had offered their assistance since they were Muslim. Askia Musa was prepared to remove the Portuguese inhabitants to the Congo for safety. The distraught magistrate only needed to work out the final details of the transfer to safety. Ruy da Costa would have none of it. He sent the Mali officials packing back to the coast and promptly landed his 3 divisions. Within a week he had rounded up the dissenters and had brought their leaders (who apparently came from Egypt) in for interrogation. He was not gentle. The longer he was delayed here, the longer it would be before he reached Lisbon and civilization, which he dearly missed. By September he was back at sea sailing north, but in addition to his reports on the exploration in southern Africa he had a new bit of information that would surly interest the King.
In the weeks following his return to Lisbon Ruy learned of the fate of other Portuguese efforts across the world. The Islamic scum who lived around Algiers had rebelled against the King and set up a small independent state under one Yahya ibn Ibrahim and called themselves the Marinid. Maybe the king would send him to take these pitiful usurpers to task with fire and steel. The news was better from Vespuccica where two new trading posts were established.
Outcomes:
+ TP Portugal SW Africa
+ TC Mogadishu Portugal: Too many Portuguese TCs in the Indian Ocean region; only room for one more ATM.
+ Islamic Rebellion crushed in Cape Verde Islands
Mali
Askia Musa received his emissaries just back from the Cape Verde islands without emotion. The insurrection had been put down, by unexpected Portuguese troops and all was well there again. He could return to his own wars, wars that grown more difficult with each year. Casualties were up and territory gains down. And the stubborn tribes he was trying to subdue had brought the war to his lands. Fields were burned, wells poisoned, river traffic attacked. But the worst was that his new enemy was better organized and better prepared to defend themselves. Either he had underestimated them or maybe they were getting help? He wondered. Where in the past, he had pillaged and enslaved his neighbors to bring them to submission and build his slave trade, now his neighbors were raiding his lands, raping then killing the women, maiming the men so they could neither work nor fight and carrying off the children to unknown horrors. His people were even now abandoning fertile lands on his borders and fleeing to safer towns and cities.
Outcomes:
-1 Economy war
-1 Civilian Leadership
-12 divisions
Ruy da Costa was in charge of the explorations of southern Africa. The king himself had issued orders to secure all of the land possible so that Portugal would have no European rivals in Africa. He would be based in Cape Diogo and had 20 divisions and plenty of ships. He was excited. This would be his first trip, but he felt that his success in North Africa had prepared him well. His expedition sailed south with another group set to explore the upper reaches of the Congo basin.
Cape Diogo was a miserable hellhole: hot bug infested, humid to the point of despair and populated by savages the likes of which Ruy had never seen or even expected to see, ever. He hoped he would not be here long. But the bad news was not long in coming. There had been no word form the trading post in the interior for too many weeks and concern grew. An expedition had been sent to investigate and when they returned just after Ruy’s arrival, they reported to him. Disease had decimated the Europeans up river and few were left. The natives had “gone native” again and all traffic down river had stopped. There was fear that the reports brought the disease with them and the uneasiness was felt throughout the small community. The native troops seemed quite immune.
Ruy da Costa left as quickly as he could. Each band of 5 divisions had about 1200 miles of coast to explore and claim for mother Portugal. The first group headed south along the coast from Cape Diogo; Ruy took his little flotilla on south ahead of the intrepid explorers. He would stop to find them on his way back. With good winds they reached the proper latitude for the second group. Ruy was dismayed. He had never seen such an inhospitable place. It appeared worse than the Sahara. The desert ran for miles up and down the coast. He suggested that the soldiers make their way inland and when they found friendlier terrain they then turn south. A large cairn was built upon the beach to mark their beginning and the rendezvous for the group heading south.
As they approached the Bijapur trading post at the very foot of Africa the land improved and the third group disembarked. Their 1200 miles would take them past the trading post and far up the eastern coast. The last group was dropped off south of the large Bijapur settlement at the mouth of the Zambezi River. They would march north to reach existing Portuguese holdings. da Costa then sailed to
Zanzibar for refit and re-supply. Six months after leaving Cape Diogo, Ruy da Costa left Zanzibar on his return to the Congo. He hoped to make contact with each of his little expeditions and provide tem with news and essentials. Despite his best efforts he saw no sign of any of his groups of soldiers. Each year thereafter, he would sail the coast looking for his men.
In 1544 Ruy da Costa left Zanzibar for the last time. This rounding of the “foot” would take him back to Lisbon and the king. He had news of the Indian Ocean to report. Ayutthaya had relented in their blockade of Portuguese in Indonesia and the new Chinese colony on Sumatra was well positioned for the two nations to meet. More disappointing was Zanzibar. Most of Madagascar was now under Portuguese control, but as the new port facilities and trading center was readied there and at Mogadishu on the Somali coast, the merchants in Zanzibar raised a ruckus about how the new TCs would steal all their business. There was too little business to go around now and times were tough. If that happened, then they would be forced to leave, relegating the island to an obscure post along the West African coast. Ruy wondered just how much many major ports could be sustained. Well, it was for others to decide where the goods would flow.
Of his own expeditions there was little to report. The last group dropped off south of the Zambezi had failed to make it back to the coast from their far inland detour around the Bijapur colony. Word in the colony was that they had perished fighting the fierce tribes of the interior, but no one knew for sure. The group traversing the foot of Africa had shown up at their rendezvous in 1543 (3 divisions) after crossing endless miles of empty savannah. They had pretty good maps of the region. None of the soldiers, however, had any interest in going back to that wasteland ever again once they were on board the ships. Of the two other expeditions no trace was ever found. Whether it was the formidable deserts, deadly disease, lack of supplies or troublesome natives, no one knew what happened to them. But as Ruy sailed north along the coast after rounding the foot, he noticed a new trading post at the mouth of a large river (OTL Orange). When they stopped to replenish water supplies, they met the Kalmar traders and explorers who were settling there.
Further up the coast in a land now designated as Angola Ruy discovered another trading post. This time it was Portuguese. Rather than risk travel up the disease ridden Congo River, his explorers had set their trading post on the last bit of fertile coast before the great desert of southwest Africa. The trip to Lisbon involved a stop over in the Cape Verde Islands which when he arrived in mid 1544 was in rebellion. Islamic insurgents were demanding rule by Muslim leaders. The local magistrate had his hands full and was negotiating with representatives of the King of Mali who had offered their assistance since they were Muslim. Askia Musa was prepared to remove the Portuguese inhabitants to the Congo for safety. The distraught magistrate only needed to work out the final details of the transfer to safety. Ruy da Costa would have none of it. He sent the Mali officials packing back to the coast and promptly landed his 3 divisions. Within a week he had rounded up the dissenters and had brought their leaders (who apparently came from Egypt) in for interrogation. He was not gentle. The longer he was delayed here, the longer it would be before he reached Lisbon and civilization, which he dearly missed. By September he was back at sea sailing north, but in addition to his reports on the exploration in southern Africa he had a new bit of information that would surly interest the King.
In the weeks following his return to Lisbon Ruy learned of the fate of other Portuguese efforts across the world. The Islamic scum who lived around Algiers had rebelled against the King and set up a small independent state under one Yahya ibn Ibrahim and called themselves the Marinid. Maybe the king would send him to take these pitiful usurpers to task with fire and steel. The news was better from Vespuccica where two new trading posts were established.
Outcomes:
+ TP Portugal SW Africa
+ TC Mogadishu Portugal: Too many Portuguese TCs in the Indian Ocean region; only room for one more ATM.
+ Islamic Rebellion crushed in Cape Verde Islands
Mali
Askia Musa received his emissaries just back from the Cape Verde islands without emotion. The insurrection had been put down, by unexpected Portuguese troops and all was well there again. He could return to his own wars, wars that grown more difficult with each year. Casualties were up and territory gains down. And the stubborn tribes he was trying to subdue had brought the war to his lands. Fields were burned, wells poisoned, river traffic attacked. But the worst was that his new enemy was better organized and better prepared to defend themselves. Either he had underestimated them or maybe they were getting help? He wondered. Where in the past, he had pillaged and enslaved his neighbors to bring them to submission and build his slave trade, now his neighbors were raiding his lands, raping then killing the women, maiming the men so they could neither work nor fight and carrying off the children to unknown horrors. His people were even now abandoning fertile lands on his borders and fleeing to safer towns and cities.
Outcomes:
-1 Economy war
-1 Civilian Leadership
-12 divisions
House of Verner Revisited
From his new headquarters outside of Berlin, Pietro dealt in goods from Asia, India and the Mexica, among others. But he also dealt in information which was the life blood of his trading business. He had to know what was available what was in demand and who might be an interested buyer. He also had to know how safe it was to move his goods across the world. He hand a nose for trouble and could sense (or at least his agents could sense) when events would work against trade. Kalmar was on the edge of greatness in 1540. Two new trading posts were being planned in America and another in Africa, New Sweden was growing and new maps and charts of unknown lands were being negotiated for by the King. It all looked rosy. But then there was the talk of war and gold and secret meetings with those who he knew to be from Bavaria. Would Kalmar attack Brandenburg? It certainly appeared that way. The cautious uncertainty broke differently though. Money and gold were involved, but they did not go to the King of Kalmar nor did they come from Bavaria. If the rumors were true the money came from a Scot and went to one Gustav Vasa a pretender to the throne of Sweden. With it he rousted Swedish nobles into a full blown plan to establish an independent nation with its capital at Stockholm and an army to boot. The independence movement was very strong and was not anti-Kalmar, just pro Sweden. The King of Kalmar quickly raised 8 to throw against the upstarts, but his treasury was drained and his initial success could not be exploited and as the year turned 1544 he was stalemated with the pretender King of Sweden who made no moves against his former Lord.
+ TP Manhatten Kalmar 1540
+ TP Gustavia Kalmar 1542
+ TP SW Africa Kalmar 1542
+ Colonists to New Sweden 1543
+ VoD WCA (west coast of Africa)
+10 Sqds Kalmar (needed for overseas expansion)
+Sweden as a nation [played by MissAthena]
Expeditions and Colonial Expansion
Genoa sends colonists to Mollea (Jamaica)
Genoa sends colonists to Ft Doria on the coast of Rossoa (Brazil)
+ TP Genoa on Nova Sanremo (Bermuda) fails: lack of trading resources and potential
+ TP Portugal in Rossoa (Brazil)
+ TP Portugal Eastern Genozuela
+WCA VoD Spain
+TP in Naitzhouyu (Australia) Ayutthaya
+RC (Angkor Wat) Ayutthaya
+Colony in Sumatra Ming China
Captain’s Log Star Date December 25, 1540
Christmas Day 1540 The winds are calm and we are warm. Father Julian moves from ship to ship to celebrate mass. Native fishing boats have followed us for some days. Communicating is difficult, but we know these people call themselves the “Inka” and they point us further up the coast. Along the shore people gather to watch us pass. We will need water soon and will have to stop; we will be wary.
King’s Day 1541 A small Inkan town is our first trip ashore since early November. The people are friendly and inquisitive. They are dark and well dressed in cotton and brightly colored wool that is very soft. We see no signs of metal. Our daggers intrigue them and we trade several for fresh water, fruits we have never seen before and meat of some unknown species of animal. It is quite delicious. The headman of the village wants us to stay. We will have none of it and after restocking our supplies we again put to sea.
Jan 22 1541 We again cross the equator. South to north this time.
March 10 We stop to re-supply and to our surprise are greeted in a language we have heard before. We have reached the backside of the land of the Aztecs. We have traveled far to be only be a few days march from known waters. The lands of Vespuccica and the Mexica are vast indeed.
May 12 Two months we have spent in the pleasant company of our Aztec friends. We have cleaned and scraped our ships and indulged ourselves on native food including a bitter, brown drink that is almost as stimulating as wine. It is made from small beans and is highly prized. Many high officials of the Mexica have come to call in our sojourn here, but Moctezuma has been detained by war with his neighbor to the north. The open sea to our west calls, but we stay with the coast and follow it north. Seven crew desert our voyage for the uncertain pleasures of the Aztec lands.
June 6 A giant storm the likes of which we have never seen forces us to seek shelter along a dry and barren coast. God be praised we are all safe.
August 25 After many days of dry headlands and few people, we come upon shores filled with giant trees the size of which is unimaginable. Such trees would be suitable for God’s ship alone they are so majestic. Our shore parties cannot join hands and reach around these giants. The wood from one tree would build a city they are so large.
Oct 12 Forest and even more forests of tall trees line the shore and stretch inland to mountains of unknown heights. The weather is growing colder by the day and today we cross Latitude 50 North. We cannot bear another cruel winter in the high latitudes. And I order our weakening ships and threadbare crews to turn south and seek the warmer climes and kind gestures of our Aztec friends.
Jan 1 1542 We leave the safe harbor of the Mexica for a second time and sail for home. Our ships are frail and our spirits weakened by two years at sea. We have new maps and tales of danger and adventure. I would venture that to sail the coast as we did has cost us the Indies and Cathay. Perhaps they are just there beyond the horizon half a week’s sail away. Others will have to find that out. We sail for Genoa.
Mar 22 The cursed Straits of Diablo lie before us.
April 10 We are happily back upon the waters of the Atlantic and approaching the Rio de la Plata once again. The “Proserpina Blanca” was lost with all hands two nights ago. Rough seas scattered us and in our search we found a spar and two chests adrift. All wept.
August 15 We raise Gibraltar!
September 3, 1542 Three ships and 112 crew make port at Genoa.
Mediterranean Wars
February 1541 Nino Doria invades Corsica. The Corsican navy (read: pirates) successfully fends off all Genoan attempts to blockade key ports. This slows down the land war which drags on until the summer of 1543 when the last strongholds of resistance collapse under the ruthless troops of general Doria.
The French made elaborate plans to recapture Naples and retain Milan. Andre Belogodere trained his armies while Admiral d’Arnot trained additional land and naval forces for the campaign scheduled for 1542. It was to be a two pronged attack; by land from Calabria and by sea with a quick follow-up attack on Venice city itself. Somebody, though, forgot to tell the Venetians that a war was coming. The forts were quiet and failed to fire upon the approaching fleet. The gates were open and the small garrison slipped out of the city to the north. The previously imprisoned French nobles were found drinking wine in the piazza. Naples was theirs without a shot. No rape, no pillage, no plunder. The war on Corsica made d”Arnot a bit nervous about possible Genoese aggression and since Naples had fallen without a fight he called off his attack up the Adriatic. There would be no drawing of Venetians troops away from home. Victory was his. In the North Belogodere waited again for an attack that never came. Tuscany, as usual, was fully armed and the borders of Venice well guarded, but quiet.
Venice was busy elsewhere…
The war in Greece resumed early in 1540. The Ottoman forces in the north threatened to move south and attack Athens, but in the end they just threatened. No serious attack ever developed. The real attack came from the south at Sparta while the Turkish fleet patrolled with impunity as they blockaded all major Greek ports including Athens. The total lack of a Greek navy provided little recourse for Basil and and his generals but to tough it out. Sparta fell in June and the Turks regrouped for the eventual attack on Corinth. It was in this lull that Venice made her appearance. The Venetian fleet slipped through a thin blockade of Attica and they landed 5 divisions not 10 miles from Athens. The Doge’s general marched up to the city and announced that he was there to aid the Greeks in there defense of the city and awaited orders from the King. For two day the leaders for both sides were in closed discussions. When they emerged, they had a plan for the war. The plan was interrupted by an assassination attempt on the king. An overzealous cook tipped his hand when he insisted on serving the king personally rather than use the court pages as was Basil’s tradition. When searched, the deadly poison was found and the cook’s head was later found on a spike over the city gate.
The reinforced Greek army themselves threatened to move north and then shifted troops south and caught the Ottoman army by surprise upsetting their planned assault on Corinth. Meanwhile…
The Venetian fleet arrived off the Dardanelles in late July and found it lightly guarded. They bullied their way through and soon were insight of the great city of Constantinople. They landed 22 divisions west of the city and made preparations for siege. The city was unprepared, but not undefended. In fact it was very well defended. In the 80 years since it fell to the Turks, the massive walls had been repaired and cannon mounted on them. Its garrison was well stocked and sufficient to make any attack very difficult and costly. The Sultan was not amused and messengers flew in all directions.
The first signs of Ottoman response came within a few weeks. War galleys began to collect in the Dardanelles, having been withdrawn from Greek waters; they were filled with troops. In Adrianople to the northwest of the besieged Constantinople divisions from the west were assembling. For the Venetians it was getting close to decision time. A failed assault on the city would leave the remainder of the army very vulnerable to attack by the gathering Turks. Or they could try to break out over land to Greece or by sea through the Dardanelles. The plan was to attack and then to escape by sea. The great western wall of Theodosius was over six miles long and it was the Adrianople Gate that was selected for assault. The shortage of large siege cannon had slowed the ongoing efforts to breach the walls, but the cannon they had would now be concentrated. The first assault started before dawn and hundreds of ladders were laid against the crumbling walls. Many were pushed back, but not all. By daylight the gate was taken, not that it could be readily used, but a foot hold on the walls was secure. The second assault spilled over into the edges of the city. Victory seemed at hand. From the captured battlements Paulo Bernini held the Venetian banner high and took in the grand view of the city and its harbors. In the east the rounded dome of the Hagia Sophia was breathtaking to behold. To his right lay the calm waters of the Golden Horn once filled with the ships of all nations; now empty. To this left the Sea of Mamara and the Venetian fleet in grand array. In the fresh light of dawn they were beginning to fire their cannon into the city and drive the failing defenders away from the walls. He was proud and they had taken a bold chance and won. The city would be theirs.
It was at that moment of greatest joy that Paulo saw what was beyond the Venetian ships and paled in fear. Out of the rising sun came the Turkish fleet in full battle order and ramming speed. Transfixed, he watched the Ottoman guns open fire then crash full speed into the rapidly disorganizing Christian line. In an hour their connection, their lifeline their transport home was gone. The conquerors were now besieged. And the news spread quickly. Quickly enough to slow then stop the assault on the inner wall of Constantine even as it fell.
Constantinople was Christian for six weeks. That was how long it took the Sultan to bring his troops home and gather new levies. And he brought cannon. Surrender was negotiated: Life was granted for return of the city. The Venetians were stripped of their arms and armor and shoes and set upon the road to Hungary. Their Janissary escorts made sure they provoked not trouble on their march. Most died of hunger or disease; some were killed by the Muslim peasants encountered on route.
Out comes:
-8 Sqds. Vencie
-4 Sqds. Ottomans
-4 Divs Ottomans
From his new headquarters outside of Berlin, Pietro dealt in goods from Asia, India and the Mexica, among others. But he also dealt in information which was the life blood of his trading business. He had to know what was available what was in demand and who might be an interested buyer. He also had to know how safe it was to move his goods across the world. He hand a nose for trouble and could sense (or at least his agents could sense) when events would work against trade. Kalmar was on the edge of greatness in 1540. Two new trading posts were being planned in America and another in Africa, New Sweden was growing and new maps and charts of unknown lands were being negotiated for by the King. It all looked rosy. But then there was the talk of war and gold and secret meetings with those who he knew to be from Bavaria. Would Kalmar attack Brandenburg? It certainly appeared that way. The cautious uncertainty broke differently though. Money and gold were involved, but they did not go to the King of Kalmar nor did they come from Bavaria. If the rumors were true the money came from a Scot and went to one Gustav Vasa a pretender to the throne of Sweden. With it he rousted Swedish nobles into a full blown plan to establish an independent nation with its capital at Stockholm and an army to boot. The independence movement was very strong and was not anti-Kalmar, just pro Sweden. The King of Kalmar quickly raised 8 to throw against the upstarts, but his treasury was drained and his initial success could not be exploited and as the year turned 1544 he was stalemated with the pretender King of Sweden who made no moves against his former Lord.
+ TP Manhatten Kalmar 1540
+ TP Gustavia Kalmar 1542
+ TP SW Africa Kalmar 1542
+ Colonists to New Sweden 1543
+ VoD WCA (west coast of Africa)
+10 Sqds Kalmar (needed for overseas expansion)
+Sweden as a nation [played by MissAthena]
Expeditions and Colonial Expansion
Genoa sends colonists to Mollea (Jamaica)
Genoa sends colonists to Ft Doria on the coast of Rossoa (Brazil)
+ TP Genoa on Nova Sanremo (Bermuda) fails: lack of trading resources and potential
+ TP Portugal in Rossoa (Brazil)
+ TP Portugal Eastern Genozuela
+WCA VoD Spain
+TP in Naitzhouyu (Australia) Ayutthaya
+RC (Angkor Wat) Ayutthaya
+Colony in Sumatra Ming China
Captain’s Log Star Date December 25, 1540
Christmas Day 1540 The winds are calm and we are warm. Father Julian moves from ship to ship to celebrate mass. Native fishing boats have followed us for some days. Communicating is difficult, but we know these people call themselves the “Inka” and they point us further up the coast. Along the shore people gather to watch us pass. We will need water soon and will have to stop; we will be wary.
King’s Day 1541 A small Inkan town is our first trip ashore since early November. The people are friendly and inquisitive. They are dark and well dressed in cotton and brightly colored wool that is very soft. We see no signs of metal. Our daggers intrigue them and we trade several for fresh water, fruits we have never seen before and meat of some unknown species of animal. It is quite delicious. The headman of the village wants us to stay. We will have none of it and after restocking our supplies we again put to sea.
Jan 22 1541 We again cross the equator. South to north this time.
March 10 We stop to re-supply and to our surprise are greeted in a language we have heard before. We have reached the backside of the land of the Aztecs. We have traveled far to be only be a few days march from known waters. The lands of Vespuccica and the Mexica are vast indeed.
May 12 Two months we have spent in the pleasant company of our Aztec friends. We have cleaned and scraped our ships and indulged ourselves on native food including a bitter, brown drink that is almost as stimulating as wine. It is made from small beans and is highly prized. Many high officials of the Mexica have come to call in our sojourn here, but Moctezuma has been detained by war with his neighbor to the north. The open sea to our west calls, but we stay with the coast and follow it north. Seven crew desert our voyage for the uncertain pleasures of the Aztec lands.
June 6 A giant storm the likes of which we have never seen forces us to seek shelter along a dry and barren coast. God be praised we are all safe.
August 25 After many days of dry headlands and few people, we come upon shores filled with giant trees the size of which is unimaginable. Such trees would be suitable for God’s ship alone they are so majestic. Our shore parties cannot join hands and reach around these giants. The wood from one tree would build a city they are so large.
Oct 12 Forest and even more forests of tall trees line the shore and stretch inland to mountains of unknown heights. The weather is growing colder by the day and today we cross Latitude 50 North. We cannot bear another cruel winter in the high latitudes. And I order our weakening ships and threadbare crews to turn south and seek the warmer climes and kind gestures of our Aztec friends.
Jan 1 1542 We leave the safe harbor of the Mexica for a second time and sail for home. Our ships are frail and our spirits weakened by two years at sea. We have new maps and tales of danger and adventure. I would venture that to sail the coast as we did has cost us the Indies and Cathay. Perhaps they are just there beyond the horizon half a week’s sail away. Others will have to find that out. We sail for Genoa.
Mar 22 The cursed Straits of Diablo lie before us.
April 10 We are happily back upon the waters of the Atlantic and approaching the Rio de la Plata once again. The “Proserpina Blanca” was lost with all hands two nights ago. Rough seas scattered us and in our search we found a spar and two chests adrift. All wept.
August 15 We raise Gibraltar!
September 3, 1542 Three ships and 112 crew make port at Genoa.
Mediterranean Wars
February 1541 Nino Doria invades Corsica. The Corsican navy (read: pirates) successfully fends off all Genoan attempts to blockade key ports. This slows down the land war which drags on until the summer of 1543 when the last strongholds of resistance collapse under the ruthless troops of general Doria.
The French made elaborate plans to recapture Naples and retain Milan. Andre Belogodere trained his armies while Admiral d’Arnot trained additional land and naval forces for the campaign scheduled for 1542. It was to be a two pronged attack; by land from Calabria and by sea with a quick follow-up attack on Venice city itself. Somebody, though, forgot to tell the Venetians that a war was coming. The forts were quiet and failed to fire upon the approaching fleet. The gates were open and the small garrison slipped out of the city to the north. The previously imprisoned French nobles were found drinking wine in the piazza. Naples was theirs without a shot. No rape, no pillage, no plunder. The war on Corsica made d”Arnot a bit nervous about possible Genoese aggression and since Naples had fallen without a fight he called off his attack up the Adriatic. There would be no drawing of Venetians troops away from home. Victory was his. In the North Belogodere waited again for an attack that never came. Tuscany, as usual, was fully armed and the borders of Venice well guarded, but quiet.
Venice was busy elsewhere…
The war in Greece resumed early in 1540. The Ottoman forces in the north threatened to move south and attack Athens, but in the end they just threatened. No serious attack ever developed. The real attack came from the south at Sparta while the Turkish fleet patrolled with impunity as they blockaded all major Greek ports including Athens. The total lack of a Greek navy provided little recourse for Basil and and his generals but to tough it out. Sparta fell in June and the Turks regrouped for the eventual attack on Corinth. It was in this lull that Venice made her appearance. The Venetian fleet slipped through a thin blockade of Attica and they landed 5 divisions not 10 miles from Athens. The Doge’s general marched up to the city and announced that he was there to aid the Greeks in there defense of the city and awaited orders from the King. For two day the leaders for both sides were in closed discussions. When they emerged, they had a plan for the war. The plan was interrupted by an assassination attempt on the king. An overzealous cook tipped his hand when he insisted on serving the king personally rather than use the court pages as was Basil’s tradition. When searched, the deadly poison was found and the cook’s head was later found on a spike over the city gate.
The reinforced Greek army themselves threatened to move north and then shifted troops south and caught the Ottoman army by surprise upsetting their planned assault on Corinth. Meanwhile…
The Venetian fleet arrived off the Dardanelles in late July and found it lightly guarded. They bullied their way through and soon were insight of the great city of Constantinople. They landed 22 divisions west of the city and made preparations for siege. The city was unprepared, but not undefended. In fact it was very well defended. In the 80 years since it fell to the Turks, the massive walls had been repaired and cannon mounted on them. Its garrison was well stocked and sufficient to make any attack very difficult and costly. The Sultan was not amused and messengers flew in all directions.
The first signs of Ottoman response came within a few weeks. War galleys began to collect in the Dardanelles, having been withdrawn from Greek waters; they were filled with troops. In Adrianople to the northwest of the besieged Constantinople divisions from the west were assembling. For the Venetians it was getting close to decision time. A failed assault on the city would leave the remainder of the army very vulnerable to attack by the gathering Turks. Or they could try to break out over land to Greece or by sea through the Dardanelles. The plan was to attack and then to escape by sea. The great western wall of Theodosius was over six miles long and it was the Adrianople Gate that was selected for assault. The shortage of large siege cannon had slowed the ongoing efforts to breach the walls, but the cannon they had would now be concentrated. The first assault started before dawn and hundreds of ladders were laid against the crumbling walls. Many were pushed back, but not all. By daylight the gate was taken, not that it could be readily used, but a foot hold on the walls was secure. The second assault spilled over into the edges of the city. Victory seemed at hand. From the captured battlements Paulo Bernini held the Venetian banner high and took in the grand view of the city and its harbors. In the east the rounded dome of the Hagia Sophia was breathtaking to behold. To his right lay the calm waters of the Golden Horn once filled with the ships of all nations; now empty. To this left the Sea of Mamara and the Venetian fleet in grand array. In the fresh light of dawn they were beginning to fire their cannon into the city and drive the failing defenders away from the walls. He was proud and they had taken a bold chance and won. The city would be theirs.
It was at that moment of greatest joy that Paulo saw what was beyond the Venetian ships and paled in fear. Out of the rising sun came the Turkish fleet in full battle order and ramming speed. Transfixed, he watched the Ottoman guns open fire then crash full speed into the rapidly disorganizing Christian line. In an hour their connection, their lifeline their transport home was gone. The conquerors were now besieged. And the news spread quickly. Quickly enough to slow then stop the assault on the inner wall of Constantine even as it fell.
Constantinople was Christian for six weeks. That was how long it took the Sultan to bring his troops home and gather new levies. And he brought cannon. Surrender was negotiated: Life was granted for return of the city. The Venetians were stripped of their arms and armor and shoes and set upon the road to Hungary. Their Janissary escorts made sure they provoked not trouble on their march. Most died of hunger or disease; some were killed by the Muslim peasants encountered on route.
Out comes:
-8 Sqds. Vencie
-4 Sqds. Ottomans
-4 Divs Ottomans
"This other Eden, demi-paradise, this precious stone set in a silver sea, this Earth, this Realm, this England!"
Henry of England struck the first blow in 1540 when he used his fleet to bottle up all Scottish naval vessels in port and denied them access to the continent. Scottish money could not bring fresh troops to serve the Scottish King. And to make things worse, the sympathetic Dutch merchants of Antwerp raised enough gold to send 10 divisions to aid the beleaguered Henry. So by the start of the fall campaign in 1540 the English armies were ready. They struck north towards York and west towards Wales and regained lost land before the winter recess.
Rough seas broke up the English blockade of Edinburgh in January 1541 and the Scottish fleet fled to the mainland. They returned with the start of the campaign season and brought new divisions with them just in time to confront an English army under General James Morrison Dupree landing at Berwick-on-Tweed and bent on attacking Edinburgh. The sudden arrival of fresh troops invigorated the Scots and one feisty clansman, Rodney Stewart blunted the English advance with a well-timed ambush in the Moorfoot Hills. In their panicked retreat to Berwick, the English abandoned their cannon and the young Scot earned a name for himself. He was promoted and charged with the defense of Edinburgh. It took him all fall to drive Dupree south to York which was under attack by another English army moving north. The English were winning in the east as they lost Cornwall and southwest England.
By 1542 the English northern offense was again building momentum and General Dupree gathered his forces and struck at Glasgow. The Scots were feeling the pinch of the relentless pressure of the English navy upon trade and the import of war supplies and keeping their armies in the field was getting more difficult. Rodney was active in the south and threatening Southampton. Both sides were running out of steam. The years of war had drained the treasuries and will from all, but the highest levels of authority. The English wool trade was in shambles; few crops survived to harvest anywhere south of the River Tweed; the peasants uprooted and hiding. In Scotland it was less dire, but the land was poorer to begin with and the blockade had shut down all trade with Nova Scotia and most of Europe. The two years of campaigning in the lowlands had driven the people north and overburdened the highlands. The people grumbled; even the soldiers grumbled: there was little left to pillage or appropriate.
Outcomes:
-3 Sqds Scotland
-4 Sqds England
+war effects on economy England and Scotland
“There is no God but God…”
General Tahmasp reviewed his army on the plains outside the ancient city of Anah. It was the finest that Persia had fielded since the glorious days of Xerxes. It was thoroughly modern and the troops were battle-hardened veterans of the wars of expansion, but now armed and trained in the European style. The navy was also modernized and while untested, seemed equal to the best of Europe. This campaign would test the mettle of Tahmasp’s army with firearms and “fighting at a distance”. In two days the march west would begin and by early October 1542 they would be at the gates of Damascus. From there Jerusalem all the Holy Land would fall to the Shia.
Mostly, Tahmasp was correct. The garrisons of the Islamic empire were unprepared for a Persian attack. Damacus surrendered rather than suffer the destruction of their city from cannon fire. The local Shia rejoiced as the Sunnis fled south to Jerusalem. General Tahmasp let them go unmolested. Three weeks later he was upon them again outside of Jerusalem. The overburdened city was in a panic and frantically preparing for an attack it could not withstand. Out numbered ten to one, with relief months away at best, it only took one failed sortie into the Safavid camp (to destroy the cannon) to set the stage for negotiations. Terms were granted. The Sunnis for the most part left in a great mass for Suez. The Christians and Jews were left to fend for themselves, but unharmed.
By the Spring of 1543 rumors of a jihad army gathering in the Sinai stirred Tahmasp to action once again. He moved his best divisions south to Gaza. The quickly assembled Islamic horde threw themselves against the well disciplined and matchlocked armed Persians. The first battle of Gaza was one of zealousness and greater numbers versus the steadiness of training and battle discipline. The firearms won hands down and the generals of the Jihad withdrew to the safety of the Sinai to rethink their battle plans.
Better plans and fresh troops provided better results in the fall. Winning still seemed beyond their reach, but by threatening the desert flanks of the Persians, the forces of Egypt forced the Safavid back one step at a time until the walls of Jerusalem were but a day march north. There the Islamic Empire faced the full panoply of Persian might. There would be no flanking maneuver to force the enemy back; there would be no surfeit of numbers to persuade the enemy that discretion was the better part of valor. The outcome would hinge upon a bloody day of carnage. Both sides prepared.
It was an all day affair that early on was decidedly in favor of the Persians and their guns. The jihad dead and wounded continued to mount all morning as they easily slain before they could close with their enemy. As the defending Safavids ran low on powder, the tide that ebbed now flowed and Persian lines faltered under fresh assaults. Horse and camel warriors dominated the afternoon action as fatigue worked its way across the battlefield. Like many battles, the day turned on a small event and the frailty of men. A Jihad cavalry attack had isolated two battalions of Safavid musketeers and the collapse of the center seemed inevitable. It was then that one captain Merwan Irani had a lucky shot and downed the cavalry’s leader. As he fell his troops panicked and fled. Merwan rallied his weary troops and ordered an attack that surprised his equally tired opponents. Fear piled upon fear and the jihadist lines rolled away from the field unhinged and dispirited. There was no pursuit beyond a few hundred paces.
Jerusalem was in the hands of the Shia. The Islamic empire collected themselves at Gaza. In 1544 the second battle of Gaza set the limits of the Safavid advance. The Persians were unable to dislodge the restored jihad forces from well prepared defenses and high casualties eventually forced the aggressor back to the safety of Jerusalem.
Outcomes:
+1 RC (Jerusalem) Persia
-14 Divs Persia
-11 Divs Islamic Empire
The Dance of Shiva
What was inevitable finally happened. The relentless advance of the Mughals faced the ancient strength of the Rajputs and the new found power of the Bengali. Forty six divisions or well armed, well led, and experienced Mughal warriors were arrayed across northern India. The 20 divisions of Rajputs were armed and trained for 15th Century warfare, but well led and knew what to expect. Guns did not scare them; they were confident that the Mughals could be maneuvered into disadvantage. To the east the Bengali had amassed 36 divisions, also well led and experienced. Their alliance with the Ayutthayans had provided them with guns and cannon lacking elsewhere on the subcontinent. Spies had been at work for many months; there were no surprises; both camps were armed and ready for war. It was only a matter of when and where and who would make the first move. It came in early 1540 in the valley of Indus as the western reaches of Rajputana were buried under the invading Mughals. As they responded the Rajputs were struck again in the east along the Ganges. Along the Indus the Rajputs collapsed. In battle after battle their outnumbered forces were pinned by steady gunfire and then swept away by flanking cavalry. There was no war of maneuver to catch the Mughals unprepared or at some local disadvantage. The Mughals seemed to be everywhere they needed to be and in force. They crossed the Indus and swept east towards the capital at Ajmer.
Along the Ganges it was little different in the end even if resistance was stiffer. The Mughals drove along the southern bank of the Mother River as if to strike for the Holy city of Benares, but at the last minute turned west to the Rajput capital. The plan caught the enemy reserves between the two advancing armies. All attempts to fend off the attacks failed and as the monsoon approached most of what was left of the Rajput army fled south to safety and the coming June rains.
As the Mughals poured down the Ganges plain, the Bengali moved a third of their army into well prepared defenses outside of Benares. Sher Shan proclaimed himself Suri and rightful ruler from Delhi. As the Rajputs collapsed the Bengali gathered their strength. By the end of the monsoons and the time it took for the roads to dry and rivers to return to normal levels, the armies were back in the field again. Northwest Rajputana between the Yamuna and Ganges rivers was absorbed by the Bengali army; the troops around Benares improved defenses. On the Mughal side the Rajput countryside was brought under control and pacified: the calm before the storm.
The real war began late in the year. The three pronged attack by the Mughals came along the Ganges valley, at Benares and the last was south into the newly conquered Bengali lands. For the last, the Bengali were least ready.
For two years they waged bloody war. The Mughals had greatest success along the Ganges plain where their cavalry worked to their advantage. The defenders around Benares refused to budge and both sides fought a war of attrition without advancement. In the south though, the Mughals swept aside the defenders and marched on towards Orissa and a swing north into the soft belly of Bengal. It would have worked too, except that Amadnagar choose that moment to enter the fray. Sure their army was less well equipped, of poorer quality than the Mughals, but they had a substantial edge in surprise and twice the divisions. The sudden and complete collapse of the Rajputs had unnerved them and they feared what the future held if the Mughals were unchecked. Their opportunistic attacked worked. Soon after the Bengal army of the south was beaten and the Mughals, cocky with victory, turned away from the Amadnagar border, the anxious Indians threw every thing they had at the rear of the Mughal advance. It was no set piece battle on a great plain, but a furious and desperate attack to keep the Mughals from getting organized for a real battle. It worked well enough and after surprising losses the Mughals turned back and retreated to Rajput lands.
Outcomes:
- Rajputana
-15 Divs Mughals
-18 Divs Bengal
-10 Divs Amadnagar
+RC (Benares) to Bengal
+Ajmer TC to Mughals
+1 Army Confidence Bengal
+Army quality to Veteran Mughal
Flower Wars of the Mexica
Mixtzin was bound and held atop the pyramid of the war god in Tzintzuntzan. He knew his fate. He had watched it unfold before him all morning as his former warriors were stretched across the alter, sliced open so the priest could cut the still beating heart from the living body and offer it to the god. At the end it would be his turn. It was the expected death of an Aztec warrior lord.
Mixtzin thought back to the winter two years ago. Aztec armies had put aside their traditional garb of quilted cotton, feathers and obsidian blades for the shiny steel of Span and Europe. Many now carried matchlock guns and could fire them in an orderly manner. It was only after the bullets had flown fast and deadly that order broke down and melee took center stage. Captives were still the prize. The Tarascans were ready for the Aztec attack and, impressively, had similar weapons at the ready among many of their troops. Even by Aztec standards it was a bloody war. Thousands of brave Tarascans died, many like him, at the slice of a jagged blade atop and war god’s temple. The war had been an on again off again affair for both sides as armies fought to bloody standstill and then packed their prisoners off for the flowery death. After suitable rest and recuperation, the armies took the field again. Of course the main effort was to bring the Tarascans into subservience and vassalage to the Speaker. But what was war without sacrifice and death atop the temples?
The Empire had been advanced and the lands of the Michihuacan had fallen to the Aztec lords. More, including Tonala, would follow. He would not see it, but he knew the gods amiled upon his land and his people. They prospered and none could withstand the might of the Aztec armies. He was ready when they pushed him forward, cut his bonds and stretched him across the blood-slick alter. He was calm as the dagger cut deep and swift with practiced care. There was no pain as he was embraced by Huitzilopochtli.
Outcomes:
-14 divs Aztecs
-14 divs Tarasco
“And I shall deliver mine enemies onto the field of death and they shall perish at the hands of the Lord.”
There was no rest for those suffering in Germany. War piled upon war and trouble piled upon trouble for those who lived in that once a peaceful land. What was once the providence of kings was given now to the people themselves and with great enthusiasm they took that power and used it upon their neighbors both friend and foe. Greed, pride, and wanton lust for power cloaked in god’s holy raiment stalked the land with cold steel and hot fire. Few would be untouched. The world had gone mad.
The wars of princes and kings were eclipsed by the terror of people bent on killing those who believed differently. The eruptions of religious pogroms were in advance of, behind, and in lieu of the campaigns of Brandenburg and Bavaria, Austria and Poland. They knew neither borders nor season. None could hold the killing back and those who had fed the fires of dissention hid in horror at the fruit of their labors. Gangs of angry Protestants dragged any all Catholics to a bloody death in the streets or fields. Soon it was the Protestant’s across the river turn to die. And they did. In horrific rotation pain was piled upon pain and suffering upon suffering. There were no farmers, no merchants, no bakers or cobblers. There were only the hunters and the hunted. All lived in fear; time stopped and death tread all across Germany. The Brandenburg offense, so carefully planned and arranged with Austria, never made it out of Bohemia. Self-preservation was the watchword for one and all.
The fires of hate and persecution were first set ablaze in Lorraine in1541 and spread across tinder dry Germany within 6 months. By 1541 Austria and western Poland were aflame. In 1543 the Baltic States and the Low Countries ignited.
Buda fell to the Poles in 1540 and the former King of Hungary took his court and withered army to Belgrade where he rode out the chaos to come unthreatened. As Austria moved to claim the remnants of Hungary in 1541 her armies were recalled to defend the defenseless. Even the armies were not immune to the holy work of killing those of differing faith. Whole units succumbed to internal friction and dissolved in deathly struggle. At times armies hired by a single nation turned upon one another and fought to a standstill of exhausted hatred. All was devastation across central Europe. What order there was, was imposed by strong men with devoted troops.
By 1544 all that could be burned had been consumed by the fires of hell. Hunger replaced hate. Sadness replaced fervor. All who would kill had been killed. All who wept could weep no more. Stupor took hold and the kings and princes and priests and ministers and commoners and peasants looked at one another and asked “What have we done?”
Outcomes:
+ Economic collapse: Bavaria, Brandenburg, Austria, Poland, Hungary
+Baltic nations
Travelers Notes:
1544 Ivan IV is crowned Grand Prince of Muscovy at age 14.
War, rebellion, death and devastation provide fertile fields for the Popes acts of charity and hope. Many of his emissaries though die as martyrs to the faith.
Spanish tax collectors collect 1 EP from merchants passing through the Straits of Gibraltar.
Ethiopia builds its infrastructure and develops its port at Massawa into a trading gateway for the Red Sea traffic and goods from the highlands of Ethiopia. [now played by Perfectionist]
Ayutthayan naval patrols throughout Southeast Asia appear to be on high alert as the secretive kingdom suspects all nations of preparing for war. No aid however is sent to its beleaguered ally Bengal.
Calusa builds closer ties to Portugal and “gifts” an EP to the seafaring nation. Calusian officials later learn that the funds were spent to fund Indian Ocean ventures. Little is known of this secretive nation, but those who have visited it report it is well run and prosperous.
In 1543 Yahya ibn Ibrahim launched an independence movement in Algiers to restore the Marinid Sultanate. The unpopular Portuguese rule supported the uprising for it to take root and carve out a few acres of desert. [Slavic Sioux]
Angelo del Papa is selected to command the Armies of Tuscany.
Maxmud II continues to build his widespread nation and try to bind it into the single successor to the Golden Horde.
Visitors to the western Caribbean have noted the new Aztec galleons. They appear to be as formidible as those of Portugal. How well the crews do upon the open ocean has yet to be seen though.
As Indians and Portuguese expand their holdings in the Horn of Africa, the natives have turned to Ethiopia to express their concerns and fears. They are received warmly in Addis Ababa.
Updated Map 9A
Areas of dominant religions 1544. Update 9.
New Players this update:
Sweden: MissAthena
Ethiopia: perfecionist
Marinid Sultanate: Slavic Sioux
Please welcome them You may post now.
Sweden: MissAthena
Ethiopia: perfecionist
Marinid Sultanate: Slavic Sioux
Please welcome them You may post now.
Stormbringer
The Brick and The Rose
It was very well worth the wait.
Perfectionist
Angel of Verdun
Wow. That's all I can say really. The priests of Hagia Sophia must have had a nasty shock.
Anyway, let's hear your plan, j_eps.
Anyway, let's hear your plan, j_eps.
Shadowbound
Incorrugible
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2007
- Messages
- 4,078
Worth. It.
Map is now up.
Tomorrow, like as not.
LittleBoots
The Bloody Banner
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,979
Um. Well. To be honest,. I did expect something about the meeting of all the religious leaders... anything?
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
Magnificent as always, I'm quite surprised at the turn of events in Europe.
And really, the player of Bavaria should be punished for his attacking of a mod sponsored merchant! It's outrageous!
And really, the player of Bavaria should be punished for his attacking of a mod sponsored merchant! It's outrageous!
Magnificent as always, I'm quite surprised at the turn of events in Europe.
And really, the player of Bavaria should be punished for his attacking of a mod sponsored merchant! It's outrageous!
Now you see why I wanted his complete destruction. Stupid religion getting in my way
My well thought out plans all wasted. Looks like you live yet again Bavaria. I will be back one day because all that happened in Germany was your fault
From Brandenburg
To Holy Roman Empire
This religious upheaval is tearing is apart. We need to stop it at once and begin rebuilding the once prosperous lands of Germany. Lets work together and let all past feuds be forgotton. We are all German and we must all end this killings of neighbors and friends. It is over. If Brandenburg can forgive and make peace with Bavaria I see no reason why neighbors cannot make peace with eachother either.
From Brandenburg
To Bavaria
We are tired of war. We will recognize your current borders as part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. We ask that you do the same to us. Obviously neither of our nations are fit to fight anymore. Lets move on and rebuild our once thriving Kingdoms.
Ah I knew there was something neglected. I will try to provide you something tomorrow. Sorry.Um. Well. To be honest,. I did expect something about the meeting of all the religious leaders... anything?
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