Before we proceed further into the Middle East, the fate of the overland Ankhade must be addressed as well. The Tarekid forces, under the command of Ankhed Gyat, set out from Russaddir in early 706 and gathered many forces along the way, volunteers from Numidia and Garamantes as well as some from the Latin states and Arecomos itself (+15 Tarekid levy regiments). Despite occasional desertions and logistical problems, the Ankhade advanced well; contrary to the nay-sayers, under Gyat’s leadership it retained great unity and determination, all of which came in handy in 707-708, when Dar al-Harb fell.
The Harbic state had been merely lingering on for the last few decades; its enemies were many, and its allies none. Indeed, the warlords of Harb themselves were uneasy allies at best; still, they were forced to coordinate their efforts, hunting down the Agade Dag rebels with characteristic ruthlessness and military senselessness, seeing as it tied down a completely disproportionate amount of troops. While constant massacres kept the rebellious population in check for a while, they too tied down forces. Therefore, as Ashaist forces moved into positions to strike – the Nubians amassing their forces on the southern border and Gyat’s men sweeping aside the lackluster Hellenic defenders in Cyrene – the Harbics were wholly unprepared to fight back. Gyat’s forces were the first to strike, quickly advancing to the Nile Delta, thrashing a Harbic force at Shibin and swiftly moving to Fustat. There, King Tallah rallied his tribesmen and loyalists; however, Gyat’s forces, already numerically-superior, were reinforced by the conservative Ashaists of the region, and assisted by rebels within the city (+5 Tarekid levy regiments). Although Tallah’s last stand saw the attackers take major casualties and even fall back, the arch-warlord’s hardened troops nearly routing the zealous, but otherwise sub-par Ankhaders, Gyat managed to rally his forces and utilised caltrops to stop the Harbic cavalry attack. The second assault followed soon after and this time the Ashaists emerged triumphant, sacking the heretical city of Fustat and asserting control over the Nile Delta/Lower Karung. Both Agade Dag rebels and remaining Harbic warlords were defeated and/or pushed out of the region. Meanwhile, a well-trained Nubian force invaded from the south, picking up Ashaist rebels as it went (+10 Nubian levy regiments). King Naja’s commanders came up with an ingenious plan, sending a smaller force to link up with said rebels and advance predictably along the Nile, where it was able to tie down (and tactically defeat) the southern Harbic field army, while a larger one, assisted by sympathetic desert nomads and supported by a well-developed logistical service, marched through the Sahara straight to the key Karrist/North Nubian city of Aniba, also an important Harbic administrative centre/military base. The maneuver succeeded marvelously; a ruse by the Nubian vanguard drew out the local warlord, who was then sorely surprised by the arrival of the main Nubian force and died soon after. The remaining defenders prepared for a siege, but, as elsewhere, the invaders could rely on popular support; an uprising allowed the Nubians to move in and capture the city. After that, Harbic control over northern Nubia collapsed, and the remnants of the local army were eliminated between the two Nubian armies, a fair amount of its number deserting and seeking refuge in the desert. As Harbic rule collapsed elsewhere as well, the Nubians and the Ankhaders merely had to assume control and restore order in the central regions; the Nubians advanced to the ancient Valley of Kings and beyond, while the Ankhaders assumed control over most of old Karung. Jubilant, the locals bestowed upon Gyat the title of “King of Watchur”; his response to this was ambiguous, and in any case Gyat soon moved on (after a pilgrimage to the holy sites), regrouping his forces and striking into Najjaria. Thus while Akkad’s fleet was burying the Delphian Empire, the Eternal Empire and its immediate vassals found themselves assailed at the home front from several directions…
(-Harb as a coherent independent polity, -22 Tarekid levy regiments, -3 Nubian regiments, -4 Nubian levy regiments)
At which point we will once again have to get side-tracked. The Nubians were unable to advance as far north as they could have reasonably expected due to a sudden emergence of a new threat back at home. After some preparations, the Kohaitans – eager to assert their supremacy in northeast Africa and alarmed by the Nubian ascendance – launched an assault against the Nubian coastal regions in 707. First, the Kohaitan fleet destroyed much of the Nubian sea fleet in a series of well-planned skirmishes; what remained limped back to the ports, where the remaining ships had to be scuttled as it became apparent that the Kohaitans were going to take those cities, having sent in a large army. Though exhausted by the constant forced marches, the Kohaitans had somewhat superior weaponry and far superior numbers; therefore the coast was occupied easily enough despite difficult resistance. Naturally, this was only one part of the offensive; having learned that the Nubians were supposedly bogged down in the north, the Kohaitans sent a larger army towards the Nubian capital, Soba. However, the difficult terrain and the constant harassment of the attackers by loyal local Nubian tribes (+5 Nubian levy regiments) greatly slowed down the advance, as did the efforts to set up an efficient supply route. This allowed the Nubians to prepare their defenses; troops were moved back from the north, and more troops were levied (+10 Nubian levy regiments). The Nubian army was able to harass the already-arduous Kohaitan advance as it moved closer to the capital, eventually forcing a decisive battle on the exhausted Kohaitans at Mokwaar. The Kohaitans held their ground well, but were ultimately outmaneuvered by pro-Nubian camelry and defeated badly, the retreat collapsing into a rout due to continued harassment. Ultimately the Nubians were able to take a lot of Kohaitans prisoner. Still, a fair amount of Kohaitans managed to retreat and regroup further east, from where the Nubians were yet unable to dislodge them.
(-4 Nubian regiments, -7 Nubian levy regiments, -10 Nubian ships, -12 Kohaitan regiments, -3 Kohaitan ships)
And finally we come to the Middle East. As said before, the pious Ashaist rulers on the Akkadian Empire’s peripheries had taken His Eminence’s call for holy war to heart (indeed, it was preceded by a similar call by the Colchian ruler Vologases III) and swiftly rallied to support it. To the north, the Colchians as well as some Ashaist Turkic tribes allied to them initiated a border war with both Akkad and Paphlagonia, while to the south, the Khalidid Raisdom gathered Arabic hordes for an attack on Akkad and Najjaria; in the latter, it was assisted by Gyat, who, having established a forward base of operations in northern Karung, was now ready to press on. The Akkadians were anything but unprepared, however; a large army was gathered to stop any Arabic advances into Mesopotamia, while subtle preparations were made against the Colchians.
The Colchian war must be touched first. For all of his zeal, Vologases III knew well that he could not hope to seriously damage Akkad; even with the help of the Ashaist Turkic tribes, which managed to launch several damaging raids into Arran but were ultimately decimated and militarily-crippled between the nearby Akkadian army and local levies (+10 Akkadian levy regiments) in the Battle of Bagavan. After that, the Colchians largely resorted to small-scale border raids; the Akkadian forces resisted steadfastly, but refused to be lured into Colchian territory, resulting in a rather anticlimactic border struggle. However, a new dramatic development occurred in 708, when years of Akkadian diplomacy and missionary activities paid off; the Ashaist Turkic tribes, already in the minority and weakened in the Battle of Bagavan, were swept aside by a rising force of Agade Dag Turks, who then proceeded to invade northern Colchis, taking Vologases III entirely off-guard. The more steppe-like northwestern parts of Colchis were overran easily enough, and Chinvali itself was soon put under siege. The Colchian attempts to lift the siege were rather under-manned, due to an attempted Akkadian offensive to the south; while it was beaten off with some loss, the Colchians soon lost their capital and were forced to pull back to their heavily-fortified south. Though those fortifications allowed the Colchians to hold out beyond 710, by that moment a new Akkadian-Turkic offensive also took over the southeastern regions, and complete collapse of the remaining Colchian forces was from then on merely a matter of time.
(-1 Colchian regiment, -17 Colchian levy regiments, Colchian Economy to Crisis, -1 Colchian Living Standards, -2 Colchian Confidence, -2 Akkadian regiments, -3 Akkadian levy regiments)
The Akkadians had prepared well for the Arabic attacks; they were aware of this emerging threat for a while now, and have been preparing their defenses. The Great Desert Wall was being rebuilt, and already created a major barrier for the hypothetic Khalidid advance. Numerous plans were prepared, and spies gave the Akkadians an early warning when the Arabs struck out in 707. What the Akkadians hadn’t counted upon was the major difference between the Arabic and Akkadian ways of fighting; rather than launch a single organised campaign, the Arabs lashed out along the entire perimeter of Akkadian and Najjarian defenses in a series of small-scale probing raids, testing the strengths of their enemies and constantly keeping them off balance. Intercepting those raids was very much hit-and-miss, and the Arabs were often able to advance embarrassingly far, though failing to achieve much of significance during those raids. The second stage of Rais Salib I’s campaign only began in 708, when a large Khalidid force attacked towards Ur. Somewhat surprised by this move – having gotten used to petty raiding – the Akkadians nonetheless defended at the half-finished Great Desert Wall, holding the enemy at bay and attacking him in the rear with cavalry and help from the Agade Dag Arabic tribes that still dwelt in the region. The Khalidids were caught off guard, but managed to retreat westwards, the campaign again dissolving into continued raids, though now intermixed with more serious attacks on the wall’s weak points (however, advanced scouting mostly allowed the Akkadians to prevent any serious defeats). While all this occurred, however, an even larger Khalidid force attacked eastern Najjaria. The Najjarians were not unprepared, but instead were overbold in confronting this force; in the Battle of Bosra, the Najjarians were outmaneuvered and their main field army was badly mauled, though some units managed to fight their way back to Ariha. This one defeat granted the Khalidids control over the southeastern quarter of the Levant, from where they advanced to besiege Ariha, defeating the resistant tribes that got in the way. Najjarian forces attempted to regroup further west, but were swiftly attacked and routed by Gyat’s battle-hardened Ankhaders. Ariha fell to the combined Ashaist forces in 709, though swift arrival of Akkadian and Ghatafanian reinforcements raised the subsequent siege of Tyre, saving northern Najjaria to which the malik and his loyalists retreated. That was little consolation; Ashaists now had a sure foothold in the Levant.
A somewhat bigger consolation was a major Agade Dag tribal uprising (+5 Akkadian levy regiments) in northeastern Arabia, followed by Akkadian forces and their allies moving and occupying a large northeastern swath of territory, securing the local cities and oases. Needless to say, this caused the Arabic raids to relent, or at least refocus on the Akkadian army, which took large, but sustainable casualties.
Plans faltered; some pawns were on the brink of collapse, while others seemed unreliable. Armies and fleets clashed, holding out tenaciously and denying each other victory. Thrusts were matched for thrusts; spearheads advanced far into enemy territory. The war was in the balance.
(-7 Tarekid levy regiments, -5 Akkadian regiments, -3 Akkadian levy regiments, -1 Ghatafanian regiment, -11 Najjarian regiments, -5 Najjarian levy regiments, -11 Khalidid regiments, -17 Khalidid levy regiments, Najjarian Economy to Crisis, -1 Najjarian Confidence, +1 banked eco. point to Khalidid Raisdom)
Despite the strain put on the economy by the major military expenditures and the awful logistical situation that resulted in major attrition losses (as well as general impairment to the army’s quality), the Jalion had been able to expand considerably in their region, securing the Jalio River Delta amongst other places.
(-6 Jalion regiments)
The Surat War dragged on. While much of it now consisted of raids, counter-raids and general skirmishing, there were some notable events: in 706, the Girnari city of Kheda had fallen, in 707-708 the new Purvayamyan attempted to harass the Girnari trade routes, but, at the threats of the Bahulatvan Coalescence, the piracy campaign had to be scaled down, while later in 708 the professional Girnari fleet regained naval supremacy with the victory in the Gulf of Khambhat. A mercenary force was then landed at Surat; it nearly recaptured the city, but ended up merely tying down the main Purvayamyan forces (not that it wasn’t a major and significant achievement, especially as later events – see below - showed). Ultimately, after a series of skirmishes and some major battles against overwhelming forces (the main Purvayamyan army reinforced with levied hordes), the siege was raised and the Girnaris had to pull back. Until recently, the Irin’s advisors advocated cutting the losses and giving up Surat, but as of 710 defeatist sentiments had noticeably declined with the emergence of certain new circumstances…
(-6 Girnari regiments, -3 Girnari levy regiments, -4 Girnari ships, -5 Purvayamyan regiments, -12 Purvayamyan levy regiments, -12 Purvayamyan ships)
Increasing economic hardships caused by Purvayamyan warmongering (see above) and Prasannan colonial troubles (see below) resulted in a surprisingly major revolt in the strongly-separatist regions of the Indian East Coast in 709. Rallying around the increasingly-repressed radical wing of the rationalist Paramatmanistic philosophy of Zubhrabhanu – headed by the charismatic merchant Varsabhava – large groups of disgruntled citizens and farmers rebelled along the Krishna and the Godavari, as well as an extensive region of the eastern coast. Having hijacked the Zubhrabhanu system of connected urban and rural councils, Varsabhava was able to organise an early rebellion. Taking their enemies by surprise, the rebels managed to establish control over much of the area they claimed, though attempts to expand into southern Deccan failed due to very limited population support there, as well as the hasty deployment of Prasannan forces into the area. To the north, the Purvayamyan feudals – never particularily strong in the east coast – tried to first defend their holdings and then to reclaim them in a poorly-coordinated counterattack, but the rebels, having both organised militias and hired East Indic mercenaries, managed to hold on to the coast. In 710 the Prasannans managed to retake parts of the Krishna Valley, but their control there was limited by constant raids and harassment by various rebel groups; Purvayamya, in the meantime, was yet to prepare any coordinated response. Still, the situation is highly unclear, and the rebel movement’s unity is somewhat precarious, with growing disagreements between Varsabhava and the moderate Zubhrabhanu “Shadow Parliament”.
(-1 Zubhrabhanu regiment, -2 Zubhrabhanu levy regiments, -3 Purvayamyan levy regiments, -1 Purvayamyan Confidence, -1 Prasannan regiment, -1 Prasannan Confidence)
A major peasant rebellion commenced in Prasannan Mekong Valley in 707, under the leadership of a disgraced Sharmathai prince (or possibly a pretender); this prince, named Chaphra Somdej, waged a skilled hit-and-run campaign in the countryside, also winning over some of the native rulers (with their levies) and briefly securing the colonial capital itself. Ultimately, the loyal puppets and the regular Prasannan army managed to drive the rebels into the hinterlands, but failed to truly crush them; indeed, Chaphra had since then inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Prasannan army at Kracheh, routing and partially capturing a large army and consolidating his control over the interior.
(-4 Prasannan regiments, -3 Mekong Delta colonial militia regiments)
A peculiar war started between the Neo-Khitan and Tibetan Empires on one side and the Dinghisic Xanate on the other; despite major military buildups on the borders by all sides involved, various considerations (as well as quite possibly communication failure) resulted in the war being, from its 708 start to the middle of 710, entirely constituted by raids and counter-raids along the borders, neither side trying to make any permanent gains. Instead, the borderlands, already damaged by the Partition of the Atatork Xanate, were devastated further, and the armies occasionally clashed in attempts to intercept enemy raids. That said, in the last few months of 710 the weakening Dinghisic forces pulled back to more defensible positions in the west, allowing Khitan and Tibetan troops to advance and secure some forward bases. The war had since bogged down again. On a curious sidenote, there had also been some clashes between Khitan and Tibetan forces during the campaign, though those were probably out of simple confusion.
(-3 Tibetan regiments, -2 Khitan regiments, -4 Dinghisic regiments)
Despite signing an alliance with Nam and apparently reconciling with the neo-Mohist groups at least, the Ba Empire continued to deteriorate; some claimed that this could be attributed to the activities of Guanglingese and/or Tibetan spies. Whatever the case may be, in 707 a major regionalist peasant uprising in the west grew into a near-civil war when several local generals joined the rebellion (one of them, General Kong Lifu, soon turned out to be the main rebel leader); numerous rebellions elsewhere occurred as well, but this one was obviously the largest, as the generals brought over lots of troops with them (-15 Ba regiments). While Kong Lifu’s march on Jiang was aborted by the Namese, the northern periphery proved surprisingly difficult for the Ba government forces to put down, even though the other rebellions were crushed by 709. Having to concentrate their forces on one threat, the Ba loyalists and the Namites managed to finish off the northern ultra-neo-Sunfucianist rebellion by the end of 710, but the separatists remained strong in the west, advancing again as the government troops were distracted elsewhere. There seemed to be no end to the Ba Empire’s enemies.
(-7 Ba regiments, -6 Ba levy regiments, -2 Nam regiments)
The Hokkien War, in the meantime, dragged on. 706 saw the whole nature of the war change; while the Guanglingese forces in Fujian/Hokkien remained on the defensive, holding on to their gains and apparently intending to starve out the defenders, the Ayutamradvipans effectively cut their losses and literally dismantled the colony; that is to say, they destroyed the infrastructure, razed Fuzhou (in the process of putting down a hasty popular uprising), took what they could and withdrew their soldiers (along with the disgruntled, but steadfast Ayutamradvipan loyalists) to Taiwan Dwipa, fighting off some minor Guanglingese raids there. As the Guanglingese troops awkwardly moved in to restore order in surrendered Fujian, the war fully moved to the sea.
That was, as a matter of fact, more or less as planned by both Lord-Protector Yun Nan-sun and Emperor Yaajikhan. Both of the warring states were indisputably naval-oriented, even though for Ayutamradvipa navy was a more urgent priority than for Guangling. The next five years saw the two fleets fight an elaborate war; the Guanglingese seeking to undermine Ayutamradvipan naval communications, commerce and infrastructure, and the Ayutamradvipans seeking to destroy Guangling’s sea power altogether. This was dictated by differences in military styles, goals and circumstances – the latter being such that, despite the Guanglingese use of privateers and even Jomonese pirates that
”might or might not be tied to some of the southern Jomonese feudals”, the Ayutamradvipan fleet still was clearly superior in both quantity and quality, at least after a major naval build-up that bore fruit towards 707.
At any rate, both sides pursued their goals relentlessly throughout this entire period. Early on, the Guanglingese managed to gain the initiative, their privateers and allied pirates launching fairly damaging raids against Taiwan Dwipa and even some harbours in the Home Islands; however, the attack on Uttarapattan [4] was fought off successfully by the main Ayutamradvipan fleet, and as new ships were put into the sea, a stronger defense fleet for the Home Islands was formed. While it failed to eliminate raiding altogether, the most valuable targets were successfully protected in a series of much-celebrated naval skirmishes. In the meantime, the main fleet, also reinforced, started hunting down Guanglingese naval detachments, which were fortunately concentrated on the Chinese coastline but at the same time divided in an attempt to cover all of it. A series of grievous defeats in 708 forced the Guanglingese to combine their remaining naval forces in Chinese waters. A desperate attempt to retake the initiative with another assault on Uttarapattan was partially-succesful; having successfully distracted the main Ayutamradvipan fleet, the Guanglingese managed to cause major damage to the harbour and retreated, having noticeably impaired Ayutamradvipa’s capacity for continued warfare in northern waters, but the casualties suffered by the Guanglingese in the campaign ended up tilting the balance in Ayutamradvipa’s favour. The next two years saw the Guanglingese return to the decentralised policy of raiding, while relying solely on coastal levies to fight back Ayutamradvipan counter-raids on the Chinese soil. That worked out well enough, although the Ayutamradvipans remained predominant on the sea, rebuilt some of their infrastructure in Uttarapattan and blockaded the Republic’s key sea ports, damaging both commerce and morale, being helped in the latter case by vigorous anti-war faction propaganda (-1 Guanglingese Confidence) (that said, the blockade wasn’t all that efficient due to the inability of the Ayutamradvipan fleet to efficiently cover all of the Guanglingese coast, and the northern ports in particular, some of those actually managing to thrive during this time). At the same time, the Ayutamradvipans were unable to truly put an end to Guanglingese piracy, which continued to plague commerce at some distance from the well-protected Ayutamradvipan ports themselves.
Thus the war remained undecided, the Ayutamradvipans having apparently emerged on top in this round of hostilities, but with a strategic situation that, at least in the north, was appreciably worse. It would seem that this conflict will become a drawn-out war of attrition; then again, another radical change may be just ahead.
(-1 Guanglingese regiment, -15 Guanglingese ships, -9 Guanglingese privateer ships, -3 Ayutamradvipan regiments, -14 Ayutamradvipan ships, -Hokkien colony)
Random Events:
A new cultural revival started in the Neo-Khitan Empire, in part thanks to the continued influx of Paramatmanistic and Buddhist missionaries and influences (+1 Education, cultural revival).
Major landslides worsened the already horrible situation in post-Olaf II Vikland, helping destroy the country’s agriculture (Economy set to Crisis, -1 Living Standards).
Special Bonuses:
Best Orders: Akkad (+1 Bureaucracy).
Best Military Doctrine: Thuringia (+5 regiments).
NPC Diplo:
From: Remaining Arganthine City-States
To: Tarekid Amsurate
We have no intentions of fighting on against you, but we will not submit to your rule neither. Let us simply end this war now; surely you have other enemies to fight.
From: His Eminence in Arecomos
To: Capua
I urge you to join your brothers in the Ankhade; your warriors and ships may well be civilisation’s salvation in this troubled hour.
From: His Eminence in Arecomos
To: Miletean Theocracy
While it is unfortunate that you have failed to reach a peaceful agreement with the Delphians, now is not the time for recriminations. Your claims on Greece are hereby recognised, and you are commanded to defend those lands from the heathen forces that threaten them.
From: Sunda Ascendancy
To: Ayutamradvipa
Your proposal is hereby accepted.
OOC:
[1] Eldsland=OTL Iceland.
[2] A name would be nice.
[3] No, I could
not just call it a feather. I mean, come on.
[4] Uttarapattan=OTL Taipei.
~Darkening~, Tiahuanaco
is a religious centre.
Disenfrancised, your orders were extremely confusing (geographically and otherwise). Therefore, any problems with your section of the update are hereby declared to be “all your fault”.
Some notes:
- To make sure that I answer your PMed questions promptly, please do point out in the PM’s title that it does, as a matter of fact, include questions; this goes also for order sets with questions in them. Incidentally, it is best to call order sets such as well, to avoid confusion;
- There was a labeled version of the start map in the end of the previous page. Look it up if you’re still confused;
- People are strongly advised to send a military doctrine if they haven’t already;
- Read the rules;
- Also, read the stats. For the record, all the relevant ethnic and religious information is there, in the culture section, if you haven’t figured that out yet.
