Update 20 - 1100 B.C.
In the land of the four kingdoms, times are good. Especially for the Shang empire in the South. The goverment enforces a strange mix of policies seeking to both improve agriculture
and increase urbanization. The unemployed in Shanghai and Hong Kong are sent off to populate the countryside. Inexperienced as farmers however, many quit this and settle in the newly formed villages instead. The result is a slight improvement in agriculture, but also far more importantly the birth of several new cities (most importantly Wuhan, west of Shanghai). Meanwhile in Shanghai, dozens of Royal Stables appear.
Farther North in the more estbalished Chinese kingdom, war rages on. The Chinese continue to penetrate the lands of the Tartars, as their organized armies beat through wave after wave of the barbarians. Several more tribes are conquered and the moral of the tartars is visibly broken. Meanwhile, the one hundred men sent to find better horses prove to be far too small of a number. Seventy five returned claiming that the horses are owned and carefully guarded by a people, the Trocharians, and that only a conquest of their lands would give the Chinese the prize they're looking for. The other twenty-five men had been sent to explore the world, and had never been heard from again.
Casualties:
50 Chinese
Assyrian expansion continues. Around the Caspian sea, some new territory is gained, but no inhabitants are found. A few villages were discovered, but they were all destroyed and the people had been dead for many years by the time Assyrian riders had arrived. Meanwhile to the South, campaigns against the Bedouins continue. The bedouins (as Assyrian scribes tell the king) have little sense of loyalty to each other whatsoever. They constantly war against, form alliances, and backstabb each other for what little water there is in their lands. They
could be conquered easily, but the scholars strongly advise the King not to. The bedouin land, they argue, is completely worthless. Draining resources to conquer it would not make the nobility happy and would be costly to maintain while offering little in return. Meanwhile, two great roads are completed in the center of the kingdom. Rumors of a great empire West of Phoenicia are persistant, but no officials had been sent to make contact with it.
Casualties:
50 Assyrians
Scythian riders in the Eastern domain come to the king's court with unexcpected news. Farms across the great river had been set to the torch by a strange horse-riding people from the South. A small contignent of forces was sent to push them out of Scythian lands, but it got completely slaughtered. The King, upon learning this, quickly paid the riders an economy level to leave him and his country in peace.
Casualties:
50 Scythians
The Assyrian hasslement of barbarians is nothing compared to the legendary King of Persia. First the King tried to convince some bedouins to join his kingdom, but that didn't turn out too well. Only a few tribes left and settled in cities, where they were treated harshly by suspicous Dubai Persians. The rest killed any messangers the Persians sent. A far worse situation was created on the Aryan border. First the Aryan clans across the river were worried as to why the Persians fortified their border so heavily. Scared that perhaps the Persians would launch an offensive, they quickly grouped together. When Persians sent emissaries through Aryan lands to meet up with the Dravidian, the Aryans had enough. A force of several hundred united and launched a major raid on West Persia. In the slaughter that ensued many Aryans were killed, but being a far larger force, almost all of Persia's border guard is decimate. Their work done, the Aryans leave back for their homes on the other side of the border.
Areas affected by raid highlighted in red.
Casualties:
200 Persians
In the forested lands of Germanica, the Alemanni continue beating the crap out of the Vandals who find themselves constantly retreating Northeast. By now hoever, iron-weapons have spread amongst all the Germanics and are of little tactical advantage to the Alemanni. Back in the Alemannian capital, great festivals are heald in order to start the countdown for a great celebration the priests say must be held in 600 years.
Casualties:
50 Alemanni
The great Almohad state collapses. Due mostly to corrupt and inconsistent leadership, the various Moroccan cities and tribes that made up the country rebel and now squabble for power amongst themselves.
The Egyptian economy begins the long road to recovery. The great pyramids grow nearer and nearer to completion, while roads are built passing by them. While there is still a long way to go to the Ethiopian provinces, these roads are the start.
In Minoa, the barbarian campaigns continue. The Helvetiians are tackled easily as hundreds of Minoan soldiers pour into the alpine country, taking the barbarians down village by village. It only took a few decades before all of Helvetiia is under the Minoan banner. With the collapse of the Crusader state, much land is gained in Gaul. However, in Northern Gaul, the Celts are far more opposed to any notion of Roman rule. Similarly, the Almohad state in Africa has also fallen. However, the people there feel no need to join the Minoans. The few that do rush to the African Gibraltar colony, and soon boost it's populace into a worthy city. Back in Italy, the unthinkable happens! An enraged Helvetiian general gathers several hundred forces and, as soon as Minoan troops are occupied elsewhere, rushes down from his mountain stronghold into the province of Italy. Virtually unopposed, the chiefatin reaches Ravenna and (despite considerable losses) sacks the virtually defenseless city, sending shockwaves throughout the empire.
Meanwhile in Knossos, a larger number of ships than usual leaves for the Egyptian coast. They carry the normal trade cargo, but also valuable shipments of gold and trained generals. The wine and olive oil are left in Egypt, but the latter two are taken all the way to the coast of the Red Sea. There they are boarded on the reed boats of the region and sent several hundred miles South. In a good number of days they will arrive in Axum...
Upon the generals arrival, the land is consumed by war. Attempts of Minoanization have angered even more rural Kush-ite, and they too join Ismaans rebellion, which now numbers almost one thousand men. Against him lay 300 Kush-ite soldiers directed by Minoan generals. Using brilliant strategy, the vastly outnumbered imperial forces still manage to beat back the rebels at the historic battle of Adulia. Upon this, Ismaan is forced to retreat. His campaigns aren't over yet though, as he heads into the Southernmost isolated Kush-ite lands and completely occupies them. The Kush-ite populace is further angered by this, especially in the countryside. Even in the cities though, opinion is split. Only the newly established capital of Axun port has a population that fully supports Minoa.
The Hokkaido continue their agressive ways. In Korea, the superior Hokkaido forces have conquered almost the entire Choson kingdom. Only the ancient capital of Seoul remains, manned by some 50 Choson guards. Far more shockingly however, the Hokkaido fleet launched a surprise attack on Japanese ships in the region! For every ship of theirs that sunk, the Hokkaido managed to drag down two Japanese galleys. After a full day of battle, Japan's navy has been struck a severe blow.
Casualties:
150 Koreans, 20 Japanese ships, 10 Hokkaido ships
Meanwhile in India...
And in India of course, the Dravidian-Aryan wars of sub-continental domination continue. The Calicutans easily prove why they are the heartbeat of the Dravidian people. The bulk of their forces attack West, and by the turn of the century campaigns there had pushed the Aryans a significant way out of Delhi. In the North the situation was different. The Aryans fought the Calicutans to a standstill, although with the sparing of some troops from the Western front, progress has been made as of late. It's a far different story among the Calicutans allies. Having already spent all of their economy on the initial defenses, the Aryans strike them at their weakest time. Although fighting bravely, the Northern walls of Suparaka have been breached! The enemy now rides towards Mumbai itself...
Casualties:
200 Calicutans, 100 Suparakans, 100 Hoysalisians, 50 Sinhalans, 2000 Aryans
Diplomacy
From Northern Bedouin Tribes
To Assyria
Stop attacking us already! We'll pledge vassalage to you... you know, donate forces to your armies in big wars... just stop sending your armies down.
From West Aryans
To Persia
Don't cross the border again!
Trade
Assyria: to Persia [1/3]
China: to Japan [3/3], to Shang [3/3]
Japan: to China [3/3]
Minoa: to Hatti [1/3], to Egypt [1/3]
Thrace: to Minoa [1/3]
OOC: none.