AFSNES I – The New Dawn

OOC: Empires are SUPPOSED to rise and fall :p
 
OOC: You own like 3/4ths of India! :p
 
OOC: No problems with a BT here.
 
Well, I've greatly enjoyed the NES so far, so I hope it continues in some way or another. If it can't be done, it can't be done, but there are no complaints on my end and even a long break wouldn't put me off this NES at all.
 
Update X - Years 746-750 AD

Foreword:

From the political viewpoint, this decade (and this half-decade especially) was particularily notable inasmuch as it saw the generations of leadership change. This rarely, if ever, led to any distinct change of course; but it observedly sped up the assorted trends and plans that dominated politics internal and international, and also intensified the new generation’s new wars.

And those wars were once again growing in scale. While the Far East was relatively quiet and the Western Hemisphere was actually winding down, in the area between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arabian Sea many oft-interconnected conflicts escalated further, as entire kingdoms were trod down within years and tens of thousands died in victory or defeat.

Domestic Events:

Chalchitlan’s luck had finally began to improve; the latest High Chief, who claimed the name of Chanaka like the most illustrious of his predecessors, had finally managed to consolidate power and stabilise the internal situation (+1 Chalchitlani Confidence). Meanwhile, in the north, after some more limited fighting, a defensible frontier was stabilised and colonisation of the better of the newly-conquered lands had commenced.

The Antimaqtans quietly integrated their previous gains as well, limited in value though those have been.

Despairing to make his Ichonnacht colonisation project work, High King Adhaimh of Hibernia suddenly agreed to allow for the reestablishment of Eldsland, with Halvorrson’s raiders and Eldslander survivors alike resettling Reykjavik. Despite numerous problems (of which the relations with the Hibernian colonists and the critical manpower shortages were the least), Eldsland survived for now, though losing even more ground during the transition as the Hibernian garrisons withdrew. The kingdom’s survival remained quite tenuous, though this understanding had, at least, prevented any particularily large-scale feuding and allowed the dyarchs Harolf Hagarsson and Bjorn Olafsson to establish some semblance of a provisional government after Magnus Halvorrson’s tragic death.

An “explorer’s guild” was founded under the Amsur’s patronage in Malaka, with the stated purpose of navigating West Africa; with little or no funding and resources, ofcourse, it remained very much moribund for now.

After the death of King Elf (and a good deal of intrigue, coercion and negotiation), his grandson Gorm the Young took the throne, though under the shadow of Elf’s bastard son Angantyr the Grim (regent and later a major advisor). While the assorted eastern gains were being slowly integrated, the new monarch and his courtiers decided to cement the new arrangement with some wholesome military-political adventures (see military events).

Likewise, in Liguria, the Priest-Emperor Genu XLIII had passed away. His son Ezio Genuenses the n rose to power as Priest-Emperor Arthu XX; being fairly popular and well-known despite the inevitably detached state of the monarchy, he had no difficulty in asserting his power and authority (+1 Ligurian Confidence).

And yet another new monarch begins his reign (though in this case, this was preceded by his nominal reign under a regency) – Archelus, Emperor of the Hellenes. Early in his reign, as part of the preparations for the decisive campaigns of the holy war that once more consumed the Mediterranean, the Emperor had introduced sweeping military reforms, organising his father’s elite hired guards into the Archelian Guard and creating an army of citizen-soldiers to augment the mercenary forces.

Emperor Tafari succeeded the elderly Oshar, unifier of Nubia, in 746.

In the wake of the war with Samarkand and the short-lived, but still alarming loss of the capital Arqalyk, the Kyrgys leadership began to consolidate power from a different centre – the northerly city of Cherlak. This consolidation had for now mostly amounted to the reorganisation of the tribes along regional lines, to bolster local cooperation and unity. While the move of the capital to Cherlak, a comparatively backwater city, had somewhat impaired actual central control, it – along with the persistent missionary efforts and the growth of commerce – allowed for the peaceful integration of numerous tribes along the northern border.

Emperor Elu of Samarkand died peacefully in his sleep. Surprisingly enough, his son Elu II was able to assert the throne without much trouble, though he was very much a puppet of the temples and the associated court faction (-1 Samarkandian Confidence).

Prince Nergui’s capable local administration (ironically enough, only made possible by the Prince’s exile from the Turgulid capital of Horqin in the first place) led to a commercial boom in the southwestern province of the Turgulid Empire.

While Korea was being (troublesomely) integrated into Jomon, the Priestess-Queen Miyako Akaushi passed away. Her successor, Akira Miamoto, was already both experienced and popular, and so the damage this death inflicted upon Jomon was very much minimised.

International Events:

Having previously withdrawn its troops from the war with King Vucub of Dainzu-Coba, the Zapotec city of Zaachila had now signed a separate peace treaty with Vucub, claiming full independence and pledging neutrality in Zapotec affairs in exchange for the security of the city which now turned its attention towards colonial development.

A dynastic marriage between the ruling families of Vikland and Danelaw had occurred.

His Eminence’s call to arms in the face of the Akkadian threat succeeded in bolstering his ranks and those of his allies with very uneven, but enthusiastic volunteers (+10 Tarekid levy regiments, +10 Arecoman levy regiments, +10 Numidian levy regiments).

Inspired by the accounts of assorted missionaries from the Agade Dag periphery, the Akkadians launched new, reinvigorated missionary efforts in the regions of the Itil, Arabia and the northwestern edge of the Sitivasas High Kingdom. Naturally, initial accomplishments were limited, but the faith did have noteworthy gains in the Itil valley. In the Sitivasan territory, meanwhile, it served as a casus belli…

The Kyrgys-Samarkandi War ended somewhat abruptly, as the Samarkandians were persuaded to retreat from the Kyrgys territory, in exchange for the end of Kyrgys raiding and the guarantee of free Agade Dag missionary activity.

The Turgulids sent an embassy to Enlilba, the capital of the Akkadian Empire, so as to establish a closer contact with the originators of their religion. Meanwhile, an even more impressive embassy was sent from Jomon to the Turgulid capital of Horqin itself.

The Bahulatvan city-states sent out an expedition in an attempt to reach the now-famed (but still largely unknown) Jomonese island of Izu Oshima; in that they did not succeed, but they did end up establishing trade contact with the Melanesian tribes within the Ayutamradvipan sphere of influence.

Military Events:

Renewed northwards Tepehuani expeditions allowed Atlacatl II to reclaim his earlier namesake’s northern gains and move further beyond, though the more distant conquests were often predictably tenuous.

(-4 Tepehuani regiments)

The by now obviously misnamed “War of Coban Succession” was, in spite of the recent vigorous counter-attacks by Vucub’s enemies, clearly grounding to a halt – and a one that was doubtless a victory for the ambitious monarch. For indeed, those attacks were driven by an all-too-justified desperation in the first place; and in the end, they made only limited gains before Vucub’s armies (also weakened by the war both directly and indirectly, but still in a much better shape than those of his enemies) could strike back. After driving back the Zapotecs in a series of skirmishes that persuaded Zaachila to formally secede from the kingdom (as mentioned in the International Events), the Dainzu-Cobans marched west, capturing and razing the long-defiant Mayan city-state of Izapa and subsequently subjugating the rest of the western Mayan city-states (in a somewhat less heavy-handed manner, usually). Their Zapotec enemies were not passive after their initial defeats; indeed, they managed to expel the invading forces from the coastal regions, and fought a Dainzu-Coban attack on Huijazoo to a standstill. An uprising in the southeast combined with growing logistical difficulties forced the Dainzu-Cobans to fall back from there as well, retreating to more easily-defensible positions. Still, beyond that the Zapotecs were no longer capable of real offensive action, having exhausted much of their potential early on and being now plagued by internal discord between the Quetzaltula court in exile and the local rulers. And so as of 750 very little fighting was going on, and the war itself might as well have ended.

(-9 Dainzu-Coban regiments, -4 Dainzu-Coban levy regiments, -2 Dainzu-Coban ships, -7 Zapotec regiments, -3 Zapotec ships)

The Viklander civil war concluded predictably anticlimactically, with the Nord-Frisian leftovers being gradually divided, crushed and hunted down by the Viklanders throughout the period.

(-3 Viklander regiments)

In what might be considered either an abrupt military adventure or the finishing stroke of the Danish campaigns in the Baltic, the half-Vendel King Gorm of the Danes launched a war against his counterpart in Vendel in 747. While the attempts to undermine the northern monarchy early on and/or secure the defection of any large amount of the local jarls were largely unsuccessful, the actual fighting went very well for the battle-hardened Danish warriors. While diversionary raids terrorised the countryside elsewhere, the great Danish fleet attacked the Vendel port of Trosa, trapping the northerner fleet within and then landing an army nearby to assault the port. While the Vendel fleet was being thwarted in its breakout attempt, the Danish Torrsvikings broke into the city and slaughtered the defenders. The fleet was then finished off, with many ships being captured by the Danes (11 Vendel ships to Danelaw). Operating from Trosa and several offshore islands seized soon after, the Danes extended their raids even further; meanwhile, an impetuous Vendel counter-attack on Trosa ended in the massacre of King Ohtar’s cavalry, forcing the main body of the Vendel army (whose retreat and supply routes were compromised severely by the fall of Trosa) to fall back, leading to some of the feudals there rebelling in Gorm’s favour as the Danes finally mounted a major overland invasion in 748 (+5 Danish levy regiments); their retinues joined the armies of Danes and their Latgallian vassals, and then this host linked up with the forces at Trosa and the fresh reinforcements led by the king himself. Ohtar II resolved to make a last stand at Vendel upon hearing of this; he gathered all the forces he could find there, but in the end it was not enough as the Danes besieged, assaulted and overran the capital in 750. Ohthar II died in the fighting, and though the Danes were themselves exhausted and unable to finish the conquest just yet Vendelia as a kingdom was no more, with the feudals in the northwest continuing to resist fiercely but in a quite decentralised and mostly disorganised fashion without any obvious leaders amongst them.

(-Vendel Kingdom as a cohesive polity, -8 Danish regiments, -4 Danish Torrsviking regiments, -8 Danish levy regiments, -7 Danish ships)

A few years earlier and further to the south, Gothland’s military fortunes turned from absolutely horrible to worse. Along the Elbe, the Gothic efforts at rebuilding a field army were hindered by constant Thuringian raids, while Erichsburg was being besieged by the Thuringians and Gommern by the Langobards. In the countryside, desperate levying efforts and associated excesses led to numerous peasant uprisings. In the east, remaining Slavic tribes rose up in rebellion, and those from neighbouring lands poured in as well, striking at the hated invaders who drove many of them from their lands not too long ago. And even as Gothland disintegrated under the blows from all of those threats, the Danes swept in from the north and, over the course of 746, secured the northernmost parts of Gothland with the help of defecting noblemen (5 Gothic levy regiments to Danelaw). Though the Danes did not even attempt to cross the Elbe and indeed soon redeployed their troops for other operations (see above), this attack was perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back: the resistance in the eastern area, demoralised and cut off from the core of the Gothic resistance in the northwest, folded easily enough before a Langobard onslaught (numerous towns in the eastern frontier surrendering in exchange for protection from the Slavic tribes). Erichsburg surrendered in early 748 after a lengthy siege, Emrach himself being cut down while trying to escape with a few retainers; and after that, the bloodied, disintegrating northwestern army under “King Heinrich I” was routed in the Battle of Leufen [1]. After this, the Thuringian Crown Prince needed only to mop up the remaining Gothic territories, up to the extended Danish borders. Having done very much the same, the Langobards initially tried to press on into Danish territory, but were halted in the first few skirmishes and decided against a full-fledged campaign this far north just yet. For now the present partition of Gothland might appear quite viable, but it remained a source of some tension as well.

(-Gothland as an independent nation, -4 Thuringian regiments, -3 Thuringian Royal Archer regiments, -2 Thuringian levy regiments, -1 Danish regiment, -1 Danish levy regiment, -3 Langobardian regiments)

Needless to say, the Tarekids and the Burgundians (but, strangely enough, not the Numidians) were quick to focus on finishing off the pesky Teutonic resistance. Although Dominos Semburn IV was taken out early on in an exceptionally smooth assassination, and although the Tarekids had commited most of their land forces towards finishing off the Teutonic and occasional Brukter warlords, it still was a very arduous and time-consuming campaign. The defenders fought tooth-and-nail, utilising the difficult terrain perfectly and operating from well-positioned mountain strongholds and hideouts; although they were isolated with comparative ease by 747, actually crushing them was a whole matter entirely. To make matters worse, the withdrawal of much of the Numidian army combined with horrificly mishandled (not to mention silly) efforts at Numidian colonisation of the captured area led to a massive peasant uprising in the region; it spilled over into some previously-pacified regions of Iberia, setting back Tarekid progress noticeably. In the end, the campaign that was meant to be over before the end of 747 only ended in 750 with the execution of the last peasant rebel leader and the fall of the last few warlord strongholds in the northeast; even then, it was an incomplete victory, as the conquered area was now a lawless, war-wrecked hellhole with widespread banditry and desperate peasantry that never stopped being on the brink of rebellion. This obviously tied down most of the Tarekid army, keeping it from interfering more actively in Arecome…

(-6 Tarekid regiments, -12 Tarekid levy regiments, -3 Tarekid Ankhed regiments, -1 Numidian regiment, -3 Burgundian regiments, -5 Burgundian levy regiments)
 
For a start, the Ligurians joined the war on the Agade Dag side. In addition to obviously upsetting the Ashaist balance and plans in Italy and the Mediterranean, this also led to the beginning of a long-awaited war between the Ashaist, pro-Tarekid Burgundsrich and the Belenist, pro-Ligurian splinter state of Lughenburg. Admittedly, this was somewhat anticlimactic due to the poorly-prepared state of the Lughenburgers, but with the help of Ligurian siege specialists the Belenists ultimately managed to force their way through “Karloman’s Dyke”, razing parts of the earthwork and seizing the long-contented city of Regenschirm [2].

(-1 Burgundian regiment, -1 Burgundian levy regiment, -3 Lughenburger regiments)

The Western Mediterranean saw lots of confused, complicated, often frenetic action, as grand plans collided with reality and each other over a remarkably wide area. It would be best, then, to start in chronological order as the events of the Arecoman War continued to unfold.

In 746, as the siege dragged on drearily at Arecomos, with both sides raising or deploying more troops and digging in with undiminished determination, it became increasingly obvious to both sides that both the siege and the war were to be decided in different theatres – most probably, the maritime one. Off the shores of Sardinia, the Tarekids and the Numidians joined forces, once more amassing a most impressive armada. It sailed east to remove the Blockade of Arecomos; catching the Agade Dag fleet in a poor (organisational) shape and at a clear numerical disadvantage, the Ashaists compounded their advantages with the skilled use of Arganthine Fire; taking heavy losses, the Agade Dag fleet had no choice but to retreat and scatter, while the attackers began to bring in reinforcements to Arecome.

At that, however, the Ashaist fortunes ran out. The Agade Dag fleet regrouped at Corcyra, receiving major reinforcements, while lesser detachments harassed the Ashaist navy. The Ashaist army that landed in the southwest of Arecome was easily slaughtered by the Odrysans and their allies in early 747. In the meantime, the Arecoman forces in southern Italy were unable to finish off the Hellenic resistance at Taras, while also being assailed by the Ligurians. Undeterred by the fierce resistance of the Latin feudals (or even by the rebellions in the Ashaist cities of Ligurian Italy), the Priest-Emperor’s vast hordes defeated Tarquinius Latinus at Aequum Tuticum; this and the arrival of a Hellenic feudal army that relieved Taras forced the Arecomans and their vassals to fall back into Calabria where they were able to hold out for some time (though in 750 they succumbed to a final, costly assault on the bastion of Cosentia). While yet unready to challenge the main Ashaist armada in direct combat, the Hellenes, joined by some of their allies, managed to first reinforce their Malta garrison, successfully driving back a Numidian attack, and then, assisted by the betrayal of the Akkadophilic Prince of Gabes (-10 Numidian ships), thoroughly thrashed the unwisely-separated Numidian fleet nearby. When the Principality of Gabes openly rebelled against the Ulasis monarchy in Numidia (+5 Hellenic levy regiments), the Hellenes and the Akkadians were able to quickly reinforce their co-conspirator. While the remaining Numidian city-states were unwilling to support the rebellion, indeed mobilising against it (+20 Numidian levy regiments), the Gabesians, with the support of their allies and the local Agade Dag populations, were able to overrun several eastern principalities. Although defeated by the loyalists at Tebessa in 748 and thus halted in their westwards progress, the anti-Ulasis forces were able to regroup and ultimately laid siege to Ulasis itself (-1 Numidian Confidence).

Also in 748, the Agade Dag forces struck. In the Battle of Ortygia (near Arecomos), the Tarekid fleet (abandoned by Numidians but joined by the patched-up Arecomans) was engaged by the Agade Dag navies in a suspiciously straightforward manner; the numbers were more even now, but the Ashaists were doing fine until the main Ligurian fleet arrived from the north. Before anything could be done the Ashaists were both thrown into disarray and encircled. The maneuverable Ligurian galleys infiltrated the enemy lines, keeping them from using Arganthine Fire and generally increasing the chaos. The drawn-out, costly struggle still was far from certain, but ultimately the poor state of the Arecoman ships, the sub-par crews on many of the Tarekid ships, the numerical advantage of the Agade Dag forces and the succesful boarding actions on several large Tarekid ships (7 Tarekid ships to Hellas) led to a resounding Agade Dag victory, albeit not the elimination of the Tarekid navy as the encirclement disintegrated in the midst of the battle and several Tarekid squadrons were ultimately able to escape, though in a ghastly shape. In the wake of the battle, the blockade of Arecomos was tightened again, increasing the dismay of the disease-ridden, starving defenders, and Emperor Archelus was finally able to initiate his master plan. He personally led an expedition that wrested the under-garrisoned, rebellious island of Corsica from Numidian hands, and, accompanied Odrys Jeno IV with his country’s finest as well as the fanatically devoted Archelian Guard, landed near Arganthinopolis in northeastern Iberia. Despite the relatively benign Tarekid religious policies there, the Agade Dag populace soon rose up in rebellion, welcoming Archelus as a liberator; the revolt spred from Arganthinopolis to the countryside and the other Arganthine cities under Tarekid rule (+15 Hellenic levy regiments). The Tarekids hastily dispatched forces from central Iberia to deal with this threat, but the invaders tore apart the first army they encountered at Dertosa, forcing the others to sit on the defensive. Fortunately for them, Archelus was both unprepared for such success and more concerned with securing his gains, manipulating the assorted Arganthine factions into crowning him Dominos of Tartessos. The Odrysans, however, moved ahead, seizing and plundering several cities and launching daring, brutal cavalry raids far and deep into Iberia’s inlands.

And in a final blow to the Ashaists (-1 Tarekid Confidence), in 750 the defenses of Arecomos finally collapsed. A large hungry riot combined with some desperate mutinies bred by the rapid breakdown of discipline in the last few months allowed the Odrysans to break into the city. The defenders crumbled, and for the next three days the city was ransacked like no city was ransacked before, with the assorted palaces and temples being stripped of anything remotely valuable (the same went for just about every other building) (+2 Odrysan banked eco.). The population – which was terrorised, massacred and/or raped en masse during the ransacking – was thus inclined to view the subsequent Hellenic occupation in a fairly positive light. Still, His Eminence was nowhere to be found. Whatever that implied, this victory was soon followed up with the capitulation of Marsala, the last Ashaist-held city in Arecome.

(-Arecomos as an independent polity, -4 Tarekid regiments, -7 Tarekid levy regiments, -2 Tarekid Ankhed regiments, -42 Tarekid ships, -7 Ligurian regiments, -3 Ligurian Sons of Belenu regiments, -10 Ligurian levy regiments, -14 Ligurian ships, -8 Odrysan regiments, -3 Odrysan ships, -3 Hellenic regiments, -11 Hellenic levy regiments, -13 Hellenic ships, -11 Hellenic Catadromii ships, -3 Numidian regiments, -9 Numidian Mir Amenar regiments, -9 Numidian levy regiments, -28 Numidian ships, -4 Akkadian regiments, -14 Akkadian ships, -2 Najjarian regiments, -9 Najjarian ships)

A localised campaign saw the Jalion warriors subjugate several tribes to the southeast without too much trouble (in spite of the coordination difficulties that led to unnecessary casualties).

(-2 Jalion regiments)

Just as the war with Samarkand ceased, the Kyrgys confederacy was assailed by another expansionist Turkic Agade Dag state – the Kipchak Empire. Partly as a continuation of their previous campaigns in the Steppe and partly out of apparent wariness towards the nascent, militaristic Buddhist confederacy, the Kipchaks sent out a large force to seize the westerly Kyrgys cities of Yaik [3] and Damdy; rather than simply cross the Yaik [3] River at the established border, the Kipchaks went through the lands of non-incorporated Buddhist Turkic tribes, whom they had to bludgeon into submission along the way; the delays involved cost them part of their element of surprise, but ultimately the attack on Yaik succeeded, though with high casualties. At Damdy, however, the Kyrgys had managed to react more properly; the local tribes (+10 Kyrgys levy regiments) were reinforced by the standing army, and ultimately succeeded in utterly routing the attackers, chasing them back to the river itself. There the war stalemated, as the Kyrgys army was itself exhausted and the Kipchaks had been able to entrench themselves quite well in the city of Yaik.

(-10 Kipchak regiments, -4 Kyrgys regiments, -3 Kyrgys levy regiments)

While the Agade Dag forces went on with their triumphant march in the Western Mediterranean, Emperor Tafari of Nubia and Rais Salib III of Arabia (who, incidentally, had failed to pay out the last Khalidid war indemnity to the Eternal Empire) decided to bring the war back to the Fertile Crescent. Levying several large armies to augment their already-standing ones, the Nubians invaded Karung in a multi-pronged assault. Despite receiving unexpected resistance even from amongst the land’s Ashaist population (+10 Hellenic levy regiments), the Nubians were able to overrun the Delta easily enough, taking Phashtar with the help of malcontent nobles. The logistical complications and the somewhat stiffening militia resistance failed to save the entire colony of Cyrene from a Nubian army that moved from Phashtar in 747-749. At the same time, an eastwards assault began as well; the southern Najjarian port of Elat was taken in a well-timed night assault, and the fortifications of Najjaria’s western border were subsequently assailed from both sides and taken easily enough in most cases. The continued advance was hindered by some particularily difficult fortifications, as well as by the arrival of a medium-sized Akkado-Najjarian army that was only barely fought off at Jabal Hilal and remained a nuisance afterwards. While Sinai was being secured by the Nubians, the Khalidids, after some prolonged preparations and careful infiltrations (made easier by the uncontrollable deserts and the friendly Ashaist Arabic tribes in the region), finally made their moves against Dag-al-Araba; with the help of the aforementioned Ashaists (+15 Khalidid levy regiments), the Khalidids launched sudden strikes at all of the key Araban cities outside of the southeastern coast; although ‘Ar’ar held out with Akkadian help, the rest were captured easily enough and the capital was besieged (to finally fall in 749, Dag’Urusi Khamenem having already died by then in a somewhat suspicious manner). Control over the desert was established easily enough, too, and the cities on the east coast were isolated, though largely ignored for now, their garrisons coming under Akkadian command (3 Araban regiments to Akkad). Thus Dag-al-Araba was overthrown for a second time, though this time the Agade Dag tribes were either thoroughly slaughtered or driven all the way to the eastern coast or Akkad (+5 Akkadian levy regiments). After this, both the Akkadians and the Khalidids decided each other to be too time-consuming and/or futile to attack, and instead focused their attentions on Najjaria, where the Nubians just began to break through. Determined to prevent history from repeating itself, the Najjarians themselves and the Akkadians fell back to the foritifcations in the south of the country’s centre; although small detachments continued to defend the southernmost sectors of the Najjarian Desert Wall, it was otherwise quite rightly decided to be a lost cause as the Nubians and the Khalidids were able to attack it from two directions; they did so successfully and linked up in 749. However, the combined army’s attack towards the Najjarian capital, Ariha, was hindered at the aforementioned central fortifications; even though with greater bloodloss the Ashaists did manage to overwhelm those, the army was in no shape to storm the Najjarian capital just yet, giving the enemy much-needed time to regroup and reinforce himself.

(-Dag-al-Araba as an independent polity, -1 Hellenic regiment, -10 Hellenic levy regiments, -10 Nubian regiments, -11 Nubian levy regiments, -2 Akkadian regiments, -3 Akkadian Turk Cavalry regiments, -1 Akkadian levy regiment, -5 Najjarian regiments, -6 Najjarian levy regiments, -12 Khalidid regiments, -8 Khalidid levy regiments)

In the waning years of High King Jagannagth’s rule in Sehmendari, tensions between Sitivasas and Akkad inexplicably grew, the Akkadians in particular fearing that the warmongering Huna king will eventually turn towards Central Asia. That did not occur, however, and as a new wars flared up elsewhere the attentions of the Akkad’s rulers turned elsewhere. This was poorly-timed; for Jagannagth died soon after the collapse of the Zubhrabhanu resistance in southeastern India, and his heir, Konavrttaijt II, was thus free to pursue his long-standing personal phobia. Alarmed by the large influx of Agade Dag missionaries in the northwestern parts of his realm – and by the reports of an anti-Sitivasas conspiracy led by Agade Dag community leaders in the area – he decided to turn his awesome military might towards an all-out assault against the Eternal Empire itself.

Despite some initial logistical and organisational difficulties (the Sitivasan army had just recently swelled in numbers and had little time to properly deal with the problems that stemmed from such mass-recruitment), Konavrttaijt II was soon able to initiate several grand campaigns. Directly overland, several attacks were launched at the nearby Akkadian towns and settlements; although the local Turk military settlers proved a major nuisance (+15 Akkadian levy regiments), ultimately stopping the Sitivasans short of securing all of their borderland objectives and inflicting (in cooperation with the local garrison troops) considerable losses upon the enemy, the Sitivasans still did manage to gain an uncomfortable amount of ground from which the Akkadians were unable to evict them just yet due to other alarming developments. Meanwhile, on the sea, Sitivasan naval squadrons terrorised Akkadian and Maganite war- and trade-ships (though this latter part harmed the Sitivasan commerce at least as much as that of the Akkadians); although two such squadrons were eliminated by a concentrated Akkadian fleet, the others subsequently united into a joint fleet of their own and defeated the now-outnumbered Akkadian-Maganite navy in the Strait of Enlil [4]. With the Maganites retreating to the harbour of Sohar and the Akkadians falling back to protect/repair at the trade port of Eribtamti [5], the Sitivasans were able to advance into the Ur Gulf easily enough. An attempted attack on Eribtamti failed, but there were other amphibious raids that, at the very least, succeeded in distracting would-be Akkadian reinforcements as well as spreading some terror amongst the populace in the province of Elam; some raids were launched into the coastal areas of Dag-al-Araba early on. Meanwhile, the finest of Sitivasan troops – complete with an elite engineering corps and advanced siege weaponry – were landed in central Magan. Although the local population failed to rise up in the support of the invaders, most of it didn’t fight back with much vigour against them, while the Maganite royal army, even when reinforced by Arabic clan warriors, was outnumbered and outmatched in all possible regards. The Sitivasans were still daunted by the impressive Maganite fortifications, but those were simply not enough; several fortresses were taken by storm early in the invasion, and the Nyarnan engineers lived up to their reputation by undermining and bringing down remarkable sections of the walls surrounding Sohar. The subsequent assault saw the Maganite defenders cut down, the Malik slain and lastly the trapped remnants of the Maganite fleet partly captured (8 Maganite ships to Sitivasas) and partly destroyed by the Sitivasan fleet during an attempt to escape. Resistance lingered on after that for some time, but by 750 even the most stubborn of Arabic clans in the small country were simply forced to flee into the western desert. With Sohar as a new forward base, the Sitivasans were able to launch a new series of raids, torching numerous coastal villages.

(-Magan as an independent nation, -3 Akkadian regiments, -8 Akkadian levy regiments, -24 Akkadian ships, -16 Sitivasan regiments, -25 Sitivasan ships)

In a very frustrating but ultimately-succesful campaign, the Prasannan army rooted out the Zubhrabhanu remnant factions and warlords in the northern Eastern Ghats.

(-4 Prasannan regiments)

With help and encouragement from the central government, the northeastern Turgulid feudals (+10 Turgulid levy regiments) waged war against the neighbouring Tungnus tribes, with some success.

(-1 Turgulid Sons of Enlil regiment, -2 Turgulid levy regiments)

The remaining Korean resistors were rooted out by the Jomonese army, despite occasional difficulties due to the terrain (which were ofcourse exploited by the Koreans).

(-2 Jomonese regiments)

Random Events:

The Samarkandian army suffered from low morale, poor logistics and the resulting mass desertions in the fringe regions (-5 Samarkandian regiments).

Changes in social conditions and the rise of a new educated urban strata led to political progress in Lughenburg (+1 Bureaucracy).

Special Bonuses:

Most Fruitful Persistance: Eldsland (+1 Confidence).

Most Detailed Orders: Danelaw (+military leadership bonus).

NPC Diplo:



OOC:

[1] Leufen=OTL Luneburg.

[2] Regenschirm=OTL Aurillac.

[3] Yaik (city)=OMD Orsk. Yaik (river) is also the old name for Ural River.

[4] Strait of Enlil=OTL Strait of Hormuz.

[5] Eribtamti=OTL Bandar Abbas.

Okay, sorry about the delays and the low quality again.

Birdjaguar said:
1 EP invested in pushing our Enlightenment level education further to see what happens when I surpass the top…
Click to expand...

According to the rules, absolutely nothing. :p
 
Okay, a BT now would be simply wrong. :p
 

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  • AFSNES I Map 750 AD.GIF
    AFSNES I Map 750 AD.GIF
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Veeery good! The war is going very good! But I demand Belenism listed in the World Religion section!
 
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