Chapter I - On Harer Majesty's Secret Service
January 1, 867 to May 29, 874
To begin with, I shall describe everyone's favourite subject. Administrative details! Begin by increasing crown authority from minimal to low. What is the point of being king if I can't boss my vassals around? After all, I may be smarter, more important, and handsomer than any of them, but what is the point if I can't control them like puppets?
After that, I increase feudal vassal levies to maximum. The survival of Abyssinia will rely on military might, so I need as many fighting men as I can get my hands on. Once I am able to again I will increase city and church levies as well. I already make a decent monthly income, about 3 gold per month to start, so increasing taxes isn't too important.
I also need a wife. I could marry one of the local Ethiopian noblewomen, but they are probably all awful. Instead I look to Europe. Because as the saying goes, once you go black, you never go back, since you are now in Ethiopia and travel in this era is difficult at best. Thus returning home would probably be more effort than it is worth, what with all the bandits, pirates, hostile deserts, and uppity peasants. It also raises the question of how she managed to get here alive in once piece to begin with. I am beginning to suspect that she may weigh the same as a duck.
Sure, she may only be the daughter of some lousy count, but she possesses the one thing I am looking for in a woman right now; the ability to handle money. A wife with good steward skill will increase my income a bit and provide a nice boost to my demesne limit.
Now, finally, time for some war! To my east is the Shirazid Emirate, who control Harer. This land rightfully belongs to Abyssinia, so it is a priority to take it. In addition, taking it will get rid of a potential secondary front I would have to fight on if I am attacked by my Sunni neighbours. There are two options for a casus belli. Holy war or de jure claims. De jure claims have to be fought one at a time, while the holy war can be used on the entire emirate, but can also potentially bring in other Sunni rulers. Luckily, the Rassids in Yemen are Shia, so they won't care, making it safe to holy war the Shirazids with no possible repurcussions.
Harer is divided between the eastern fringe of the Ethiopian Highlands in the west, and a desert in the east. The key to the battle is to seize control of the province of Harer and hold it against enemy attack.
Immediately fate hands me a lucky break, as the Shirazid emir abandons Harer and marches his army east to assemble in Berbera. And because of the fact that if you go south you will apparently fall off the edge of the world, he has no way of flanking me or getting around my army, and must attack it head on once I have occupied his capital if he wishes to win.
The decisive battle of the war is fought in Zeila. Two equally matched armies in terms of numbers, both with about 1,500 men. However the Ethiopians are led by superior generals, and have an advantage of defending in mountainous terrain. The battle also proves to be a valuable learning experience for King Anbasa, where he picks up the unyielding trait, which can potentially be invaluable in future campaigns.
With that victory and the successful capture of Harer, the Abyssinians are victorious and capture Harer. Since I don't want that land for myself, it is distributed among landless Ethiopian nobles and formed into a new Duchy of Harer. This is a very important strategic victory for Ethiopia, as this new duchy will supply a ton of manpower in the future.
In other news, my half-brother, Prince Dil Na'od died a natural poison induced death. It is truly tragic. What kind of person would just go around poisoning their own brother? Some kind of monster, clearly.
As I am his heir I inherit all of his land. But do I even want it? Every time I look at it I'll just be reminded of that time I gave some guy some money, and he ended up poisoning my brother on my instructions. I guess I'll just have to keep it. It's what he would of wanted. Maybe.
Oh, and a couple of vassals got all ambitious and declared war on me, but I crushed them and threw them in jail. But that is to be expected when dealing with smelly counts.
Anyway, enough about the time I murdered my own brother and imprisoned my vassals. Across the Gulf of Aden lies Yemen, ruled by the Rassid Emirate. It is my next best option for expansion, and they are under attack. Since they are Shia Muslims, their Sunni neighbours have ganged up on them.
This aggression will not stand. I can't simply stand back and watch these other nations bully the Rassids and take their stuff. As a result, I declare war on the Rassids and try to grab as much of their stuff as I can.
See what I mean about the manpower from Harer? It provided 2,000 men. That was more than what I started with.
But the thing with this war is, it's not entirely about grabbing land. I'm also using it as a scouting mission. To the north of Yemen is the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, ruled by the Hashimid Emirate. In the short term they are probably my biggest rival. And since they are the primary aggressor against the Rashids, this gives me a good opportunity to check out what they have in terms of manpower.
They were able to bring 6,400 men along on their invasion of Yemen. Those of you who have taken any sort of math course in their lives will probably be able to recognize that 6,400 is indeed a larger number than 3,400. But don't worry about that. I have some tricks up my sleeve that make 3,400 ≥ 6,400.
The war naturally comes to an end with a Rassid defeat. The Hashimids take control of most of Yemen, but I gain control of Aden, and a small barony in Taizz.
So where does that leave us? Right here:
With a showdown with the Hashimids looming on the horizon, Abyssinia needs to prepare itself. The county of Hayya willingly accepted our offer of vassalization, leaving only the Kingdom of Nubia between us and the Tulunids. I plan on leaving them alone for now, as they provide a nice buffer state against a potential enemy. Going on the offensive from this point on may prove difficult, and may depend on whether or not the Abbasids decide to get involved in any holy wars I launch. Hopefully the Byzantines and Persians can keep them occupied.
