Luckymoose
The World is Mine
orders sent. Probably not good enough though. Oh well, I try. Andis, you will not win with out much trouble. 
INES I: Anno Domini
- Thread starter Imago
- Start date
jeps
Arcadefire
Good, you arent invading me.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
For the record, Rome invaded Lusitania, Barcelona, Minoa, Aegypt, Gaul and the Byzantine Empire
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
alex994 said:For the record, Rome invaded Lusitania, Barcelona, Minoa, Aegypt, Gaul and the Byzantine Empire
I'd find that helpful.
121 AD 140 AD: Turn 7
Domestic Events
A world turns. The great Nilotic War of the past has died, and from its ashes, new strength grows. New strength, not only in the Middle East, but in Lusitania and Gaul as well. For those two nations continue their growth.
Gaul, ever southernizing, begins construction of a series of academies throughout the nation. Cautious that the power that is Rome might one day invade their rich land, the Gallic leaders fortify the western side of the Rhone. This maneuver may well have irritated the people, had not their lust for conquest been sated by a new maneuver of King Bituitos. He declares that the Rhine should be the new eastern border of Gaul, and sends a massive army to make it so. However, the native Tencteri, Usip, Mattiaci, and other tribes that live in the newly claimed region, while worn out from inter-tribal warfare, form a coalition against the Gallics, who, not caring about the politics of the region, attack and subjugate everyone.
Nevertheless, in the northern areas of their planned conquests, the Gallics are quite successful, as their fleet on the Rhine wreaks havoc, distracting the natives from the advancing Gallic armies. However, further south of that, the Gallic armies, while victorious, fall short of their intended goals, not so much because of the resistance of the natives, but because of ill-funded logistics.
(-3 000 Gallic Regulars, -2 000 Gallic Warriors of Taranis)
To the north, there is more bad news for the Gallic throne; the tribes on the isle of Britannia hear about Gallic aggression, and many of them become quite aggressive themselves, as they fear for their own safety. An attack against the Cornwall trading settlement was beaten back, but by now, that settlement is little more than an armed war camp, and very little of the trading Bituitos hoped to achieve is getting done.
(-1 000 Gallic Regulars)
And further to the east of all this, the Alemanni people of southern Germania look at the war to their west in horror, and band together to form a small yet unified nation, just north of Romes frontier.
(+Alemannia as an Independent Nation)
South of this, Lusitania undergoes problems of a more technical nature. It seems both the Romans and the Lusitanians had thought they could tap into the profits of Tingis, when in truth only the Romans could. Some confusion ensued, as the planned transfer of Tingis and the surrounding land from Roman to Lusitanian hands went array, with the Lusitanians screaming bloody murder, after they learned that effectively all of their economic surplus would be for quite some time headed in the direction of Rome, but in the end, they did get the port city, and gained control of the Straights of Gibraltar, which some Lusitanian pragmatists thought was worth the price.
Due to the confusion over the treasury many Lusitanian plans were canceled, but not all of them. Lusitanias hold on peaceful Morocco, for example, was solidified, and the city of Rabat was founded. By now, Morocco has a greater Lusitanian population than the eastern part of their mainland does, as that region, while no longer revolting, remains stubbornly Punic in both ethnicity, and culture.
A small army of soldiers extend the coastline of Lusitania northward along the ocean, but this endeavor was greatly harmed by a lack of funding for troops, and so, only a small piece of land was conquered.
(-1 000 Lusitanian Regulars)
Rome attempts to assimilate Icosium, and invests in restoring Carthage to its former glory, but is interrupted in the process by what the pessimists call yet another Punic War.
In truth, what occurs is much less than that, but still, for the senate, it is quite annoying. A pan-Icosium movment forms, and, acting largely like bandits, as opposed to freedom fighters, the soldiers in that rebel army largely destroy Roman trade in the region by ambushing caravans and the like. The Roman generals wish that the Icosiums would just raise the flag of rebellion, and fight with conventional tactics, for if that was the case, they could easily be crushed, but as it is, Rome steadily looses soldiers to attrition, and this, coupled with the fact that Carthage failed to regain any status, reflects negatively on the government back home.
(-2 000 Roman Legionaries, -1 Roman Confidence)
In more odd matters, on the African coast, Scipio, quite old by now, goes and honors Hannibal at his tomb, lamenting his death. Scipio was criticized by the senate for doing this, but the great general replied that he failed to see the problem in honoring the greatest enemy of Rome, after he had been defeated.
Rome also, in face of the odd political and rebel machinations, reorganizes the nation into a system of seven provinces, Illyria, Cisalpine Gaul, Italia, Balearia, Sicilia, Mauretania, Carthago, and Tripoli. This well defined system increases the efficiency of the government.
(+1 Roman Leadership)
Despite being beset by the rebels, the Roman government decides it is time to move from being the greatest nation of the western Mediterranean, to the unchallenged master of that same sea. The Roman government declares war on Minoa and Barcelona, hoping to take over their lands, while their armies and navies are distracted with the Byzantines.
(See Military Events)
To the east, somehow, much to the surprise of its own populace, Cyrene fails to get invaded by one nation or another. Left alone, Cyrene begins to develop as an Egypto-Israeli trading state, and generally has good relations with all of the nations that surround it.
(+1 Cyrene Culture)
Aegypt, meanwhile, recovers from the Nilotic War as best it can, which, indeed, turns out to be quite well. Pharaoh Amarsis, on his deathbed, scores a diplomatic relations coup as he marries a daughter of the Lower Egyptian nobility, and moves the capital of the nation to Thebes, to appease the Upper Egyptians. He somehow manages to impregnate his wife, and, after a brief regency, the boy-king Khufu takes power over the vast territories of the Nile.
(+1 Aegyptian Confidence)
Indeed, it is under Khufus rule, and not Amarsis, that Aegyptian power reached a new peak. After a truly brief struggle, the tribes of an interior desert were conquered, and the Sinai was bequeathed from the Byzantines to the Aegyptians, in exchange for free access to the Sinai Canal. Heavy investment in Nokh and Ismailia make them important economic centers, restoring Lower Egypt to a form of prosperity. Construction began on the Onyx Pyramids in Thebes. Under Khufus rule, the Aegyptian Tantaman Dynastys lands stretched from the Mediterranean to the crux of the Nile.
(+Nokh as an Aegyptian Economic Center, +Ismailia as an Aegyptian Economic Center)
The Jewish population in Lower Egypt, after several failed rebellions, was finally pacified. However, the stubborn refusal of Khufu to restore Nokhs old name, Memphis, brought about an oddly large amount of dissent amongst the Egyptians, while it sated some of the Hebrew rebelliousness. Attempts to convert the Hebrews of Lower Egypt to Egyptian Polytheism are, with the end of the Fourth Rebellion, finally beginning to work, but slowly, and only amongst the youngest of the Hebrews.
(-1 Aegyptian Culture, -4 000 Aegyptian Regulars, -2 000 Aegyptian Royal Guard)
Between Aegypt and the Kingdom of the Chosen, a strong animosity lurked. There was no continuation of hostilities between the two nations, but both sides, quite paranoid about an attack from the other, made numerous defensive plans and preparations, which all came to naught, as it seemed in the end, all both sides wanted was peace. An official border between the two nations is established through the Sinai.
The Kingdom of the Chosen, established under King Yehuda as xenophobic and isolationist, becomes increasingly more so as time goes on. The nation is renamed to Bachiria, a name that is hardly a change in Hebrew, but as Prince Negev takes the throne, and continues his fathers policies, it is not before long that Bachirias neighbors notice that the desert nation is by no means a successor to Israel. The nation places a special tax on all foreign merchants that enter its borders, in sharp contrast to mercantilist Israel. Temples to YHWH are burned, as King Negev decrees that the richly decorated altars are tributes to the priests that ruined the nation, and nothing more. He declares that YHWH, being everywhere, can be prayed to even on a sand dune in the middle of the Arabian Desert, and so, the temples are not needed. Perhaps inspired by a steady stream of propaganda, the people believe him.
More interestingly, King Negev divulges the secret of the angels and the Satans in a public speech that is passed from mouth to mouth across the nation and the wider region. He says they were nothing more than spies serving the corrupt priesthood. Furthermore, he declares that subterfuge is not the way of the new nation of Bachiria, and that the people must take it upon themselves to be YHWHs Chosen people by performing pious actions, and not hiding in the shadows, or waiting for a higher power to take care of problems. The Zealots are renamed the Kanaim, and the drugs they had been using are removed from their diet. Vigilantism becomes an ever increasing phenomenon, and is endorsed by Prince Negev. As the nation gains cohesiveness, and missionaries are sent out into the desert, to convince new tribes to take part in the new changes, it seems the peculiar nation of Bachiria may well survive, and prosper.
(+1 Bachiran Culture)
However, to the south, Axum and the Union of Aden seem content in their role as Aegyptian tributary states. The Union of Aden pays a sizable bribe to Aegypt, in exchange for the right to exist, and the Axumite tributes steadily flow in the direction of Thebes.
In Axum, at least, the nation has some life of its own. Roads are paved throughout the land, increasing connectivity, and further expansion occurs in the directions of the surrounding Hebrew tribes. By this point, it seems to some scholars that it is inevitable Axum will take over the entire Ethiopian region.
(-1 000 Axumite Regulars)
Here, also, is the heart of old Judaism. With the fall of Israel, and Bachiras new direction in terms of faith, Axum becomes the center of conservative Judaism, as opposed to Bachiras Yehudan Judaism. Cyrene, in contrast to both southern Africa, and Arabia, has a form of Judaism that is steadily evolving to be more Hellenized and Romanized.
North, there is a land not recovering from old wounds, but forging new ones. In Athens, a nobleman named Apollodorus becomes tired with the Athenian governments odd policies, and vows to no longer watch as the Athenian Army is grown for no purpose, even as the last of its fleet falls to pirates, and Athenian merchants are forced to hire increasing numbers of mercenaries, for their protection.
(-2 Athenian Ships)
Using a variety of tactics to gain popular support, Apollodorus becomes the de facto leader of the Athenian democracy, and immediately embarks upon a campaign to restore Athens. Pillaging the Athenian treasury, filled with coins that sat there for decades, never spent, he financed a new navy. The people of Athens rejoiced, and even now, they hear Apollodorus orating about further ways to restore Athens to glory. What those ways are, however, remain to be seen.
Byzantium gets somewhat less confusing, but in order to do that, it gets more confusing, first. Achilleas dies during a feast, supposedly of food poisoning. Blame is pointed in all directions, especially in the direction of Patrocles, the Emperor with no power, who could stand to gain the most from the assassination. However, before Achillean soldiers could storm Patrocles estate, and kill him, quite possibly throwing Byzantium into complete anarchy once more, Patrocles makes an official statement, declaring that he endorses Achilleas son Demos as the next Emperor, and that he no longer wants power.
Demos takes the throne. He is a man much in the mold of his father, a man of considerable skill, and seems competent. The main problem of all of this, at least according to scholars, is the debate about whether Achileas was the last ruler of the Constantine Dynasty, acting as regent, or the first ruler of the Achilean Dynasty, that bore his name. The people are also somewhat confused, and many of Patrocles silent supporters feel that he betrayed them yet again, but nevertheless, everything manages to hold together. The armies are grown massively.
(-1 Byzantine Confidence, -1 Byzantine Army Training)
Perhaps in response to the official declaration of the death of the Constantine Dynasty, the ignored region of the Bosporan, formerly Loyalist, and now largely in anarchy, pulls together, and declares itself independent from Byzantium, once and for all. A Byzantine style monarchy is set up.
(+Bosporan as an Independent Nation)
As Byzantium readies itself for the next stage of the Eagle War, David III of Assyria proves himself to be quite possibly the best leader that nation ever had. Declaring that the very future of the natural order is at stake, David III inspires large numbers of Assyrians to defend the homeland. In truth, what the Army of the Defilers did to pave the way for the Byzantine Fifth Army is largely backfiring now, as it is quite easy for David III to demonize the Byzantine people. All he has to do is point at the smoking wreak that is his capital, and a good third of his nation.
(+20 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
Where the Eagle War will lead is for the generals to decide, for neither side is out yet.
(See Military Events)
West, Persia and the gulf states do little, though there is a newly-forged hope that a strong leader will be born, to lead Persia back to glory
Even further west, Mohenjo-Daro reforms, under the next in its seemingly endless line of Princes, Prince Merwan. Noting that the common folk feel distanced from their Indus masters, Merwan decides on a scheme to change that. Under Merwans rule, the capital is moved from Mohenjo-Daro to the newly founded city of Delhi. Delhi is a much more central location than the city of Mohenjo-Daro ever was, and the people of the nation, are joyous, for the most part. Some of the Indus lords are angry that the base of power has been moved away from their regions, but most see that the move of the capital to Delhi will prolong the life of their ancient empire.
Compounding the action of founding a new capital, Merwan also decides to rename his nation to something that evokes unity. He declares Mohenjo-Daro to be henceforth known as Greater India. This has little practical effect, as the dynasty of Mohenjo-Daro is still very much on the throne, but the peasants love it.
(+1 Greater Indian Confidence)
To confirm this point, the nation of Harappa, long a tributary state of Mohenjo-Daro, and by now completely encircled by that nations borders, decides that it is best off integrating with Greater India. The celebrations last a month, and, overjoyed as it seems the subcontinent is gradually falling into his lap, Prince Merwan decides that he might as well start taking the rest of it. He declares war on Bengal, in gross violation of a non-aggression pact.
(-1 Greater Indian Confidence)
(See Military Events)
To the south, untouched by the Greater Indian War, Sri Lanka, or Ceylon, as it is increasingly called, is fully colonized by the joint efforts of Greater India and Pandya.
(-1 000 Greater Indian Regulars, -1 000 Pandyan Regulars)
Satavahana enters the Iron Age.
(+Satavahana in Iron Age)
As this occurs, however, the Greater Indian colonists on Ceylon are paid a visit by a pair of nearly wreaked ships, ships of foreign design, and crewed by Easterners, who speak a foreign language. Once the language barrier was pierced, however, the Easterners recounted their story to the Greater Indians, explaining that they are from the nation of Chu, and most of their expedition sunk on the treacherous journey to the new land they have reached.
(-3 Chu Ships)
In due time, tentative connections were set up between the nations of Chu and Greater India, and with this, fledgling trade links began to bloom, but much of the progress was negated due to the Greater Indian War, as the Bengalis began to take prisoner all of the Easterners who arrived at their ports, under charges of them being allied to Greater India.
It seems few of Asia care about treaties these days, as witnessed by the actions of Chu against Zhou, and visa versa. In Chu, even as the great system of reforms known as Heavens Mandate are completed, integrating the Chu Royal Guards with the army proper, Chu flexes its military muscle, by sending a expeditionary force northwards, to help the Koryo tribes protect themselves against Zhou aggression, and establish their own nation.
This effort succeeds, if only because it seems the Zhou have evacuated all their northern troops, leaving only settlers to resist against a joint Chu-Koryo attack. The nation of Koryo is established, at quite generous borders.
(-1 000 Chu Regulars, +Koryo as an Independent Nation)
It was debatable whether the Chu assistance of the Koryo in the north was a declaration of war against the Zhou, as no such official statement was made, and no further operations by Chu against Zhou took place.
However, the Zhou underwent operations against the Chu. It seemed the Zhou commanders had intended to declare war against the Chu in violation of the NAP even before the Chu helped to Koryo, as testified by some of their soldiers. It seemed that Emperor Si of the Zhou had given all of his generals huge bundles of sticks, and told them to remove one stick each day, and, when all the sticks were left, they were to attack the Chu. It was an odd sort of plan, but the epic war that resulted from Sis actions was thereafter known as the Stick War.
(See Spotlight)
Military Events
The Roman attack of opportunity against Minoa and Barcelona expanded the Merchants War into a new theater, one the trade powers were not suited to handle. Two Roman Legions set sail from Icosium in the direction of Barcelona, along with a massive fleet, which truly was not needed, as the Mino-Barcelonan Fleets were elsewhere. A multi-pronged offensive against Barcelona was launched. The south prong brought the Barcelonans to battle, where they found themselves outnumbered and facing off against enemies better trained and equipped. The Barcelonans were routed.
(-2 000 Roman Legionaries, -5 000 Barcelonan Regulars)
In the north of the small nation, a second force was landed by the capital, and the Legionaries there dismantled the last of the Barcelonan army and captured the capital, completing the conquest.
(-1 000 Roman Legionaries, -1 000 Barcelonan Regulars)
Meanwhile, the Barcelona government in exile, and the Barcelonan fleet, increasingly associated with and subservient to the Minoans, petitioned for a Minoan fleet to be sent to liberate their homeland. The Minoan rulers in Phaistos did not see much of a choice, as with Barcelonas fall, they would be left without allies, and so, praying that the Byzantines would not take advantage of their weakness, launched a forty ship combined force westward, intent on destroying Roman trade, until the senate agreed to withdraw from their occupation of Barcelona.
This force met up with a small Roman fleet at Malta, and a chaotic battle for the island ensued. The Romans, outnumbered, withdrew without heavy casualties, but Malta was reinforced, and Minoan strategists planned for a further attack.
(-9 Roman Ships, -4 Barcelonan Ships, -3 Minoan Ships)
However, the Romans next launched an attack on Aleria, the Minoan trade city on Corsica, and took it without much of a struggle. There was little the Minoans could do to prevent this, but nevertheless, the fall of Aleria enraged to Minoan admirals so much that they set sail for Sicilia.
(-1 000 Roman Legionaries, -1 000 Minoan Regulars)
However, upon arriving at the island, they met up with yet another Roman fleet, this one larger than the last, and this one, fighting on home territory. After a dramatic battle, the rather desperate Minoans were repulsed back to Malta, and the Barcelona government in exile collapsed from the shockwaves of the defeat, with the remaining Barcelonan fleet becoming one and the same as the Minoan.
(-20 Roman Ships, -7 Barcelonan Ships, -Barcelona as an Independent Nation, -15 Minoan Ships, 8 Barcelonan Ships to Minoa)
The Romans, content with their gains, and somewhat reeling from the Battle of Syracuse, which left their navy in a confused state of affairs, let Malta be, as they regrouped.
Back in the homeland, however, the Minoans discovered the situation was scarce better. The First Byzantine Fleet blockaded Crete, fending off Minoan attempts to break the blockade, and, in so doing, destroyed the status of Phaistos as a trade center.
(-9 Byzantine Ships, -8 Minoan Ships, -Phaistos as a Minoan Economic Center)
With the blockade unbreakable, even by the feared Minoan navy, that same navy, largely trapped on the far side of the blockade, increasingly turns pirate, basing themselves at Malta. The cohesiveness of the Minoan nation hangs by a thread.
In the Eagle War, the Third Byzantine Army strikes out against the Hittite rebels. Stronger than expected, the Hittites put up a good fight, but in the end, an efficient strategy of city hopping on the part of the Byzantines defeats resistances to Greek rule in the interior. Central Anatolia is Byzantine once again. A small section of nominally Byzantine land off to the northeast of the nation is still in Hittite hands, but the Byzantines chose to ignore that, in their quest to defeat the greater enemy, Assyria.
(-7 000 Byzantine Myrmidions)
An Assyria which, meanwhile, was far from idle. As the majority of their forces regrouped for the coming battles, the Assyrians in the captured Byzantine city of Tarsus beat a hasty retreat, burning the city to the ground as they left, and rushing eastwards as fast as they could to meet back up with the main part of their forces. Another Hittite rebellion took control over the ashes of Tarsus, but this was put down by the Byzantines without much trouble, as they moved in and occupied what was left of the city.
(-Tarsus as a Byzantine Economic Center, -1 000 Byzantine Myrmidions)
This situation was further complicated, as the Byzantine Fifth initiated a strategic retreat, heading back to fortify Antioch until reinforcements arrived from the Third and the Fourth. And so, two different retreating armies ran into each other. A confused battle ensued, but in the end, portions of the Assyrian army managed to get to Assyrian held Phoenicia, and relative safety.
(-2 000 Assyrian Regulars, -2 000 Byzantine Myrmidions)
And so, the forces of two different empires regrouped their forces as fast as they could. The Assyrians formed an elite army corps known as the Desert Princes, and, in preparation for the battles they knew would occur, fortified Harran, and the Phonecian city of Tyre.
Meanwhile, to the south, the Assyrians sent a large portion of their volunteer armies, along with a small core of regulars, south, to defeat the Babylonian rebellion. The Babylonians, overwhelmed by the massive force, and more frightened of the threat of the Byzantines than the Assyrians, capitulated, and the trade centers in the region were recaptured intact.
(-1 000 Assyrian Regulars, -3 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
Meanwhile, however, the Median rebellion grows wildly out of control, as the Medes are joined by Persians who want to reunite with their homeland. The Assyrian commanders, deciding that this region is more trouble that it was worth, retreat to the Fertile Crescent.
(-4 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
Wanting to cut of Assyrias access to the sea, the Byzantines decided that they needed to recapture Phoenicia. At Antioch, a massive Byzantine host of thirteen thousand Myrmidions assembled, and marched south, where ten thousand Assyria defenders waited for them. It was said that Tyre was the most fortified city in the world, when the Byzantines struck. The siege of that city went on for months, then broke off as the Assyrians defeated the Byzantines, then restarted, as the Byzantines pressed forward again, and so on, and so on.
(-6 000 Byzantine Myrmadions, -3 000 Assyrian Regulars, -4 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
However, the doom of the Assyrians in Phoenicia was spelled when Byzantine Marines from the Sinai were dropped off on the coast. The Assyrian general Rastafa decided it was time to retreat, and so he did, making the Byzantines pay for every step they took closer to Assyrian soil. The Assyrian army, as ever, oddly well supplied, seemed to be able to slowly wining the war of attrition, even as the Byzantines continued forward. Tyre was in ruins when they took it, and thus, nearly useless to them.
(-Tyre as a Byzantine Economic Center, -2 000 Byzantine Marines, -3 000 Byzantine Myrmidions, -1 000 Assyrian Regulars, -1 000 Assyrian Desert Princes, -4 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
And there the war stagnated. The Byzantines, never really able to move forward after Phoenicia, found themselves deadlocked.
Heading east, we come to a far different war, the Greater Indian War. This was, by comparison to the Eagle War, no epic test of wills. This was merely the Greater Indian Armies proving that they were the strongest in the world. Even before the attacks began, local leaders of Bengal cried out for Greater Indian annexation, and things simply went downhill for the Bengali government from there.
Honestly not outnumbered, or caught by surprise, the Bengalis had few other advantages, as the Greater Indian Armies were well trained, equipped, were blessed with overwhelming science superiority, and intelligent leaders. Battles at the border were overwhelmingly in Greater Indias favor, and the Bengalis quickly found themselves retreating back to their home delta.
(-11 000 Bengali Regulars, -5 000 Greater Indian Regulars)
Once the great gains were made, however, stagnation began to set in, as the Greater Indian leaders had neglected to properly fund logistics. Another offensive resulted in the occupation of the northern part of the Ganges delta, but then, it seemed, the Greater Indians could not continue for the time being.
(-9 000 Bengali Regulars, -7 000 Greater Indian Regulars)
The Bengali government knows it is only a matter of time before they are defeated, however.
Domestic Events
A world turns. The great Nilotic War of the past has died, and from its ashes, new strength grows. New strength, not only in the Middle East, but in Lusitania and Gaul as well. For those two nations continue their growth.
Gaul, ever southernizing, begins construction of a series of academies throughout the nation. Cautious that the power that is Rome might one day invade their rich land, the Gallic leaders fortify the western side of the Rhone. This maneuver may well have irritated the people, had not their lust for conquest been sated by a new maneuver of King Bituitos. He declares that the Rhine should be the new eastern border of Gaul, and sends a massive army to make it so. However, the native Tencteri, Usip, Mattiaci, and other tribes that live in the newly claimed region, while worn out from inter-tribal warfare, form a coalition against the Gallics, who, not caring about the politics of the region, attack and subjugate everyone.
Nevertheless, in the northern areas of their planned conquests, the Gallics are quite successful, as their fleet on the Rhine wreaks havoc, distracting the natives from the advancing Gallic armies. However, further south of that, the Gallic armies, while victorious, fall short of their intended goals, not so much because of the resistance of the natives, but because of ill-funded logistics.
(-3 000 Gallic Regulars, -2 000 Gallic Warriors of Taranis)
To the north, there is more bad news for the Gallic throne; the tribes on the isle of Britannia hear about Gallic aggression, and many of them become quite aggressive themselves, as they fear for their own safety. An attack against the Cornwall trading settlement was beaten back, but by now, that settlement is little more than an armed war camp, and very little of the trading Bituitos hoped to achieve is getting done.
(-1 000 Gallic Regulars)
And further to the east of all this, the Alemanni people of southern Germania look at the war to their west in horror, and band together to form a small yet unified nation, just north of Romes frontier.
(+Alemannia as an Independent Nation)
South of this, Lusitania undergoes problems of a more technical nature. It seems both the Romans and the Lusitanians had thought they could tap into the profits of Tingis, when in truth only the Romans could. Some confusion ensued, as the planned transfer of Tingis and the surrounding land from Roman to Lusitanian hands went array, with the Lusitanians screaming bloody murder, after they learned that effectively all of their economic surplus would be for quite some time headed in the direction of Rome, but in the end, they did get the port city, and gained control of the Straights of Gibraltar, which some Lusitanian pragmatists thought was worth the price.
Due to the confusion over the treasury many Lusitanian plans were canceled, but not all of them. Lusitanias hold on peaceful Morocco, for example, was solidified, and the city of Rabat was founded. By now, Morocco has a greater Lusitanian population than the eastern part of their mainland does, as that region, while no longer revolting, remains stubbornly Punic in both ethnicity, and culture.
A small army of soldiers extend the coastline of Lusitania northward along the ocean, but this endeavor was greatly harmed by a lack of funding for troops, and so, only a small piece of land was conquered.
(-1 000 Lusitanian Regulars)
Rome attempts to assimilate Icosium, and invests in restoring Carthage to its former glory, but is interrupted in the process by what the pessimists call yet another Punic War.
In truth, what occurs is much less than that, but still, for the senate, it is quite annoying. A pan-Icosium movment forms, and, acting largely like bandits, as opposed to freedom fighters, the soldiers in that rebel army largely destroy Roman trade in the region by ambushing caravans and the like. The Roman generals wish that the Icosiums would just raise the flag of rebellion, and fight with conventional tactics, for if that was the case, they could easily be crushed, but as it is, Rome steadily looses soldiers to attrition, and this, coupled with the fact that Carthage failed to regain any status, reflects negatively on the government back home.
(-2 000 Roman Legionaries, -1 Roman Confidence)
In more odd matters, on the African coast, Scipio, quite old by now, goes and honors Hannibal at his tomb, lamenting his death. Scipio was criticized by the senate for doing this, but the great general replied that he failed to see the problem in honoring the greatest enemy of Rome, after he had been defeated.
Rome also, in face of the odd political and rebel machinations, reorganizes the nation into a system of seven provinces, Illyria, Cisalpine Gaul, Italia, Balearia, Sicilia, Mauretania, Carthago, and Tripoli. This well defined system increases the efficiency of the government.
(+1 Roman Leadership)
Despite being beset by the rebels, the Roman government decides it is time to move from being the greatest nation of the western Mediterranean, to the unchallenged master of that same sea. The Roman government declares war on Minoa and Barcelona, hoping to take over their lands, while their armies and navies are distracted with the Byzantines.
(See Military Events)
To the east, somehow, much to the surprise of its own populace, Cyrene fails to get invaded by one nation or another. Left alone, Cyrene begins to develop as an Egypto-Israeli trading state, and generally has good relations with all of the nations that surround it.
(+1 Cyrene Culture)
Aegypt, meanwhile, recovers from the Nilotic War as best it can, which, indeed, turns out to be quite well. Pharaoh Amarsis, on his deathbed, scores a diplomatic relations coup as he marries a daughter of the Lower Egyptian nobility, and moves the capital of the nation to Thebes, to appease the Upper Egyptians. He somehow manages to impregnate his wife, and, after a brief regency, the boy-king Khufu takes power over the vast territories of the Nile.
(+1 Aegyptian Confidence)
Indeed, it is under Khufus rule, and not Amarsis, that Aegyptian power reached a new peak. After a truly brief struggle, the tribes of an interior desert were conquered, and the Sinai was bequeathed from the Byzantines to the Aegyptians, in exchange for free access to the Sinai Canal. Heavy investment in Nokh and Ismailia make them important economic centers, restoring Lower Egypt to a form of prosperity. Construction began on the Onyx Pyramids in Thebes. Under Khufus rule, the Aegyptian Tantaman Dynastys lands stretched from the Mediterranean to the crux of the Nile.
(+Nokh as an Aegyptian Economic Center, +Ismailia as an Aegyptian Economic Center)
The Jewish population in Lower Egypt, after several failed rebellions, was finally pacified. However, the stubborn refusal of Khufu to restore Nokhs old name, Memphis, brought about an oddly large amount of dissent amongst the Egyptians, while it sated some of the Hebrew rebelliousness. Attempts to convert the Hebrews of Lower Egypt to Egyptian Polytheism are, with the end of the Fourth Rebellion, finally beginning to work, but slowly, and only amongst the youngest of the Hebrews.
(-1 Aegyptian Culture, -4 000 Aegyptian Regulars, -2 000 Aegyptian Royal Guard)
Between Aegypt and the Kingdom of the Chosen, a strong animosity lurked. There was no continuation of hostilities between the two nations, but both sides, quite paranoid about an attack from the other, made numerous defensive plans and preparations, which all came to naught, as it seemed in the end, all both sides wanted was peace. An official border between the two nations is established through the Sinai.
The Kingdom of the Chosen, established under King Yehuda as xenophobic and isolationist, becomes increasingly more so as time goes on. The nation is renamed to Bachiria, a name that is hardly a change in Hebrew, but as Prince Negev takes the throne, and continues his fathers policies, it is not before long that Bachirias neighbors notice that the desert nation is by no means a successor to Israel. The nation places a special tax on all foreign merchants that enter its borders, in sharp contrast to mercantilist Israel. Temples to YHWH are burned, as King Negev decrees that the richly decorated altars are tributes to the priests that ruined the nation, and nothing more. He declares that YHWH, being everywhere, can be prayed to even on a sand dune in the middle of the Arabian Desert, and so, the temples are not needed. Perhaps inspired by a steady stream of propaganda, the people believe him.
More interestingly, King Negev divulges the secret of the angels and the Satans in a public speech that is passed from mouth to mouth across the nation and the wider region. He says they were nothing more than spies serving the corrupt priesthood. Furthermore, he declares that subterfuge is not the way of the new nation of Bachiria, and that the people must take it upon themselves to be YHWHs Chosen people by performing pious actions, and not hiding in the shadows, or waiting for a higher power to take care of problems. The Zealots are renamed the Kanaim, and the drugs they had been using are removed from their diet. Vigilantism becomes an ever increasing phenomenon, and is endorsed by Prince Negev. As the nation gains cohesiveness, and missionaries are sent out into the desert, to convince new tribes to take part in the new changes, it seems the peculiar nation of Bachiria may well survive, and prosper.
(+1 Bachiran Culture)
However, to the south, Axum and the Union of Aden seem content in their role as Aegyptian tributary states. The Union of Aden pays a sizable bribe to Aegypt, in exchange for the right to exist, and the Axumite tributes steadily flow in the direction of Thebes.
In Axum, at least, the nation has some life of its own. Roads are paved throughout the land, increasing connectivity, and further expansion occurs in the directions of the surrounding Hebrew tribes. By this point, it seems to some scholars that it is inevitable Axum will take over the entire Ethiopian region.
(-1 000 Axumite Regulars)
Here, also, is the heart of old Judaism. With the fall of Israel, and Bachiras new direction in terms of faith, Axum becomes the center of conservative Judaism, as opposed to Bachiras Yehudan Judaism. Cyrene, in contrast to both southern Africa, and Arabia, has a form of Judaism that is steadily evolving to be more Hellenized and Romanized.
North, there is a land not recovering from old wounds, but forging new ones. In Athens, a nobleman named Apollodorus becomes tired with the Athenian governments odd policies, and vows to no longer watch as the Athenian Army is grown for no purpose, even as the last of its fleet falls to pirates, and Athenian merchants are forced to hire increasing numbers of mercenaries, for their protection.
(-2 Athenian Ships)
Using a variety of tactics to gain popular support, Apollodorus becomes the de facto leader of the Athenian democracy, and immediately embarks upon a campaign to restore Athens. Pillaging the Athenian treasury, filled with coins that sat there for decades, never spent, he financed a new navy. The people of Athens rejoiced, and even now, they hear Apollodorus orating about further ways to restore Athens to glory. What those ways are, however, remain to be seen.
Byzantium gets somewhat less confusing, but in order to do that, it gets more confusing, first. Achilleas dies during a feast, supposedly of food poisoning. Blame is pointed in all directions, especially in the direction of Patrocles, the Emperor with no power, who could stand to gain the most from the assassination. However, before Achillean soldiers could storm Patrocles estate, and kill him, quite possibly throwing Byzantium into complete anarchy once more, Patrocles makes an official statement, declaring that he endorses Achilleas son Demos as the next Emperor, and that he no longer wants power.
Demos takes the throne. He is a man much in the mold of his father, a man of considerable skill, and seems competent. The main problem of all of this, at least according to scholars, is the debate about whether Achileas was the last ruler of the Constantine Dynasty, acting as regent, or the first ruler of the Achilean Dynasty, that bore his name. The people are also somewhat confused, and many of Patrocles silent supporters feel that he betrayed them yet again, but nevertheless, everything manages to hold together. The armies are grown massively.
(-1 Byzantine Confidence, -1 Byzantine Army Training)
Perhaps in response to the official declaration of the death of the Constantine Dynasty, the ignored region of the Bosporan, formerly Loyalist, and now largely in anarchy, pulls together, and declares itself independent from Byzantium, once and for all. A Byzantine style monarchy is set up.
(+Bosporan as an Independent Nation)
As Byzantium readies itself for the next stage of the Eagle War, David III of Assyria proves himself to be quite possibly the best leader that nation ever had. Declaring that the very future of the natural order is at stake, David III inspires large numbers of Assyrians to defend the homeland. In truth, what the Army of the Defilers did to pave the way for the Byzantine Fifth Army is largely backfiring now, as it is quite easy for David III to demonize the Byzantine people. All he has to do is point at the smoking wreak that is his capital, and a good third of his nation.
(+20 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
Where the Eagle War will lead is for the generals to decide, for neither side is out yet.
(See Military Events)
West, Persia and the gulf states do little, though there is a newly-forged hope that a strong leader will be born, to lead Persia back to glory
Even further west, Mohenjo-Daro reforms, under the next in its seemingly endless line of Princes, Prince Merwan. Noting that the common folk feel distanced from their Indus masters, Merwan decides on a scheme to change that. Under Merwans rule, the capital is moved from Mohenjo-Daro to the newly founded city of Delhi. Delhi is a much more central location than the city of Mohenjo-Daro ever was, and the people of the nation, are joyous, for the most part. Some of the Indus lords are angry that the base of power has been moved away from their regions, but most see that the move of the capital to Delhi will prolong the life of their ancient empire.
Compounding the action of founding a new capital, Merwan also decides to rename his nation to something that evokes unity. He declares Mohenjo-Daro to be henceforth known as Greater India. This has little practical effect, as the dynasty of Mohenjo-Daro is still very much on the throne, but the peasants love it.
(+1 Greater Indian Confidence)
To confirm this point, the nation of Harappa, long a tributary state of Mohenjo-Daro, and by now completely encircled by that nations borders, decides that it is best off integrating with Greater India. The celebrations last a month, and, overjoyed as it seems the subcontinent is gradually falling into his lap, Prince Merwan decides that he might as well start taking the rest of it. He declares war on Bengal, in gross violation of a non-aggression pact.
(-1 Greater Indian Confidence)
(See Military Events)
To the south, untouched by the Greater Indian War, Sri Lanka, or Ceylon, as it is increasingly called, is fully colonized by the joint efforts of Greater India and Pandya.
(-1 000 Greater Indian Regulars, -1 000 Pandyan Regulars)
Satavahana enters the Iron Age.
(+Satavahana in Iron Age)
As this occurs, however, the Greater Indian colonists on Ceylon are paid a visit by a pair of nearly wreaked ships, ships of foreign design, and crewed by Easterners, who speak a foreign language. Once the language barrier was pierced, however, the Easterners recounted their story to the Greater Indians, explaining that they are from the nation of Chu, and most of their expedition sunk on the treacherous journey to the new land they have reached.
(-3 Chu Ships)
In due time, tentative connections were set up between the nations of Chu and Greater India, and with this, fledgling trade links began to bloom, but much of the progress was negated due to the Greater Indian War, as the Bengalis began to take prisoner all of the Easterners who arrived at their ports, under charges of them being allied to Greater India.
It seems few of Asia care about treaties these days, as witnessed by the actions of Chu against Zhou, and visa versa. In Chu, even as the great system of reforms known as Heavens Mandate are completed, integrating the Chu Royal Guards with the army proper, Chu flexes its military muscle, by sending a expeditionary force northwards, to help the Koryo tribes protect themselves against Zhou aggression, and establish their own nation.
This effort succeeds, if only because it seems the Zhou have evacuated all their northern troops, leaving only settlers to resist against a joint Chu-Koryo attack. The nation of Koryo is established, at quite generous borders.
(-1 000 Chu Regulars, +Koryo as an Independent Nation)
It was debatable whether the Chu assistance of the Koryo in the north was a declaration of war against the Zhou, as no such official statement was made, and no further operations by Chu against Zhou took place.
However, the Zhou underwent operations against the Chu. It seemed the Zhou commanders had intended to declare war against the Chu in violation of the NAP even before the Chu helped to Koryo, as testified by some of their soldiers. It seemed that Emperor Si of the Zhou had given all of his generals huge bundles of sticks, and told them to remove one stick each day, and, when all the sticks were left, they were to attack the Chu. It was an odd sort of plan, but the epic war that resulted from Sis actions was thereafter known as the Stick War.
(See Spotlight)
Military Events
The Roman attack of opportunity against Minoa and Barcelona expanded the Merchants War into a new theater, one the trade powers were not suited to handle. Two Roman Legions set sail from Icosium in the direction of Barcelona, along with a massive fleet, which truly was not needed, as the Mino-Barcelonan Fleets were elsewhere. A multi-pronged offensive against Barcelona was launched. The south prong brought the Barcelonans to battle, where they found themselves outnumbered and facing off against enemies better trained and equipped. The Barcelonans were routed.
(-2 000 Roman Legionaries, -5 000 Barcelonan Regulars)
In the north of the small nation, a second force was landed by the capital, and the Legionaries there dismantled the last of the Barcelonan army and captured the capital, completing the conquest.
(-1 000 Roman Legionaries, -1 000 Barcelonan Regulars)
Meanwhile, the Barcelona government in exile, and the Barcelonan fleet, increasingly associated with and subservient to the Minoans, petitioned for a Minoan fleet to be sent to liberate their homeland. The Minoan rulers in Phaistos did not see much of a choice, as with Barcelonas fall, they would be left without allies, and so, praying that the Byzantines would not take advantage of their weakness, launched a forty ship combined force westward, intent on destroying Roman trade, until the senate agreed to withdraw from their occupation of Barcelona.
This force met up with a small Roman fleet at Malta, and a chaotic battle for the island ensued. The Romans, outnumbered, withdrew without heavy casualties, but Malta was reinforced, and Minoan strategists planned for a further attack.
(-9 Roman Ships, -4 Barcelonan Ships, -3 Minoan Ships)
However, the Romans next launched an attack on Aleria, the Minoan trade city on Corsica, and took it without much of a struggle. There was little the Minoans could do to prevent this, but nevertheless, the fall of Aleria enraged to Minoan admirals so much that they set sail for Sicilia.
(-1 000 Roman Legionaries, -1 000 Minoan Regulars)
However, upon arriving at the island, they met up with yet another Roman fleet, this one larger than the last, and this one, fighting on home territory. After a dramatic battle, the rather desperate Minoans were repulsed back to Malta, and the Barcelona government in exile collapsed from the shockwaves of the defeat, with the remaining Barcelonan fleet becoming one and the same as the Minoan.
(-20 Roman Ships, -7 Barcelonan Ships, -Barcelona as an Independent Nation, -15 Minoan Ships, 8 Barcelonan Ships to Minoa)
The Romans, content with their gains, and somewhat reeling from the Battle of Syracuse, which left their navy in a confused state of affairs, let Malta be, as they regrouped.
Back in the homeland, however, the Minoans discovered the situation was scarce better. The First Byzantine Fleet blockaded Crete, fending off Minoan attempts to break the blockade, and, in so doing, destroyed the status of Phaistos as a trade center.
(-9 Byzantine Ships, -8 Minoan Ships, -Phaistos as a Minoan Economic Center)
With the blockade unbreakable, even by the feared Minoan navy, that same navy, largely trapped on the far side of the blockade, increasingly turns pirate, basing themselves at Malta. The cohesiveness of the Minoan nation hangs by a thread.
In the Eagle War, the Third Byzantine Army strikes out against the Hittite rebels. Stronger than expected, the Hittites put up a good fight, but in the end, an efficient strategy of city hopping on the part of the Byzantines defeats resistances to Greek rule in the interior. Central Anatolia is Byzantine once again. A small section of nominally Byzantine land off to the northeast of the nation is still in Hittite hands, but the Byzantines chose to ignore that, in their quest to defeat the greater enemy, Assyria.
(-7 000 Byzantine Myrmidions)
An Assyria which, meanwhile, was far from idle. As the majority of their forces regrouped for the coming battles, the Assyrians in the captured Byzantine city of Tarsus beat a hasty retreat, burning the city to the ground as they left, and rushing eastwards as fast as they could to meet back up with the main part of their forces. Another Hittite rebellion took control over the ashes of Tarsus, but this was put down by the Byzantines without much trouble, as they moved in and occupied what was left of the city.
(-Tarsus as a Byzantine Economic Center, -1 000 Byzantine Myrmidions)
This situation was further complicated, as the Byzantine Fifth initiated a strategic retreat, heading back to fortify Antioch until reinforcements arrived from the Third and the Fourth. And so, two different retreating armies ran into each other. A confused battle ensued, but in the end, portions of the Assyrian army managed to get to Assyrian held Phoenicia, and relative safety.
(-2 000 Assyrian Regulars, -2 000 Byzantine Myrmidions)
And so, the forces of two different empires regrouped their forces as fast as they could. The Assyrians formed an elite army corps known as the Desert Princes, and, in preparation for the battles they knew would occur, fortified Harran, and the Phonecian city of Tyre.
Meanwhile, to the south, the Assyrians sent a large portion of their volunteer armies, along with a small core of regulars, south, to defeat the Babylonian rebellion. The Babylonians, overwhelmed by the massive force, and more frightened of the threat of the Byzantines than the Assyrians, capitulated, and the trade centers in the region were recaptured intact.
(-1 000 Assyrian Regulars, -3 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
Meanwhile, however, the Median rebellion grows wildly out of control, as the Medes are joined by Persians who want to reunite with their homeland. The Assyrian commanders, deciding that this region is more trouble that it was worth, retreat to the Fertile Crescent.
(-4 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
Wanting to cut of Assyrias access to the sea, the Byzantines decided that they needed to recapture Phoenicia. At Antioch, a massive Byzantine host of thirteen thousand Myrmidions assembled, and marched south, where ten thousand Assyria defenders waited for them. It was said that Tyre was the most fortified city in the world, when the Byzantines struck. The siege of that city went on for months, then broke off as the Assyrians defeated the Byzantines, then restarted, as the Byzantines pressed forward again, and so on, and so on.
(-6 000 Byzantine Myrmadions, -3 000 Assyrian Regulars, -4 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
However, the doom of the Assyrians in Phoenicia was spelled when Byzantine Marines from the Sinai were dropped off on the coast. The Assyrian general Rastafa decided it was time to retreat, and so he did, making the Byzantines pay for every step they took closer to Assyrian soil. The Assyrian army, as ever, oddly well supplied, seemed to be able to slowly wining the war of attrition, even as the Byzantines continued forward. Tyre was in ruins when they took it, and thus, nearly useless to them.
(-Tyre as a Byzantine Economic Center, -2 000 Byzantine Marines, -3 000 Byzantine Myrmidions, -1 000 Assyrian Regulars, -1 000 Assyrian Desert Princes, -4 000 Assyrian Skirmishers)
And there the war stagnated. The Byzantines, never really able to move forward after Phoenicia, found themselves deadlocked.
Heading east, we come to a far different war, the Greater Indian War. This was, by comparison to the Eagle War, no epic test of wills. This was merely the Greater Indian Armies proving that they were the strongest in the world. Even before the attacks began, local leaders of Bengal cried out for Greater Indian annexation, and things simply went downhill for the Bengali government from there.
Honestly not outnumbered, or caught by surprise, the Bengalis had few other advantages, as the Greater Indian Armies were well trained, equipped, were blessed with overwhelming science superiority, and intelligent leaders. Battles at the border were overwhelmingly in Greater Indias favor, and the Bengalis quickly found themselves retreating back to their home delta.
(-11 000 Bengali Regulars, -5 000 Greater Indian Regulars)
Once the great gains were made, however, stagnation began to set in, as the Greater Indian leaders had neglected to properly fund logistics. Another offensive resulted in the occupation of the northern part of the Ganges delta, but then, it seemed, the Greater Indians could not continue for the time being.
(-9 000 Bengali Regulars, -7 000 Greater Indian Regulars)
The Bengali government knows it is only a matter of time before they are defeated, however.
Random Events
Rome and Republicanism blossom.
(+1 Roman Culture)
Aegypt, no longer fettered by the Nilotic War, becomes a world power.
(+1 Aegyptian Confidence, +1 Aegyptian Education)
Differences in Assyria are resolved, as the nation attempts to face Byzantium as one.
(+1 Assyrian Culture)
Spotlight: The Stick War
“A single dynasty will soon rule over the Middle Kingdom.”
-Emperor Si
In the opening move of the war, Emperor Si sent his massive fleet to Shanghai, acting with the element of surprise on his side. A gargantuan army defeated the small number of Chu defenders, and so did the city that housed the Council of China fall to the Zhou.
(-2 000 Chu Regulars, -1 000 Zhou Teo-Wakan Warriors, -1 000 Zhou Regulars)
From there, the Zhou strategy was simple. With aid from the Liang, they were going to slowly move up the Yangtze River, occupying lands as they went. However, in his zeal to take Ying as quickly as possible, and end the war in a masterful stroke, Si forgot about Chu’s allies. To regain control of the river, Chu asked Nan and Taiwan for help, and they gave their ally full use over their navies. And so did the Zhou navy come against a fleet almost twice its size.
The Battle for the Mouth of the Yangtze was largely inconclusive; as the Chu and their allies scattered the Zhou forces, but then had no troops readily available to launch a counteroffensive on land, but in the end, Zhou dominance over the Yangtze was over, and Si had to realize there would be no lightning assault on Ying.
(-21 Zhou Ships, -11 Chu Ships, -4 Nan Ships, -3 Kingdom of Taiwan Ships)
The war turned into a land slugfest, as both sides had plentiful numbers of peasants to throw at each other, but slowly, the war turned in the favor of the Zhou and the Liang. Changdu falls to the Northern Coalition, but the Southern Coalition manages to keep Ying from falling, using the Yangtze to keep the besieged city supplied.
(-7 000 Zhou Regulars, -3 000 Zhou Teo-Wakan Warriors, -5 000 Liang Regulars, -10 000 Chu Regulars, -4 000 Nan Regulars, -2 000 Kingdom of Taiwan Regulars)
In the north, it is at that point that the battles stagnate, but the Zhou have one more deadly surprise in store. The Zhou help dissident factions incite a rebellion in Nan. That nation’s soldiers being largely elsewhere, the dissident Nan, who want to see their nation shrug off the supposed shackles of Chu oppression, break out into open revolt. A hoped colonization expedition to Luzon is for obvious reasons canceled, and by now, the rebels hold the Nan capital. Though the Nan government is, as ever, pro- Chu, it is only through heavy Chu intervention that the rebels have not occupied the entire nation, yet.
(-4 000 Nan Regulars, -3 000 Chu Regulars)
The Zhou attack was damaging, but so far, the Chu and their allies have managed to withstand the assault. The Halls of the Council of China are in Zhou hands, but Chu still lives, the Nan government still manages to survive, and the Koryo have not yet been asked to help the Chu, as the Chu have helped them. In what will follow, the fate of the Middle Kingdom hangs in the balance.
NPC Diplomacy
To: Persia
From: Persian Rebels in Assyria
Annex us!
To: Chu
From: Koryo
How can we aid you against the barbarous Zhou?
Rome and Republicanism blossom.
(+1 Roman Culture)
Aegypt, no longer fettered by the Nilotic War, becomes a world power.
(+1 Aegyptian Confidence, +1 Aegyptian Education)
Differences in Assyria are resolved, as the nation attempts to face Byzantium as one.
(+1 Assyrian Culture)
Spotlight: The Stick War
“A single dynasty will soon rule over the Middle Kingdom.”
-Emperor Si
In the opening move of the war, Emperor Si sent his massive fleet to Shanghai, acting with the element of surprise on his side. A gargantuan army defeated the small number of Chu defenders, and so did the city that housed the Council of China fall to the Zhou.
(-2 000 Chu Regulars, -1 000 Zhou Teo-Wakan Warriors, -1 000 Zhou Regulars)
From there, the Zhou strategy was simple. With aid from the Liang, they were going to slowly move up the Yangtze River, occupying lands as they went. However, in his zeal to take Ying as quickly as possible, and end the war in a masterful stroke, Si forgot about Chu’s allies. To regain control of the river, Chu asked Nan and Taiwan for help, and they gave their ally full use over their navies. And so did the Zhou navy come against a fleet almost twice its size.
The Battle for the Mouth of the Yangtze was largely inconclusive; as the Chu and their allies scattered the Zhou forces, but then had no troops readily available to launch a counteroffensive on land, but in the end, Zhou dominance over the Yangtze was over, and Si had to realize there would be no lightning assault on Ying.
(-21 Zhou Ships, -11 Chu Ships, -4 Nan Ships, -3 Kingdom of Taiwan Ships)
The war turned into a land slugfest, as both sides had plentiful numbers of peasants to throw at each other, but slowly, the war turned in the favor of the Zhou and the Liang. Changdu falls to the Northern Coalition, but the Southern Coalition manages to keep Ying from falling, using the Yangtze to keep the besieged city supplied.
(-7 000 Zhou Regulars, -3 000 Zhou Teo-Wakan Warriors, -5 000 Liang Regulars, -10 000 Chu Regulars, -4 000 Nan Regulars, -2 000 Kingdom of Taiwan Regulars)
In the north, it is at that point that the battles stagnate, but the Zhou have one more deadly surprise in store. The Zhou help dissident factions incite a rebellion in Nan. That nation’s soldiers being largely elsewhere, the dissident Nan, who want to see their nation shrug off the supposed shackles of Chu oppression, break out into open revolt. A hoped colonization expedition to Luzon is for obvious reasons canceled, and by now, the rebels hold the Nan capital. Though the Nan government is, as ever, pro- Chu, it is only through heavy Chu intervention that the rebels have not occupied the entire nation, yet.
(-4 000 Nan Regulars, -3 000 Chu Regulars)
The Zhou attack was damaging, but so far, the Chu and their allies have managed to withstand the assault. The Halls of the Council of China are in Zhou hands, but Chu still lives, the Nan government still manages to survive, and the Koryo have not yet been asked to help the Chu, as the Chu have helped them. In what will follow, the fate of the Middle Kingdom hangs in the balance.
NPC Diplomacy
To: Persia
From: Persian Rebels in Assyria
Annex us!
To: Chu
From: Koryo
How can we aid you against the barbarous Zhou?
OOC
Stats done. Other first page things will be done in a while.
Luckymoose has stalled andis-1. Anything is possible. I changed 'soldiers' to 'regulars' in this update, as half you people call them that, anyway, and your UUs are soldiers, too.
And what's with LittleBoots? First surrending his country, then stealing someone elses? (Sorry, carmen510)
@Sheep: I understand you probably didn't have time to get your orders in. You'll be on the PC list when you send your first set.
This NES is definately entering a new stage, so much so that I am thinking about when the inevitable BT will come. (But don't worry; before then, you people will have the time to fight your wars to your hearts' content.)
EDIT: All first page things done.
Stats done. Other first page things will be done in a while.
Luckymoose has stalled andis-1. Anything is possible. I changed 'soldiers' to 'regulars' in this update, as half you people call them that, anyway, and your UUs are soldiers, too.
And what's with LittleBoots? First surrending his country, then stealing someone elses? (Sorry, carmen510)
@Sheep: I understand you probably didn't have time to get your orders in. You'll be on the PC list when you send your first set.
This NES is definately entering a new stage, so much so that I am thinking about when the inevitable BT will come. (But don't worry; before then, you people will have the time to fight your wars to your hearts' content.)
EDIT: All first page things done.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
OOC: Excellent update as always, and as always insufferable Icosian bandits. Though I do have an idea of who's behind it if there is a player behind them For the record, I specifically ordered not to declare war on either Barcelona or Minoa 
But that's a minor thing of course.
I weep for China
IC:
To Lusitania
From Rome
We expect the rest of the payment prior to the end of this decade. Thank you.
To World
From Rome
Rome formally annexes the former state of Barcelona to be incorporated into the province of Balearia.
For the record, I specifically ordered not to declare war on either Barcelona or Minoa But that's a minor thing of course.I weep for China
IC:
To Lusitania
From Rome
We expect the rest of the payment prior to the end of this decade. Thank you.
To World
From Rome
Rome formally annexes the former state of Barcelona to be incorporated into the province of Balearia.
jeps
Arcadefire
To Aegypt
From Axum
Rather than converting Jews, which is a sin (for them, not you), would you like to send them over to Matara where they can be with other Aegyptian Jews? This will save you the trouble of having to convert them, and more so the trouble of them rebelling.
OOC: Nice update. Expansion happened in the one that was ranked 3rd in importance, but doesn't really matter, and I can't complain as I didn't explain that to you. *Makes mental note*
From Axum
Rather than converting Jews, which is a sin (for them, not you), would you like to send them over to Matara where they can be with other Aegyptian Jews? This will save you the trouble of having to convert them, and more so the trouble of them rebelling.
OOC: Nice update. Expansion happened in the one that was ranked 3rd in importance, but doesn't really matter, and I can't complain as I didn't explain that to you. *Makes mental note*
Mhmm In this day and age, some will always remain, and as with all things, some will convert. Some I have no doubts are making their way to you anyway. But I will not choose a persons path for them. I will merely plan out the best one.
alex994 said:I weep for China
OOC: Believe me, you ain't the only one.
IC:
TO Zhou
From Chu
You filthy, traitorous dogs! Have you no honour, that you attack Chu despite our agreement? After such a long peace, you seek now to cause death, destruction and pestilence? We had no desire for a war, but since you seem to believe it necessary, we will fight it. You have begun the war, but Chu shall end it. And it will end in the destruction of Zhou, the destruction of Liang, and the destruction of Chu. From the fires you have started, a new China will be born, and it will be the greatest yet.
Very nice update Imago!
EDIT:
To Bengal
From India
In this war you will lose, your families will lose, and your people will lose. We will unite all India in the end and there is still time for Bengal to be a part of that unification rather than a casualty. India wil accept your request for peace and annexation. Do so and you will live and your families will live. You have the power to bring peace to your despoiled land.
EDIT:
To Bengal
From India
In this war you will lose, your families will lose, and your people will lose. We will unite all India in the end and there is still time for Bengal to be a part of that unification rather than a casualty. India wil accept your request for peace and annexation. Do so and you will live and your families will live. You have the power to bring peace to your despoiled land.
To Axum
From Aegypt
This state of wondering is rather fruitless, may we just sign a defensive agreement and be done with it? I'd rather not have to plan invasions every year just incase you do...If not, let us extend this NAP of ours.
To Cyrene
From Aegypt
We hope that we have shown some measure of honour by not simply attacking you immediatly, we wish to Ally, in full, your position is strategically important, and we must ensure its protection.
To Bachiria
From Aegypt
May we have assurances of our borders? We wish to move on, we have won our independence, let us end this worrying....Sign with me a NAP.
From Aegypt
This state of wondering is rather fruitless, may we just sign a defensive agreement and be done with it? I'd rather not have to plan invasions every year just incase you do...If not, let us extend this NAP of ours.
To Cyrene
From Aegypt
We hope that we have shown some measure of honour by not simply attacking you immediatly, we wish to Ally, in full, your position is strategically important, and we must ensure its protection.
To Bachiria
From Aegypt
May we have assurances of our borders? We wish to move on, we have won our independence, let us end this worrying....Sign with me a NAP.
To Persia
From India
We propose a border adjustment. You will get the light blue from India and India will get the green area from Persia. We will fix our western border at the yellow line.
From India
We propose a border adjustment. You will get the light blue from India and India will get the green area from Persia. We will fix our western border at the yellow line.
Wubba360
Emperor
To: Chu
From: Zhou
We care not for Chu ideas, but what you have just said is our entire plan. We seek your destruction, and many of us will die, but China will be united against the barbarians on our borders. While vile Chu still draw breath, there can be no peace. While obscene heretics' hearts still beat, there can be no respite. While faithless traitors still live, there can be no forgiveness. This is by what we stand. You shall meet your doom.
From: Zhou
We care not for Chu ideas, but what you have just said is our entire plan. We seek your destruction, and many of us will die, but China will be united against the barbarians on our borders. While vile Chu still draw breath, there can be no peace. While obscene heretics' hearts still beat, there can be no respite. While faithless traitors still live, there can be no forgiveness. This is by what we stand. You shall meet your doom.
Similar threads
