AFSNES I – The New Dawn

OOC: You know it's bad when you have a dream that involves reading the entire update.
 
Whenever I dream that I'm reading, I can't comprehend. And when I try, I just read what I'm thinking. Then I wake up. It's very recursive.

What was in the update Sym? ;)
 
OOC: I don't honestly remember. I do remember looking at the map and smiling because I was victorious (and before you start, I've had dreams where I've utterly lost).

What I do remember about the update itself was that it was very sparse, which immediately keyed me into the fact it was a dream, and that I should wake up and go read the real thing. Only, it clearly wasn't here when I got up.
 
Reading in dreams can be pretty damned irritating, for the reasons both of you stated. I've had great dreams ruined because, near the end, I realized I was dreaming only because I couldn't read text in front of me. Bah.

And Joe is a bit worried. Das rarely delays... I can only hope the updates aren't becoming a chore for him.
 
Thlayli said:
This has been a fairly long IT at any rate. After the current cycle of wars are done, it's definitely time for a BT, as das indicated several turns ago.
Click to expand...
Oh joy, time for my nation to collapse. Huzza!

:(
 
I had a dream Dachs updated and the text wasn't readable but was in fact shaped like a frame by frame presentation of a movie based on update events. It was weird.
 
Update XI - Years 751-755 AD

Foreword:

In hindsight, this decade was perhaps the most important part of the century, inasmuch as all over the world it witnessed culminations to grand, long-standing wars that had defined this age from its very start. In the New World, a lengthy period of warfare had concluded, and a new order began to emerge; in the Mediterranean, the old Holy War sped towards an apocalyptic conclusion; and in the Far East, the domineering Tibetan Empire entered another war, but perhaps has not anticipated the sheer range of enemies willing to attack it.

Aside from that, this time was notable for peace treaties and domestic reforms; as the world-wide fire converged on the key locations, other parts of the world only now began to heal their wounds. On a wholly accidental note,

Domestic Events:

In the wake of the War of Coban Succession, the Zapotec and Mayan worlds were both greatly restructured. Vucub of Dainzu and Coba, the biggest winner of the war, set about to reorganise his vastly-expanded empire, which for the first time in millenias managed to unify all of the Mayan world and more. Needless to say, even with Vucub’s skilled carrot-and-stick policies, keeping such a large and diverse empire together promised to be a difficult task. In the meantime, the Zaachilans kept looking demonstratively away from Zapotecia and towards the Andes, where they had growing trade interests. As to the remnants of the Zapotec kingdom, a new King (2-Shield) rose from one of the aristocratic houses after the extinction of the defeated dynasty; 2-Shield soon founded a new capital, Pacaltula, on the grounds granted to him by the local rulers. His power was in some regards even less than that of the previous dynasty, but on the other hand the region he rules now is generally more tightly-knit, both due to its smaller size and because of the lingering, unifying animosity towards Vucub.

Having somehow survived over those years, the Eldslanders saw their situation stabilise in all regards. With the population re-growing quickly enough, and the economy at least partially restored, expansion was renewed as lands to the immediate east of Nya Reykjavik were claimed.

Concerned with the apparent deterioration of Caerix’ power, the powers behind Telamondessos Suessus VI’s throne negotiated and implemented a series of reforms aimed at saving the realm. The lesser nobility, previously disaffected, was granted assorted new rights and privileges and thus largely placated, while the reformists within the Kosmotigrano Caeri succeeded in distancing, though not officially separating, the Church from the Crown under the leadership of a newly-appointed Kadjorix who assumed the ecclesiastical functions of his predecessor (+1 Confidence). In the meantime, a new War Council was assembled, in the conditions of an escalating war (see Military Events).

Desperate to reinforce their faltering military strength, the Tarekids established a system of “blood tax” in the newly-conquered northern lands, taking young children from the families there and training them as elite warriors – reserves for the Ankhed system. Needless to say, this new introduction had provided a fresh pretext for rebellion that never stopped simmering. In the meantime, a crackdown on the few remaining Hellenic merchants in Iberia and Mauretania occurred.

Conrad III rose to power in Thuringia. His immediate efforts to reconcile the monarchy with the feudals and to assist the common populace had resulted in him being much more popular than his two predecessors (+1 Living Standards, +2 Confidence). Still, internal cohesiveness remained quite low.

The Danes consolidated their rule over Vendelia, integrating it easily enough. At the same time, they also worked to literally fortify their presence in the Lower Oder region.

Much to the relief of the natives, the Odrysans turned their Arecoman conquests over to the Hellenes.

The Kyrgys continued to steadily integrate nearby Buddhist tribes (+5 levy regiments).

Elu III, the new Emperor of Samarkand, managed to carry out his ascension to the throne in a very subtle and adroit manner, moving on to introduce several reforms that led to a greater merging of temple and state bureaucracies, and sorted out the precise rights and privileges of assorted tribes and feudals, stabilising the empire somewhat despite occasional uprisings (see Military Events).

General Tagra Lukong claimed the Tibetan throne after his predecessor’s somewhat suspicious death (-1 Tibetan Confidence). While his lack of imperial lineage proved an additional problem, the traditional aristocracy was somewhat assuaged by his immediate marrying Princess Dronmalon. Certain other groups and factions saw this as a welcome opportunity for rebellion, however (see Military Events)…

The completion of Guangling’s (and East Asia’s) general economic recovery after the shocks induced by previous wars and catastrophes coincided fortuitiously with several beneficient reforms and other state measures in the Republic, including a new extensive and well-funded educational program, had led the country to a golden age and the present government to immense popularity (+1 Guanglingese Confidence).

Economic integration and reconstruction of Jomonese Korea proceeded apace.

Much further east, the Jomonese established control over yet another Polynesian-held island, this time building a fairly significant harbour from which to launch further expeditions. Those expeditions cost Jomon two good ships complete with some of its finest crews (-2 Jomonese ships), but thus far bore limited fruit. While the rest of the Izu Oshima archipelago was explored and trade contact was established with native tribes on the eastern isles, beyond that little was discovered except for empty oceans, tiny islands and a long, mostly-barren shore far to the east.

International Events:

The War of Coban Sucession finally petered out now (along the lines of uti possidetis, for the most part), King Vucub being both tired and content with his gains and his enemies being too weak to threaten his empire just yet.

After lengthy preparations, the Hibernians launched a grand naval commercial and diplomatic expedition to the south, trading in Tarekid ports (much to the Caerixian chagrin, and the Hibernian short-term profit (+1 banked eco.)) and only turning back at the foreboding Cape Bojador. A full trade agreement with the Amsurate was yet to be negotiated.

Without much hassling, Gothland’s war-time divisions were formalised with minimal adjustments and recognised by the three powers involved, that is Thuringia, Danelaw and Langobardia, in the Treaty of Stade.

The Danes sent out numerous embassies to southern and eastern Europe along assorted trade routes, establishing diplomatic contact with the polities of the former and increasing commercial and diplomatic influence over the tribes, cities and statelets in the latter.

The Helleno-Ligurian Treaty of Apoikia [1] was signed, the Ligurian conquest of southern Latin Italy being formally recognised by the Hellenes in exchange for the recognition of their ownership of Taras and the surrounding regions.

The Akkadians proclaimed a new Dagra, gathering a large army of the faithful to their banners (+30 levy regiments).

In a somewhat anticlimactic conclusion to the brief Akkadian-Sitivasan War, the Treaty of Sohar saw the Sitivasans retreat from most of their recent gains in Iran, but keep two-thirds of former Magan, while a rump state is restored around the capital of Sohar.

In the meantime, the Sitivasans also sent a grand embassy to Fukushima, hoping to establish proper diplomatic contact and open cultural and technological exchange.

Military Events:

The Chalchitlanis made a new push to the northwest, overwhelming the tribes there after some light fighting.

(-1 Chalchitlani regiment)

Although most of Vendelia surrendered peacefully after the capital’s fall and Gorm’s coronation as king of the Geats and Svears, some jarls continued a stubborn resistance. Needless to say, they did not end well; the Torrsvikings seized stronghold after stronghold until Vendelia was united under Gorm.

(-1 Danish regiment, -1 Danish Torrsviking regiment)

The Singidunians launched a sudden series of attacks against the Agade Dag Helleno-Illyrian city-states of the Adriatic coast. The important religious centre of Colchinium [2] fell to a well-planned sneak night attack, but elsewhere the attackers soon bogged down into siege warfare. Still, over time and despite losses to disease and in bloody assaults, the Singidunians managed to take two more cities and besiege the remaining Illyrian centres, hindered largely by their utter inability of actually stopping the supplies and occasional reinforcements from comng in by the sea.

(-5 Singidunian regiments, -3 Singidunian levy regiments)

And now we come to the main conflict of this century; the great Holy War that raged around the Western Mediterranean and Red seas and now, after many decades of open and hidden, general and specific fighting, finally promised to bring about a clear and decisive resolution. With the ominous fall of Arecomos and the apparent demise of His Eminence, it finally appeared as if an ultimate and thorough victory for the disciples of the path of Akkadian Purity was possible. The crowned heads and military chiefs of Agadedom were exultant; their plans grew bold and ambituous as a new world promised to take place. Grand proclamations were made, great fleets and armies were gathered, and as Asha’s followers steadily lost ground new pieces were brought into the play by Hellenic diplomacy and other designs. Verily, victory was in sight. But while things already seemed bright in the throne rooms, on the battlefield things were less clear – and decidedly more difficult. This was, after all, not a minor and limited conflict; this was a total war, and so, as it sped towards the total annihilation of one side or the other, it only got worse and worse.

Firstly we will deal with the war in Western Mediterranean – and, as it were, in southwestern Europe. There, the first obvious oddity of this stage of the war would be the virtual concession of the naval war to the Agade Dag armada; apparently frightened by their previous defeats, the Ashaists withdrew their fleet to guard the Tartessian Straits [3]. The only exception was that of the Numidians, but predictably enough their weak fleet was easily crushed when it attempted to relieve the blockade of Ulasis. The implications of this were clear enough – the Agade Dag forces and their allies were granted unlimited naval supremacy, and so an overwhelmingly superior strategic situation. Their ambituous plans were now able to go into action essentially unhindered, while the Ashaists were put firmly on the defense. In the Mediterranean, this meant that the Graeco-Ligurian overkill of an invasion of Sardinia went without any trouble whatsoever, though the local militias did try and fight back at first (most of the survivors simply went home or into hiding after being routed). Subsequently, the Hellenes attacked, sacked and razed the major Numidian city-state and trade port of Bgayet (+1 Hellenic banked eco.). This and the final surrender of Ulasis not much later marked the end of an organised loyalist resistance; the city-states withdrew their respective militaries from the fight, although only a few actually surrendered to Gabes and Heraklion; the political status of the cities to the west was quite undecided. Krim, the ruler of Skikda (previously a relatively unremarkable city) was able to emerge in a particularly strong position after this; trading with both sides to take advantage of the vacuum of commercial power that came after the blockade of Ulasis and the destruction of Bgayet (which he incidentally annexed and rebuilt), he not only led his city to unprecedented prosperity, but also managed to attain a great degree of informal influence in eastern (“Gabesian” or “Hellenic”) and western (“Free”) Numidia alike. That much was, however, largely irrelevant for now; what mattered most was that the Numidian theatre was for all the purposes closed.

Therefore the war’s focus now moved definitely to the northwest. There, many things were going on; perhaps most notably, the Caerixians re-entered the war with the Tarekids, pledging the liberation of Teutonrix and dispatching an expedition to northwestern Iberia. While much of interest was transpiring in Iberia, the events north of the Pyrhenees ought not to be neglected either. There, the Caerixians – joined by the Picts – attacked Burgundsrich from the north, while the Ligurians and the Lughenburgers pressed on in even greater force from the east. All Burgundian attempts at uniting a viable field army were thwarted easily enough; the defenders were outmatched in all regards. Vinshausen, the capital, was promptly besieged by the Ligurians; its walls were sapped and a subsequent assault, though certainly very bloody, was also succesful. The Caerixians, in the meantime, overran the northern borderlands and the coastlands, massacring any open Ashaists they found in the captured settlements and forcing the remaining loyalist Burgundian forces (led by the surviving Prince Theodorich) to flee south, into former Brukterland. The victors elected to first solidify control over the conquered territories (methodically sieging the resistive castles), and only subsequently moved their forces to join the main battle on the other side of the Pyrenees; that said, the Ligurians soon had to divert a fraction of their army to the defense of their homeland, as the Langhobards, emboldened by the absence of the regular Ligurian army, launched an opportunistic attack hoping to seize Belesova itself. The difficult terrain and the tough resistance of the militias had greatly delayed the Langobardian progress, bloodying the army appreciably. The northern city of Arthuva was mostly razed; from there, the Langobards proceeded to secure several nearby mountain passes before moving on to Belesova. The attackers had both underestimated the quantity and quality of Ligurian feudal levies that had been able to gather at the capital by the time of their approach, and neglected the fact that Belesova was one of the most formidable fortresses in Europe while they themselves lacked any but the most basic siege equipment. Though the Ligurian field army was ultimately beaten and forced to retreat, all four assault attempts on Belesova were hideous, costly failures. The Langobards had no choice but to settle down for a lengthy siege, albeit the Ligurians themselves were unable to break through the mountain passes to relieve their (fortunately well-supplied) capital. This situation lasted to at least 755.

In Iberia itself, the Ashaists finally took some action. While the Burgundians prepared to defend their southern strongholds to the last in the north, the south saw the Tarekids gather forces from all over the Amsurate. In the east, more limited Odrysan raids occurred, aiming at the Tarekid countryside but avoiding any military positions; the Tarekids, meanwhile, launched raids to harry the Hellenic army further north. Said army proceeded through the difficult terrain of Brukterland; although assisted by several unbroken Brukter clans (+10 Hellenic levy regiments), the Hellenes still bogged down in siege warfare, slowly rooting out the Burgundian feudals. A far more dramatic upset to the Ashaists came in the northwest. First, a popular leader emerged amongst the Teutons; this Kalamon, a former petty noble, had gradually rallied a significant force around him. After conquering the fealty of the villages in northern Teutonia by putting an end to the rampant banditry there, he also proceeded to either co-opt or destroy most competing warlords and finally raised the banner of rebellion against the Tarekids and Numidians. The former were loathed for their blood tax, the latter for their colonialism, and neither possessed much effective, lasting power in the area; although the Tarekids, rightly suspecting a Caerixian invasion to be in the works, did move additional forces to the area, these were unable to put an end to Kalamon’s reign in the countryside. And in the meantime the Caerixians did come; thanks to the anarchy in the Numidian-occupied regions, they encountered minimal resistance as they seized Vigo and made it their base of operations in Iberia. Soon after, Kalamon’s troops carried out a series of attacks, quickly and efficiently dispatching the Tarekid garrisons in the north. While the Caerixians secured the coast and routed the hastily-redeployed Tarekid forces in the western Tagus Valley, Kalamon focused on taking over the central north, clashing with the local Burgundian feudals as well. Despite their stubborn resistance and their numerous fortifications, the Burgundians found themselves utterly outnumbered and surrounded; with Ligurian and Caerixian forces coming in from beyond the Pyrenees as well, castle after castle fell, though it was only in 755 that the last of Burgundian resistance collapsed. By then, the Hellenes have moved their bloodied army into the Tagus Valley; there, fighting was more difficult and intense, but also more quick and resultative. The Tarekid offensives against the Odrysans (who were thankfully poorly-suited for defensive warfare, and so were forced to fall back to the northeast somewhat) were soon overridden in importance by the eastwards Caerixian offensive and the sudden Hellenic incursions. The Tarekids reacted quickly enough; in the Battle of Getafe, the Hellenes were defeated badly by the overwhelming hordes of Tarekid cavalry and camelry, Archelus himself barely avoiding capture. Amsur Ithar’s forces had no time to pursue the Greeks, though; instead they hurried west, where, again, superior numbers and superior use of cavalry allowed them to triumph over the Caerixians at Leuca. Control over the Tagus Valley was subsequently reestablished; the campaign ended with the recapture of Alisib. Nonetheless, the Tarekids were unable to advance further north, especially as Kalamon’s troops covered the Caerixian retreat. In 755, having regrouped his forces and joined them with Jeno IV’s Odrysans, Archelus made it known that he was far from out of the game; this newly-joined army was able to defeat a Tarekid army at Rakana, proceeding to besiege the nearby city of Crathia [4], while lesser Odrysan cavalry raids renewed their terror in the countryside. Still, the Tarekids continued to hold up admirably where possible. Even if the war’s outcome here was still clear-cut, it still was going to be difficult for Archelus and his cohorts.

As to the war in the east, it was at the same time more straightforward (in the supposed main battlefield of Najjaria) and a good deal more confusing (everywhere else); this was because both sides have to conclusion that, while important, Najjaria was most certainly not vital and decided to turn it into more of a diversion. Still, a war is a war, and so joint Nubian and Khalidid forces successfully attacked the central section of the Najjarian wall, moving from there to besiege Ariha, the Najjarian capital. By this point the Akkadians had gathered up a large host to the north; it rolled southwards, and although the Nubians had prepared a rudimentary line of contravallation the Akkadians and their Najjarian allies were able to raise the siege and badly batter the Nubians, who only managed to retreat southwards with great difficulty. To make matters worse, even as the Akkadians chased the Khalidids out of their gains in eastern Najjaria, the Hellenes struck in Northern Africa. First, a major Greek uprising (+5 Hellenic levy regiments) allowed them to land in and reclaim Cyrene with relatively little difficulty, albeit subsequently they had to deal with pestering Ashaist Libyan raids from the south. Although the much-hoped-for Agade Dag revolt in Karung itself was abortive and quickly so (the Nubians having taken lots of precautions against just that), it and the Cyrenean invasion distracted the Nubians considerably while Lord-Archon Nikephoros’ forces landed just to the west of Sinai. Albeit the swampy terrain, combined with immense logistical troubles, proved a very major hindrance to the nearly all-cavalry force, the Hellenes still were able to wreck havoc upon their enemy’s Asiatic supply routes; this much was enough to nail the coffin of the second Ashaist invasion of Najjaria, as the Akkadians used the opportunity to attack and crush the Nubians at Gaza; this time, the main body of the Nubian army failed to get away, and instead was whittled down by the Akkadian Turk Cavalry while retreating through the Sinai Desert. Apart from a few hold outs in the west of the Sinai Peninsula, the Nubians were expelled from the Levant by 753.

As a sidenote, with inadequate Akkadian support and the redeployment of the remaining Arabic Agade Dag forces to Najjaria, the Ur Gulf coastlands of Arabia fell to the Khalidid Raisdom before the end of 752.

In the meantime, having caused some more havoc in northern Karung, Nikephoros’ force headed south along the Red Sea, sacking the ports along the way. Although the first sacks went surprisingly well, the main prize, the wealthy port city of Suakin, saw the increasingly rag-tag and generally deteriorated (after marching through swamp and lifeless desert with minimal supplies for over a year) Hellenic army get beaten back by the urban militia and the sizeable garrison force that might have been redeployed from elsewhere. The surviving Hellenic forces, much reduced by the defeat and the subsequent pursuits (the Harbic feudal camelry being ideal for dealing with the cavalry), were only barely able to limp to Kohaita, whre they linked up with the Akkadians.

As to how the Akkadians got there, this is a strange and unexplained matter, but many Nubian officials (not exactly known for their sympathy for the thieving Hindu scum, given the millennium-old bad blood between the two civilisations) later pointed towards the fact that the Akkadians could only have come out of a nearby Bahulatvan trade colony, and that some sort of conspiracy was in the works. Either way, a sizeable elite Akkadian detachment had, in 753, lashed out at Nubia’s imperial centre, taking the port cities of Mersa Fatma and Adulis before moving in for the kill and capturing Kohaita. Although the latter was remarkably better-defended, the defenders still were mere militias, and while the Akkadians had suffered major losses it still was a success; the emperor had fled, but the treasury had been seized (1 banked eco. from Nubia to Akkad, -1 Nubian Bureaucracy, Confidence, Trade). Even though additional levied troops were sent there, the Akkadians proceeded to secure several other nearby cities, effectively occupying a nigh-invulnerable position as key mountain passes were secured. Some northwestwards advances were made as well, but the Hellenic experience and the mounting resistance kept the Akkadians from trying to attack Suakin.

Yet ironically enough, at that very time a Nubian expeditionary force was on a rampage in the Eternal Empire’s own heartlands. Taking advantage of the dramatic damage incurred on the Akkadian Ur Gulf fleet in the war with Sitivasas, the Nubian armada easily swept aside what naval detachments dared oppose them and, as the rest hid in the harbours, delivered the Nubians to the shores of Mesopotamia. After struggling through the marshes, the Nubians besieged and seized Ur, proceeding to attack the Great Desert Wall from the Akkadian side to allow the Khalidids to break through. Although the latter were not particularily ready to exploit the opportunity (made all the more fortuitious by the relative sparseness of the overstretched Akkadian troops), they still were able to reinforce the Nubians as they seized Uruk. By this point the Akkadians noticed the invasion, panicked and hurried to organise the defenses at Nippur; considerable forces were pulled out from other locations (including the Great Desert Wall itself) to reinforce the holy city, and the citizens were mobilised. Still, the initial army was eventually forced to retreat from Nippur after three days of fighting on its outskirts, though the Nubians themselves were weakened considerably and unable to either pursue the army or storm the city. A larger Akkadian army was gathered with troops from the west, and in 755 the drawn-out siege of Nippur was lifted in a decisive action, though the Khalidids had arrived just in time to help fight a later counterattack towards Uruk to a grinding halt.

To sum up, even as remarkable success was achieved by the Agade Dag forces in many theatres, both the Tarekid Amsurate and the Nubian Empire still had a lot of fight left in them. The decade’s conclusion promised to be either very bloody or terribly anticlimactic…

(-8 Caerixian regiments, -4 Caerixian SirlenKenget regiments, -6 Caerixian levy regiments, -2 Teutonrixian regiments, -5 Teutonrixian levy regiments, -8 Tarekid regiments, -21 Tarekid levy regiments, -5 Tarekid Ankhed regiments, -4 Ligurian regiments, -3 Ligurian Sons of Belenu regiments, -4 Ligurian levy regiments, -9 Langobardian regiments, -7 Odrysan regiments, -7 Hellenic regiments, -3 Hellenic Archelian Guard regiments, -16 Hellenic levy regiments, -Numidia as a coherent political entity, -11 Nubian regiments, -4 Nubian Chisulo regiments, -14 Nubian levy regiments, -2 Nubian ships, -7 Akkadian regiments, -5 Akkadian Turk Cavalry regiments, -22 Akkadian levy regiments, -7 Akkadian ships, -Burgundsrich as a nation, -1 Pictish regiment, -8 Lughenburger regiments, -5 Najjarian regiments, -4 Najjarian levy regiments, -10 Khalidid regiments, -9 Khalidid levy regiments)
 
A Sitivasan military expedition arrived at Ksayarnan [5] in 753 and initiated rather ham-fisted attempts at making the city-state pledge allegiance to the High King. Turning down the initial bribes offered as a major insult (the Sitivasans didn’t even offer any actual currency, but rather assorted goods that the local traders largely had in great amounts anyway), the Ksayarnans proceeded to gather their reasonably impressive fleet, joined by the navies of other cities (all of which were apparently prepared for such a contingency, strangely enough), whilst demanding that the Sitivasans withdraw their warships from the coastline. When this was refused and the Sitivasans began preparing for battle, the locals easily encircled and destroyed the outnumbered, outmatched royal flotilla, in one of the more notorious seaborne massacres of the century.

(-15 Sitivasan regiments, -21 Sitivasan ships)

As the Kipchaks firmly abandoned the initiative in favour of a persistent campaign of raids into the Kyrgys territory, their enemies prepared and carried out a major and intricate offensive campaign all over the theatre, assisted by the rebellion of nearby Buddhist tribes that were recently subjugated by the Kipchaks (+10 Kyrgys levy regiments). A sizeable, yet surprisingly stealthy and mobile Kyrgys force succesfuly outmaneuvered the Kipchaks and attacked from the north, reinforcing the rebels and quickly disrupting the tenuous Kipchak communications. This combined with a barely-defeated Ashaist peasant uprising in the old Colchis led to effective chaos in the northern conquests. To make thngs worse, two other Kyrgys armies had, in the meantime, successfully besieged and retaken Yaik, slaughtering the resistant garrison within. From thereon the Kyrgys joined forces and advanced down the Itil River to the city of the same name in the end; the resistance to the Kyrgys counter-stroke was surprisingly weak, garrison falling after garrison and several lesser Kipchak detachments being likewise defeated in detail or forced to fall back (the peasantrebellion’s aftematch) This and the Colchian uprising had largely paralysed Kipchak ability to properly respond, and so, without going into useless detail, towards late 754 the Kyrgys forces had reached the trade centre of Itil. After an outnumbered, outmatched Kipchak army was routed in the open field, the city was put under a siege and eventually, well into 755. Ultimately, fresh uprisings (including one by the disaffected merchants in Itil itself) combined with the numerical superiority of the Kyrgys allowed the city to be taken, dealing a major blow on the enemy’s prestige and morale (-1 Kipchak Confidence, 1 Kipchak Trade to Kyrgys). The Kyrgys were now beginning to make tentative southwards advances through the Caspian Depression, forcing the Kipchaks to call all their tribal warriors to arm and also making them abandon some of the less tenable far northern gains in favour of defending their homeland.

(-4 Kyrgys regiments, -15 Kipchak regiments, -6 Kipchak levy regiments)

Despite Elu III’s excellent reforms, there still were some traditional rebellions against the new ruler at the Samarkandian empire’s fringes (and possibly a little extra). Almost all of those were put down by 755, though, despite some occasional adversity and the survival of some Buddhist rebel groups in the northeast.

(-4 Samarkandian regiments)

Tagra Lukong’s ascent to power in Tibet had initiated a series of events that ended up leading to a new great war in East Asia. Firstly, as explained before, his rise was not accepted by everyone; even though a civil war – which was a distinct possibility in the situation – was ultimately avoided with the Tibetan aristocracy and military leadership giving their oaths of fealty to the new emperor, the initial confusion allowed for a series of neo-Sunfucianist uprisings in Tibetan China. This time, the rebels were better-prepared and better-trained than before; still, the Tibetans were ultimately able to crush the main rebel forces in a series of brutal battles, and the rest were forced to either go into the underground or flee into the mountains in the south. While some expeditions were dispatched to root out the remaining rebels, Tagra Lukong decided to both solidify his position among the elites and eliminate a distinct threat to the northeast by attacking the recuperating, heathenish, suspicious Turgulid Empire.

The attack was not as straightforward as one might have expected; while the Tibetan armies were only preparing to launch the 753 campaign, their spies had organised Tegranist uprisings. Although several were thwarted by the timely intervention of the brand new secret police system of the Turgulids, the ones that did get far enough proved a minor nuisance and a serious distraction. Matters were made worse by the sudden intensification of raids by the Buddhist Tiele tribes to the west; in late 752, these were augmented by blatant Turkic raids from explicitly Tibetan territory. The imperial Tibetan army joined the battle soon enough; a large army struck along a key road in the middle of the Turgulid Empire’s western half, taking city after city with nary a fight as the Turgulids elected to avoid open combat and instead to raid and harass the advancing army. While the main Turgulid army successfully pulled back to the east as per the contingency plans, the smaller force that attempted to pull back towards Lake Baikal in order to outflank the Tibetans struck upon a major hitch when a Tibetan expeditionary force maneuvered through the Tiele steppes (where it was joined by many tribes) and quickly captured the northwestern cities that were supposed to be the staging grounds for an eventual flanking counter-attack. The retreating Turgulids thus ran straight into their enemies and were denied supplies; with the help of the Tiele horsemen, the Tibetans then hunted down and destroyed most of the Turgulids, though a considerable amount was ofcousre able to escape east and deliver the news of this strategic disaster.

Still, the Turgulids decided to follow their original plan in the southeastern sector of theatre; raising a major levy army (including new model urban levies organised by the increasingly renowned Prince Nergui) to join the mostly-inteact Turgulid Royal army, they were able to overwhelm a Tibetan force at Dut Nur and, in a clever multi-pronged attack, captured the trade centre of Nomgon in the south.Nonetheless, the losses were heavy enough, while the Tibetans were able to regroup and ultimately seize Nomgon yet again. Though their initial plans now fell apart, the Turgulids still managed to exercise their superior maneuverability by isolating and crushing several Tibetan garrisons in the centre of the country later in the year 754, defeating a Tibetan counterattack attempt at Aksha in the northwest. Despite some subsequent Tibetan advances, for the most part the Buddhist Empire was forced to redeploy its forces elsewhere as the greater war went live.

The Tibetan Empire’s earth-shattering triumph in the previous great war had frightened many, as did the accompanying and subsequent atrocities and the persistent menace of the Tibetan military. The Dinghisics feared the next Tibetan move; their secret agreement with the Turgulids was preempted by the Tibetan invasion, and this was, perhaps, the last straw. The Guanglingese were still bitter about their defeat and outraged by the massacres of their fellow Chinamen in Tibetan territory. For them the last straw was the new rebellion against the new emperor. Last came the Ayutamradvipans, who were at odds with Tibet ever since the humbling defeat of Nanyang. Between the distant, but still alarming prospects of a Tibetan navy at Dinh and the constant streams of refugees to the Home Islands, the Ayutamradvipans too were quite open to the idea of fighting Tibet. Therefore even as the events began to unfold, secret treaties were signed and plans were made. Already in 753, a joint Guanglingese-Dinghisic campaign commenced. The Tibetans did place fairly strong garrisons along their eastern border, but that border was extensive enough, and the attackers had wisely concentrated their forces in the Sardar/Huang He valley. With sheer numbers and skilled application of assorted artillery, the attackers overwhelmed the Tibetan border outposts and the fort-town of Taihai; later on, despite considerable losses, the key communications and commerce centre of Lanzhou was secured as well. Several lesser towns to the northwest were taken as well; albeit most of those were lost in 755 to a Tibetan counterattack that also severely bloodied the Turgulid army and forced it to sit on the defensive, this still did allow the Guanglingese to initiate the second stage of their plan, to which control of the logistical centre of Lanzhou was vital. The Guanglingese moved southwards, seized another key Tibetan logistical centre (the city of Hanzhong) and then assailed the Tibetan defenses in the east of the Chinese Mesopotamia from two directions, isolating and overwhelming the forts in a (largely) well-coordinated attack. A large part of the Chinese Mesopotamia was then successfully overran, albeit the Tibetan forces, reinforced by local military settlement troops and the units retreating from the south, were able to check and overturn the Chinese advance at Chengdu (later, the city of Huaying was also retaken after a lengthy siege, but the front stabilised after that). However, the withdrawal of forces from the south allowed the rebel formations in the mountains there to recuperate under the leadership of a charismatic rebel named Gan Keng Xiao and with the help of the Ayutamradvipans. Between local uprisings, Gan Keng Xiao’s rebels and a sizeable Ayutamradvipan expeditionary force, Tibet’s Vietnamese possessions were quickly overwhelmed; the rebels, now well-supplied and well-equipped, then proceeded to strike far north with Ayutramradvipan assistance, destroying several lesser Tibetan detachments and reclaiming multiple ex-Nanyangese districts. Once again, the Tibetans had to redeploy their forces from other theatres to halt this advance. Thus, all theatres were put in a fragile balance, as the troops braced themselves for the decisive battles to come.

(-11 Tibetan regiments, -8 Tibetan Tenzin regiments, -6 Tibetan levy regiments, -7 Turgulid regiments, -2 Turgulid Sons of Enlil regiments, -11 Turgulid levy regiments, -13 Dinghisic regiments, -8 Guanglingese regiments, -3 Guanglingese levy regiments, -1 Ayutamradvipan regiment)

Random Events:

Exceptional Nile flooding caused some serious damage to the infrastructure and the riverside villages in addition to the usual beneficial effects (-1 Infrastructure, Living Standards).

The influx of trade into and through Kyrgys territory stimulated local infrastructural development, with the help of the merchants (+1 Infrastructure, Trade).

Special Bonuses:

Best Diplomacy: Akkad (+1 Confidence).

Best New Project: Caerix (+1 project progress).

NPC Diplo:

From: Remaining Illyrian City-States
To: Hellenic Empire

We ask for your protection and immediate assistance against the invaders.

OOC:

[1] Apoikia=OTL Naples/Neapolis, as I had already explained at some point.

[2] Colchinium=OMD Ulcinj.

[3] Tartessian Straits=OTL Straits of Gibraltar.

[4] Crathia=OTL Valencia.

[5] Ksayarnan=OTL Zanzibar.

Abbadon – I record EVERYTHING! :evil: Well, not everything, but I do still have all the old orders and stories if that’s what you meant.

flyingchicken, the nation in the Philippines is Ayutamradvipa.

MjM, are you sure that “German Empire” is the name you want to use? I mean, Latin isn’t nearly as influential or widespread as in OTL. It may be better to use something more German.

LuckyMoose, you can’t start a new project on the same turn as you finish the previous one (same for you, Thlayli). I think I posted that often enough. Also, High King has been used for quite a while now, and has somewhat different connotations than Maharaja.

Head Serf, could you please clarify as to why did you think you could build 15 ships per eco. point?

Insane_Panda, note that you have forgotten to actually invest anything into your project.

Azale, you can’t invest that many eco. points into a project in a single turn. Also, your project seems redundant as you already have what you seek.

silver2039, you can’t raise your military cap that high when your population is at such a level. Normally you can’t raise the cap over your population multiplied by 10.

This is becoming quite annoying, but both due to the additional unexpected delays in the making of this update and because I will have some extra time constraints next week, the deadline will have to be on the 1st of January or later (just realised that might be a slightly inconvenient date ;) ). On the bright side, January should naturally be much less loaded than December, with all that implies.
 
Hope this wasn't too disappointing to certain people. ;)

Anyway, yes, this would probably go on for some more time; perhaps I was too hasty in declaring this the culmination.

I had a dream Dachs updated and the text wasn't readable but was in fact shaped like a frame by frame presentation of a movie based on update events. It was weird.
Click to expand...

An animated update? Put it down; it might have been a vision of the future. :p
 

Attachments

  • AFSNES I Map 755 AD.GIF
    AFSNES I Map 755 AD.GIF
    108.2 KB · Views: 231
Yay! now to read!

#and get next to no mention apart from a "tut" at the end.. oh well, to the stats!


# to which are now slightly above abyssmal ;)
 
Oh come now, you did get the top spot in the military events. :p
 
Oh yeah, top billing ;)

I am only kidding of course, i know my nation is piddling in world significance.

Can't wait til i get to that 3rd EP a turn tho.. i plan big things for that ep :smug:
 
"On a wholly accidental note, " what? Missing something das? ;)

I would say good update, but I've only read the foreword so far. Map sure looks nice though... :D
 
From: Priest Emperor Arthu XX
To: Langobardia

I propose to you an honourable retreat from my territories.
Lot of your pepole are Belenist, and your war will probably make them angry.
So, retreat your army from territories sorrounding Belesova.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Daftpanzer
DaftRTOR - A Story Untold
8 9 10
Replies
198
Views
24K
Terrance888
Terrance888
R
[C3C] Middles Ages Arranged
Replies
3
Views
190
ROH-Dora
R
CGQ
The Impossible Challenge 3: Eternal Twilight On a Tidally Locked World
Replies
0
Views
202
CGQ
CGQ
Predator145
Modding civ traits: The Ottomans
Replies
6
Views
526
Predator145
Predator145
I
Maps the solution
Replies
0
Views
190
Iceberg1er
I
Back
Top Bottom