das
Regeneration In Process
European politics were often based on one big power on which everybody else teams up. They teamed up on France, but now, France was much weaker. As of 1691, there was (apart from the much more compact Ottoman Empire which stopped conquests and was now rebuilding and preparing for the next round of warfare) just one obvious candidate - the Jagiellon Empire. Stretching from Danube to the Baltic Sea, it, despite the mixed success in border wars with Russia, was seen as a powerhouse. Thus, a coalition of the German protestant princes, Russia, Sweden, Bavaria and, eventually, France was formed. By 1691, there were already several provocations of the Jagiellons as Mikhail I Godunov wanted to start a war.
The final straw came in early 1691.
After the early death of Sigismund IV in a hunting accident (a REAL accident. Probably.), the Lithuanian nobles, feeling themselves to be NOT profiting from the Polish rule (technically, Jagiellon Empire was a confederation of several kingdoms under one king but with different laws in different areas, but the king was Polish), as Lithuania lost many lands in the east, and so, the Lithuanians have rebelled. At first, the rebellion was going well, but by the end of the year, the rebel armies were utterly crushed by king Valdemar II at Kovno. Deseperate, the nobles asked, for German protestant, and, reluctantly, Russian help, promising both some Polish lands (Livonia and Curland were an enclave of the Kingdom of Poland, and was offered to Russia. Polish (East) Pommerania and East Prussia were offered to German princes). The anti-Jagiellon coalition has entered the war, save for the still-neutral France.
As it turned out, Lithuanian nobles soon surrendered anyway, and Kingdom of Lithuania - what was left of it - was formally incorporated into Kingdom of Poland. By then, the Twenty Years (or the Lithuanian) War has begun.
The Jagiellons wielded a very large army, outnumbered only by the Russians, and the Jagiellon forces were amongst the best trained in the world. Their commanders ranged from "downright incompetent" - like Valdemar II, Arpen Belash and Manecrias - to "brilliant" - like Krapiwecki and Zigrin. They also adopted a military doctrine (after the French Succession War) rather similar to that of the Hussites, involving the use of infantry, cavalry and artillery as a single tactical body and, later on, the use of mobile artillery battaries and of divisions and army groups in military organization. Marshall Krapiwecki is, for these reasons, considered the father of modern warfare.
Nevertheless, the Jagiellons were not in a very good situation from the start. German princes have, by then, all raised proffesional and strong armies, and managed to surprisingly quickly agree to establish a chain of command with Friedrich von Hagenau, a competent tactician and acknowledged strategician from the Palatinate in charge. Though the Germans, even if bolstered by the Bavarians, would've been outnumbered seriously by the Polish forces, a large amount of the Jagiellon troops were in the east to counter the Russians. Russian army, though it had bad leadership and rather lacking in discipline and organization, was VERY huge. It also included the highly mobile Cossacks to bolster the "military elite" - the streltsy, who under Mikhail I were highly reformed and were now very loyal and relatively well organized (as compared to the rest of the Russian troops). Swedish army was almost as modern as the Jagiellon one, adopting the Jagiellon military doctrine later during the war. Swedish army was, training-wise and discipline-wise, the best army in the coalition, followed closely by France. French military had decent leadership, and as it joined into the war later, its forces were quite fresh.
Immediately in 1691, the streltsy have launched four offensives into Polish territory. Unfortunately, the crucial attack at Minsk was commanded by Korenin who panicked upon hearing of Lithuanian defeat, stopped the offensive, was cut off from his supply lines and surrendered to a smaller force without much of a fight. The momentum was lost and Russian attacks boged down, except in Livonia and Courland where they were coordinated with the Sweden and overran most of this territory after the Battle at Venta. The Polish proceeded to launch a counteroffensive in Ukraine, but it bogged down due to problems with supplies, until Krapiwecki personally took command and seized Kiev. But the offensive was really unable to proceed further along, and so Krapiwecki was recalled to the western theater.
Against the Germans, Jagiellon army had, thanks to Arpen Belash mishandeling the offensive in Bradenburg and Saxony, suffered a humiliating defeat at Jena (1696). This invasion helped further increase the rising tide of German nationalism, and its defeat assisted the German unity even more. However, the united German counterattack, though bolstered by the Swedes, was crushed by Krapiwecki at Leszno (1697). On the sea, Admiral Zigrin produced a miraculous victory over the Swedes at Gdansk, thanks to the Polish use of fireships.
To Valdemar II, it was clear that this was it - the ultimate test of strength of the Jagiellon Empire. German princes were attacking Austria and Bohemia, and so, Valdemar decided that he, being the tactical and strategic genius that he was, should be the one to take care of them. Unfortunately, he wasn't neither and managed to barely produce a pyrrhic victory at the White Mountain in Bohemia, and thus was unable to save Graz from the Bavarian siege, to which it succumbed in July 1700. It was then that the Russians attacked Kiev again. Krapiwecki defeated the Russians again, but it was clear to him that the Russians were learning from their mistakes. It was best to make peace then... However, Valdemar did not want to hear anything about that. He was sure that his offensive in Austria would drive out the Bavarians. It was then, however, that Leonard de Teille and his French army struck into Bohemia, boldly moving through Sudetenland to besiege Prague. Under the threat of losing his base of operations and primary supply line, Valdemar did not pull back and started the long and tedious siege of Graz, which did not fall until 1703. The popular Protestant rebellion in Bohemia threatened to ruin the Jagiellon Empire, but Valdemar suddenly got enough sound sense to order a large army, unfortunately led by Manecrias, a rather disloyal Lithuanian noble, to be sent to prevent Moravia's fall. Manecrias was supposed to prevent any offensives in that direction, to make the enemy move south instead, at more-or-less prepared Valdemar's forces. At first, this worked as the enemy did not attack Moravia and thus had to attack Austria, but soon after, Manecrias turned out to be a traitor who sold out the Jagiellons, disbanded his army and allowed the French in. Leonard then chose to launch diversionary attacks into Hungary and Austria, while the real offensive will head to Warsaw, which, as he thought, was undergarrisoned as the Polish forces were busy controlling the more rebellious regions and guarding the borders/frontlines.
Unfortunately, Warsaw DID have a garrison, though not very large. So as Leonard marched towards Warsaw and the scouts reported this to the garrison, preparations were made while Krapiwecki was trying to get a situation in Pommerania after which he could withdraw a few divisions from the theater. In 1707, a most spectacular maneuver warfare took place on the way to Warsaw. The Polish forces have cut off the French from Bohemia (which was soon reconquered anyway) and tried to outflank the foes, in order to surround them. However, Leonard skillfully escaped encirclement and started approaching Warsaw from the west. an attempt to intercept him failed, and so he tried to assault Warsaw. Unfortunately for him, Krapiwecki caught on to him and attacked his assaulting force. Nevertheless, Leonard managed to fight his way out of encirclement again, and withdrew into German Protestant territory in 1709.
By 1711, peace negotiations were already under way. According to them, Russia lost Estonia and the Kiev area to Jagiellon Poland. Bavaria managed to annex Tyrol from Jagiellon Austria. Poland's borders in the west remained the same. Though in this war, Jagiellon Empire emerged victorious, it was a very close-ran thing, and after Jena, the myth of Polish invincibility was shattered. And besides, the Coalition nations decided to sign the peace just to regroup... and later take their revenge.
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OOC: Done with the map, will post it if you wish. The Jagiellon Empire looks really huge, btw.
The final straw came in early 1691.
After the early death of Sigismund IV in a hunting accident (a REAL accident. Probably.), the Lithuanian nobles, feeling themselves to be NOT profiting from the Polish rule (technically, Jagiellon Empire was a confederation of several kingdoms under one king but with different laws in different areas, but the king was Polish), as Lithuania lost many lands in the east, and so, the Lithuanians have rebelled. At first, the rebellion was going well, but by the end of the year, the rebel armies were utterly crushed by king Valdemar II at Kovno. Deseperate, the nobles asked, for German protestant, and, reluctantly, Russian help, promising both some Polish lands (Livonia and Curland were an enclave of the Kingdom of Poland, and was offered to Russia. Polish (East) Pommerania and East Prussia were offered to German princes). The anti-Jagiellon coalition has entered the war, save for the still-neutral France.
As it turned out, Lithuanian nobles soon surrendered anyway, and Kingdom of Lithuania - what was left of it - was formally incorporated into Kingdom of Poland. By then, the Twenty Years (or the Lithuanian) War has begun.
The Jagiellons wielded a very large army, outnumbered only by the Russians, and the Jagiellon forces were amongst the best trained in the world. Their commanders ranged from "downright incompetent" - like Valdemar II, Arpen Belash and Manecrias - to "brilliant" - like Krapiwecki and Zigrin. They also adopted a military doctrine (after the French Succession War) rather similar to that of the Hussites, involving the use of infantry, cavalry and artillery as a single tactical body and, later on, the use of mobile artillery battaries and of divisions and army groups in military organization. Marshall Krapiwecki is, for these reasons, considered the father of modern warfare.
Nevertheless, the Jagiellons were not in a very good situation from the start. German princes have, by then, all raised proffesional and strong armies, and managed to surprisingly quickly agree to establish a chain of command with Friedrich von Hagenau, a competent tactician and acknowledged strategician from the Palatinate in charge. Though the Germans, even if bolstered by the Bavarians, would've been outnumbered seriously by the Polish forces, a large amount of the Jagiellon troops were in the east to counter the Russians. Russian army, though it had bad leadership and rather lacking in discipline and organization, was VERY huge. It also included the highly mobile Cossacks to bolster the "military elite" - the streltsy, who under Mikhail I were highly reformed and were now very loyal and relatively well organized (as compared to the rest of the Russian troops). Swedish army was almost as modern as the Jagiellon one, adopting the Jagiellon military doctrine later during the war. Swedish army was, training-wise and discipline-wise, the best army in the coalition, followed closely by France. French military had decent leadership, and as it joined into the war later, its forces were quite fresh.
Immediately in 1691, the streltsy have launched four offensives into Polish territory. Unfortunately, the crucial attack at Minsk was commanded by Korenin who panicked upon hearing of Lithuanian defeat, stopped the offensive, was cut off from his supply lines and surrendered to a smaller force without much of a fight. The momentum was lost and Russian attacks boged down, except in Livonia and Courland where they were coordinated with the Sweden and overran most of this territory after the Battle at Venta. The Polish proceeded to launch a counteroffensive in Ukraine, but it bogged down due to problems with supplies, until Krapiwecki personally took command and seized Kiev. But the offensive was really unable to proceed further along, and so Krapiwecki was recalled to the western theater.
Against the Germans, Jagiellon army had, thanks to Arpen Belash mishandeling the offensive in Bradenburg and Saxony, suffered a humiliating defeat at Jena (1696). This invasion helped further increase the rising tide of German nationalism, and its defeat assisted the German unity even more. However, the united German counterattack, though bolstered by the Swedes, was crushed by Krapiwecki at Leszno (1697). On the sea, Admiral Zigrin produced a miraculous victory over the Swedes at Gdansk, thanks to the Polish use of fireships.
To Valdemar II, it was clear that this was it - the ultimate test of strength of the Jagiellon Empire. German princes were attacking Austria and Bohemia, and so, Valdemar decided that he, being the tactical and strategic genius that he was, should be the one to take care of them. Unfortunately, he wasn't neither and managed to barely produce a pyrrhic victory at the White Mountain in Bohemia, and thus was unable to save Graz from the Bavarian siege, to which it succumbed in July 1700. It was then that the Russians attacked Kiev again. Krapiwecki defeated the Russians again, but it was clear to him that the Russians were learning from their mistakes. It was best to make peace then... However, Valdemar did not want to hear anything about that. He was sure that his offensive in Austria would drive out the Bavarians. It was then, however, that Leonard de Teille and his French army struck into Bohemia, boldly moving through Sudetenland to besiege Prague. Under the threat of losing his base of operations and primary supply line, Valdemar did not pull back and started the long and tedious siege of Graz, which did not fall until 1703. The popular Protestant rebellion in Bohemia threatened to ruin the Jagiellon Empire, but Valdemar suddenly got enough sound sense to order a large army, unfortunately led by Manecrias, a rather disloyal Lithuanian noble, to be sent to prevent Moravia's fall. Manecrias was supposed to prevent any offensives in that direction, to make the enemy move south instead, at more-or-less prepared Valdemar's forces. At first, this worked as the enemy did not attack Moravia and thus had to attack Austria, but soon after, Manecrias turned out to be a traitor who sold out the Jagiellons, disbanded his army and allowed the French in. Leonard then chose to launch diversionary attacks into Hungary and Austria, while the real offensive will head to Warsaw, which, as he thought, was undergarrisoned as the Polish forces were busy controlling the more rebellious regions and guarding the borders/frontlines.
Unfortunately, Warsaw DID have a garrison, though not very large. So as Leonard marched towards Warsaw and the scouts reported this to the garrison, preparations were made while Krapiwecki was trying to get a situation in Pommerania after which he could withdraw a few divisions from the theater. In 1707, a most spectacular maneuver warfare took place on the way to Warsaw. The Polish forces have cut off the French from Bohemia (which was soon reconquered anyway) and tried to outflank the foes, in order to surround them. However, Leonard skillfully escaped encirclement and started approaching Warsaw from the west. an attempt to intercept him failed, and so he tried to assault Warsaw. Unfortunately for him, Krapiwecki caught on to him and attacked his assaulting force. Nevertheless, Leonard managed to fight his way out of encirclement again, and withdrew into German Protestant territory in 1709.
By 1711, peace negotiations were already under way. According to them, Russia lost Estonia and the Kiev area to Jagiellon Poland. Bavaria managed to annex Tyrol from Jagiellon Austria. Poland's borders in the west remained the same. Though in this war, Jagiellon Empire emerged victorious, it was a very close-ran thing, and after Jena, the myth of Polish invincibility was shattered. And besides, the Coalition nations decided to sign the peace just to regroup... and later take their revenge.
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OOC: Done with the map, will post it if you wish. The Jagiellon Empire looks really huge, btw.
sorry my own aims for every game really but its important to me
it looks good plenty of room for diplomatic twisting and turning
